About
me: I
became interested in furniture and cabinetry woodworking toward the end of 2003.
Unlike many woodworkers who were raised around other skilled craftsmen and
taking shop in school, I started woodworking in my 30's after buying a home. I
initially learned mostly by watching episodes of
the New
Yankee Workshop. My woodworking has mostly been centered on finish
carpentry. trimwork and built in's for mid to high-end homes, but through the
encouragement of expert woodworkers like Thomas MacDonald, my focus is evolving
into a passion to build heirloom furniture in solid wood.
Some
Helpful Links:
Some
Projects:
*click on pictures to view larger
WORKSHOP MAKEOVER 3.0
What a difference a wood floor makes in a home workshop.
My latest shop updates: insulated wood floor, dedicated space for hand
tool woodworking, new hand tool cabinet and door/window treatments from
reclaimed pine, dedicated area for cabinetry, more floor space for
building projects
Dedicated cabinetry area with freestanding assembly station (doubles as
clamping station)
Table saw with reduced footprint, storage cabinets removed on back wall
(waiting for drywall) and stationary power tools on mobile bases
leaves wide open work space in front of both work areas
My workbench
This bench was inspired by the bench Thomas MacDonald built. It has two continuous thread jorgensen
vises, a laminated maple top, and a
base made from hard maple
Specs:
Benchtop 60" long x 30" wide (source - Grainger $200)
Base - made out of a single piece of 8/4 hard maple 7 ft long x 12 1/2" wide ($5.20 bf - total cost $90)
Filler strips to conceal threaded rod - from maple scraps left over
Vise - 4" x 10" continuous action Jorgensen (source - BE Atlas $129 plus shipping)
Vise block - filler underneath vise approx 1/2" thick (from scrap) and vise face blocks (made from scraps left over from maple board)
Hardware - 8 pcs of 1/4" threaded rod with washers at both ends and nuts - (4 are 3 ft long and other 4 are 6 ft long)
features wire grill in upper doors, large drawers for clothes storage,
bookcase with 2 layer crown treatment and media cabinet in center
Non-Subscription Based Internet Woodworking Shows
The Rough Cut Show
Thomas MacDonald is a gifted woodworker and has one of the best podcasts
on the internet for serious woodworkers. Check out his podcast using
iTunes for best viewing and visit his woodworking forum at www.Tchisel.com
Oak mantel with
bookcase/built in
Keller
Jig Tips - A couple tips on how to work more efficiently with the
Keller through dovetail jig
painted enamel white
6/26/05 How I designed and built my
Lumber
Straightening Jig ver 2.0 saves time and effort jointing edges of
hardwood and puts a straight edge on plywood scraps
Homestead
Finishing - if you're looking for expert advice from the guy who truly
wrote "the book" on finishing, visit Jeff Jewitt's forum at
homestead finishing's website. Homestead is a source for finishing materials
and is a dealer for Accuspray's turbine hvlp line which I own.
Mission influenced
mantel
This is my design which features pull out hand dovetailed cedar drawers
and purpleheart accent corner posts
VENEERING INFORMATION
JoeWoodworker.com
is a good website containing articles and supplies
Finewoodcarving.com
Not ready to do elaborate carving but have a piece of furniture you want to
build that needs it? You might want to outsource the carving portion of the
project. WalnutGuy found this company.
Dead Cordless Tool Batteries? Don't throw away your
cordless drill because the batteries are dead. This company will rebuild
your batteries to like new condition.
Battery Builders - contact: Jason Abel sales@batteryrebuilders.com http://www.batteryrebuilders.com
T-Chisel
Forum - The forum centers around the skills of a talented woodworker
Thomas MacDonald who has a podcast called The Rough Cut Show best viewed
on iTunes but also can be seen at www.BobVila.com.
Woodworking is traditional high end furniture-not sheet good cabinetry or
do it yourself weekend projects. Although Tommy often jokes around, his
woodworking is the real deal.
Woodnet
Forums – discussions on power tools, woodworking and hand tools.
Woodweb
- a website forum for mostly industry woodworking
Router
Forums – a new forum from the makers of Router Workshop dedicated to
table and freehand router work - highly moderated
Making
Through Dovetails a lesson for beginners based on a lesson with
woodworker Gabriel from Woodnet forums
Also,
check out epside one of the Rough Cut Show podcast. Although Tommy cuts up
a lot in his first podcast, the advice he gives for making a through
dovetail joint is the best I've seen.
SOME
KEY RETAILERS FOR WOODWORKING:
A & I Supply
–
good source for economical HDPE table saw zero clearance inserts. Perfect
for the MJ Micro Splitter
All
Pro Tools - I've bought supplies and accessories from them for my Fein
Multimaster.
Amazon
Tool Crib – usually good pricing on workhorse tools like nail guns,
etc
Barr
Tools - makers of quality hand made chisels. From what I have read,
they are a good value for high quality chisels.
CDR
Sales - inexpensive source for jointer and planer blades
Coastal
Tool - the place I bought my Fein Multimaster from. At the time, they
had the best price I could find.
Craftsman
Studio - the place I found my 4" Starrett double square at a good
price. Their focus is hand tools.
Ebay
– new or used, you can probably find what you’re looking for here if
you can’t find it elsewhere
Fine
Tool Journal
- They sell Lie-Nielsen tools at
10% off retail and give free shipping. I own the LN low angle block plane
and the Tite-Mark marking tool and they're both well made tools.
Gladstone
Tools - They have some very reasonably priced hand tools
Grizzly
– I bought their floor radial arm drill press and their very popular 17” bandsaw.
Harbor
Freight – Source for some good and some not so good tools. Their 2
hp dust collector and their bar clamp fixtures are an excellent value
Hartville
Tool - Sells the sort of hook rules I prefer over a tape measure or
regular straight rule for critical measurements. They also offer brass
used for machine set up at a good price.
Highland
Hardware – Bob Smalser told me about this one when looking for
Yankee screwdriver parts
Keller
Dovetailing System - if your needs for dovetailing include larger than
24" sides, this is a good system.
Klingspor’s
Woodworking Shop – Klingspor is an abrasives company and offers a
good deal on their box of belts and box of sanding disks. Also carries
some woodworking tools.
Lee
Valley – better than average woodworking hand tools including the
Veritas brand. The low angle block plane I bought is fantastic and
they’re known for their excellent customer service
Liberty
on the Hudson - if you're interested in refurb'ing old Stanley planes
and you don't want to mix up your own japanning paint, they sell it
Manny’s
Woodworkers Place - Sells
books and videos plus hard to find woodworking hand tools. I found my long
arm compass for scribing here
Prarie
River Woodworking –the source I went to online for the metal jig bar my panel cutting sled
uses
Rockler- retail chain of woodworking tools & supplies
Surplus
Center - part of Burden Sales, they sell everything from casters to
components used for building a veneer pump at less than what you'd pay for
new
Wm.
Redmond & Sons - I got an excellent deal on a Delta 22-540 planer
from them.
Woodcraft –
retail and online woodworking tools and supplies
Woodhaven – a
good source for factory-made versions of power tool jigs and sleds
Woodpeckers
- Incra jigs, accessories, as well as some nice router tables and router
lifts
The
Woodright's Shop - Roy Underhill's interesting show on PBS is a
strictly hand tools approach to woodworking and his website has some
helpful information on tools and techniques.
Dave's
Dirty Dozen - Dave Arbuckle's popular list of 12 steps for getting a
new machine that has that thick protective oily coating clean and ready to
use
How I designed and built a combination sliding
compound miter saw, mortiser and planer station – a good solution for
optimizing shop space (update
coming soon-dust hood and DC hookups)
Emmert
Patternmaking Vise information: a wealth of information lies in this
website. From various types, how to flush install, restore etc, this is a
great site.
Epinions
- before you lay down your cash on a power tool, its good to find out what
the user feedback is on a model. Also, I find its useful as a shopping
tool to narrow down choices and do comparisons.
A
useful article on understanding hardwood lumber grading found on
Woodweb
SOURCES FOR PURCHASING LUMBER AND FURNITURE COMPONENTS
Woodfinder.net
find hardwood sources near you with this excellent search tool
West
Penn Hardwoods - In addition to selling a wide variety of wood
products, they routinely sell unique boards.
Classic
Designs by Matthew Burak –wooden table and chair legs
WOODWORKING TRADE SHOW SCHEDULES
The
Woodworking Shows a traveling trade show where you can see the newest
tools on the market and attend classes with woodworking masters for a fee
WOODWORKER’S WEBSITES
Rob
Millard's Period Furniture: If you want to see true craftsmanship,
this is a woodworker who is awesome. He specializes in Federal Period
reproductions.
John
Fry - His unique
approach combines skills in veneering, traditional joinery, lamination,
and a wide array of woodworking influences and methods.
Jeff
Gorman - A woodwork Notebook. His site has articles on how to cut
various joints like mortise and tenon and dovetails. I especially like the
article on Moorish
dovetails. Very attractive!
Woodworks
by Garry - nice looking workshop with pine french cleat system, smart
organization system, and attractive windows
WKFineTools.com
- last time I checked, there were some helpful articles on woodworking
methods mostly focused on hand tool woodworking
MILLING LUMBER FROM TREES
Forestry
Forum - This is a place to look for a portable sawmill owner who can
come to you to process your tree into lumber
TRENDS
IN WOODWORKING SAFETY
Sawstop
– A potential solution to reducing serious table saw injuries
Sagulator
– An online calculator written by an engineer predicts the sag characteristics of various
materials based on relevant criteria. Helpful tool to use when designing
projects.
Cutlist
Calculator - a simple online cutlist for tables, shelves and boxes at
Routerworkshop.com
Sketchup – great 3d
software you can use to create your shop space in 3d – download a free
trial of the software. Unless you’re an engineer comfortable working
with CAD programs, you’ll find sketchup to be fairly easy and productive
Grizzly makes laying
out your shop easy with a tool on their website and its very quick and
easy.
USED MACHINERY
Industrial Recovery Services -
I have never bought from them but they seem to have a lot of good
equipment of all sizes for good prices if you're willing to buy
used.
Wm. Redmond & Sons - They frequently sell factory refurbished Delta
tools. I bought my 22-560 Delta planer and my DJ-20 Delta 8" jointer
from them and they were both a great value and arrived just like
new.
RECOMMENDED READING
You might be able to find any of these books at really good used or new
prices on http://www.bookfinder.com/
