The Wood Lab Blog

When I posted the Intro and Shop Tour video, I had some plans on how I could improve the shop. Since that video, I’ve been able to do a few things in the shop to get things further organized. I thought now might be a good time to share some of those updates.

The French Cleat wall is a bit more populated, with still room to grow.

Remember that ugly blue-green pegboard? It was there when we moved into the house almost 10 years ago. It was hung poorly and was not all that stable. It's now gone. I framed out a section for some better, more stable pegboard space.

When doing the new pegboard section, I did a small "L" shaped piece that takes advantage of what would otherwise be wasted space.

As part of the new framing for the pegboard, I reserved a section to the right for hardware storage. This section ties into the MDF storage shelf framing for added stability. I also added some pegs to the MDF unit to store rolls of tape.

Another view of the hardware storage section. I turned the light off for less glare. There is a shelf at the top for miscellaneous hardware. Underneath that are speakers and my Kreg jig on a peg (grey case). Next to the right speaker I built a small holder for my smartphone, so I can listen to music, podcasts, or audio books while in the shop. Underneath this are a few rows of hanging containers for screws and nails. I also have miscellaneous hardware in the black cases next to the small subwoofer, along with some more storage in the red drawer unit. Sitting on a couple of 2x4's on the floor is a bin where I keep rags.

The small partition next to the table saw now has some storage. There are three hanging bins that hold extra hex keys and wrenches for the tools, as well as accessories for the Grr-ripper you see hanging on the pegboard portion. Also seen on the pegboard are the other accessories.
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It’s been a busy few weeks – I recently was in a remote training class for work for a week that was on west coast hours (I’m on the east coast). That was followed by a different than usual work schedule afterward. This is a blog post I’ve been wanted to do for a bit now that involves had two recent opportunities to join other woodworkers for two different events.
Visit to Fine Woodworking Magazine
The first of these events was a visit to Fine Woodworking magazine in Newtown, CT with the Modern Woodworkers Association folks – a great reason to take the day off from work and get a long weekend out of the deal. Our hosts were Senior Editor Matt Kenney and Art Director Mike Pekovich, who gave us an overview of how an issue is produced, and afterward a tour of the shop area that included a discussion and demonstration of tips for shop efficiency. I don’t want to simply redo the excellent and detailed posts that Steve Branam, Dyami Plotke, and Nick Roulleau did about our visit – click on each to read their posts, they’re well worth the read. I had a great time and for me, I valued the tour and workshop efficiency tips (while I was doing this before, I am now even more conscious of setting realistic, obtainable objectives for a finite session of shop time). What I also valued though was seeing fellow woodworkers in person. What the MWA is all about is translating online social interactions into in person ones. Folks I had been interacting with in Twitter, Google+,  blogs and forums I got to meet in person, as well as some I met for the first time (from both an online an in person perspective). Matt and Mike were gracious and treated us to lunch at the Taunton cafeteria, and it was more good conversation that  continued at the lunch table.

WoodExpo 2012

Just over a week after the Fine Woodworking visit, it was time for WoodExpo 2012, part of the New England Home Show. I was just as impressed, if not more so, with the projects this year. What really struck me this year was that they had more real estate at the show, and that it was placed in a better location for more people to be exposed to some very fine pieces. It was also quite busy. I went on a Saturday as opposed to a Friday last year, so that may account for it being that much more busy. I did get a chance to briefly chat with Tommy MacDonald and Eli Cleveland, and a bit more with Rob Bois, Mike Morton, Mike McCoy, and Steve Branam (all four exhibited at the expo); as well as Dyami Plotke and Nick Roulleau. I also got to meet Chuck Bender who had a booth setup at the show. My biggest regret is that I could not stay longer. The Boston area Modern Woodworkers Association (MWA) had their kickoff that evening and I was not able to stay for the dinner after the expo. I had hoped to get to talk to Tommy and Eli a bit more as well, but unfortunately when I had to leave, they were just beginning a panel discussion regarding the state of the craft and the relationship with the buyer – I would have loved to stay to hear that discussion.

I hope to be able to plan a bit differently next year, and for other folks perspectives on WoodExpo, encourage folks to also visit Dyami’s post, as well as Nick’s two posts on his site, and on the MWA site.

Click to view slideshow.

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Yep, it’s Get Woodworking Week! Masterminded by Tom Iovino over at Tom’s Workbench, the idea is for folks interested but new to woodworking to get into the shop. While I’m pretty new to woodworking myself, and completed my first “true” furniture project this past year, I’ve been interested in woodworking for much longer. Prior to building that project, I found I was guilty of worrying too much if I had the right tools to do the job. I knew it too when I began thinking to myself that I was getting tired of trying to get the shop “right” before attempting something more than a DIY carpentry project, and I was just itching to actually build something that could be considered real woodworking.
It was right around this time I went to WoodExpo in Boston, and got to meet and talk to folks with real woodworking experience: Tommy MacDonald, Eli Cleveland, Mike Morton, Rob Bois, Neil Lamens, and others. When asked about what woodworking I do, the reply went along the lines of, “Well, not much yet. Still building up my shop”. Invariably, each replied in various ways not to worry so much about shop building, but get some wood and build something… anything! It was like the Nike commercials – Just Do It. They confirmed what I was thinking, and I’m thankful they did so.
So, if you find yourself wondering if you have the “just right” shop setup and “enough/right” tools to do woodworking, stop. Buy some wood and just do it.
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When I began learning about milling wood, I always heard to mill in two sessions at least a day apart, in case the wood moves at all. Glad I remembered that, this was after one session a few weeks ago.
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After doing a couple of “alpha” test videos with the Narex chisel videos I did, I thought it would be cool to start adding video content more consistently to The Wood Lab blog. Here is the introduction to this video series, and then cap it off with a tour of my shop! Let me know what you think!
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I recently took a break from sharpening the new Narex chisels to take part in the rocking horse build for Woodworkers Fighting Cancer, the benefit for LIVESTRONG started by Marc Spagnuolo, The Wood Whisperer, with support from various corporate sponsors.

The original pine panel I bought turned out to be less than ideal. When I unwrapped it from the plastic, I found the laminates were starting to come apart. I returned it and glued up my own panel out of two pine boards, which I actually thought came out looking more natural. The rest went pretty smoothly, and I pretty much followed the same process Marc did for his rocking horse. I did use blue tape that I applied to the wood, then applied the spray adhesive to this before laying down the paper plans, which made for easy removal after the fact. I cut out the parts with a jigsaw, shape them by sanding and using files. I then sealed all the parts with a coat of shellac. I then used General Finishes Antique Walnut gel stain on those parts that needed them (saddle, mane, handles, ears, and footrests). This was followed with another few coats of shellac, light sanding in between. Then, final assembly.

This project was fun, and approachable for someone fairly new to woodworking, like myself. If you’re interested in building along, or if you can’t, but still want to support LIVESTRONG, head on over to Woodworkers Fighting Cancer!


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I finally got some supplies to start flattening and sharpening the Narex Chisels I got from Lee Valley a while back. So here is part 2 of the test drive where I compare a tuned up chisel to one of the ones untouched out of the box. I’ll also over go over some of my sharpening setup. Thanks to Kari Hultman and Mike Morton for the info they provided me recently regarding my waterstone!

FYI – Lie-Nielsen’s YouTube that I mention in the video is back online here under their new account.




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Drumroll please… The child size work table, my first true woodworking furniture project, is complete! I had intended the red oak end table to be my first project.  However, I realized my son, who just entered first grade and is mildly autistic, (and therefor can be challenged at times with focusing on task – or sometimes over focused!), would benefit from a dedicated table where he could do his work. He also is very proficient at the computer, and with all the apps he wants to play around with, we also thought it would be better for him to have his own system. That would keep all that stuff off of mine or my wife’s system. My son now has her old system when we recently got an upgraded one for her.

I think my son really got a kick out of this project too, besides receiving the end product. He was with me when we bought the wood, he picked out the stain color, and helped me brush on some of the last coat. The wood we used was poplar (figuring it’s not too expensive and therefore not terrible when it ultimately gets beat up some). I also used pocket hole joinery to join the aprons to the legs – reasoning being that I can replace the legs with full length ones as he grows older – should the table survive that long.

Here’s another view of the table as the last coat was drying.








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I wanted to post this quick note because I had really wanted to post the second part of the Narex chisel test by now. I received my waterstone, and when I double checked them for flat, I noticed that there was a slight hump in the middle. I have on my list a DMT diamond stone to flatten the waterstone, so once I allocate the funds for that, I’ll get it and be back in business!

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I recently received the seven piece set of Narex chisels on sale currently at Lee Valley. Over on thewoodwhisperer.com site, Marc recently did a video of his sharpening system. I commented on the post saying it was timely since I was expecting my shipment of these chisels. He replied back that lots of folks were inquiring about these chisels, and was interested in my thoughts on them. Given that, I thought this would be a good opportunity to do an “unboxing & test drive” video. Enjoy!




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