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Progress not Perfection

September 18, 2020

Using a trick I’ve learned recently to make sure all the gaps are the same size is using playing cards. They each have exactly the same thickness, so stacking them up to achieve the desired gap is an easy way to align drawer fronts or cabinet drawers.

All ICWW projects begin with raw lumber that is milled to exact specifications but is left over sized while the project is being assembled. Once all the parts for a table top are glued together they are cut to the final length at one time. This ensures a straight and even edge on both ends. 

Sometimes with larger projects like these 9’ outdoor dining tables I have to get creative on how I finish them. Using ratchet straps attached to the rafters of the shop allowed me to work on both table tops simultaneously. 

A workshop filled with lots of tools and a table saw
September 28, 2020
Here’s a little of what’s been going on in the shop. It has been a busy few weeks with lots of projects. Here are just a few highlights. Custom built in for an apartment. Trying to help with the sneaker storage. The third THIRD! donation desk is ready to get dropped off Friday. I love this little program. I really hope it takes off. I need to make an easier plan, because I hate making the desk at this point, but I love the end result. We’ll see what I come up with. Keep spreading the word. Every project sold is a donation desk. Next I made a shadow box for a friend to display his art work. He told me to use whatever I had on hand. I was going to use some old deck cedar, but since this may be on display to the public I milled up some beautiful Sapele and I think it came out awesome. This was my first time working with homasote and I hope its my last. Homasote is so messy. The dust is so light that it just flies around the shop. All this time I have been making way for and getting ready for my next huge, I mean HUGE project. A 9’ by 5’ dining table. I had to move tools around, order tool upgrades, and even bought my very first jointer. I can’t wait for it to get here! I’ll post about that when it arrives. I have been practicing with all my hand tools on my new microJig Moxon Vice. I love this setup, so easy to put up and take down. Clamps boards in any direction. Just great. I still reflect on how far this shop and I have come in the past 2 years. This shop used to be something very different and now it is such a huge part of my life for all the right things. All of this wouldn’t be possible if I wasn’t grateful everyday. “Be grateful for what you have and don’t worry about what you don’t have.”
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