I had never been able to saw a straight line or even nail a board. About three years ago my son needed my help on his Eagle Scout project. We struggled but with lots of help, built a playhouse on the church playground. Afterwards I took the leftover lumber and made myself a little workbench. I began picking up a tool here and there and before I knew it, I wanted to make a few projects. For fifteen years my life revolved between my two sons. My oldest kept us at the baseball fields 9 months out of the year and my youngest kept me busy as an Assistant Scoutmaster. My extra activities had come to and end and I am so glad I found woodworking. My wife and sons even get into it occasionally. The following are a few photos of my humble little shop.

This is my first workbench made from leftover Eagle project. A grinder, sander and drill press are in the background. Also is the pegboard and table saw.

With more scraps I made a stand for a hand-me-down miter saw, complete with an old Kirby for dust collection. Also are shelves for sanders, jigsaw and such.

When the wood started piling up I had to make lumber rack, cutoff bin. The router table sits below.

After the projects started, I decided I needed a better workbench. I made this one with a low budget. The large and small shoulder vises came from Highland Woodworking.

I started playing around on a lathe and had to have one. I have made several bowls now. Plan to start turning pens soon..

My latest purchase, from Highland Woodworking, is my new 14 inch Steel City band saw. I plan on picking up the riser block and fence later on. I have already cut bowl blanks and attempted a collapsible castle.

Well, that’s my little shop. I started off small but I plan to upgrade most of the tools. Over the last couple of years I have made several projects including Adirondack chairs, quilt racks for charity, a cedar chest for my wife among other items. You can check them out at: http://lumberjocks.com/billboard You can check out my shop cam at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bills-basement-woodworking-shop or on Marc’s cam list. I am live in the shop a couple of days a week. I have been enjoying my new hobby, especially bowl turning. I plan to take the bowl turning classes at Highland Woodworking soon.

New Website:

Check out the new website at woodtalkonline.com. Expanded content including an expanded blog with several woodworkers contributing articles regularly. The new content on the site will also be used as general content for the shows!

Giveaways:

The giveaways mentioned in this episode are no longer available.

AWFS:

Marc recently returned from AWFS in Las Vegas… podcasts and videos coming.
Steel City Granite Countertops
The riving knife revolution… new UL mandate (UL 987) requires all new table saws to have riving knives by 2008 with existing products to be converted by 2010.
Interview with David and Victoria Marks
Marc got a chance to talk with Chris Schwarz and Glen Huey of Popular Woodworking.
Marc meets Norm Abram (with Nicole’s help)!

Voicemails:

Kaleo – Tasmania, Australia
I’m doing some schooling at the Australian School of Fine Furniture. I recently had some hands-on time with the Festool Domino, and I also recently watched Marc’s episode 20 on the step stool made with the Domino. I was really wondering how it turned out and how the through tenons turned out. I know the domino is made of compressed beech, and I really wondered how it looked oiled up or just finished if you wedge them.

Barry W. – South Dakota
I have most of my shop on casters, and I just got a 17″ Grizzly Band Saw and 8″ Grizzly Jointer. I wanted to know your thoughts on putting those two big pieces of equipment on caster systems.. what you thought might be done.

E-mails:

Roberto
Hey guys, I came across this video on Youtube. According to the video, this is a new show (Woodworking Together) coming in January 2008, and it’s hosted by a woman. Do you guys think it will be as good as Yankee or Woodworks (or of course Matt’s Basement Workshop or The Wood Whisperer)? I only ask because the majority of woodworkers are men… not sure how many women are really “in to woodworking.”
Note: This video is no longer available.

Josh
My question is about flush-trim router bits. What is the point of having different diameters since the point is to make a flush cut rather than cut a dado or grooves of a certain width? Why would you need a wide bit when you are most likely making a shallow cut, even if you have a large overhang? I understand the different cutting lengths, but the diameters confuse me, and I’d like to keep from having redundancy in my bit collection so I can buy more tools and wood.