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Old Technology and New, Both Can Be Frustrating
by James Glaser September 14, 2010 
Wanda bought a new computer and hooked it up to our wireless router here at the house. It worked fine, but all of a sudden none of our other computers could receive that wireless signal any longer. A little message square would pop up asking for a security code, but we never had a security code. We never needed one before, and we didn't have one. Needless to say it was frustrating getting that straightened out. It is a good thing I married a semi-geek. Well after that was taken care of a frazzled Wanda and I had a good day, but then she tried hooking up her new wireless printer, and the whole thing started over again. That was late at night, and she looked at me and said, "You should go to bed now." I did. While Wanda was working on the computer system, I was out at the studio working on old technology. My table saw isn't that old, but the technology inside it probably hasn't changed much since the 1940's. The saw cuts good, but the saw blade is not perfectly perpendicular to the table edge, nor perfectly parallel with the fence. What happens is your cuts start out fine, but the leading edge of the blade is cocked in a little bit and so your cut ends up a little shy of what you wanted. And that is frustrating. The saw was perfect in the studio I had in Tallahassee, but someplace on the move over to Madison something got out of kilter. Of course the instruction book is packed in one of the fifty some boxes of tools, patterns, glue, paint, and stuff. Lots of boxes of stuff. So, I did what every other woodworker would do with a tool that wasn't working up to par. I took it all apart and put it back together... carefully. I don't really know how I fixed it, but it is fixed, and cuts real nice now.
Lighting is important and so is dust collection, When I move the drum sander, I have to move the dust collector with it and then I have to think about where I am going to plug the tools in. It seems kind of complicated, but it really isn't and every woodworker I have ever met loves doing it. I don't care what kind of shop or studio they have, you come back a year later and some of the tools have changed positions. Sometimes it is out of boredom and some times it is just the need for a change. My new, my brand new studio is a lot smaller than what I had at Railroad Square in Tallahassee. But then it is a lot bigger than the shop I had in Northern Minnesota. Of course when it is -40 below and the wind is blowing, you are happy to have a small shop to heat. With the smaller shop, I am going to have to be more careful and inventive with my tool placement. I have already been think of culling the heard a bit, but it has taken my whole adult life to accumulate all the tools I have and I know I would miss whatever I got rid of. I can remember starting off with a skill saw, sander, hand drill, and a couple of saw horses. I made some fine things back then, but that was definitely the hard way. Now with this new studio, my mind is filled with projects I want to get done, but getting the work space tuned is the first step. So, here are some photos of the new studio. I wanted it to fit into the forest setting of North Florida and after being down here a few years, I wanted something with an enclosed porch that I could use as a gallery. It's not big, 24'x 30', but this is Florida and a person can do some work outside twelve months a year. I have great windows, which means I lose wall space to put shelves on, but hey, I'm in the woods and I want to look out at the wild turkeys, deer, wild boar, even the cardinals and lizards. Many windows mean cross ventilation, and that is a plus here in the summer. I plan to build a deck on the side where I have a sliding door. That way I'll be able to push my table saw out on to the deck and make cuts there. I know it will take a while to get settled in, but I like it already. |
When I was in the studio in Tallahassee I had everything set up just right, but that didn't just happen. I spent a couple of years moving this tool over here and that tool over there and then sometimes moving them back to their original position. It isn't just the tools you have to place, but the work surfaces you put parts on or assemble things on. When you move a tool, then you better move all the accessories along with it. You want the drill bits near the drill press and sheets of sandpaper where you are doing the sanding.
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