Olde Tool Workshop

This weekend was very busy. I am about a week behind my original schedule, as I just finished installing the subfloor (actually I still have a few cement screws to put in). I would like to thank my brother, Berry, for helping me with this difficult job. We had a very lively discussion on the best orientation of the subfloor panels, but somehow we managed to get them installed.

I just bought some recycled white oak flooring for my workshop. It is solid 3/4″ x 2 1/2″ from our local Habitat for Humanity store here in Raleigh. I paid $1.50 / square foot, this is very straight grain premium grade flooring on the cheap. Best of all, no additional trees were cut to give me a comfortable and beautiful floor. I plan on sanding the old finish off, putting a light stain and then applying a single coat of poly to raise the grain to make the floor a bit less slippery. This treatment is like the one Chris Schwarz mentions in his ATC book regarding his shop floor.

I finally emptied my old office this weekend. This is the space for my new “traditional” workshop. Now that it is cleared out, I am on schedule for painting the walls and installing the new flooring. If I can find a deal on some nice maple flooring, I will use that, otherwise oak is my second choice.

My next steps are:

1. Rip out old carpet and padding
2. Paint
3. Prep concrete for subfloor
4. Install vapor barrier
5. Install subfloor (Hopefully to be completed by the end memorial day weekend)
6. Purchase flooring
7. After a week of acclimating, install flooring
8. Finish floor
9. Move in

I know this is not really a woodworking project per se, but it will allow me to be more productive and by being in the house, more inviting. I know my cat will like it. He loves to roll in wood shavings and then track them all through the house. My wife does not like this, but we tolerate it, as it is a small price to pay to have a happy cat.

Well I’ve done it; I’ve gone and finished another project! This has been a pretty long project but I am really pleased with the results.

Background:

Over the winter holiday break I decided to get off my very-rested posterior to make an Anarchist Tool Chest or ATC (see Chris Schwarz ) of my very own. This would mean making a LOT of dovetail joints. My dovetail experience up to that point had been confined to Roy’s one-day dovetail class at the Woodwright’s School (which was great) and a couple of practice pieces that I had done on my own. My trial attempts were pretty pathetic, but at the dovetail class I had a hand-tool epiphany: Sharp tools make all the difference in the world! I know this is a simple concept, but until you have experienced the joy that is using a good, sharp chisel, you have not lived….or at least probably not been successful at dovetail joints.

One of my favorite places for purchasing old tools is located right here in central North Carolina. The store’s name is “Antique Woodworking Tools” and is run by Ed Lebetkin. Ed is very knowledgeable and very friendly. He has a huge array of hand tools in stock. His store is located above Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and if you sign up to his mailing list he will send you his store schedule. So if you are ever in Chatham County N. C. near Pittsboro, do yourself a favor and stop by his store and you too may leave with some new “olde” toys. Also, Ed does buy as well as sell, so if you have tools you do not need, or want to offer up for store credit, make sure you bring them along as well.