Comments

1. 
   RanWhenParked | Jul 08, 2019 02:29pm | #1

   I wish Asa could be a special guest every now and then, like BVD. I appreciate he's not on the same coast (and VOIP latency would ruin the natural flow of conversation), but any time he's in New England, you should snag him!

   Also, I commend Taunton for going with Asa's book targeted towards the 'maker' scene. Asa's "get working" ethos is a welcome antidote to the problem with most people interested in 'making' - they think they need too much expensive equipment and complex technical skill.

   Conversely, if it's not involving a microcontroller/CNC/3D-printing, novice makers tend to think things that fall into craft must be simple - and they don't understand why their joints aren't tight, even though they measured everything. Concepts such as reference edges, making the work square, sneaking and fitting, and knowing order of operations/sequencing translate pretty well across mediums (I toy with wood, brass, and leather, while also circuitry and arduino).

   Unfortunately, I know I'm among the few my age that was lucky enough to get even 8 wks/yr of shop class in middle school (as well as soldering as young as 5th grade), but then I was shooed away from anything of the sort in high school as it would supposedly hurt my college prospects (even though I was applying to Mech. Engineering programs, maddening). While looking things up online and YouTube are invaluable, if you've never been in an industrial arts curriculum you don't know what's possible or what to look for.

2. 
   bruno2you | Jul 20, 2019 08:05pm | #2

   I took Mike's recent class at the Kansas City Woodworkers' Guild. We are quite proud of our facility and our members. Fine Woodworking is welcome there anytime. http://kcwoodworkersguild.org/

3. 
   stephanwintner | Oct 30, 2019 07:31pm | #3

   I used a makerspace in Munich Germany (https://www.hei-muenchen.de/) - it was perfect for my project, for all the reasons the guys are mentioning. My wall shelves were easy enough to bring on the bus when I finished. Two thumbs up.

4. 
   Chase_Hansel | Nov 06, 2019 07:37pm | #4

   Thanks for answering my question, I am just catching up on STL after having worked on the house all summer. I got rid of my power jointer years ago for space reasons at my old shop and prefer using hand tools for that job. You can pry my thickness planer from my dead hands though!

   Mike, I could have used a 14' board for my wife's side of the walk in (land is cheap in Florida), but couldn't find long enough maple locally. I should have just used big box pine to make the shelves, but really wanted maple. Mike's advice was probably what I should have done. Put the boards together as if to glue them, mark the spots that touch, then focus on those areas with the hand plane until the two are close enough to clamp the rest of the way home.

   Pictures of the project if anyone is interested.
   https://kiltedcraftworks.com/2019/04/28/maple-closet-shelves/