Q. What tools do you use?
A. I can remember getting my first set of tools as a young kid. It was one of those toy toolboxes but it contained small real tools. I have been collecting tools all my life and very slowly.
I worked for years a a bike mechanic, my Dad was a carpenter, and my Grandfather did a lot of body work and rebuilt cars.
Over the years I have slowly purchased a lot of used tools bought second hand, gifted from my Dad, or saved up and bought new ones.
For more information checkout my tools and gear page.
Q. How did you get started in woodworking?
A. I wrote more about this in detail on my about page, but I have always been tinkering with things. Taking them apart, putting them back together again. My Dad, Grandfather, and Shop Teacher were also big influences on me.
It wasn’t until I spent a few years working at a computer desk that I started to miss that feeling of getting my hands dirty.
I had stumbled across a video from Jimmy DiResta years ago and that got me hooked!
Q. What would you buy next and why?
A. That’s a tricky question because I am not trying to necessarily make money in the shop, I’m looking for what would save me time and effort.
I think that I would start with a table saw, thickness planer, band saw, a wood lathe, and then a welder.
Q. Which one of your projects surprised you and in what way?
I think it might be the Making a simple pencil holder out of Salvaged Walnut video. I shared this video on Reddit under a pencil group and got so many polarizing comments. Most loved the video but some were so insulted that I placed the pencils lead tip down.
I was causing micro fractures in the pencil lead.
Now I know I guess 🙂
Q. Where do you find your materials?
A. I first started finding lumber scraps from home renovations and eventually discovered some local furniture shops. After contacting them and asking for permission to dive their dumpsters it became a monthly thing.
Eventually friends of friends who knew people started to offer materials as well.
Anyone who works with found or salvaged materials will know that you rarely find materials that you can use right off the bat, so I have a large stock pile of small pieces of wood waiting for the right project or the right piece that it could be combined with to build something bigger.
Q. Do you use Imperial or Metric?
A. I use both when it suits me!
Inches for the long stuff and metric for the smaller things. I suck at fractions and trying to remember 1 7/16″ just seems a lot harder than 36mm.