Woodworking Talk banner

Greetings, from Louisiana.

1K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  Bulldog Louisiana 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone,

I’ve been lurking for awhile, and thought I’d finally introduce myself. I don’t know if I can call myself a woodworker yet, as I’m still working on my workbench. It’s not going all that well ☺. I’m from North Louisiana, and I don’t know anyone else who is into woodworking. I joined another group of forums and introduced myself, and kind of hoped to find someone close by, but that didn’t pan out.

I think I’m pretty lucky though, because a friend introduced me to a guy in my town that has a bandsaw lumber mill, 120 acres, and 3 big lumber sheds that are overflowing with some good lumber. He is also a great guy, and has offered me the use of some tools in his shop. He’s not a woodworker, but has some pretty good tools. He’s also told me that I could practice my woodworking on any of the lumber he has, but I’m more of a butcher than a woodworker at this time, so I’m going to pass on that.

He has an 8” Grizzly jointer, and a Woodmaster W718. The most interesting thing is this:

Logosol ph260 moulder.
http://www.logosol.us/planers/ph260/

I’m going to have to have to figure out how to clean up and use these tools ☺.

I’ve been spending the majority of my free time just visiting with him, and learning about lumber. I really feel blessed to have met such a great guy, almost like I won the woodworking lottery.

I’ve also been adding tools to my collection:

Rigid 4512 Table Saw
Milwaukee 5616 Router plunge/fixed
Dewalt 611 Router plunge/fixed
Festool Domino XL 700 – (I am not an impulse buyer, nope.)
Makita 12” Dual bevel compound miter saw
Milwaukee Circular Saw
Milwaukee 18v Fuel line of cordless tools – impact driver, hammer drill, multi-tool, circular saw, 1 handed reciprocating saw.
Bosch Jigsaw

I really need to finish my workbench. Then I plan on building a router table. I’m also planning on adding to my tool collection. I listened to a podcast by the fine woodworking folks and they made some recommendations for new woodworkers with a $2000 budget. In it they suggested that one of the must have tools was a good handsaw. They mentioned a Veritas backsaw, but I can’t find that on the Lee Valley website. My ultimate goal is to make furniture, primarily with power tools; however, It seems I’ll still need some good quality hand tools. Would someone be willing to suggest which Veritas saw I should start with? I have so many more questions to ask, but this is already a long post.

Thank you so much!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Welcome to this great forum filled with friendly and very knowledgable people. Sounds like you did bit the jackpot if someone is allowing you to use their tools AND their wood. Very nice!

One rule on the forum though - if you don't post photos then it never happened. Let's see your workbench progress!
 
#9 ·
I'll post some once the joinery starts. Right now it's more of a destroy lumber phase. I am following a plan from a starting woodworking video series. It's by Asa Christianson.

The plan calls for some grooves to be cut down some 2x4 stretchers. I bought the Dewalt 611pk kit and the cheaper edge guide to accomplish this. I couldn't get the edge guide to work well....too much play. My grooves were very wavy. A few wasted boards later and I decided to try a dado stack on my table saw. Sooooo much easier. I won't go into my attempts to drill holes for some all thread to use for the joints. Mistakes and dumb miscalculations were made.

I'll pay more attention when I get some more time this week. I'm having fun so that is good!
 
#3 ·
Welcome to the forum!!!!! There are a few members on here from Louisiana but they are all in south Louisiana that I can think of. I am an hour north of Baton Rouge by the Mississippi state line. If you are in the Shreveport area I know there are memebers in the Dallas Texas area also but I don't recall anyone from north Louisiana.
 
#4 ·
Hello and welcome!!!

I see no problem with you calling yourself a woodworker.

I call myself a woodworker and I have... let's see: :laughing:

Workbench
- Nope. The thing is bigger than my "workshop"!!!
Table Saw - Nope.
Router - Also nope.
Circular Saw - Maybe in the future.
Jigsaw - Same as above.
Planer/Thincknesser - Are you kidding me?.
Miter Saw - Probably.
Cordless Tools - I have an Oscillating Saw and a Screwdriver.

I call myself a woodworker even though I lack all these tools, because people did not had all these tools many years ago.
Did the Romans had them? Or the Egyptians? Or the Chinese? Nope.
Working to wood requires only basic tools and you can actually make something great even with "primitive" tools.;)
 
#5 ·
Welcome here to this very friendly woodworking forum, where there is always room for one more! That is quite an impressive collection of "toys", and hopefully you have operators manuals for most of them. Please learn about each one BEFORE you start any projects, and be certain you understand your limits as well as the tools. Hope to read more about your progress. Enjoy your stay, and be safe.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top