A WoodWork in Progress

Once I finished the side table from Steve Ramsey's course, I moved on to the next project on his list, the Harmony Bench. All of the pictures on the website of this bench had shown it being used as a true bench, sometimes placed in the garden, or in an entryway with a boot shelf nearby. I had another plan for it. It would be a long window-side table in the kitchen. The original course plan design was for the bench to be about 36 inches long. My window space is 70" wide, so I needed really straight pieces. I would also add some horizontal support in the middle, so the boards wouldn't bend. My version would need to be higher also so that it would be flush with the side of the window. The original design from the Weekend Woodworker course The lower shelf would be installed much lower than in the plans, so that it could actually be used as a shelf, rather than just a structural support. My wife decided on the finish that would be used. Because the wood I bought was simple pin...

I really got the bug at this point, and knew that woodworking was something I would be able to really pick up as a regular hobby. What I needed at this point was guidance. I needed a bit of training so that I could not only follow build plans, but use equipment correctly. I saw an advertisement on Facebook for Steve Ramsey's Weekend Woodworker online course . It was a bit pricey and the conversion to Canadian Dollars didn't help, but it included access to a lot of other build plans that I was interested in. So I asked the boss and we agreed I should do it. She has always let me buy things for my hobbies. For woodworking, she has encouraged me to buy any tools I needed. I signed up and watched the videos I had access to (released one week at a time). The first project was the Basic Mobile Workbench, which I didn't need. The next on the project list was the California Casual Side table. I didn't need it inside the house, so the intention was to make it for my wife to have...