woodworking lottery

Chris Mire

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Southern Louisiana
so, let's just say you won the woodworking lottery, what do i mean you ask. well, let's pretend that you were commissioned to do a job, this just happened to be the job you have always dreamed of doing. something that is very interesting to you and provides a good challenge. now, to add to the winnings, you have every piece of machinery you could need at your disposal, so that is not a hindrance. to add to the fun, you magically possess the skills needed to accomplish this task (assuming you don't already like me)

so the question is, what would the commissioned job be for you, what is something you have always dreamed of building. what wood would you use. and what would make this project special for you?

i'll start in the next post.......

chris
 
ok, for me...i have dreamed of building my own home since i was 14 or 15, i am now 29, so it's been a long time coming. the most important part of a home to me is the kitchen, (go figure i build cabinets for a living...:huh:) so for me a job i have dreamed of for years was to build an incredible kitchen.

but guess what, next year i get to do that...so that can't count.

if i had my choice of the types of jobs i do it would be really custom furniture. things that i design with the help of the homeowner. i would do the building and the finishing. the furniture would include nice jointery. i would want to create pieces that make people's jaws drop when they walk in. the kind of stuff that people want to touch when they see it.

if i couldn't do that i would want to do really custom kitchens. the kind where money would be no concern. time would not be a factor. the only constant would be to blow people's minds when they walked into the room.

those are my dreams. at least i get to fulfill one of them next year. i can't wait.

so what is your woodworking lottery?

chris
 
More than just Woodworking ..........

A complete restoration of an old Woody Wagon -- at least five hundred horses of (almost) pure chrome engine in a flat black steel frame -- restored steel body & fenders with custom fit hardwood panels, custom leather interior with all the modern gauges -- state of the art technology in a classic package !!

And let's not forget the matching custom surfboard. :D:D
 
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My dream wouldn't go quite like that. I already have a nice 5th wheel trailer 36' with triple slide outs. I would like to be able to take it & go to the different wood working schools where the teach 1 week up to several week courses & just have the time to enjoy & soak it all in. I would like to learn hand tool techniques, Make a chair with Michael Dunbar. There is just so much I would like to learn I can't even think of all the places I would like to go. When I get my truck finished there is even room for a band-saw & small lathe inside of it plus a good quantity of hand tools & a small bench.
 
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Read this and been thinking while answering another post. Funny thing is I can't come up with anything except what I am doing now! :dunno:

I mean my shop it close to what I want. I need to finish the Bandsaw and find an OSS. Oh yea, mortiser. But it will be here in October. There are few hand tools I would like to have. But honestly I have most of the big stuff. Of course you said assume you had the tools. So....

I have always wanted to build furniture and I am finally getting to do that. My dream project is a Dinning Room table and chairs. Maybe a Buffet to go with it. While I don't think I am ready to tackle 10 chairs yet I do have plans for that in next year or so. We have about decided instead of buying one that I will just make it. So, I guess my answer would be what I am doing. Just able to spend more time at it.

Gee, I am easy!

OK, I would have to say I would like, like Tony, to do a woody. 46 Ford if I had my choice. That is one thing I have always wanted to tackle. But I don't the interest in old cars I had 10 years ago so it's not on top of my list anymore.
 
I would build a 200 foot tall spiral staircase that was large at the base and gradually decreased in size to very, very small at the top so that it would appear that it was so tall that it just disappeared into space. This would probably be erected on a clear piece of land near a major interstate. Everyone would say "Who is the crazy guy that did that?".
 
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Its for myself though ! . . .

One day I'll have the leavings from other pepoles projects to build it. A " Gerstner Style " roll away the size of the biggest Craftsman Pro roll-away. ALL soilid ( no ply here ! ) Red Oak, turn of the century cast casters on the bottom, restored Victorian brass hardware, super-duper smooooooth heavy duty drawer tracks, felt lined drawers, humidor type humididty control with a vintage humidity gauge and about a hundred little, thin, big, small, long, short, deep, divided drawers, pigeon holes, slots, cubby holes and secret chambers. Maybe a hundred and fifty, we'll see.
 
I kinda got to do it already... built a teak entry door with a round top for a woman in Tucson. She actually wanted it built as traditionally as possible, so I got to do a couple of neat fancy joints, and wanted it built from teak rather than knotty alder or pine stained to look like something else. Only thing that spoiled the perfect job was it was going into a curved wall - mutter, grumble, mutter :D

I built a similar one for my house, but used lyptus and its not round top. I liked the teak one better :D
 
great posts everyone, but i must say, allen gets a trophy for creative thinking here....if there was a trophy...sorry allen.

i'd like to drive by that staircase though.
 
Allen, as I was reading your post, I was thinking, "so you want to build a lighthouse" sans the "house"!

Fine furniture is what I really want to do right now!
 
I would like to build an ocean-capable (mainly-wood) sailboat about 12 metres long. I would design it with lots and lots of neat cabinetry and gadgets to take full advantage of the space. I would like to spend about 5 years building it and be located on my own property on Saltspring Island (another fantasy) while doing so. Also, I would be the person commissioning it. And last of all, I would (somehow) acquire to skills to sail the boat across the Pacific and would do this with Margaret and another couple as soon as the boat was complete.
 
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This is a tough question, I could just take the easy way out and pick something that I'd like to build for my children or myself, not that there is anything wrong with that, but in that case my dream job would almost mimic that of Mr Frank Pellow's dream. Only I would build a pirate ship and my island would be called Monkey Island of course.

I guess my dream job would have to be to build the biggest play center known to mankind. A place where kids of all ages, could go and play (for free) while at the same time learn important social skills and learn other things too, like history and math, but in a fun way.

There would be designated areas for the different age groups with fully functional play grounds and what not to museums.

There would even be a social area called "The Internet" where a kid could walk into a room and see a bunch of other kids talking and just go up and join the conversation like he would do if he was online.

And for the older kids there would be the creative departments where they could learn to do woodworking as well as paint, draw, write, whatever.

And the goal of this facility would just be to teach kids to be kind to each other regardless of nationality, race or religion. It wouldn't be like a school, because they'd choose what they wanted to do, but the idea would be to give them a reason to want to do it.

Obviously I wouldn't run this place, because I'm a woodworker, I'd just build it and let somebody else figure it out.:D

Oh and my commission would be about 50 million dollars, so I'd never have to work another day in my life. The end.
 
Sounds great Allen! If I did not get my boat building job, I would like to come and help you with your project. If I did get my boat building job, I would like to load my boat with my grandchildren and sail to Monkey Island.
 
I GOT IT!!

OK, I know my answer. I can't believe I didn't think of this, but if I had my choice I would be a boat builder. Wouldn't have to be big boats like Frank was talking about. Wouldn't have to be Mahogany Runabouts even though I love those and I think I have one coming my way to restore. ;)

Small boats would be just as rewarding!

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There are probably at least a half a dozen small boats that I have plans/pictures/photos of I squirreled away that captured my attention and I saved. I could be a happy man messing around with small boats the rest of my life.

Here is mine I restored a few years back. She she is sitting on the trailer needing to be restored again. Years of fun in the sun have taken their tole and hopefully this winter I will start back on her.

Before
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After
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There's nothing . . . absolutely nothing . . . half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats.

Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows (River Rat to Mole)
 
Thanks Jeff. I am very tempted to order the plans for the Little Gem but there is not a lot of information on the web site and $75 seems a lot to pay on trust. I certainly would like to see complete typical plan before I order anything.
 
Don't know anything about that boat, but there are lots of plans out there for boats of similar style and utility. I would suggest you do some searching first, find someone that has built it too. There have been a couple similar to that caught my eye over the years but the names escape me.
 
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