'Tis the Season

It's that time of year again: time to clean up the woodshop and get serious about making Christmas gifts. I love being able to spend time doing one of the things I really love - making gifts in my shop. I inherited a marvelous workshop full of tools from my father and now have the "technology" to make many more things than I used to. I used to have a band saw, router, table saw and a drill press. To that I've added a lathe, oscillating spindle sander, 12" disc sander, a scroll saw, a radial arm saw, a horizontal borer, a thickness planer, a jointer/planer, a dust-and-chip collector, a multitude of wooden toy parts, many plans (both 'store-bought' and those modified by my parents), and a wide selection of power sanders. And in the process, my original tools (band saw, router, table saw and drill press) were upgraded. My dad used to make some of the neatest toys I've ever seen - and he was a master at it. He took the time to make absolutely sure that all of his parts fit as they should, that they were sanded to perfection, and that they were finished in a manner that was safe for anyone to use or play with. Many times you'll see other toy vendors who sell toys made of pine: they're rough on both surfaces and edges, and being pine - prone to damage by merely standard play.

Dad worked almost exclusively with cherry (his favorite) or maple (a close second). He always told a customer that all of his toys had a limited lifetime warranty - he'd repair any toy returned to him - only limited to his lifetime. I've seen kids throw a toy my father made across the room, down the stairs, off the porch, what have you, and show virtually no damage. I've also seen some of the pine toys break because the kid rolled the toy across the floor! Sure cherry or maple is more expensive - about twice the cost of pine - but, when you compare that to the extended lifetime of the toy (probably 10 to fifteen times as long - at least), it's really a no-brainer. Dad had return customers from across the country and around the world - I know of at least some connection to Buckingham Palace for one of his "Large Trains".

So anyway I really treasure this time of year - not only do I really love making these things (I've been doing it for almost 40 years), but it also reminds me of my dad and the joy he got watching kids play with the toys he made. When it came to these toys, I think he was almost as much a kid as the kids who actually bought and played with the toys. For me, since I don't do the craft fair thing like he and Mom did, I get my joy from seeing the expression on the faces of the recipients of my efforts. Most times they are much more appreciative than the gift deserves. I'm not yet up to the standard of my father, and sometimes what I gift to others has some obvious (at least to me) flaws. I am improving with time, however, and I do more lathe work than Dad, I love the lathe - you can actually SEE the item taking shape as you work on it; turning is fairly easy to learn, but can take a long time to master.

One of the distinct advantages of this time of year comes as a result of the first step mentioned above: "time to clean up the woodshop". I do lots of DIY home improvement projects throughout the year and I tend to leave my tools in 'convenient' spots. Trouble is these spots are only convenient when you can remember where they are AND when they're in close proximity to where you're working. Since most of my Christmas-elf projects are located in the shop itself, and few, if any, of my year-round project are, most of the waylaid tools are NOT convenient for the seasonal projects. If I could just get myself to ALWAYS put my tools back, I'd be less likely to waste time looking for them when I need them. And with dozens of power tools, hundreds or maybe even thousands of hand tools, you can see where having things in unconventional places would get to be a challenge to find. I really enjoy finding most of my long lost tools again!

Well, anyway, to my whole audience of 2 or 3, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!