My First Refinishing Project

When I was 16 years old, I had to perform a community service project for church.  All of the other kids chose the normal types of service: volunteer at a help center or a soup kitchen, that kind of thing.  Me being the person I am, I refused to follow the norm.  I was looking for something different.  I just wasn’t sure what I was looking for.

After church one day, my mom was talking to a lady we know.  She works at a local historical site.  She was talking to my mom about a couple of pieces of furniture that needed some work and she didn’t know what to do.  My mom called me over and had the lady explain to me her situation.  I listened carefully.  When she was done, I told her that I thought I could help her out.  This in turn became my community service project and my first refinishing project.

The two pieces that need work was an old chair and an antique cabinet.  The chair was just coming apart and needed to be re-glued.  This was a relatively easy fix I thought.  I was wrong.  The entire back piece was loose.  So I had to take the entire back off.  Then clean out the joints and re- glue it.  While cleaning out the joints, I noticed that there was a gap between the tenons and mortises.  I filled this in with a mixture of glue and fine sawdust.  Although this was effective and made the back sturdy, it was not a professional repair. 

Since the tenons were all in good shape, I could have filled the gap with wood putty.  After allowing the putty to dry, I could then smooth out the mortise until the tenon fit perfectly, then gluing it in place.  If the gap was too big, then this would be ineffective.

The antique cabinet just needed to be refinished.  Someone had already stripped off the old finish and sanded it.  All I had to do was stain and varnish the piece.  I thought it would be simple, someone else had done all the hard work.  Years later, I found out that by stripping off the old finish, you greatly reduce the value of the piece you are refinishing.  It isn’t damaging to the piece, it just isn’t worth as much.  That’s when I realized that it is up to the owner what should be done.  Do they want it stripped down or do they want to preserve the original finish?  Personally, I like to preserve the original finish.  I find it more pleasing to the eye, not to mention you can see the life it has had by the nicks and small scratches in it.  You get a feeling of its history.

I have learned a lot about refinishing furniture since my first project.  It may seem like a daunting task, but it is well worth the experience.  Give it a try!  Just remember to be patient.

My First Woodworking Project

I started woodworking at a young age.  I completed my first woodworking project for my younger brother’s first birthday.  I built him an airplane.  It was supposed to resemble the Red Baron’s airplane.  I even painted it to make it look authentic.  My dad had instructed me to design it before I built it.  I didn’t understand why that was important, but I did it anyways.  I think my mom had kept the drawing for it.  It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I found out how important proper design is in any woodworking project.

Proper design is important to a project’s function.  If designed poorly, it will function poorly.  It will also become unappealing to the eye.  In other words, it will be ugly as sin.  When designing a project, I think it is important to sketch it out first.  That way you can get a rough idea of how you want it to look.  After that, you will want to start to design it to fit the proportions you want.  Once you get the basic shape and size down, then you can start working out the details.  It all depends on how you want to go about it.  Try to find out what works best for you when designing a project.  You are only limited by your own imagination.

What do you think?  Not too shabby for a seven year old.  I remember the trouble I had making it, but it was still fun!  That is what woodworking should be, fun.  If you don’t enjoy doing it, then you might want to find something that you do enjoy.  Just remember, like everything else in life, woodworking takes practice.  The more you practice, the better you become at it.

Happy designing!

Hello all and welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Marc and I love woodworking.

I have been woodworking for about 30 years or so. After all this time, I still consider myself an amateur because I don’t know everything there is to know about the subject. My grandfather taught me that any true professional never stops learning about his craft. Just because you read a book or two on woodworking, or took a couple of shop classes in school, doesn’t make you a professional woodworker. It means you are interested in woodworking.

My plan is to turn that interest into a full-fledged desire to learn more about woodworking. I hope to inspire others to learn more about this time honored craft. I will discuss many of the various aspects involved in woodworking. I hope to develop a sense of self-discovery through wood.

Stay tuned to my blog! I will impart some of my wit and wisdom to you, along with some tips and tricks. I may add a story or two. If you have any tips or tricks that you would like to share, please feel free to do so. I’m always eager to learn something new. Thanks for stopping by and check back soon!