Things are getting serious now

I am just getting over a bit of a head cold right now - likely picked up on my flight home from San Francisco.

In anticipation of a speedy recovery though - I have been preparing the living room for some major work. As I mentioned in a previous post - the first piece of the baseboard trim is up. That experience (or “inexperience”) taught me many things.... you need the right tools at your disposal in order to work efficiently. I know this is painfully obvious, but knowing it and doing it are sometimes very different.

Jill and I have been home renovators from the day we purchased our first home.

our first home

Before Riley and Lucas arrived, it was not uncommon for us to be up until midnight tearing out walls, wiring, dry-walling or painting. The kitchen island doubled as a workbench and it was customary to have spaghetti sauce splatters on the drill.

Not much has changed since then... the kitchen island was perfect for shooting the miters for the border of the floor. Jill worked away on preparing dinner - and I worked away at shooting miters. I am sure we all consumed a few white oak shavings those nights.

It has been a constant battle to find a balance between how much of the “work” should be done in the shop vs on site in the house. I still struggle with it. The upstairs sun room just about killed me - I must have walked at least 10k back and forth fitting parts and carrying in pieces. It was horrible. And that is what prompted the Festool madness - super high quality tools that are compact, portable and dust free. I swore I would not repeat the experience in the sun room in the living room. The framing went very well, but most of that is chopsaw work. The flooring went very well - other than the miters on the kitchen island. But the trim... that first course of the baseboards felt like the sun room again. I had the chopsaw in, the Festool MFT (which is awesome BTW) and most of the other Festool stuff. What was missing was a bench. I was still having to run back and forth to make critical cuts for the coped inside corners. At one point I was clamping some of the shorter pieces onto the hearth framing muttering “this sucks!” under my breath as I was trying to make accurate cuts.

So the bench is in for the long haul and hopefully this will make all the difference.

PS - there are still 2 benches in the shop - so I am able to work in there too.

Barely a hint.

OK. This “mystery plane” I am working on. This is obscure... but I really do not want to let the cat out on this one. I promise to post about it shortly.

What a trip!

Firstly - let me apologize for the delay in posting... I have been very busy in the shop these last several weeks, working on a very challenging and unique plane. I will post pictures once it has been delivered. In the meantime - here are a few shots of a recently completed A5ss infilled with Rosewood.








I have also started working on the quarter-sawn White Oak trim in the living room. The first piece of the 4 piece baseboard has been installed. It was a bit of a challenge because the floor is not level. We used a laser level to mark “level” around the perimeter of the room and used this to locate the baseboard. With the first piece installed - the rest should go smoothly (famous last words I know). The terrazzo hearth was installed yesterday and Jill tells me it is sensational. I cannot wait to see it!

Oh, I am in San Francisco right now. I am leaving for the airport in a few hours and thought I should write something while it is all fresh in my mind.

What a trip it has been. Every single day has been spent with great people - some old friends and some new ones. Ron Hock and Linda were the first on the adventure list. They were attending the LN show in LA and decided to stay in the Bay area between that show and the one at the Crucible. Ron was waiting for me in the baggage claim area, and I have to say - seeing him there was a wonderful sight. Thanks again Ron. Ron had suggested that we go to the De Young and see Tut. I have to say - this exhibit blew me away!

There was one small statue that really did it for all of us. It was one of the earlier pieces in the show, but it stuck with all of us. It was a 12" figure of a woman (sorry - I cannot remember her name) carved out of wood. She had the most extraordinary carved braids but the real zinger was her dress. The carved fabric was so well done that you could see every single curve of her legs. It was exquisite. The artist managed to make it look sheer and even had a slight indent for her belly-button. She was a very striking figure.

The overall quality of the craftsmanship was incredible. The lips on the figures were amazing as were the proportions and overall qualities of the lines. I always enjoy seeing what the best looks like - I have a new definition of where the bar is.

There was also an Amish quilt exhibit that none of us knew about. The quilts were amazing and very modern. It was shocking to read the cards to realize many of them were made before 1930. It was also interesting to note the differences between Amish quilts and Mennonite quilts.

We attended the LN hand tool show at the Crucible on Friday and Saturday. The show was great and I enjoyed catching up with old friends and making many new ones. These traveling shows that LN is hosting are quite amazing and are a fantastic resource for hand tool users. Thanks to Thomas and the rest of the LN crew for continuing to do them.

I have been spending these last few days with another good friend. We took a drive up the coast to see the amazing California coast line. We had a wonderful lunch at a sea-side spot that was packed despite the fact it was in the middle of nowhere. Of all the places I have visited over the years, California could very easily be called “home”. I love everything about it. The people are wonderful, the climate is amazing (especially when there is a foot of snow at home), and the woodworking community is second to none. And the food... wow! The quality of the ingredients is unbelievable.

I had better sign off now and finish packing up. I promise to post more often from now on.