The Greatest Gift

Sometimes the greatest gift you can receive is the freedom to pursue your dreams. For years I had wanted to build things, but I was hesitant to take that leap. Then I met my husband. He has always supported my dreams and once he learned about my secret dream, he decided I needed to stop talking and start doing. He got a tax return and had a little extra money and he wanted to make this happen. Robert told me his plan to buy me tools. I was told that I had no choice but to take the $$ and get all the "toys" I wanted. It was not a lot, but enough to open up this whole world of power tools to me.

I would never have done it without him pushing me to do it. I got myself my first table saw and router table, miter saw stand and a new brad nailer. I love that brad nailer....anyway....I also had gotten a jigsaw from my mom for Christmas so I was in heaven. Obviously I didn't buy top of the line, but rather found the nicest base level tools. Until I got my skills up, it would be a waste to go straight to high end.

I got some scrap wood and started practicing. I found many how-to videos online which was essential to learning to use the machines safely. There are a lot of dangers if you use them incorrectly or try to make them do something they are not designed to do.

For my momma friends who wanted to know what tools I am talking about. Let me see if I can help fill you in on these tools. The Circular Saw - This is handheld and can be one of your most useful tools. You can adjust how deep of a cut you are making as well as adjust it side to side to make angled cuts. For those of us starting out, use a straight edge to guide the saw. It makes life SOOO much easier.

Some things I learned.... For a year I avoided using this because it kept binding (getting stuck and not cutting) until I learned the most important trick. Don't make a deep cut with only one pass. I can't go in a straight line so I used a fixed guide. This means I can make multiple passes easily. When cutting something 3/4 of an inch thick, make 3 passes at 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch and then the 3/4 inch. If you do, this will run through the wood like a hot knife through butter. After learning that, I have decided to love this tool after all.

The Table Saw - I got this basic model of bench top table saw. This is great for cutting down large sheets of plywood and for ripping and crosscutting boards. Ripping is making a cut with the grain of the wood and crosscut is across the grain. This is very helpful for making a board the exact size you want it to be.

You can make a 45 degree cut with this and there are plenty of jigs (Templates or other helpful tools that assist you in making a repetitive cut) that you can make for this saw. I would love to upgrade my table saw. Its the one tool I feel limited with based on the model. It doesn't have a very large surface so its harder to balance a large sheet alone (I end up using the circular saw because of this) and I want to use the guide but it doesn't let you go out very far which is not good for a lot of my projects. I would love to upgrade to a cabinet makers table saw or contractors. Basically more powerful and a much larger surface area and width you can do with the guide.

My Miter Saw - This is a very useful machine. Makes a nice 90 degree cut and can also be adjusted to any angle. I use this a lot for a mitered corner where 2 pieces meet at 90 degree angle so each piece has to be cut to 45 degrees. The top of the saw can also be angled to do the angle that way. I use this a lot to cut boards to length and I do make a lot of mitered corners because I like the look a lot. My miter saw is a simple one. Just up and down cut. There are laser guided and ones you can pull back toward you for longer cuts, but I still use my simple one for most every project. Some day I may upgrade, but I haven't felt it really necessary as I have with the table saw.

My Jigsaw - This tool is used to make many different cuts. I use it when cutting out a shape and especially when cutting out the inside of something. For example cutting a square for an outlet to show through the backing of my built ins. Or cutting the opening in the front of a birdhouse. Anywhere you might not want to make a cut from the outside of a board. I have also use it to shape one of my signs to look like a surfboard. Mine doesn't have a lot of power and I can't always get the cut I want. This is probably because I don't use it much and without the practice there is no way to perfect technique.

My brad nailer - You attach this to an air compressor and I can nail in brads (small nails with no head on the top so they are barely seen. Also called finishing nails) up to 2 inches long. This is great for stabilizing an piece for extra assurance. I also use this when putting on trim. The nails are so small they don't split the trim piece and they go below the surface of the wood so with a touch of putty they are unseen when finished. I love the power, I love the feel of it. Its one of the tools that fits my hand nicely. A lot of tools are build with a man sized hand in mind. Despite abilities, my hands are sometimes too small for hold a tool and feel totally comfortable.

And finally my router table - While I now have 3 different routers, at the time I only got this one. The idea is you put the router bit in the router and you run the board along the guide and it will cut the edge with the bit. I used this for decorative edges on my pieces. I plan on getting a new upgraded router table for Christmas this year. This one annoys me. It does a fine job, but I can never get its stable enough. The screws come loose at the corners from the vibration of the machine etc. But it works for small jobs. Nowadays I find myself using my fixed base router and palm router (also called laminate trimmer) for my projects because they are just easier.

I am so thankful for my husband who gave me this gift. The tools were great, but the gift of encouragement and a push to follow my dream hobby has been the greatest gift of all. He had to move around schedules and his time so I could be in the garage making sawdust. While out there, he had to watch our son and sometimes that meant he couldn't relax with his hobby. I'll talk about the balance of time in another post. Hopefully now when I mentioned some of my tools, the mommas who read this will be a little less lost. Obviously I have WAY more tools than just these, but they are the backbone to all my projects. Thank you Dear Husband of Mine!