Beth and I have been quite busy this past few weeks tending to our mothers. Her mother is 97 and will be 98 should she make it till the 22nd of this month. We took her home from the hospital Wednesday and brought in hospice. Last night she was very weak but still managing a smile and telling me she was going to dance with me soon. My mom is in Assisted Living and we are dealing with dementia with her. But this is what a life brings as we reverse rolls and we now become the parent and take care of them.

Well with all the goings on and the push to finish projects at Christmas I walked out of the shop and last night was the first real time I got to just spend a little time in there. Boy did I leave it in a mess when I walked out. Not really like me but I did.

Yep, scrap wood and tools sitting around everywhere. So I didn't make anything last night but I did get it pretty well clean up. Well that's not really true either, I never got to the back bench. But I did get all of the scraps out and all the floor space vacuumed.

It made me think, If a woodworker or anyone else for that matter walked into your shop, would they think you worked in your shop, or you are a neat freak, or it was really only a place to collect tools, or does it look like the showroom floor at WoodCraft? They might just say mine looked like a tornado came through! LOL

Well I did get a couple of new additions for the shop over the holidays.

A new Bosch jig saw, a Wixey digital height gauge and a new Porter Cable 3x21" belt sander. I have just about wore out the Ryobi I had but I will still get a few more hours out of it.

I also got some dust collection hose from WoodCraft to hook up dust collection to my hand tools. Now I have been doing this, but dragging that 2 1/2" hose on the end of the ROS and Belt sander gets old. So they have this 10' hose that connects to the port on your hand tools, how ingenious!

And even to my SCMS.

There is an adapter I felled to order that will let the other end connect to your 2 1/2" shop vac hose or a 2 1/2" adapter on the dust collector.. I will be order two of those today.

I got to show you the Wixey digital height guage.

and if you look in the upper part of the screen not only do you get the decimal readout but also the fraction.

You can just see the 1/4" right at the top. Works great on the table saw and router table. As soon as I really put it through the paces I will get you a review.

So guys that is what has been going on in my shop.

Here is the question, "What's on Your Woodworking Agenda this Weekend?" I hope to get to spend some more time in the shop but right now it is day to day. But here at TPW we want to know, we have inquiring minds, what are your plans, are you working on a new project, home improvement, HDL, updating the shop, Cleaning the shop, still celebrating ANOTHER BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL, Roll Tide!!! or just getting ready for the NFL playoff and looking to the super bowl. Man there is so much to do and so little time, what are you doing? Share with us and we love to see pictures of your shop, your new additions and always the wonderful projects you are working on. Share them here with all of us.

I'll be checking in later so see what you are working on.

Till then make some sawdust.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Trying to finish a large picture frame for my Mom; finish the lathe steady rest; start a spalted maple platter and get started on a couple of "crush grind" salt/pepper blanks Mimi wanted for Christmas.

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

John, Your shop is well ordered and clean! Mine usually requires crime scene tape across the door. I should have a disclaimer posted at the door, and a place for signatures to absolve me of any liability for those who dare enter. 

Thanks for the heads up on the hose. 

You're gonna love that Bosch Jigsaw! But, I wish you'd have spoken up before you bought that sander. I could have saved you a ton. I'd like to get rid of mine. Probably less than 2 hrs on it. Great sander, but I really don't need all that much. Anybody out there who needs a real wood eater, drop me a line.

Wife's brother has been visiting for the last week. Taking him to the PHX airport tomorrow. We'll meet his son and our son and fiancee at Papadeuax's for a good Cajun meal before his flight. We may go on to Tucson after. In which case I'll get nada done in the shop. If we come back home Saturday evening, Sunday will find me continuing to dress pin oak and/or watching football.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Busier than a one armed paper hanger in a wind storm here.  I'll try to watch a little football but I have 2 cutting boards, a kitchen cupboard, a computer desk and two side tables waiting to be built.  Way too busy for a retired guy.!

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Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

John those are some fine looking tools. Like Gene said your gonna like the Bosch Jig Saw. I got mine before Christmas and I love the way it handles.

Wow you guys are gonna be busy this weekend and you make me feel like a slugabed because all I have planed is I have two Jewelry boxes to finish up, then I gotta clean house and get ready to take my Wife to the Hospital on Tuesday. She'll be in for three weeks getting the bone marrow transplant. 

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

Not much happening in my shop since this is the last week with my wife off work as she has to go back to the animals on Monday (she is a teacher). I treasure our times together so we spent a lot of time the past few weeks doing various things. Wednesday we both had doctor appointments so we could go together down to the clinic. We had to laugh as we saw a number of other couples doing the same thing. Then we we had a late lunch/early dinner and then spent some time walking around in the historic Old Town of Orange, CA which has a lot of antique stores as well as being surrounded with some amazing Craftsman, Arts & Crafts and Bungalow homes. We hit a few antique stores and then stopped at the Army-Navy Surplus Store that has been there since the1950's (my Dad used to take me there as a kid). I picked up my belated Christmas present which was an official Navy Peacoat which I have wanted for some time. It is a heavy beast but very warm and comfortable. Today we will be heading off to a museum for the day. I have a lot of stuff in the planning stages to get done in the shop so it is difficult to know where to start. Come Monday when my wife goes back to work I hope to have a plan of attack to make the sawdust fly.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

MIKE,

Prayers and best wishes for your wife!!

Hope it's all good and she is fine after the stay in the hospital.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Mike, your job is bigger and way more important than any project that we have or will have!

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Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Making bowls for friends this weekend, 1 is already done and listed here on the forum.

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Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

Plain and simple too much to get done in a one day weekend !!!! 

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Greg
Site host

http://www.thesawdustfactoryga.com/

Mike, we'll be keeping both of you in our prayers. 

Mike Dillen said:

John those are some fine looking tools. Like Gene said your gonna like the Bosch Jig Saw. I got mine before Christmas and I love the way it handles.

Wow you guys are gonna be busy this weekend and you make me feel like a slugabed because all I have planed is I have two Jewelry boxes to finish up, then I gotta clean house and get ready to take my Wife to the Hospital on Tuesday. She'll be in for three weeks getting the bone marrow transplant. 

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

Wife and I took her bro. to PHX and met his son John there for their plane trip back to St. Louis. He had been at medical conference in PHX and his dad stayed with us for a week. 
We called our son and fiancee in Tucson and we all met at Pappadeaux’s Cajun Restaurant for lunch.
Started off with 30 Blue Points, crawfish Bisque, and/or shrimp gumbo. John got stuffed Andouille sausage, which was delicious. 
Main course dishes were shrimp of all sorts, lobster tails and King Crab legs. All with sides of dirty rice. Some dishes came with green beans. All prepared in true Cajun style. 
I think the two mid westerners went home full! Don’t know how their stomachs fared on the flight, though. 
Today, I can get back to the shop, having slaked my appetite for Cajun food and in laws.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton