# New Directions



## JeremyPringle (Aug 17, 2011)

*More than just a saw..*

So once again it has been a while since I had enough time to sit down and type something. Things have been.. well.. a little crazy. Since my last update, I was in process of selling my table saw..









Its gone…. and my shop is a little bare..









But that's ok, I have no projects on the go and don't have time restrictions on any of them… so I decided to start doing some shop modifications and the first was to hang this little drawer thing above my lathe… which I have been meaning to do for a few years… its finally done.









Then some exciting things happened…. I wrote an article for Canadian Woodworking and Home improvement that was printed in the Oct/Nov issue.. So run (don't walk) to your nearest magazine stand and buy this magazine.. help keep this production in print..









pg 14..









That box was also selected as Home Hardware's project of the month and was printed in flyers that were sent nation wide…









How cool is that? I will also be doing more of this in the future as well.

Now I know what you are thinking… "What does any of this have anything to do with New Directions.. more than just a saw?"

And I would say… "That's a good question."

At first the title of the new blog series New Directions was supposed to be for my not using any power tools… or as few as possible.. but it has also developed into something more… as a recent situation has somewhat forced me to leave my job and start something new that would allow me to spend more time with my family and still make ends meet.

I am quite saddened as I loved my job, but most of all I loved the people I worked with. They are amazing people and they all pooled together and bought me a gift to say good bye and good luck…









That's right.. its a Veritas custom 4 1/2 smooth plane. First thing after sharpening the blade.. I turned a custom knob out of some spalted curly maple I had laying around. Now.. before anyone starts asking me to write a review of the plane.. the answer is no.. I will not. Its awesome, nothing else needs to be said.

I will speak on my new job at a later date.. but as you can see… New Directions is a good title as I begin this new chapter of my life.. I will have more time around my own shop and am eager to get started building stuff for the shop and will be posting more often.. woo hoo!!

Jeremy


----------



## molan (Apr 25, 2012)

JeremyPringle said:


> *More than just a saw..*
> 
> So once again it has been a while since I had enough time to sit down and type something. Things have been.. well.. a little crazy. Since my last update, I was in process of selling my table saw..
> 
> ...


Congrats on getting publish! 3 times!

Good luck moving forward changes like this are hard but often work out for the best in the long run.

Your shop looks much bigger without the table saw, what are you going to do with the free space now? is that going to be the new home for your Chevalet?


----------



## sscartozzi (Jul 31, 2013)

JeremyPringle said:


> *More than just a saw..*
> 
> So once again it has been a while since I had enough time to sit down and type something. Things have been.. well.. a little crazy. Since my last update, I was in process of selling my table saw..
> 
> ...


Jeremy congrats on being published. Your young you should do what makes you happy. Good luck with your hand tool shop.


----------



## PaulLL (Dec 27, 2012)

JeremyPringle said:


> *More than just a saw..*
> 
> So once again it has been a while since I had enough time to sit down and type something. Things have been.. well.. a little crazy. Since my last update, I was in process of selling my table saw..
> 
> ...


Hey I got my copy! Was going to bring it by to get an autograph I guess I'm too late! Sorry to hear you're leaving, are you going to the part time thing you were telling me about?


----------



## JeremyPringle (Aug 17, 2011)

JeremyPringle said:


> *More than just a saw..*
> 
> So once again it has been a while since I had enough time to sit down and type something. Things have been.. well.. a little crazy. Since my last update, I was in process of selling my table saw..
> 
> ...


Paul: Yes, the part time gig is now the full time gig. More details to come soon..

Matt: No, the chevy is going to be on the other side, I got rid of all the unnecessary none-woodworking related stuff in that room, it's going to be my marquetry studio. And technically its only the 2nd time, the first was in the British magazine Furniture and Cabinetmaking.


----------



## Schwieb (Dec 3, 2008)

JeremyPringle said:


> *More than just a saw..*
> 
> So once again it has been a while since I had enough time to sit down and type something. Things have been.. well.. a little crazy. Since my last update, I was in process of selling my table saw..
> 
> ...


Best wishes as you sail in a little different direction


----------



## tinnman65 (Jan 19, 2009)

JeremyPringle said:


> *More than just a saw..*
> 
> So once again it has been a while since I had enough time to sit down and type something. Things have been.. well.. a little crazy. Since my last update, I was in process of selling my table saw..
> 
> ...


Congratulations on the publication. We don't have that magazine here but as it so happens I know someone who lives in Canada and my sister is visiting him right now so I will ask her to bring a copy home. Good luck on your new job.


----------



## tirebob (Aug 2, 2010)

JeremyPringle said:


> *More than just a saw..*
> 
> So once again it has been a while since I had enough time to sit down and type something. Things have been.. well.. a little crazy. Since my last update, I was in process of selling my table saw..
> 
> ...


OMG!!! I can feel the pressure change from here… Must be that ego swelling! Feel sorry for the sap that bought that saw. Probably saw him coming from a mile away! He probably needs help putting it back together…


----------



## JeremyPringle (Aug 17, 2011)

*Progress and curly cherry*

Its been a while.. again. Busy, busy, busy. The new job is keeping me… well… busy. So busy.. that I have spent very little time in my shop. But.. over the holidays I did get some time, and with that I am working on another article, so unfortunately, I cannot share any more details on that until it gets published.

I am almost done that build, and when I am, I am going to jump into a new blog series while I build a lowboy.. or 2. This is a bucket list project for me, and since I no longer have any power tools, this one is going to be entirely by hand. Which is really exciting, as I just bought a load of sweet wood bodied moulding planes from a secret source of mine, and I will post pictures of them when they arrive.

Then there is the wood that I am going to be using.. curly cherry. I bought the wood that I will need for 2 lowboys a few years ago and still have it all in the basement waiting.. waiting.. then… for this Christmas a friend of mine who happens to be a wood dealer gave me 3 boards of more curly cherry. (he actually let me pick the pile!!) 4/4, 12 feet long and 9" wide..









I know it's hard to see, but they are the most figured cherry boards I have ever seen.

Anyways.. all this got me thinking. Since its the turn of a new year, I was wondering if anyone has shop or project goals that they hope to accomplish in the next year? And if would not mind sharing..

Myself.. I would like to finish 2 major projects. Of course there are going to be little projects on going that never end, but 2 major projects.
1. Chippendale lowboy. This means I will have to buy more carving tools and learn to carve a ball and claw foot.
2. Baltimore card table. Seeing examples of these tables is what got me interested in Federal stuff, and sparked my interest in working with veneer. I actually would like to build this first, but since I already have the cherry, it wins by default.

In between these two I want (need) to finish my marquetry chevy, and there is a good chance I will build a guitar with my friend the wood dealer who also makes guitars and have convinced me to build on with him.

Next post should be much more interesting…
J


----------



## dustyoldman (Dec 28, 2014)

JeremyPringle said:


> *Progress and curly cherry*
> 
> Its been a while.. again. Busy, busy, busy. The new job is keeping me… well… busy. So busy.. that I have spent very little time in my shop. But.. over the holidays I did get some time, and with that I am working on another article, so unfortunately, I cannot share any more details on that until it gets published.
> 
> ...


I discovered on Christmas day the project for this year , and that is jewelry box,s about 20 , you ask why so many well when you have a large family 6 daughters /7 grand daughters and now 5 great granddaughters and then wives .that is what can happen . Sadly I did not get to make any gifts this past year . One year it was 20 cutting boards .one went one my sons wall he said it was to nice looking to be used as a cutting board .As seems to happen for me every one of those box,s will be different. I usually make one of a kind of almost every thing I will not be able to wait till Nov to start .


----------



## molan (Apr 25, 2012)

JeremyPringle said:


> *Progress and curly cherry*
> 
> Its been a while.. again. Busy, busy, busy. The new job is keeping me… well… busy. So busy.. that I have spent very little time in my shop. But.. over the holidays I did get some time, and with that I am working on another article, so unfortunately, I cannot share any more details on that until it gets published.
> 
> ...


I have 2 Bubinga pictures frames I need to finish (soon hopefully) these have been vexing me . There are 3 in total But I never seem to get time to work on them. Plus being bubinga I have to stop and sharpen my hand planes seamly every 5 minutes. The Frames are for some Canvas replica Drawings My Aunt gave me. The originals were drawn all in pencil crayon by my Uncle before he pasted a few years ago (My Aunt has the originals). I will also post pictures when they are all finished.

Then I have a Fold away Puzzle Table that my wife has wanted me to build for the longest time that I need to do. I drew it up in sketchup but that is as far as that project has gone to date. I have been debating if I want to try my luck at half blind dovetails when I finally start this

I would also like to get some Proper lighting in my garage so I can see what I am doing  
as well as get a shed so I can clean out all the outside items and free up some space.

Good luck everyone on our 2015 goals!


----------



## PaulLL (Dec 27, 2012)

JeremyPringle said:


> *Progress and curly cherry*
> 
> Its been a while.. again. Busy, busy, busy. The new job is keeping me… well… busy. So busy.. that I have spent very little time in my shop. But.. over the holidays I did get some time, and with that I am working on another article, so unfortunately, I cannot share any more details on that until it gets published.
> 
> ...


I promised my mom a Tommy Mac style toolbox about 2 years ago, so I'm going to try and get that done this year. She wanted it for her scrapbooking stuff, the amounts of that stuff has grown and grown, so I better get on this box or I'll have to build her an entire wall unit to house it all. I also hope to sell some custom work this year, so would be great year if I was busy with that!

Good to hear your new job keeping you busy, hope its enjoyable as well. happy new year everyone!


----------



## JeremyPringle (Aug 17, 2011)

*New (old) TOOLS!!!!!*

New direction in life… new outlook on life… new projects to build… so why not some new tools?

In the end of all this, my hope is to be 100% hand tool. I still occasionally use a router table because I don't have decent moulding planes or a full set of hollows and rounds yet….. *yet*.....

I was able to pull some strings and with a little begging to certain people that I know and hold in high regard (who will remain a secret) I was able to get my hands on some awesome wood body planes. They arrived yesterday and today was the first chance I had to unwrap them all and have a look….

*9 complex moulding planes*, one of them has 2 blades and makes it a 'true' moulding plane. These planes are dated to be early-mid 1800's. The blades are in amazing shape they will not take very much work at all before I am using them.









*Compass coffin and toothed scraping plane*. I have been wanting a toothed scraping plane for a long time as from what I am researching, it is vital to the marquetry and veneer world that I am venturing into.









*Handrail plane with adjustable fence, panel raising plane and a 'kids jack'*. The kids jack has a smaller handle and is the perfect size for my boy..









Last… I don't know what they are called, but a *small detail radius set*, hollow, round and rabbet planes. From what I am led to believe, these are super rare.









*And then all of them lined up..*









I can only imagine how many panels that raised, or how many handrails that plane made…. I cant wait to start using them.

J


----------



## Brit (Aug 14, 2010)

JeremyPringle said:


> *New (old) TOOLS!!!!!*
> 
> New direction in life… new outlook on life… new projects to build… so why not some new tools?
> 
> ...


Holy crap! That is a great set of planes you've acquired there Jeremy. I look forward to seeing the projects you make with them.


----------



## Tim457 (Jan 11, 2013)

JeremyPringle said:


> *New (old) TOOLS!!!!!*
> 
> New direction in life… new outlook on life… new projects to build… so why not some new tools?
> 
> ...


Show us some more of those in action when you get a chance. They are definitely some planes you don't see every day.


----------



## WodDawg (Apr 20, 2013)

JeremyPringle said:


> *New (old) TOOLS!!!!!*
> 
> New direction in life… new outlook on life… new projects to build… so why not some new tools?
> 
> ...


Awesome collection, for sure! Those three oddballs are very interesting. I wonder if Caleb James makes anything like those?

I've been able to pick up some on occasion at antique malls and such. Be sure to show us you working them.

LB


----------



## Schwieb (Dec 3, 2008)

JeremyPringle said:


> *New (old) TOOLS!!!!!*
> 
> New direction in life… new outlook on life… new projects to build… so why not some new tools?
> 
> ...


Great score Jeremy! I have a few but would love to have more but to get them in a collection like this is very special. Best of luck in your New Direction.


----------



## DonBroussard (Mar 27, 2012)

JeremyPringle said:


> *New (old) TOOLS!!!!!*
> 
> New direction in life… new outlook on life… new projects to build… so why not some new tools?
> 
> ...


Nice haul, Jeremy! I've never seen small planes that you referred to as "small detail radius" planes. I expect that you're right in referring to them as "super rare". I'd be interested in seeing how the small ones work.


----------



## JKMDETAIL (Nov 13, 2013)

JeremyPringle said:


> *New (old) TOOLS!!!!!*
> 
> New direction in life… new outlook on life… new projects to build… so why not some new tools?
> 
> ...


Someone say Merry Christmas..


----------



## JeremyPringle (Aug 17, 2011)

*Stash.. or hoard?*

With my new direction.. come trying to clean up and reorganize my shop/basement/marquetry studio. I have also decided that about 50% of the stuff in my house… does not need to be here.

Since selling off the last of the power tools (cabinet saw) I am a large amount of space in the middle of the shop… waiting for some to put there. Mostly I have my saw bench set there…. with a ton of stuff sitting on top of it. Anyways… I decided to get underway and just do it, and get it over with. I started in my storage/furnace room. I consolidated my wood piles into three stacks and even got rid of one shelving unit that has ticked me off for years. Anyways.. cleaning is boring stuff and nobody cares about me cleaning up my shop.. but I started thinking about half way thought…

*At what point does your wood stash turn into a wood hoard?*



















I also have one more stack that for some reason the site wont let me upload the picture.

Anyways… most of my stashes are made up of smaller, thinner pieces of wood that I have resawn from larger boards that I have used in the past. Its all good stuff, but honestly… how much of it am I really going to use? I don't have a use for most of it, but I don't know what to do with it. I use lots of the 1/4 and 1/8 stuff for box bottoms and such.. but it seems that the piles get larger and larger and are getting out of control.

Lots of the wood I have collected thinking.. "Wow, that's a cool piece, I can use that for a box lid." But deep down I know that I am not ever actually going to make that box or use that wood. I have heard lots of people say they use scraps to make smaller stuff and fill in projects… but I'm not really a 'fill in project' kind of guy.

So to pose another question out of curiosity..
*What do you do with your stash, or how do you manage it from taking over?*

I would not be opposed to selling a large portion of it, so if you happen to live locally (Calgary) and are interested in taking some of my stash home with you… send me a PM and we can connect.


----------



## tinnman65 (Jan 19, 2009)

JeremyPringle said:


> *Stash.. or hoard?*
> 
> With my new direction.. come trying to clean up and reorganize my shop/basement/marquetry studio. I have also decided that about 50% of the stuff in my house… does not need to be here.
> 
> ...


I know just how you feel. I have the same piles in my shop but I also have had the fortune or misfortune (time will tell) to have just emptied out a friends shop of all his saved wood from 50+ years of woodworking.This is the second time I have done this the first time I paid for it all and got several hundred board feet of wood.My shop is in the bottom of a two story garage and I have the upper part loaded with wood so I don't have the problem of it taking over my actual shop. I have been buying whole logs lately and having them cut ,so yes I can honestly say I am hoarding


----------



## molan (Apr 25, 2012)

JeremyPringle said:


> *Stash.. or hoard?*
> 
> With my new direction.. come trying to clean up and reorganize my shop/basement/marquetry studio. I have also decided that about 50% of the stuff in my house… does not need to be here.
> 
> ...


If it is to small to be useful then (gasp…) it goes into a burn pail and I use it for a nice campfire either in the back yard or on a camping trip. I also keep a few bags of shavings around and use them for starting the fires.

But I know what you mean about the stuff that is still usable. It just feels wrong to get rid of it even when I know I likely won't ever use it for anything. I don' have nearly the piles you do currently .thanks to recently moving and being forced to consolidate. Thanks to that same move I don't have nearly as much space for storage currently either as my yard isn't finished and there is so much extra stuff in my garage :-(


----------



## JeremyPringle (Aug 17, 2011)

JeremyPringle said:


> *Stash.. or hoard?*
> 
> With my new direction.. come trying to clean up and reorganize my shop/basement/marquetry studio. I have also decided that about 50% of the stuff in my house… does not need to be here.
> 
> ...


I was thinking something along the fire lines Matt. But for some reason I just cant bring myself to burn most of it. But it is 11°C here today, so it might be great for a lunch time hotdog cook out in the backyard fire pit.


----------



## molan (Apr 25, 2012)

JeremyPringle said:


> *Stash.. or hoard?*
> 
> With my new direction.. come trying to clean up and reorganize my shop/basement/marquetry studio. I have also decided that about 50% of the stuff in my house… does not need to be here.
> 
> ...


Sounds like a good day for it and the kids would probably love a winter hotdog roast!


----------

