Gordy Anderson
04-11-2008, 10:40 AM
Greetings all,
I started 'finer' woodworking over this past winter. I've completed various woodworking tasks over the years but they weren't furniture. Decks, paneling, trim etc. So I got a new table saw for Christmas and set out to build my wife a jewelry amoire. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted before I chose the table saw, and I already had a 2 HP Sears router and DP visible in the first (grainy) picture. NOWHERE in my research did anyone mention the slippery slope I was about to fall into. I already had a finish nailer but my compressor sprung a leak, hense the new compressor in the second photo. (That's the base of the amoire.) Oh, and don't forget the clamps. Never have enough of those.
Then I glued the drawers (Huh, no new tools??) and then the sides. (Honey, I need more clamps!!) Oh yeah, my shop is in my 24X32 pole barn, and I had some gift certificates from Christmas to burn, so I added a tool box.
Overall so far it's been a rather frustrating experience. The plans I bought pretty much suck, and I've had to redo a few things and make adjustments as a result. Since I'm in Michigan, with our second worst winter ever, I've had to carry stuff between the unheated shop and my basement where I do the glueups. After 5 books and a 3 foot stack of woodworking magazines, my wife won't let me go to Barnes and Nobles any more, but I've learned a lot between that and following this and a couple other forums.
In spite of the frustration of the sucky plans and searching high and low to find some usable wood, and having to fine tune my equipment (after I've cut all the parts for the armoire - Doh!!), and buy more wood and make more adjustments... I'm actually rather enjoying myself. I don't point out most of my mistakes to my wife, and she loves the progress and is pretty excited for me to finish it up. She evens spends time on the Creek looking for my next project.
Stay tuned, more gloats, pics and story to follow....
Gordy
I started 'finer' woodworking over this past winter. I've completed various woodworking tasks over the years but they weren't furniture. Decks, paneling, trim etc. So I got a new table saw for Christmas and set out to build my wife a jewelry amoire. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted before I chose the table saw, and I already had a 2 HP Sears router and DP visible in the first (grainy) picture. NOWHERE in my research did anyone mention the slippery slope I was about to fall into. I already had a finish nailer but my compressor sprung a leak, hense the new compressor in the second photo. (That's the base of the amoire.) Oh, and don't forget the clamps. Never have enough of those.
Then I glued the drawers (Huh, no new tools??) and then the sides. (Honey, I need more clamps!!) Oh yeah, my shop is in my 24X32 pole barn, and I had some gift certificates from Christmas to burn, so I added a tool box.
Overall so far it's been a rather frustrating experience. The plans I bought pretty much suck, and I've had to redo a few things and make adjustments as a result. Since I'm in Michigan, with our second worst winter ever, I've had to carry stuff between the unheated shop and my basement where I do the glueups. After 5 books and a 3 foot stack of woodworking magazines, my wife won't let me go to Barnes and Nobles any more, but I've learned a lot between that and following this and a couple other forums.
In spite of the frustration of the sucky plans and searching high and low to find some usable wood, and having to fine tune my equipment (after I've cut all the parts for the armoire - Doh!!), and buy more wood and make more adjustments... I'm actually rather enjoying myself. I don't point out most of my mistakes to my wife, and she loves the progress and is pretty excited for me to finish it up. She evens spends time on the Creek looking for my next project.
Stay tuned, more gloats, pics and story to follow....
Gordy