What to do?

(July 14, 2012)

Wow... Things have certainly changed over the past 4-5 weeks. I think that I've become totally addicted to woodworking. Over the last few days I've not only completed my first few projects, I've also joined some woodworking communities. LOL! Yes... you know you are an addict when you join some communities. Today I worked on my blog and also got on Google+. I found a woodworking circle that has like 500 people in it. This is a group of people that are interested in woodworking. I went from following two people and having no followers... to having 9 followers and now I'm following over 500. WOW! And that was all within a few minutes.

Anyhow... here is where I am. I haven't acquired any new pallets lately. I've sort of been researching and acquiring some tools and some other consumable items. I really have an itch to make something with the pallet wood though. I keep thinking... rip it, cut it, make some more frames, make a box, make a cutting board, make an end grain cutting board, a bird feeder... anything. Problem... it's not square. None of the wood is square. I really would like to get a planer and a jointer. The hubby says that a planer is something that I don't need till I really start making big projects like furniture and after I've been doing this for some years. But man... I've got a pile of free wood just calling my name. I'd like to do something with it now. So the debate is... do I get the planer now... or wait?

Remember my boards?  Here are just a few of the 2"x4"s. 

And on here, the right side has a few of the boards as well. And look at that stack! That wood just wants to be re-purposed and used to make something. 

OH!OH!OH! I forgot to tell you something. I got some good news and some bad news yesterday. Bad news... my friend Matt says that the band saw he was tuning up for me is not gonna happen. It just doesn't work. The good news.... my table saw is ready. YEAH!!! Doing the happy dance! And... another great bit of news... he has made me a "pallet ripper" as he calls it. Matt is a man of many talents. I asked someone on facebook a question about welding and come to find out he can do that too. So I showed him a YouTube video on reclaiming pallet wood and he made me the tool they use. I can't wait to share it with you! It's going to be awesome 

Here is a pic of Matt. He's my friend/brother-in-law, supplier (tools that is, lol) and my wood mentor. 

James took this picture :)

So... right now... I am planning a trip to go to Matt's and get my table saw. Did I mention that he found a little work table for me too? It wasn't ready last time because he was putting a new top on it. The table saw wasn't quite ready because he was putting a zero clearance insert for the blade and put a new (slightly used) blade on it. Man... he is hooking me up. Like I said... he's my supplier. LOL

Anyhow... a trip is being planned. Probably going to go next Friday (today is Saturday). I'll get my table saw, my "pallet ripper" and my new work table. He told me yesterday that he did too good of a job on the table that now he likes it so much that he wants to keep it. I can't wait to see it. 

Also while there... he said that I could bring up my boards and use his jointer and planer. I have a feeling that this will just cement in my mind that I want both of these tools. And... he said he's going to show me some of his jigs. We may even make some while I'm there so I can take home. I can't wait!!!

I look forward to sharing with you again tomorrow. Hopefully I will have a project to share with you. I'm planning on making a box. Not out of pallet wood though :(

My Second Frame

(July 12, 2012)

After making the first frame and finally completing it, I was ready to make my next. I had some leftover wood from the first one so I decided to use that. 

Here is my second frame. The picture is kinda weird but it is a square. 

I still just used the roundover bit and the straight bit. But I raised the bit a little higher to get a different profile on this frame. 

This frame was MUCH quicker to make having the router table set up. I love it! Here is just another picture of the frame. Can you tell I was pretty happy with the profile? My joints could be better... but I'm happy. Each piece is a learning experience. 

Like I said... this one was much easier to make. 

I used the same Early American stain from Minwax but I did the process a little different this time. 

Here are both the finished frames together. The second one, on the left, is much lighter. On the first one I applied the stain and then wiped it off. Then I made another thin application of the stain and left it on. 

On the second one I simply applied once and then wiped it off. I like both of  them.
I don't know how well you can tell this... but the table they are sitting on is the one my son made in shop class. The frame on the right matches it pretty good. This is before the polyurethane is applied though. He told me that in order to match his table it would need the polyurethane. LOL :)

All-in-all... I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out. I look forward to making more and trying different profiles. I know that to the experienced woodworker these are a small project and maybe pretty easy. But I'm still learning this wonderful craft and I'm enjoying every minute of it... even if it is just a picture frame, or a sign that says "James". 

Thank you for reading this and letting me share my new wonderful addiction with you :)

Another New Tool & A Project

(July 10, 2012)

Remember the Bosch Router Table that I got? Well... like I said in that post... my Skil router wont fit in it because the plate isn't predrilled for it and the holes won't match up. So I got pretty frustrated. I had started my first project and couldn't finish it because I'm just not in a place where I can do what I needed with out the router attached.
Having said that... I guess I should show you the project. It's a picture frame. (I know you can't tell... but I'm still so excited about this that I'm jumping up and down like a little kid... at least on the inside LOL)

 On the right, is the front of my frame. I was pretty happy with how well my miter joints came out. Especially since this is my first attempt. I keep wanting to call it my first project. My "James" sign was. But it was sort of practice. So I guess this sort of is my first. I used blue painters tape to hold them together until I could glue them up. I needed my router attached to a table to do the groove on the back.

As you can see... the right is the back and there's no groove. This is the back while it's still just taped with the blue painters tape. 

(July 10, 2012)

So... what's a girl to do? I had my router table all put together and couldn't use it. I looked into a replacement plate for it but couldn't/wouldn't pay the price. Soooo.... after talking to another woodworking friend (Mike, he's a scroll guy. Awesome work.) I heard about a router table/router combo at Sears. So off to Sears I went. I think the thing retailed for $139 or something. Maybe more. But it was on sale for $119. I didn't need a router. I already had one. But I was curious and asked the sales person to give me some more info on it. It was the last one and there was no display model. I almost didn't find it. When they pulled it up online it said $107. So I asked the girl if I could have it for that price. She of course said yes. At first I left and didn't get it. But I ended up going back and picking it up. I just couldn't pass it up. 

Here it is. James helped me put it together too. 

The router is a Craftsman 1 3/4 HP, fixed base. One thing I do kinda like about it is that it has an interchangeable collet. I don't know if it's going to be too easy to switch bits out... but I can change the collet from a 1/4" shank to a 1/2" shank. All the bits I have right now are 1/4". But I was looking for a 1" flush trim bit the other day at Lowe's and the only flush trim bits they had at all were 1/2" shanks. Anyhow... I'm pretty happy with the whole set up. I've decided to keep my Skil router as well to do signs and inlay and... well... whatever else I may need to use a plunge router for. :)

So... I got to make my groove in the back and I got my frame all glued up and stained it. As you can see, I missed some of the glue in the bottom right hand corner. This whole project was a learning experience. But I'm still quite happy with how it turned out. 

I did notice, however, that when doing my glue up, I didn't get my joints as aligned as I did when I was taping. I don't know if they slipped when I was putting the clamp on or if I just didn't get them as aligned. 

Still... happy with it. I used the Early American Minwax stain on it. 

After I got this one all stained and ready to go. I went after the rest of the piece of wood. This wasn't made with pallet wood. But not everything I make will be. Besides... that pallet wood I have is not ready for any project that requires wood that is square. 

I'll share the next frame with you tomorrow. Until then... :)

Some Odds & Ends

These are just some of the tools that I've acquired. I thought I'd share them with you. While I took the pictures all the same day... (July 14, 2012)... I've been picking things up along the way. 

This crow bar is actually the FIRST brand new tool that I bought. It saved me ALOT of time. 

I picked these router bits up the same day that I got my Bosch Router Table. I wasn't sure what to buy but I had my first project in mind so I just bought the bits it called for. The project called for a 3/4" roundover bit and a 1/2" straight bit. But I saw these sets and got these instead. Again... taking picture with my phone so they aren't the best. My good camera is back in action so hopefully I'll be using it again. 

Three straight bits and three roundovers.

This thing comes in real handy. It's simple but I love it. I have to work in the yard because of the lack of space in the garage. So having to drag the extension cord out every time was becoming a pain. I didn't even think about this. The hubby found it and suggested it for me. Notice it has 4 plugs? I was pulling this cord out... plugging in my miter saw and making a cut... then unplugging to use my router... then unplugging the router to plug in the sander.... then plugging the miter saw in again... and so on and so on... it was a pain. This really helps :)

Here are some things I scavenged from my hubby. The clamp on the left I actually bought at the flea market. I use the other two clamps (he has 2 more) and I've also found his double sided tape to come in quite handy.

More things that I've picked up at Lowes. Some paint brushes, my OWN safety glasses, a metal square, some gorilla glue, a scraper for removing the excess glue and some MinWax. On the right is my stain that I just picked up and I got some polyurethane. My son Kyle actually picked the stain color to match a table that he built in shop class at school. I think it's called Early American. And he said that I'd need the polyurethane, so I got some of it too. The black and red clamp looking this on the lower left is a Bessey clamp that I got. Mainly I got it for picture frames but the hubby said he'd probably have some uses for it at some point too. I'm sure it will get used. Also, above that is two small clamps. 

More stuff that I scavenged from the hubby's garage. The blue tape is just painters tape. I used it on a project (I'll be sharing what project later)

I made another trip to the ReStore and picked up these items. More stain, steel wool pads, a sanding block and some zip ties. I totally plan on using those zip ties to attach an extension cord to the work bench I plan on using. I saw that tip in a YouTube video. Guess how much all this cost? The Minwax that I bought at Lowes was like $6.77 or $7 something. The stain here was $3.89 and was a full unopened can. The steel wool was .75, .25 each for zip ties and .98 for the sanding block. Not bad, huh? Under $7. I got all this for the same price that I paid for just one can of stain. 

Side note: Guess what I found out when I made this trip to the ReStore? I asked if "the back" was open. They said that it was a one time special event. Usually they just use that warehouse to move stuff up as they sell things. I just happened to go on that day and didn't even realize it. They move stuff up quite often so I need to be going every Friday and Saturday. They are only open two days a week. Guess where I'll be going next Friday?

More tools that I scavenged from the hubby. He has all kinds of sandpaper like this. I have decided that I don't like his sander that uses this paper. But I can use it to hand sand. So I'm glad he has such a big stock. There is more in the garage. AND... he tells me that he has one of those finish sanders. He called it a mouse sander. I don't know what it's called but I know what it looks like. The Kobalt tape measure is one that he just picked up. It's more for him. I like the smaller one anyways. And this hammer is one of the three that I keep using. He won't let me use the rubber mallet on the pallets. Not that I want to... but i can see a need for it in the future.

 And of course... I'm always on the look out for more pallets. Found this little guy.... ummm.... actually I don't remember where. LOL! But I have found three places that have pallets come in pretty regularly. One has some really NICE looking ones. Then I found that the newspaper in town has a steady supply (if you get there before someone else does) and I found quite a few at the local pool supply store. They said anytime I see any by the dumps to go ahead and pick them up as I wish. I saw a bunch the other day. But I had too many kids with me and couldn't fit any in my van. The lady kind of looked at me funny when I told her I'd be back with my van to pick them up. I just lay the back seat down and they fit perfectly. 

I also found quite a few odd sized one behind the family dollar store in town. They said I could take them... haven't been back yet. Actually... that's where I got this one. Just couldn't fit anymore because of the kids. :)

I look forward to sharing a project with you on my next post. 

It's Router Time!

(July 5, 2012)

After things got back to normal it was time to play with some wood again. My hubby isn't into woodworking. He's not really against me doing it... but he's not totally for it. I think it's mostly that he doesn't think we have the space (which is kinda true) and that he doesn't know if I'll stay into it. We've only been married for 4 years so he didn't know me when I tried to get into it before. So... I was surprised when he bought me this....

It's a Bosch Router Table. YEAH!!!!

James helped put it together. Sorry for the blurry pictures. These are with my phone. 

 He was pretty excited that he got to help put it together. Hubby lined the screws up and James tightened them.

Above he is telling me to stop taking pictures because he's trying to work. LOL!

 He listened very closely when his daddy was explaining different things to him. He was pretty proud of the work he did. So was mommy :)

So... Table gets put together and it's time to install the router. Oops... hubby forget to check and see if my router fit it. And it didnt :(

But... to reward him for his hard work... mommy went out and played with the router anyways and freehanded a sign for his room. He was so proud of it. 

Yes.... the "J" is kinda wonky and it's too far away from the rest of the name. But this was the first time I ever used a router. Once I got the bit depth right and figured out how the plunge on it worked... I was in business. It wasn't till after the "a" that I got the hang of it. 

I also rounded the edges with a roundover bit. I used.... ummm.... the V'grove bit? Maybe? LOL! I can't remember. One of those bits that came with it is what I used :)

 I took a sharpie and colored in his name to set it off. I of course sanded it down too. 

Guess what this is made from? Ding, ding ding! Pallet wood! YEAH!!! An ugly piece of pallet wood that would have went to the dump is not a name sign for my little router-table-setting-up-man. :)

Not a Step Back... But Definitely a Hindrance

(July 2, 2012)

So we had been going through quite a dry spell here in Southern Indiana. We have a lot of shade in our back yard and for the first time it was dying (I guess the mowing strike was over). But on this particular Sunday (July 2), we got a pretty good rain. My family and I were at church. My older kids, Kyle and Brianna were part of a presentation that was being given about their recent mission trip.

Side note: Here is our mission group. They stayed stateside and went to Birmingham, Alabama.

 Here are my two kids. Kyle has went for the last two years and this is Brianna's first year. This picture was taken right after I asked him how he was going to like spending the week with her and telling him he needed to keep an eye on her. LOL! Sibling love... aint it great!

They went as a part of WorldChangers. It's a wonderful organization. Kyle has learned quite a few skills along the way. He has helped put on three different roofs, done various painting, helped put on siding and put up a privacy fence. As her first year Brianna was limited in what they allow the younger ones to do but she learned a lot as well. She learned how to properly scrape and paint a wood sided house. They had a great time. Click here to check out more about WorldChangers

Ok... So back to my post. :)
So... the teens got through their post and out of the corner of my eye I looked out the window and saw the wind picking up. We had a really bad storm coming in. After the service was over most people hung out for another 20-30 minutes waiting for the storm to pass. There is a side door where there is a carport overhang and when someone tried to go out that door the wind slammed it so hard that they almost got hurt. We knew we didn't have electric at our house so we all headed to the local Pizzeria. After a quick call to a neighboer I couldn't stand the wait. So while the rest of the family stayed (along with about 25 other members there) and waited for the food I went to check out the house to make sure everything was ok.

This is what I went home to. 

                                                                                

I was obviously more concerned with the garage. But did you notice that this is right on my pallet work area?
Do you see in the picture on the left that there are two boards in the lower right hand corner? Those are the ends of the pallet I just finished taking apart earlier that day. My plan was to work some more when I got home. After this everything became scattered all over the place.

 This is another dark picture. But as you can see... it tore the electric box right off the house. 

The next day. 

 Picture of my husband. He's taking a picture from inside the garage of the limb that went straight through the roof. You can see it sticking out of the top of the roof but barely. 

There were limbs everywhere. The pictures really don't do it justice. 

 We were lucky that even though it pulled it off the house, it was an easy fix. Easier than we first believed. At least easier with the help of a good friend. 

My pallet area destroyed. And of course... my reclaimed dresser ruined. 

 This limb hit the house and then bounced off, hit the roof and finally rested between the house and garage. Luckily only the gutter was dented and minor damage to the garage. 

 The neighbors behind us lost a big tree that landed in our yard. 

 Driveway view from the garage looking out to the street. 

Driveway view from street looking to garage. There is a small utility trailer under there... you can barely see it. See the brown piece of furniture? That was another dresser I had that I was refinishing. It was ruined. I had just picked it up too. 

Well... this happened on Sunday. We were out of electric until Wednesday. We were able to stay with friends until it was back on. On Monday we helped those friends clean up their tree. That took all day Monday and half of Tuesday. On Tuesday those same friends came over and knocked out ALL of our trees in half a day. It was amazing how quick they were. We have a wonderful church family and it was very appreciated to have the help. 

We are all cleaned up now. At least for the most part. There is still a pile of free firewood in the front yard that no one has picked up. And we still haven't cleaned up all the little twigs. I think we were just so over picking up the big stuff that we just haven't done anything with the little stuff. It was the hottest days we've had all summer. But... things are pretty much back to normal.

Thanks for letting me share this with you guys. 

Reclaiming Pallet Wood & Storage Challenge

(July 1, 2012)

So I have this little workstation going on. I've shared this picture with you before. See the pallet laying there with the blue arrow pointing to it? This little guy gave me some issues. He just did not want to be taken apart. 

Here's a little closer look at him. Seems harmless enough, doesn't he? Well... let me tell you.. He wasn't. I don't know what kind of wood that is that those boards are nailed to but I could not get those boards off with out destroying them completely. After I removed two boards, and cracked them all the way up and down, I tried to get the nails out. They would not budge. So I don't know if it's the boards or the nails. BUT... these nails are the same nails that I've seen before. They are the spiral ones but I've removed them before with no problem. 

Well... I decided that I had enough. And this pallet wood looked pretty good so I didn't want to just write it off as a loss and I didn't want to keep destroying the boards. So I got the Jigsaw out. Actually... I went with the Skilsaw first, but I soon found that I needed to put it on the charger. But the Jigsaw actually worked just fine. So I cut the boards off along the rails. 

Now I have this nice stack of boards that I can actually do something with. And... while they aren't square... they are all in pretty good shape. I have already sanded some of them down.

 And I've also cut the other boards off. All that's left are the sides. Since I can't get the nails out, I guess they are bound for the junk pile. I'm not sure what I will do with that wood yet. I've always lived in the town so I don't know about building bonfires. I would assume that the nails wouldn't be a problem and that someone could use the wood in their bonfire and clean the nails up the next day. ??? I just don't know. 

 Anyhow... the hubby can't tell the difference between the boards that I want to keep and the ones that are "scrap". These boards... are not scrap. They are what I consider usable and I want to make something with them. My "scrap" pile is a pile of wood that maybe has cracks in it or some other defect. I want to use it for testing out my tools or for shims or for whatever. It's wood I just don't care about but that I don't want to throw away. Most of the stuff I throw away in my "junk" bin is stuff that has nails in that I cant get out. Or some other defect that I feel like I can't really use for anything.
So what does the hubby do...? He keeps trying to use these boards that I just spent forever salvaging and he wants to use them as scrap wood or junk wood. He tried to take them to use as block stops for his trailer even.

My point isn't to complain about my dear hubby. He's not trying to irritate me (at least I don't think so LOL), but he just doesn't know. So... what do I do about it? I have my own system of knowing which wood is which... but it's really only known to me and not obvious enough, I guess. So I need to come up with an idea of separating my "good wood" and my "scrap wood". I would love some suggestions. Keep in mind that some of the wood is small boards like the ones in the picture above. Maybe 12" long. And other boards are longer. Also, some are thinner and then I also have some 2"x4"s.

So consider it a challenge. I don't care if you share an idea that you've done on your own or something you've seen on a blog somewhere or on Pinterest. I wish I had a price to give away to motivate... but for now... it's just a plain ole personal challenge. LOL... wouldn't it be nice to have some stuff to give away? LOL

I look forward to your suggestions. :)