iWood

From a young age I always enjoyed building things. Whether that was playing with Lego, or playdoh, or as I got older, the medium changed to wood.  Even before I had any formal teaching, I can recall taking a hammer and some nails to help my friends construct a make-shift ramp for us to ride our bicycles over, or nail a few pieces together to form a wall in my friends backyard and pretend that was our fort.  While a member of 4-H I took a woodworking class, for lack of a better term, and this was really an eye opener for me.  Although I forget the man’s name who was teaching us, he was a good wood worker and craftsman.  He taught us some of the basics of woodworking.  Which tools to use and why, and showed us what they did and the proper, and safe way to use them. 

Since moving into our new home last year, it was always my dream to have a shop at the house.   I naturally assumed it would be in the garage, like most American’s home “shops” are, rather than a free-standing building somewhere on the property.  Our “property” is far from large enough for something like that, at least for now, but one can only dream.  Back to my garage shop, I quickly built myself a 4 by 8 foot work bench, losing basing it off a YouTube video I had seen.  It is very sturdy and has lockable casters on it so I can move it around as needed, but safely lock it down for working.  I also purchased many new power tools to get my shop to a basic inventory so that I could do the majority of projects that I knew I needed for the house, as well as some fun ones that I wanted to take on.  I also splurged on a few tools that I probably didn’t need, but they are sure nice to have and can make jobs much easier.  For example, I didn’t need a oscillating tool, but boy has it come in handy cutting through drywall, baseboards, and other awkward angles and items.  Also thinks like a laser level.  Now this was given to me as a gift, but I also specifically asked for one as well.  I suppose I didn’t need it, but it has been a life saver hanging wallpaper.  I also use it for large areas that exceed my 5ft level.         

As for the basic tools, I purchased a larger miter saw, a table saw which I built-in to the work bench.  Some screw drivers, new drill bits, a router and router table, also with new bits.  A circular hand sander, and a battery power nail gun.  Lastly I bought a bench top jointer and a planer.  All of these tools are from Ryobi, except for the jointer and planer, those are from Wen.  Now before we get into some stupid argument about tool brands and which are better, I will simply say this.  I’m aware that Ryobi and Wen are not the top shelf brand for tools, but I also believe, through my personal use, that they are great for everyday projects.  Also, I already had a drill and impact driver set that was battery powered, so I didn’t want to “start over” when I already had some of the items, and the batteries work on all of them. 

There are other random things that I’ve purchased that I may not have needed but have sure helped, like an edge trimmer for edge banding, and a pocket hole jig, and a trim bit router.  One thing that was certainly a must-have are clamps!  Just the other day I was needing to clamp something and realized I actually need to go and purchase even more clamps.  For anyone who is, or knows a wood worker, that is one of the ongoing jokes, “you can never have enough clamps”.  I agree. 

I’m happy to say that things have been going rather smoothly in my opinion.  I’m definitely still learning, but practice makes perfect, and it is wonderful having the shop to practice. 

So far, I made some built-in lower cabinets for my office.  This was my first attempt making cabinets.  Learning about carcasses, rails and styles, face frames, and dados was all fun and interesting to me; and now that I’ve obtained that knowledge, it’s mine forever and I often reuse what I’ve learned.  Once you understand the basics and why they are the way they are, it suddenly opens up a world of possibilities.  You begin seeing things differently, even deconstructing things when you go out.  You’ll see something, and now understand how they built it.   

I can recall working on various random fixes around our home with my dad when I was younger.  One thing in particular that I remember, but not of a specific build, just as a general thing that would happen, my dad would measure something, often multiple times.  Then he would make the cut, precisely where he wanted, but when we went to put it together, something was slightly off, it wasn’t squared, or one side was longer somehow, and back then, I couldn’t figure it out.  I would just think to myself how we measured and cut so accurately, how could it come out wrong?  As an adult, and having learned a few things about woodworking, the one thing that you cannot underestimate the value of until you try and build something is making sure the wood, you’re using is square. 

For those that may not understand the terminology, it means for corners, you want them to be exactly 90 degrees.  This applies to just about everything.  If even one side or corner is put together and it’s not squared, the whole thing won’t be.  That’s where my bench top jointer and planer come in so invaluably. 

The jointer will remove any bowing, cupping, or twisting of a board.  Yes, all of those things are different, and each requires a different approach to solve them.  Now there are some boards that are basically unsalvageable, but most are, with a little work.  The jointer is a great tool to fix these imperfections.  Once the jointer has done its job, then using a planer may be the next best option.  This will ensure that the board is the same thickness.  Now some people think these machines are interchangeable, but they are most certainly not.  A planer will not remove any bends, bows, cupping.  Instead, it will just trim down the board to the desired thickness, but those imperfections will remain. 

Using these two machines will help you mill nearly any piece of wood to a squared piece which makes building things so much easier. 

After I made my cabinets, which included shaker style doors, which I got to use my router and router table on to make the joints for, and attached them with European style, soft-close hinges.  I decided to make the top of them, which would double as a countertop, out of actual wood instead of a laminate top.  Now laminate would have been cheaper and easier, but I wanted to do my own and get some practice in milling.  Using the afore mentioned jointer and planer, I milled down what amounted to nine linear feet by twenty inches of wood.  I got each piece squared and then began gluing together.  Basically, think of a butcher block counter, expect all the same type of wood.  When glued together, it creates a single piece.  Speaking of gluing, that was always something I underestimated.  The strength of wood glue is amazing!  Most people don’t understand that when they see furniture of architectural features some place and they see what appears to be a really long or wide piece, they assume that was a single piece, when in reality, it rarely ever is, it’s several glued or jointed together. 

Since my cabinets were completed, I continued on the list of other items we wanted for our home.  Next I created some shelves for the laundry room using a simple cleat system to attach them to the wall.  This is an easy way to hang shelves that support a decent amount of weight.  You may have heard of French cleats before, they’re similar with an added value of having an angled cut that both the shelf or cabinet fits into on the cleat to avoid slippage.  I used rattan for the opening of the doors.

Also in the laundry room, I made a large counter, similar to the counter I made for my cabinets.  This surface was approximately 5 feet by 3 feet.  Instead of just gluing them together, I decided to add some support by using dowels as joinery.  This was a fun way to do it, and in the end, I believe added a lot of strength for an area that sees moderate use. 

I needed some shelving so with some scrap plywood that I had laying around I was able to crudely construct this small bookshelf.  I didn’t paint all of it because I just didn’t feel the need, nor did I put any backing on it.  I did practice putting on some edge banding, which I think turned out okay. 

Most recently I am happy to have made some built-in cabinets and shelves for Marzz’s office, along with a small bench, which doubles as a bookshelf, underneath her window.  I really like how the stain and dark green paint turned out on the shelves.  I also used edge banding on the shelves and the face frame turned out nice.  For the doors, I did a similar job as the rattan in the laundry room, but this time used a thin aluminum decorative sheet metal and cut it to size.  For the inset handles, I got to try my skills with the router a bit more.  One thing I don’t enjoy that is part of the process is the finishing bits like staining or painting and the dry time involved.  I get rather impatient, but I do think this turned out well and Marzz is happy with them, which is key!

Currently I’m working on some basic shelves for her closet, using the same cleat-style system that we used in the laundry room.  This project is still a work-in-progress, but I think the few things that I was able to do using scrap pieces of plywood have been productive. 

Getting material is definitely my biggest problem.  The physical hauling of it is a challenge because my car can handle long pieces, but is limited to about 30 inches wide and about 15 inches high.  Marzz’s car is not much better, and is actually shorter in length, front to back, so my car is actually better for 8 feet pieces, which is a common length.  Overall, I really need a pickup truck.  As you may have read in my previous blog, I do hope to one day be the proud owner of a Tesla Cybertruck, so perhaps that will be my first truck and solve my problem of hauling lumber. 

I certainly enjoy making things out of wood and I am learning more and more each time I take on a new project.  Like anything, it requires some knowledge and skill, patience, and concentration.  I don’t always have all of those at once, but I do take a lot of precaution around the power tools.  Generally my frustration comes when I mess something up, or for whatever reason, usually me messing it up, something doesn’t turn out as I had planned. 

Speaking of plans, I do sometimes draw things out, but often I can just picture it inside my head.  This can be both good and bad.  Sometimes it’s a mixture of the two, where I draw something out that is either challenging, or I just don’t want to mess up the measurement. 

Just this past weekend, I made this wine and wine glass holder for a picnic or outdoor activity.  I did it based off a photo that I took of one from a store.  I’m sure my dimensions are different from the one I saw at the store, but since I used scrap wood, and therefore it was basically free, I’m glad to could make it and to most, it will be a nice addition.

I’m sure I will have more on my woodworking hobby.  I know of several projects that are waiting for me to have a budget for and then gather materials.  There isn’t much I enjoy more than spending the day in my shop.  Woodworking has been a part of my life for a long time and I’m glad that I’ve had the chance to learn so much.  I hope to continue my woodworking, long into my later years.