Monday, August 22, 2011

Found this and thought you might like it


Over at basicwoodworking2000.com, they have a great post about finding good wood projects to build. It's really interesting and I thought you'd get a kick out of it.

I know for me the biggest struggle is always finding a project that matches my skills and talents that isn't too advanced and still allows me to be creative. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Once you know the tricks, finding good wood projects for yourself is easy. It takes a little bit of practice, though, so the first thing to remember is to be patient with yourself. I know, it sucks to be patient, and people tell you to do it all the time, making it even MORE annoying. In order to help with that, I’m going to give you some guidelines to bear in mind while you get started. I’ll put you miles of ahead of where you started.

Start with what you know – If you’re just starting out with your very first woodworking project, you won’t know much about good wood projects, so start there. Is there anything that just makes you smile when you think of making it? How about something that would make a great gift for someone close to you? Remember, it doesn’t matter if you don’t like the outcome for it’s usability. It just has to be fun to make.

Good wood projects appeal to the creative side of the craftsman (that’s you). They should make you stretch your skills and feel like you’ve grown, even just a little. Most of all, they should make you feel good about yourself and your growing skill set.

Do you have a good set of plans to follow? Never just “wing” a project, because chances are it will fail and fail miserably. You should never make a single cut or drive a single nail until you have a clear, concise picture in your mind of what you want the end result to look like. Woodworking begins in the mind long before it begins in the shop.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sometimes when things get tough, I like to do a little family history work. Here are some fun articles about finding out about your genealogy. http://ping.fm/7mcdd