Hi All,
I am as newbe and am in the process of digging out a foundation for my shop. I was wondering what kinds of working people here do? Care to share your's?
So far I have a Radial Arm Saw and a Table Saw along with assorted hand power and hand tools. What kind of wood working could I do with this type of set up? Obviously I couldn't turn bowls but am curious what others are doing.
TIA,
Ken
I'm turning bowls at the moment.
Sort of. Actually, I'm making huge piles of shavings on the floor and filling my trash can with lopsided, broken bits of wood.
I'm playing with my new lathe pretty exclusively because it's something I can do without paying to crank the heat all the way up to a temperature suitable for glue work, and because I'm between projecs.
Once things turn a bit, I'm going to make some sort of work box for SWMBO. I was originally envisioning a box-like thing, but now I'm thinking more along the lines of something built around spindles, with open sides. After that, I'm going to build myself a walnut/maple chess box with fancy wavy contrasting wood stuff on the sides; making good use of my new scroll saw.
After that, I have no idea, but that should keep me busy until the middle of spring anyway.
Ken, I understand your curiosity. One thing you might learn throughout your life is that there is always something new to learn, a technique, a twist or turn to try. That being said, asking as open ended question as you pose is putting you close to troll status. What most newbie's do is sit, read and absorb information for as long as they feel comfortable. Then ask about specifics, ideas, uses of grain, etc. My hope for you is to enjoy the woodworking you undertake, whatever form that is. Do it carefully with the knowledge that this hobby/lifestyle/addiction can be and is dangerous if one is foolishly careless. To answer your question......it will become obvious that all aspects of woodworking are covered here at some time or other, from the finest furniture and cabinet making to making toys for the kids in our lives, and everything in between. So sit back and enjoy the "wreck", it's banter, it's humor (sometimes), and even it's horrors. Good luck and have fun.
Dave
Ken,
Necessity being the monther of invention (and the step parent of tool purchases). Make what you need. Personally, I focus on projects for which I have a need, and the solution (to my specific needs) is not available "over the counter" (e.g., an array of shelves to fit precisely in a particular space).
Don't let tooling be too much of a factor.
To answer the question what do I do?
Lately: A night Stand, A Medicine Cabinet, a Sewing table, a new table fixture for my drill press. I'm working on a bathroom armour right now (Towels up top, his/hers hampers on the bottom) Oh yeah, fridge magnets too. :-)
-S
I do what I like to do and what I need. I don't work for the money or offer to make things for friends.
I've made lots of furniture for my wife's doll collection. that is what got me started. We'd buy some of the poorly made things (bed, chairs, etc) and figured I could do it better. I did. With four girl type grandchildren. I had a good outlet for anything I made. I like to scale down real designs as opposed to making toy looking stuff. From photos, people thought the oak desk was full sized until they saw a doll sitting at it.
I've done some outdoor furniture. Tudor bench, tables. Not to mention bird feeders and bird houses.
I made a "temporary" stereo rack that is probably going to be permanent since it looks so good. Under construction now is a magazine rack. Following that is a TV stand to fit a new TV.
You can do all that too. As for tools, buy what you need when you need it. Stationary sander, router, band saw are all good, but you can get buy with hand tools.
Some of the small items that are quick to make are good for gift giving. Trivets, trays, spatula make nice items and people appreciate your hand work. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
I fancy myself as a furniture maker, but the fact be known I'm more of a maker of organizational things. I'm going to make that dresser as soon as I get my sandpaper organized, oh yeah I've got to get all my saws in a nice hanging rack too, but then I need to finish a display shelf for my handplanes, I should really complete my dust collection, then I need to....
What can you do with the tools you have? I would say just about anything. As you realize it's not practical to try and do any turning, but you can do most anything else. Woodworking is basically cutting boards to size and connecting them with glue, screws, biscuits, dowels, mortise/tenons, etc. You can do that with handtools, but the TS and RAS will simplify things. Most of the time boards are cut with square edges, but sometimes you need to cut curves into them so a portable jig saw ($100) or a bandsaw ($500) would be nice, but you can buy those when you need them.
As you'll discover there are at least 5 tools you can buy to do every task you'll ever want to do. Don't get hung up on the belief that you can't do anything until you get a tool to do it. Some of the most beautiful stuff ever made was done all with handtools. Power tools, for the most part, just make it faster and more accurate. Especially for those of us that do it as a hobby.
Welcome to woodworking and to the group!
Steering wheel blanks. Honest.
Armoire.
If you need bathroom armour, that must be one hell of a spider in the plughole.
Ken, etal;
My latest projects (last 12-18 months).
Kitchen cabinets. (Oak , raised panel doors). Built myself a router table last spring (Norm's plan from the OYWS). Replacement drawers for my mother's kitchen cabinets. Towel and supply cabinet for the bathroom. Shop tools and Jigs. Waist high, enclosed cabinet for the good living room. For books and picture albumns.
Projects in the TODO list.
Current house. Fireplace mantle for a gas fireplace insert in the family room.
New house. (you can see the plans at home.woh.rr.com/walterdomain/ ) Office desk for the office.
Fireplace mantle for the family room.
Paneling and shelves for the office.
Kitchen cabinets.
Dining room set (tables, chairs, hutch).
Piano bench (baby baby grand piano given to us - circa 1920's - mahogany)
Bar for the basement.
F> Hi All,
Ken Vonk wrote: : Hi All,
: I am as newbe and am in the process of digging out a foundation for my shop. : I was wondering what kinds of working people here do? Care to share your's?
My woodworking projects:
Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:
--- Gregg "Improvise, adapt, overcome." snipped-for-privacy@head-cfa.harvard.edu Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Phone: (617) 496-1558
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