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6 years ago • corbettmade

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. 

0 comments
5 years ago • WoodGate

My wife is an artist and is entering a show/sale (juried) in June. I decided that I will also enter with a few of my music and jewelry boxes. Since we will share a booth (10x10) there is no additional fee for me. This place juries from a single picture that you submit with your entry. All submitted items must also be for sale. So I will come up with a price for them. Has anyone entered this type of show? What can be expected? 

4 comments
6 years ago • Sean

I had a chance to finally integrate sliding doors in my latest project and I gotta say, I can see me using them again in the near future. It's a great alternative to fiddling with hinges.

2 comments
6 years ago • Sean

I'm typically not the type of person to set goals simply because the calendar turns over to a new year, but this time I wanted to jot down a few woodworking goals that I'm going to try and stick to for 2018. Here are a few:

  • Stop rushing to get a project done. This is probably my number one goal for 2018. I started the whole "content creation" mindset to grow my social media profiles to then help grow this site. Well that's not working and I think it's ruining my love for the hobby. In 2018, I'm going to try and slow this down to where i'm possibly only going to work on the weekend and if it takes me 3 months to get a project done, that's fine.
  • Learn everything I can about veneering/vacuum press/bent lamination. I'm not completely new to veneering, but i've only scratched the surface. I understand how much a woodworker can benefit from diving in to the world of veneering and using tools like the vacuum press. The vacuum press is so versatile. If you watch people like Guys Woodshop on Instagram, you see he uses his vacuum press for things like bent lamination, gluing up leg blanks for workbenches (which means you don't have to fight with clamps) and much more.
  • More design work. One issue with trying to complete the projects for social media (YouTube and Instagram) is you really don't want to spend the time to use software like Google Sketchup to design a piece that's complex. Now, a basic table is simple, but adding curves and crazy joinery really slow me down so I avoided them. I hope to change that.
  • Become one with my hand tools. I'm not a complete stranger when it comes to using hand tools, but I know for a fact that I can use them in a much more efficient way and that all starts with sharpening. I currently use the Lee Valley honing guide, and even though it works, I'm not happy with it. The bevel is always skewed but it left me with a "sharp" chisel/blade so I ignored it. The setup time to use the jig is also a pain in the ass, but I get around that by not sharpening as often as I should. I hope to change that by learning how to free-hand sharpen. I know it's going to be tough, but practice makes perfect.

That's all I can think of right now, but that's enough to keep me busy for an entire year. What about you, did you set any goals for 2018? Let me know below.

1 comment
7 years ago • hampshirewoodworks

I'm in the midst of a shop remodel and I'm moving from a cabinet to wall layout for my tools. I'm debating on what tools I should keep readily available and those that will eventually go down below my workbench in the drawers. 

Anyone have some decent tips on what's worked for them?

2 comments
7 years ago • DonnyCarter

What finish do you guys use? I've always used Mahoneys walnut oil on my bowls and have started using it on my cutting boards. I don't like the typical mineral oil because it never dries. Thoughts? 

4 comments
7 years ago • Sean

I've used them since I started woodworking but recently started to notice that when I use them on places like legs or table tops where theres an edge, the finish doesn't seem to dry as fast as the rest of the surface. Think i'm using bad tack cloths? Which brand do you use?

1 comment
7 years ago • nesportsman

I didn't take too many pictures throughout the process, but this gives you the basic steps required and some gotchas.

0 comments
7 years ago • Sean

Hey guys, the 2017 Holiday Gift Contest is now underway so get to submitting your projects! We already have several projects that have been submitted! If you have any questions, please post them here and I will answer them.

Thanks again to Acme Tools, Bosch Tools and Rockler Woodworking for sponsoring this contest!