What a friendly site! at LumberJocks.com http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/rtdersch/blog Wed, 28 May 2008 17:07:03 GMT I just joined Lumberjocks a few days ago and I'd like to extend a "thank you" to the many people who've already welcomed me here. It's Alive!!! http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/rtdersch/blog/4794 So over the Memorial Day weekend (which I hope you all had a great one!) I decided to build my first ever workbench. Actually, this is the first thing I’ve ever built; period. I thought it’d be a great way to acclimate myself with my new power tools before I started in on the bevy of other honey do’s that have started to pile up ever since I told my wife I wanted to learn wood working and carpentry skills. After working on it for 2 days and about 5 bazillion trips to Home Depot there are a few lessons I learned from this project:

1. Read the instructions…twice.

2. Measure…twice.

3. Re-read the instructions.

4. Measure…again.

5. Cut.

6. Do not trust that the 4×4’s you buy are actually 4×4’s. Mine were 3.5×3.5. (Is that normal?) My 2×6’s were actually 1.5×6. That really threw off my measurements, but now I know.

7. I think the most expensive part of the project was the gas money required for the multiple trips to Home Depot. Be sure to account for that!

8. The right tools make the project enjoyable and much easier. Using the wrong tools will most likely result in another trip to yep, you guessed it: Home Depot.

9. Safety equipment is a MUST. Ear/Eye protection is not negotiable. If you’re new to wood working don’t even think about skimping here; get protection.

10. Even with a relatively simple project like this it produces A LOT of saw dust. It smells awesome but the wife wasn’t real pleased that I took up more than my alloted one car garage space, and had saw dust from floor to ceiling and through all 3 garage spots. Note: Dust collection may be a good idea.

In then end my table did come out pretty good and the satisfaction of having done it myself was worth the frustrations. So my maiden voyage with power tools and wood ended with a completed project and me retaining all my fingers so I’m going to consider it a resounding success! This was a most enjoyable project and I’m really looking forward to the next one.

]]> Wed, 28 May 2008 17:07:03 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/rtdersch/blog/4794 Raymond Dersch New Jock http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/rtdersch/blog/4666 I just joined Lumberjocks a few days ago and I’d like to extend a “thank you” to the many people who’ve already welcomed me here. This will be my maiden journey into wood working and it’s comforting to know that there is a mature, respectful and experienced community to collaborate with.

Thank you all for making me feel welcome. Now, off to buy some tools!

]]> Thu, 15 May 2008 15:34:15 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/rtdersch/blog/4666 Raymond Dersch