SITE MAINTENANCE IN PROGRESS
There’s too much to do!
Rob Brown
Looking back over the past 20 or so weekly columns I've written, I'm quickly realizing I haven't completed as many tasks as I wanted to.
I’ll give you a quick update on many of the projects, both large and small, from the last six months or so.
Thank Goodness for My Selective Memory!
Near the end of the column, while explaining how I determined what species to use for the top of a three-legged table I was working on, I mentioned that I was likely going to make a different top for each changing season. I also mentioned how that might be asking too much of myself. I literally never considered making a spring version, as I was too busy with cleaning up a winter storm and had too much on my plate already. I thought of making a summer top, but only for about 10 seconds one day in July. We’re almost into autumn now and I’ve still got too much on my plate, as we’re wrapping up the fall 2025 print issue and I’ve got two projects on the go in the shop. Paying customers always beat out projects for our home.
Thankfully, I’ve got a pass for winter, as that was the theme of the side table’s top when I first made it. Looks like I don’t need to think about this for a while, so spring it is. I’m zero for one.
A Kitchen Carving Party
We had an ice storm in late March, which brought down a lot of trees. Since no self-respecting woodworker can pass up free wood, I brought a lot home. Some of it got made into spoon and knife blanks. My wife and I spent a night carving in the kitchen. I carved a spoon and my wife carved a knife. Neither of us finished our little projects, but I had great hopes that we would eventually pick up these little utensils to finish them. Shame on me. Friday night is just around the corner, so maybe I’ll get out the carving tools and blanks. I think my spoon is still in the freezer. Zero for two.
Too Much Wood
In this column I explained how I harvested a whole bunch of storm wood and started the drying process. Even though I’ve done virtually nothing with any of this wood, I’m giving myself a bit of a pass on this one. I haven’t actively worked at least 99% of this wood, but it has been actively drying. I’ve checked on it many times, and it’s coming along very nicely. Good work, Rob. One for three.
Damn You, Moisture!
I made a simple desk back in April, though the drawers were sticking come June. I used a block plane to shave a bit off here, a bit off there, and had the four drawers all sliding smoothly. That lasted for about a month, and now one of four is moving freely and two are moving with a medium amount of force. The last one, you ask? I don’t use that one anymore. Who needs four drawers, anyways?
I’ll eventually get around to shaving a bit more material off three of the drawers, but there’s no need to rush into these sorts of things. I have no idea why, though.
When I do decide to reach for the block plane, I’m in luck, as it’s still right beside the drawers where I left it. Because the solution is still so close, I like to think this means I’m ahead of the game on this one, but I doubt anyone will agree. I’m one for four now.
Kitchen (Woodworking) Party
June 19, 2025
While discussing some of the kitchen items I’ve made over the years, and how much use they get, I happened to mention my son using a sharp knife to cut some cardboard into pieces so it could fit into the recycling box, but ignored the fact that the knife could easily cut through the cardboard and into the finish on our kitchen table’s top, not to mention the black walnut that makes up the tabletop. I made this table a few years ago. In the column I mentioned how one day I’d grab the boy and teach him a lesson – how to fix a deep scratch in a tabletop. Over the summer break would be a great time for this, but that’s come and gone and the scratch is as deep as ever. One for five.
I Can't See the Forest for the Trees
Last week I wrote about how I was slow to change my plane blades and how I was going to get into the shop and see about hand sharpening them, rather than spend close to $100 to have them sharpened or buy new blades. I promised to have that sorted out by early this week, but as you can likely guess, I haven’t done much at all on that front. That’s not totally true, though, as Jack Furst, one of our helpful members, posted a link to a video on how U.S. teacher and woodworker William Ng sharpens his planer blades. Not only did I watch it, but I’m going to use basically that same technique to sharpen my three planer blades. I’m just not quite sure when that will be. One for six.
Is it all bad?
No, it’s not all bad. I’ve been doing lots of other projects in the shop over the past few months. A vanity, a table, a small box and the majority of a set of six shoji screens have all been successes. To clarify, I say the majority of the set of shoji screens have been a success, but that’s only because they’re not complete yet. I’ll be back on those tomorrow.
I’ve clearly got a lot of work to catch up on. As I mentioned above, maybe Friday night will turn into a carving party and we can apply a first coat of finish to a spoon and a knife. Let me know how far back your “unfinished list” goes.
What Season Is It?
This is the “winter” top I made when I first built the table. Maybe I'll make a spring top for it during the winter. No promises, though. This project will appear as a complete project article in our Fall 2025 issue.
Right Where I Want It
I used this little block plane to shave a bit of wood off the drawers a few months ago. Although the drawers are now sticking again, I know where my plane is when the time comes to rectify that problem.
That Hurt
The large scratch is well through the finish and into the wood. The smaller scratch is more surface damage. Both hurt me, though. Refinishing this top will give me the chance to fix a few dings and dents, too. In due time, of course.
September 4, 2025
Last modified: September 4, 2025
Rob Brown - rbrown@canadianwoodworking.com
Rob is the editor at Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement and a studio furniture maker.
Hi Mark,
If spoons are left out they will dry out fairly quickly. If that’s what you want, great. But if the spoon isn’t completely carved and you don’t want it to dry out, pop it in a Ziploc bag and into the freezer. It also doesn’t grow mould in the freezer, which can happen on larger pieces especially, like green wood bowls. It can happen on smaller items too. Think of a freezer like a ‘pause’ button for working green wood.
Keep up the good work with making your wife spoons!
The truth hurts sometimes! I understand what you are going through. My wife claims I have the same gift of too many projects not finished. My projects are not building the beautiful pieces like you build. I have several todo lists somewhere. I almost always put a date on a todo list when I make them. Sometimes I find one dated a few years ago. So I update that list marking off the finished ones and then wonder why some were on the list. I do forget to even look for a todo list sometimes and just start a new project that suits my preference for the day. I am 81 and still work part time at a big box store.
I made a first foray into spoon carving in August, with a cherry wood spoon for my wife’s birthday. She was happy with the result and I may do some more. Just curious about the kitchen carving party… what is the reason for keeping the unfinished spoon in the freezer?
Rob, I am commenting on your war with moisture and stuck drawers. I installed two new cutting boards in the kitchen cabinets two winters ago and, come summer, one of them was stuck so I spent tn\he better part of the summer destructively trying to find and remove the spots where they were sticking and eventually “succeeded”. All was well until this summer when both cutting boards stuck. I decided not to repeat last summer’s adventure and just leave them pout about 5cm or so. I hope that they will return to normal in the winter but, if not, some day I will try to fix them again. PFFFTT! It is comforting to know that far better woodworkers than me have similar problems – including not putting the tool back where it belongs. Oh phooey.
Thanks for making me feel less guilty about what I haven’t done!