On Topic: What to make to hone skills

[busbus]

Hello,

Sorry about the Neil sideshow I have been participating in. It's done now.

I have been extremely busy the last year or so and I don't see any end in sight but I want to start getting into this much more for a release. The problem is that I don't have the time to do anything really big and I figured it is better to do a lot of smaller things over and over again but...what? I know I need to get A LOT better with joints, almost all joints! I can make them but they don't fit together perfectly and that irritates me.

I am tired of making things for the shop because I can simply say, "Well, this is for the shop, so who really cares if that part doesn't fit so well." Should I start using "real" wood or stick with the cheap stuff? Maybe part of my problem is that I have been building things with cheap-o pine and MDF and whatnot.

Any suggestions on what to make over and over again? Boxes of some sort, maybe? Picture frames?

I have a table saw, a nice Bosch jigsaw I got at a garage sale for $75, a small drill press, a cheap-o router, and a DowelMax that I am sharing with another friend. I work out of a half a garage and push everything against the wall. I don't know if any of this makes a difference or not.

Thanks, busbus

[Lew Hodgett]

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Woodworkers and sailors have something in common, patience.

Patience is a virtue applies.

Reading the above indicates to me you probably need to improve your patience skills.

One way to do that is to you real material that costs real money so that when you get in a hurry and make a mistake, there is a price to pay, not only in money but also time.

Start by building some sleds out of Baltic birch plywood.(Cross cut,

45 miter, box loint, panel trimming, etc).

Not only do you improve your skills, you get something that is useful.

You have a router, build a router station.

The NYW version worked for me.

You have a drill press, build some jigs for it.

The above will consume $200-$300 and probably a years time, but you will have accomplished something as well.

Have fun.

Lew

[Mark & Juanita]

... snip

What Lew said below is good advice. Those jigs are going to help you hone your skills because precision is a requirement for them to work well. After that, you will have the tools needed to tackle projects for the house. Look around at things you might want or need (mirrors, picture frames, decorative shelves, etc if you want small projects). You can also adopt a longterm project that is bigger (say a curio cabinet, end tables, or similar) with the knowledge that it's going to take a year or two to finish. Break the bigger project into smaller sub-projects so you see results and get the satisfaction of seeing something finish that goes into the whole. For example, completing the carcase can be one of those sub-projects. Same for drawers, top, etc. Take your time and enjoy what you are seeing come together.

[Swingman]

Tables ...

with the one on the cover.

[Lobby Dosser]

Allow yourself to succeed. Do something Small. See "Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)" or "Woodworking Basics: Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship".

[Puckdropper]

busbus wrote in news:f670dbfb-99bb-48d0-a0db- [e-mail]:

How about a set of drawers? The drawers will be made over and over again, but in the end you'll get something useful. A small one with 3 drawers and a nice frame could be a nightstand or a wider one may be a couple in end tables.

Go ahead and use the pine. Sometimes all it takes is a little work and you've got a beautiful piece of wood. (Or at least not an ugly one.)

Once I get my CMS dust collection stand finished, the next project is going to be a half dozen or so bins for screws.

The most important thing is to simply go out there and build something! Since you're just practicing, just screw or nail the parts together. If you get a better idea later, it's easy to take apart.

Puckdropper

[Nova]

Box making would be my suggestion. Pick up one of Doug Stowe's books on the subject. Doug used to be an active member of this news group. I recommend:

[Zz Yzx]

I used to use "cheap" pine too, but once you use hardwoods you'll prefer them.

Make small things: keepsake boxes, jewelry boxes, beach sand collection boxes, chests, chest-of-drawers (I made one that I use to store batteries), remote control stands, &tc.

-Zz

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:32:15 -0700 (PDT), busbus wrote the following:

You were this || close to being plonked, buddy.

Yeah, smaller things are easier on the pocketbook to toss after a learning experience. Lee Valley had an old woodwork training book (from 1917) which might interest you. _Projects for Woodwork Training_ Galoots Rule!

Yes, for pity's sake, use real wood. Jummywood and termite barf ain't fit for nuttin' but the fireplace.

Jigs, boxes, small tables, whatever catches your fancy. If you make something others want, when they start turning out nicely, you can sell them and recoup your original losses.

Pick up a set of Marples Blue Chips and learn how to use them, too.

-- To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle. -- Confucius

[RicodJour]

Make over and over again...? Why? Are you hoping to go into production?

It really doesn't matter all that much what you make, as long as you learn from your mistakes, exercise your patience, and _enjoy_ what you're making. No one here can answer what pleases you.

There are lots of, ahem, branches to woodworking and they are very different animals. Some people love fussy work such as chip carving, others like building large items like kitchen cabinets. What triggers your 'man, that's sweet, I'd like to make/own one of those' reaction? When you find something that just begs to be made, that's what you should make.

The other factor is what will you do with the stuff you make. Will you keep the stuff, furnish your house, give them away as gifts? If it's gifts, something small is best, of course. If there is a SWMBO in the picture, you'll get your orders from on high. ;)

R

[Buddy Matlosz]

WTF did *I* do???

Buddy

[Buddy Matlosz]

WTF did *I* do???

Buddy

[Lobby Dosser]

And learn to sharpen them.

[Megan Kinzler]

All great advice. You guys pegged me good: I need to work on my patience! I ain't got none.

What I meant by "over and over" was the same sort of thing: like when somebody suggested that I make drawers. That would be doing the same thing over and over again. Good advice.

I personally would like to build bigger things like cabinets or something like that. I guess I could build cabinets for the garage: one for my drill press, maybe a router table (even though I do have one of those small, pre-made tables already), or even put several together to make a decent workbench.

I was wondering about starting to use hardwood because I thought that maybe my results could possibly be better. I have tried making hand cut dovetails and have done alright but i have trouble cleaning out the waste and I thought that maybe it was because the pine I was using was soft and, well, stringy (sort of). I thought maybe the hardwood would clean up better. I am probably 1000% wrong but I have no clue.

Making jigs is also a great idea because that, in of itself, will force me to become more patient because if the jig is off, then it will be of no use. I guess in addition to patience, I will need to work on my anger management skills because I am sure I am going to get frustrated to hell and back trying to get the jigs to be perfectly accurate!

Oh, as far as learning how to sharpen chisels, I think I have got that one down. I have played with the Scary Sharp method to clean up some old chisels that were given to me and it worked really well. I have found that it is faster and easier to sharpen freehand than playing around with jigs. I had bought one and the person who gave me her father's old chisels included one he had and neither worked as well as nothing. Plus using noting was a whole lot faster. It seems awful strnage to me but I actually had a lot of fun sharpening those chisels.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

busbus

[busbus]

OOPS!!!!!

My daughter was logged in and I replied using her information. Sorry about that!!!!!!

[dpb]

...

...

I'd suggest the difficulty indicates the chisels, while sharper than out of the box, are not optimally sharp yet or they would slice even pine end grain smoothly w/o tearing.

One thing I'd wonder about w/ the combination of freehand and sandpaper method (in conjunction w/ your admitted lack of patience :) ) would be whether actually did truly flatten the backs of the chisels sufficiently to get that perfect bevel-forming straight line that the edge is formed against. Particularly as I've had some difficulty in that regards in the paper wanting to roll instead of staying put if try the loose method.

Just a thought...oh, can you pare a continuous thin shaving off of pine end grain the width of the chisel? If not, it isn't yet really, really sharp...

$0.01, fwiw, imo, etc., etc, etc., ...

--

[RicodJour]

Well, for most people, the things they have the patience for the things they enjoy. I get lost in time when I'm working on a project. I forget to eat, etc. But, if I am not enjoying what I am doing I have zilch in the way of patience.

I would suggest that doing something over and over is a good way to suck the fun out of it. By that I mean just practicing dovetails can get old unless they're part of something that you really want to make.

Building cabinet boxes can be as easy or as difficult as you'd like, so sure, that's a good place to start. If you customize your workspace you'll enjoy the work more.

Well, not that bad - you're only off by 180 degrees. Dovetails in hardwoods are less forgiving. Pine will smoosh a bit and allow the joint to go together, hardwood will split to tell you the fit is too tight.

Why are you programming yourself to be frustrated and impatient?

Yep, I love sharpening things. When I'm over at someone's house it's almost guaranteed that I'll start sharpening their kitchen knives. I just like doing it. Scary Sharp works great, but I like my Japanese water stones. It's just more satisfying for some reason.

R

[Larry Blanchard]

Well, if you really want a learning challenge, look up "Wooton Patent Desk" :-).

[Neil Brooks]

What kind of JOINERY are you proficient with ?

IMHO, it's probably time to learn a new skill.

When you figure out which new joint you might be interested in learning, then you can survey your stash of wood, and decide what you're already equipped to build.

Often, it's good to do this by looking through DIY plan books or websites.

Small tables are great. M&T joinery is a very helpful skill. Thinks like splined miters are run.

Bird feeders, waste baskets, jewelry boxes, shoe stands, cutting boards, mail boxes ... wine bottle holders, are all rather quick projects that CAN make use of pretty complex joinery, if you want them to.

Whatever you choose ... it SHOULD require the purchase of a new tool, though.

[busbus]

really looks easy!