I am a woodworker in my early twenties who lives in Dothan, Al. I have many hobbies, woodworing being one of the most frequented ones. I also enjoy the following: sailing, backpacking, free diving, four-wheelers, computers, guitars.
My family is in the construction industry so I grew up working with my hands. My mother owns a truss manufacturing company where I worked during the summers from when I was 13-15. As soon as I coud drive, I started working the summers with my cousin who owns a construction company doing remodeling, decks, new construction and all sorts of things. I worked with him for about four summer between highschool and college then after college I started working on more of a full-time basis and I still do today.
I have also started my own construction company where I am buying and building rental property. I hope to go out on my own full time soon concentrating on rental property with some construction and remodeling in between.
I started woodworking around 2008 with just a shopsmith, skill saw, and drills. Soon I purchased more tools including my Grizzly cabinet saw, this is when things really changed and my level of craftmanship went up quite a bit. Now my tool collection has grown quite a bit as have my skills compared to when I first started.
This blog and my videos are my way of helping other people. I learned pretty my everything I know about woodworking from books or online and I figure there are alot of people just like me who are surfing the internet looking for instruction. So this is my way of giving back to other woodworkers.
I enjoy talking with other woodworker so feel free to contact me with any questions or comments, they are more than welcomed.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Follow Here!
Following a blog is a great way to keep up with blogs that you are interested in and it's easy! Following lets the author of the blog know you are a fan and you also get notified when a blog you are following makes a new post.
It is simple to follow my blog if you have a Google account, simply look in the right column and find the "Followers" widget and click follow and your done!
If you do not have a Google account you can just save the blog to your favorites and check back whenever you like. But I think everyone should have a Google account, Google is basically...... everything the internet has to offer. Just think, all those times you hear people say "Google it!".
It is simple to follow my blog if you have a Google account, simply look in the right column and find the "Followers" widget and click follow and your done!
If you do not have a Google account you can just save the blog to your favorites and check back whenever you like. But I think everyone should have a Google account, Google is basically...... everything the internet has to offer. Just think, all those times you hear people say "Google it!".
Contact
Feel free to contact me about whatever you like. Simply email me at sailingandsuch@gmail.com and I will do my best to get back with you as quickly as I can.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
A Bookcase for my Mother.
Well my mother wanted a new bookcase to go in her living room. She dreamed up a simple and a bit modern design that featured full overlay drawers and a smoothe clean look all around the piece.
Pretty simple but nice. I used 3/4" and 1/2" birch plywood for the construction and some 3/4" poplar for the face frames. I bought some full extention drawer slides from a local wholesale supplier for about $13 a pair, talk about a deal. I was paying somewhere around $20-$25 a pair, I'm glad I found these!
Anyways, I finished it will some red mahogany stain after I applied a bit of prestain right before. It was my first time using prestain and I think it may help a little bit, but not a really big difference. I then aplied 2 coats of high gloss poly to finish it off and seal the piece. I don't have a photo of that at the moment but I will try to get one up soon.
Pretty simple but nice. I used 3/4" and 1/2" birch plywood for the construction and some 3/4" poplar for the face frames. I bought some full extention drawer slides from a local wholesale supplier for about $13 a pair, talk about a deal. I was paying somewhere around $20-$25 a pair, I'm glad I found these!
Anyways, I finished it will some red mahogany stain after I applied a bit of prestain right before. It was my first time using prestain and I think it may help a little bit, but not a really big difference. I then aplied 2 coats of high gloss poly to finish it off and seal the piece. I don't have a photo of that at the moment but I will try to get one up soon.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Consider Lasik eyes surgery, I am.
I just saw this morning on the news that nearsightedness in the US has risen by 41% since 1971. Thats a pretty big jump and no one really knows why, it's a fast we must live with. Another fact that is a great one is the advances in eye surgerys has advanced greatly since 1971. Sadly, I am definitely a near sighted person although it's not bad enough yet that I have contacs or surgery yet but that time will soon.
One of these surgerys is Lasik eye surgery. Not only is Lasik surgery the most performed surgery in the US, but it can reduce or eliminate the need for contact lenses. For me this would be great, because I love spending time on and in the water and contacts aren't the best things to have around water.
You can find many eye centers across the US who perform Lasik surgery but one in particular stands out, Stahl Eye Center. Stahl Eye Center has been serving their patients for more than 35 years, they have been independently verified by nonprofit Lasik patient advocacy USAEyes to meet or exceed the national norms for lasik surgerys, their doctors are graduates from top universities such as UCLA, John Hopkins and Yale.
So if you are one of the many Americans who suffer from nearsightedness or farsighteness then consider Stahl Eye Center in New York for your treatment. For some good general information check out this link.
Good luck with your choice, I know I will be getting eye surgery sometime in my future, no doubt.
One of these surgerys is Lasik eye surgery. Not only is Lasik surgery the most performed surgery in the US, but it can reduce or eliminate the need for contact lenses. For me this would be great, because I love spending time on and in the water and contacts aren't the best things to have around water.
You can find many eye centers across the US who perform Lasik surgery but one in particular stands out, Stahl Eye Center. Stahl Eye Center has been serving their patients for more than 35 years, they have been independently verified by nonprofit Lasik patient advocacy USAEyes to meet or exceed the national norms for lasik surgerys, their doctors are graduates from top universities such as UCLA, John Hopkins and Yale.
So if you are one of the many Americans who suffer from nearsightedness or farsighteness then consider Stahl Eye Center in New York for your treatment. For some good general information check out this link.
Good luck with your choice, I know I will be getting eye surgery sometime in my future, no doubt.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Simple Lumber Rack Plans
I finally built myself a simple but effective lumber rack system. I built it entirely out of 2x4's and it took me probably three hours to complete, not to bad by myself. It is large enough to store 12' long boards, and plenty of them!
The way it is designed, the lumber is supposed to be slid in and out on end. This works perfect in my shop because it is shaped like a "L". The lumber rack is right on the top of the bottom, flat part of the "L". It was definitely the best spot for my lumber rack and I will go into more detail of why in a later post.
I have drawn a little set of plans on sketchup that better shows how it was put together. I built each unit with pine 2x4's and I nailed them together on the floor with a pneumatic nail gun using some old ring shank nails that I had laying around. You can use screws if you want to take the time but I think the ring shank nails will hold just about as good as a screw would. I spaced the units 16" apart to provide plenty of supports for my lumber to lay flat on and not bow. When you space them 16" apart this lets you nail each on into a stud in the wall which is needed to hold them up. I put one board down the outside of every unit to hold them all together, also it is a just the right height for a small counter top down that side. (I plan on covering the lumber rack and using the rest of the area as a finishing room and the shelf will give me somewhere to set finishing supplies.)
This was a great addition to my shop and really helped me get organized!
The way it is designed, the lumber is supposed to be slid in and out on end. This works perfect in my shop because it is shaped like a "L". The lumber rack is right on the top of the bottom, flat part of the "L". It was definitely the best spot for my lumber rack and I will go into more detail of why in a later post.
I have drawn a little set of plans on sketchup that better shows how it was put together. I built each unit with pine 2x4's and I nailed them together on the floor with a pneumatic nail gun using some old ring shank nails that I had laying around. You can use screws if you want to take the time but I think the ring shank nails will hold just about as good as a screw would. I spaced the units 16" apart to provide plenty of supports for my lumber to lay flat on and not bow. When you space them 16" apart this lets you nail each on into a stud in the wall which is needed to hold them up. I put one board down the outside of every unit to hold them all together, also it is a just the right height for a small counter top down that side. (I plan on covering the lumber rack and using the rest of the area as a finishing room and the shelf will give me somewhere to set finishing supplies.)
This was a great addition to my shop and really helped me get organized!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Homemade Cornhole Boards
Just today, I finished building my third set of cornhole boards. The first two sets that I built were for myself and the third set is for a freind who is also addicted to cornhole on Friday and Saturday nights.
The boards are made of 5/8" plwood trimmed in 3/4" select pine grade boards with 3/4" oak legs. I used pockethole-joinery to join the pine to the plywood and screws to attach the hinges and the legs. Glue was used on all joints.
The first two sets of cornhole boards I made where not as good of quality as these boards are. I used 3/4" plywood and 3/4" pine for the first set but I didn't join the pine to the plywood flush with the top like I did with these boards, that should make the edges of the board more durable and it looks great also. Also I just screwed the top down into the pine framing leaving the screws exposed in the top of the boards. On my first set I used a simular hinge setup for the legs which never gave me any trouble.
On the second set I build I used some scrap pine 1x12's that I had laying around and I biscuited them together since I had just purchased my first biscuit jointer. This worked fine but I was learning the biscuits and my joints weren't perfectly flush. For the legs I bolted through the 1x4 pine framing, that again wasn't mounted flush with the top of the board, and into the legs that pivoted on the bolt. This method was agrivating because you would have to tighten the wingnut on the legs very tight to make them stay put during gameplay (even then they would close up little by little with each through of a cornhole bag.
So I think I finally did it right this time joining the pine framing flush with the top of the plywood board and hiding all my joinery with pockethole screws. Using oak for the legs should be an improvement also. I really like the hinges and they are good heavy duty ones too. The legs don't slowly fold in on you like the bolted legs because the angle at which they sit is close to 45 degrees.
These are some great boards, I will have to build a set like these for myself! I think I will take photos or maybe video the building process to post on the internet too.
The boards are made of 5/8" plwood trimmed in 3/4" select pine grade boards with 3/4" oak legs. I used pockethole-joinery to join the pine to the plywood and screws to attach the hinges and the legs. Glue was used on all joints.
The first two sets of cornhole boards I made where not as good of quality as these boards are. I used 3/4" plywood and 3/4" pine for the first set but I didn't join the pine to the plywood flush with the top like I did with these boards, that should make the edges of the board more durable and it looks great also. Also I just screwed the top down into the pine framing leaving the screws exposed in the top of the boards. On my first set I used a simular hinge setup for the legs which never gave me any trouble.
On the second set I build I used some scrap pine 1x12's that I had laying around and I biscuited them together since I had just purchased my first biscuit jointer. This worked fine but I was learning the biscuits and my joints weren't perfectly flush. For the legs I bolted through the 1x4 pine framing, that again wasn't mounted flush with the top of the board, and into the legs that pivoted on the bolt. This method was agrivating because you would have to tighten the wingnut on the legs very tight to make them stay put during gameplay (even then they would close up little by little with each through of a cornhole bag.
So I think I finally did it right this time joining the pine framing flush with the top of the plywood board and hiding all my joinery with pockethole screws. Using oak for the legs should be an improvement also. I really like the hinges and they are good heavy duty ones too. The legs don't slowly fold in on you like the bolted legs because the angle at which they sit is close to 45 degrees.
These are some great boards, I will have to build a set like these for myself! I think I will take photos or maybe video the building process to post on the internet too.
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