Mt. Diablo Adult Education - Wood Working 1 (MDAE WW1)

 In the Fall of 2022, I enrolled in the local adult education program to take an evening class in woodworking.  Mt. Diablo has all kinds of great classes and my wife and I will likely take a bunch more over time.

The class I took was "Woodworking 1".  It's the first class and upon completion of WW1 and WW2, you can then take any of the other woodworking classes.  What I liked about the class was two-fold:  it was going to teach me how to use the machines, it cost virtually nothing (ca. $250 for 10 weeks; materials I bought would be extra).  In my home shop, I really don't have much in terms of machines.  I don't want or feel I need a bunch of machines as I like using hand tools because, well, I enjoy the fine skill I get to develop over time.  It became important to me when I stopped working in the lab as a chemist (working with my hands) and became "middle management." Still, I wanted to learn how to safely use them and this seemed like a great way to do so.

The project was a step stool.  Always hand to have a step stool in the home.  Three or four years ago, I made Christan Becksvoort's shaker step stool and my daughter loved to use in; initially as a step stool and later as a chair when she ate food while watching TV.  This step stool would be a bit taller which is good as she has grown quite a bit so something a few inches taller would be helpful.

Construction of the chair was relatively straightforward.  I used Paduk and curly maple for the chair and shellac and wax to finish it.  The wood choices were a driven by what I could find at Rockler before the class.  I had never worked with Paduk before so it was fun to try out a different wood.  It behaves a lot like walnut with hand tools.  It is a really pretty orange and has a nice spicy chocolate scent when planed.  It looks beautiful when finished.  The only thing I didn't like about it was the orange dust that it would leave behind.  Also, with shellac, some color would leach out.  I kept this all in mind when doing the finishing work.

I liked some of the tools, disliked some, and was a bit indifferent to others.  Mostly, that's what I want to discuss as the construction was straightforward (thought that doesn't mean I didn't have to think a bit for parts of it).

Jointer 

They had a nice one - a Powermatic.  In fact most of their tools were nice and they do upgrade on a regular basis.  I didn't really enjoy using it.  Mostly, I don't like the potential risk for serious bodily injury.  In theory, if you do it right, it can be safe.  Sorry, it just raises my stress level at the moment.  I supposed with a powerfeeder that might make it feel safe.  Not in any rush to own one for home.

Planer/Thicknesser

The two of them: a 15" and 24" PowerMatic.  I really liked these machines.  I felt reasonable safe using them.  My biggest struggle working with handtools is getting the wood to desired thickness.  It take a lot of effort by hand and at times I've used wood that has been thicker than I'd like.  When I finished my formal project for the quarter, we were allowed to do other things until the quarter ended.  I brough in some wood for upcomming projects that needed to be thicknessed.  What would have taken me a full weekend of work, I did in a matter of 30 minutes (I am slow by the way).  Now, speed is not my primary goal in woodworking but, I'd like to have a way to get past some of the donkey work.  As such, I ended up getting a DeWalt 735 when it had a Thanksgiving Black Friday sale.  Been happy with it the few times I've used it.  I also know there is a way to use a sled at home to get it to act like a jointer if I need it.

Table Saw

They had a Saw Stop.  Truth be told, I really like the safety features of this tool.  Kind of wish Saw Stop had a larger line of tool types with this technology.  If so, I would buy them.  I would say I'm indifferent to this machine.  It really came in handy for some work I did where I needed to make a bunch of repetitive cuts for a time sensitive Christmas gift I am making.  I don't mind cross cutting by hand or ripping 1" stock by hand.  I have ripped 2" thick stock by hand and don't enjoy that so I definitely need a machine to help with that but the next tool can do that - bandsaw.

BandSaw

I've been wanting a bandsaw for a long time.  I could make long rips in thick wood or resaw thick wood for design consideration.  They had a variety of bandsaws at the school - Delta, Powermatic, and Laguna.  I was happy with all of them.  I did some resawing as well curve cuts with a bandsaw and I felt reasonably comfortable with using it.  When Powermatic had a 10% off sale over Black Friday, I bought their PM1500 bandsaw.  I need to set it up but have a few woodworking things to do first.  Plus, it weighs 400 lbs.  I have a nice way to get it off the pallet and onto the rolling base when I get to it.

Both the planer and bandsaw I purchased will trigger the need for proper dust collection in the shop.  Fortuantely I had been saving for that.  It will be either Oneida or ClearVue.  Honestly just waiting for either of them to have a 10% off sale.  Since I really don' need either tool I purchased, I could easily wait a year if I need to.  If there is any upside to the anticipated recession, is I should be able to get a dust collector for a discount.  Also keeping my eye open for used models from Oneida as well.

Drill Press

They had two from PowerMatic.  I liked them.  Then again, I used my dad's drill press from time to time and I knew I would.  I will get one in the near future.  I don't think it will get much use but handy to have one.  Currently on the lookout for a vintage one (art deco era) that has been restored.  

Router - hand held and table mounted.  Didn't enjoy using them at all.  I have no intention of owning one.  I call it, along with the jointer, the spinning blades of death.  Will that limit some of my woodworking options.  Yes.  That's fine.  I'm not into molding (yet) and if I were, I already have an ok set of hollow and round planes needing some light restoration.  As for making grooves, I have Veritas small plough plane and quite a number of blades.  It's a handy tool and I like it.  Also have the Veritas skewed rabet plane as well.

Oscillating spindle sander

It was handy to use when I had made a bunch of band sawn reindeer as donation gifts.  Eventually, I will likely get one at home.  More than likely I will see about getting an inexpensive one for home.  I don't need it that often but I can see making more band sawn reindeer for donations that the school can sell at their holiday boutique.  In that case, less time per unit means I can provide more for the donation if I don't to have to sand them by hand.

Drum sander

They had a Grizzly and are now upgrading to a Powermatic.  It came in handy for a few things.  Felt safe to use.  I don't see myself getting one for home.  I use hand planes and I have found ways (by learning from others) how to plan thin stock ca (1/16 to 1/8" thick) by hand.

Chop Saw

They had the Dewalt one.  I've used my dad's in the past.  I am comfortable using it. I don't intent to get one.  It doesn't take long to cross cut a 12" wide board by hand and I actually like doing it.  After 7 years, I can saw by had reasonably well so it's not like the chop saw will produce a better cut.  Again, I'm not a production shop.  If I have to make a half dozen to dozen cross cuts on rough stock on a weekend that would be about the max I ever need to do at once.

Handheld rotary sander

They had one.  I didn't use it.  I use my hand planes for almost all of my final smoothing of the wood and a little bit of sand paper if I have curves or round overs to smooth out.  As such, I just don't see the need for one at home.  

Table top mortiser.  

The school had one but we didn't need to use it.  I have one at home, a Powermatic.  I didn't feel confident in my ability to make a good mortise and bought one.  I like it.  At first I "needed" it to get a decent mortise.  Since then, I've learned how to do a mortise by hand.  As such, unless I have a lot of mortises I need to do, I prefer to do them by hand.  For me, the whole woodworking journey was to develop the hand skills.  I really liked my days as an active bench chemist doing highly skilled technical work.  I am very good at my management roll, but, I wonder if I had to do it over again if I would have left the bench.  Then again, almost all of my peers in grad school, who stayed techinal, ended up no longer working at the bench as most reached a level where managing those who were at the bench became their job.  As such, I may not as easily had a choice.  Well, that's crap the more I think about it.  We all have choices we can make or not make.  I just don't think I gave it as much thought and most folks don't.  That's ok I have woodworking now to work on my hand skills and at the end of it, I have nice furniture that I likely couldn't afford to purchase.

All in all, very happy with the MDAE WW1 experience.  I like the instructor and the school and the teaching assistants.  It's a good place to be.  So much so, I am now taking woodworking 2.  Enjoying it as well. They have woodcarving and woodturning classes as well as other hobbies.  As such, I plan to take a lot of classes over time.  I used to do a bowling league (till bowling started to hurt my hand) and enjoyed the one night out a week.  These classes have that similar feel.  I still enjoy woodworking at home but it's nice to woodworking around others from time to time as well.

What A Difference Between iPhone 5 vs. iPhone 13

 For about the past 10 years, my personal cell phone was an iPhone 5.  Given the cost of "smart phones" I have elected to keep my iPhone 5 as long as possible.  In other words, I'd rather spend money on wood than a new phone.  Well, Verizon decided to discontinue some sort of 3G network my iPhone 5 needed to work.

To date, all of my photos for woodworking and what is posted on my blog and Instagram account, joeleonetti1@instagram.com, has been with my iPhone 5.  I have been happy with it and about once a week I download the photos onto my computer.  

I had planned to continue to use my iPhone 5 for wood photos.  However, since I no longer use it for a phone, it often has a discharged battery.  My work iPhone is an iPhone 13.  I have recently started using it to take wood working photos.  This past weekend I finally had a side by side comparison of iPhone 5 vs. iPhone 13.  Wow!  I didn't expect the difference to be so large.  First photo is iPhone 5 and the second one is the iPhone 13.  I think the resolution is diminished for the blog but  it is night and day difference in the photos on my computer.

The project is another (my 8th) Paul Sellers clock made out of genuine mahogany and finished with linseed oil (with pine resin, i.e. Tried and True varnish oil) then shellac.  I will blog about this in more detail in the near future as I have other things I'd like to say - my first time using Mahogany, why my 8th Seller's clock, etc, etcc.

As for my personal phone.  Again, I didn't want to spend multiple hundreds of dollars.  I'd rather buy wood.  As such, I went with a $75 flip phone which the monthly plan for unlimited text and talk is $20 a month.  No long term commitment.  I did this for two reasons.  The first is cost.  The second is I want to make it harder, not easier, to be on the world wide web.  So far, it's work.  Having said that, it is very annoying to text on this flip phone (remember pressing a number multiple times to get the proper letter?).  It's working as I text a lot less but it still is annoying.  The only thing I really wanted a smart phone for is driving directions but I have the work phone for that if I absolutely need it and am not with my wife who has a smart phone.  I did consider doing away with a cell phone completely but I have had that phone number now for 25 years.  All good problems.

It Pays to Reread Books

 Recently, I have been experimenting with other finishes.  For the past 7 years, I have been focused on shellac and really like it.  I can't imagine changing but I want to see how oils (with and without shellac) look.  Lately, I have had a project with mahogany.  I want to find information on how to finish it with oils.  I spent a lot of time asking folks, searching the web, etc.  

I have just finished reading the latest issue from SAFPM and put it on my bookshelf.  In doing so, I noticed Bob Flexner's book on finishing.  I felt like an idiot.  I bought this book 5ish years ago and read it then.  I had completely forgotten about it.  Here I was searching for Mahagony finishes hither and yonder.  I opened Flexner's book and lo and behold, all kinds of helpful info.  I will go over the books on my bookshelf more frequently.  Never know what I may rediscover.

Making a Kitchen Drawer Utensil Organizer

 My wife for years has wanted a kitchen drawer organizer.  We were still using the cheap plastic utensil organizer I had purchased in 1990 when I moved out on my own.  The biggest challenge was the timeframe.  I was busy making a bunch of other Christmas gifts and I didn't have much time to make it.  I planned to keep the construction simple with butt joints, glue and nails.  For it was, it didn't need fancy joints.

I was taking a woodworking class at Mount Diablo Adult Education (MDAE) and had access to machines.  My plan was to use machines to get the 1/2" cherry stock I purchase at Rockler cut to width.  For the length, I opted to use hand tools.  I wanted to have one side true and one end at a perfect 90 degrees and didn't trust the chop saw at the school to give me that.  As such, I cut the boards to 24" lengths via handsaw and used my shooting.  It only took 30 minutes or so to do the bulk wood.

When I arrived at MDAE, I had the wood all organized the same way.  It was then just a matter of ripping all stock down to 2.75" widths.  It went really quick - less than 30 minutes.  It would have taken me much longer by hand.  Normally I wouldn't mind doing this, but I was time constrained.

When I got home, I cleaned up the cherry burn marks from the table saw.  I also smoothed all of the interior surfaces with a hand plane.  I sorted out the specific widths I wanted and cut all the various pieces to length.  The beauty of this project is that it could afford some discrepancies in lengths given what the project was.  That helped quite a bit.

To make it easier to reach into the drawers, I cut some curves into some of the pieces using cross cuts followed by chisel, spoke shave, rasps, and sandpaper.  With that all done, it was a matter of glue up.  I was also going to be using nails to help secure everything in place and I predrilled the holes.

Glue up was a bit tedious but went well.  Only minor cleanup was needed with a hand plane to flush the bottoms.  Then, I glued and nailed on some cherry plywood for the bottom.  I didn't have time to finish it prior to Christmas.  I planned to finish it on 26Dec.  My wife liked the natural wood look and figured it would get a bit beat up from use no matter what, so she wanted it unfinished.  Happy wife happy life.  Oh, and my wife really loved this gift.  She didn't expect it and it was a pleasant surprise for her.  It took about 20 hours to make and the wood cost about $50.