Storage Units are Done

Many months ago, Norris started building stackable storage modules for the under-the-stairs closet area in Cheryl's quilting studio. The sloping ceiling did not lend itself to a single storage shelf system, so Norris built 7 individual units that could be aligned and stacked to use as much of the sloping wall space as possible to store some of Cheryl's batting and other quilting supplies. It was also a learning experience for Norris as he got some practice with many of his power tools and got to try various joinery techniques. Since this was a time-available project (which didn't make much progress during the colder winter months), it's taken a while to complete. This week, Norris finished up the seventh module, pictured below before it got its white enamel paint job. Its made of solid poplar.

Here the last unit has been lifted into place in the upper right hand corner and is ready to be loaded with supplies. Although you can't tell it in this picture, the white enamel paint was chosen to go with the rest of the furniture and cabinetry in the studio. Norris can now move onto more interesting and challenging furniture projects.

Woodworking results

Norris took a gift to his mother this weekend - a step he constructed of pressure treated wood to go outside her back door.


It may need a height adjustment but otherwise fits the requirement.

Norris almost returned with two additions to our household - a tortie

and her blue-eyed, big-eared companion.


Both kittens are temporarily with niece Sheri who can't keep them. Norris might have brought one home, but Sheri wouldn't separate them and he couldn't decide which one he preferred. But Moki is capable of unpredictable moods that result in scabs on Lu's nose. Lu is bigger than Moki and knows to avoid her - and we can intervene with cat pheromones that calm her down. The cats will be left in the care of their sitter for a couple of days coming up - it wouldn't be right to leave her in charge of protecting new kittens from a Mad Moki. Anyone want a pair of playful bundles of fur?

Cabinets Get Glued Up

As a follow up to yesterday's posting, both cabinets have now been glued up and clamped. Each cabinet needed 10 clamps to hold the joints in place while the glue dried.

Progress on Woodworking Project

Norris has been working on the first two parts of the shelving units we will put in the closet under the stairs. He has made some other projects in various classes, and has cut some wood for use around the house, but these will be his first start-to-finish projects in the garage shop here.

Here he is preparing to do his first complicated glue-up on one of the units.

Flame Azalea

After we had more of the area beyond the meadow cleared of the invasive Multiflora Rose this spring, we were able to enjoy a native Flame Azalea blooming on the far side. The one we had planted is just now in bloom, weeks later.


Click here to see what we showed last year - one of just three clusters of blooms.

Norris is disappointed in its diminutive size, but Cheryl thinks there is a promise of a lot more blossoms -


Visible in the background left in the second picture are two of the three walnut logs Norris got from the Fire Station clearing project. They are making an addition to the station to house larger vehicles.

Asheville Woodworkers meeting

Norris attended the Asheville woodworkers meeting Sat, which featured a shop tour and talk by another of Asheville's internationally-known woodworkers, Brian Boggs. Brian is known primarlily for his chair making. Although Brian just moved his shop and woodworking school to Asheville from Kentucky and many of his machines aren't set up yet, he was glad to give some demonstrati0ns of his techniques. Here is showing the group how he uses his industrial-grade overarm router to cut mortises in chair legs.

He also had a sampling of some of his recent chair designs to show off as well.

Woodworkers Association Meeting

On Saturday, Norris attended the monthly meeting of the Western NC Woodworkers Association. The meeting this month featured a talk and shop tour from famous woodworker Andy Rae, who has published a number of books and has written many articles for Fine Woodworking magazine and Woodcraft magazine. Andy is one of several famous woodworkers who live in the Asheville area. Here Andy (in the black T-shirt) is discussing the blanket chest on the right which he just finished for a future issue of Woodcraft magazine. He is standing in front of a fancy tool chest which was featuring in Fine Woodworking. Andy's puppy sleeps in the foreground, oblivious to all that was going on.

This is a wider view of his shop area. This is just a small part of his studio, which used to be a large auto service garage. His power tools and wood stash fill up most of the rest of the space.

Norris Goes to Woodworking Class

This past weekend Norris went to Columbia SC to take 3 days of classes from his TV woodworking hero, David Marks. David was host of the Woodworks show on the DIY network. Here David is showing the class how to set tension on the bandsaw blade in order to cut thin veneers. Following that are some other pictures from the class, including use of the router to cut the recessed areas for inlays and use of the scroll saw to cut out the small inlay pieces.

These are some examples of the wild finishes that Dave puts on some of his projects.

One of the major topics in the class was how to do router inlays and double-bevel marquetry. This is an example that David made as part of the class demonstrations. The inlay consists of three different types of wood. The shadowing on the flower parts was created by burning the edges with hot sand.

Fall Fog and Norris' Workshop

Norris headed off to work this morning and came back to get the camera. I needed it today so he just took me out on the main road into the development where we took this picture ...




and then up one of the side streets where we could see our own mountain (North Knob)

Just barely visible in the lower resolution photo are some brilliant scarlet trees on the slope we live on, in the distance. The red trees are the sourwood - which make the second best honey around.

And now to catch you up on last week. This was the predicament last Wednesday when Norris rented this van to deliver some cabinets for his new garage workshop. He had backed up to the garage and we had done the unloading - but who would have thought that a little rain would wreak such havoc: couldn't go forward without heading straight down the steep embankment of the driveway, couldn't back up due to the slickness of the rain on the pavement. The light colored streaks are kitty litter, our first attempt to add traction. (It didn't work.) I won't list everything else we did, but eventually, we dried off the tires with big old towels and loaded every portable but heavy object from the garage - plus Cheryl - into the back end, which helped enough to get the van back up the slope where Norris could turn it and take it down the driveway. Whew. We couldn't even figure out how a tow truck would get where it would need to be to pull the van back up (not quite visible in the photo - the landscaping shrub in the foreground is sitting on top of a a rather huge pile of rocks, so going over the edge on the near side is not an option.) My car is too light to be any use pulling, and Norris' jeep was at the rental place. Anticipating other problems of this type, we are now proud owners of some new equipment - straps and a come-along.


Here are the newly installed cabinets - there's one more to go on the wall to the right of the window (not yet delivered). The tall white cabinet is put together from two such pieces formerly in my sewing room. They suffered a lot in the move, but if we don't move this one again, it should serve Norris well for years to come.


And finally, here's Norris putting his new dust collection system together (part of it is on the floor in the foreground) using the table of his new "Stop Saw" to hold the instruction manual. The Stop Saw is the latest in table saws - the advertisements show how quickly it shuts off if flesh touches the blade. They use a hotdog for the demo and it comes out with a little nick. More expensive than your regular saw, but then, how much are your fingers worth to you?


Norris will not demonstrate the saw's stopping capability. If you invoke it, you have to replace some pretty serious parts of the mechanism - part of how it stops the whirring blade so quickly.

Also, just to the left of Norris in the background you can see our new screen doors! The deck was supposed to be completed this week, but alas, wrong parts were shipped and work slowed. We could have used the screened porch this week. It's been Attack of the Mad Ladybugs here in the woods. Desperate to find a place to hibernate, they land on us folks just trying to water the plants - they don't bite but they sure are annoying.