Woodworking Zen-David

I'm not sure how to put everything into a post like this, other than to just write down a few things that have been bouncing around in my head lately. My Wife has a very keen eye when it comes to if I am enjoying something or not... This is especially true of some jobs around the cabin. As far as my background goes with respect to woodworking, I have "no" formal training... Everything I know about wood, tools, how and what to use as well as being safe comes from my Dad. Growing up, I spent a lot of time following my Dad around the shop or the house either watching or helping out with projects, probably like a lot of people my age. My Dad, Who passed away in 1995 was a carpenter and cabinet maker for basically his entire life. When I was growing up my tool box did have what today may be referred to is the little plastic "Bob the Builder" type tools.. Plastic hammer, saw, drill etc... These play sets were quickly replaced with the REAL DEAL and under my dads supervision most play time involved REAL TOOLS. Of course, today if you were walking through your neighborhood and saw an 8 year old with a power drill or electrically powered "sharp thing" some may let out a GASP! and call the authorities.

When working on projects around the house or cabin, I constantly find myself being reminded of something my dad may have said in the shop or some trick that he taught me and am extremely fortunate to have inherited a huge shop of quality tools that I have a sentimental value. Unfortunately, many of these very special tools had fallen into disrepair or had become rusty in the garage. When not at the Cabin on weekends with the family, I've been spending a lot of time in the shop restoring them. With all the specialty type work being done on the cabin these cherished items will once again have life. This is the ZEN part of the building...Not simply putting two-by-fours together.

Quotes from Dad

"The most dangerous tool in the shop is the Dull one"
"The quality of the tools you use is very important to the quality of work that you can do, so if you are going to buy something, get the best you possibly can and it will last a life time."

"Always use the right tool for the job, if you don't have it, save up and get it."

One of my favorite past times when I was 8 was (one which I never got in trouble for and my Dad found to be very humorous) was my habit of drilling into the sawhorses he made. Yes I had my own set of mini saw horses and still use them today, over 30+ years later.

This is a picture of my saw blade carrier (super handy when dealing with so many different blades)

These were a gift presented to my Dad at his retirement. They are only used for the finest work and I wouldn't dream of driving these things into a piece of pressure treated lumber or other abusive job.

Interior Progress- Bathroom

Dave and I set out early this morning to install the laminate flooring that we scored at Lowes. It is recycled from a damaged return from a customer that did not care about the material. The top boards were a mess but the boards in the bundle itself were gorgeous.

I let dave lay a few pieces while I dusted off my camera. He did the cut and I laid the floor. We were a great team and accomplished it in only a few hours.

We moved all the really heavy furniture back in the room and I took a picture. Remember, most of this furniture was recycled from the dump or craigslist!

The next day after some sleep, I set off to painting the bathtub. Dave and I stripped and spray painted the feet the day before (not 100% sold on the feet color but the sink is copper).
This is our finished product:

Tomorrow we leave for the cabin again. Along with wrangling danes we hope to start some plumbing. We have done some ebay shopping over the last week and acquired ourselves a faucet. I had an opportunity for a tub faucet too but we kind of forgot to measure the fixture space so I dont want to getthem and have it not fit.

We also snagged ourselves some ceiling fans for the upstairs loft area. So once we get those in, i will of course post pictures!

history

My name is Lisa D and we decided recently to put this blog up to track our progress of building a cabin together with my family. We did hire a contractor to put in the foundation and to build the shell but we intend on finishing the house by ourselves and with the help of friends and extended family. Our intention is to continue the build using as many recycled materials as we can.
I will have to backtrack a bit to catch you up.

My husband Dave and I - together with our children- decided that we wanted a piece of land in the mountains and we decided that we wanted to build a house there. So in July of 2006 we located our spot and bought it. The lot already had an 800 foot well dug, as well as a 3 bedroom septic but there is currently no electric service, nor is there a well pump. There was a 10 x 20 hunting cabin already placed on the lot in which we intended on sleeping in while we figure the rest out. Our intentions are to keep this house "off grid" and apply no electrical services to the house whatsoever. We would like to power the house with solar/wind/water power only. We knew that it would take some time and that things would morph as we went along into what soon would be our heaven. Unfortunately, we did not plan on a blog, so we have to go back and show you what has been done previously.

So that brings us to the almost end of 2007

The interior:


The Master Bedroom Loft