Bob Gibson
Member
- Messages
- 11,481
- Location
- Merrimack, New Hampshire
1. I really need an 8" jointer. I started out years ago with a 4" upgraded to a 6" and thought I was in heaven. Now I find it so restricting that it costs me Money (see #2)
2. Buy good lumber. I buy nothing but rough sawn. Usually its common grade cherry at a little more that $2.40 bf. FAS or select grade is a bit more than $4.00bf. My scrap pile grows by the minute and I'm tired of giving my son in law piles of kindling every few weeks. By the time I mill all the boards I'm lucky to get 50% of it nice enough to use on my projects. Common grade usually has some decent figure but I spend way too much time and effort cutting out knots and straightening out twisted boards. If I can only learn to subdue the cheap yankee in me I'll be less stressed, more productive, and save some money.
Everytime I have an board I have to trim it so I can fit it to flatten the face on my 6" jointer (the delta has been a dependable workhorse) 8 and 10" boards are pretty much wasted. I know that I could build a planer sled but with my bad back I can't lift anything that heavy for very long.
3. Learn sketch up I went to school to be a mechanical engineer (never finished. money was tight, there were way too many good looking girls on campus, 20 cent draft beers, and I figured out that mathematics and I would never be very good friends) so drafting is in my blood.
SU would save me a ton of time and frustration designing some of the ideas I have in my hard head.
Question..does/can SU figure the bf of a project ??
4. I love tape measures. I must have a dozen or more kicking around all over the shop and house. Thing is each one seems to measure a little different. You'd think that the different companies that make these things could get their act together and make one that is always as accurate as I strive to be.
The other day I collected them all and threw them in a box and hid it under my workbench. I kept out my favorite one and promised myself to never misplace it.
5. Buy/make a marking knife. If I'm withiin a 32nd of an inch I'm usually ok. But sometimes if I'm making a clock or a small box being 1/32" off seems like a foot. No matter how I try I cant remember which side of the pencil line I'm supposed to cut. After using my new marking knife as well as my dusty marking gauge my accuracy and projects have improved dramatically.
6. Take good pictures. I have an album full of pictures of the stuff I make. All are crappy pictures of my stuff sitting on the floor of my shop. I want to make a website but can't find a decent picture to put in it.
7. Larry makes me a better woodworker the ambassador either has super vision or his computer super magnifies. He finds every tiny flaw in every picture of something I make (even hiding my work in lousy pictures hasn't worked )
I find myself doing my best to outsmart Larry that my work is getting better. Darn you Larry
2. Buy good lumber. I buy nothing but rough sawn. Usually its common grade cherry at a little more that $2.40 bf. FAS or select grade is a bit more than $4.00bf. My scrap pile grows by the minute and I'm tired of giving my son in law piles of kindling every few weeks. By the time I mill all the boards I'm lucky to get 50% of it nice enough to use on my projects. Common grade usually has some decent figure but I spend way too much time and effort cutting out knots and straightening out twisted boards. If I can only learn to subdue the cheap yankee in me I'll be less stressed, more productive, and save some money.
Everytime I have an board I have to trim it so I can fit it to flatten the face on my 6" jointer (the delta has been a dependable workhorse) 8 and 10" boards are pretty much wasted. I know that I could build a planer sled but with my bad back I can't lift anything that heavy for very long.
3. Learn sketch up I went to school to be a mechanical engineer (never finished. money was tight, there were way too many good looking girls on campus, 20 cent draft beers, and I figured out that mathematics and I would never be very good friends) so drafting is in my blood.
SU would save me a ton of time and frustration designing some of the ideas I have in my hard head.
Question..does/can SU figure the bf of a project ??
4. I love tape measures. I must have a dozen or more kicking around all over the shop and house. Thing is each one seems to measure a little different. You'd think that the different companies that make these things could get their act together and make one that is always as accurate as I strive to be.
The other day I collected them all and threw them in a box and hid it under my workbench. I kept out my favorite one and promised myself to never misplace it.
5. Buy/make a marking knife. If I'm withiin a 32nd of an inch I'm usually ok. But sometimes if I'm making a clock or a small box being 1/32" off seems like a foot. No matter how I try I cant remember which side of the pencil line I'm supposed to cut. After using my new marking knife as well as my dusty marking gauge my accuracy and projects have improved dramatically.
6. Take good pictures. I have an album full of pictures of the stuff I make. All are crappy pictures of my stuff sitting on the floor of my shop. I want to make a website but can't find a decent picture to put in it.
7. Larry makes me a better woodworker the ambassador either has super vision or his computer super magnifies. He finds every tiny flaw in every picture of something I make (even hiding my work in lousy pictures hasn't worked )
I find myself doing my best to outsmart Larry that my work is getting better. Darn you Larry