Chaos Tamed! (a bit)

Usually when I complete a project, I spend the next week or so deciding what I want to build next as well as lowering the project-induced chaos in the shop before ramping it up again.  The bathroom vanity project definitely punched up the chaos; normally I don't do a big project over summer as it is too hot in there to hang around and, you know, put stuff away.  So there was some stuff to put away.  As my dad would have said, there was 10 lbs of crap in a 5 lbs bag.  Roll up your pant legs...

Part of my chaos problem is that I don't really like to do shop projects.  Oh, they are a necessary evil – and sometimes a great excuse to try something different! – but what I do about a tool or "thing" that needs a shop project is I put it on the assembly table to annoy me.  Once the assembly table is full of such things, I break down and dedicate a weekend to those shop projects.  Last weekend was such a weekend.  BTW, any of you do this, too!?  Tell me I'm not alone...

I rearranged a lot of things, put up 3-4 small shelves, fixed the broken things in the pile, and dug through too many plastic storage boxes that needed coalescing.  In fact, the coalescing resulted in this pile of previously full baskets:

What's funny is that things are more accessible now from better placement; when I get something new, usually its home is the first open place I can find.  Which explains so many tools in my refrigerator, but enough of that.

The projects included shelves for router "stuff", putting away the extra bases and edge guide for the router that will never leave my table, pulling out a slow wet slow grinder (sic) to the sale pile, and dismantling a pile of Systainers that were on the floor and finding them really decent shelf space.  Those damn things multiply when left to their own devices!

One of those baskets became home for piles of sandpaper sheets, another for drill bit packages; so much better!

The result (though I admit, superficially it looks like not much changed):

and:

Oh, the clock? well, it merits a close-up:

A friend from the UK surprised me with a package that included this clock and (drum roll):

a toolie!  Those things are crazy unavailable out here so I'm very happy with both!  Thanks person-whose-name-I-wont-mention!  What's great about the clock, too, is that my old one suddenly started running at a different speed, like it was made for a moon or something.

That inlay?  It was something I put together with the Jointmaker Pro and some gouges as a sample.  Had some gaps (dammit) because I decided to try inlaying each piece individually so I could take advantage of the gouge's shape to accurately mark the recess.  Problem is as a sweep instead of a radius, you have to get the gouge lined up exactly as you did on the wood or you introduce a 'sweep error'.  Eh, next time...

I do still have one big shop project to do, but it is mostly done:

I'm awaiting an order of balancing kits for the wheels to kill the vibrations; so much nicer grinding a hollow grind the same day you started!

There is another project to build, especially before the next big party:

these were cast in Perú; I picked them up during my trip last year since we had a lot of fun playing Sapo (the "frog" game) at a local restaurant/pub.  Fortunately for me, I took the video camera and detailed the "game console" with audio notes as well; the build instructions are useless.

Now, though I was working hard at reducing the chaos... I added a lil...  I have a couple gift projects coming up as well as two projects for myself so I ordered a bunch of wood from Bob Kloes.  I went the internet route since local suppliers here charge outrageous prices and "do you the favor" of planing your stock to 13/16" or worse 3/4".  Bob normally skip-planes to easier packing and slightly cheaper shipping, but if you want it rough, let him know.  That didn't sound right...

This is what I picked up from Bob: (NSFW for woodworkers!)

The boards in front of the Swiss Pear are all from Bob.  There's a bunch of Tiger Maple in there as well as this:

8/4 Birdseye Maple... that picture is completely rough: no planing at all yet the birdseye are plainly visible and plainly all over the place!  Around here, a common woodworker pastime is to play "find the birdseye" on local birdseye boards.  Not with this stuff!

Another special board I got from Bob was this one:

it's a Maple board with bark inclusions.  Actually, this picture shows the tiger striping of the Tiger Maple on the boards to either side of this one.  The inclusions penetrate the board so if need be, I could resaw it to make more stock; this one was an impulse buy since I was already shipping 3 big boxes.

I've been working on a Christmas present this weekend using some of that lovely stock; this was my first experience buying from Bob (or any internet lumber dealer) and it definitely won't be my last.  I've since added Bob's blog to my blog roll, but in particular, look at this entry about what's going to be ready soon.  Leave some for me!


I recently blogged about my class with Garrett Hack.  It was in a Woodcraft.  That's dangerous.  Right by the door to the class was a huge load of quartersawn Sycamore.  Wide stuff, too!  All day long, people would look at it.  I looked at it during a break and found this one in the middle:

It's huge!  The colors are amazing as are the rays of figure on this quartersawn stock.  On the division between the sapwood and the heartwood is a black ink line of spalting; the heartwood is a crazy array of colors:

I have a spare bedroom I'm converting into a reading room/study.  Planned on making a 7' long low credenza for media, books, etc. and the multimedia components.  The inking on this board goes for 7' and the board is the width I want for the credenza.  It'll make a beautiful top!  The offcut is a little narrow for a center coffee table, but I may resaw it to bookmatch it into a larger table.  Have to design the pieces still, but they should be coming up soon.  (Oh, I've said that before).

Okay, after all that wood porn, I feel like a smoke, and I don't like cigarettes!