Peter Brown's ShopTime

I had two really cool projects for last week! Flipping awesome ideas that jumped into my head and wouldn't let me go. I love it when that happens, and I even had a head start on Thursday night plus a ton of free time on Friday to make it all happen! So I made a silly video with the intention of uploading something of substance the next morning... Just as a side note, this is now my most disliked video EVER! :)

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and while I don't claim to have invented the idea of a pint lock, this is the first one I've ever seen out of the wood. In addition I love how outrageous it looks with that giant old school padlock on it!

I originally wrote this post in 2008. It seems oddly applicable today! Is your shop time plagued by a similar scourge? ~~~   There seems to be no shortages of people places or objects to bestow your esteem, regard, respect, approval or reverence. So how is it that I ended up here? Recently I find myself making sacrifices to a god that I didn't even know existed until a few moths back. This god is now the ruling force in my workshop, second to none with the power to change the outcome of even the smallest of event. That's right, the god of Oops.

I was playing around with this latest Internet craze...

The table saw is properly aligned, 45* jig completed, planer knives replaced and my band saw motor has been moved to insure better performance. Don't tell my wife about her cream bath towels...

I sit down, and shed all reason and logic, as I open my pamphlet entitled: “So you’ve decided to do away with all that filthy productivity and join the cult.” It’s not a good sign but I decide to keep reading. I flip open the hand folded tract and see what more information it has to impart to my longing soul. “You don’t have to live the repressed life of your narrow minded generation. Open your mind and breath easy. You have begun your first step towards a life without the domineering overlord of 3 phase wiring or mindless repacking of your wearing motor bearings. Can you imagine a world without concerns of blade drift or constant mechanical tuning? If yes, then I bid you welcome to the cult. Please remove your jeans and t-shirt and pick up a linen smock and a tasteful pair of dark breeches.” It turns out, that my new hobby has some rather bizarre fringe members. Like any other family, the woodworking clan has a number of relatives that most peo...

I sit down, and shed all reason and logic, as I open my pamphlet entitled: "So you've decided to do away with all that filthy productivity and join the cult." It's not a good sign but I decide to keep reading. I flip open the hand folded tract and see what more information it has to impart to my longing soul. "You don't have to live the repressed life of your narrow minded generation. Open your mind and breath easy. You have begun your first step towards a life without the domineering overlord of 3 phase wiring or mindless repacking of your wearing motor bearings. Can you imagine a world without concerns of blade drift or constant mechanical tuning? If yes, then I bid you welcome to the cult. Please remove your jeans and t-shirt and pick up a linen smock and a tasteful pair of dark breeches." It turns out, that my new hobby has some rather bizarre fringe members. Like any other family, the woodworking clan has a number of relatives that most peop...

You can spend all day in the shop working, and not produce anything. Sometimes these are your best days. Sharpen, sharpen sharpen. The woodworkers mantra. Never do woodworking angry, agitated or when you need to pee. Relax and take your time. Your projects and your fingers will thank you. Taking the time to learn more about best routers for table mounting is very helpful in the long run. If it doesn’t feel safe, it’s probably not. Everyone has a woodworking horror story, scars come with the territory. If you are even slightly squeamish, don’t start this conversation. Nothing hurts as bad as a nasty finish on a well build project. When in doubt, keep sanding. Rejects make great gifts. AKA no one else sees your flaws as well as you do. Tool lust comes with the hobby. Warn your pocketbook early. There will always be something else you need to have. There is always someone who can out spend you. Nothing beats the feeling of a well done project. Except maybe getting paid ...

You can spend all day in the shop working, and not produce anything. Sometimes these are your best days. Sharpen, sharpen sharpen. The woodworkers mantra. Never do woodworking angry, agitated or when you need to pee. Relax and take your time. Your projects and your fingers will thank you. If it doesn't feel safe, it's probably not. Everyone has a woodworking horror story, scars come with the territory. If you are even slightly squeamish, don't start this conversation. Nothing hurts as bad as a nasty finish on a well build project. When in doubt, keep sanding. Rejects make great gifts. AKA no one else sees your flaws as well as you do. Tool lust comes with the hobby. Warn your pocketbook early. There will always be something else you need to have. There is always someone who can out spend you. Nothing beats the feeling of a well done project. Except maybe getting paid to do it. AKA Your tool budget just increased. Pushing yourself is half the fun. The other half is the sawd...

Don't think I haven't noticed. I used to be your star, your favorite, your only love. But now...well you know. I've been pushed off to the side by that shiny young greeny. Now I hardly get used at all, unless it's to prep some project for you new special tool. Seriously, did you notice that nice clean end grain cut of mine before you hauled it over to the lathe and started slobbering all over it. Trust me the other tools have noticed. The router seems especially pissed off, I wouldn't change his collet anytime soon. It's no joke. There is some serious venom in the shop. It presence can be felt hovering just over the piles of walnut shavings on the floor in front of my lathe. The table saw is jealous. And with that sort of destructive power at her fingertips it's not the tool to piss off. Why couldn't it be something more benign? Why not the dovetail jig? What retaliation could it take anyway? "Watch out pal, or you'll have a 60lb jig bouncing of...

As I mentioned my current Lathe was free. As in, I didn't pay anything for it. As such anything that I get for its sale will be a profit. I'm hopefully selling it tonight. I have been saving. (Truth be told I got some side work and most of my 'savings' came from 4 hours of computer work) Regardless I'm still about $70 short of buying a new lathe. This is the one I've got my eye on.. For the price the is one of the most feature packed Mini Lathes. Lots of reviews have come out for this unit. Many claimed that when they were first released (2006) they are prone to trouble. Now you scarcely hear that. Considering that this will be my first new stationary tool purchase, I'm not too worried. All my power tools are prone to troubles. What's one more? For me, since I don't need the 30" between centers that my current lathe offers, smaller is better. In addition it boasts a 12" swing (9 1/2 over the tool rest) . My current is 9", or like 7...

Woodworking is, without a doubt, my favorite hobby now. I started out getting hooked on this hobby, from making a small, “bookshelf toy shelf living room space saver thing”. When I first completed it, I was like a new dad. “COME SEE MY BOOKCASE! See, how it’s square? See the shelf and how level it is!? Did you notice those nice clean butt joints?” About a week later someone said to me, “Welcome to the craft. Enjoy it. And after a while, you’ll look back at your first project with disgust.” “Oh, Okay. Thanks for the advice. I’m sure that applies to you, but I’m perfect. Sorry you didn’t get the memo.” “That’s absurd,” I thought. How could I ever see anything but perfection in this? Well… he’s was right. I’ve only been woodworking for about 9 months, and I find that that this ‘perfect’ bookshelf is an unrelenting thumb in my eye whenever I come home. Every time I l...

Woodworking is, without a doubt, my favorite hobby now. I started out getting hooked on this hobby, from making a small, "bookshelf toy shelf living room space saver thing". When I first completed it, I was like a new dad. "COME SEE MY BOOKCASE! See, how it's square? See the shelf and how level it is!? Did you notice those nice clean butt joints?" About a week later someone said to me, "Welcome to the craft. Enjoy it. And after a while, you'll look back at your first project with disgust." "Oh, Okay. Thanks for the advice. I'm sure that applies to you, but I'm perfect. Sorry you didn't get the memo." "That's absurd," I thought. How could I ever see anything but perfection in this? Well... he's was right. I've only been woodworking for about 9 months, and I find that that this 'perfect' bookshelf is an unrelenting thumb in my eye whenever I come home. Every time I look at it, I get ill. Its funny, ...

March 2008 Dear Diary, Today my wife asked me to build her something. A toy shelf out of wood. I haven't done anything like that since I was a kid, and back then it was impolite to say, "Wow? Did you make that? Kid...that looks like garbage." I'm not even sure where to start. I have a workbench, but I hadn't actually thought of using it for anything. I hope my tools don't get freaked out by actually having to cut things. "Work? What's up with that? I though we were just for show!" Dear Diary, The toy shelf turned out okay. The children don't know what it's for and keep sleeping on the shelf like a set of junior bunk beds. What if it falls apart? That would be embarrassing trip to the hospital. "So, Mr. Brown...not only did you maim your daughters with your poor woodworking skills, but as I can see from this chunk of wood protruding from your eldest child's arm...you also need to work on more uniform staining application." Ap...

There seems to be no shortages of people places or objects to bestow your esteem, regard, respect, approval or reverence. So how is it that I ended up here? Recently I find myself making sacrifices to a god that I didn't even know existed until a few moths back. This god is now the ruling force in my workshop, second to none with the power to change the outcome of even the smallest of event. That's right, the god of Oops. Somehow I have unknowingly allowed myself to be ensnared in the firm grip of this relativity low profile god. What many folks would dismiss as coincidence, I see as evidence to the ethereal hand of Oops. Oops is a very demanding god Oops demands regular sacrifices of nearly all of my projects. Sometimes, he only wants a small thing, like a striped screw head, or stray paint drip on an otherwise clean job. Other times my reverence is tested with something of a slightly larger scale. As I noted in an earlier post, Oops was apparently drowning in wistful mela...

There is something appealing about free. Free. Something for nothing. “You want it? It’s yours.” “What’s the cost?” “No cost. Nothing. It’s free. Just take it.” I should have known better. There is nothing quite as expensive as free. Two weekends ago I got a deal. A real honest to goodness bargain. As I was browsing through Craigslist looking for inexpensive power tools to feed my new addiction, I found this post: “Free Vintage Sears Lathe” Needless to say I mashed out a frantic email to aforementioned giver of free tools letting them know how much I wanted it. “I will come and pick it up TODAY. no questions asked.” Within three minutes of the ad appearing online, I had a phone call from the owner letting me know where to pick it up. For those not in “the know” a lathe has one purpose. To take a block of material, wood in this case, and spin it at near dangerous speeds. My lathe spins at four speed...

There is something appealing about free. Free. Something for nothing. "You want it? It's yours." "What's the cost?" "No cost. Nothing. It's free. Just take it." I should have known better. There is nothing quite as expensive as free. Two weekends ago I got a deal. A real honest to goodness bargain. As I was browsing through Craigslist looking for inexpensive power tools to feed my new addiction, I found this post: "Free Vintage Sears Lathe" Needless to say I mashed out a frantic email to aforementioned giver of free tools letting them know how much I wanted it. "I will come and pick it up TODAY. no questions asked." Within three minutes of the ad appearing online, I had a phone call from the owner letting me know where to pick it up. For those not in "the know" a lathe has one purpose. To take a block of material, wood in this case, and spin it at near dangerous speeds. My lathe spins at four speeds ranging from a...

There are few things as defeating as starting over. When you believe that you have completed a project, paper, blog or task to realized that something is not satisfactory. You sit there putting the finishing touches on it when it hits you like a ton of bricks. You begin to rationalize. It’s not that bad, I can fix it. No matter how hard you try, you know the truth of it cannot be escaped. Life is about to teach you a valuable lesson that you will shell out for in heaps of wasted time. Buckle up. So you just finished the most amazing wrapping job on Earth. Perfectly folded corners and the most delightful bow you’ve ever tied. I mean, honestly, when does curling ribbon ever curl that well? Only when curling ribbon knows what you don’t. It knows that you’ve been a total stooge and left the “HALF-OFF CLEARANCE” sticker smack dab in the center of Aunt Betsy’s gift. I recently found myself at the end of a woodworking project. It wasn’t anything ...

There are few things as defeating as starting over. When you believe that you have completed a project, paper, blog or task to realized that something is not satisfactory. You sit there putting the finishing touches on it when it hits you like a ton of bricks. You begin to rationalize. It's not that bad, I can fix it. No matter how hard you try, you know the truth of it cannot be escaped. Life is about to teach you a valuable lesson that you will shell out for in heaps of wasted time. Buckle up. So you just finished the most amazing wrapping job on Earth. Perfectly folded corners and the most delightful bow you've ever tied. I mean, honestly, when does curling ribbon ever curl that well? Only when curling ribbon knows what you don't. It knows that you've been a total stooge and left the "HALF-OFF CLEARANCE" sticker smack dab in the center of Aunt Betsy's gift. I recently found myself at the end of a woodworking project. It wasn't anything horribly invo...

It’s true. I’m a thief, a scoundrel, a scallywag. My victims are totally helpless, and I swoop in a take what I need. They cannot stop me. I’m not in the least bit repentant about it. In fact I’m proud of it. I say, “If your silly enough to pass on with nice stuff in your garage, it’s your own fault when your wife and son sell it to me for next to nothing!” My soul is absolutely filthy. I need help. I don’t remember the exact date, but sometime in September I found myself souring thorough Craigslist when I found a posting for a ’12” free standing band saw for $25′. It’s not important what a 12″ free standing band saw is, or what it does, just know this. That price was UNHEARD OF! So I did what I always do on Craigslist. I waited three days and then sent a email like, “Are you still trying to get rid of your old band saw?” This is a low tactic, but not too low for a jerk such as myself. $25 for a 12...