Thursday, September 30, 2010

You've Got Mail!

I trudged into my building last night, exhausted, and almost tripped over a box in the front hallway.



My name was on it! I dragged the box upstairs to my apartment.

Maybe it's my tools for woodworking class!



I'm taking woodworking this semester. I wanted to take something more hands-on than Flash, Dreamweaver, or Final Cut Pro. I look at a computer enough as it is.

Drawing? Ceramics? Ah...woodworking.

I am interested in ceramics as well, actually, but I decided to take woodworking since it's a more unusual offering. There's a ceramics studio in J.C., and I can sign up for their classes anytime. Woodworking is harder to find.

I have a metal combination square on order, but my other tools are here now. I already owned a chisel, safety goggles, a vise, various handsaws, and a small army of tape measures, but I'm starting off fresh, with well-made and lightweight tools.

And I'm now the proud owner of a double-sided Japanese handsaw. I hope to learn to carve out dovetail joints. And by the middle of December, I will reputedly know how to make a table.

We'll see.

3 comments:

Hat Boy said...

Those Japanese pull saws are awesome! They have so much more control than the regular push saws found in the local hardware store. If you vary the width of the dovetails (either random or in a pattern) it creates a nice "handmade" look. Be patient though, it takes time to get right. It also takes a nice sharp chisel which I don't see yet in your nice pile of new tools. Woodworking is a fun hobby and slippery slope. I've seen people end up with surface planers and band saws in their living rooms... Have fun!

Marie Javins said...

But...but...that thing with the wooden handle and little blue plastic tip is a chisel. Sniff.

Hat Boy said...

Oh! Sorry...I'm blind! I was so focused on the pull saw I missed what else was in the picture. I was just thinking of the process. Anyway, hopefully you've had a chance to start cutting dove tails. They're addictive!