With Tropical Storm Debby dumping tons of rain on us, and me called in to the Emergency Operations Center, my wife Rhonda has stepped to the plate and written a post for your enjoyment. She tried her hand in the shop … and here’s what she observed.  Enjoy!

First let me say that I am NOT one of those do-it-all women who know all the names of the power tools and which side is the sharp side.  I’m a busy mom, high school teacher, and wife.  Recently, after a frustrating search through Michael’s craft store, I couldn’t find any craft I could cling to.  So I decided to delve into my husband’s territory, with his permission, of course.  After all, I figured, here’s a quick route to “craft” satisfaction.  I could sand, finish, and maybe even veneer some of his furniture.  We could bond over birch, improve our communication skills while working side by sander, and share our dreams during demo.  That’s not exactly how things worked out.  But after you find out what happened, maybe you’ll be inspired to invite your wife or girlfriend into this sacred sanctuary called “the shop.”

Today’s task:  sand a stepstool.

In my first foray into the shop, I realized I would have to get used to a few things.

1. No mirror.  Touching up in the shop is tough.  I found a way around it, though.  The infinity saw blade Tom had mounted on the wall.  Thanks, honey!
2. No chit chat.  Once that sander turns on, you can’t carry on a conversation with anyone.  On the upside, I was able to recall all of the locales of the Real Housewives gals on Bravo.  (There are 5, I think.)
3. No multitasking.  I LOVE doing more than one thing at once.  It’s supremely satisfying to make dinner in the oven while cleaning the fridge and quizzing your 11 year old on multiplication tables.  It must be in the genes.  You know what I mean, mom.

Now that you know what I’m up against, the actual reason I entered the shop was to sand my mother-in-law’s stepstool.  Tom had cut out the pieces with dovetails.

Santos Mahogany is a gorgeous wood.  Very … appealing.  OK – I have no idea how to describe it other than I like it.

The first step was to get the right grit on the sander.  We used 120 for the first round.  I grabbed a piece of chalk and drew lines, and some flowers, so I’d know if I evenly sanded the wood.

Once I started up the sander, it was easy.  I just let the sander “do the work” as Tom instructed.  It took longer than I thought, though, and I had to resist that multitasking urge and just take my time.  After about 10 minutes, I flipped the pieces over to chalk and sand the other side.

By the time I was done, about 20 minutes later, I had a tingly sensation in my hands and just wanted to sit down.  But a refreshing sense of accomplishment came over me.  I had completed the task for today and looked forward to the next go-round with a lighter grit sandpaper tomorrow.  The step stool will essentially be made by both of us and I feel pride and ownership in that.

I see why you love this hobby, Tom!

This was a perfect weekend for woodworking. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a lot of rain and there was just enough of a breeze in the balmy late spring Florida air to make things passable … especially in the shade.

That wasn’t what I was doing. Nope. Let’s say that a simple tile repair in our guest bathroom discovered a few ‘issues’. How many?  A bunch. I pried off the soap dish, and it came off way too easily. Of course, the wall was wet. The green water-resistant drywall was soaked and black with mold. The more tiles I pried off, the wider I could see that the mold had spread.  Basically, the drywall was black with mold from the edge of the tub to a point about four feet above. Since my son Dominic is an asthmatic, and he is allergic to mold, it all had to be stripped out. All the way back to the studs.

The tub, installed when the house was built in 1979, was a cheap, crappy contractor model with a severe rust issue. We had a company come in about a decade ago to clad it with an acrylic shell, but it was still the same old rusty model underneath.  So, my friend Chris and I got some two-man bathtub bobsled practice as we removed it and hauled it to the curb. I also had my friend Bob in to remove the old valve and solder in a new modern single handle one.

So, I spent most of my weekend in the bathroom, filling two gigantic residential trash bins to the rim with debris and sanitizing everything I came in contact with.

Oh, and I’m going to be installing the new tub, backerboard and tile.  Eventually.

But, I did have a chance to do some woodworking activity this weekend. On Friday, I opened a package from my new sponsors Bora Tools. Some really sweet stuff – a few new tri-squares, T-bevels and a combination square. A nifty attachment for my Tormek sharpening station and some awesome folding saw horses.  I will be sure to post a review of these products…

One of these days.  Until then, does anyone have an good tips on how to make a watertight cement backerboard shower surround?  🙂

It’s June. That can mean only three things… The Atlantic Hurricane season begins on the first, summer begins on the 20th and students are graduating.

Some are being promoted from elementary to middle school, while others are being promoted from middle to high school. Those graduating high school and college are contemplating further education while others are prepared to begin their careers and strike off on their own.

In these challenging economic times, though, it’s tougher than ever for recent grads to get their feet under them, and many have to move back home with their parents. Hey, it happens. Those parents who may have said tearful goodbyes four years ago now have to readjust their home situation to cope with a returning adult child.  Sure, it’s temporary, but that wasn’t the plan to begin with.

Why bring this up?  Well, I’ve found that many of the pieces I have built have – uhhh – found their way back home. Yeah, a bunch of projects I have built over the years – specifically for the art contest that’s held ever winter at my office – have failed to launch to new and exciting destinations.

And, to think I was so spoiled the first few years of the competition.  For my sculpted contemplation bench, the judges for the contest were wondering just how much I was going to sell it for. But, that sucker isn’t for sale… it’s the proof I have that I worked with Marc Spagnuolo at a woodworking school all those many years ago! Today, it sits in our back family room in front of my collection of woodworking books.

When it came to my pagoda box, I had a buyer lined up for it even before the show was over.

The Fujiwhara Chest?  It now graces the bedroom of my friends’ daughter in a place of high honor.

The base for Mars and Venus Rising?  It’s down the street at another friend’s home – right alongside the Nakashima-Inspired bench.

That’s where my luck started to run out. The next year’s offerings had their issues.  The sculpture that rested on the base for Position of Strength fell over and shattered into hundreds of pieces. That left me with the base made of flame birch and walnut. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty … and one day, I’m going to put a glass table top on it. But, right now, it sits, ignominiously in my shop, slowing being covered in sawdust.

While Position of Strength sits in the garage, Centered found its way back to the house, but in a nicer place. My wife liked it so much – especially the fouled-up colored epoxy inlay – that it now occupies an honored place in front of the front windows in my living room. More often than not it ends up covered in books and papers, but when we spiff the place up for company, it comes out in all of its natural beauty.

And, my wall-hanging cabinet … it technically didn’t make it back home. It sits on a table in my office reminding me of two very important lessons … from here on out, I’m  going to have to ensure I have a place to put my entries if they fail to launch, and I’m only building SMALL pieces for the contest!

This past Saturday, I followed through on my promise and went to the Woodworking Show in Tampa. As always, what a great experience. There were vendors, woodworkers and some good friends I haven’t seen for an entire year.

Here are some shots from the show…

Sam Hamory of Earlex sprayers was teaching me a thing or two about shooting a finish

Now, why would this be my favorite shot of the day? Simple… this guy is Eric Rusch. He’s has been a long time reader of this blog, and his past weekend, we finally had the opportunity to meet face to face. What a great guy… We talked for a while about our woodworking hobbies and we took a few shots. I’m hoping we have an opportunity to meet up again sometime soon!

I have an online woodworking friend, Chris Wong of Flair Woodworks. He asked me recently about something that I’ve been doing on my blog since almost the beginning – the quick poll.

Now, if you have been following along, a typical week for me starts on Sunday with the quick poll, followed by a pair of articles and the link of the week. I put the quick poll up because it gives each of you the chance to weigh in and participate in what goes on with the blog.  That’s am important thing for me… if you are involved, you’ll stick around!

But, now that you have voted, what exactly am I doing with the information?  Selling it to some secret woodworking cabal for nefarious purposes?  Nah… I’m doing it so we can learn about each other.

For instance, how many readers cut their dovetails by hand?  With all of those awesome dovetail jigs, surely it has to be a small fringe that hangs on to their old ways.  Uhh, you’d be wrong.  Of the 237 votes we got, 116 – nearly half – cut ’em by hand.  Unreal.  The next highest total was those who don’t cut dovetails… unbelievable..

I can remember a discussion I had with another woodworker who was adamant that the piece of wood that joins two mortises should NEVER be called a loose tenon.. but, that’s what 188 of 320 voters call it.  So much for that…

And, another surprising finding was that 328 of 394 voters either kept their users’ manuals handy or stashed someplace convenient for their power tools.  I thought for sure that those babies would have been long gone by the time they were working well.

Some questions were funny. Others were dead serious. Hopefully, all of them will make you think about what you are doing in your shop, and how others tackle the challenges you face.

If you would like to check out some of the results, simply follow the link to the quick poll link under the categories setting on my site.  You might just be surprised with what you will find.

I love when the Woodworking Shows come to Tampa. It’s a great opportunity to see my friend and fellow Wood Magazine contributor Jim Heavey (and, Jim, yes, you are welcome back to the house for more Jambalaya, if you are up for it!), sit in on some awesome classes and get hands-on time with some great tools.

This year, there is going to be something else to look forward to – the first ever Florida meet-up for the Modern Woodworkers Association. With online woodworking now a huge deal, the MWA is a place for us all to hang out virtually… but, it’s always good to get folks together in person to talk, shake hands and swap some tall shop tales.

This year, the Woodworking Show at the Tampa Fairgrounds is held the weekend of March 16 – 18. I plan on being there on Saturday, March 17. Since that Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day, I’m sure most of you would like to get your Irish on at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, so we’ll make the meet up from about 10 – 3.  I won’t be sporting any green, but I will be wearing my Modern Woodworkers Association t-shirt I got last October, so I should be easy to find. I will look a lot like the guy in this photo:

While we won’t have a formal ‘agenda’ for this meeting, it should give us a good opportunity to get together. Since the St. Petersburg Woodcrafters’ Guild will have a table at the show, this might not be a bad meeting spot around noon…

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone next month!

Well, here we are. The last day of Get Woodworking Week, and I have got to tell you, I have been thoroughly impressed by the outpouring of support from the online woodworking community. The blog posts I have linked to have been funny, thought provoking and inspirational. As I have told several of the posters… if it wasn’t for these awesome posts and active participation, Get Woodworking Week wouldn’t be worth a bucket of warm spit.

As this week draws to a close, we are left with one nagging question: Where to now?

During Wednesday’s Woodchat, a few folks asked me how I was going to be able to tell if the week was a success. Number of hits? Some magic analytic that would show people who got off their butts and into the shop? The number of new blogs from beginning woodworkers?

My response to them was simple. Hopefully, Get Woodworking Week 2012 was enough to kindle a fire. To get folks revved up about their woodworking.  Now, the next step is up to each of you.  Take the enthusiasm we’ve built these past seven days, and help to spread it where you live.

• Go volunteer to talk to kids in a classroom.
• Maybe offer to talk to folks at a local library about woodworking (Libraries are always looking to put on programs to attract folks).
• Why not offer to help a scout troop with some woodworking projects (the Pinewood Derby season is right around the corner…)?
• Donate some old woodworking books and magazines to your local library or activity center for new eyes to feast upon.
• Invite your spouse, neighbor, child, friend, co-worker, tennis partner, etc. to come to your shop to show them what you do.
• Join a guild or club.  You don’t have one in your community? Well, why not start one?
• Build something special for someone just because…

The point is that my little blog is just one miniscule slice of this giant woodworking pie. It’s going to take a lot of effort from talented, enthusiastic woodworkers to get more folks involved in what we do.  But, believe me, when those folks see how excited you are about the craft, your energy and excitement will show through.

Who knows? One day, you may have found that you have personally inspired the next Sam Maloof, James Krenov or Marc Spagnuolo.

Just how cool would that be?

By the way, mark your calendars… I’m thinking February 3 – 9 sounds like a good time for Get Woodworking Week 2013…

Oh, and here’s a totally kick butt video from Scott Morton to celebrate Get Woodworking Week…. It’s a must watch. Two thumbs up!

The blog posts are STILL coming in!  Here’s the latest of the bunch…

•  The Joiner’s Apprentice: Simple Dovetail Box
• Woodworking for Mere Mortals: Shop Cabinet
• Scott Morton: Teaching the kids
• The Garage Woodshop: Blunt Instruments
• Giant Cypress: One last item for Get Woodworking Week
• WV Woodshed: Get Woodworking Week
• The Corner Workshop: Take the plunge