Another solution to a non problem

[Leon]

So another type a clamping accessory that prevents glue starvation. FWIW glue starvation only happens when you don't put in enough glue to cover the surface, not from over clamping.

[-MIKE-]

Ok, I about lost it from laughter at 2:30-ish when he shows the "ClampGauge" things! Those things are like 17 bucks a piece! Um, here's an idea.... turn your parallel clamp sideways!!!

[Leon]

I do that all the time.

[-MIKE-]

Yep! Alternate 1 on top and 1 on bottom and it keeps the panel from bowing, too.

[nailshooter41]

Well... I think it is important to remember that not everyone channeled Kre nov/Maloof/Nakashima at their first project, maybe even by the second.

Personally, I am unashamed to say that 40 plus (maybe a little more recentl y) years ago I have invested in something that should make my daily toil ea sier that just didn't work out.

That being said, just a little research on technique via Google would have served better than to try to buy one's way out of learning a skill. Many y ears ago I had a friend that was a manager of the local Woodcraft. I would look in amazement at all the little gadgets, jigs, shop work assistants, a nd unnecessary crap he sold. He agreed. But as he said, sometimes those g adgets take away the bugaboos that keep one from furthering their skill set s.

I am ashamed to say how small the hobby wood working community is here in S an Antonio, but there are certainly a LOT of tool collectors. Since I work on houses, I have been in a lot of shops that have (literally) $25k worth of tools in them. Their projects? Cutting boards, bird houses, plant stan ds and the like that could be made with $35 worth of tools.

Different strokes for different folks!

Robert

[Leon]

I recall my first real piece of furniture that I built was when I was

1. My to be wife and I liked to visit the "bare wood furniture" stores and saw an inexpensive set of living room furniture. It was the stuff that was held together by lag screws and had a sling that held the cushions. I built that, a love seat, with a corded drill and a Craftsman circular saw and Kim make the cushions. We used that piece for many years. A yesr or so after that I bought a RAS and started building furniture that we still use today, 37 years later.

I bought a lot of tools because I was too cheap to buy furniture, although we have bought a few pieces, dining room and chairs, and any thing with cloth or leather on it. If it is all wood, I probably built it and then some by selling 90% of it to order.

I have built a few cutting boards and boxes but that was mostly because I was too cheap to buy Christmas presents. ;~)

[russellseaton1]

San Antonio, but there are certainly a LOT of tool collectors. Since I wo rk on houses, I have been in a lot of shops that have (literally) $25k wort h of tools in them. Their projects? Cutting boards, bird houses, plant st ands and the like that could be made with $35 worth of tools.

Any guesses as to why San Antonio does not seem to be as populated by woodw orkers as other parts of the US? I might admit to being in the collector c ategory. Of course none of my collection is valuable for collecting purpos es. I just happened to collect them over the years. Pretty sure I do not have $25,000 worth of tools. But if I added up the retail prices I paid fo r all my tools (including the mechanic tools) I might have a heart attack o r two or three.

[nailshooter41]

dworkers as other parts of the US? I might admit to being in the collector category. Of course none of my collection is valuable for collecting purp oses. I just happened to collect them over the years. Pretty sure I do no t have $25,000 worth of tools. But if I added up the retail prices I paid for all my tools (including the mechanic tools) I might have a heart attack or two or three.

For hobbyists, I have no idea. As a military city, there are literally 10s of thousands of retirees here that have the money to dabble in home shops, half the garage, or a Tuff Shed. Some retire quite early in life with plent y of money and plenty of time to develop a hobby like woodworking. I have n oticed that a lot of the retirees that do woodworking for a hobby look for a small task that is easily completed, and then wait to see what catches th eir fancy. They spend little time in study of techniques, applications, ma terial and its use, or practicing to learn hand skills needed to be a decen t woodworker.

For the really serious hobbyist, a real DIY sort of guy, I think they are p ut off by our weather. I was born and raised here and I am used to nasty h ot summers, high humidity, strange weather (a couple of years ago it was in the mid 90s in February)and being miserable working outside. Sure, I do i t for a living, but it is different from what I learned here many years ago .

We have no basements, hence, no basement workshops. You either build a sep arate building, or take a space or two from your garage (attn: LB!). Most garages are full of crap already, so not much room to have a great shop. I f you build a separate building, we have no state income tax here, but are nailed with property taxes. If you do build a stand alone shop and add wat er, electricity, and a bit of insulation, it is considered habitable by the county,and is taxed at a certain rate. If it is attached in any way, even a just a door, it is considered a room addition and is taxed as real prope rty.

So this brings us back to the weather. We usually have around 4 months a y ear when it is considered "Chamber of Commerce" weather. Nice days, beauti ful nights, and plenty of mild sunshine. The rest of the months, not so mu ch. And we are prone to long heat spells as well as long rainy spells. So where does a serious hobby guy work? Do you drag all your stuff out on the driveway when the weather is pleasant and work, knowing you will have a lo t of time needed just to clean up and move the tools back in when you are f inished? Where do you store your project?

And there is nothing like sweating so much on your project when it is past

100F that you leave sweat droplets on your project that stain the wood. Sw eat and sawdust is in your eyes, you are miserable because your regular lif e is that of an office worker of some degree, and you feel punished. Truly , I am used to being that miserable with over 40 years of these conditions, but I don't like them. So a home guy with some real skills that can't tol erate the nasty weather changes is sunk before he starts. No one likes to be miserable at their hobby. I don't believe most think it is worth the ti me and effort to learn "next level" woodworking if they are only going to d o it a few months a year.

Then there is finishing the projects. I dont' mind finishing and in some c ases enjoy it depending on what I am doing. I don't know one single woodwo rker, full time or not, hobbyist or sincere DIY guy that likes finishing. Quite the contrary, they hate it.

So try to build your skills finishing when you want to apply lacquer and it is 100 degrees with 80% humidity. What do you do? Try applying poly when the target material is so hot (and the poly is so viscous) that it literal ly slides of a vertical surface. And a good whiff of thinner on a really ho t day can kill your enthusiasm for a project very easily. On those days wh en I am spraying, I literally pour (no kidding) the sweat out of my mask.

There used to be a lot of guys on the rec that were several hundred miles n orth of here with great shops. Basement or otherwise, they described heate d shops for the winter, a coffee pot, radio, and one guy had (liquid only) toilet in his little workshop. I could only imagine what it would be like to have a cold, crisp day and walk out to a shop with a mug of coffee in my hand and build a small fire in the furnace and piddle around with some pro ject.

There was however, a large scroll saw, and carving community here. They ma y still be around. They didn't use power tools, but mallets and chisels, a nd there were plenty of chip carvers, too. I think that as with much of th e woodworking community the scroll sawyers have pretty much gone away. I k now there was a pretty good wood turning community as I was part of it. Ba sed mostly on smaller lathes, they didn't swamp the garage, and like me man y turned on their driveway during the nice weather.

All our furniture makers fail. There is one large old company that makes f urniture, but one of his sons told me they make more money processing wood than they do with furniture sometimes. They have massive planers, sanders and table saws that will cut any dimension a wood worker could make.

One guy came really close to getting over the hump of making a go of his dr eam of being a full time custom furniture maker, and he found the key was g iving lessons. This worked great until the really hot weather rolled aroun d (he taught in his rented warehouse) and people cancelled out of their les sons.

The last comment would be that we Texans are an outdoor group. It never fr oze here last year, and it may not have the year before. So we can hunt, f resh water fish (all over since our lakes are stocked by the State), hike, salt water fish in the gulf, go to the beach. Texas has something like 350

0 miles of beach! We have a beautiful island with white sands and blue wat er (Padre) where the weather is always nice and the margarita are served on the beach.

In San Antonio, we have Fiesta, which is an event that is second only to Ri o De Janeiro's party and lasts for a full week. Rodeo here lasts a couple of weeks. All the communities around here have food festivals that celebra te their heritage that usually last at least three days. IN San Antonio pr oper, we have a large Six Flags, another park as large called Fiesta Texas, and the largest waterpark in the USA is located about 15 minutes outside S an Antonio.

Austin and its music scene and festivals are just an hour and fifteen from here.

Since I do woodworking for a living, it isn't a treat for me anymore. So w hat happens when I join the San Antonio group? I can get up and drive to a beautiful park north of here and hike about 15 miles and play in the natur al springs. Walk back to the car, go into the nearest town and have a grea t chicken fried steak or BBQ, then when finished go sit in a beer joint by the river and drink craft beer while plotting my next move.

Good weather and plenty of activities will make a guy restless. And then, while I was describing San Antonio and its surrounding communities there ar e even more opportunities for fun and mischief if one is willing to drive f or just an hour.

I honestly think there is just too much to do. They younger guys are certa inly not interested, but really neither are most older folks. Our metropol itan area is purported to include something like 3 million people at this p oint. The last time I checked in at the fine wood worker's club meeting? 8 people. When I was in the wood turning club it was the same way. When ev eryone was turning, we had meetings with as many as 25 folks, but soon afte r that, it shrank down to about 10 or so guys that went mostly for the cama raderie as only half the attendees brought anything they turned.

Robert

[J. Clarke]

And how does "clampgage" prevent overclamping anyway? Put a clampgage in a

50-ton press and you've still got 50 tons of pressure.

[Steve]

Please do stop in and say hello to the Salt Lick in Driftwood for me, however, during one of your treks from SA to Austin.

Slainte.

[-MIKE-]

That might be too much. :-p

[russellseaton1]

oodworkers as other parts of the US? I might admit to being in the collect or category. Of course none of my collection is valuable for collecting pu rposes. I just happened to collect them over the years. Pretty sure I do not have $25,000 worth of tools. But if I added up the retail prices I pai d for all my tools (including the mechanic tools) I might have a heart atta ck or two or three.

s of thousands of retirees here that have the money to dabble in home shops , half the garage, or a Tuff Shed. Some retire quite early in life with ple nty of money and plenty of time to develop a hobby like woodworking. I have noticed that a lot of the retirees that do woodworking for a hobby look fo r a small task that is easily completed, and then wait to see what catches their fancy. They spend little time in study of techniques, applications, material and its use, or practicing to learn hand skills needed to be a dec ent woodworker.

put off by our weather. I was born and raised here and I am used to nasty hot summers, high humidity, strange weather (a couple of years ago it was in the mid 90s in February)and being miserable working outside. Sure, I do it for a living, but it is different from what I learned here many years a go.

eparate building, or take a space or two from your garage (attn: LB!). Mos t garages are full of crap already, so not much room to have a great shop. If you build a separate building, we have no state income tax here, but ar e nailed with property taxes. If you do build a stand alone shop and add w ater, electricity, and a bit of insulation, it is considered habitable by t he county,and is taxed at a certain rate. If it is attached in any way, ev en a just a door, it is considered a room addition and is taxed as real pro perty.

year when it is considered "Chamber of Commerce" weather. Nice days, beau tiful nights, and plenty of mild sunshine. The rest of the months, not so much. And we are prone to long heat spells as well as long rainy spells. So where does a serious hobby guy work? Do you drag all your stuff out on t he driveway when the weather is pleasant and work, knowing you will have a lot of time needed just to clean up and move the tools back in when you are finished? Where do you store your project?

t 100F that you leave sweat droplets on your project that stain the wood. Sweat and sawdust is in your eyes, you are miserable because your regular l ife is that of an office worker of some degree, and you feel punished. Tru ly, I am used to being that miserable with over 40 years of these condition s, but I don't like them. So a home guy with some real skills that can't t olerate the nasty weather changes is sunk before he starts. No one likes t o be miserable at their hobby. I don't believe most think it is worth the time and effort to learn "next level" woodworking if they are only going to do it a few months a year.

cases enjoy it depending on what I am doing. I don't know one single wood worker, full time or not, hobbyist or sincere DIY guy that likes finishing. Quite the contrary, they hate it.

it is 100 degrees with 80% humidity. What do you do? Try applying poly wh en the target material is so hot (and the poly is so viscous) that it liter ally slides of a vertical surface. And a good whiff of thinner on a really hot day can kill your enthusiasm for a project very easily. On those days when I am spraying, I literally pour (no kidding) the sweat out of my mask.

north of here with great shops. Basement or otherwise, they described hea ted shops for the winter, a coffee pot, radio, and one guy had (liquid only ) toilet in his little workshop. I could only imagine what it would be lik e to have a cold, crisp day and walk out to a shop with a mug of coffee in my hand and build a small fire in the furnace and piddle around with some p roject.

may still be around. They didn't use power tools, but mallets and chisels, and there were plenty of chip carvers, too. I think that as with much of the woodworking community the scroll sawyers have pretty much gone away. I know there was a pretty good wood turning community as I was part of it. Based mostly on smaller lathes, they didn't swamp the garage, and like me m any turned on their driveway during the nice weather.

furniture, but one of his sons told me they make more money processing woo d than they do with furniture sometimes. They have massive planers, sander s and table saws that will cut any dimension a wood worker could make.

dream of being a full time custom furniture maker, and he found the key was giving lessons. This worked great until the really hot weather rolled aro und (he taught in his rented warehouse) and people cancelled out of their l essons.

froze here last year, and it may not have the year before. So we can hunt, fresh water fish (all over since our lakes are stocked by the State), hike , salt water fish in the gulf, go to the beach. Texas has something like 3

500 miles of beach! We have a beautiful island with white sands and blue w ater (Padre) where the weather is always nice and the margarita are served on the beach.

Rio De Janeiro's party and lasts for a full week. Rodeo here lasts a coupl e of weeks. All the communities around here have food festivals that celeb rate their heritage that usually last at least three days. IN San Antonio proper, we have a large Six Flags, another park as large called Fiesta Texa s, and the largest waterpark in the USA is located about 15 minutes outside San Antonio.

what happens when I join the San Antonio group? I can get up and drive to a beautiful park north of here and hike about 15 miles and play in the nat ural springs. Walk back to the car, go into the nearest town and have a gr eat chicken fried steak or BBQ, then when finished go sit in a beer joint b y the river and drink craft beer while plotting my next move.

, while I was describing San Antonio and its surrounding communities there are even more opportunities for fun and mischief if one is willing to drive for just an hour.

tainly not interested, but really neither are most older folks. Our metrop olitan area is purported to include something like 3 million people at this point. The last time I checked in at the fine wood worker's club meeting? 8 people. When I was in the wood turning club it was the same way. When everyone was turning, we had meetings with as many as 25 folks, but soon af ter that, it shrank down to about 10 or so guys that went mostly for the ca maraderie as only half the attendees brought anything they turned.

[krw]

+1

My shop was the 2-car garage and (a slowly constructed) bonus room above it. It was really handy to open the garage door and move out into the driveway but Alabama summers aren't great for working outside. I certainly hear the issue of sweat messing up finishes.

This house has a full, walk-out, basement. I have >2000sq. ft. of space all to myself. It's not heated or air conditioned but there is really only a short time in the Summer where it's uncomfortable to work and the coldest part of the Winter only requires a sweat shirt to start. The only downside is that stuff really does accumulate to fit the space given. ;-) SWHMO is talking about moving but basements are hard to come by. I'm not wanting to go there (the last sentence is good reason why ;-).

[Leon]

My wife and I looked at houses for 25 years before buying again. There is one out there, don't rush.

[nailshooter41]

The kind of thing most of us can only dream of. I built a small detached " shop" at the rear of my house years ago, and it quickly became a storage an d holding room for my company. Contractors need ten tons of crap to get on e pound of work done to standards and on time. My "shop" has three miter s aws, a radial saw, a drill press, 3 compressors, roofing equipment, an airl ess paint rig, +/- 20 nail guns, nails, and on an on an on. I have about 8 large totes full of painting equipment, lights, and one with nails and scr ews. Not to mention two totes with tools the guys are allowed to use when theirs break (mostly Ryobi stuff). Add in materials that are being held fo r a job, materials too valuable to toss, and then the everyday stuff I use and the shop is packed full. And is not more than a large storage/work uni t.

Every once in a while, I think of having a shop... but until I am out of fu ll time contracting, it just isn't going to happen. Still fun to think abou t, though.

Robert

[krw]

I gots a huge basement now. Why would I want to move? ;-) ...and it'll be paid for in August.

Oh, *now* I got you. If I take 25 years...

[Leon]

With me, sometimes yo have to read between the lines. ;~) BUT after 25 years we got better than we had and pretty much exactly what we both wanted.

AND FWIW... If you wife drags you out to look at new homes the quickest way to get the salesman off of your back is to answer their question, how long have you been looking, with the answer, 25 years.

[Jack]

Agreed. Over clamping and under clamping is next to impossible to do. The most common problem is over gluing, something that can be seen on almost all Woodworking TV shows.

The best part of that worthless video was the clamping chart to tell you where to put the clamps... Really, if you don't have enough common sense to know where to put the clamps, you should be doing something else, most likely watching dancing with the stars or any of a myriad of mind numbing TV shows designed for the terminally dumb.

If one really wants to know where to put the clamps, just ask, I'll be happy to tell them...

[krw]

In 25 years, I'm sure she'll have gotten what she's wanted. ;-) ...and I won't care.

When we were looking for a place here, the first agent more or less gave up on us. She refused to show us stiff a little further out, implying that "our kind" (someone with money and white, I presumed) shouldn't look in those "other" communities. I was looking for a "steal", and I finally got it in one of "those" communities. The first house the new agent showed us (we'd seen the listing and wanted to see it some time before). ;-)