Almost forgot

I am almost finished with my woodworking project. My last class was back in March. All that is left to do is sand and paint.












Bean thought her stuffed dog added a nice touch to the office organizer.


















Lessons I learned from this project:

1. Choose your wood carefully. I had help, but the guy was good about getting rid of unsellable wood to this novice woodworker. Instead of staining I am painting to keep the wood together.

2. Don't hammer or force in other wood while other pieces are drying. I actually lied to the teacher and said, "I don't know how that gap got there...hmm". If you look up close you can see some of my gaps, but luckily the biggest one is in back covered by the back piece.

3. Don't put the drawers in without attaching the knobs first. What is funny, I didn't do that, the teacher did! After quite a bit of struggle, a pocket knife did the trick of removing the drawers unharmed.

4. Be well rested before working with those big machines. I actually, took a night off, because I was so tired and afraid I might loose a finger.

5. Make sure you understand the dimensions. This office organizer takes up 1/3 of our desk. I guess I'll have to build a shelf or a side table for it next time.

Wood working class: Desk to Desk Organizer

Just completed my second week of beginning woodworking class. It went as smooth as a sanded board. However, I have to admit the first week didn't go so well.

Last week, I got dinner on the table early and rushing out the door, to go sign-up for the wood working class. After signing up I had to drive to the other side of the building and check-in with the teacher. I arrived exactly on time. No one was there yet. After 5-10 minutes about 3 other men trickled in and an hour into the class a woman showed up as well. I quickly learned, I was truly the only novel woodworker. On the most part, people take the class each year, so they have access to the woodworking shop. Teaching is mainly experiential and informal.

Since, I spent most of my time trying to convince my husband that this woodworking class was just a whim and I won't buy any major equipment like table saws and planers . I wasn't prepared. All I had was a picture of a desk I wanted. I cut it out a few months ago from a designer magazine in hopes of finding a less expensive version. When asked by my classmates, "what are you planning to make?", I would pull out the picture. No one really said anything until I showed it to an older gentleman. First he laughed, then he told me I was a very ambitious. "B.... can tell you a little about being ambitious , can't you?" he said as he touched her shoulder, the only other woman in the room. At this point I was ready to walk out of the class. Actually, I tried by saying, "well since I don't have anything to work on, I'll just come back next week". That didn't work. I should of just ran for it. The teacher said I should stay, learn the machines and work out the dimensions of my project. So I did.

Over the weekend my husband and I looked at various desk woodworking plans. In the end we decided it might be better if I worked on a desk organizer. I bought 2 planks of pine wood and returned to class the following week with my project plan. Above is a picture of my wood all cut-up. I just have to do a few more groves, then I start to put it together next week. The teacher was a big help! Thank goodness, I am the only newbie to woodworking, in the class!
...stay tuned