[2019] Wood Working Goals

corbettmade 5 years ago

The turn of the year is approaching, and taking a page from Sean I'm starting this a bit early :)
I started my personal revival of interest in wood working in late 2018 when my daughter was born. I was raised by a carpenter, and was experienced in some ways, but unless you were building a shed or doing home maintenance I was kind of lost. So if 2018 was the re-beginning, 2019 will be the year of my workshop!

Expand my tool collection - I've been working for months now with a limited set of tools, or using tools in ways they shouldn't be to accomplish a goal. The collection has expanded somewhat, getting things as I needed, but now I want to be ready to take on projects before I start them. I want to expand my hand planes, auger bits, chisels - and not just buying whatever I find. I'm restoring antique tools for use, finding deals, making the tools mine in my own way. I also need more clamps, you can never have enough clamps. 

Learn harder techniques / projects - I've been playing it really safe, making a mallet, winding sticks, restoring tools. But it's time to step it up. I need to learn joinery, become fluent in finishing, start making things for around the house.

Build my Workshop - This one is important to me. Until now my workshop has been a kitchen table my wife has lovingly let me use, but it is limiting, disruptive, and her good will is running short as my collection of tools/wood expands. It is time to take on the dreaded hand-tool only workbench project, and take whatever comes with it. The garage workshop is my biggest wood working goal of 2019.

Study Wood - This one may seem obvious to some, and while I have a pretty good basic understanding, I want to learn more about the structure of wood and how to work with weird grains, weird and exotic woods. Dimensioning rough lumber, etc.

These are some of my goals for 2019, I'll be ringing in the new year planing 2x4s for my first bench top most likely. 

(Tap image to expand)