cranky pants...

Re: cranky pants...

Bruce McCrory

Yup, it's no fun to be the one assigned to change light bulbs, even in table lamps.

The killer is when Mrs orders 24 fancy battery-backup bulbs from HSN-QVC upon some stupid sales pitch; and gets upset at me when they go dim after two months. There's forty years of other ridiculous stuff piled up.

Honey-do's are a fact of marriage.

Re: cranky pants...

Jack Dover

That "get something" list makes me feel we have married sisters. I'm getting requests to build like a whole kitchen over lunch time and still get feedback like "it looks okay, but it took you two days to build it! Ikea is 30 mins drive"

The shelf looks nice and it still takes skill to make something like that neatly and accurately. I think most people just don't know any better. They take Ikea as a golden standard in furniture making and are totally oblivious to the fact their furniture is optimized for mass manufacturing and has a lot of price engineering. I still remember being like this before starting woodworking, furniture just wasn't a thing, it was something like air or water, it was just there.

But after building a few pieces like this I realized there's still something there. An ability to build things quickly to specs gains some credits, so it's somewhat easier to discuss expensive equipment purchases. Accuracy is a skill that I believe is transferrable from power tools to hand tools methods of work and other way around.

Re: cranky pants...

Winston

Did you resaw all the 2x10's by hand? If so, that's what I'm most impressed by. Only someone who has actually tried resawing wide boards would appreciate what a feat that is.

Well, I'm also impressed that the 1x construction lumber looks pretty flat (assuming it stays that way).

yes...

David Weaver

..all of that was resawn by hand, but it resaws fast. Each pair of those panels is probably 10-15 minutes of sawing with the frame saw. I sawed one of the pairs with a regular handsaw but then went to the frame saw after that which isn't that much faster, maybe 50% faster, but there's no issue of the handle banging into the side of the board.

when you resaw by hand, you get a good sense for what resaws well and what doesn't. Slightly damp yellow pine generally resaws very nicely, and the dust comes out in like groupel shape (like snow that's not quite flakes, but little balls) - it's very pleasant. grain orientatin has a lot to do with it, too - being dead flatsawn with yellow pine isn't particularly helpful, but most of the yellow pine is closer to the pith.

As for the white pine boards, they are 1x10s - 3 for each two shelves. They rip like marshmallow, but the stock boards with mill finish were surprisingly not straight along the edges (not remotely close) and needed a fair amount of correction. I have this theory - they will move a little bit, I'll laminate half a board to each board and then plane them quickly and get everything screwed together before they can do much more.

They moved a little - I used the ones that moved the most for the sides.

The mrs. doesn't really care about any of it. I'm sure she likes this shelf better than the kitchen cabinets or the top and bottom pair that I made earlier this year. In her mind, chalk paint is tops. This paint is a more durable restoration type paint (if I ever paint anything for her with chalk paint, I spray a crosslinked clear acrylic finish on top of it to keep it from wearing. That makes it look like a regular paint and not very chalky, but I haven't gotten caught yet.

Re: cranky pants...

David Weaver

at some point, even having to throw all of this stuff together is easier than watching the list grow and hearing the complaints about the impossibility of finding something good either cheap or used.

There's another dynamic here, too. You get some basic commands about what's needed and then stop asking, because the demand resolution and detail will continue to increase. It's better to stop "data" from being added to the record about what's needed and get something built - if parts are unfavorable or not perfect, it still seems to be good enough to make the whole thing an issue that's off the table permanently.

Exactly my strategy

Jack Dover

I just ask for a rough sketch with dimensions which is then kept until final install, rest is up to my consideration except maybe paint color. There's just a singe aspect I'm very mindful about and won't ever compromise on: where's a thing will go. We have an agreement that none of "quick-n-dirty" projects should be seen by other people.

I'm still trying my best on every project though. A compromise could be made on construction methods or materials, but I always try to make it as much of an exercise as possible. Everything that could be dovetailed will be dovetailed, most surfaces will be hand planed, hand sawn, etc. Too bad 2x DF or white pine isn't suitable for any but simplest joints (still can't get even a moderately decent mortise in a typical 2x), but it's comforting to think that people had to do this for centuries with materials not too much better. I used to hang out in antiques stores pretty regularly just looking at old furniture and lots of pieces were obviously constructed under a direct supervision of a lady of the house. Today these pieces are revered by some, and who knows, maybe what you call "junk" someday will be sold in some store as an example of "old days' craftsmanship".

Re: cranky pants...

Henry (Raleigh NC)

David:

Yes honey-do (I hate that term) lists are a reality - and sorry that your wife does not appreciate your hobby. I'm very thankful that my wife does.

The results are great - as others have written this may not be a Fine Woodworking article, but certainly a customized project sized for a specific need - which is one of those huge advantages of being able to make it.

My wife has the patience of a saint - or at least has learned that pressure for completion results in an installed but incomplete project - that may never get properly finished. I have several end tables in our living room that look fine, but the tops have never been properly attached (!! - an embarrassment to write, but the truth!). She now understands that she will likely appreciate the results more fully when I have time to finish properly and completely. She does appreciate the results of custom furniture made for us.

Balancing acts are tough - glad you are getting through this without losing your balance. Keep at it.

Henry

man....

John in NM

You make me grateful to have just the relatively minor differences of opinion over design and construction that my wife and I do!

1. Her design aesthetic is different enough from mine that we often disagree. Less of a big deal to me with interiors and houses than with furniture. Don't know why, but I really hate building furniture I don't like, whereas remodeling I don't especially like doesn't bother me so much.

2. We have a different view of the appropriate amount of time (and angst) spent to make something look right. As you might expect, I'm more particular about this and less likely to say good enough. I think I've finally gotten the point across that I don't really care how others might view it later - I want to make it right because I think it should be right.

3. We're very lucky to have similar views of costs. You only pay once, cry once, and enjoy the result for a long time (or sell the house and let someone else enjoy it - we mostly remodel). Worth it to both of us to not cut the $$$ corners.

Similar aesthetics help

Jim Matthews

At least you're not rebuilding a house full of "shabby chic" or "distressed" furniture.

I try to keep in mind that the most popular furniture designer in the World works for Ikea.

Your stuff is tidy, built to a high standard and fit for use by the most destructive creatures on the planet - well fed children.

Remind me never to play you Scrabble for money

Jim Matthews

"Graupnel"

One of the seventeen Schweizerdeutsch words for "Get the shovel. "

I wondered why...

David Weaver

google didn't like my spelling.

It looks like the Americanized version is this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graupel

I rarely read, don't really know much verbal this or that, but know a few odd words. It's misleading.

Living in a cold area where there's a lot of transition precip (because it's cold, but not really that cold compared to really cold places), I remembered that word from a college meteorology general elective. It just seems so useful and much less effort than trying to explain the little balls that aren't sleet and aren't snowflakes. I'm not much for expanding vocabulary for no reason, but when it makes communicating lazier, I'm for it.

Ditto...

David Weaver

I attempted the line "i'm building it for me" a while ago when building something for the house and not surveying the mrs. on some of the aspects. Most of our friends may be able to identify a shop vac, but lots wouldn't know what it was called. Nobody comes in and examines minutiae or asks about it and that's the way I like it. (the mrs. prefers the white shelf over anything nice just based on color alone).

I guess times have changed with parental expectations. Sacrificial helicopter parents were the exception when I was a kid. Now, it's portrayed as the norm. We know a few couples where the dads are allowed to separate from the pack only to exercise, shower and sleep. I call them "great dads". "great dads" are put on a pedestal these days even though they're still outnumbered by us average dads.

"Great Dads"

Jim Matthews

I got a late start. I call these outliers "young Dads".

My boys are forever (unfavorably) comparing me to "Great Dads".

I remind them that diligent yard work and extravagant Christmas displays betray a lack of imagination and absence of interesting hobbies.

When the lamentations get loud enough, I suggest they see if the ideal family is adopting.

No takers, to date.

Re: "Great Dads"

David Weaver

Young dads is also a good term for it

Yard perfection and Christmas displays is an interesting point. Correlation exists here, too (great dads make the yard nice, but don't leave many foot prints on it after that).

Never thought about that.