Who would want to work if they could just sit around and relax? One eighty year old man from New Brighton, Pennsylvania, chose to work instead of relax. According to an article entitled Building hope by Brian David of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Richard Bischoff got involved in a church woodworking project to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. The easy woodworking project involving constructing benches and tables created infectious enthusiasm and energy and helped both the hurricane victims and the volunteers who did the construction.

Richard Bischoff had retired and settled into a lazy lifestyle. He had traded his truck in for a small sedan and put an easy chair in his home wood shop. He spent so much time sleeping in his easy chair his wife started to worry about him.

But then, he got involved in a woodworking project started by another man named Jim Moose. The Western Pennsylvania Table Project was started in response to the need for furniture in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Moose designed a simple, yet sturdy and elegant table with two benches with kits so that volunteers could build them with limited training. Bischoff met Moose and the two men fed off of each other’s enthusiasm. Bischoff then started a table and bench construction program at his Presbyterian church.

The enthusiasm of Bischoff and Moose soon infected other members of the church. Two other men from the church helped Bischoff get the church wood shop set up. Soon they and several others were spending Saturday mornings in the wood shop constructing the tables and benches. One volunteer named Loraine McGown had no previous experience with woodworking but now considers Bischoff her mentor and gets reward from the work.

By March 14 of this year, they had their first eight sets of tables and benches ready to send to New Orleans. This obviously benefited the hurricane victims who needed the furniture but also the volunteers who created them. Betty Bischoff, Richard’s wife, worked with him in the wood shop and was glad they could become active together. Other members of the church have also enjoyed and grown from the project.

Easy woodworking projects such as this can get people motivated to work and leave them better for it. Who says retirement means sitting in an easy chair?

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Thomas Cardella is a junior at Bisbee High School who has taken woodworking since his freshman year. He is currently working on an octagonal-shaped stool made of ash and pine with walnut inlay. He says he enjoys the creative aspect of the class and being able to make something out of nothing. He also plans to continue his woodworking education at a junior college after graduating high school.

This case points to the value of woodshop in high school through its tie-in with geometry, pointing to a future vocation, and appeal of the class to both boys and girls. Cardella stated that he saw the value of studying geometry when he worked on the octagonal stool’s plans and had to think in three dimensions. The same can be said for any student. The woodshop work also seems to have pointed to a future career for Cardella, who says he is more of a vocational student. Cardella’s teacher, Darrell Thompson, has also stated that his class does not appeal only to boys. He says that 90 percent of his students were girls two years ago.

In the case of the school system in which Thompson teaches, a higher number of credits and electives needed to graduate should help keep woodshop in school. This may be true of other school systems. Thompson says that when the school district dropped the number of needed credits to 21,  it was expected that more students would take technical classes, but they did not. He thinks raising the number of credits and electives will keep his class alive.

Thomas Cardella is one example of why woodshop classes should not be cast off and that increasing the number of credits and electives needed for high school graduation may keep students coming. Like art and music classes, woodworking classes are shrinking from American schools but need to be kept around.

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Here’s my birdhouse, in the “shop” and on the tree.

I’ve been writing all of these articles and learning a lot about easy woodworking, but until now I had not done a project of my own. However, I recently purchased a large collection of woodworking plans from Woodworking4Home and began work on a birdhouse, a good first project. I then got the necessary materials, set up a makeshift woodshop, built the birdhouse, and got a great deal of satisfaction out of it.

I bought all of the materials I needed at a local hardware store. These included two handsaws, drillbits, a hole saw for the drill, two C clamps, nails, and the wood. I already had a hammer and electric drill. I only bought one handsaw to start with and didn’t buy the C clamps at first, but after beginning the project I found that I needed them. 

Building the birdhouse was the most fun. I followed the plan that I had from Woodworking4Home, which was very detailed and easy to follow. The project is actually intended for someone to create several kits and have a group of kids put the houses together, but I just created one kit for myself and built it. 

At first, I didn’t have any C clamps, so I was just holding the wood plank with one hand while sawing with the other. It didn’t take long for me to see that I would need the clamps or a vise to hold the wood down while I did the vigorous job of sawing. My back soon told me that the typewriter desk is a little low. I’ll have to get a higher table to work on soon. Because I used a handsaw, the edges were a little rough. I sanded them down with sandpaper, but that could only do so much. I’m already wanting a circular saw. 

After cutting the pieces out, I nailed the birdhouse together and painted it. It was great to see it come together and give it some paint to make it look pretty. It is kind of rough hewn, because it’s my first project and I used handsaws, but I’m proud of it and really did enjoy doing it. The act of creating something that will last is very satisfying.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely a start. I’m now practicing what I preach on this website, and I can say that I recommend getting started with easy woodworking projects to anyone who has an interest in the craft.

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A woodworking hobby can benefit not only yourself but many others around you as well. Take the example of Brian Peppel, husband of freelance writer Sarah Peppel, who used a beginning in easy woodworking as a springboard to more advanced projects which he shares with family and others. Like Brian Peppel, you can use your woodworking skills to create gifts by duplicating existing projects, creating wooden toys for children in need, and making unique gifts for family members that have special meaning.

Peppel has created projects by taking the measurements of what he wants to create and drawing up his own plans. In so doing, he adds his own touch to the project. On one occasion, he made a piano bench for his sister-in-law by measuring professionally made piano benches at a music store and then drawing his own plans. He also created a dollhouse shelf by studying one in a Pottery Barn catalog and drawing up his own measurements.

He has also joined a charitable organization to make wooden toys for children in need. His work with the Delaware Valley Woodworking Club has also provided extra wooden toys for his family. He has used the woodworking ideas that he has gotten through this work to refine and improve some of the toy projects by varying the wood types, finish, and design.

Peppel was also able to create a cutting board for his sister from a red oak tree that fell behind her house, thus giving her a unique gift that had a connection to her home. To do this, he had to first cut a section out of the tree trunk and let it sit and dry for a couple of months. Then, he milled the wood into rough boards and had to let that dry for a few more months to dry to avoid warping or splitting before he was able to craft it into the cutting board. This kind of preparation is something that all woodworkers can strive for.

Any woodworker can take Brian Peppel as an example of how to use your woodworking skills to create gifts by drawing your own plans from existing work, doing charitable work that can spill over to your own family, and being available to create special gifts for family that could never be bought in a store. In this way you can put your talents to work more for others than for yourself and reap the rewards many times over.

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“There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.” This quote from cinematographer Conrad Hall can apply to easy woodworking. As with anything else, you will rarely find perfection in wood. Some common wood defects that you should be aware of and know how to work around are mold-damaged wood, bows in the wood, splits or cracks, loose dark knots, and excessive sap residue.

You may find that some wood you have to work with has an unwanted bluish gray tinge. This is commonly found in woods such as pine, sycamore, and holly. This mold damage is caused by storage in an area that is too warm or not well ventillated. You can solve this problem by using the wood on a part of the project where it will not be seen or by staining the wood darkly.

You may often find a bow in a large plank of wood. This is also caused by a storage problem — one in which moisture was allowed to evaporate. In this case, the best solution is to crosscut the wood into smaller pieces. You may also nail or screw the board into place, but make sure the bulging side is facing out.

Splits and cracks are a result of wood that has been dried too fast. These must be taken seriously because they can not only mar the look of your project but also weaken its structure. You must work around these cracks or cut off and discard the cracked or split sections if possible.

Loose dark knots in the wood are another problem that you may encounter. Dark knots themselves enhance the beauty of the wood, but are a problem when they are loose. This looseness is a result of a surface dead branch. The solution here is to glue the knot into place and apply putty to it.

Excessive sap residue is another source of wood damage. It is caused by the tree being injured prior to its cutting. In this case, you should either cut or scrape the residue off and fill the indent in the wood where it was. 

One aspect of easy woodworking is being aware of common wood defects and knowing how to work with them. After all, imperfection is always to be expected.

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It is hard to find an ergonomic computer desk for less than $600. However, if you build your own according to one website’s plan, it will cost about $350. While this is certainly not cheap, it is cheaper than buying one and will allow you the satisfaction of building and using your own desk. According to the Simplified Building Concepts website, a simple custom ergonomic computer desk can be built with medium-density fibreboard and aluminum fence post in about five steps.

The main materials of the desk are medium-density fibreboard (MDF) for the top, Kee Klamp fittings and fence post for the foundation, and an articulating keyboard adjustable unit for the keyboard tray. Other materials include primer and paint for the top and screws for the Kee Klamp fittings. While the look of the aluminum foundation may not appeal to everyone, it was chosen for the simplicity of construction and does give the desk a modern look. 

The construction of the desk can be divided into five steps. The first step is to draw a plan for the desktop according to how you want it to look and what space you have available. This can be done on graph paper. The next step is to cut the desktop out of the raw MDF material. This can be done with a circular saw and high quality jig saw if you have curves in the plan. The third step is to attach the Kee Klamp fittings and build the base. Building the foundation simply involves cutting the pipe and using an Allen wrench. 

The fourth and fifth steps are paining the desktop and adding the keyboard tray. Painting the MDF is essential because it swells very easily when wet and puts off dust if it is not painted. Painting involves the three steps of priming, painting, and finishing. The fifth and final major step is adding the adjustable keyboard unit by attaching the sliding track to the bottom of the desktop and the rest of the unit to the bottom of the keyboard tray that is cut out of MDF. This will create a smooth-functioning sliding ergonomic keyboard tray.

By following the steps described and pictured on the Simplified Building Concepts website, you can build your own ergonomic computer desk without buying one. It is a fairly easy woodworking project that will give you a large amount of use and satisfaction.

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“The medium is the message.” These are the famous words of scholar Marshall McLuhan in reference to communication, but the same maxim holds true for any artform like woodworking. The type of wood that is used has a major effect on the look, feel, and durability of the finished piece. When considering wood for woodworking projects, it is important to consider the difference between softwoods and hardwoods and which type is best suited for a particular project.

Softwood constitutes the majority of wood that you will see in your local lumber or hardware store. Common softwood types that you will find for sale are fir, pine, redwood, and cedar. Because softwood trees grow straight and fast, softwood is plentiful and fairly inexpensive. It is great for carving and can show fine detail. However, it is not very durable and the large amount of sap found in some varieties of softwood make painting and staining it difficult.

Because of their relative scarcity, greater durability, and beauty, hardwoods are more expensive than softwoods. Common hardwood types include cherry, birch, ash, maple, oak, mahogany, walnut, teak, and poplar. They don’t grow as fast as softwoods and often not straight and tall, which makes finding good lengths for woodwork difficult. This is why they are not as readily available and are more expensive than softwoods. They also have more intricate wood grain patterns than softwood and are valued for this by woodworkers who like to use them for furniture and other projects which highlight the natural beauty of wood. 

There are many factors to consider when choosing a wood type for a particular project. These include where it will be kept, what the piece is, whether it will be stained or painted, what kind of wood will be around it, whether intricate details will be carved into the wood, and your own skill level. For example, if you are planning a piece of outdoor furniture, teak is a popular choice because of its weather-resistance and the beautiful patterns created by its wood grain. On the other hand, if you are just beginning with an easy woodworking project, balsa, plywood, or pine may be the best options because of the ease with which they can be worked.

Softwoods and hardwoods differ in their consistency, availability, and expense and their strengths and weaknesses should be considered when planning a woodworking project. Remember, all woods are not created equal.

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