The 2 hour project

After working 1/2 a day on Saturday, I cam home and installing the top the Bedroom Built in.  One more step in finishing this and its a big one.  Now everything looks finished (except for the handles, and the big gouge I took out of the wall installing the top) and adding the two bookcases to each end are just "add ons".


















House chores ate up the morning on Sunday, but I did get out the shop in the afternoon.  Due to a set of missing car keys I was left to work with whatever I had on hand in the shop and I remembered something the LOML had asked me for, and I had a piece of poplar handy that looked like it would fit the bill.  Two hours later the project was completed:

This is a wall mount magazine rack for the bathroom (seems someone is tired of my reading materials congregating on the back of the toilet).

Should be able to get this stained and installed by the weekend (which is good, cause it's time get the Camper ready for our trip to Dover for the NASCAR race).  I even managed to use my new Bandsaw to shape the scooped cut-outs.

New Tool - Part 2 - The Tax Return

At the end of last year I was kind of hoping that our tax return would be enough to let me buy a new big ticket tool for my workshop (I define "big ticket" as over $200.00).  I knew I wanted to that tool to be a bandsaw, the question was really WHICH bandsaw to get.

I googled, I did searches on You Tube, I visited manufacturers websites, I posted questions in woodworking forums.  I created a comparison chart of 15 different band saws from 10 different manufacturers, comparing resaw capacity, table size, horsepower, price, etc...

Imagine my surprise when after all my research I ended up concluding that the Sears Craftsman 14" bandsaw (for me) was going to be the best bang for the buck.

The bandsaw, in the box, weighs in at 223lbs.  Its a good 30 feet, uphill, over soft ground, from where I can park my truck to the front door of my shop... ugh.  I did finally get it in the shop, get it up on a table (which was really the hardest part), and then spent about 4 hours over 3 nights putting it together.

And because my lovely wife lets me do this crazy woodworking thing that I love so much, I just had to make something for her:

New Tool - Part 1 - The Birthday

Well I just had my birthday and my lovely wife went out and picked me up a little something.

I just put my old Relaint drill press up on Craigs List and hopefully it will find itself a nice new home.

Knob & Stain, the final pieces to the table.

Not much to say here.  Got the knob installed, gave the table 2 coats of Watco Danish Oil (Cherry), and I think its pretty much all done.  Might give it one more coat over the weekend.