In fact, I didn’t take one shop class in school. In high school I was more likely to be studying or playing on the football field than in the school’s wood shop. I’ve never had an interest in woodworking until now. This has all come out of left field, really. I used to lie awake in bed thinking about a big story I was working on, or an upcoming important interview for an article, but now I lie in bed and imagine gluing up a rustic barn board tabletop, and sanding it until the old saw marks shine through. I’ve built a career as a successful investigative journalist, newspaper reporter, freelance writer and photographer, but lately my passion has begun to veer into woodworking. But I learned an important lesson there is more to know than how to measure, cut, glue and finish. And behold, a set of maple coasters with an oak accent strip on one side was born. Later that week I went to the woodshop and re-sawed the maple in half on the band saw, then cut them into four-inch squares. My heart sank… but quickly rebounded when I realized I could repurpose the wood. It was then I learned oak is a bad choice for cutting boards because of its open grain. I glued them up in my basement, and as I waited for the glue to dry, I went back online to watch some more videos on properly finishing cutting boards, and a video title caught my eye: “Using the Right Wood for the Right Project.” Still unsure around the big equipment, I bought a few pieces of wood from the local hardware store, which were square, flat, and the right dimensions for the project. But being surrounded by my father’s impressive woodworking equipment, including his thickness planer, jointer, table saw, router table, and myriad of sanders, I wanted to go beyond simple shelves.Ī few weeks later I tried my first real woodworking project – a set of cutting boards made of maple, with an oak accent strip down the middle. I took the old garden boards to the family farm near Orangeville, about an hour north of Toronto, and spent a day sanding them and getting the edges squared up in my dad’s woodshop. Thanks to the electronic brain behind the scenes, YouTube quickly decided woodworking was indeed a hobby I should pick up, and it began suggesting other related videos: Build a rustic coffee table! Try this end-grain butchers block! Your friends will love these unique magnetic bottle openers! Later that evening I went to YouTube and looked up some woodworking videos to help with the restoration, and what started with a basic introduction to various stages of sanding and what grit to use, morphed into a two-hour binge session on sanding, staining, and finishing wood. Much to the chagrin of my wife, I cleaned off the boards and stacked them on the back porch. “This would make a really interesting shelf,” I thought to myself.
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