North Louisiana woes

[Tim Cooper Louisiana]

Hello everyone, I'm a long time tool collector. I'd like to be a woodworker, but I've never taken enough time off work to actually do any woodworking. I have some basic carpentry skills, and a few tools (not the ones i really need). I'm really wanting to focus on actually beginning to do projects soon. I never really considered hand tools, but a friend of mine recently let me come over and pester him into learning some skills. I thought we'd be doing power tools, but instead he showed me how to do a mortise and tenon with a chisel and some hand saws. The whole time I was pretty much thinking how much easier it would be to do with some power tools. (If he knew how to do it with power tools, because I'm not sure how to do a lot. I have a Festool Domino XL, it's never been out of it's box.) Overall, it was pretty frustrating and tiring. I don't know how the chisel could look perfectly perpendicular to me, but to him it was at an angle. Based on the mortise, he was right. When I left I was thinking that I wished we'd spent the time on the table saw. Then something weird happened..the next day all I could think about was that mallet and chisel, and I couldn't get it out of my head. The next day it was even worse.

So I've got a few weeks until my Bad Axe 16" tenon saw comes in, but my Veritas LA Jack plane should arrive tomorrow! I also ordered a LV router plane, that should ship tomorrow. I'm now pretty broke, and figuring out what to do next. I did pick up a 1k, 5k, 8k shapton ceramic stones, and a LN honing guide. I bought some Narex bench chisels to practice sharpening, but I mainly just stare at them every night, then go watch some videos on sharpening.

The thing is, North Louisiana stinks for hobbies (unless you want to kill something). I've tried to call around and find lumber yards that carry hardwoods...nope. I've searched for woodworking clubs...nope. I do have the friend who has all the hand tools, and he's amazing gifted. However, woodworking isn't really his thing right now, and I know he was just being nice and humoring me. I've done this before, but I figure it can't hurt to ask if anyone living near North LA, wouldn't mind some company in the shop. I don't normally knock stuff over :). I am generally well behaved ,and I'm not very good looking so I'm no threat.

I will say that I'm pretty lucky to have become really good friends with a guy who has a bandsaw lumber mill and lots of land. He has told me I can take whatever lumber I want and practice or whatever. It's all local stuff..oak, pine, hickory, cedar etc. I want to start on a Roubo style workbench soon, so I may try to figure out what he has that I can use to build it. So this is getting awkwardly long, and I'll just stop typing now.

--
Coop

[Chris Hachet]

Welcome and keep posting. Working mostly by myself here in Ohio....

[Tom M King]

Sounds like you'll fit right in here! Make sure any wood you use for the bench is very dry before spending time working that wood. Hopefully, your sawyer friend will understand about drying wood.

[Tim Cooper Louisiana]

Thanks! I don't think I've ever been to Ohio. I wish I were better at figuring stuff out myself and working solo. I think I'm going to try to go to a woodworking show in Atlanta in April. I may find some seminars there useful. I may also try to find a class at this place in Waco. The only issue is that I really want a sharpening 101 class, and the next one of those that is open is in August. I'm not very good at watching videos and transferring them to real life.

[Tim Cooper Louisiana]

Sounds like you'll fit right in here! Make sure any wood you use for the bench is very dry before spending time working that wood. Hopefully, your sawyer friend will understand about drying wood.

He's a great sawyer, but he's not a woodworker. He says he has some Black Locust that would probably make a good work bench. It's been drying for 4-5 years. I haven't seen it yet to know the dimensions.

[Jim Koepke]

Hey Coop, welcome to the Cave by the side of the Creek.

Your case sounds a little like mine when I started. There really wasn't anyone to show me how to do anything.

So I started out and learned from my mistakes. Learning to sharpen things took me a few years to get the hang of it. My best advice on this maybe to learn how to get to sharp before you start experimenting with all the variations. Once you can get two surfaces to meet at a sharp edge consistently then you may want to try some of the other tricks. If you start out trying to include every trick there is and it doesn't work you will have no idea what the problem might be.

The things I like about a sharpening guide is the repeatability and the speed. If I wasn't able to work an edge freehand, I would likely have a half a dozen of them.

The conventional wisdom on benches is to build it out of locally available wood. To a point this is good advise. Of course you don't want to build it from wood that is going to twist up or rot out quickly.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Know of a fellow over in Baucumville, LA,,,,,first name be Eddie. He also has a friend across the big muddy, up in Hill city, aka Vicksburg.

As for Chris.....I'm just an hour's drive away, anytime he wants to come over.......

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I don't know about locust. I grew up using that stuff for fence posts. The posts last practically forever, but once they seasoned they were very hard. If you are planning to build a bench out of seasoned locust with hand tools, it might be a lot for a first project.

One of the troubles I had starting out was building anything without a bench. I went with the plywood and 2 x 4 torsion box design, because it was something I could build without power tools, and without a bench to use to build the bench. It is nobody's idea of a dream bench, but I have learned a heck of a lot with it, built a bunch of stuff, and when I get situated to build a "real bench" I will be able to do so.

[Chris Hachet]

Thanks! I don't think I've ever been to Ohio. I wish I were better at figuring stuff out myself and working solo. I think I'm going to try to go to a woodworking show in Atlanta in April. I may find some seminars there useful. I may also try to find a class at this place in Waco. The only issue is that I really want a sharpening 101 class, and the next one of those that is open is in August. I'm not very good at watching videos and transferring them to real life.

Sharpening is fairly simple. I find Diamond stones to work very well....they do not dish, they cut well, and they work fast. A honing guide and some practice should get you in business.

[Chris Hachet]

Hey Coop, welcome to the Cave by the side of the Creek.

Your case sounds a little like mine when I started. There really wasn't anyone to show me how to do anything.

So I started out and learned from my mistakes. Learning to sharpen things took me a few years to get the hang of it. My best advice on this maybe to learn how to get to sharp before you start experimenting with all the variations. Once you can get two surfaces to meet at a sharp edge consistently then you may want to try some of the other tricks. If you start out trying to include every trick there is and it doesn't work you will have no idea what the problem might be.

The things I like about a sharpening guide is the repeatability and the speed. If I wasn't able to work an edge freehand, I would likely have a half a dozen of them.

The conventional wisdom on benches is to build it out of locally available wood. To a point this is good advise. Of course you don't want to build it from wood that is going to twist up or rot out quickly.

jtk


The Black locust he would possibly use is excellent in that regard as it is highly rot resistant, almost as good as Teak.

[Chris Hachet]

I don't know about locust. I grew up using that stuff for fence posts. The posts last practically forever, but once they seasoned they were very hard. If you are planning to build a bench out of seasoned locust with hand tools, it might be a lot for a first project.

One of the troubles I had starting out was building anything without a bench. I went with the plywood and 2 x 4 torsion box design, because it was something I could build without power tools, and without a bench to use to build the bench. It is nobody's idea of a dream bench, but I have learned a heck of a lot with it, built a bunch of stuff, and when I get situated to build a "real bench" I will be able to do so.


I really like the idea of a simple first bench....once you build one, you will want to change a bunch of things about it. So you will end up building another one. I know I did.

Google Bob and Daves fast cheap bench...Swartz had an article in Popular Woodworking called the $175 bench a few years ago that might work also. FWW also ahs a few intro bench builds. They even had one built of plywood that would work.

[Chris Hachet]

Know of a fellow over in Baucumville, LA,,,,,first name be Eddie. He also has a friend across the big muddy, up in Hill city, aka Vicksburg.

As for Chris.....I'm just an hour's drive away, anytime he wants to come over.......


Still want to Road trip the Lie Nielson tool event in Kentucky....?

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I really like the idea of a simple first bench....once you build one, you will want to change a bunch of things about it.

I have certainly gone through a lot of thought about it over the years. I started out really liking the continental style cabinet makers benches with the shoulder vises, and for a while I was very intrigued by the Roubo style everyone is building. I am leaning more an more towards a simple English style though, like the one Mike Siemsen built (he has a YouTube video on it), and I think that is what I will probably build. I think whether I started with an expensive full scale thing, or something cheap, I would be building another one.

If you go the cheap and quick route, Google "workbench in a weekend." The plans are free in PDF (they were published some years ago in one of the magazines). The materials are inexpensive, and all you really need for tools is a saw, a drill, and a tape measure. You can certainly build it without a bench (I put most of mine together in the back yard). And it will work pretty well. Not super amazing awesomely well, but good enough to get you up and running, and able to use your tools and figure out if this is something you really want to do. And once you decide what you want, you will have a place to build it. If you have access to planers and jointers and tablesaws, you might be able to put together a pretty good "traditional" bench even without a bench to build it on.

I always wonder how many people who start out with a bunch of lie Nielsen tools and a $2500 workbench are still using them ten years later. Doing things by hand is not for everyone, and if somebody starting out wanted my advice I would suggest they start simple and less expensive, and see if it is something they really like doing, or if it is one of those things that is more appealing in the mind's eye than it is in practice.

[Tim Cooper Louisiana]

I think your advice is sound about starting small. My friend that I visited has a pretty nice set of tools. His workbench build is on this site, I'll have to find it and link it. I've been exposed to the good life, and I want more. I'm just not sure the best way to get started.

Here red is that build link: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?212942-My-First-Workbench&highlight=

[steven c newman]

Yep. As long as it is after Uncle Sugar has paid me....

[Joe A Faulkner]

I think your advice is sound about starting small. My friend that I visited has a pretty nice set of tools. His workbench build is on this site, I'll have to find it and link it. I've been exposed to the good life, and I want more. I'm just not sure the best way to get started.

Here red is that build link: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?212942-My-First-Workbench&highlight=

The best way to get started is to build something. Maybe a simple wall cabinet, blanket chest, kleenex box cover, book shelf, assembly table, coffee table, saw bench, chisel rack, cutting board, napkin holder, saw horses, something. What you decide to build will give you some guidance as to what tools you need to acquire. If you are going to build a ruobo style bench, with a laminated top, you are going to need clamps, lots of clamps unless of course you can convince your friend to loan you his, and you will need a good rip saw and cross cut saw, a square, a brace and some drill bits.

[Tim Cooper Louisiana]

The best way to get started is to build something. Maybe a simple wall cabinet, blanket chest, kleenex box cover, book shelf, assembly table, coffee table, saw bench, chisel rack, cutting board, napkin holder, saw horses, something. What you decide to build will give you some guidance as to what tools you need to acquire. If you are going to build a ruobo style bench, with a laminated top, you are going to need clamps, lots of clamps unless of course you can convince your friend to loan you his, and you will need a good rip saw and cross cut saw, a square, a brace and some drill bits.

thanks for the advice Joe! I have a hybrid tenon saw ordered. I think it will work for rips and cross cuts, albeit a little slower. I hope that's true anyway. I was thinking about building a saw bench when it comes in. I don't have the skill to build a good workbench yet, but one day. I think I'm going to try to spend a few hours each week just practicing cuts, and joints. Maybe plane some boards into nothing.

[Jim Koepke]

I was thinking about building a saw bench when it comes in. I don't have the skill to build a good workbench yet, but one day. I think I'm going to try to spend a few hours each week just practicing cuts, and joints. Maybe plane some boards into nothing.

A saw bench is a great project to practice technique. My suggestion would be to build at least a pair. When using a saw table, bench or horse it is always nice to have a second one to support the cut offs.

Mine are built more like saw horses, but the joinery would be similar for straight legged sawing assistants.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?146777-Saw-Table-Project

Practicing joinery is also a good idea. Many suggest it is a good way to 'warm up' when first getting in the shop. There are a whole lot of internet pages devoted to "five minute dovetails." It is a good way to use scrap or to even make a lot of scrap.

On the planing boards into nothing, I would suggest planing one surface to smoothness and then plane the edges to be square to the smoothed face. You may still end up planing a board to nothing, but you will get a feel for getting one surface square to another.

One of the best helpers to making good joinery is having square edges and ends. A saw bench could be used to support a small shooting board, another item of shop furniture that can be very helpful.

Have fun and keep us informed of your progress.

jtk