February 11, 2007 — We are back after a few days in Florida. It was sunny for
this picture
but grey for much of the time we were there — but fun none-the-less.
And I have posted several pages with Marianne
continuing the vanity top story. It is coming
quite well. These are pictures we took weeks ago since she also was away traveling.
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PS — Some reader beat me to it. This router and
external speed control was shown at last year's IWF and
I have been waiting patiently to get my hands on one. Some reader
beat me to it and ordered one from Rockler last week. Let me know how well it works.
February 3, 2007 — My wife and I
are taking the week off for a short trip to visit friends in
Florida. We will be back next week and have an update then.
For now, enjoy this week's success with the Swensons.
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January 28, 2007 — Brrrrr! The
long overdue cold has been here. It makes me appreciate
a heated, cozy shop. A special thanks to the many readers who visited the Woodcraft
pages from below. It is amazing how many readers and friends visit here.
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We don't usually show what others are doing but friend Per Swenson and his 82
year old father are woodworkers par excellence. Their specialty is long bars. What
is newsworthy is that Per just used the Festool Domino Joiner for the first time.
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January 21, 2007 — Still working on cleaning and organizing the
shop. It seems to go forever.
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January 14, 2007 — A quick "hello." Things are real busy here and a lot to
report, but I am still
cleaning my shop. It is taking forever.
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January 7, 2007 — Happy New Year to you all.
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December 31, 2006 — 'T'is the very last day of 2006. I hope it has been a
good year for you, and that 2007 is going to be even better. I am planning to
have a
Tony the Tiger grrrreat year.
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December 26, 2006 — I hope everyone had a safe holiday so far. New Years is
almost upon us. Yikes.
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December 17, 2006 — A fun couple of shoot sessions in the shop this week capped off
by losing my website PC. That was plain scary since all the pages and the picture
files
would be lost. Yikes!!!. But, I managed to get the PC back with no loss of the hard drive.
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This is Elena wheeling out a Festool Domino Joining
System. The new product is expected for release in April but we were privileged to
get a head start. What does it do and how does it do it? Well that is what we will
be showing in the next weeks and months. It is a honey of a new product. We know
what it is supposed to do and a features/benefits story. But what Elena, Andrea and I will
be showing what it can do in the way of woodshop tasks. It is either expensive or
inexpensive, depending on what it can do. We know already, that it can do a lot and many,
many woodworkers will benefit from it. So let's start the story...
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December 10, 2006 — These are
fun days in the shop.
We have three different projects we are working on. You will see them
all in good time.
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Andrea takes over the silver chest project. The task
this week is to thickness plane the various pieces, mark them for end grain matching and
do some edge jointing.
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December 3, 2006 — We
actually had a flake or two of snow here. And I thought winter was
going to pass us by. When I was sitting in front of the TV nursing my broken leg, my wife
had
a new door installed so that my "commute" was only 4 steps away rather than a
hundred.
So I am "snow-ready." Is that a good wife, or what?
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The giddiness that Andrea is displaying is not because she
is back in the shop, but instead because she has just told me that she is newly
engaged. It is amazing that we got anything accomplished.
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November 19, 2006 — It is nice to be back and able to work in the shop. The silver
chest project
is a fun one and is coming along quite well. We have another story also in the works. It
is on using the new
CMT tenon cutting router bit — a product announced at the IWF. We will post that
story right here next week.
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As you can see, Jessica has re-sawn all the boards
necessary for the silver chest project. It is nice to have that done. Fact is,
it was quite easy to re-saw with the Festool TS75 plunge saw. This larger capacity saw was
quite easy for Jessica and me to handle and the extra depth and power came in very handy.
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November 12, 2006 — Well, I am back on my feet again and it feels good.
I have an "air-cast" for awhile but I have doc's OK to work in shop
as long as I don't over do it. Moie??? 11/05/2006 — Update. I
did
overdo it so rest of day will elevate foot and watch football. Tomorrow
plan to install new worktop, show you a new product I just bought; and display
my repetitive cuts jig. Come on back on Tuesday.
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With my broken leg in cast, I had lots of time to come up
with an improved way to rip boards to like widths — just as you would do with a table
saw and the fence set at one setting. Easier said than done. I am still working on
the "how-to." It is one of those "coming soon." One problem is that it
is so easy to do without clever jigging — that's a problem we may live with.
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It is a Wixey, what else? Should you have one? Do
you like to make square cuts? Perfect miters?
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This product shot is of the Porter Cable Compact Belt Sander. It is one
of the new products that was introduced at the year's IWF exhibit. Elena and I had
opportunity to give it a brief workout. At a street price of $119, it is hard not
to add this compact belt sander to the tool crib. How nice it will be to sand down
slightly oversized dovetails.
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October 29, 2006 — I do want to thank the local
Visiting Nurse Association
for assigning Julie to monitor my rehab experience. Could there be a
nicer way to keep me from really missing my shop assistants.
I am still in cast but hope to get to shop this week. There is a lot to do there.
October 22, 2006 — Going bananas would be an apt way to describe my past weeks. I am
not good at sitting
and watching the "boob tube" just to keep my broken leg elevated. But that is
what I did, and I have
about 2 more weeks of just that.
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Jessica helps me this day by using the new Festool TS 75
to re-saw some boards that are 4" thick. This plunge saw has a great cutting capacity
but not enough to slice the 4" board, but we did just that as a "work in
turn." She made a 2+" cut from one side and then the same from the other. Sounds
good, but how smooth is the combined cuts? Can you believe 10 out of a perfect 10.
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This product shot is of the Porter Cable Compact Belt Sander. It is one
of the new products that was introduced at the year's IWF exhibit. Elena and I had
opportunity to give it a brief workout. At a street price of $119, it is hard not
to add this compact belt sander to the tool crib. How nice it will be to sand down
slightly oversized dovetails.
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September 29, 2006 — A bit of reality has caused me to post this brief message. The
reality is that
when I am working on the PC, I am not elevating my broken leg and if I don't do that, I am
asking for trouble.
I will spare you the description of that trouble, but it was and is very painful. So now I
am going to heed the doctors orders
and sit in the recliner chair for the next couple of weeks, then rehab and then I
can come back here.
Thanks for being so understanding.
September 24, 2006 — It has been an interesting
and different week for me. Went to orthopedic
doctor on Tuesday and was given a walking boot and told to stay off my broken leg. How
long that
will be depends on how good I am in not agitating it and how fast the bones mend. So I
have
tried to be good, but I am getting restless. I want to thank everyone who has taken
the time
to write me with well wishes. They are sincerely appreciated.
As I said lasts week, I have a couple of stories "in the can," so I will
be able to offer some new pages.
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A Bessey utility knife? That is
what it is and a heavy, solid one, at that. I saw it at the Woodcraft store check out
counter and it followed me home. At just under $20, it becomes the cheapest Bessey
by far.
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September 17, 2006 — Yesterday I
had a great shoot with Jessica showing how the
Festool TS 75 could re-saw through heavy mahogany. As we were getting the
last shots, I knelt on the shop floor to get some close-ups of the cuts when
I heard a snap. It wasn't the saw, the wood, the blade or Jessica, so my
astute mind said "It was me." Three hours later with X-rays in hand I departed
the hospital with crutches. Damn. The good news is that I have some very good
stories shot and will get them up for next week. I did manage to get one page up of
a new product.
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A Bessey utility knife? That is
what it is and a heavy, solid one, at that. I saw it at the Woodcraft store check out
counter and it followed me home. At just under $20, it becomes the cheapest Bessey
by far.
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Sept 12, 2006 — Missed again. Both young ladies had schedules that precluded visit to
my
little shop. But I am working with Elena tomorrow to continue on with the cabinet
making.
I also started a long overdue project — making a rolling clamp stand for my shop. Last
week
when Elena spent some hours cleaning the shop, she kept finding clamps.
You know the saying "you never have enough clamps." Well my version is
"...and you
can't find them." But they are all found and need a rolling stand. Coming soon!
I know Amy D. is "old news" but it is (was) so nice to have this picture posted.
(I'm easy.)
September 4, 2006 — Happy Labor Day to you all. How about this as picture:
That is Amy Devers, a shining star on the DIY Network and demonstrator at the Festool
booth at the
recent IWF Show in Atlanta. No, I didn't attend but a friend of mine at Festool was nice
enough to ask
Amy for this picture. It will be posted in the shop right next to my poster signed by
Norm.
Elena, Andrea and I spent many hours in the shop cleaning and cleaning. We are almost
ready
to start in on projects again. Next week for sure. Also, I have taken a close look at
exhibiters at IWF and
will start a feature called "The Best of IWF." Already I have quite a list
of tools and stuff
that were shown at this large exposition. I will post a list of those things
starting next week.
August 27, 2006 — I am setting a bad record of not posting. That will change real
soon.
This week, Elena, Andrea and I are putting many hours into re-organizing the shop, I will
even give you a tour of the shop when it is re-orged and clean. That will be soon, this
coming week or the next.
In the meantime, I will share this picture with you. It is my granddaughter Bella who is
just two. And yes, she
did blowout all (both) the candles.
August 20, 2006 — Yes, I did miss posting last week. I kept on working on
pages, that finally
I decided it would make most sense to post today. My long term friend, Sal, was here and
we managed
to get some shop time with cleaning and organizing being Job 1. Boy, did it need it.
Pictured below is
the counter that Gail had put in place months ago. Sal and I made some supports and then
did some organizing — mostly putting plastic bins of "stuff" under and out
of the way.
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This is the picture from when
Gail made up the counter, months ago.
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Andrea and I start a new project using a router bit set from
CMT. It is the tongue and groove set — but a different one than the standard set. It
is designed for woodworkers who want to make cabinets. And best of all, it integrates
pocket hole screws into the overall joinery system. What's best is that it works and works
well.
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August 6, 2006 — There is
progress here, but nothing to show for it — at least right now.
IWF in Atlanta is coming up the end of this month, and while I am not going there, I want
to complete a couple of stories for viewing here before the doors open down there.
This Sunday afternoon, I am heading to the shop to complete the bench that
Gail started months ago—
my wife just bought a small refrigerator for the shop and it will fit under this shelf.
After these "dog days", it will be appreciated.
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Do you think you saw this picture last week? Close but no cigar. Last week it was Andrea carrying in a big plank of mahogany. This week, Elena is carrying in some oak boards for a special, hurry up project. |
Some important items on our To Do List (updated) ...
July 30, 2006 — Oh I am getting spoiled
with AC in the shop. I hope all of you are able
to stay comfortable. I am even becoming a pool person (a margarita does help that.)
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Elena and I had the opportunity to use the new Kreg
Jig. I am a long time fan of pocket screws and this seemed like a good time to get
Elena up to speed with them.
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This project starts next week. That is Andrea carrying a heavy plank of mahogany. Have you ever resawn heavy stock with a portable saw? Well, I haven't, but that is what we are going to do. |
July 23, 2006 — This month is sure flying by.
Some important items on our To Do List (updated) ... |
July 16, 2006 — I am in the cool office, but it is dreadful hot and humid outside.
Here is what Elena and I have been working on:
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Elena starts cutting and building her first
cabinet. In this section, she is cutting the pieces. Next week and after we will be
going through the many other steps of cabinetmaking. For the most part, she will be
using the Festool System setup in the shop, but I hope that the series will be of interest
to all readers.
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July 9, 2006 — One month ago, I
posted a picture of an old Navy friend, from 1960's days.
This week, my wife and I flew off to Texas to celebrate my mentor's 50th wedding
anniversary, and his
wife's (my "mentoress", I suppose) 80th birthday. It is amazing how far I will
travel
to meet up with someone older than me. Jerry is a mentor from my days with Union Carbide
in the
60's. He and I both have gone very different business directions, but as a mentor,
ex-colleague and friend, he
and his wife are at the very top of the list. It was a proud moment for me to introduce my
"new" wife to the
two of them. She had two days of listening to all the old stories — from their
perspective, as if I would "enhance" a tale.
Bald guys sure are handsome, aren't they?
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