A New Year and a New Beginning!

So it has been almost two years since my last post. However, A LOT has happened since then. I was notified that my National Guard unit would be deploying. That led to 5 military schools, mobilization training, and then a plane ride across the world. After several months in country, I found myself on a Medevac heading back to the states and now, several months after that, I am looking at a medical retirement. As a part of deployment, my workshop got mothballed. Now, I’m ready to begin rebuilding the old shop and look forward to the sounds of various motors as new shapes are revealed in the wood.

Initially it will only be a little bit here and there. I have discovered that the old shop needs a lot of adjustment and changes. First, there’s the fact that when I first started, everything centered around a 4 x 6 foot stand up table.  Over the years, as new equipment came in and my style evolved from general handyman to woodworker, the old shop has become less and less functional. In some cases it even hinders projects.

So what does all this mean for the Homemade Workshop? The first project will be a complete overhaul of the shop to become more organized and functional. Then we’ll jump right in to various projects. Some will be simple and quick projects like turning a pen or building a desktop humidor. Other will be far more complex like building a new screened in deck. The goal of the Homemade Workshop is to explore all facets of woodworking and the day to day projects that find their way in to our shops. As I am a hobbyist, my shop may turn a peppermill today, build a table tomorrow, rewire a lamp the next day, and sharpen lawn mower blades at the end of the week. But each project is an adventure. If done right, even the most mundane of task will build skill which translates to better and finer projects in the future.

Along with changes will come a strong use of Google Sketch Up. Seen on many other sites, I have found Sketch Up to be an invaluable tool in the planning of projects.

Hopefully by this summer I will start adding video blogs to this site. We’ll see, my video expertise is in the sub novice level :) .