Woodworking

So it has been a while since I decided I would take up Woodworking as a hobby. I have acquired some tools (secondhand (thanks scott) and new) and have started to make some interesting projects.

My first dilemma was where to go to actually learn 'da skiwllz'. After some research, I learned that the only place where adults can learn woodworking in our area is a night class offered by a local high school.

So I signed up to a course that turned out to be 'open tool night for senior citizens'. The teacher made us make a cutting board to learn basic tool skills, and then ceased anything but passive supervision.

So I stopped going to class - what point right?

The nearest actual program with facilities and an actual degree in woodworking is located about 50 miles away - straight through Los Angeles and south of the city center. (yeah, try getting there in time for the 6 pm class!) The place is called Cerritos College - they have a huge facility, and so I tried them out.

We started out simple, making a sanding block and a 'push stick' - both made to exacting specifications and sanded and polished to a gleam - I'm not kidding on the perfection of the finish either, here is the 'push stick'. It helps the table saw blade avoid fingerfood :) as you push wood over it.

So we moved on to the next project, which was a deadblow hammer. They had a plan and schematics, but as those of you that know me will understand, I don't do well sticking to the somewhat boring plans dreamed up by other people. I had to go and make it about 100x more difficult, adding more than just a change of shape or including a different wood... By the time I was done there was a distinct difference between the 2. In the end the class spent so much time on the hammer, that there wasn't enough time to complete the scheduled toolbox - so the rough cut / jointed pieces are sitting in my garage, dry assembled and waiting for attention that will never arrive.

So I kept my woodworking ambitions alive and well and signed up for the next class.

The next class is the night stand class - where the students make 1 night stand (ok, someone tell me if there is sense in making just 1?!? My wife would KILL me).


So I decided to make 2. The teacher just shook his head, and made it clear that I would have a REALLY hard time keeping up in class if I tried to make 2 at once. What he didn't know is that I am superman in the wood shop, so I have been doing just fine. I also happened to modify the design (again) increasing not only its appeal, but its difficulty (exponentially).

The last 2 projects were made with Walnut and Maple. The nightstands I decided to make out of African Mahogany. They are wider and taller than the design states, the 'sled' legs are also a modification... and when we get to the doors and the drawer I will be making even more changes. I thought I would show you guys where we are at, and then I will post again when they are closer to being finished.

Here are the basic pieces I have been working my butt off trying to get finished, and painstakingly fitted together (tight, but not TOO tight). You start off with a rough board (pic 1) and work your way to planks, then panels, then grooving and fitting... well, you will see the pics. My nightstand has a small shelf in the bottom cabinet, Nat's doesn't. There is a blown up view, and a couple after assembly.

I am working on the stretchers now (bottom cross pieces) and will move to the cabinet back next. So far so good!

Ben

Fire

If you have been watching the news, you may have seen updates on 2 fires in Southern California. So far the Marek and Sesnon fires have burned more than 18,000 acres, killed 2 people, destroyed 49 structures, and cost the taxpayers more than $2.5 million.

Both fires are within a dozen miles of our home as a bird flies - but not close enough for any panic :)

Here is a pic taken about 3 blocks from our home of the current fires - we are only separated from them by a line of mountains.

You may think that we are being a little too calm for having a wildfire within view from our home, but as they say, familiarity breeds... contempt? Whatever the saying, our last bout with fires at the same time last year was closer, worse, and definitely more scary. The smoke from the fires filled our sky, leaked through the microscopic vents in the windows that nobody knows exist, and covered our world! Not withstanding, it was the red flames in view from our home that caused most of the fun. Here are a couple pics from last year...



































As for this round, we are safe, it looks like they will get these fires under control soon, and they are headed further away from us in any case. Hopefully this is the last of the fires this season - with our "Santa Ana Wind" weather patterns, (warm, dry winds that blow hard, gusting up to 90 mph) all it takes is an errant power line, or someone with a black heart, and we could see many more this year.