Greetings everyone. I've been a member since fall of 2010, posted a couple of times, but never introduced myself.
I'm in the Army and returned to NC in August 2010 after wandering around the world for 9 years. Prior to that I'd lived in NC since I was 8 years old and am a 1995 NCSU grad. My profile photo is of myself, my wife (born and raised in Fayetteville, NC) and my two boys (5 & 7).
Coming most recently from Texas and living in a cookie-cutter house with almost no yard, we really wanted a unique place to live. My Dad and my Uncle purchased a poorly maintained circa 1900 (exactly 1900 according to the tax man) Colonial Revival house on 1.42 acres of land about 1/2 mile outside of Fayetteville's Haymount Historic District. The summer before moving back to NC, I purchased the house from them. They had done just enough work to it to make it livable, but it still needs work totaling about 150% of my purchase price.
Dad used to fix up rentals for a local realty and I'd accompany him after school and on weekends. He instilled a good work ethic and a "fix rather than replace" attitude in me. Because of the number of moves I've been making with the military, I had not been able to acquire much in the way of tools until we moved into the new old house in 2010 and had been relegated to just doing home handyman tasks and refinishing for most of that time. I had not done much woodworking since high school over 20 years ago but really want to get back into it now that I have a place that gives me the space to both set up a shop and display the fruits of my labor. I've been acquiring tools and getting accustomed to their use over the past 18 months (minus 10 of those I spent in Iraq) and was glad to see that most of the skills came back rather quickly. I've been doing much more reading and video watching than I have actual woodworking so far, especially given all of the big projects that have taken priority and balancing family time.
Now after getting a new roof, about 1/3 of my windows replaced and having a spray foam insulation guy coming next Friday (we're trying to make this old place as tight as possible because it leaks and eats energy dollars like crazy) I'll finally get to start my first project. I have a dining nook that was completely rebuilt during the window install that I am going to give a full-height raised panel wainscoting treatment. I'm not 100% certain on my wood choice yet but I am going to attempt to reuse some old pine paneling I've pulled out of another room. My plan is to rip the old tongue and groove away and build my panels, stiles and rails from what's left. It's got a beautiful patina - very cherry-like in color (though, of course, with pine grain) and there's enough clear stock that I should be able to do the entire nook without any knots. The nook is almost entirely windows, so there is not much square footage wise to do. I'm also planning a built-in book case and window bench in my boys' room to replace a construction-grade 2x lumber book case I removed for the window and insulation guys.
I have a contractor saw with a 3HP PC Router motor mounted to a cast iron extension wing/router table plus a smaller handheld router. I also have a compound sliding miter saw (which I've probably used more than anything else so far) a jointer and biscuit joiner. I have an old but functioning drill press and a not-so-good 3-wheel 14" band saw (the band saw and drill press were free, so I'm not complaining) and HF's 2HP dust collector plus a shop-vac for hand-held tools. All this is stored comfortably in my garage with 2 cars and a motorcycle, though I have to remove one of the cars to actually use the tools. I had an electrician put a sub panel in the garage when I first got here and have a 220 outlet for my saw and 3 more 30A 110 outlets for everything else... when I first arrived the entire side of the house was on a single breaker and I could not even run my circular saw without blowing the circuit.
So far - other than some rough carpentry work and a few outdoor projects (playscape deck firewood rack) I have not made much saw dust that's resulted in anything. Mostly I've been messing with pieces of wood and relearning old skills or teaching myself new ones (like making raised panel doors). Thanks for all the great advice I've gotten from anyone here and on the other sites.
Another thing - my yard was/is overgrown with trees - some that were dangerously close to and leaning toward the house. There's only so much firewood I can burn in a year, especially as mild as this winter's been. I've got 3 full (not face) cords of wood on the rack I've built plus another 3-4 cords waiting to be split and stacked (my splitter is a 30-year old DIY deal my Uncle built and is on its 3rd engine and 4th or 5th pump, but is still going). I recently had a large willow oak taken out and am considering having a sawyer come out and turn it into lumber for me, though I don't know where I'd store it.. Willow oak is red oak, right? Will it be worthwhile... maybe I should start another thread as I have questions on it and a few other trees in the yard.
That's enough rambling for now. Hopefully I'll be able to start adding some pics of my dining nook progress in a few weeks.
I'm in the Army and returned to NC in August 2010 after wandering around the world for 9 years. Prior to that I'd lived in NC since I was 8 years old and am a 1995 NCSU grad. My profile photo is of myself, my wife (born and raised in Fayetteville, NC) and my two boys (5 & 7).
Coming most recently from Texas and living in a cookie-cutter house with almost no yard, we really wanted a unique place to live. My Dad and my Uncle purchased a poorly maintained circa 1900 (exactly 1900 according to the tax man) Colonial Revival house on 1.42 acres of land about 1/2 mile outside of Fayetteville's Haymount Historic District. The summer before moving back to NC, I purchased the house from them. They had done just enough work to it to make it livable, but it still needs work totaling about 150% of my purchase price.
Dad used to fix up rentals for a local realty and I'd accompany him after school and on weekends. He instilled a good work ethic and a "fix rather than replace" attitude in me. Because of the number of moves I've been making with the military, I had not been able to acquire much in the way of tools until we moved into the new old house in 2010 and had been relegated to just doing home handyman tasks and refinishing for most of that time. I had not done much woodworking since high school over 20 years ago but really want to get back into it now that I have a place that gives me the space to both set up a shop and display the fruits of my labor. I've been acquiring tools and getting accustomed to their use over the past 18 months (minus 10 of those I spent in Iraq) and was glad to see that most of the skills came back rather quickly. I've been doing much more reading and video watching than I have actual woodworking so far, especially given all of the big projects that have taken priority and balancing family time.
Now after getting a new roof, about 1/3 of my windows replaced and having a spray foam insulation guy coming next Friday (we're trying to make this old place as tight as possible because it leaks and eats energy dollars like crazy) I'll finally get to start my first project. I have a dining nook that was completely rebuilt during the window install that I am going to give a full-height raised panel wainscoting treatment. I'm not 100% certain on my wood choice yet but I am going to attempt to reuse some old pine paneling I've pulled out of another room. My plan is to rip the old tongue and groove away and build my panels, stiles and rails from what's left. It's got a beautiful patina - very cherry-like in color (though, of course, with pine grain) and there's enough clear stock that I should be able to do the entire nook without any knots. The nook is almost entirely windows, so there is not much square footage wise to do. I'm also planning a built-in book case and window bench in my boys' room to replace a construction-grade 2x lumber book case I removed for the window and insulation guys.
I have a contractor saw with a 3HP PC Router motor mounted to a cast iron extension wing/router table plus a smaller handheld router. I also have a compound sliding miter saw (which I've probably used more than anything else so far) a jointer and biscuit joiner. I have an old but functioning drill press and a not-so-good 3-wheel 14" band saw (the band saw and drill press were free, so I'm not complaining) and HF's 2HP dust collector plus a shop-vac for hand-held tools. All this is stored comfortably in my garage with 2 cars and a motorcycle, though I have to remove one of the cars to actually use the tools. I had an electrician put a sub panel in the garage when I first got here and have a 220 outlet for my saw and 3 more 30A 110 outlets for everything else... when I first arrived the entire side of the house was on a single breaker and I could not even run my circular saw without blowing the circuit.
So far - other than some rough carpentry work and a few outdoor projects (playscape deck firewood rack) I have not made much saw dust that's resulted in anything. Mostly I've been messing with pieces of wood and relearning old skills or teaching myself new ones (like making raised panel doors). Thanks for all the great advice I've gotten from anyone here and on the other sites.
Another thing - my yard was/is overgrown with trees - some that were dangerously close to and leaning toward the house. There's only so much firewood I can burn in a year, especially as mild as this winter's been. I've got 3 full (not face) cords of wood on the rack I've built plus another 3-4 cords waiting to be split and stacked (my splitter is a 30-year old DIY deal my Uncle built and is on its 3rd engine and 4th or 5th pump, but is still going). I recently had a large willow oak taken out and am considering having a sawyer come out and turn it into lumber for me, though I don't know where I'd store it.. Willow oak is red oak, right? Will it be worthwhile... maybe I should start another thread as I have questions on it and a few other trees in the yard.
That's enough rambling for now. Hopefully I'll be able to start adding some pics of my dining nook progress in a few weeks.