Good idea on the thread Mark. Many years ago when internet forums were the ‘new’ thing, I stumbled onto one called Badger Pond Woodworking. I was very fortunate to get some sage advice when I first started dabbling in woodworking. I had conversations with some very reputable individuals and authors of books. Sadly, the forum was shut down as it was being run from an individual’s home PC and he just couldn’t afford to keep it running. I haven’t found another since then that had the same friendly atmosphere. It was similar to these boards…..
So anyway, my history with woodworking is about like everyone else’s. I am self taught and consider myself a novice. I learned quite a bit watching Norm’s show. He’s one of my hero’s..LOL. Working with my hands is something I enjoy. It really doesn’t matter what it is, it just comes naturally to me. I have no other talents, unfortunately… Woodworking relaxes me. My day job can be pretty stressful and this is a good distraction for me to ‘turn it all off’. I love the smell of fresh cut hardwoods and the hum of a finally balanced table saw. I build all sorts of stuff. From furniture (no chairs!) to cabinets to houses. I justify the expense of tools and machines by the fact that they cost less than what I would pay a professional to do for me. I do some odd things for friends / family and they pay me what it costs me for materials and tools, plus they do me favors (it works). I have an LLC and one of my ‘companies’ is md woodworks. I also do odd remodels, finish work and act as general contractor for home building (md construction). I make just enough to show a profit and keep the IRS from hunting me down. My other business is md motor works. I build high end street / strip and race engines. I haven’t done much with this the last two or three years though. I don’t really have a shop large enough for engine stands and woodworking machines. Plus, assembly lube, grinding dust and sawdust don’t mix well…. Some day I hope to be in a position financially where I can make enough to make ends meet doing this, but not so much I no longer enjoy it. That’s the ‘plan’ anyway. I suppose I should mention I absolutely HATE finishing. I do not have a spray booth, so everything is by brush and it friggin sucks.
Mark,
I love the maple desk. Is that curly maple? Very, very nice work. The mortise cutter I bought is a Delta bench top. It’s not the one I want, but I do not have room for a free standing unit. I went with Delta because I already have a set of cutters that I bought years ago with a Delta drill press attachment. I never did use it because I went out and bought a Rigid drill press and the attachment won’t fit. I ordered it from Amazon and they sent it to me with free shipping. All other places I looked wanted about $250 to ship one to me. It was a no-brainer. I have a cabinet to build that I plan to use M/T joinery, so I hope to try it out next week.
I also use a Rigid table saw. I see that I’m not alone. I really want a cabinet saw with a 50” fence, but I just don’t have room for one. The Rigid sucks when working with sheet goods, but I’ve learned to deal with that. I use an Incra miter gauge, have for years and absolutely love that thing. You’ll love yours too.
I built my own router table. I used Norm’s router table plan and love it too. I use a 3 ½ horse Hitachi plunge router with it. I made it a wee bit larger than the plan, but basically followed it pretty close. If anyone is in the market for a router table, I recommend building this one. The plan even comes with a video. It’s straight forward and simple.
A few other tools I’ve acquired and use frequently: Jet 6” joiner, Jet 12” bandsaw, Rigid 13” plainer, Jet dust collector, Porter Cable 24” dovetail cutter with adjustable templates and sliding dovetail template (the ‘old’ style). I have several routers, but always tend to grab my old faithful Porter Cable. I use a Dewalt biscuit cutter a lot too. Then of course there’s a few grand worth of misc router bits, table saw blades, dado cutters, jig saws, Betsy clams (never, never can you have enough clamps). I have an assortment of pneumatic nailers and staplers. My favorite is my old Makita 18 gauge brad nailer. Another thing I use all the time is a table saw sled that I built. I use it for cross cutting panels on the table saw. I can’t believe how long I struggled without this thing.
