Get Woodworking Week 2012

My contribution to Mr. Tom Iovino's (TomsWorkbench.com)



OK, no more excuses. The lumber arrived yesterday and is currently stickered and acclimating in the workshop area. Nearly $100.00 worth of White Ash and Walnut ready to be abused and tormented into something that may resemble an end table. OMG, what have I gotten myself into.



The project, which a link was provided in the previous post, is an end table that appears to have an elevated or floating top. The one modification I made to the project is I intend to utilize ash for the center/hidden supports instead of walnut referenced in the plans. This was purely a cost consideration and I didn't feel hiding the walnut under the table top added anything to the appearance.

As I do not have a local source for hardwood; I acquired my stock from Bell Forest Products after pricing the required materials at several online vendors. Their representative (Eric) was very helpful and willing to assist with my project specifications without issue. He explained their process to me and everything went off just he had stated. The lumber he provided seems perfect. Clear and free of defects just as he stated. My only concern was the packaging. While my materials appeared to survived the shipping process unscathed, the packaging was not nearly as lucky. I held my breath as I inspected the contents, but in the end everything was fine. I give the experience an A-, with shipping being the only concern for future purchases.

In preparation of "Getting Woodworking" on the end project I have constructed a table saw crosscut sled and have started preparing a tapering jig for the table saw also. The unusual problem I've had to deal with is that the mitre slots on my Craftsman table saw are unique and don't work with most universal jigs or fixtures. In order to construct the sled and tapering jig, I've had to make wooden track bars for the mitre slots. It took about 3-4 attempts before I got something that works, but that is all part of the fun of woodworking.

In other Getting Woodworking related news; I have finally begun to peak the interest of my 11year old son, John. Over the last week he and I have spent about 4 hours in the shop together. He seems particularly interested in sawing stock and I have been explaining and demonstrating how to use the wheel marking gauge, the square and other marking instruments to layout his cuts. We still haven't jumped into a project together, but I think he wants to be involved in the end table build, so with that let's Get Woodworking.

THANKS TOM FOR SUCH A TERRIFIC IDEA AND ALL YOU DO FOR THE WOODWORKING COMMUNITY!!!

Until my next post,

Keep Your Mind on your Fingers and your Fingers on your Hands!!!