New woodworker in Austin


Texfire

Recommended Posts

Howdy!

I'm a guy who has lived most of his life in Austin, Texas. A little background info to explain where I'm coming from. I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatrical Arts from a small college in Shreveport. While part of that program I worked in the technical side of theater, doing work backstage, and this was my introduction to working with wood. We had a table saw, a radial arm saw and various instruments of destruction used to make sets. This was worlds away from fine woodworking, having even looser tolerances than frame carpentry. The stuff we built only had to last for a month or two at most, and only had to look good from one side. After college, I did the usual handyman tasks around the house, learning how to fix things the hard way and picking up as much information as I needed to be able to do small projects like a deck here, or a sink there. I considered myself an okay handyman, but my best skill was knowing my limitations and when to call an expert in. Then I got a divorce and moved into an apartment and my handyman days were on hiatus.

This changed recently, I bought a house. In the intermediate years of apartment living I had given away such tools as I had to those who could use them. But the new house had a wonderful thing. A garage. A place to keep my motorcycles, and tools to work on said motorcycle. And shelves to keep stuff on.

And then came the stairs. The stairs that the contractor renovated that ripped up when I moved in. The stairs that would have to be repaired. The stairs that I knew I could repair myself if I only had the tools for it. So after some fairly extensive research I bought a Bosch 4100 off Amazon, a Ryobi cordless powertool bundle from Big Orange, a Delta drill press and an old Dewalt RAS that a family friend gave me. And amazingly, I managed to install the treads and risers and it looked good. I spent as much in tools as I would have spent on labor hiring someone, probably more to be honest, but now I had the tools to do other tasks and the satisfaction of using something I had done.

Well that's almost a year ago, and that one project started my creative juices to flowing and mind turning to other things I could do; like built in shelves for the living room, or bedside tables, or a coffee table, or... you know how that goes. It got worse when I discovered the local Woodcraft (Woodcrack?) store. I had no idea that such a thing existed. And in the same moment learned that my education was just starting. I've read books, and haunted internet forums, taken some intro classes at Woodcraft, learned new terminology and bought and built a shop in my head a thousand times. The hardest lesson I've had was to relearn the level of accuracy needed for finish carpentry. I've taken that humble garage and hired an electrician to run more circuits and install real lighting. I had to replace the garage door, so I went with an insulated model with an eye towards installing AC in the shop to make it year round usable.

I've got more equipment than I needed to start, but got caught in the paralysis of too much information and not enough experience. I purchased a Jet 14" bandsaw, and a 10" jointer/planer combo, a biscuit joiner and a pair of routers. Back in college we didn't worry about dust collection other than sweeping up the sawdust at the end of the day to avoid a fire hazard. But now I decided that dust control was important for me, so I got a dust collector and an air filtration device.

And I finally have that first project, a rolling wood rack. I realized that the shop was never going to be perfect, there was never going to be a time when I had all the tools I "needed", and there was never going to be a time when I was finally ready. I have the lumber stacked in one corner, I have the plans. I'm going to make mistakes, and learn lessons, and hopefully end up with something that I'll I won't wince when I use it. But I'm ready to start. I can't wait.

Josh

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, I'm working on my first project right now, a mobile wood rack so I have somewhere to store plywood and lumber not on the floor or leaning on the wall. The project has been a little delayed by a sudden discovery and addiction to wood turning, but I'll post photos as I get the wood rack done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Thanks guys, I'm kinda at a loss as to what to start on next. I have to admit that I think the G&G Adirondack is beyond my current abilities, I'd like some practice with mortise and tenons first, though part of me is tempted to just jump straight in and make the inevitable mistakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Well the transformation of the garage into a workshop is finally underway. The wiring is done, including a 220v circuit. The lighting fixtures have been hung and I've got adequate coverage. This Friday, I've got a guy from work who has a business on the side coming over to insulate and sheetrock the garage, with blown in insulation in the "attic" space. Next on the to do list is having a HVAC guy come install a mini-split ductless system, the wiring is already run for it so after the insulation is in place it's ready to go. Then I'll be able to move my tools back out of my living room and into the new shop space.

First on the project list is shop projects, including french cleats around the walls to prepare for hanging cabinetry and other wall mounted storage, and with a wall mounted wood rack that the rolling sheetgood rack will live under.

It's nice to be able to get organized, ever since I tore the shop apart to allow the 220 circuit install and lighting upgrade, I've been chafing at the bit to get it back in some semblance of order.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Update, the shop is sheetrocked, insulated and painted. Now to line up an AC installer. But I'm going to start moving stuff back into the shop soon and reclaim my living room which is where all the stuff from my shop has been for the last three weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.