Ponderings #1: The Great Wide Open

What project are you referring to TC . . . the bookcase ?? I read your earlier posts and seen that you will be quite cozy with your tools for a little while . . . so why not start smaller with a stroage unit/box for all your neat planes, saws, scraprers, etc. You can practice your skills on that and fine tune your skills with the bookcase.

Just my $0.03

-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

Actually, I’ve got three projects I’m wanting to do. One is a storage bench for my 10 year old sister-in-law that will serve as her hope chest. The bookcase for my Mom is another one. The third is a case for my father-in-law’s Native American flute. All three of these have a self imposed deadline of Christmas 2008, so there’s a lot of time. However, I probably won’t be into the shop until March, so that only gives me 9 months. Luckily, if I had to pare it down to just one project, it would be the storage bench. Her family plans on giving her stuff for her hope chest starting next Christmas. It just seems logical that she should have something to put that stuff in, right? ;)

My first project will definitely be my workbench, followed by some form of tool storage system. I’m just not sure yet what I want to do, though Pop Wood’s plans for the Benjamin Seaton chest has me intrigued :D

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

Let ‘er rip TC. Nothing to fear but fear itself. And if it goes south, it ends up slightly smaller than planned (trim off the flub and go at again. If the joinery is an issue, don’t forget that no less a light than Todd Clippinger has shown us that pocket joinery ain’t cheatin’ where it don’t show. Get a Kreg jig and you’re two-thirds of the way home.
Can’t wait for your project blogs. As Karson or Tom(Mot) might say NPDH (No pictures, didn’t happen).

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Fair enough Douglas! I’ve been other places were no pics = nothing happened, so I can totally deal with that ;)

I’m still kicking around joinery methods on all the projects, with few actually settled on. For the storage bench, it’ll mostly be loose tenons. On the flute box, I’m still kicking around a few ideas, but dovetails seem appropriate. If I feel REALLY froggie, I might go mitered dovetails, but only have actually having practiced it a few times first ;)

As for the bookcase…well, I know the shelves will be stopped dados, but other than that I’m still working on a LOT in my head. Luckily, I’ve got 12 months to figure it out :D

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

Well get you camera working. At least take a picture of your plans. That way we know the way you are heading.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Think positive. Sometimes it helps to work on part of a project, rather than the project. The whole project can seem overwhelming, but the parts aren’t so daunting.

-- Maplewood, MN

Someone else here (MsDebbie?) recently said: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Good advice.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

:)
and as for “errors”.... they are just plan adaptations… you work around it, learn something new, and sometimes—the “flaw” becomes the highlight of the project, to be copied in the future.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Great advice folks! Thank you very much!

Karson, I’ll have to scan the plans in then later today…just so folks know they exist :D

Tom

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

Just remember that the difference between an apprentice and a journeyman is nothing more than the number of mistakes one has had the opportunity to learn from.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

Good point ;)

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

When you can’t go to the shop is a great time to go to the drawing board. Make scaled drawings or get in Sketchup. In Sketchup you can do everything except smell the wood. By making detailed plans, you can eliminate most of the problems or find and identify problem areas. If you have until March you can know those projects so intimately that construction will seem almost an after thought. Keep a journal of your thoughts concerning each project and you will start to get in the habit of good planning. Good luck. I can remember carving leather on the kitchen table because we were in an apartment. You can do it, we’ll watch. LOL

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

True. I’m trying to get to know Sketchup, but not having a whole lot of luck with getting it to do what I want it to do just yet. I’m probably going to spring for a book or something, since I suspect this will be a very important part of what I do :)

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!