Aestivating…

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Aestivation or æstivation (from Latin: aestas, summer, but also spelled “estivation” in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar tohibernation, characterized by inactivity and a lowered metabolic rate, that is entered in response to high temperatures and arid conditions.[1] It takes place during times of heat and dryness, the hot dry season, which are often the summer months. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestivation)

Things picked up with work, and with the temperature and activities. As a result, the shop has been very quiet. I’ve been relaxing a bit, catching up on podcasts and reading – as I’ve been working on some jobs at remote sites. I’m slowly working my way back into the shop now – refinishing a beach umbrella table that we use when we go to the beach – and there are some new project kits at woodcraft that I’m assembling (pump action pepper grinder and a paddle shaped ice cream scoop).

I hope everyone is enjoying there summer as well!

Happy 4th – what a great time

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We got away for a while, and spent time with our grand kids. Life is good. Just before vacation, I captured an imperial moth which laid eggs. While we were out, the eggs hatched – so I’m trying to raise them on maple leaves (they seem to prefer those over the cherry leaves).

Mommy moth her eggs... hatched... and growing!

Router Cabinet Drawers are in

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photo 2 (30)I finished up the drawers this past weekend. The cabinet has just a few items left (cover for the router bay, decisions about the center drawer slots… but the unit is back in service! (read this weeks update here)

Nice to get the shop back into working order. In addition the old cabinet was disassembled for scrap, and I’m reusing some of the hardware in other projects now.

New Arrivals to the shop!

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photo (18)I had planned to do an un-boxing type of post – however, I’m impatient, and I’ve been looking forward to these for a while now. I’ve been using a 10″ carcass saw that I got from Mark Harrel (BadAxe Tool Works)some time back – and I absolutely love it. I had a 16″ and 14″ tenon and sash saw that I got from Lie-Nielson, but I always went back to the carcass saw at my bench. There was something about the way the saw worked for me that I just can’t put my finger on. I don’t know if it’s sharper (Mark sharpens the saws for the wood I use – mostly cherry and white oak) or if its the handle, or the hang, but the BadAxe saws just feel better.

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Clearing the workbench

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I’ve got a confession to make. I made a mess in my shop. And I let stuff pile up on the workbench as I was doing it. The end result is simply that I had a lot of reasons to look for excuses not to go into the shop this week (memorial day, work, nice sunny days outside, no room on the bench to do anything quick, etc.). yesterday I finally got back in there and cleaned out the top drawer in the table saw cabinet, so I could re-install it. That made a significant dent in things. Today I plan to get the partitions cut for the router cabinet, and start to cut the dado’s to do the assembly. I need to glue up two panels for dividers, and I may even get that done as well.

What really got me thinking was how useful my workbench can be, when I don’t have it cluttered up. I don’t know if it’s just me, but a clean workbench is much more efficient – I can just go in, do a job and be done very quickly. Perhaps it’s too late for a new years resolution, but I’m going to start a new months resolution to keep my work bench cleaned off. (And while I’m at it, the table saw/router top as well). If I can break the habit of just piling stuff on horizontal surfaces in my shop, I suspect I can be a happier more productive woodworker.

How about you? Do you find it easier to keep a clean bench, or to let stuff pile up until you need to use it?