“Fine” woodworking type projects are great. Taking the time to make precision joints or shape nice hardwood is gratifying and fun. But, for me at least, complex fine projects take a lot of time to get to the final finished result. Sometimes it’s nice to just do some woodworking that you you can start to finish in an afternoon or weekend. Projects like building workshop shelves or cabinets, for example, are satisfying to me as a sort of quick fix. I particularly like trying to do these things with whatever scraps and whatnot I have around; it makes you have to be clever and causes you to come up with things you might otherwise have never thought of. Building on the fly and using what’s at hand and caring about function first is liberating in a way. It’s a nice break from more refined work. Does anyone else like these kind of in-between carpentry and fine joinery type of quick fixes?
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Yes.
Chuck
Okay, I guess it was an obvious post, but I could imagine woodworkers who only enjoyed making "fine stuff." I also imagined someone might jump in with their latest quick and dirty project details or how they made due with materials at hand.
For example, this weekend I was making a storage area for a corner or the part of my basement that is unfinished. I needed something to create a back where there was only an unfinished stud wall and had no plywood large enough. I did have a stack of baseboard I was given by a contractor that he had left over from a job and decided to use it by attaching lengths stacked horizontally. It came out looking kind of cool, reminisent of ship lapped or something. As for shelving, I decided to use some really old pine 3/4 thick and 12" wide pine planks (used by some former owner of my house with those metal bent rod hanging things that hook together from eye hooks in floor joists to make make-shift shelving). It had lots of warp and knots and whatnot to work around, but it had a nice nice patina and with some planing produced some nice contrasts. All in all, rough stuff, but pleasing in terms of sturdy results that aren't eyesores. Satisfying in its own way.
Good post...
There is 'FINE WOODWORKING' that is a collectors item and then the stuff most of us make..
Fine Woodworking to me is when::
You did your best... (Even if it's less than 'perfect')
Somebody else liked it...
You had a smile on your face when you were finished!
Fine Woodworking to me is when you build something and someone who has known you for years says " Holy Crap!1......he built this???!!!" yessa, I may be getting older, Popeye, but I am getting better!Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
Hey ho, Samson - we should have a companion magazine called Coarse Woodworking (you've heard of coarse fishing, right - pike rather than trout), and maybe a knots folder dedicated to Coarse Woodworking?
I'm roughing out a leg stand for a tool chest to get it up off the floor and make it easier to shunt around the shop, at the moment. It'll take a day or so, be OK to look at (in 4x4 monterray cyprus) and perfectly functional, but you won't see it in my portfolio!
Malcolm
Samson,
Interesting post! I'm working on a spec piece that I will show in a couple of exhibitions this Fall and Winter. I'm also starting a commission piece for one of my doctors -- yep, a real paying piece. I've got several other such projects on my plate as well. So, I stay busy with 'fine' woodworking.
Having said that (as the other shoe drops...) -- I'm also making some trivets for my wife to give as Christmas gifts to family and co-workers. She picked some 6" square tiles at Lowe's last week and I'm milling some cut-offs from other projects into pieces to make mitered frames for the tiles. The result is a 9" to 10" square trivet for hot pans or whatever. I leave the tile about 1/16" proud of the frame so a hot pan isn't directly on the wood. The only finish will be a very light coat of BLO/Naptha/Poly to pop the grain. Wood varieties are cedar, cherry, walnut, makore and maple -- basically whatever is in the bin.
Regards,
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting
Mensa Member
Click Here if you're interested in a good, inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
i enjoy making things out of scrap wood around the shop. it makes the cheapskate in me swell with pride. i made a decent crosscut sled out of a piece of 24x24 MDF that came to me as a tabletop protector in the box my table saw arrived in. the fences were leftover fir scraps from making my workbench. it is not nearly as elegant as many sleds i have seen posted on this site. it was quick and dirty, but looks don't mean a thing in this case. i also have plans to disasseble a crappy pine tall bookshelf i made with a circular saw and a fistful of nails (in highschool before i figured out woodworking is more than the crap they show you how to make on shows like trading spaces). i'm going to recycle it into a functional but not beautiful hanging tool cabinet. three cheers for coarse woodworking.
david
Is this Un-Fine enough? With the exception of the electrical hookup and the heated pad and a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet for the floor, it's all jobsite scraps courtesy of a neighbor who was a contractor. It's a cathouse for a stray that adopted me (they TOLD me not to feed him).
Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
I've got to build one for two ferral cats that live in the woods behind my house. We've been feeding them for about 4 months now and they are permanent neighbors.How are you heating the box? I'm thinking a 40 or 60W lightbulb is going to be too much (and too expensive)... how about the roof coil used to melt ice and prevent daming?MarkVisit my woodworking blog Dust Maker
I'm not so much heating the box as heating the surface he's lying on. I picked up one of these pads from a pet supply outfit. Dont remember where I got it but Jeffer's has the same one.
http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=0&mscssid=A7P2BF5BLP269NX7B73X40CRHGQ22032&pf_id=0027990&cmkw=pc-a1
It seems to do a pretty good job. I've got the cathouse pretty well insulated with styrofoam in the walls and underside of the roof. The one thing I did that has turned out to be a good decision - the heated pad lies on a shelf that runs from the front to back of the house. The last 6-7" at the back is open so he can stand up and climb up on the shelf. I originally did it that way thinking that if another cat or racoon tried to enter while he was in there, he'd be above them and could strike down at them to defend himself. It has the unintended side effect of keeping direct wind from outside from blowing on him plus any snow blowing in stays down below. This particular cat was totally wierded out by trying to put any sort of flap over the door to keep out wind and snow so the two story design worked out well.
Faced with a choice of freezing or having a bright light bulb in your face all night, I'm sure they'd tolerate a light bulb as a heat source too. It just personally made me think of sleep-depravation techniques from some bad Cold War era B-movie. The pad is a bit pricey, but it's on it's 3rd or 4th Winter and still going strong. That plus a heated water bowl. The regular bowls dont last too long when you have to keep banging blocks of ice out of them.
I'm not clear on what the roof coils are that you asked about though.
Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
Edited 10/13/2005 8:01 pm ET by douglas2cats
Cat House:
when we lived in the mountains of Washington, we had 2 "yard cats" SWMBO was worried about them at night, so I got a couple cheap styrofoam ice chests. Cut a notch in the side - big enough for the cat to get in & close to the end, taped the lid on & set it upside down on the floor of the carport. Added some bedding & their own body heat kept them comfortable (we checked) at 10 below.
I was in a Cat House once.or twice...........Pusan , but it didnt look like that
Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
Unfortunately, or fortunately(depending)a large part of my shop rent is paid with "un-fine" woodworking. I build lots of cheap bar islands, and cabinets. I use MDF, or particle board, and laminate them with Formica. Recently I've been building a lot of store display cases out of simple particle board, and laminating them also.
Nice part is the only thought I put into jointery is how long of a screw to use. If something moves during assembly, and isn't flush anymore. I just hit it with a belt sander. It's quick, and easy. Mistakes aren't expensive either.
I do. It is one way of making the workshop a better place to operate in.Then I also get the type of commission that does not require too much thought now and again, such as blanket boxes out of ordinary wood.
Here's one for you.
For the last 3 years I've been doing an two phase addition and renovation of a 1919 farm house. Needed to tear off the west side of the house for the addition thus eliminating the kitchen that was in that location. Being a furniture/ cabinet / interior finish kinda guy, it was a pleasure to decommission our old kitchen, take the necessary cabinets and slam together a "better than nothing" kitchen in our dining room. Did I mention we needed to live in the place during the construction. Bodger-ville, USA. But hey, it served us well for six months wile we were building the addition with the new kitchen.
Phil
p.s. nothing like Berber carpet in a kitchen!
note the chandellier task-lighting
There's "fine" woodworking, "garage engineering" (like the cobble jobs my father and i did when we needed a shelf "right there" with whatever we had on hand, and "production" woodworking, like the cabinets and tables I have made that use pocket-hole joinery instead of mortise and tenon. Sometimes its fun, but not real profitable, to spend 16 weeks on a major project and I have a house full of stuff that I take a lot of pride in, but I also have a lot of stuff that is solid, well built, and didn't take nearly as long to put together or finish. I believe that you have to strike a balance between effort and practical application of your final piece. Sure, I can join a shaker tables aprons to its legs with a mortise and tenon joint, but I can use a few other techniques that will be "strong enough" for what that table has to do, and be a lot quicker. The trick is knowing when and where to apply the "less than fine" techniques...
I experiment a lot with finishing, and antiquing with milk paint is the latest project. It is a popular look here in the Northeast, and the stuff sure is easy to apply! I put together a few CD cabinets with what I had onhand and began "roughing them up" - turned into a very popular item for me. Nothing tricky here...just roll up the sleeves and get in the shop!
I use the scraps all the time for the shop. It's the only way I can use up the scraps it seems. Here's some photos of my scrap projects that are part of the shop.
http://www.superwoodworks.com/Projects/ShopWindows.htm
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And for tool holders.
I have more than enough unfine woodworking projects to fulfill my appetite.
http://www.superwoodworks.com/Projects/ShopShots.htm
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http://www.superwoodworks.com
you guys with immaculate shops irratate the Be Jumpins outa me......makes me feel so inferiorWicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
sorryhttp://www.superwoodworks.com
I do too, and that is also one of the reasons I like Shop Notes magazine.
My latest project is a 2x4 shelf unit to hold my mobile units (miter saw, scroll saw, Table top drill press..) they are mounted on 3/4 ply - all the same size to fit onto the mobile cabinet I am building. The shelf unist is 2x4 frame with 2x4 cleats on the insides that the units will sit on - 1x3 1 in above the cleats to provide stability
1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Edited 10/13/2005 8:39 pm ET by Ricks503
Yes. I'm making clipboards as gifts for the nieces and nephews - gluing up strips of various hardwoods and attaching a clip (and recessing a digital clock in the corner).
Kids use them for homework, puzzles, drawing... (at least my kids do)
Simple project. Nothing fancy. Appreciated by the kids.
Mark
Samson
I agree. Sometimes it is fun just to accomplish something without a whole lot of effort. In my opinion, having fun is what it is all about.
Grits
You make a good point, everything doesn't have to be complicated all the time. One of the best days I ever had in the shop came about one Father's Day. My wife wanted to know what she and the boys could get me that year, and all I said was 1 day in the shop all to myself! So that Father's Day I was not interrupted (my wife later realized how hard that actually was) and I was able to make and completely finish a shadowbox for my one of my sons. At the end of the day I gave him something, but I received so much! All made from shop scraps and wood laying around. Choice of finish was what I had on the shelf. It looks great, made well, and I'll never forget what a great day I had making it.
Gottlieb
Samson,
My un-funny post really wasn't my fault. I read your post and realized it would probably generate a fair amount of discussion, when suddenly things started happening. I felt horns growing out the top of my head. I began speaking in tongues with a voice not my own and something took control of my fingers! I tell you, it was terrifying. ;-)
I've been putting my shop together for the last few years and have recently been trying to add some "organization". I designated a section of 9.5' high wall about 12' long for hanging jigs and fixtures. Well, I've filled up that section and still have items on the floor. Some I may never use again, but after all the time spent thinking a situation through and coming up with a jig to do the job, I hate to throw them away. Most folks would look at it as a load of cr*p, but I think of it as a monument to my ingenuity. Hahahahahaha!
There are a couple of things I've built for the shop that are so ugly I ought to put a match to them, but they function very well so they remain. One is a roll around clamp cart. I used a furniture dolley for a base and 2x material for the the structure. Holds a bunch of clamps and is quite stable. The other is a roll around cart/work bench that doubles as an outfeed table for the table saw.
Well, there's the long answer. I could go on, but have an irresistable urge to go coble something together.
Later,
Chuck
I've been putting my shop together for the last few years and have recently been trying to add some "organization". I did that.. 40 years,, And my son Parker his Harley in it!
A Harley I could deal with. It's the 2 autos I'm having trouble with. Not enough land for garage and shop, so oversized garage must suffice. I should say shop with indoor parking.
Chuck
CharlesW,
Too bad you don't live closer, I'm always willing to share my shophttp://www.superwoodworks.com
And what a wonderful shop it is, my friend. Imagine how many autos you could park in there if you got all those tools out of the way!!! Your offer is much appreciated. I can only imagine what this lowly butcher could learn in your shop, but, alas, the price of gasoline would put me in the po' house.
So, I will continue to plod along with what I have. After all, it's not the shop, but the person in it. Right? hardeeharharhar!
Carry on,
Chuck
Any time I can build something of leftovers, without making a shopping list, and playing fetch, is a pretty nice day.
We eat 3 meals a day 7 days a week . Sometimes it's a bowl of cereal or a sandwich. But sometimes we take the wife out for a FINE dinner at FINE restaurant. Sometimes we have to build quick and COURSE projects and sometimes we like to take our time and build FINE projects just enjoy it !!!
splinters
Yes, I do, But it's not the kind of thing that I like to show off ( hey look at this trash can I made out of scrap plywood!). Being resourceful for utlitarian purposes certainly has it's place. But that is not why I subscribe to FWW or this website, fine woodworking is the ability to build something that will be treasured for possibly hundreds of years. To learn how to do this is why we read FWW, if you need instruction on how to nail plywood together to make shelves, then maybe youre in the wrong craft. Bcool
I didn't ask for any instruction. I didn't suggest the magazine should feature my plywood work-shop cabinet. All I said was that it is sometimes fun, between meticulous fine woodworking projects, to do some more "coarse" things that are done in an afternoon. If you didn't like the thread, I don't know why you answered.
sorry, I didn't mean to rock the boat, and your right, I should've kept my comments to myself, I guess some of the other posts on this thread were really what got me going. I do this kind of thing for a living and seen way to much "unfine woodworking" done and pawned off as fine woodworking. Bcool
I don't have scraps in my shop only a whole bunch of off cuts waiting for something in which they can be used.
Case in point, I needed some wooden cases for beer bottles, that take to a brew your own place, and I take every opportunity Icna to cut dovetails, so I built four beer cases with dovetailed sides and I even made a jig so I could use my drill press to make handle holes or whatever you call them. Made them out of pine and some baltic birch I had laying around.
I should've kept my comments to myself??WHY? We need to cheer up this place!
here is a piece that is all scrap except for the drawer guides ($60). DW saw one just like it for $7K...brought pic, and viola....(doors are actually drawers)
Bud
Seb,
Scrap or not, I don't see anything 'un-fine' about your cabinet. Looks great!
Regards,
Bill Arnold - Custom WoodcraftingMensa Member Click Here if you're interested in a good, inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
hey Billy, bout time to put the thong on and do the Island thing again isnt it?
Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
Hiya John-boy,
Thong? Why even bother? Fresh air is good for ya!!!
:-)
Bill Arnold - Custom WoodcraftingMensa Member Click Here if you're interested in a good, inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Mensa member her too! I flunkered the test!
I just love the China!.. LOLNice work..
Woodworking of any kind is great. Besides, you can't start off with a "fine" piece your first effort. The jigs, boxes, shelves, and do dads are all a learning experience for those times and pieces that you really want to put some precision into. I've learned more from reading other woodworking adventurers than I could of from my own mistakes. The forums and magazine tips gives each one of us ideas and solutions. My thanks to all who take the time to read and answer or reply, it helps us all and yes, its gratifying to see a nice piece you've completed and know how much work you put into it, because only you know where all the difficult spots were. So keep those cards and letters coming, I enjoy the company.
Today's shop tip: need quick drawers for a shop cabinet? use the plastic trays (6" x 15" x 20") they ship 2 liter soda bottles in. Put a wooden drawer plate on front and you can't tell there's plastic behind. Nice bonus, dirt and debri never accumulates in the drawer as it all falls through to the floor underneath
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