Archive for January 2016
I’ve been asked why I do woodworking. It’s a fair question: it’s hardly a common pursuit, and when you add to that the way Mrs M’s Handmade has embraced going to pop-up events and craft fairs, it’s very clear Velda & I have entered into a different subculture.
Very different.
And with the embrace of making handcrafted objets d’art, we cheerfully deprive ourselves of sleep. We have braved heat, cold and wet. It’s seldom easy: it’s work, in other words. Our “hobby” is real work.
We’ve both got real jobs. Interesting jobs. Rewarding jobs. But, both the Lady & I feel the need to scratch an itch in a different part of our brain with our free time.
After all, we could be doing more gardening (and if you could look at our drought-stricken Southern California yard, you would know we should be). We could be spending more time decorating our house (those popcorn ceilings have GOT to go. Someday. When I have time.). We could be watching TV.
We could be doing lots of things.
But, Velda enlisted Alley, and they choose to make small batch skin care products for those suffering from dry skin. Rough skin. Muscle aches. Chapped lips. Whatever. This year, Velda’s already spent many hours researching how to make better soap, and doing it. And when we figure it out with MrsMowry, all of those Mrs M products will be in a brand new booth display & coming soon to a craft fair … and website … near you. Promise.
I choose to make things that interest me, and I make them out of wood. But why am I creating cutting boards, serving pieces, toys and other things in the garage woodshop, and then offering them to people?
Here’s why. I get to hear fabulous stories about how I have helped create wonderful memories.
Here’s today’s story from my long-time friend, the anonymous Grandmother:
When the Grandkids arrived for our Christmas celebration they discovered that we had “re-stocked” the toys and books in our sun room that is their “playroom.” The blocks were a HIT! This young lady spent a good deal of time enjoying them. I saw, but did not get there in time with the camera, the 5 kids making a TALL tower, and then filling the room with laughter as it came toppling down.
So, for me, the question is not why. It’s who wouldn’t, when you get to have a hand in creating a picture like this?
Building Blocks.
This is Sparky, one tough bison at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. In summer 2013, Sparky was struck by lightning on his shoulder hump. Not expected to survive at first, Sparky has thrived since his recovery. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/8/16.
Can you imagine being struck by lightning? Sparky, a bison at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa knows exactly what it’s like! Sparky was struck in 2013, and is doing surprisingly well. We recently checked in with Wildlife Biologist Karen Viste-Sparkman to learn more about Sparky’s amazing story.
Sparky joined the herd at Neal Smith in 2006 after being transferred from the National Bison Range in Montana. As you may have guessed, Sparky earned his name after the lightning strike and is the only bison that has been struck at the refuge – although it does occasionally happen across the country.
Karen does regular checks on the bison to watch for signs of illness and check body condition. During a survey in late July 2013, she noticed a bull standing by himself. When she took a closer look through her binoculars, she noticed that Sparky looked bloody. This wasn’t entirely surprising because bison bulls will often fight during the mating season and July tends to be a prime time for injuries. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Sparky had been burned over a large area. His hump was missing hair and there was a large lump on his hind leg, which must have been the exit wound, meaning Sparky was laying down at the time of the strike.
Sparky was thin after the strike and wasn’t expected to live long. Since a lightning strike is something that could easily occur in wild bison anywhere, the refuge let nature take its course. There are no natural predators in the bison area, so injured bison are monitored regularly and euthanized if they’re unable to eat or walk. Sparky was standing when his injuries were discovered, which was a promising sign. Karen kept checking on Sparky and was able to watch his wounds slowly heal. With a limp, Sparky kept walking.
At 11 years old and about 1,600 pounds, Sparky is a bit thinner than the rest of the bison, but he still stands strong. Before being struck, Sparky fathered three calves. Genetic testing will tell us if he successfully reproduced after the strike, but we’re hoping that he does because he’s one tough bison!
If you ever find yourself near Des Moines, stop by Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and see if you can spot Sparky. He tends to spend his time just like other bulls – hanging out in small groups or enjoying some quiet time alone.
— Courtney Celley, Public Affairs Specialist, Midwest Region, US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado boasts the tallest dunes in North America. Spreading across 30 square miles, this ocean of sand glows under a winter coat of snow. Cleveland Peak catches the moonlight too, creating this gorgeous winter shot. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/8/16.
Wrangell-St Elias National Park under the aurora borealis and the moon. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/5/16.
Rocky Mountain National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/4/16.
Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Wyoming is an important habitat for more than 250 species of resident and migratory wildlife. The area was used by nomadic Indian tribes, fur trappers and early pioneers. It is rich in history and natural beauty, as you can see from this stunning winter scene. Photo by Tom Koerner, US Fish & Wildlife Service. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/6/16.
With no roads or trails, Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve is a vast wilderness. From November to March, most activity ceases, while -10ºF to -40ºF temperatures persist. The dry interior climate doesn’t see much snow, but what little amount falls stays to cover land in ice and silence. It is a stunning, but harsh landscape. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/7/16.
I’ve had an incredible year in the shop. In fact, I’ve had too much of a year in the shop, so I have taken a couple of days off before I re-engage, finish the few projects remaining from 2015, and fully focus my attention on making 2016 bigger and better.
During my time off, I’ve had a chance to think about what I do, and what I’ve learned as I’ve made my hobby self-sustaining. (It’s not profitable yet, but I am at least paying my expenses!)
From every perspective, 2015 was a very, very good year. Here are 13 things I’ve learned:
1. Spreading glue is something I do a lot of … and I thought I was getting smart when I switched from traditional brushes to a silicon brush. After wearing out my forearms brushing for a couple of years, I switched to a rubber roller to spread glue … and it is SO much better. More even. Quicker. Easier. I’ve still got the silicon brush for unusual projects, but my 2″ roller is now my “go to” for glue spreading.
2. There are 3 ways to increase profits: increase volume, increase prices, and decrease expenses. Eventually, you have to do all 3 to be successful. This is simple … but not so easy when it’s just you selling stuff and it’s comfortable to change nothing. Not so easy when you’re selling to strangers, family and friends, from a different location every week. After a lifetime of selling everything from accordion lessons to signs on roller coasters to advertising to custom software, who knew I could sell retail?
3. Buying wood is essential to what I do, and I continue to develop new sources for good wood. In 2015, I used 18 different species of wood. I mainly buy from 4 lumber yards spread around LA, but I’ve bought from 3 others. I’ve ordered over the ‘net from one supplier, and called another directly, to order 3 specific species I can’t source locally. I have also bought wood from guys advertising stuff out of their garage. I have worked with local sawyers with portable mills. When you need a volume of wood at a reasonable price, you’ve got to work at it. Oh, and then you need to understand the cost of the wood you have on hand, so that when you use it, you charge a reasonable price for the end result of all of this shopping for wood. New species used in 2015:
- Bloodwood
- Caribbean Rosewood
- Mahogany
4. There’s nothing like a good tool to make the work go faster and the end result better. I had resisted buying expensive sanders for years … even as I read the reviews telling me that Festool random orbital sanders (ROSs), and the companion “dust extractor” shop vacs were the best. With the constant, uh, observations from Mrs M that I was leaving dust everywhere when I went in the house, I finally decided that getting rid of my old ROSs and replacing them with the Festool sanders that everyone said were the best was the only way to solve the problem. The tools are not cheap, and the HEPA filter shop vac Dust Extractor was also not cheap … but when used in combination, oh my. What took me so long to fix the problem? If you use an ROS a lot, and you are creating too much uncontained dust, you need to buy Festool. Just do it quicker than I did.
5. I talk about dirty jobs like I’m a Mike Rowe wanna-be (which I am, but I digress). Dust collection is essential in a woodshop, and I definitely reached a point of no return last year: fix the problem, or fill our house & my lungs with dust. I’m happy to report that after using one underpowered dust collection system for many years, I did retire it (well, it quit). I then bought a cheap, used but comparable system as a temporary solution. Finally, I bought a very good system in December that was installed in January. I have now fixed my dust collection problem. It took a lot of research, some expert help, and several nickels, but I got there.
6. You have to see it to work it. Shops are dark until they are properly lit. With the change in the dust collection system, I moved one flourescent strip that will improve light on my tool line, and I’ve added a magnetic-based flex light as well. I need to install one more focused light over the table saw, and then I’ll be able to see everything everywhere while I work, whether the garage woodshop door is open or not, whether it’s daylight or not. And that will be a vast improvement over the way it’s been.
7. In SoCal, most people use garages for things other than storing cars. Our garage hasn’t seen a car for a long time … but it has seen Webelos meetings. Backpack storage. It’s been a way station for the kids’ stuff when they moved. To optimize the space for the woodshop, I’ve had to (shudder) move stuff out of the way, and put long term storage items, or things used once a year, on the top shelf in order to clear space for the stuff I’m using regularly. Sounds simple … but if you keep not using things in the middle of the wall, or right under the workbench, then it’s time to move stuff. Which is now done.
8. Get small. Use cut offs. Part of my great stride in efficiency in 2015 was to standardize many of my approaches: I made most cutting boards using 24″ lengths, for example. That works great, but it does generate a significant amount of odd and ends that are cut off from the longer boards. Further, some 24″ lengths are found to have defects in the middle or the ends resulting in 18″ boards. Or 16″ boards. All of those shorter lengths must be used, or that crash you hear will be another wood cascade getting the better of me. In 2016, I’m going to use up all of my cut offs. Well, maybe not all. But I will use enough that small wooden end pieces under 24″ in length are no longer stored in every nook and cranny I can create or imagine.
9. It’s a big world out there. Think differently. If you only make designs that you like, or would want in your home, then you’ll miss a whole lot of people that want different things (People want different things. Who knew?). In 2014, I learned that people wanted cutting boards for their RVs, so I started making smaller cutting boards. This year, I learned that there’s a world of sizes, shapes & colors out there, and I need to explore them in order to help the most people. The reason I display 80 boards in my booth is that no matter what I do, people are always looking for something different! So … on a good day, I have 20 more boards under the table that may be what they’re looking for.
10. Study your craft. There’s a world of information available if you just look for it. People that only do what they know limit their potential. Do new things. As Morpheus taught us in The Matrix, you need to expand your mind.
11. I’m making several different things now, but people are always asking for different things (cribbage boards I have talked about, but I’ve also been asked to do bar stools, kitchen tables, picnic tables, chair refinishing, bar tops, a “Go” game board, backgammon boards, and more). I’m capable of doing what I’ll call oddball or one-off projects … but I shouldn’t do them. They are a giant time suck for me, and when I do take on a one-off, I seem to never charge enough. Sometimes, I need to be less helpful.
12. When you sell gifts, you’re going to be asked to do custom orders and then ship them. You need to know what shipping costs are up front, and make sure you charge them to people when they order their gifts. Sounds simple, I know, but until you’ve done it, you haven’t done it. Make sure that your sales forms are designed with shipping costs and deadlines prominently displayed, so that you won’t skip over those pesky little details when you’re accepting a custom order.
13. Throw things away. Woodworkers are by their nature packrats … I’ve saved some pieces of wood for years until I find “just the right thing” to make with it. That’s fine … but if the board has a knot, or a crack, or some other defect that means that it can’t be used for food-ready pieces, then get rid of the board now. You don’t have room to store things you can’t use.
I am surprised at how many ideas I have developed for sale in the last year. Here’s a sampling of the new ideas first seen from Mr M’s Woodshop in 2015:
- Engraved Boards
- Bread Boards
- Sous Chef Boards
- Juice Grooves
- Pig Cutting Boards
- Surfboards
- Chess Boards
- Bear Cheese Boards
- Building Blocks
- Magic Bottle Opener
- Clipboards
- Pizza Server
- Recipe Boards
Bread Board 15 – 07. Hard Maple and Purpleheart. 5″ x 15″ x 3/4″.
Sous Chef # 15 – 56. Black Walnut, Yellowheart, Jatoba & Hard Maple. 9″ x 16″ x 3/4″.
Sous Chef # 15 – 47. Purpleheart, Cherry & Jarrah. 10″ x 22″ x 3/4″.
Pig # 15 – 11. Yellowheart, Hard Maple and Black Walnut. 19″ x 12″ x 1-1/8″.
Cutting Board # 15 – 049. Jatoba, Honey Locust & Hard Maple. End Grain, Juice Groove. 16″ x 20″ x 1-1/2″. Pre-sold from the shop.
Medium Surfboard 15 – 05. Hard Maple, Cherry & Black Walnut.
37 Building Blocks. Hard Maple. 1-3/4″ x 1-3/4″ x 1-3/4″.
Pizza Server # 15 – 05. Cherry, Hard Maple & Black Walnut. 17″ x 3/4″ with 7″ handle.
Bear # 15 – 03. Black Walnut. Edge Grain. 10″ x 20″ x 3/4″.
Recipe Board 15 – 01. Hard Maple. 8″ x 12″ x 3/4″.
Bottle Opener 15 – 02. Black Walnut, Padauk, Cherry, Jarrah & Jatoba. 5″ x 10″ x 3/4″. Magic Bottle Opener.
I try and post a picture of every board I make … and I almost forgot these, which were finished at the very end of 2015. All were commissioned pieces, but I did make some extras of the magic bottle openers.
The bottle openers magically catch the cap from the bottle after it’s opened. Several caps will be held by the opener. And it’s magic. That’s all I’m saying. Each opener comes with mounting screws for either drywall or solid wooden surface mounting.
Cutting Board 15 – 094. Jatoba, Black Walnut, Yellowheart, Jarrah, & Jatoba. 13″ x 19″ x 1-1/2″. Commissioned piece; replacement board fitted in a counter top.
Cutting Board 15 – 093. Hard Maple. 15″ x 18″ x 3/4″. Commissioned piece. Replacement pull-out in-counter board with bread board ends.
Bottle Opener 15 – 02. Black Walnut, Padauk, Cherry, Jarrah & Jatoba. 5″ x 10″ x 3/4″. Magic Bottle Opener.
Bottle Opener 15 – 03. Black Walnut, Yellowheart & Hard Maple. 5″ x 10″ x 3/4″. Magic Bottle Opener.
Cutting Board 15 – 098. Purpleheart, Hard Maple & Jarrah. End Grain with Juice Groove. Monster board at 17″ x 28″ x 1-1/2″. Commissioned piece.
Sunset sparkles off ice and water at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Not far from Boston, Massachusetts, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge covers 4700 acres of salt marsh, shrub land and sandy beach. There are over 300 species of resident and migratory birds to watch, as well as a large variety of mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Photo by Sylvia Zarco. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/4/16.
Over thousands of years, Lake Superior carved out caves in the sandstone cliffs of the Wisconsin lakeshore. Today, when conditions are right, you can hike out across the solid water (ice) and see these remarkable formations clad in snow and ice at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Photo of “The Keyhole” by Michael DeWitt. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 12/29/15.
In the shadow of Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park, Nevada, 5,000-year-old bristlecone pine trees grow on rocky glacial moraines. The area boasts some of the darkest night skies left in the United States, making for some great stargazing. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 12/30/15.
Low fog through Yosemite Valley and bright stars created this amazing moment at Yosemite National Park in California. Toby Harriman snapped this photo from the park’s Tunnel View. His favorite part of the photo: The climber’s headlamp that is visible mid way up El Capitan on the left. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/2/16.
Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West. It preserves towering monoliths within a vast plateau and canyon panorama. Magnificent views from highland trails and the Rim Rock Drive stretch from the colorful sheer-walled canyons and fascinating rock sculptures to the distant Colorado River valley. You might even see a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Photo by Amy Hudechek. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/3/16.
Sunrise over Canyonlands National Park. Photo by Vivek Vijaykumar. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/3/16.
I’m yet to cut a board in my shop with the newly installed dust collector; don’t be misled. I’m on vacation from the shop. Well, sort of.
These boards were constructed & sanded in 2015, but they were oiled & waxed in 2016.
Six of these boards were commissioned pieces which will be shipped to their new homes in the next few days. The rest will have to wait to find their new home!
Random thoughts:
- I’ve lost my source for Honey Locust, so you won’t be seeing much of that wood in my new creations. I hope to find another source; I really like Honey Locust’s orange tint.
- This Goncalo Alves will darken with age, and I really love that wood. I should use it more, but I stopped because I couldn’t find an affordable source … but that species, I have got a better source now. The cutting boards I made for the 2 Mrs M’s are both primarily Goncalo. Hmmmm.
- These boards were made in winter … is that why they’re all dark?
- Bloodwood is my new favorite. Fantastic, colorful figure in this wood, and it pairs very nicely the other woods here with a distinctly reddish color: Purpleheart and Jarrah. Cherry and Jatoba are very complementary as well.
One other note about the Woodshop: at the end of 2014, I only had 19 boards in inventory. With these boards (minus the commissioned pieces), my inventory is now 108 boards! I’m still sold out of a few items (no clipboards, no surfboards, and no pigs!), but I’ve got a pretty broad inventory to start the new year … and several weeks to prepare for our first event in February.
Meanwhile, here are the first boards of the new year!
Cutting Board 16 – Edge 003. Goncalo Alves, Jatoba, Black Walnut, Cherry. Edge Grain. 17″ x 21″ x 1-1/2″. Commissioned piece.
Cutting Board 16 – Edge 002. Goncalo Alves, Black Walnut, Honey Locust, Cherry & Jarrah. Edge Grain. 17″ x 21″ x 1-1/2″.
Small Board 16 – 001. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 5″ – 7″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 16 – Edge 005. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Small Board 16 – 003. Black Walnut, Cherry, Jatoba, Hard Maple. 7″ x 13″ x 1-1/4″.
Cheese Board 16 – 004. Purpleheart & Birds Eye Maple. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 16 – 001. Black Walnut, Purpleheart, Jarrah, Jatoba, Cherry & Hard Maple. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Small Board 16 – 002. Black Walnut, Cherry, Jatoba, Hard Maple, Bloodwood & Jarrah. 7″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 16 – Edge 004. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Cheese Board 16 – 002. Jatoba, Black Walnut, Jarrah, Cherry, Purpleheart & Hard Maple. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Small Board 16 – 004. Purpleheart, Jatoba, Padauk, Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple & Jarrah. 7″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Cheese Board 16 – 003. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cutting Board 16 – Edge 007. Purpleheart, Jatoba, Black Walnut, Bloodwood, Cherry & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 16 – Edge 006. Black Walnut, Cherry, Jatoba. Edge Grain. 13″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 16 – Edge 001. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple, Jatoba, Bloodwood. Edge Grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
A full day of fun. The task was to install The Oneida Air System’s V-3000 Dust Collection System, and I drafted the Building Inspector and the Engineer to help out. Thank goodness.
We started at 8:15a with breakfast burritos. Work began at 9a, and we finally quit at 6p with a functional system that will only need a few tweaks to be complete.
Here’s how the day looked.
Tools gone mobile: in the driveway and out of the way.
Some packaging was more challenging than others … in this case, a foam pack that was created inside the box, making for an impossible to unpack foam cube.
V3000, in pieces.
Ductwork joints, in pieces.
Ductwork, in pieces.
Assembly begins.
We soon outgrew the workbench.
The stand comes together.
Weather stripping made for air tight seals between each component of the cyclone.
We only had to take things apart twice.
More & more parts & tools.
Lumber had to move so the building inspector could become one with the lumber rack.
The magic panel.
Assembly almost complete.
The building inspector, becoming one with the ductwork.
Lots of galvanized pipe going into the air.
Every galvanized joint was caulked, screwed & taped.
Working above the lights.
Cutting with fire: a manly pursuit.
Assembly on the floor was preferred to assembly in the air.
Installing The Oneida V3000 Dust Collection System
A found tool.
The end of the rigid run for the all-important table saw ductwork.
As the day wore on, it didn’t get any easier to work at odd angles.
Balance is important.
Oneida’s V-3000 Dust Collection System.
If you’ve followed my adventures in sawdust, you know the dirtiest job in the shop is changing the bag in the dust collector.
No more.
I spent New Year’s Day reaching a new level of dirt. I uninstalled my dust collector, including the pipes, connectors and hoses that had been in the air for 10 years. And they were covered in dust.
And that’s not to mention that to actually get to all of the pipes, I had to move every tool in the shop out into the driveway. It looked like a really interesting garage sale … but it was not a clean one.
Then I had to move the sawdust out of the garage. I swept. I stepped up and blew it with my air compressor. That’s when I realized that to really to the job, I needed more power.
More. Power.
225 MPH. 450 CFM. I unleashed the dogs of war on my dirt problem … with my leaf blower. Then I swept. And then I did it again. Then I swept. And then I did it again. Get the picture?
Why am I so focused on cleaning out the garage woodshop? My Mrs M finally had enough of my imitation of Pigpen whenever I went into the house, so she approved my purchase of an upgraded dust collection system. I’m going from a 110v, horse-and-a-half hobbyist unit to a 3 horse, 250v unit that’s requiring a crew of 3 tomorrow just to install it.
We’re getting serious about cleaning my air. The dust collector has a HEPA rated filter, just as my new random orbital sanders do.
So, the woodshop is as clean as it gets. 8 boxes of dust collector and 8 boxes and a Jeep load of ducting and hoses (hosiery?) are awaiting the skilled ministrations of the building inspector, the engineer, and your humble scribe. Tomorrow promises to be a great day; I’ve been planning for this day for months!
50 gallon bag of dust, out of the shop.
The big dust collector sits unused when I go to finish sanding.
