When the class began we were instructed to choose a plan for a project that we would like to complete. I had been working on some designs in SketchUp prior to that and decided to build one of them. I had promised to build a nightstand for my wife for Christmas so I already had purchased the lumber.

In this post I’ll include several pictures and a few iPhone videos that I’ve taken along the way. When I finally finish the project, I’ll post it on my projects page.

Here’s a couple of images of the SketchUp model that I did…

I could have waited till later to do this but here is an image of how I glued up the table top from two pieces using biscuits to help align it. That was the first time I’d used a biscuit joiner and I’ve gotta say, I think I’m gonna have to get me one…

Here are a few pictures of my clamping strategy. You may notice that some of the pictures are taken in different shops. That’s because I did the majority of the first steps at school and have been doing some “homework” in my own shop.

In these pictures you can see how things are coming together:

I saved the drawer for last, probably because I found it intimidating. I wanted to do half blind dovetails to show a nice touch of craftsmanship but I had never done it before. I don’t have a router table or a dovetail jig but I do have a dozuki and some chisels. (I did cheat a little bit though, I used the scroll saw to cut out the tails.)

Here’s a little video of my FIRST DOVETAILS EVER!!!

You can tell that I am less than impressed with my results on the first go-around but “practice makes perfect”, right?

Here are a couple pictures of the half blinds that I did. The first one is right after I got them fit and the second is after I glued the drawer together and sanded the sides nice and flat. I made all of the pins a bit long so that I could sand them flush once it was glued up… (To fill the gaps in my joints I mixed up some two part structural epoxy with some sanding dust)

And finally, here’s a little video tour of the table before I did the drawer…

I’ve been experimenting with some finishes that I’m considering so I’ll show some of that as I get some pictures and video.

*By the way, has anybody used the Behlen’s Water Based Grain Filler? I haven’t been getting really good results with my experiments… It could definitely be user error… but maybe that stuff just sucks?... any advice would be appreciated…

So I as you can read in my previous blog posts about my woodworking education, I have been seriously contemplating enrolling in a full time furniture craftsmanship program. I recently returned from a visit to Palomar Community College in San Marcos, Ca to meet with the Cabinet and Furniture technology program instructors and take a tour of their facility.

I mentioned that I was about 90% sure that I would be going there this fall (August 2010). Well, I’m not at 90% any more…

I have a certain method for making decisions in my life: Study and evaluate all viable options, choose one that feels like the best at the moment, and proceed down that path even if I’m not 100% sure yet that it’s the right one. I am a religious person and I believe that God is not only interested in our “eternal salvation” but He’s interested in our daily lives. I believe that He will help us find a path that brings us the most joy and personal growth, even if that path isn’t the easiest option. That being said, the next step I take when making decisions is to confidently pursue the option that I have chosen, fully devoting myself to it. If the decision is correct I will feel settled and secure. If it’s not, I will feel uneasy. If I don’t initially feel confident then I will keep going until I either become confident or a more appropriate option becomes available. The bottom line: make an educated decision by yourself and God will help you feel if you need to change course.

Ok, now that you kind of know how I make decisions I’ll fill you in on what I’ve been thinking lately…

So as of last Saturday (3/20/10) I had pretty much decided that I was going to be enrolling in one of the Cabinet and Furniture Tech programs over at Palomar College. My wife and I were already planning when we could get back over to CA to get our I.D. cards to start establishing our “residency” there. As the week passed I have tried to move forward with my decision. I have spoken to several family members, and a couple friends, and told them that we were probably going to be in California by the fall. But the longer I thought about my decision the more uneasy I felt about it. My wife felt the same (it’s imperative that we make important decisions as a team).

I have looked into other options that I could pursue to get my woodworking education. There are several good woodworking schools around the country that I am considering at this point in time. One of them is The Northwest Woodworking Studio (owned and operated by Gary Rogowski, a well known craftsman and published woodworking author) in Portland, Oregon. They have a couple options that might work for me. There are three “mastery” programs that include a 9-month commitment for their Resident Mastery Program, or 2 years for their Distance and Local Mastery Programs.

The ones that I am most interested in are the 9-month Resident Program and the Distance Mastery Program. The benefit to the Distance program is that it is about $10,000 cheaper than the $17,000+ that you need to pay for the Resident Mastery Program. Another benefit to the Distance Program is that it is designed for people that are holding down a full time job in conjunction with their woodworking education. That would be helpful to me because I could work and continue to go to school to earn my business degree while also getting a great woodworking education.

The down side to the Distance Program is that there would be all of the distractions that come with “work” and “home”, not to mention that the program is over twice as long as the 9 month version. Also, for the local and distance programs, you have to use your own shop. I guess I could use the extra 10 grand that would have gone to tuition to buy the additional tools that I would need (band saw and drill press, various hand tools, for example). Another drawback of the Distance program is that there would be quite a bit of travel involved. Every 3-4 months during the 2-year programs there is a muti-day seminar that I would need to attend. I would also need to find a way to transport the current project from Phoenix, AZ to Portland, OR (just over 1300 miles) so that it could be reviewed.

There are several well-known woodworking schools, other than the Northwest Woodworking Studio, that offer a 9-month comprehensive program (The North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA and The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, ME, to name a couple). The benefit to the 9-month program is that it would be literally 9 months of pure woodworking paradise, a well outfitted shop with all of the appropriate machines, direct and more constant contact with the instructors, and few distractions that would get between me and my work. Most of the schools that I have looked into for that type of program also set aside some time to work on the business side of things in one way or another. The prices for these programs all hover around $17,500, give or take a couple Benjamins, not including materials for each project (add about another 200-500 bucks times the number of projects to be completed).

Well, we’ve gone over some of the comprehensive programs that I am looking into. I think that I would really like to complete a program like the ones that I’ve discussed because I feel that they offer the best type of woodworking education out there. I think that by immersing myself in the craft for a solid, extended, block of time, I will be shaving years off of the normal learning curve of the typical woodworking education (“typical” being defined as self taught or working as an apprentice at an already established shop).

Now the nuts and bolts: My current plan…

-Continue going to school to get my degree in business

-Pay off some debt and set some tuition money aside for the next year or two so that I can fund a 9-month comprehensive program with mostly, if not all, cash.

-Build up my collection of tools

-Continue to investigate the fine custom furniture business by talking to successful makers that are currently working

-Take a few smaller seminars at various woodworking schools that I’m interested in

-Plan on getting an education that ensures a more stable and reliable income while I hone my furniture making skills at the same time

-Upon graduating with a degree in business, get a well paying job while I start my furniture business on the side

I’m sure that as time passes I will modify the plan but now I feel confident that the direction in which I am heading is the right one for me, right now. I feel like waiting to drop everything and go to woodworking school is the right thing to do, right now. I feel that as I explore all of my options and take a few woodworking classes while simultaneously getting a degree in business can do nothing but help me in the future as I eventually start my own business as a furniture designer and craftsman.

Bottom Line: I need to worry about my “bottom line” making sure that I can earn enough $$ to pay the bills and have the lifestyle that my wife and I want, without sacrificing my passion for furniture design and craftsmanship…

Let me know what you think…

First off, thank you to all those who commented on my last entry! There were definitely some good points made. In this entry I will give you an overview of my experience and share some of my thoughts. I think writing it down will help me as I evaluate my experience and decide what I want to do from here.

About a week before I was planning to go out to California I called and left a message for Beverly Scott, the cabinet and furniture technology secretary. She called me back and I told her when I would be in California and that I would like to tour their facility and talk to the department heads. She was very helpful and passed my message along to the full time instructors. I got a call from Russ Filbeck (one of the full time instructors there for over 20 yrs) soon after and we talked for about 30 minutes. I told him what my goals are and he gave me some good information and we set up a time to meet. I also got a voicemail from Chris Feddersohn (currently the instructor that’s pretty much in charge of the program) letting me know that they were expecting me and would be happy to show me around.

When I got to the College last Thursday (3/18/10) I met Beverly at her office and she introduced me to Russ. He walked me through their 3 classrooms and 3 machine rooms. They’ve got some pretty impressive machinery and plenty of space to accommodate whatever project I would want to work on. Here’s a link to their website where they have some pictures of what I saw…

I did see a lot of great machinery while I was there but I did see some students using hand tools at the benches in the classrooms.

Russ took me outside to show me where the students have access to some storage units where they can keep the projects they’re working on while they’re not in class. He walked us by the sawmill that they have there at the school too. They have an urban forestry program that has been up and running for the last few years. The school sells the lumber to the students at a greatly discounted rate. Russ also showed me the “commercial lumber” room where they keep several domestic species on hand for the students to purchase as well (maple, poplar, walnut, etc.).

Over all I think they have a great facility and that they offer a great program to anyone who wants to learn the art of fine furniture (or custom cabinetry as they offer a specific course designed to train people how to work in a cabinet shop). Here's a link to their site where they talk about each program.

The Cabinet and Furniture Tech degrees that they offer don’t give much in the way of any business training. Palomar is a community college though so I will probably continue my education in business by taking appropriate courses outside the furniture program.

Here is a link to the Cabinet and Furniture Technology department's website at Palomar College.

I don’t want to commit 100% to it yet but I’m about ninety percent sure that I will be enrolling in their program and starting this fall. Although I would love to be able to make a great living as a furniture designer and craftsman I think that as I pursue my woodworking education I will also get training in a field that offers a bit more financial security. I think that I’ll probably get a job where I can make a good living and then do furniture on the side. If it takes off from there then great, but if not then I will still have received a very fulfilling education in a field that I love. Regardless of what I end up doing as a full time profession, woodworking will always be a big part of my life.

I just thought I’d start a blog about my experiences on this journey we are constantly on of getting our woodworking education. (As I write this entry I’m sitting in the car, in the parking lot of a Del Taco restaurant, in Indio, California.)

I am at a crucial crossroads in my life right now; I’ve recently gotten married, I don’t have much school done, and I need to choose a career to support my wife and I as well as our future children… As I have pondered over the course of my 27 year old life I have had many ideas of what I could be “when I grow up”. I’ve thought about becoming a dentist, a veterinarian, an opthalmologist, and other “worthwhile professions”. But as I try to imagine myself in any of those careers I just don’t feel right about them.

Long story short, I want to be a furniture designer and craftsman. Although there are people that will think I’m crazy for attempting this and it is sure to be a difficult path, I feel that I can really dedicate myself to it and somehow find a way to make it successful.

I am somewhat of a novice woodworker so to get a jump on my education I am looking into enrolling in a full-time furniture craftsmanship program. In a couple hours from now I will be meeting with some of the staff over at Palomar Community College in San Marcos, California to talk about thier facility. My plan it to see if their program will be a good fit for me.

Ive got several questions for them myself but if you all can post a reply to this blog entry in the next few hours I’m sure that I can ask them a question that you might have as well.

Well, i’d better get back on the road, the Del Taco employees are probably getting suspicious…

I’ll let you all know how it went after I take a tour of Palomar’s facility and talk to the staff.

Now if the story ended right now you would probably think, “Man! That sucks for him…!”. Fortunately, we now live less than 10 minutes away from my parents house which means that we also live less than 10 minutes away from their garage! As you will see from the pictures there is a lot of work to do to make it a functional shop but it has some really good potential. It is a 3 1/2 car garage that has really been used as a storage unit for all of the random crap that always seems to accumulate.

I’m on a pretty tight budget but luckily my parents are so excited that I am cleaning out their garage that they have hired me to do the work to finish the walls and get it set up as a useable space. My dad is also interested in getting back into woodworking and has agreed to go in on some tools with me.

Here’s a little video to show you what we’re starting with:

Here’s a SketchUp picture of what I have come up with so far…

I am thinking solid wood for the legs and aprons then two sheets of 3/4 ply glued together with some solid wood edge banding for the top and lower shelf… (Wood choices might be: all walnut, all mahogany, or maybe wenge legs with a contrasting species for the rest of the piece.)

The edges of the top and and of the shelf are beveled at 5 degrees. Each leg starts at 1 1/2 inches square at the top and taper out to 2 1/2 inches at the bottom.

So here’s my question:

What type of joinery should I use to attach the legs to the drawer carcass and to the shelf?

Pocket screws would probably get the job done but I’d like to go with a more traditional type of joinery. I assume I might be limited if I am using plywood though, right?

Comments, suggestions, critique???