From a Professional To a Hobbyist

Going from a professional woodworker to a hobbyist is easer said then done, and I am not sure I will ever really make that transition completely. I think in my mind I will always be trying to find a way to make money with my woodworking. Thirty years of habit is hard to break.

The hardest thing I am finding is motivation to do woodworking at all, because in the pass it was always a job that pushed me into the shop. Now I find my self kind of lost in thought, I mean I want to try some new things I haven’t gotten to explore in the pass but I find myself just sharpening my tools or designing dozen of different tables that might sell. It’s like I can’t bring myself to put tool to wood without the promise of payment. Maybe woodworking has been a job for me so long now I am afraid to let myself start enjoying the pleasures of it, and slow down and relax while I build a just for fun. When you do woodworking for a living and if you work for yourself everything you do relates back to money so you lost a lot of the enjoyment when you build and you take on a lot of stress. The pieces that you build are dictated by your customers, the time you spend working on it are dictated by the price you are getting paid for it, and in that there isn’t much room for enjoyment with the exception of job well done and a satisfied customer.

I am hoping with a little time I will find my way back to what brought me to woodworking in the first place, maybe I need to just go with it and follow my instincts and see where they take me. Maybe what my minds telling me is to go back to the beginning and work my way though from there, I purchased Chris Schwarz Workbenches Book and I am planning building a Roubo bench for myself. I also picked up several used planes, and hand saws at some yard sales that I have been restoring back to working condition to start using. I also plan to try different areas of styles woodworking that I haven’t gotten to try in the pass to see if one of them lights some sore of fire in me. I do know I enjoy carving and I have not gotten to do a lot of that in the pass so we’ll see what happens. I also would like to try my hand at making tools maybe make myself a couple of hand planes and my own saws and see where that goes and writing seems to excite as much as any building does so I really want to keep doing more how to articles in this blog not just my thoughts, so you can look forward to seeing more of that. So stay safe

Joey

My Ten Cent Chisel

In one of my older blog I talked about a fellow giving me a 1 ½ inch chisel that didn’t have a handle on it. Well last night I was kind of bored so I decided to put a new handle on it. But the tang of the chisel was a little beat up, it looked like someone was using it without the handle and they had it the metal rolled over, so I used a brace with a reamer on it to cut off all the rolled metal, then filed the top flat, this gave me a flat top and a nice clean taper. Then I soaked the chisel in a solution of Kool-Aid, yes Kool-Aid. I did this to remove the rust and it works well, all you do is mix a package of Kool-Aid with ½ the water and no sugar. I let it soak for a couple of hours then dried the chisel off really good. This took all the surface rust off, but there was still some corrosion and pits in it but this won’t affect the chisel.

. I had some maple from a stool that I cut off from the legs and the off fall looks like they would fit the bill just right. I started preparing the handle by finding the center then I measure the depth I need for the tapered that fits in the chisels tang, then I used a saw to cut a shoulder around the maple and started removing material with a chisel, once I had a round tendon I started on the taper, here again I also used a chisel and rasp. After some trial and error I had a good fit. Then I cut some small nicks in the taper for the epoxy to have something to bite into. I also nicked the inside of the tank of the chisel for the same reason. Then I glued the handle to the chisel with five minute epoxy.

When the epoxy was set I clamped the chisel in my vise and used a spoke shave to rough the handle down to size, then I used a block plane to further clean up the handle. When I had a shape that was close the what I was looking for I started refining to shape by working with files and sandpaper, now I know this tool will a tool that I will be using with my hand more that beating on with a mallet and I wanted something that was comfortable, so I paid a lot of attention to how it felt in my hand and I work from that prospective. Most of the chisels I have purchased in the pass are uncomfortable for me to use in my hands because the handles are to small and they put to much pressure in a small area of my hand causing pain after just a short time working with them so I want a larger butt on the handle of the chisel, this will also give a larger striking area if I am using a mallet and it gave the chisel better balance.

Now for a couple hour of work if you can call it that, and a package of lemon Kool-Aid I have a really nice 1 ½ chisel that would of cost me maybe 30 or 40 dollars, but more that that I got the chance to talk to a interesting man, recycle a nice tool, save a small scrap of maple, and get the satisfaction of making my own tools, well sort of, and I all ready know I’ll be reaching for that chisel more than the one I bought at the store. What more can you ask from ten cents?

Is Our County Dying or is There Any Hope

You know I have been planning my business for a few months and have been really excited about it, but this past couple week we have gotten some really bad news in our part of Ohio, DHL which is one of the biggest employers in Wilmington has laid off 6,000 employees. I was listening to a Columbus TV station and they were saying that Gov Strickland "said it looked more like 8,000 or 9,000 employees were going to lose their jobs" although the state is going to try to block DHLs move I think its pretty much a done deal. This is just one of several in the area that has closed down and that has just been in this year alone, and I don't see with so many people going out business how it would make any sense for me to start a business. I know in my last blog I wrote I thought small business was the way to save these small towns, but now people are not going to have enough money in this area live not alone fix houses or buy custom furniture, they are going to be to busy just trying to survive. Gas prices being as high as they are and food going though the roof, I just don't see me having any kind of a customer base here. Sadly I am not going to start this venture at this time.

I'm not giving up on my woodworking, oh no. I'm just not going to try making a living at it. I'll just keep doing it as a hobby and build for friends and family. Maybe takes some classes in some areas that I am weak in like turning, and design. Spend some more time doing hand work which I enjoy. and work on my finishing which most woodworkers are weak at, and I plan on keep writing about it in this blog it will just change it's focuse.

Now, I just got to figure out whats next, what do I do now, I'm thinking about truck driving school, or hell maybe I'll just go work at McDonald's so stay tune and I'll keep you posted.

Joey

My Dying Little Town

Here we sit planning a new business in our town and I just notice that all a round us other businesses are going out of business. In the last twelve months there has been at lease three major companies closed their doors including Palm Harbor Home who manufactured low cost prefab homes. Mac Tools have and slowed down their production. Our main street has many more unoccupied store fronts then occupied ones. So why! I ask you would I want to try to start a business in a town that looks like it is for lack of a better term dying.

Well I think that on a whole, little towns all across the country are going though the same type changes with business closing or moving off shore, and with gas going to four dollars a gallon people really can’t afford to live out here and drive to the city. I know we are paying almost 20% of every dollar my wife make just for her to drive to work and for some people it much higher. So again why should I try to start a woodworking business in my little town?

As I thought about this and I have giving it a lot of thought I came up with this, I believe that small business is what is going to drive any recovery we have in this economy especially for small towns like ours. I think it’s time that small towns like these needs to try to make it more attractive for small businesses to open up and do business in them. I also think its time to go back to living and working in the same community that you live. I know that’s one thing I think we lost and with it a sense of community. When business owners live in the same community that they do business they are more likely to be more involved in that community because it is also their home. Wouldn’t it be great to see pride in our towns come back and I’ m not talking about that few days a year like we now we do it now.

The how? now that’s the hard part. I have notice in several of the magazines’ I read, in their classifieds they have been posting for artist and crafts people wanting them to consider moving to their towns. They have come up with special finance on housing and studio space some towns have even purchased abandoned factories and convert them to workshops studios, and retail space. Some of these communities have attract some of the top artist in there fields and in turn they offer apprenticeships’ which attract people from all over the country, both to learn and shop for their wares. This has helped to open bed and breakfasts, campgrounds, restaurants, other small gifts shops, antique shops and a host of other small businesses that help to revive and energize a small town.

So this is just one example of how small businesses can revive a dying little town. It would take time, patients, money, talent, and above all faith. So do I think I will start a business in my dying little town, why yes, and who knows maybe I will be planting the seed of change or I could just fall on flat on butt and go broke. But I will never know unless I try, will I, so all I can do now is do my homework, save my money, plan the best I can, and go for it.

Yards Sales and Old Tools

I love Memorial Day weekend, not only because it signals the start of summer, but because its one of the biggest yard sale weekends of the year, everyone is out there like eager little beavers trying to sell all there accumulative junk. Lucky for me one mans junk is another mans treasure and I found some treasure this weekend. First I picked an older Stanley back saw that looks like it could be from the 1940s. The guy wanted $20 dollars for it and when he saw me looking at it he said to me I’ll take ten for it, then a few minutes later as I was eyeing down the teeth of the saw which where in great shape, he came over and said I tell you what that there is an old saw and if you give $7 bucks for it, it yours, now I would of gladly given the him the $20 for it but hey he was a tough hackler. I search his tables some more to see what else I might find when I picked up an old 1 ½ chisel with no handle I started to ask him what he was asking for this gem when he said you can have that old thing I was going to throw it out, so I put it in my pocket. Then I the saw a little bench vice like the one I’ve been wanting to get for Tina, it had $10 dollars on so I pick it up pleased with that price and went to pay him, he looked at to the vice and told I could have it for $3 bucks that said I was a tough sale. I gave him $10 dollars and thank you and got back in the van.

At another yard sale I found a Shop Smith Mark 5 for $75 the man said the motor was shot on it I said that was fine I can fix that with no problem, so I paid him and ask if I could pick it up later this week. Even if I have to buy I new motor this will make a fine lathe for the shop. thing are coming together.

On Saturday my son in law was out with his sister shopping yard sales and he picked me up a box of hand planes for $45 there was a really nice Stanley #5 1/4 and Fowler that looks like it could be a #6 but I don’t know nothing about these planes so I need to research them a bit. There were also several block planes in the boxes some really nice ones. So now my plane collection is glowing and the ones I don’t use I was pass on to my grandsons tool box for them to use as they glow up.

Other finds at yard sales includes some 4” c clamps, 2 small back saws, a dovetail saw, all of these are older tools which I like some of the saw I got for my grandson I want to start letting him build things he’s getting old enough and is starting to show some interest.

Slow day

Today has been a slow day. Finally finished the cabinet for my daughter and got it inside her house, placed just where she wanted it, and I must say it looks much nicer than I thought it would. I didn't expect much from it given what I was working with, but I guess that just goes to show you with a little imagination and low expectations anything is possible. One of the best parts of working on that particular piece was I wasn't afraid to let my 18 month old grandson help me with it. He got to help plane some wood and was a real natural at it, he sanded a bit and even show a lot of interest in it (I expected that will fade with time). Its funny, now when I ask him if he helped me build that piece of furniture he says YEAP!! and runs over to it and rubs on it like only someone who loves woodworking can rub on a piece of wood, and I can already see the pride in is eyes and I down in my heart I know that I have planted the seed for another generation of woodworkers in my family. I guess I better watch my tools close when this little guys around or I might just be a few planes short when he goes home.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

The Glen Drake Workshop

The Glen Drake Workshop

Tonight, my business partner who is also my lovely wife, and I had the pleasure of attending a Glen Drake Workshop on tools and techniques, and he gave a demonstration of all the unique tools that he sells. He demonstrated some very interesting tools from his Tite-Mark™ marking gauge right down to his wild wild west saw, which was a very interesting saw with its two handles and no teeth at the beginning and end of the blade that it was designed to work with his Kerf-Starter™ a kind of a one tooth saw that works like a scraper removing a thin path of wood the same thickness as the kerf of your saw. So now your saw already has a small kerf to start its cut in. He has also come up with an ingenious way of laying out the assembly clearances right into your layout lines. Now you can achieve an almost machine quality fit with your hand cut joinery and still retain the softness of hand cut work.

Glen talked about how each woodworker brings to this art the experiences of other things in their life’s and how those experiences shape how they approach the way they do their woodworking. For him he was a musician and then later a programmer and he talked about how being a musician taught him to practice, practice, and practice some more before actually going out and playing for the world a finished version of what he did. Woodworkers on the other hand seem to do it just the opposite, most get into woodworking because of a need that has to be filled and a lack of money to fill it so they build it, then find that hey this is ok I like doing this, its even fun. So then they set off to learn how to build and then start practicing the craft. He talked about as a programmer he learned how to deconstructed and think about all the what-ifs and how that helped him in his woodworking and his tool business. He said what made him start designing tools was is aggravation in the tools that he was using on a day to day basis. I guess if necessity is the mother of invention then aggravation is it’s cruel aunt.

One of those innovated designs he has is his hammers, and his hammers are some of the best I think I've ever picked up and in 30 years of swinging hammers I have picked up a lot of hammers. Going back to his music although he didn't say what instrument he played I kind of got the feeling that he was a drummer, and from his drumming experience is where I think he came up with the unique handles on his hammers. When you first see his hammers the first thing you notice about them is the fine workmanship that goes into making them Then you will notice that his chisel hammers have bent handles because they are made for left and right handed people. They sit very comfortably in the palm of your hand and because of the bend of the handle you can work with your wrists in a very natural feeling position. One other feature I really liked about these hammers is that they had a domed head and the flat head; the doomed is good for striking chisels with a flat face handle and the flat head is good for a striking chisel with a doomed face handle.

He also makes these hammers in a very short handle version he calls the Tite-Hammers™ they are made to be held very close to your chest when working close up. They would be very handy for a craver or somebody's doing very close work. My business partner alias wife really like the Tite-Hammers™ one of her hobbies is jewelry making and she works really a close all the time and regular hammers are always getting in her way. Plus she really like to finish on the hammer I could see her making some kind of jewelry out of it or at lease decorating the handle on it.

It was a very good wookshop we really enjoyed the evening. I also enjoyed meeting Glen Drake and all the people from Popular Woodworking, although we didn't buy any tool's we are planning on buying some in the future. I did buy Chris Schwartz’s book on Work Benches and had him sign it for me plus we got to see the popular woodworking shop and meet the most of the editors. I got to meet and talk to one of my favorite editors Glen Huey, and see the table that he build in their last issue We got a peek at some of their upcoming project that they are building for the next issue of Woodworking Magazine, so it was the very nice evening. I hope to get invited back again the people from Popular Woodworking and F&W Publications did a great job. The food was great, and people were great, and any time woodworkers together and talk about tools and woodworking you know the conversations was great. We wish you all could've been there but since you wasn’t I hope my little blog here will give you a little taste of the evening. So remember to keep the sawdust out of your eyes and stay safe.

Joey