Back in the workshop

Well, actually it is a stretch to call the tool shed a workshop, but that is what I have to work with. I power the “workshop” with an extension cord from the house. You have to make sure to only use one tool at a time, or you have to go back to the house and reset the breaker. I’ll have to post a picture someday of the cramped space I refer to as the workshop.

We decided to make some cutting boards for the mothers in our lives for Christmas. I had some red maple on hand and bought some purpleheart to add color and character to the project. The maple had some curl in it, so there was real potential to make something that actually looked nice and could be used in the kitchen.

I have worked with maple for a number of years, so I know my tool’s limitations when it comes to this hard hardwood. Purpleheart was a new species for me. It is naturally purple to burgundy in color, and the pieces I bought had a lot of curly grain. Forget running a planer across this species. I used a bench sander to remove excess trim and smooth up the finished piece. The curly figure readily splintered and I had to be careful cutting and gluing the small pieces. The wood is beautiful though, and it’s worth the trouble to incorporate such color into a wood project.

Here is how they turned out…

I made the circle cutting boards on my table saw using a trick demonstrated in this video:

Make a circle on a table saw

The first one I cut out has a small hole in it, but the next two I figured out you barely need a nail holding it and the hole is barely visible as a dimple in the wood. Since these are intended for use with food, I applied mineral oil to them to protect the wood. It darkened the purpleheart, but they turned out really nice.

I tend to play it safe with oak and maple most of the time, but another woodworker told me last year that if I was going to take the time to do something, I might as well do it with wood that is beautiful or exotic in some way. Sound advice.

Rules kids won't learn in school

This list is the work of Charles J. Sykes, author of the 1996 book “Dumbing down our kids: Why American children feel good about themselves but can’t read, write, or add” and “50 rules kids won’t learn in school: real world antidotes to feel-good education.”

Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it.

Rule No. 2: The real world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, people complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: You won't make $60,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents called it “opportunity.” They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Miley Cyrus all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest, try cleaning the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, you get several tries to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.

Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself.

Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to work.

Quotes from Socrates

A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.

All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.

An honest man is always a child.

As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.

Be as you wish to seem.

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.

Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.

Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.

He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy.

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.

I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good.

I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live.

If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.

If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart.

It is not living that matters, but living rightly.

Let him that would move the world first move himself.

Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.

The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like Him.

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.

Wisdom begins in wonder.

Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.

Miter Saw Table

In an effort to focus on something positive, I am going to add a woodworking category to this blog. Building furniture and projects is one of the ways that I keep my sanity. Although the extent that it saves mine may be the same amount that it frays my wife’s nerves. Hopefully we are achieving a workable balance.

Last year, I bought a miter saw to cut sugar maple molding for an entertainment center. I wanted something accurate to cut molding that cost $3 per foot. Of course, the saw is not much use without some way to hold the molding.

So like anything else I need help with, I went off to the internet. I found several designs for free plans and chose this design from Woodsmith.com. It is made from plywood and put together using dados. It’s about as simple as you can get for a project.

Here is a picture of the dado joinery, just like the plans show.



And here is a picture of the finished table.


I gave it a coat of Minwax stain for protection and have been using it ever since. I had this built in one afternoon and it has been getting more and more use. The back support may be too high, but so far it works and I can cut the back shorter if I need to. By the way, I did finish the entertainment center. The miter saw was quite handy when it came time to building the cabinet doors too.

Strive to be an Optimist

The pessimist finds fault;
The optimist discovers a remedy.

The pessimist seeks sympathy;
The optimist spreads cheer.

The pessimist criticizes circumstances;
The optimist changes conditions.

The pessimist complains about the apple seeds;
The optimist plants them.

The pessimist imagines impending peril;
The optimist sees signs of prosperity.

The pessimist disparages;
The optimist encourages.

The pessimist creates loneliness;
The optimist finds friends.

The pessimist nibbles at the negative;
The optimist is nourished by the positive.

The pessimist builds barriers;
The optimist removes roadblocks.

The pessimist invents trouble;
The optimist enriches the environment.

~ William Arthur Ward (1921-1994)

Found on Beliefnet. A little something for everyone, I guess.