Fine Woodworking's Comment and Apology

I would like to start by saying that I have been a reader of Fine Woodworker for thirty year I even have issue #1 (no it's not for sale). I have depended on the high level of expertise in their article's since I started my career as a cabinetmaker, and the same with Fine Homebuilding for my career as a carpenter.

 I have work as a professional cabinetmaker and high end trim carpenter both residential and commercial and consider myself very good at it, I have always been passionate about it and never stop trying to learn my trade that why I am still a reader of FWW, I was trained at the University of Cincinnati as a cabinetmaker, but even with all that I still don't consider myself an expert. working in this field you get boxed in and while you get to do quite a large assortment of jobs you really don't change up the way you work very much, when you are on the clock you go with what works. You become very both proficient and efficient at the task you have do like installing crown, or building kitchen cabinets. After doing it every day it seems to narrow your view on how things are done, thats where the internet comes in for me. Its where I get to sample everyone else take on how things are done from the beginner to other seasoned woodworkers like myself and that is where the value is for me. It also reminds me of the passion I had when I was twelve years old, collecting pop bottles so I could buy my first jig saw and drill from Oakley Hardware to build my first woodworking project.

I listen to Fine Woodworking's podcast and for the most part enjoy it, I heard the show where Asa but his foot in his mouth,  I think where Asa Christiana made a mistake, is he was wearing his editor's cap and thinking in comparison to the magazine, and not thinking as an everyday woodworker would  who reads and enjoys woodworking blogs. I still have to say I am glad this blew up and brought the internet woodworking community to his attention and I am looking forward to Fine Woodworking working with this community in the future. I think Asa has gone a long way to apologize to anyone who might of been offended and that say's a lot about him, I think this whole thing will only improve things between a great magazine and the woodworking blog/podcasting community.

Joey

Controlling Moisture in my Shop

One of the big draw backs of the space I am using for a shop is the total lack of climate control. I have said in one of my last post that it is like an above ground basement, let me explain that statement, what I have is a block building with a brick face and a concrete floor with no windows or doors except the main entry door. There is no heating or air conditioning and it seems to sweat moisture around the wall and floor joint. With no windows I also have no air circulation except the fans I have placed to keep it moving in a around the shop.

Now I know I am going to have to address the heat, but I still have six months to work that out, and with the wall being 12" of cement and brick it stays fairly cool although damp and with two fan constantly moving air ti has been comfortable, but a dehumidifier would help to at lease keep moisture levels to a decent place to store wood and build furniture and on my list of must haves, I am just trying to find a used one before buying new.

I am also considering painting the walls with a moisture blocking paint made for block walls like Dryloc, and cleaning and caulking the seam between the floor and wall with a hydraulic blocking caulk made for wet basements to try to stop any water that may be getting in that way.  This would help stop the walls from sweating and collecting on the floor around the shop where I have been seeing most of the moisture. The I would like to seal the floor with a good cement floor sealer.

 I could go all out and fur out the walls with some 2x3 and put up some 1 1/2" solid foam board and cover it with plywood or OSB, but since I rent this space I really think my money right now is better spent else where, like on wood for projects. I really don't want to turn this into a project where I build a great shop, but a shop where I build great projects.

Do I really need a Table Saw?

Now, that I have a larger shop than I have every had, having space for a table saw isn't a question of room any more, I have plenty of room for my saw with an out feed table, but I have been working without one for a while now so I wonder if I really need or want one.

I guess this will become a question of what kind of work I will end doing in my shop, right now I plan on doing hardwood furniture and sculpture, none of that would use sheet goods which would be the main reason I would use my table saw these days.

I have really gotten comfortable with cutting hardwoods down on my bandsaw then planing them down with one of my hand planes, now this is where I would of used a joiner to straighten the same board then the table saw to cut it to size, but you all know this drill.

 Both work just as well as the other and it really comes down to personal choose. The thing I really do have to remember is now that I do it for my enjoyment which method is the one that I enjoy. Another think I need to remember is that because I have worked in the field for a long time I just know that as people find out that I have a shop again I will end up somewhere along the line doing a job for someone that will require me to build some cabinets or something else out of sheet goods. With that in mind I know I need to keep my table saw even thought I don't see it any more as my go to saw when I want to rip a board down, but then again with it sitting there luring me with its seductive power I could just fall back into old habits.

Now What!

view from front

view from rear corner

 Well, I have all my woodworking goodies moved in, can you believe I had this stuff stashed in a tiny one bedroom apartment (well most of it ) some things were in a 5 x 5 storage locker but it was mostly wood. I still am missing my Jet 10" tablesaw, it is being used by my nephew, and I have another Shopsmith Mark V that I still need to be collected.

 I got everything moved in the weekend before finals. Finished up my finals at school and then took a week off, so now I need to put this place in shape thats when I had that moment where I just looked around and said "Now What"! if you can bare with me and my many moments of mental meltdowns, I will share this journey with anyone that is interested.

This shop has some challenges, it's like a basement above ground, but I think I can overcome most of them, or at lease live with the one I can't. This will be the first shop that I have build that wasn't for a business which gives me free rein not to worry about maximizing profit and it lets me build it for my creative side. I want it to be a studio as much as a woodworking shop since I want to explore woodworking as art more than function, along with doing some large sculptures and since my major at school is media production and graphic arts I really want t start pushing out some videos which I have already started filming .

view from other corner

My honest wish is that my journey putting this shop together will help others, I am sure I will do things that some of you would do different, but in the end I have to work to my own strengths and try to improve on my weakness's by using better designs, being flexible, and being open to new ideas and giving them ideas a try to see if they can help me work better, or safer or not that I am worried about it, but faster.

In my professional  career as a cabinet maker I used very few handtools, I was trained use them  at U.C. , but just never really got the chance, and now I am looking forward to using them more in my work. Now I am not going to give up power tools by any means, but the combination of the two I feel will enhance both my experience and the end product and since I am not worrying about making money as much as I am about making art and learning, I can take my time and enjoy the process as much as the finish product. As always if you have any comment please feel free to leave them here, or contact me on Twitter , Facebook, or Google+ and have a great day.