HOW MANY TOOLS DOES IT TAKE ??

This is the second of two woodworking blogs. I started on this last fall and am just now getting around to the finishing touches. Shame on me.

HOW MANY TOOLS DOES IT TAKE TO BUILD KITCHEN CABINETS ?

I love doing home improvement projects.

Shortly after Penny and I were married in 1990, we bought a 100 year old house in the Downtown Ocala Historic District and together we did a complete renovation.

But my favorite thing in the whole wide world is wood working. Especially furniture making.

Over the years I have made a few nice things.

 

 

My favorite project was the kitchen cabinets I made some twenty years ago. At the time

we couldn't afford fancy wood so I used 2 x4's that I cut to size. They looked great and aged beautifully. The only problem was they were a 'pain in the butt' for Penny to keep clean. So she wanted me to 're-face' the cabinets

Penny has always wanted something plainer and simpler. Since she has been playing around with some painted furniture projects, we (IE: Penny) decided the time was right for a re-design of the kitchen cabinets. Twenty years of Penny's great cooking had taken its toll.

 

We had just finished a large bookcase in the dining room and Penny painted the shelves and they turned out great.

 

She also repainted an old Amour that she found at Goodwill, and once I added some drawers and a new back, it was 'beautiful'. (Her words, not mine).

So I put aside my dislike for anything painted (and my pride) and told her to 'knock herself out' with the painting.

As I started to gather my tools, I got to thinking, "How many tools does it take to build kitchen cabinets?"

So I made a list. (not necessarily in order of appearance)

THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL

COFFEE (I'm an early riser – I am usually up and 'at em' by 4 AM)

Rock & Roll from my home recording studio. (50's and 60's only, please) OK, maybe some 70's too)

Cold beer (for later)

Band Aids (I am a Klutz- I tend to 'sand' my hands

as well as the wood, not to mention 'nailing' a finger or two.

'Tim the Tool Man' has nothing on me !!

Patience (If you know where I can get some, please let me know)

Framed picture of Norm Abram on the 

work shop wall (just kidding)

TV in the Workshop, so we can continue to watch the Gator football season self destruct. Again.

Now for the TOOLS

Safety glasses (remember what Norm always says)

'Be sure to read, understand and follow all of the safety rules that come with your power tools. Knowing how to use your power tools properly will greatly reduce the risk of personal injury. And remember this. There is no more important safety rule than to wear these. (this is where I point to my face) Safety glasses. Now here's how I built today’s project.'

Today’s project? Seriously ?? Damn it Norm, this 'project' took me two months to complete !!

I've made many of Norm's projects over the years. How in the hell does he do it in thirty minutes? I guess that's a subject for a later date.

Now for the tools !!

Table saw

Jointer

Band Saw

12 inch surface planer

Jig Saw

Drill Press

Dremel Tool

Two Routers (saves on set up time)

Shaper, (Like a router, but on steroids)

Air Compressor and accessories.

Enough air hose to reach from the shop to the Kitchen (My compressor is bolted to the floor and looks like it came out of the local gas station. (I think I just 'dated' myself) Penny says I have enough air hose to reach Toledo. But I don't know anyone in Toledo.

Three different nail guns (you can never have too many 'pee numatic' tools)but watch those fingers!!!

Bench top sander

Two Random Orbital Sanders

Belt sander and lots of sand paper

Shop vac

Reading glasses for close up inspections

Cordless screw driver

Jack Hammer (Just seeing if you were Paying attention)

Cordless drill

Powered drill

Bench top grinder

Bench top buffer/wire wheel (to clean and polish hinges)

Biscuit joiner

14 bar clamps

KRAIG Pocket Hole Gig and special screws (man's greatest invention)

Assorted Hand Tools

Spring clamps

Putty Knife

Box knife

screwdrivers

chisels

crow bar

crescent wrenches

hammers

Level

Square

12 foot steel rule

6 foot steel rule

and finally

25 Sharpened Pencils (I keep losing the damn things).

So I set about to make new fronts for Penny's kitchen cabinets.I won't go into detail about the actual construction but I did take a few pictures along the way

I also learned it was also an exercise to see how DIRTY you can make the shop.

  The project was ton of work but Penny is happy with the final results and that is good enough for me.

 

So, your assignment this week is to go build something. Even if you go buy a bird house kit. Do something creative with your hands

Oh, I almost forgot the most important tool of all. It's nice to have an air conditioned workshop. After all this is Florida !!

Have a great week

HAVE WE REACHED THE UTIMATE IN 'ON LINE' SHOPPING

      As my wife signed out of her AMAZON account, I had to ask myself. 
'Have we reached the ultimate in 'on line' shopping?'

      It was another nice weekend here in sunny Florida. Penny and I have been busy each weekend with a number of projects around the house. But with all the cleaning, painting and window repair, I got the urge to build something.

      I like building furniture, and every once in a while I like to get away from the home improvement projects and wrap myself around a good furniture project.

      So I decided to finally build the maple coffee and end table that Penny has been asking for. I wanted to use Maple to match the Aquarium stands and bookcases I made a few years ago.

      She never cared for the original design and wanted something with two shelves and without the glass top.

      So I went to the drawing board and came up with something she could 'live with.'

      My new design has similar legs but a solid maple top. And to make Penny happy, a lower shelf. Not wanting to waste a lot of good hard maple, I decided to use maple veneered plywood.

      So where in Central Florida do you find hardwood plywood? Yes the box stores carry oak and birch, so I turned to my best friend. Mr Google.

      As I searched for 'Maple Plywood', I quickly discovered that Lowes  
carried it. YEAH !! But wait, the small print says 'not available in your area.'

      Next up was 'Home Dept'. Yes they had it, so off to Home Dept we went. They had no idea what I was talking about.

      "Use Birch" they told me. Obviously they knew nothing about woodworking and/or furniture making. (Although the service I received was excellent. Far superior than the other place. They immediately looked it up on their computer, but found that it was discontinued.) They even gave me some suggestions on where I might get it locally. What great service.

      Birch and Maple are similar, so close in color and grain that I might get away with using it. But I am not taking the chance. 

      Unfortunately, their suggestions did not pan out, so I kept searching. I found another local possibility but they are closed on weekends. And weekends are the only days I have to shop.

      I was not going to wait until my next weekday off, so out to the shop I went, dejection written all over my face.

      When I came back into the house for another mug of coffee, Penny was sitting at the kitchen table, Ipad open and a huge grin on her face. 

     "You want me to order it from AMAZON?" she asked.

      "Amazon?" I quickly replied. "You can buy plywood from Amazon?" 

     "Dear, you can buy anything from Amazon. If they don't sell it, you don't need it." 

      And I thought I was the computer genius in the family.

      I don't feel guilty by not shopping locally. If you don't have it at an hour that fits my schedule, I will buy it online. 

      I get up early on Saturdays. This weekend was no exception as my eyes popped open at 3:30. It's my favorite time of the day. If I need to run an errand, I do it early. I can be at Wal Mart at 6:30 and then get to Lowes or Home Depot by 7. Usually I am back in the shop by 7:30, done running around for the weekend. 

      So sometime this week a 4 foot by 8 foot box will arrive on our doorstep with a piece of Maple Plywood for my project.

      If you need me this weekend, I'll be out in the shop making saw dust.

      I'll let you know how it turns out.

     Have a great week.