FlyinFish Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Hey all, wanted to introduce myself and try to be a little active on the board. I'm new to woodworking, but it runs in my blood. My entire father's side knows their way around a woodshop, and some of them do it for a living. Unfortunately I live 1,000 miles away from my cousin's fully outfitted cabinet shop It all started for me about a year ago when we bought an old 1920's Seattle bungalow that is a real fixer upper. I promptly got myself a used Craftsman tablesaw. I got the Tablesaw Fundamentals book from the library and it really opened my eyes to what I could do to wood with just the tablesaw. Then I found Marc's video on making a crosscut sled, and went from there. I haven't done many real projects yet, but I've worked on jigs and some basic things to practice fundamentals. I'm refinishing our attic living space, and am very anxiously waiting to get to the point where I can build several built-ins and shelving units. I'm an airplane engineer by trade, and love the design aspects of woodworking. I'm also pretty OCD, so being able to make things exactly how I want them done is pretty cool. All my free time used to be devoted to fishing, but the house has sucked that up. I'd be lieing if I said I'm not also enjoying some of it, and it's led me to woodworking so it's not all bad. I can honestly say I enjoy standing in my little attached garage shop as much as I enjoy standing in a river or on a boat, and I never imagined I could find something to match that feeling. Here's a few shots of some of the fun I've been having. Started with this crosscut sled. Marc's video was just awesome, and it was the best design of all the ones I found. Also made a 1/2" dado sized sled and some pushsticks. I need to make some nicer push shoes though. This was one of my first "projects," votive candle holders for the wife A 2x3 with holes drilled in it using a power drill and a paddle bit and edges chamfered with a cheapo hand plane. Stained and finished with poly. Nothing fancy, but it was a fun start. Someday soon I'll get a drill press. Got a Freud dado set and put it to use overdesigning an outfeed table. I made a few ZCI's for the tablesaw. Man, it is a pain in the butt trying to make these for these Craftsman saws! A back cover for the saw to go along with my shop vac + cyclone setup. I've since added velcro for easy removal when tilting the saw. A jig for uneven edged boards and an auxilarly fence. Both done with scrap wood, and need to be redone with some flatter plywood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinFish Posted October 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Made a finger jointing jig that worked okay but could be a bit tighter. Tested it out on a little floating shelf thing. I love the way finger joints look and want to get better at making them. A little teething toy for a friend's baby made of maple and finished with flax seed oil. Some scrap old cedar made into a growler carrier. Four is a bit much to carry in one hand, but I didn't really consider that when I sketched it out. Was good practice with the dado set though. My latest project is a gift for the wife's birthday. I bought a bunch of old FWW mags and this was in one of them. A beautiful little double sided frame. We have a bunch of wood block prints that would be perfect in this. I'll post some better photos onces it's finished and has something in it. Hope to contribute some to the forum and mostly just learn more and maybe even help any other newbies going through the same initial learning curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 I had one of those Craftsman saws back in the 80's. Glad to see one of them still running. Welcome to the Forum ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefmagnus@grics.net Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Welcome FlyinFish, nice work with a saw like my dad had as a worksite saw back when I spent my summers working for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Welcome, FlyinFish! Looks you are off to a great start already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Welcome to the forums Fish! It's nice to see some more people from the Northwest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Nice job on everything. Welcome to the Forum! I'm in your boat (pun intended). Got tired of cleaning and buying insurance for the boat but loved to fish. Finally sold the boat and now I clean and buy insurance for my shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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