The last week has been warm here in Reno so I’ve had a chance to use my table saw to cut some full sheets of plywood for a bunch of projects. I’d post pictures of me cutting plywood, but that would be boring as the picture of cutting a 3/4 inch sheet looks a lot like a picture of me cutting a 1/2 inch sheet. Not that running wood through the saw isn’t exciting — it is. At the end of every cut I look down and hope I don’t see blood. As useful a machine as it is, the thing scares me each time I use it.
I’ve been making bench tops and shelving for some of my storage projects and most of what I did on the table saw went into my new shop cabinets:
The center unit of my cabinets now has a top and that hole in the wall will soon be pegboard for hanging tools. The two tall units on the sides only came with two shelfs so I’ve cut a few more:
For now these will be used as adjustable shelves, but the long term plan is to make these pullout shelves so stuff doesn’t get lost on the back of these deep cabinets.
Out in the shed I made a new bench top for my marquetry bench:
A year ago I bought this rolling metal frame to use as a movable bench and drawer unit. I’ve cut some of the plywood parts for it and have started to build it out:
And finally, I’ve completed six of the eight birds in set one and cut out enough blanks to get started on the set two of eight birds plus some Christmas ornaments.
That thing in the lower left on the green mat is a scalpel that I bought at a quilt show. It has a number 11 blade and I use it to cut veneer for marquetry and the blue tape I use on the blanks. I did get a new magnifying lamp for the scroll saw, but failed to take a picture of it. It is much better than the one I had.
That’s it for this week. If you need me, I’ll be in the shed.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Really great work, specially birds.
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Thank you.
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The birds look great
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Thank you.
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My brother is a carpenter. I wish I was talented with wood too! Unfortunately, I don’t do well with power tools. Something always gets cut and it is usually me.
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Tools can do that. I cut myself more often than I’d like to admit.
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It’s nice to see you back “in the shed.” I feel like it’s been a while, but I’ve also been away from blogging for a while. You are amazing! Those birds are so beautiful! Also, you won’t have to worry about looking down and seeing blood, if you’ve never looked away from the saw to begin with! I know you were being funny, but the imagery… eesh! 🙂
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I haven’t posted about the shed in a couple of weeks and the saw I have has that safety feature where it stops if I touch the blade so the chances of seeing blood are low, but it still scares me.
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Ah, yes, I remember the hot dog safety demonstration. 🙂 Understandable that it’s still scary.
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Wow, you’re getting a lot done! The pull-out shelves are a great idea – that’s the first thing I added to the kitchen when we moved into our new place. I built shallow trays and installed them on the slides instead of flat shelves, though. There’s nothing more annoying than congratulating yourself on having roll-out shelves, only to have items slide off the back of the shelf when you pull it out. 🙂
Table saws scare me, too. Even when I’ve taken all the precautions, I still have this shivery fear that the blade is somehow going to leap up and cut me. Wasn’t it you who did a post on the saw blade that won’t cut skin? Did you end up getting that setup?
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I had some pullout shelves in my last shop and really liked them. And yes, they do need to have sides.
My table saw is a saw stop that has the safety feature so I should be safe. Still it’s a big powerful machine that looks scary. In reality I likely injure myself more with my hand tools than the scary saw.
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You always impress me with your talent and abilities, Andrew, but I am truly “wowed” by your ornaments. They speak to me! 🙂
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This bird project is a lot of fun to make.
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I really like your Christmas decorations, Andrew. You have done will with your work bench too.
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Thanks – I enjoy the work.
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I’ll email my street address so you know where to send the birds, Andrew. Please get them to me shortly after Thanksgiving. Really enjoy watching the workshop come together one piece at a time, Andrew. Curious – do you listen to music or podcasts while you work or does the “music” of your woodworking suffice?
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I’ll look out for your email … 😉
I tend to listen to music in the shop when not running the noisy machines. I keep thinking I’ll listen to podcasts, but I never do. I bought a bluetooth speaker and play music from my play list on my cell phone.
Mostly I listen to 19th century sea shanties, the Beach Boys and Simon and Garfunkel. But I have to say that there’s nothing like a good sea shanty when you’re working hard.
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Everything is coming together so nicely! I love seeing your shop! When we moved to a house from a small apartment, we had some cabinets built for my studio/office room. I made sure they were deep so that I had room in the front of the shelves to ‘tuck stuff quickly away’ when I wasn’t working on it. It has really worked out nicely, as it is like having a combination of a cabinet and closed shelf as well. I have (after about six years) stayed on top of things. If things “collect” in the front of the stored things, I clear things and put them in their place regularly. It is easy to keep up with and keeps a neat place to work. It took a year or so of adjusting the shelf heights to my needs. I call this ‘settling in’. Once you get a workflow, it is easier to figure out your needs. So having them moveable for now I think is good.
The birds look brilliant! I can’t wait to see them painted either. I am glad you enjoy making them! 😀
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My theory on storage is that you always get it wrong the first time so I make everything flexible. After a year or two I’ll get into a rhythm and likely will rearrange things to match my process.
The birds are a wonderful project. I might not be the one who paints them though. My wife and her family are eying them for painting during a family “art project” night.
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The birds are going to be really lovely!
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I think they’re going to be great.
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I can’t decide whether to steal those bird ornaments now or after they’re painted …
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Do wait till they’re painted … they’ll be much nicer then.
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To this layperson, everything you’ve talked about on this post looks spectacular. Lucky wife you have!
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and I’m lucky to have a wife who lets me indulge in all this sawdust making.
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You really are a gifted woodworker. I’m always impressed!
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Sometimes I even impress myself. 😉
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I think Bob enjoyed creating studios as much as he did making art. I see he is not the only one.
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Yes, a big part of the fun is creating the workspace.
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