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.

IS NOW THE TIME FOR ME TO HIDE?

    As I was watching the boob tube last night, (that's what us old farts call it) I marveled at the number of commercials encouraging people to leave their nice comfortable homes, brave the huge crowds and go shopping the day after Thanksgiving.
 
    'You can save, save, save,' they all screamed at me.
 
    As I sat there in my easy chair, I thought to myself , 'Is now the time for me to hide?'

    I am not a shopper. I have been known to buy a car in less than twenty minutes. 

      When I bought my Toyota Tacoma eleven years ago, I remember looking at the sales girl who came out on the lot to greet me.
 
    "I'll take that one" I said, pointing to a cream colored small pick up truck.
 
    She stood there for a brief moment, not knowing what to say.   
 
    She told me later that it was the easiest car sale of her short carrier. 
    
    I work in sales, and nothing aggravates me more than when a customer says, "Can you do any better on the price?" I want to say "What do you think this is, a flea market?" But I don't. It would not be politically correct.

    I have a friend that spent two hours running around town looking for a bargain on a box of screws."
 
    "Dude," I said. "There's a hurricane coming and you're trying to save twenty cents?" Not to mention the gas he used driving all over hell's half acre.
 
    Needles to say, I am a man of few words and very little patience. So when someone says, "do you have a coupon?" or "are you a member of our buyers club?" I just stare and shake my head. 

      I smile politely and say, "No thank you. I don't need another password to forget."      
 
    Don't get me wrong. I am not above a good bargain. If my wife finds a fifty dollar shirt at a garage sale for three dollars, I will wear it. I'm not that damn proud.
 
    Besides, if you are offering me this great deal only one day a year, why am I shopping at your establishment the rest of the year?
 
    I am also a hypocrite. I humor my friend when we go to dinner by using a coupon. It makes me feel like one of the crowd. Fortunately, he'll never know. He doesn't read blogs, as he's too busy shopping.
 
    So,if you want to spend "Black Friday" out in that mess, go right ahead. Fight the crowds and the lack of parking spaces. Sit in that turn lane waiting and waiting to turn into the Mall. Who knows, you might save a couple of bucks.
 
    Me? I will take the day off and watch a sappy movie or two. And if I want to shop, Amazon dot com is only a click away.   
 
    Have a great Black Friday.

IS BILL COSBY FINISHED ?

        As I read the entertainment news the other day, I got to thinking. "Is Bill Cosby finished?"
   
        My love affair with the 'COZ' goes back to the nineteen sixties. I never missed 'I SPY' and waited with great anticipation for his comedy albums.

        I will never forget "It's the Lord Noah."
   
        During my junior year in high school, Mr. Cosby came to Indiana to do two shows at Ball State University's Emmens Auditorium. The year was 1968, and we all needed to laugh.
   
        Yes, Cosby was well known at the time, but not the superstar that he would eventually become.

        About fifty of us arrived an hour early and were in our seats eagerly awaiting the show. We were an excited bunch. The fact that I was on a date with Ann Sewell took a back seat. I was there to see Bill Cosby.

        All of a sudden this tall, good looking black man came out on the stage. At first I assumed it was a stage hand. Then I saw the cigar in his hand and realized this was the man!.

        He thanked us for coming early and said that if we were willing to arrive that early then he wanted to come out and say hello.

        He talked to us for about twenty minutes before he had to go back stage and get dressed for the show.

        It was a great show. It was like listening to a friend.

        It was so many years ago, I have forgotten what we all talked about, but I remembered how kind and humble the man was.
       
        In the following years, I always watched Cosby. No matter what I was doing or where I lived, if he was on television, I watched.

        For years my wife and I quoted Cosby at least once a day. If we didn't, the day was not complete. Our lives were full of Cosby 'one liners.'
       
        Oh how we enjoyed the antics of Old Weird Harold, Chicken Heart, Driving in San Francisco, Shop Class, Why is There Air, 200 M.P.H., and the story of the Dentist.

        The events of the past week are surprising to me, and heartbreaking.

        Now NBC has cancelled plans for a new series, Netflix has postponed an upcoming special and TV LAND had pulled re-runs of his old NBC program.

        I won't go into the details, as it's been all over the news. You would have to live under a rock not to have heard about all of the allegations.

        I have long been a champion of women's rights. Next to sexual battery on a child, rape is the lowest of the low. So low I hate to even write the word.

        Is he guilty? We will never know. I do know that in a court of law, you are innocent until proven guilty. That doesn't work in the court of public opinion.
       
        Like Steven Collins, (see Seventh Heaven) Bill Cosby will never go to trial. He's already been tried by the masses.
       
        My ex mother in law used to have a saying. 'You not only have to be good, you have to look good' I have never forgotten that.

        I have a saying that I use in life as well. 'Never set yourself up for disaster'

        Bill, you should have listened.

        I don't know if Bill Cosby is finished.
       
        I know I am.

SAVING ANIMALS

    I admit. I love animals. From the time I was eleven I've had a dog, or a cat.

    My mother exposed me to tropical fish when I was five. Now in my sixties, I have twp large aquariums. One in the living room and one in the main hall. A large Koi ponds resides in our back yard, as well as a huge tub for aquatic plants and tadpoles. I can not remember a time when I did not have fish.

    My ex wife introduced me to cats in 1975.

    In 1990 I married another crazed animal lover. Soon we had 5 cats and 2 dogs.

    Our first dog was a golden retriever/chow mix that was rescued after Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in 1992. 'Mr. Bear' lived a happy and long life with us. He was joined by 'Bengi' the terrier mix that was getting his last meal at the pound when Penny decided she had to bring him home.

    'Benji' and 'Bear had a wonderful life, but soon it was time for them to say goodbye. It was hard and it was sad. But yet there was a certain amount of satisfaction in our hearts, not only for the love we gave them, but for the love they returned.

    Then we were introduced to PBGVs. Petite Bassette Griffon Vendeens.  Yes, they are French to the max. I call them Hound Dogs with attitude. If they had a theme song, it would be Carly Simon's 'Attitude Dancing'

    We were put in contact with a breeder who was retiring and was looking for good homes for some of his dogs.

    We first got Preacher as Bear and Benji started to get older. He was a great addition to the family and helped nurse the two older ones.

    After     'Bear' and 'Benji' left us, I made a comment to my wife that I wanted a PBGV of my very own.

    Shorty thereafter, I was driving to Tennessee to pick up Preachers sister Star. And we had two PBGBV's

  

    Over the last year or so we have fostered/rescued/took care of two other PBGV's until they could move on to their 'forever' home.

    'Lilly' and 'Lil' were great little PBGVS. 'Lilly' went to West Palm and 'Lil' went right down the road from us.

    We still get to see 'Lil Magoo' on occasion and 'Lilly's new parents keep us up to date with pictures.

    So it was no surprise to me when Penny told me she found a PBGV at an Atlanta Pet Shelter. The PBGV rescue people determined that it was not "full blooded" and would not be eligible to go into the rescue program.

    We were both disappointed that this dog would not be rescued by the PBGV Rescue.

    His name was 'Murray', a 4 year old almost PBGV that was turned into the Atlanta shelter when the lady of the house became pregnant. He was so cute in the pictures and looked to me like a full blooded PBGV. Something had to be done to save this dog.




    But wait, there is another rescue organization. It does not have a name. Maybe we should call it the 'Penny and Lee Are Crazy' rescue.

    So on a Saturday, Penny and I arose before dawn and headed up I-75 to Atlanta.         

    We took one look at this happy critter and both of us melted.

    I paid 'Murray's' 'bail' (ie: large donation to the shelter) and we loaded him up in the van and headed back to central Florida.   

    The two PBGV's welcomed the new comer with open paws. But we discovered that Mr Murray had never been around cats and he chased them everywhere. Our beloved felines had to be banished to the screened in porch.

     We thought we could get him used to cats but it wasn't to be. We discovered very quickly that Mr Murray had "issues" and had a mean streak.

    Upon further research we found that he had been turned into the shelter because of his 'biting tendencies.' For some reason, the shelter left that tidbit of information for us to 'discover' rather than telling us.

    Did they exclude this information on purpose, just to get rid of the dog? I like to think that it was an honest mistake. I also think we will ever know for sure.
   
    So a painful decision had to be made. Our contract with the shelter was very specific that we could not sell, give away or euthanize this dog. He would have to be returned to Atlanta.
   
    On a Tuesday morning, I placed him in the van and drove him back to the shelter in Atlanta. Since it is a no kill shelter, I know he will at least live out his life in some comfort. They tell us he is now 'Un-adoptable."   
   
    It damned near killed me to make that trip back to Atlanta. It was the longest drive of my life. However deep in my heart I could not take the chance of that dog biting one of the kids next door or getting a hold of one of our cats. It was something that just had to be done.

    I don't think I will ever get over it.
   
    But I learned something this past summer. There is a reason that we have dog breeders and this rescue dog cost me a hell of a lot more than if I had gotten it from a breeder. I will be very careful dealing with shelters in the future.
       
    As the weeks have gone by, we are feeling better about the whole mess. For awhile, we swore we would never foster or take care of a dog ever again. But that was emotion talking. We are not letting this get us down and we are moving ahead. We are ready, willing, and able to jump right back into rescue at any time.

    'Lil' and 'Lilli' worked out great so I guess two out of three ain't bad.
   
    Penny and I realized there are a number of advantages in adopting or rescuing an animal.
   
    Over and above the joy of having a dog, and seeing the love in their eyes as they wake you up at four AM, is the joy of meeting new and special people. We have made many new friends along the way. Dog lovers have a special bond and common denominator. We cherish their friendship.
   
    No words of wisdom or assignment this week. I just wanted to share this story with you. It took several months for me to get to the point of even talking about it.

    I wont tell you to go adopt a pet, but if you wanted to make a donation to your local shelter, that would be a good thing.