Robert Cole

I am 66 years old and have been retired for 1-1/2 years. I retired due to arthritis as well as having 2 hip replacements and 1 shoulder replacement. I started woodworking about one year ago and I consider myself a novice. I had planned on teaching myself woodworking and have accumulated lots of woodworking equipment over the past few years although I seldom used any of the "stuff."

A friend of mine in Ft. Worth, TX quit woodworking and I drove down there this past winter and brought back lots of hand tools, a chop saw, small lathe, and about 400 board feet of lumber. All sorts of treasure that otherwise I never would have owned.

I have a drum sander, table saw, band saw, several routers, 2 router tables, joiner, planer, drill press, vacuum press for veneering, etc... all crammed into a small workshop so almost anything I do requires me to move something(s).

I have puttered around with veneering table tops and find it interesting and challenging. So far I have made: a nice 50" x 88" assembly table for the workshop; bandsawn box, jewelry box with 3 drawers made from canary wood (works nice) and tiger maple; a coffee table made from Sapele veneer and walnut; several mantel clocks (cherry, walnut, tiger maple); small walnut table to display a mounted bobcat; a table made from Imbuyia wood and Imbuyia veneer (picked up both at a garage sale) and it is a beautiful dark wood; an 8-drawer wine cabinet made from walnut and walnut crotch veneer, a CD cabinet made from cherry that holds 520 CDs; and, a tiger maple table with 2 drawers and walnut legs (surprisingly - it tuned out quite nice).

Current projects are nesting tables (cherry and Rosewood veneered tops); walnut wall clock with veneered inlay; and a quilted maple (wood not veneer) table. The table project has me currently stumped, and on hold, as I cannot figure out how to make legs tapered equally on 4 sides from 1-1/2" square 23" long tiger maple blanks.

If anyone has plans for a jig or other suggestions for my table leg agenda I would really appreciate it.

Hobbies? I like my vegetable garden, woodworking, and I am an avid deer hunter.

-- Bob, Ohio, http://www.woodworkercornish.com