Newbie checking in

[Patrick Nailon]

Hello all. Patrick Nailon, from Tustin, California.

I've just started woodworking as of December '07, so 6 months or so.

So far, I've built two desktop bookshelf units (one for my boss, one for my sister) and a floor model two-shelf bookcase, a tavern mirror that looks great next to our front door, and my latest project, a walnut writing table, featuring walnut plywood, solid walnut edging, a birch/oak drawer (with walnut facing, of course), and legs of MDF blanks glued together and walnut veneered.

I hope the pictures I'm trying to upload will be visible enough. Hoping to make new friends here.

[gary Zimmel]

Patrick

Welcome to the Creek...

Great looking first projects. Keep them comming.

[Brian Kent]

Patrick,

Welcome, new friend! You have some wonderful furniture there - a real feel for grain movement and proportion. Well done.

I used to work in Tustin - now in Riverside, CA - and love the Rocklers and Woodcraft in your area. I assume the Reel Lumber in Anaheim is as good as the one here.

Well, I'm glad you are here. There is at least one other member in Tustin. You will find tons of information and support at the Creek.

Brian Kent

[Patrick Nailon]

Patrick,



I used to work in Tustin - now in Riverside, CA - and love the Rocklers and Woodcraft in your area. I assume the Reel Lumber in Anaheim is as good as the one here.


Brian Kent

Brian,

Yea, I love Rockler! I was pleased to discover them and the great stuff they have. My daughter loves their rocking horse. She will ask to be taken there - what can I do? (My daughter, Athena, is 4 1/2).

My next project is the French Workbench from Chris Schwarz' book. Of course, I also have a hallway to redo in our new house. That's how I got into woodworking in the first place. I'll bet a lot of the members got their start the same way.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Patrick ....Welcome to the Creek! Wade right in the water's fine!

[Gary Breckenridge]

Welcome to the creek.

[Dewey Torres]

My next project is the French Workbench from Chris Schwarz' book.

Welcome to the Creek!
One of your first useful threads will be Pat Germain's "Dairy of a Madman's Workbench". He is building the same French workbench as you. Enjoy:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ght=madman%27s

Dewey

[Jim Becker]

VERY productive for a noobe! Welcome to the 'Creek, Patrick! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work, too.

[Alex Yeilding]

Very nice looking work, Patrick. And I don't just mean "for a newbie".

and legs of MDF blanks glued together and walnut veneered.

Can you elaborate on what this is? I think of MDF as a good substrate for veneer where it is not load-bearing. But I fear that it will be too weak for legs. If the legs of this table are of MDF, I'd suggest being VERY careful when moving it (this advice because I know someone so oafish that he recently managed to break a wooden leg on a table he was moving), and make certain that when you have carpets cleaned, floors mopped, etc., that the legs stay far away from water. MDF will suck up any water in the near vicinity and swell up.

[Pat Germain]

Welcome aboard, Patrick. As Dewey pointed out, I'm just starting the Christopher Schwarz French workbench. I hope you can follow along with my mistakes and successes. (I'm in a pause on the workbench right now while I setup a new bandsaw. I'll post some pictures of that endeavor in the General Woodworking forum.)

BTW, I grew up in Garden Grove, not far from Tustin.

[Grady Cowardin]

Those all look pretty darn good. A lot more than I could muster after a few months of tinkering. Welcome.

[Clara Koss]

great work... neat, professional.... nice color ...

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Welcome to SMC, Patrick. Nice projects.

[Brent Ring]

Thats alot of big projects in a short time window - awesome work as well. Do you have a day job? Welcome to the creek! This is the best group around, IMHO!

[Patrick Nailon]

Very nice looking work, Patrick. And I don't just mean "for a newbie".


Can you elaborate on what this is? MDF will suck up any water in the near vicinity and swell up.

Thanks for the kind words.

The MDF legs were in the original design (from a book that's at home, I'll put the name online tonight when I get home), so I built it as it was written. I purchased Ultralight MDF as it was available at my local lumber dealer. I don't know if it will be less structurally strong, but who knows? The legs feel very solid and strong and hold the table up well. I'm very careful with moving it (I carried it myself from the garage into the house, negotiating doorways and halls with caution).

As for the bottom of the legs - I modified the original design. Fearing that my table legs might come out a touch off in length, I drilled into the bottoms of all the legs, and put in T-nuts, and adjustable felt feet. So now the MDF never touches any floor, and I have great adjustibility wherever I put the table. As you can see in my picture, the table is half on a rug, half on the floor - with the adjustable feet, it's dead on level.