Okay, so I'm a novice woodworker with big ambitions. I've made a bunch of cutting boards, and that about covers it, though I've done lots of handyman-type work.
A few months ago, we had central air and heat installed, finally, and had our wall furnaces removed. This left two holes in the walls, one 5 ft tall and 14 inches wide, the other 4 1/2 feet tall and 14 inches wide. I was tempted to seal them up with drywall, but, given that we have very little storage in our house, the decision was made to convert the spaces into a medicine-type cabinet and a wine rack.
Problem - a 16 inch wide by 4 1/2 foot tall door.
Solution - while perusing lumber at Lowe's (please, I know there are better places, I was just in the moment, okay?) I saw 1/4 inch solid oak, 6 inches wide, by 4 feet long. hey, I bet I could glue two of those up to make a nice panel, eh?
My confidence waned once I got home. Having no joiner, I have to do this by hand, or haul the things down to the local college wood shop, which can be worse, considering the abuse the joiner there sometimes suffers. ("Kids, remember, you can't put in used lumer, especially when it still has nails in it!" "But it's a big machine, surely the cutters can handle a little nail!!" Yikes.)
So, I've amassed a few planes over the last year - a couple of dirty #7's that I haven't cleaned up yet, a number 6 that I have cleaned, and a few others. I had done a half-assed sharpening job on the #6, so I figured, what the hay, I might as well try joining these panels with it.
Set the wood up in my Shopmate, line it up, take a few shots at it, put them together, try it again, a little more aggresively, put them together - ohmigod, it works!! It worked! A dummy like me CAN join panels with hand tools!!!
So, I just had to share the moment with some people who would truly understand.
Mark Davis, CA