Recipe for contentment

A small shop, a stack of lumber, the fragrance of wood in the air.

Appreciation

I've spent a lot of time looking for and reading online tool reviews, and I often find myself wishing there were more personal reviews by amateur woodworkers around, so here are mine. These aren't reviews in the sense of comparing several of the same tool; rather, I'm just sharing some thoughts about the tools I appreciate using: Woodworking tool reviews.

A passionate weekend woodworker

I love wood above all other materials, and I love simplicity and quality. The few times I've wandered into furniture stores I've either had an allergic reaction to the shoddiness of manufacturing in evidence or just plain sticker shock, so in most cases I've opted to make my own simple stuff. Because I love books, much of what I've made has been bookshelves. I also love shoji lamps and polyhedron shapes, so that's been another focus. And I've made a variety of other things: desks, end tables, book stands, bed platforms, a large oak cabinet for my sweetheart's business (she's an herbalist and hand makes a line of natural skin care products called Wild Sage Botanicals), and so on.

I've tried a lot of different tools over the years. One lesson I learned—unfortunately the hard way—is to always buy quality tools if possible, even if they cost far more than cheaper versions. Sometimes I've really had to stretch to buy some of my tools, but I've never regretted it. Quality tools provide two things that cheap tools often don't: accuracy and longevity. In some cases, they're also safer. And it's simply a pleasure to hold and use a tool that has been designed and made with care.

An unusual mix of tools

My collection of tools is a bit unusual. My hobby for many years has been making shoji lamps. This requires a lot of small hand tools—micro clamps, small hand saws, a hand miter saw, mini sanders, and so on—as well as some power tools like a band saw, planer, miniature drills, and a palm sander.

Here's an older series of photos showing a lamp making project using these tools.

In 1999, we purchased a beautiful piece of property that came with a beat up house needing full remodeling.

Having grown up with a hammer in my hand in a house that my father remodeled as we lived in it, I already knew a lot of the necessary skills, but needed to get an additional set of tools to work on the house and build some of the furniture for it, such as circular, table, and electric miter saws, bigger sanders, routers, and so on.

Here's a newer series of photos showing a furniture making project using these tools.

Finally, though I love using power tools, I've begun acquiring more hand tools, hoping that someday I'll have more time to spare and can slow down a bit to explore this approach more.

Finding tools

Finding tools is a challenge, especially living in a somewhat rural area as we do. We have a wonderful local hardware store, but I often have to reach beyond it to find exactly what I'm looking for. Over the years I've stumbled across some great online tool sources and woodworking-related sites: Sources.

Learning woodworking

Being an avid reader and having an incurable stubborn streak that manifests in a determination to teach myself everything, I often turn to books to glean clues about how to proceed. In my quest to learn woodworking I've come across some wonderful books (and DVDs and websites) that contain a wealth of knowledge: Learning woodworking.

Looking forward to weekends

I'm just about finished with the remodeling and am working on the last piece of furniture I want to make, so I'm beginning to contemplate returning to my hobby of making shoji lamps sometime in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, I take a step back and think about where my journey has brought me: Is it worth it?

Tool reviews - Power saws »