Well, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with this. I had to take a few days to ponder what Stewart did. It just made me want to come up with something entirely different that what we’ve seen. Stewart as well as quite a few other entries since, have really raised the bar, and in the words of a woodworker, whom I greatly admire, Neil Lamens , ”Challenge yourself!” Some coaching on this process has come from a grumpy old woodturner, too.
To go along with the intent of the challenge, I pulled this 2×4 out from behind my hockey sticks and and broken shovel handles in the corner of the garage. You know, the one that is where my door is blocked by the shop floor hoist to move steel around and take my hydraulic deck off my truck….sorry, I digress. Anyway, I found a 2×4. It’s straight, really dry, and sort of orange.
I started by cutting it in half as maneuvering anything that is 8 feet long, in my shop, can end up with broken light bulbs, smacked knuckles and a general poor attitude by the shop inhabitant.
After a few passes on the jointer, a run through the planer, and a taste of some carbide on the tablesaw, this seemingly forgotten hunk of spruce comes to life! To think, the lonely days and nights that led to months and years, that this piece of wood sat. Just waiting for the day where it could say, “Joint me, plane me, cut off my round overs. Let me show you what I have to give!”
I flipped it, and flopped it, then slathered it in Tite Bond II and glued it back together. Some of it’s long lost cousins, veterans of another time, another bench, another test of process, helped this fledgling piece of framing lumber. Helped it hold itself together on plane. Helped it on it’s journey to becoming more than just another 2×4!
Show me, Mr. 2×4! Show me what you have in store for me!
To be continued….
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

















27 comments so far
GaryK
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10263 posts in 2157 days
#1 posted 1945 days ago
Hmmm!
-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX
David
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1970 posts in 2307 days
#2 posted 1945 days ago
Interesting teaser Tom . . .
What does that 2×4 have to offer?!
-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com
rikkor
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11296 posts in 2043 days
#3 posted 1945 days ago
Can’t wait to see progress…
YorkshireStewart
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1097 posts in 2069 days
#4 posted 1945 days ago
This is exactly what makes it all worth-while when we log in before breakfast – and after, and at lunchtime and…
LJ has got us hooked. Mrs YS says it’s eating into her knitting time!
So up to now we have a really neat piece of 8×2 lying up there in Alberta. Can’t wait for the next step.
-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems
Russel
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2199 posts in 2107 days
#5 posted 1945 days ago
A little bit of attention and a lowly 2×4 can become a rather attractive piece of wood. I must admit that the teasing nature of the entries is somewhat frustrating in an entertaining sort of way. While anticipation may be the most enjoyable part of any experience, I JUST WANT TO SEE IT DONE!! Oops, got carried away there for a minute. I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment.
-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com
MsDebbieP
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18320 posts in 2329 days
#6 posted 1945 days ago
tease
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
furnitologist
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198 posts in 2181 days
#7 posted 1945 days ago
Was it William Wallace the great 2×4 emancipator who said…....“Joint me, plane me, cut off my round overs. Let me show you what I have to give!” or was that Mel Gibson.
Thanks for the challenge thought Tom…...........as I walk to school with my little toolbox!!:)
toyguy
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1334 posts in 2005 days
#8 posted 1945 days ago
What evil lurks with-in?
-- Brian, Ontario Canada,
Lee A. Jesberger
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6498 posts in 2148 days
#9 posted 1945 days ago
H Tom;
To me it looks like a bunch of smaller 2” x 4” ’s.
That’s it. isn’t it Tom (hope I didn’t blow your secret).
Lee
-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com
Dick, & Barb Cain
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8681 posts in 2468 days
#10 posted 1945 days ago
WOW!
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
Bob #2
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3808 posts in 2190 days
#11 posted 1945 days ago
2×4 Challenge #1: Throwing My Hat in the Ring
Hat? Ring?
I know what it is!!
A cowboy hat – Right?
Bob
-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner
TomFran
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2933 posts in 2162 days
#12 posted 1945 days ago
Go for it Tom!
-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28
Mario
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902 posts in 2220 days
#13 posted 1945 days ago
Hockey sticks…Did I read Hockey Sticks in your post. You have by vote. I look forward to seeing what you produce.
-- Hope Never fails
Douglas Bordner
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3907 posts in 2232 days
#14 posted 1945 days ago
I like a man who address the soul of a tree even if it is a 2×4. Of course I talk to myself a lot (too long a bachelor out on some farm property – drives the wife mad). Go get ‘em, Tom.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
CharlieM1958
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14857 posts in 2387 days
#15 posted 1945 days ago
I think Stewart found the true answer… you are making a 4 ft. 2×8. Brilliant, Tom! Thr greatest ideas are usually the simplest ones! <g>
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
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