Unremarkable Shop Time

I know that I haven’t been posting recently.  My problem is that the time in my shop IS happening but it’s kind of dull and tedious (at least from a blogging point of view – I’m actually enjoying the time).

You see, my situation mandates that I have a strongly adhered to budget for my hobbies.  By my situation, I of course mean that if I don’t have restrictions on my behavior I will soon become the poorest person in the state of Washington with the most woodworking tools.  That would of course also mean I don’t have any money for actual wood to do any woodworking.  In fact, I’m living with some of that behavior right now.  Over the last several months I bought a few tools and am now waiting for my actual budget to catch up.  On April 1, I again have some money to buy some wood for my next project (a standing laptop desk for my guitar area – see previous posts).

In the mean time, I have been using some scrap wood to practice dovetails and mortise/tenons.  I had some poplar, pine, and oak.  I have on average spent an hour in the shop most days each week.  It’s allowed me a lot of progress.  My progress is of course great interest to me but may not be to any who read this.

I’ve been learning lots of things.  For instance, marking lines to follow is crucial.  In the past, I’d grab the nearest pencil and make my mark.  Now I grab a mechanical pencil, sharpen it, then make my mark.  Also, I’ve learned that while all the videos and articles and even classes on making dovetails (and this also applies to tenons) show how easy cutting things by hand can be, they leave out a crucial cautionary note.  Cutting is easy but keeping the curf of the cut parallel or even better exactly on the marked line, is quite challenging.  This is in fact, the heart of all this practicing.

I’ll keep working on all this skill building practicing and by the time I get to April, I will be more confidant in my abilities to produce a great piece of quality furniture.