Woodworking - My Hobby While At Home

When Paulette and I are home, and not off somewhere traveling in our fifth-wheel, we both have great hobbies that keep us busy. For her – it’s quilting, beadwork and scrapbooking. For me – it’s woodworking. I don't know a lot about quilting, beadwork or scrapbooking, so I'll just talk a bit about my hobby instead. On average, I usually spend about an hour or two a day in my workshop. I built it by converting our two vehicle garage into a 1 vehicle garage and woodworking shop - my truck wouldn't fit in now anyway!

From Woodworking

Before I retired, I really didn’t know anything about woodworking and only had a few power tools around the house – a skil saw, jig saw, power drill and the usual assortment of hammers, screwdrivers and wrenches. But, I still wanted to try woodworking, so I thought it would be a good idea to enroll in a Beginner’s Woodworking Course to learn how to safely use the power tools I would need along with the basic skills required to get started.

Taking that course was the best thing I ever did, because the instructors really encouraged safety first! During the 4 sessions of 8 hours a day, we were taught how to safely operate a table saw, planer, jointer, band saw, router, sander and many other tools all while building an actual furniture project. I chose to build this half-moon table. I was really surprised at how good it looked when it was all finished - Paulette was absolutely shocked, she kept saying was "I had no idea".

From Woodworking

After finishing the course, and my workshop, I slowly began to accumulate the power tools I would need to start making some furniture. I also spent a lot of time on the Internet and reading magazines to research the best tools and techniques for the projects I had in mind. We both liked Mission Style furniture, so I decided to jump right into that even though it isn’t the easiest stuff to build for a beginner – but, with perseverance, one can learn these things! My first project was this Mission Coffee Table which now sits in our living room

From Woodworking

After the coffee table, I gained a lot more confidence and over the next few years followed up with a Morris Chair and Ottoman, a glass front Book Case, a bedroom dresser, another coffee table and a bed headboard as well as a lot of outdoor deck and garden furniture.

From Woodworking

I have spent hundreds of very enjoyable hours working at this hobby and, thankfully, I still have all my fingers. I'm very careful, and deliberate, whenever I turn on any of the power tools I use - especially my table saw. I take every safety precaution I can including always using a blade guard on the saw and using push sticks to guide the wood through the blade. A full-face shield is always a mandatory item for me when using any of the power tools - bad things can happen pretty fast!

Now that we are on the road 4-6 months of the year traveling around in our fifth-wheel, I'm not spending as much time in my workshop as I used to. But, that still leaves me lots of time to work on enough projects to keep me as busy as I really want to be.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day in my shop with a Shop-Vac and a broom just getting rid of all the accumulated dust and tidying it up for the summer and fall. One of the nice features of my workshop is the fact that I can open up the overhead door and expand my workplace outside when the weather permits - that makes a huge difference when I have to do a lot of sanding.

So, that's one of the things that keeps me busy and out of trouble when we're not off RV'ing!