Important People: Gail O’Rourke

July 18, 2012 Tom 4 Comments

There have been a bunch of folks who have had a major influence on Tom’s Workbench over the past five years. I wanted to take the time to recognize a few of the folks with which the blog would have never happened.

Today, I send a shout-out to Gail O’Rourke.

In many ways, Tom’s Workbench wouldn’t have even been a thought if it wasn’t for Gail. Many years ago, I was posting regularly to the Woodworker’s Website Association. Great group of folks there, and we would banter back and forth about woodworking, life, the works…

Gail had attended the American Sycamore Woodworkers Retreat in Indiana. A nice woodworking school that had quite a great group of students attending it. Each year, many of the more ‘entertaining’ students were invited back for a charity build-a-thon to build some projects, have a few laughs and see just how late we could stay up each night and still function in the shop. It was a challenge.

As plans were being made for the 2005 gathering, one of the people who was invited to the big build-along was noted woodworking author Danny Proulx. Tragically, Danny passed away in November of 2004, a few months before the event.

The owners of the school gave Gail the opportunity to invite someone else to take his place for the late-spring build, and she suggested that I be invited. At first, I was sure I was going to answer, “no.” I mean, it was a flight and lodging costs, and I was asked to raise $100 as a donation to the American Cancer Society for the build. But, after a long discussion with Rhonda, I decided that the situation was right, and off I went.

Needless to say, the weekend build-a-thon was a blast, and I had the chance to meet many talented woodworkers who helped me get started along the way. In fact, it was shortly after this event that I was invited to come up for a week-long class with this young guy named Marc Spagnuolo…

Later, when I told Gail I was interested in breaking into the woodworking writing field, Gail was instrumental in opening the door to get an article in the the now-defunct Women in Woodworking magazine – an article on Gail herself.

Through the years, Gail has checked in with me to see how the blog is doing, to compare parenting notes (she has three, I have two) and to run crazy ideas by.

All of this because we randomly met on a woodworking board, and she thought she’d take a chance to invite me up to a woodworking event.

Experiences

Important People: Danny Proulx

July 17, 2012 Tom 3 Comments

Today, I send a shout-out to he late Danny Proulx.

Danny, the author of several woodworking books, was a regular poster over at the Woodworkers Website Association. This was my first real brush with a woodworking celebrity. At first, I was an addle-brained starstruck beginning woodworker. I mean, heck, I was posting messages that a real live woodworking expert was responding to.

It was about that time that I experienced a sea-change in my attitude. You see, Danny was the most down-to-earth guy you could have ever wanted to meet. Of course, he was well versed in woodworking wisdom, but there was so much more at work than that. He would ask me how the kids were doing. He would ask me what was going on in my shop. He would comment on my posts.

For me, that was a major boost of confidence that I really needed. It also showed me that most people in the woodworking arena are open, honest folks who want nothing more than to see the success of others in the craft.

It was about that moment that I realized hey, I belonged.

And, I hope I haven’t yet worn out my welcome.

Danny passed in November of 2004, suffering a heart attack as he headed in to a woodworking show where he was slated to do some woodworking demonstrations for attendees. It seems only fitting that the last act he did on this earth was prepare to teach others about the craft.

I still miss him.

Shop Talk

Safe and sound

July 16, 2012 Tom Leave a comment

One project many woodworkers love to build is a jewelery box. You know, a little box or chest for that special someone to store those special rings, necklaces, earrings and other bits of bling. These boxes help keep them safe, organized and easily accessible. That’s important, given the cost of some of these shiny baubles.

So, then, why do many woodworkers just chuck their expensive router bits and saw blades carelessly into a drawer or store them in difficult to find locations? I mean, they are shiny, they cost a bunch, and you need to know what’s in your collection when you start out on a project. Why not treat them with the same amount of respect?

“Carbide is tough, but very brittle stuff,” said David Venditto of Infinity Cutting Tools. “If you are going to pop for a well-made router bit or saw blade, you are going to want to get as much life as possible out of it. Why would you want to shorten their lives by not storing them carefully?” A good storage system will help you by keeping your valuable cutting tools safe from banging together. It will also help you catalog what you have in your collection so you don’t forget you have it or – even worse – have to lay out extra money to buy another copy of what you already have.

There are dozens of plans out there for blade and bit storage systems, it never seems as if there is enough time or material to build them. Besides, we go to the shop to build furniture, right? Another option is to go with a purchased box or rack system to help with storage. Again, most woodworkers would rather spend money on blades, bits and wood rather than storage. But a small investment in time and/or money can really help save the day.

If you have the space, time, material and inclination, building a large display shelf to house your collection is the way to go. Many are built with plexiglass paneled doors so you can see the entire collection at a glance. After all, you never know when looking at a particular bit will inspire a design idea on your next project – which is something you will lose if you can’t see what’s available. Router bit holders can be fashioned from a simple board with appropriately-sized holes drilled into it, or with a commercially available bit rack. These will help keep your bits upright and their carbide edges safe.

Another good option for the space-challenged is to build a bit or blade storage drawer into a piece of shop equipment. Drawer construction is actually easier than you might imagine, and, with the proper drawer runner hardware, one can be added just about anywhere. In a router table. Under your workbench. Or, you could co-opt an existing drawer in a piece of shop storage you already have. Either way, you will want to still create a bit organizer. Again, this could simply be a piece of plywood or MDF with appropriately sized holes drilled into it, but you have to make sure that you have enough space between the bits while in storage. Another great option is to buy a commercial bit organizer that will help keep your bits neat and orderly.

If you bring your bits or blades with you to different job sites, portability is going to be key. In that case, you may be looking at some type of box or case to carry your precious cargo with you. Again, you can certainly build your own, or you can look to purchase a bit or blade storage box. “We’re kinda proud of our bit and blade storage boxes. They are finger-jointed southern yellow pine with secure locking latches. They are a great value. Plus, hey, you get our contact information on the lid!”

Quick Polls

Quick Poll

July 15, 2012 Tom 4 Comments

There are few tools as basic, ancient and effective as chisels. A stout metal body with one end ground to a seriously sharp edge, connected to a wooden or plastic handle. No fuss, no muss.

While chisels may seem so basic and elementary, they are frequently used on just about every project. Trimming tenons to fit. Mortising out for hinges. Squaring rabbets to accept a crisply cut back panel.

The only problem with chisels is that they seem to reproduce when you aren’t looking. Soon, you can end up with a huge collection of bench chisels, butt chisels, paring chisels, mortisting chisels, Japanese chisels and other models in a wide variety of sizes.

This week, I want to know how you store the chisels you use most frequently. In the wooden box you bought them in? Loose in a drawer in a rolling tool chest? Organized by size in a custom built chisel rack?

Now, I know you may have a set of special chisels you have tucked away somewhere, but I want to know about your most frequently used set.

Link of the week

July 13, 2012 Tom 2 Comments

Woodworking for Mere Mortals

There’s woodworking. There’s humor. Then, there’s the combination of woodworking AND humor that you’ll find at Steve Ramsey’s website Woodworking for Mere Mortals.

If you haven’t checked Steve’s site out, what the heck are you waiting for? This guy is the mastermind behind videos such as Man vs. Wood, the iWood and the Woodworker’s Rap. He’s put woodworking to Iambic Pentameter (eat thy heart out, Shakespeare!). He has dressed as other woodworkers for Halloween. He’s off the leash!

But, the videos are just part of what he does. His site offers a rich selection of project plans, reader project and other musings on the craft. His approach is very encouraging, and I’m willing to bet many woodworkers have started by checking out his posts. I have been following Steve for years now, and I think he’s one of the few folks out there who can beat me for post frequency!

Experiences

Got us another one!

July 12, 2012 Tom 2 Comments

Got off the phone last night with Dave Campbell of Wood Magazine. While he was very excited about me reaching the thousand post milestone, he was considerably more concerned about how the pressure of stardom was going to affect Iggy. I mean, now the poor monkey is going to have to write MORE articles to help get us to that important number.

To show his support for Iggy, Dave has offered a great prize: A DVD with the complete Wood Magazine collection with issues from number one through 209. Folks, that’s more than 25 years of content!

Tools

Tools I use: Woodworking T-shirts, part deux

July 11, 2012 Tom 4 Comments

Can you remember my previous tour de force about my woodworking shirts? If not, check here to see what I was wearing back in the day. (Yes, I still have many of these!)

Since then, I have added a lot of new ones to the collection. Enough, in fact, to do a SECOND post. So, here’s a little love to the folks out there who are helping to cover my growing gut!

Once again, with feeling, clockwise from the top middle, and click on the image to see a larger version:

Got Wood? They sure do over at Bell Forest Products. Scads of it! I have really enjoyed working with them through the years, and the wood they have there is really just amazing to look at!

Mike Siemsen gave me this next shirt for volunteering at the Hand Tool Olympics last year at Woodworking in America. This shirt reminds me that hand tools are indeed fun, and I have a LONG way to go before I get good with dovetails!

What can you say about Ron Hock over at Hock Tools? He’s super knowledgeable about blades. He’d go way out of his way to be helpful to even the most ham-handed woodworker. And, he’s just a plain nice guy. If you get the chance to talk to him, you will come away a much better person for the experience.

The folks over at Bessey Tools send me this black beauty. They sure have helped me put the squeeze on projects for years now, and they make some awesome clamps. I hope they can handle the pressure now… snort…

We are Modern Woodworking.. and we mean it! If you haven’t been to the Modern Woodworkers Association, what are you waiting for? There’s some awesome stuff going on in the different chapters around the world… oh, and I also hear they do this online podcast with a silver-tongued host… 🙂

Matt Vanderlist. The Podfather. A fixture in the online woodworking community for years… And, the mastermind behind Matt’s Basement Workshop. He’s the man, and here’s the shirt!

Iggy the Trained Shop Monkey gets excited when I wear this shirt I got from Gorilla Glue. It’s easy to see why… that big monkey on the front. Iggy’s definitely stuck on them.

There’s no tool like an old tool.. and when an old fool wears it, well, that just makes for great rhyming. This one came from Duluth Trading Company… and I just love the slogan.

And, if you are interested in wearing the latest in Shop Monkey fashion, why not check out my storefront at Cafe Press? I’m modeling one of the baseball T’s with the shop monkey logo emblazoned on the front.

Tom's Workbench