| Project by TexasDawg | posted 1384 days ago | 1851 views | 0 times favorited | 34 comments | ![]() |
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I am from the Dallas, Texas area and was just finishing up the build on my new workshop when I was called up by the US Navy to complete a one year tour of duty in Afghanistan. I left home on Jan 2, 2009 and have been in Afghanistan since. I hope to be paroled in the end of January 2010 from this place. I live in an old shipping container and when I was assigned the room, it was being used as a storage room. I cleared everything out and realized that there were no beds. When I talked with the berthing people, they informed me that it would take about a month to get me some beds and I was not willing to sleep on the floor for a month, so I started scouring camp for some supplies to build a bed. After a little hunting, I found a battery powered saw and drill that I could borrow, a few screws, some scrap wood, a few wooden pallets, and a magazine subscription card to use as a right angle/straight edge. A couple of hours later, I had put together a set of beds so that my new roommate and I were able to enjoy our first night of not living in a tent.
Since the bed was completed, I have outfitted the room and built many other pieces of furniture for people at my office since we don’t have any here. I have a minimum of tools and all of my supplies either come from the scrap pile or I recycle items from the junk pile. Just like books and movies to some, woodworking keeps me sane here as I dodge IEDs and Landmines in Afghanistan. Some of the stuff I have put together doesn’t look like much, but looks are far outweighed by usefulness. I will post when I can, so enjoy.
-- "Counting down the days till I get back to my workshop..."
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34 comments so far
cabinetmaster
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10874 posts in 1723 days
#1 posted 1383 days ago
Nice use of scraps and THanks for serving your country and keeping us safe.
MSG- USAR-Ret
-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps
hootr
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183 posts in 1511 days
#2 posted 1383 days ago
good job, improvise and overcome
heartfelt thanks for your service
be safe
-- Ron, Missouri
Toolz
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883 posts in 1907 days
#3 posted 1383 days ago
Good work and stay safe!
USN ‘63-85
-- Larry "Work like a Captain but Play like a Pirate!"
Mike Gager
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613 posts in 1432 days
#4 posted 1383 days ago
nice job on the beds. stay safe!
spanky46
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968 posts in 1555 days
#5 posted 1383 days ago
Great job! I look forward to seeing your work when you do have tools! Save these picks so when your my age this will be a great “back in the day” story to show and tell your grand kids! Be safe.
-- spanky46 -- Never enough clamps...Never enough tools...Never enough time.
George Barreras
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185 posts in 1457 days
#6 posted 1383 days ago
Nice job of recycling, “THANK YOU FOR SERVING YOUR COUNTRY” and keeping all of us safe. More importantly, keep yourself safe and may you have a speedy return home to your family and friends.
-- Nubs,Reserve
Don K.
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1075 posts in 1491 days
#7 posted 1383 days ago
TexasDawg,
A few things…1) THANK YOU !!!!!! For serving our country, I am prior service myself (USN myself, SeaBee)...and happened to be over their the first time we went to the cat liter box (Desert Storm)... and now my son just got back from a two year stint over there.
2) GREAT JOB on the bunk beds…good job on scrounging around and making do with what you have…you would have made a fine SeaBee (Of course you may be one for all I know already)...we had a note stuck on our wall that started off with “Never have so few, done so much when given so little..” went on to say things like “With so Little gratitude…” and was laced with allot of “Colorful” words…lol…(I will see if I can find the pic of it, got one of me and a buddy standing by it)
3) And MOST IMPORTANT…..Keep your head AND your A$$ down and come home safe to your family and friends !!!!!!!!
4) Welcome to LumberJocks !!!!!
-- Don S.E. OK
deucefour
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285 posts in 1419 days
#8 posted 1383 days ago
Well done, nice use of a small space, stay safe and thank you for serving
-- "I gotta have more cowbell"--------Bruce Dickinson
huff
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2548 posts in 1450 days
#9 posted 1383 days ago
First off….Thanks for your service. I agree with Spanky, make sure you take plenty of pics for later, you’ll be glad you did. Great job on improvising. Keep up the good work and stay safe. We look forward to you coming home safe and getting back to working in your new shop.
USMC 67-71 Viet Nam 68-70
-- John @ http://www.thehuffordfurnituregroup.com
a1Jim
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86885 posts in 1742 days
#10 posted 1383 days ago
creative project
-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/
PurpLev
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7729 posts in 1813 days
#11 posted 1383 days ago
this is awesome! way to go. hope you can get outta there soon and back here for some more pleasant shop time.
-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
DiamondWW
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83 posts in 1398 days
#12 posted 1383 days ago
Thanks for serving and what a great way to pass your precious free time.
-- There is no such thing as scrap wood, only smaller projects.
Kindlingmaker
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2646 posts in 1691 days
#13 posted 1383 days ago
Keep your head down and your feet up… Good woodworking!
-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings
TraumaJacques
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433 posts in 1665 days
#14 posted 1383 days ago
Thanks for being there stay safe and oh yeah nice work.
-- All bleeding will eventually stop.
rickf16
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336 posts in 1746 days
#15 posted 1383 days ago
My thanks also for your service! You HAVE my utmost respect!
Great job on the beds. They look rock solid to me. I would have never thought of using a subscription card as a square. I’ll have to remember that one. Look forward to the other projects. Keep safe Dawg.
USAF 82-09
-- Rick
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