As a hurricane public awareness spokesperson, it’s my job to pass information on to folks who may be in danger about the importance of having a disaster plan. While I normally talk to residents in all types of organizations and communities the county, I recently had an opportunity to speak with the St. Petersburg Woodcrafters Guild about the topic.  In fact, I was the presenter that night (Great, I get to work for my dinner there as well!).

I had two topics to cover that night. The second one was veneering (that video will be next week, I promise!), but the first topic was about how to prepare your shop for the potential of a disaster.

Now, I know many of you won’t ever experience a hurricane in your lives (Unless, of course, you order one at the bar), but there are a number of other disasters that can befall your shop.  Floods. Tornadoes. Wildfires. Theft.

In this roughly seven minute presentation, I covered many of the basics, especially when it comes to insuring your shop and tools so you can recover from a disaster.

The resources I mentioned include:

• The Insurance Information Institute
• Know your stuff
• The National Flood Insurance Program

And, remember, let’s stay safe out there!

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Nice title.

The podcast goes into a discussion about the online woodworking community… And, at first, the comments were pretty complimentary and tame.  It’s a great way for people to share their experiences – to show what they are building and how they are growing in the craft.

Had the conversation ended at the five minute mark, It would have been a great topic to cover and things would have sat OK with me. Alas, they couldn’t leave well enough alone.  In the next five minutes, I learned that the Internet is basically awash with a bunch of idiots claiming to be ‘experts’ on every topic, leading the poor beginning woodworker down the ‘wrong path’ to frustration and a lifetime of failure.

Woah.  Hold the phone, fellas. I do get that some folks may or may not have a total grasp on the finer point of technique. But, I know a great number of woodworking bloggers, and I really  have yet to run into one who claims to be an ‘expert’ on the topics they write about.

The claim was made that  no one is vetting the level of expertise of these bloggers, and there is plenty of bad information floating around out there pretending to be the voice of authority.  I have seen people cut joints that I’m not sure would be the best for the particular situation, but I have seen plenty of techniques that are plenty sound. Besides, if those techniques work for the particular woodworker, why not see how they are done?

The question of shop safety was also brought up. Some of the videos out there can be downright frightening to watch, with the one I posted here being example A. But, believe me, if someone goes out and puts up a post that’s not safety-conscious, the readers are going to be the ones who weigh in it. This was identified as crowd sourcing, and  trust me, it works. Heck, I’ve had folks weigh in when I don’t have my safety glasses on while I hand plane.

Another point of emphasis is that the more stuff a woodworker builds, the better they are. Therefore, if someone build dozens of pieces of furniture of one style, they should be looked to as the expert in the field.  I can see the logic in this, but it would be a stretch to say that this is a 100% guarantee that they are truly better.  Think of it this way – if a person has been practicing the violin for 40 years and has perfect playing form, but can’t make the instrument sing, why would I want to listen to the performance?  If someone has been playing for five years and can bring down the house, why would I not want to hear that? When I see younger woodworkers who have less than several decades of experience – David Marks, Rob Bois, Shannon Rodgers, Kari Hultman – cutting tight joinery and making it work -I am encouraged to see the new generation of woodworkers coming along to help pass the craft to my children and their kids.

The video hosts went on to say that only people vetted by the woodworking magazines or by well-known schools are the ones who really truly understand and can teach the proper methods. With their high level of expertise, they are the ones truly qualified to teach how to build. Nonsense. People who can woodwork are an awesome bunch of people, but it also takes an incredible amount of skill to be able to teach others about the craft. Communication, interpersonal skills and desire mean a lot. I had the honor of taking a class from Marc Spagnuolo when he was in his late 20′s… and his teaching skills were light years ahead of some of the other ‘more experienced’ instructors I have taken classes from.

Another thing that struck me as odd …  we know that  all woodworkers have their own preferences on joinery. And, after years of doing things only one way, they tend to rely on those same joints and techniques for most – if not all – of their projects. I contest that it’s good to get a wider, more diverse vision of how things can be done. If I have said it a once, I’ve said it a million times – there are about a thousand ways to cut a particular joint, and they are all right if they make for tight joinery that can take the abuse.  So, say, if Chris Becksvoort hand cuts his dovetail a certain way, does that mean that machine cut dovetails are inferior?  How about box or finger joints? Splines?  Should they not be considered valid because someone prefers another style of joinery?

And, while passing on the information is fine, what about the inspiration?  David Life is a woodworker I have profiled before, and he does his work in spite of being legally blind. I find it fascinating to learn from David how his techniques have had to evolve as his eyesight faded.  Hearing stories about woodworkers like David help make me a better woodworker. Just reading about or watching ‘established and vetted’ woodworkers leaves me flat.  I need to see the stories of woodworkers like me – toiling away in their shops and turning out great work on the weekends and after hours – not just the ones who do it full-time for a magazine or at a woodworking school.

I contest that online woodworking is far from the perfect storm of stupidity. In fact, this online collaboration has done more to get new woodworkers off their behinds and into shops that many of the established woodworking sources care to admit. And, it offers exposure to a rich variety of techniques I may not have considered in my woodworking.  Is it perfect?  Nope, but either is the other option where only a few ‘masters’ control what content is released to the masses.

If you would like to hear about why I or other bloggers do what we do, check out our take on things on the fifth edition of  the Modern Woodworkers Association’s online discussion.

Oh, and keep on blogging and building. I see the perfect setup the way things exist.

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As we start to gain on the summer (or we move from the warm summer months to the much cooler winter months south of the Equator), it’s time to start thinking about climate control in our shops. Today, let us know whether you have a totally tricked-out full-on AC/heat setup or you rely on nature to create your ambient shop temperature.

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Back in the days when items shipped in wooden crates, many woodworkers got their start building projects out of that packaging material. With cardboard replacing wooden crates, there is still one excellent resource for finding project wood on the cheap – wooden pallets.

This green online green site offers some interesting inspiration for projects that can be built with recycled shipping pallets. From the whimsical to the uber-practical, readers can find all types of links to plans to turn trash to woodworking treasure.

Sure, there are several standard caveats when dealing with pallets:

• They may belong to a shipping company, so ask before you take them!
• They are typically assembled with a bajillion staples and nails, so be sure to go through them carefully to ensure you get all of the metal out before you start to work
• They are also usually filled with all kind of grit which can easily dull your blades. Clean them thoroughly with a wire brush and a blast of compressed air to dislodge the worst of it.

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The only problem is the wood you chose. You have your old reliable standbys, but you want more. The thought of using stain may have crossed your mind, but that’s not for you. You want wood that just looks different.

Fortunately, there are lots of different kinds of woods out there that can be had, and the variety can be rather amazing. My friends over at Bell Forest Products had prepared a bunch of board samples for a client. Once the client decided on which wood, the guys at Bell were stuck with them. So, they packed them up and shipped them to sunny Florida for a little vacation in Uncle Tom’s (and Uncle Iggy’s) shop.  The selection was impressive…

This shot features Bolivian Rosewood, redheart, quartersawn oak and flame birch.

How about this quartet of walnut, leopardwood, canary wood and curly maple?

Some really stunning choices here with East Indian rosewood, zebrawood, Honduran mahogany and birdseye maple.

Here’s a nice mix of purpleheart, bubinga and African mahogany.

A great spread of colors from padauk, santos mahogany and American holly.

And, could you possibly go wrong with jatoba, bloodwood, goncalo alves, quartersawn maple and chechen?

While some of these woods may be a little on the pricey side for an entire project, a splash of padauk, redheart or chechen can make a maple piece really shine, and a walnut piece with some holly or maple accents can really show some pizazz. It’s all in how you use it…

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Well, this past week and a half, I got off my butt, into the shop and did something about it. First, I sketched out a design that had to 1) Serve as a miter saw workbench, 2) have ample storage for tools, coolers, beach accoutrements, recycling bins, paint cans and the like and 3) Give me someplace to park the shop vac and roll around drill press table totally out of the way.  Armed with the drawing and a list of the materials I already had on hand – after all, I was cannibalizing the shelving system I had built – I headed off to Home Depot to make magic.

There, I had to pick up a new sheet of 3/4 inch plywood ripped into two two-foot strips, six 2×4 studs, a hand full of Simpson Strong Tie connectors and a Snickers bar. Remember, Snickers satisfies you, right?  Once the shopping trip was done, the fine folks at big orange wrapped the heck out of the lumber on the sport rack on our Jeep Compass. Yeah, that’s normally where my wife’s kayak resides, but I had to make some exceptions.

Back at the shop, I took the old shelving system down, saving every screw, every 2×4 and every sheet of old plywood to reuse in my new set up. Yes, it was the green thing for me to do, and it saved a fortune on buying extra materials. I think I may have used 200 plus screws putting the old one together… wow… that was a lot of steel!

With the old shelving unit removed, I was able to finally sweep up all of the sawdust, cobwebs and other nastiness that had accumulated in the area over the years. And paint cans. My goodness, where did all of those old paint cans come from?  There were paint cans bought by the former owner of the house back in 1996 hiding out. Amazing… Who knew we also had a shallow well pump to irrigate our yard?  Wow, the things you find while digging around under there.

Starting fresh, I built the first module of the system. The strong-ties make assembling utility benches a piece of cake. Before long, I had the skeleton of my new bench system together.  On the far right end, closest to the garage door, there is my dust collection unit, the ‘garage’ to park the shop vac and drill press and a set of shelves for stashing less-frequently used tools.  All the way over to the left, closest to my side entry door, is the air conditioner and heater, my long tools, and the ‘family’ shelf tower that holds coolers, recycling bins and the like.

Over the pump, I wanted to put the miter saw station.  I put a shelf about four inches above the top of the pump unit. This is for offcuts I make at the miter saw. For the top deck that the saw was going to sit on, I measured the height of the base and found it – surprisingly – the same height as the width of a 2×4. That was convenient, Ridgid!  I temporarily screwed a pair of 2×4 spacers even with the work surface, and mounted the cleat and 3/4 inch plywood deck to that. Once I removed the spacers, the saw went right down on top, easy peasey lemon sqeezy.

On the top of the work station, I wanted to have a fence and stop so I could cut pieces to identical lengths. I simply ripped some strips of 1/2 inch plywood left over from some other projects, glued and tacked them and then pocket screwed them to the work surface, carefully aligning them with the saw’s surface. I sanded this down to make sure there were no splinter makers on there, and I’m now using my old self-centering doweling jig as a stop. Talk about convenient!

Above the work surface, I built a short lumber rack. I mounted 2×4 uprights to my masonry wall with Tapcon screws, and then build some standards out of 2x4s and 3/4 inch plywood gussets. Those babies are STRONG!  On top, I put my Halloween coffin and other yard decorations, and the next level down has some choice small offcuts.

What’s left to do? Well, since the stop rail for the miter saw is forward on the table, I have a full 14 inches of space behind the rail to put in more shelves for more storage. I’ll put those in on the far right side – maybe that would be a good place for some table saw accessories, since it’s not far from the saw itself.  Now, to check out some large plywood offcuts to see which might be appropriate. Hey, that’s going to make more room in my wood storage area that way …

I also have my Delta air cleaner a neighbor gave me. I’ll have to hang a few hooks for that above the saw so it can filter the air and throw some light on the bench.

All in all, I’d say the are behind the bench went from a zero to a hero in about a week’s worth of work.

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But, there are some woodworkers out there who aren’t alone. No, I’m not talking about disembodied spirits or anything like that. I’m talking about those companions of the four-legged variety. A shop cat or dog can help make the time a little bit more fun (or frustrating, based on the pet’s personality) and can even provide a sounding board for design decisions. “So, Fluffy, what do you think about dovetails here?”

This week, tell us if you have a shop mascot and what the experience is like for you.

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With my last post this Wood Worker’s Safety Week, it’s only fitting that I focus on a company whose purpose is safety… Micro Jig.

While their offerings include the MJ splitter system (in both plastic and steel core models) and their Zero-Play guide bar system for building jigs, without a doubt, their flagship product is the GRR-Ripper 3-D push block.

This little baby is famed in song and story as what is close to the ultimate push block for work on table saws, router tables and other power tools. It offers excellent control , and even allows the user to push it over the table saw blade, securing the work while allowing the blade to pass through the tunnel formed by the block’s two feet.

Take a look at their offerings, their fully-video information center and their support pages to find out more about their offerings. While not the most glamorous tools, their offerings will definitely help you amp up the safety in your shop.

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But, what are jobs number two, three, four and five? How about job number 12? Those are mill, joint, cut joinery, assemble, sand and finish, right?

Not so fast, chief.

True, it’s only fitting and appropriate that before we start working in the shop, we take the time to do the right stuff.  Splitter or riving knife on the table saw? Check. Push sticks handy? You got it. Loose stuff off the floor so you can’t trip on it? Oh yeah.

After that, though, do we continue to put safety on our list? I mean, it’s easy to fall into a pattern when we’re working. We’ll get on a roll and allow offcuts to build up on the table saw top. Or, we’ll maybe forget to grab those safety glasses sitting on the workbench across the room. Maybe that cut we swear up and down is too risky to make while we’re out of the shop doesn’t look too challenging while we’re at the workbench. Or, we’ll work until we are well past tired and want to make that proverbial “One Last Cut.”  You know the one that leads to many injuries.

It’s easy to become lax as we work… making the safety at the top of the list argument an afterthought before we make the boneheaded move that requires us to reach for the first aid kit or – heavens forbid – the phone to dial 9-1-1.

I can’t take credit for this outlook. I’m an advocate of Mike Rowe’s argument that safety is indeed job three… and many other slots on that list. Maybe I didn’t make the point clearly enough, but perhaps Mike can convince you. Check out this link to hear his explanation for yourself.

As we work our way through Wood Workers Safety Week, take a look at your safety practices. Check out your safety gear. And remember, the most important safety device that you own rests between your ears. Use it.

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Well, we’d all like to believe that. But, as we know in life, the only things that are 100% certain are death and taxes. Beyond that, it’s a crap shoot. That doesn’t mean that you don’t want to load the dice in your favor, right?  I mean, none of us takes down the box of rat poison and pours it over their breakfast cereal in the morning.  Or walks out into the middle of traffic on a busy road without at least a half-hearted glance to see if cars are oncoming. We don’t light the barbecue grill inside the living room, do we?

In the same way, becoming a little bit safer in the workshop really doesn’t take much thought or effort – or certainly cost. By following a few simple safety tips, you can improve the odds that a freak accident won’t befall you.

1) Kill clutter.  It never fails – you start working on a project  and the next thing you know, there are extension cords, offcuts and tools all over the place. On the floor. On the bench. Across the shop. They become tripping hazards. Dropping hazards.  I’ve found myself recently becoming lax on cleaning up my messes during a project. There have been times where I have piled up so many tools, clean up could take several days. That’s why I’ve had to institute a plan that at least keeps the mess at bay. My new cell phone has a countdown timer on it. Now, I set the timer for one hour, and when it goes off, I take the time to look at the bench and the tools to see if anything can be cleaned up or put away. Sure, it’s a pain in the rear, but taking a forced break every hour to walk away from the bench and clean up some stuff helps to keep a tidier – and safer – work area.

2) Avoid overloads. In order to save a few bucks, I used to use light-gauge outdoor extension cords from the one outlet in my shop and plug in multiple tools. And, for some time, this arrangement worked well for me. That was until one day I smelled this aroma of hot plastic in the shop. What could it have been?  Much to my amazement, the extension cord was uncomfortably hot to the touch. Now, I’m sure the circuit breaker would have kicked in before something would have happened, but it was shortly after that my wife and I had to have a conversation about adding a few shop dedicated circuits to handle the loads I was placing on the tools.

2a) Sure, it cost some money, but there was an added bonus – when I put the tools on two dedicated circuits, if the breaker ever did trip, the lights remained on in the shop. This was a HUGE improvement over what used to happen; the circuit would trip, and the lights would go off with a spinning blade I could no longer see right in front of me…

3) When in doubt, secure your work.  If I’m going to route a set of dovetails, I’ll take the time to carefully clamp the work to my bench. If I’m going to joint a board with my hand planes, I’ll crank down on the board in the vise. But, when I have to make a few simple cuts with a chisel, I typically just lay the board down on the bench surface and go to it. Or, even dumber, I’ve even HELD the board with one hand while using the chisel with the other. That was cool in my eyes, until the day I accidentally laid the sharp edge of a 1 inch chisel across my inner left wrist. You know, where all the veins, arteries, tendons, nerves and ligaments run that operate your hand run. I barely got a scrape from my encounter, but I could have been looking at some major micro surgery to get my left hand working well again.  That was the day I bought a set of Quick Grip trigger clamps, and now I set the piece down on the bench and clamp it into place. Sure, it takes some extra time, but when I think of complaining about that, my mind flashes back to that scary incident.

These three tips are just a starting point. In fact, I’d love to hear more about your safety tips. Remember, Wood Workers Safety Week works when we all share our collective wisdom and help keep everyone happily pursuing the craft.

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