Thread: Do you make anything?

I have made most of the timber furniture in my house.

Ron--Driver lives in Perth--there is no more to say.

Bob, we tried to avoid Colin. He's a total Nutter. No sense of humour. Brings down the standing of this place.

Collecting, cleaning, jigging, jiving, building, counting, polishing, planing, planning, frenzied activity, contemplating, machining, sanding, looking, music, the buzz of a router, the swish of a plane, sharpening (thought I'd forgotten eh!), oiling, waxing, done.. next one ...

Just one question ...

ARE YOU HAVING FUN?!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

......
Collecting, cleaning, jigging, jiving, building, counting, polishing, planing, planning, frenzied activity, contemplating, machining, sanding, looking, music, the buzz of a router, the swish of a plane, sharpening (thought I'd forgotten eh!), oiling, waxing, done.. next one ...

Just one question ...

ARE YOU HAVING FUN?!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Heck YES!!!

This has got to be one of the most entertaining threads I've read I don't think I'm a collector (keeps head down behind bench) but I will own up to owning twelve plough planes Record & Stanleys that I don't use. I can't get rid of them though, I never know when I might need them

Are my tools the equivalent of my wifes clothes? she got at least four wardrobes full of stuff, a lot that never see the light of day, a lot don't..... Thats not her size*, a lot ain't in fashion any more, a lot bought cos she really needed it (sound familiar) then there is all the shoes None of which will ever stop her buying more clothes after all she is typical to all women.

After writing this I might not be allowed here any more so just in case.... I'm off to lock myself in my workshop



*change "Thats not her size" to read Fit (edited for marital reasons)

Yes, I make stuff - mainly the boring Woodgers that come from a family (woodger make me a...). Most of that is not worth sharing with you guys. But it is there and it lies behind most of the questions that I ask. So I am working out how to make the most linear metres of bookshelves for the least price and agro. As you will see shortly, this has forced me into welding and nitrocelulose lacquer.

I make jigs and workshop things, not because I like to have them for their own sakes, but because I hope, usually correctly (if I have asked you guys the right questios beforehand) that they will help me make the next of the things I want to make "better" (for certain values of "good") than the last thing I made.

I tend to share those things with you guys because, put simply, you guys care about the way that it is done a lot more than what is produced (that's why WIPs are so popular). Yes, we all like to see the finished products, but what we (or at least I) want more is to share is the journey (including the wrong turnings and dead ends) along the way.

That's not something we can really talk about with SWMBO or the kids - it was something I spoke about with my Dad, because he and I were both interested in it (but only privately when we were in his or my shed....).

My take - we all make things. Some of us show here what we make. But what we all share is wanting to make our techniques as good as we can. So we talk here about those things more than the actual projects. So sharpening is what we post about, even though I think that for most of us it is, at best, a necessary evil and certainly not something that we choose to do instead of making things (as I have confessed before - I sharpen and do the other "shop jobs" when I have reached the point where I don't know what the next step is on the current project as a form of meditation (or desperate prayer to the wood spirits)). Who else can we talk to about that???

Well, I do make things, but if I had a bigger income I reckon I would have all sorts of interesting tools. Never seem to have enough time to excess over sharpening polishing etc. As usual too many things to do, spend half my time deciding what I will do each day (ie. in workshop, work on house, housework oo not that one!)

Have had a good year and finished some things that had been on the backburner for a while, Stool for dad, bed for son etc. Cant wait to work on cement floor instead of sloping dirt floor.

And Lord Nibbo.....and you other guys who complain about wives having all those clothes and shoes etc....thank your lucky stars they are out shopping and hoarding all that stuff and not sharing the workshop with you It is hard sharing a workshop, inevetibly you are two different sorts of people, one messy one tidy, one noisy one quiet, always seem to want the same tool at the same time, or Mr/Mrs nobody has left it somewhere. And imagine, you spend hours getting something sharp and clean only to come back and use it and it is blunt

Donna

Originally Posted by Lord Nibbo

Are my tools are the equivalent of my wifes clothes? she got at least four wardrobes full of stuff, a lot that never see the light of day, a lot don't..... Thats not her size*, a lot ain't in fashion any more, a lot bought cos she really needed it (sound familiar) then there is all the shoes None of which will ever stop her buying more clothes after all she is typical to all women.

Good analogy! Works for me. I put a bit of money in our PayPal account and she buys clothes and shoes on E-Bay. She has over 100 pair of shoes, I'm sure. But . . . it keeps her happy and I can buy tools without recriminations.

[Edit: I think, as another mate recently put it, that I have just hijacked my own thread! Oh bother! ]

I make a lot less since Santa delivered the beer fridge

Originally Posted by jmk89

Yes, we all like to see the finished products, but what we (or at least I) want more is to share is the journey (including the wrong turnings and dead ends) along the way.

Me too, much more interested in others journeys so that I can make mine better and more enjoyable. Kind of like travel, it's useful to have someone recommend a taverna before you go rather than get back and be told you missed an opportunity.

HH.

Time, time, time - where does it go?

January 2007 I moved into a new house and started another 10 year plan of things that needed doing (after almost finishing the last one). Spent a lot of time pulling ivy out, chopping out bushes, digging holes, etc - missus is the landscaping gardener, I'm the landscaping labourer.

The only 2 things I did all year with woodworking was to build 4 little shelves in the kitchen to hold the coffee/tea stuff - and start on the gazebo... (apart from fixing about a million things that weren't working or needed adjusting). Shelves look good - gazebo looks great (almost finished, 'nutha post to go with the roof pics, then just the floor).

Oh and I found this forum site and learned a hell-of-a-lot, and bought a new bandsaw, router table (+ router) and a drill press. Table saw and dusty on the way...

Cheers,
Adam

PS. If anyone doesn't have a bandsaw - fix it and get one - it's the most useful (and fun) thing I ever bought!

Originally Posted by Chumley

Time, time, time - where does it go?
- missus is the landscaping gardener, I'm the landscaping labourer.

It's written down in the book-of-something that that is the way it has to be....

When I first looked at this thread my initial reation was that this sounded like something my other half would say!!

I readily admit to spending alot of time in the shop doing all sorts of projects for the shop so to others it may look like I am not making much because they don't see these projects.....and probably don't care that I made a new outfeed table when they didn't notice the first one..

However I do make the occasional project that leaves the shop and make sure that when I do the other half is well informed so I can justify the outlay on more tools

Just my 2 cents worth, will post some pictures later when I am not at work

Steve

Originally Posted by stevepay

However I do make the occasional project that leaves the shop and make sure that when I do the other half is well informed so I can justify the outlay on more tools

I have found my lathe invaluable for this issue. As larger projects progress at a slower pace I can quickly knock something out on the lathe and get SWMBO ooing a arhing about it and make her happy about the time and money spent in the shed.

HH.

While I'll confess to spending a lot of time on tools, fixtures, jigs, etc. every one of them has a purpose founded in a distinct need to solve a problem relating to construction of furniture. Ok, so I purchased a lathe to make chisel handles, which *might* be used to make the bed.... one day...

A good example of how well all of this time translates to justification to the wife is in the construction of a recent smoothing plane. SWMBO states; "You spend all night playing with that $&^*$ plane!", but when I demonstrate the planes purpose and use on the current project, I hear "Is projectx finished yet?"

My wife is my reality check. Is this work on tools/jigs really helping to make me more efficent? Well, I have a decent workshop, my son has a cot, shelves, picture frames and a toy chest, to which a queen size bed will be added during the early portion of this year.

So, yes, I enjoy the sharpening, jig making and tool fettling. And, yes, I do actually manage to make stuff along the way