Ruminations

April Showers

It’s rather beautiful out today: 50 degrees and rainy. I love Spring in Southern New England. I can turn off the HVAC and leave the windows open and keep everything at a cost-free 66 degrees (this works in Autumn as well).

This morning, though, I woke up with a start to the sound of the wind and rain. I have some fresh lumber acclimating in my apartment and I wondered if the humidity seeping in through the open windows would affect the wood.

Without so much as a Google search, quickly shut everything down tight and went back to bed.

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Your have become better at woodworking! (152)

Contrary to popular belief, I have other hobbies besides woodworking.  One of which is video games.  Specifically, roleplaying games (both MMOs and console).  I’m really good at tradeskills in MMOs.  Like super good.  Like it’s the main reason I started making things in real life.

I just saw that EverQuest is lauching a new timelocked progression server this summer and the vote (I voted twice, because I have two EQ1 Gold accounts) came out in favor of Slower Progression.  I started out on the Rathe server (FOR LIFE!), but I have been bouncing around other servers (Vox, Vulak Aerr) and I like the EQ1 progression server concept.  I tried Project ’99, but I would prefer a server that is up through Shadows of Luclin (Maiden’s Eye and Grieg’s End are by far the best zones in any MMO ever, other than Dragon Necropolis).  Seems like the second round vote is going in favor of a slower progression, which is right up my (and my buddy Matty’s) alley.

I’ve been a healer in MMOs for a long time (mostly because no one else wants to do it and I enjoy willing groups to success), but I think on the new EQ progression server, I will be a monk or a magician.  Maybe even an enchanter.  Just to stick it to Matty. And because I love the Jewelcrafting tradeskill the most.

This is a bear cub wielding an ax.

This is a bear cub wielding an ax in Crescent Reach.

Anyone who has been thinking of getting back into EQ1, I would urge you to keep an eye out for the new progression server launch.  I certainly am.

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A Rectilinear Corner
Editor’s Note: today, we’re doing something a bit different.  Michael, a friend, fellow-woodworker and fellow-lawyer, whom I have known for literal decades, has graciously agreed (after much prodding by me) to write a guest spot for TheApartmentWoodworker.com.  I think Michael brings up a prescient point about the modern woodworker.  In the past, many artisans would have contributed to a single piece of furniture.  Nowadays, hobbyist woodworkers are convinced they must be jack-of-all-trades craftspeople.  This is certainly not true, and there is great value and efficiency in outsourcing certain project parts. I also learned a new word (rectilinear). Thank you, Michael!
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Like James, I woodwork in a small shop in my spare time. I use mostly handtools: not only because I enjoy them, but because, for me, they’re simply more convenient. I believe in using the most efficient tool for the job, and when the job involves cleaning up after yourself, and not tracking dust through the rest of the house (you know, the one your partner just cleaned), then handtools quickly score points on the efficiency scale.
But when the snow melts, and I can pull out a contractor’s table saw and rip down some boards in the yard, the efficiency scale leans the other way. Could I have done the job with handtools? Sure, but who cares? This is a hobby and I only have a limited time to do the things I enjoy, one of which is creating beautiful pieces of furniture.
I love the subtle camber on the front front (I hope that not just camera bend).

Editor’s Note: I love the subtle hollow on the front frame (at least, I hope that’s hollow and not just camera distortion).

That’s why I am a firm believer in outsourcing some woodworking tasks when it makes sense to get the project done. For example, I don’t turn my own legs. I don’t have a lathe, or have the room for one.  I’ve never even tried turning. Maybe I will someday, but for now, when a project calls for a turned leg, I go to places like tablelegs.com. There are other excellent websites as well, where a skilled turner will make you any style leg you want – from cabriole legs to bun feet. I can usually find what I’m looking for, or at least something close that I can modify to fit my project. The quality is great, and consistent.  The point is, my lack of shop and skills shouldn’t pin me into a rectilinear corner.
Bun feet!

Editor’s Note: Bun feet!

Sure, I could take a class at the local woodworking club and eventually develop the turning skill to do it myself.  But I want to actually finish my project this decade. Again, I say who cares?  And by outsourcing I am supporting other woodworkers.
But please don’t order your legs pre-mortised.
Don't be lazy: haunch your mortises.

Editor’s Note: Don’t be lazy: cut (and haunch) your mortises yourself!

Lighting the Way

I know it’s tautological, but the most problematic aspect of small-space woodworking is just that: lack of space. I am fortunate enough to have a large common area that I can temporarily annex into the workshop, but that really only helps me for assembly or short term lumber storage.

With a rather full tool chest already, any time a new tool comes in, something else has to go (or, at least, to be stored). Normally, it’s a phantom problem, because I’m not really buying new tools. I have almost everything I need.  But I can’t just leave random tools laying around to trip over.

Although, I admit the shop is not the model of order most days...

Although, I admit most days the shop is not exactly the model of order…

As I plan out a lighting rig to go with the new camera, though, I am faced with a dilemma. I don’t want to reassemble a special lighting stand every time I need to snap a new picture. But I also don’t want my apartment to be cluttered with yet another free standing obstruction.

I think the third option, if it exists, is to build a rig that will work both as photography lighting and as workshop lighting. My current front lighting setup for joinery (an LED task lamp) isn’t working that well because of the depth of my workbench. Not to mention that it’s also very directional and the head gets in the way when photographing. On the other hand, a traditional front lighting rig with a diffuser may not shine brightly and clearly enough for use during joinery work.

I just don’t know yet how to solve for both issues, while simultaneously not creating something else for me to trip over. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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Daylight Savings Time is Dumb

I know it’s only an hour, but I truly despise Daylight Savings Time.  Most of my clocks adjust automatically, but that’s not the point.  For the third year in a row, I didn’t realize the clocks rolled forward and I started woodworking before quiet hours ended.  I’m an early riser, so this morning, I was woodworking audibly while everyone was still sleeping it off.  I didn’t get a noise complaint this time, but that’s also not the point.  I’ll say it:  Daylight Savings Time is stupid in 21st Century society.

On a side note, I am finally using the last of the home center Douglas Fir for an upcoming project that is totes adorbs.

On a side note, I am finally using the last of the home center Douglas Fir for an upcoming project that is totes adorbs.

I would like to point out that it was the Germans and Austrians during World War I who first implemented Daylight Savings Time as a way to conserve coal during wartime.  And that it was OPEC who forced America to permanently implement Daylight Savings Time during the 1970’s.

Not exact a positive pedigree for a concept.

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On the Virtues of Power Tools for Stock Preparation

This one is text only.

Here at The Apartment Woodworker, I am always looking for new and exciting ways to bring the strange world of small-space woodworking to life.  In a total reversal from my usual course, I would like to talk for a moment about the virtues of power tools and apologize to anyone at whom I ever scoffed for using a table saw in rough stock preparation.

If you haven’t angrily closed your browser yet, let me explain. I make no secret of my reliance on a thickness planer, nor do I deny I often turn to my orbital sander for quick finishing-prep. I also love a good roundover or chamfer by router and I sharpen the forstner bits for my power drill with a rotary tool. I even own a sweet miter saw that lives at my parents’ house. But I rationalize this because each one of those power tools complements my hand-tool-first approach to small-space woodworking. Every single board first gets at least ripped and planed S2S by hand before a power tool even touches it.

For the first time ever, though, I wish I owned a table saw. I have been hand-ripping rough-sawn, close-grained hard maple for the plant stand project and Praise Alvis is “hard” an understatement.

I’d be cutting joints by now if I had a table saw. My 4.5 tpi and 6.5 tpi rip panel saws are way too coarse and my 9tpi rip panel saw is way too fine. And each now has a kink in the plate that I need to hammer out. It’s true I don’t have the room for a table saw in my apartment and I could just grab my circular saw from my brother’s house, but that’s not the point. I merely see the point now of power stock preparation.

Up until this point, I considered myself to be a handtool snob who would never, ever use, let alone buy, a table saw. But now I think that when I again have a full-sized shop, I just might just buy myself a SawStop and learn to use it safely. Or at least a bandsaw. Those aren’t so bad.

For stock preparation only: not for joinery. I’m no powertool sissy.

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Now, About That “Mostly”

Whenever someone asks me what I do in my free time, after the involuntary “free time, that’s funny”, I undoubtedly mention that I like to make things out of wood (and write about it).  I think that may be an understatement.  Sometimes, all that keeps me going day-to-day is the fantasy of one day having the time and the space to have a studio/workshop where I design and build furniture on my own schedule.

But, for now, woodworking doesn't (and doesn't have to) pay the bills. But it does pay significant emotional and intellectual dividends.

But, for now, woodworking doesn’t (and doesn’t have to) pay the bills. But it does pay significant emotional and intellectual dividends.

The next question is usually about types of furniture I like to make.  “Oh, tables, benches and chairs, mostly” I’ll say, careful to also mention that I don’t particularly enjoy casework (in part, because sheet goods are gross).

Now, about that “mostly”…

I don’t very often talk about my obsession with pet furniture and plant furniture.  In truth, I spend more time perusing the internet for cat perch ideas and plant stand designs than I ever spend scouring human furniture catalogs.  Store-bought pieces are fine (and I’m certainly not taking commissions on cat perches or indoor planters), but anything handmade by me is not going to break down or come loose.  When it comes to my kitty and my dragon trees, that’s the most important thing.  I know lots of pet owners and indoor plant aficionados who would agree.

This is made from 8/4 red oak offcuts.  Call me old fashioned, but I believe a piece of furniture should outweigh the load its bearing.

This is made from 8/4 red oak offcuts.  Call me old fashioned, but I believe a piece of furniture should outweigh the load its bearing.

I’m not saying I’ll ever actually open up a “non-humans only” furniture store.  I’m just saying it would be awesome and hilarious.  I’m sure my parents would be proud.

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It’s Been a While

It seems like forever since I actually made something. Work has been (continues to be?) especially hectic lately, and it’s not like I can chop mortises at 1am, so its been mostly shop admin at very odd hours. Cleaning, honing, sharpening, planning; all great and necessary, but not exactly the most fulfilling, activities. Only a few of projects remain on my current to-do list (one more footstool, a pedestal plant stand and a behind-the-couch console table), but each has been on the to-do list for some time.

I do so much lapping lately, I'm starting to feel like a metalworker, not a woodworker.

I have a couple different chisels in various stages of obsessive lapping.

What’s the point of perfectly flat, mirror polished chisel backs without mortises to chop or tenons to pare? Who cares about refining saw sets if there is no rough stock to rip down? Sharp and well set tools are their own virtue, but the making of things with those tools is still the most important part to me.

So here is my plan for the weekend.  I have some leftover home center Douglas Fir and a bunch of other scraps of ash, oak and maple.  I will hopefully find a few hours this weekend in between work stuff to rip down a good portion of my remaining rough stock.  That way, when I finally get the time to make something, I’ll be ready to rock.  Er, join wood.  I hope.  My tools are certainly ready.

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The Next, Best Thing

It’s no secret that I’ve never been happy with that slate-top side table I made late last year. The joinery is tight enough and the color came out reasonably well, and I always intended to build the bottom shelf when I got around to it.

Slate-top Side Table

This thing.

It’s just that the table never quite fit anywhere I put it; too wide, too deep, too short, what have you. Plus, the extra tabletop around the plant pot gives my cat an excellent platform to murder one of my favorite dragon trees.

Veritable plant murder!

Veritable dracaena genocide!

So, I have decided to move on and build something else. A tall, narrow plant stand, in fact. Haven’t put pen to paper yet for a design, but I know the problem I am trying to solve.

I sort of promised the slate-top table to a relative, so I can dispose of it quickly when the replacement is ready.  Though I need to find the time to build something.  I’ll add it to the list.

UPDATE:  I gifted the table to my aunt on Saturday.  I’m sure she’ll give it a good home.

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