Hello from an American in Belgium

**MistyRae** · 1st September 2010, 07:18 PM

Yep, I'm a bit far from most of you but out of all the woodworking forums I've been able to find online, this one seems to be not only the most thorough but the most welcoming as well.

I have a rather limited woodworking experience but it's been a lifelong passion ever since my Dad first put a mallet and chisel in my hand and let me 'draw' my own designs on his scrap wood.

I was a theatre major in college and worked in the Set Shop building sets and creating props. That was where I got most of my experience with power tools.

I am now living in Belgium with my boyfriend. As per the details of my cohab visa, I am not allowed to work for the next five months. I would like to work on my woodworking skills in that time as there are a few things I would like for the house that I don't want to buy ready-made.

Here's a list of the projects that I would like to work on in the next however-long-it-takes:

-Repair my antique writing desk, the poor thing didn't manage to survive the voyage in one piece
-A floor stand for my embroidery frames
-A sewing box
-Raised Garden beds
-A spice rack
-An attractive way to house the pots of kitchen herbs in front of the window (idea in progress

)
-Shelves or drawers for our bedroom
-A dress form and stand
-A simple wardrobe to house my historical reenactment outfits
-A spinning wheel

-A workshop in the garage, piece by piece, step by step, tool by tool. I only have the basic hand tools at the moment, hammers, screwdrivers and the sort. I am literally starting from scratch here. I will only have so much money to spend on my woodworking projects and supplies each month so I'm trying to be as economical as possible. There is lots of scrap MDF in the garage from this Summer's kitchen overhaul and lots of scrap boards in the yard that my boyfriend picked up a few years ago for firewood. At this point, I cannot afford to shell out a lot of money on power tools and since my Dad spent my whole life teaching me to 'swear at it once rather than swear every time you use it' I will be trying to start with the simplest projects (ones that only require me to buy one or two small hand tools) and work my way up.

Any help and guidance will be very much welcomed, heaven knows I need it!

**artme** · 1st September 2010, 08:14 PM

G'day Misty and welcome to the shed!!!

Wish I had five months of nothing to do but get into my timber stocks!!

**MistyRae** · 1st September 2010, 08:57 PM

Oh let's not forget the housekeeping, cooking, gardening, sewing, etc.

Also, until I get some sort of job, there's not a whole lot of wiggle room in the budget. Apparently importing your girlfriend is expensive,

.

**groeneaj** · 1st September 2010, 09:58 PM

Welcome to the forum

Good luck with your projects

**Claw Hama** · 1st September 2010, 10:03 PM

Hi MistyRae, welcome to the forum. Of course you realise we need some photos of something, your work your home, your town. Then we know you're real

oh yes did anyone mention this place is called the nut house

**SHEETMETAL** · 1st September 2010, 10:58 PM

Hullo Misty and welcome,
I know nothing about Belgium but, here in Australia, when us people need tools and we canafford to ( or don't want to ) pay new prices, then we go to weekend maarkets in search of old tools. many old tooll found at makets are better quality than the cheap tool on the market today.
Another good source of 2nd hand tools is second hand & antique stores.

Happy Scrounging
Gerard

**MistyRae** · 2nd September 2010, 03:38 AM

Thanks, Claw, for telling me about the photo albums. I hadn't noticed that feature yet! I've uploaded some pics of the family and our area. I don't have any pics to upload of woodworking projects since I can't seem to find many photos from my time in college.

Hopefully I'll get the ball rolling on a few projects soon so I can have some photos to proudly show off, right?

You've got a good point, Sheetmetal. There is a weekly market nearby but I don't think I've seen any second hand dealers there, mostly fruits, veggies, clothing and such like that. I'll keep my eyes open for the Belgian version of garage sales, who knows, I might find something (assuming I can convince my boyfriend to stop at one.)

**Ad de Crom** · 2nd September 2010, 06:44 PM

Hi MistyRae, wellcome aboard.
You have a lot of projects in your mind, which is good offcourse.
Woodworking tools, well you can find tools on this address, namely Willy van Houten, Beernem in Belgium. This is the website. Willy Vanhoutte - On-line shop
Good Luck, Ad

**Claw Hama** · 2nd September 2010, 06:58 PM

Nice photos Misty, looks like a lovely area to spend some time. I had three weeks in France, Italy and Switzerland just after Christmas. Will have to do Belgium and the Netherlands next time so I can visit Ad

**tea lady** · 2nd September 2010, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by MistyRae

Apparently importing your girlfriend is expensive,

.

Welcome to the forum. No tool budget seems a consistent problem. I have got most of mine second hand or off ebay. Does Belgium have ebay?

Maybe you could find someone else's shed to share.

Looking forward to seeing your projects take shape.

**MistyRae** · 5th September 2010, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by Ad de Crom

Hi MistyRae, wellcome aboard.
You have a lot of projects in your mind, which is good offcourse.
Woodworking tools, well you can find tools on this address, namely Willy van Houten, Beernem in Belgium. This is the website. Willy Vanhoutte - On-line shop
Good Luck, Ad

I plan to explore the heck out of that site there, thanks!

And to think, I just mentioned my woodworking projects! If there's anything I do well it is brainstorming more projects than I can possibly finish in a lifetime. If having U.F.O.'s (Un-Finished Objects) was a competitive sport, I'd be an Olympic hopeful! I'm working to change that, however.

Originally Posted by Claw Hama

Will have to do Belgium and the Netherlands next time so I can visit Ad

I've only been to the Amsterdam airport and haven't really gotten much chance to explore beyond that but I can HIGHLY recommend Belgium as a vacation destination. Of course, it rains just about every day of the year but the people are wonderful, the country is beautiful and the beer...oh...my...GOD the beer!

Originally Posted by tea lady

Welcome to the forum. No tool budget seems a consistent problem. I have got most of mine second hand or off ebay. Does Belgium have ebay?

Maybe you could find someone else's shed to share.

Looking forward to seeing your projects take shape.

Yeah, Belgium has ebay, though I haven't even started checking there yet. There are plenty of little do-it-yourself type stores where I can find my beginner level tools at the very least. For now, I hope to challenge myself to complete as many projects as I can while purchasing as few new tools and supplies as possible for each.

**munruben** · 5th September 2010, 02:28 PM

Welcome aboard, that's quite a list of projects you have to complete.

**MistyRae** · 7th September 2010, 04:34 PM

I started on my garden bed yesterday. I had to use a bit of creative thinking to make up for my lack of tools but it turned out even better than I'd expected.

I wrote a blog post about it:
Frame for a raised garden bed - Woodwork Forums

I also took a few pictures of the project and my 'solutions' to various problems.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/member...ed-garden-bed/

I need to purchase a few more things before it's finished but the frame itself turned out quite good.

**Ad de Crom** · 7th September 2010, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by MistyRae

I started on my garden bed yesterday. I had to use a bit of creative thinking to make up for my lack of tools but it turned out even better than I'd expected.

I wrote a blog post about it:
Frame for a raised garden bed - Woodwork Forums

I also took a few pictures of the project and my 'solutions' to various problems.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/member...ed-garden-bed/

I need to purchase a few more things before it's finished but the frame itself turned out quite good.

This remind me on what I did years ago with building a wooden shed in my backyard, with almost no tools, only a handsaw a chisel and hammer.
Think you are on the right track...
(nice pictures)
Good Luck, Ad

**tea lady** · 7th September 2010, 10:58 PM

Could be an idea for a "Challenge"!

Make something with the least tools possible.

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