A little back story

As a kid and even still I watch wood working shows on TV with dreams of being able to build my own furniture instead of buying it. Norm Abrams on The New Yankee Workshop always made it look so easy. My passion to build furniture is still fueled by some of the magazines I read that are full of large bookcases, and entertainment centers that would look great in our house. We would rather have furniture made from real wood, and not particle board with plastic veneer.

Previously most of wood working experience has been using construction grade materials to build outdoor furniture. I have done some carving but not much beyond tiki pole looking faces, and I have attempt some other small projects that failed.

Back in the fall of 2009 there was a book case in The Family Handyman magazine that my wife and I like and she wanted me to build. For Christmas that year she got a Kreg Jig Jr with the plan being me building the bookcase. Well the idea of building a bookcase from $400 worth of material scared me away figuring I would mess up and have $400 worth of scraps.

Since then I have been trying to find good projects to practice on. I've built some simple projects in the shop for my 3 year old daughter to use, and recently finished a shoe cabinet (more to come in a future post).

I have most basic hand power tools and am working at adding other tools needed for this hobby. I got myself a miter saw during the black Friday sale at Lowes, and have some of my grandfather's wood working tools that I can use. I recently started working on tuning up Grandpa's band saw. I am looking forward to learning more and trying my hand at making some more traditional joining methods (mortise and tendons, and hand cut dove tails).

So that's a little history of my wood working experience and where I want to go.