My Woodworking Shops and Projects
My History With Woodworking and the DIY World
I have been a DIYer since I moved back to Denver after my first wife and I split in 1966.
I bought my first house in 1969, and since then, every home I have owned has been subjected to massive renovation. I’m on my fifth home now, and a finally reaching the limit of what I can do to my current abode.
Woodworking and, I must admit, my shop and its continuous evolution have been among my favorite pastimes since about 2010 when my friend BJ and I both attended a meeting of The Colorado Woodworkers’ Guild, and I became hooked.
I remain active in the Guild to this day, even though I no longer live in Denver, but rather, in Mexico. I have served The Guild as its webmaster since almost day-one of my membership, and as president for three years.
The albums below document my projects and my efforts to create ever more perfect a shop for this hobby.
Cabinetry – My first attempts at woodworking were cabinets: For my shop; for the laundry area in my last home in Denver; for the bathroom in the guest suite I built out in the basement of that home.
Furniture – My furniture projects range from VERY complex (a “Maloof” style sculptured chair, and a split pedestal dining room table with three leaves), to medium complexity projects such as mission style occasional tables, and bow-legged side tables, and zig-zag chairs from a 1930s architect, to some simple outdoor furniture.
Shop Jigs and Fixtures
This album shows some fixtures and jigs I made for my shop in Denver. Since I am now in a much smaller space in Mexico, this album is no longer anything but a curiosity.
Small Projects
No project book is complete without a number of small projects. These can take the form of something decorative, something useful, like jewelry boxes, or tea caddies, storage boxes for small items, etc.
Here are photos of small projects which fit the above description, many of which became gifts for friends and family.
My shop has undergone a number of metamorphoses over the years. Starting with a relatively modest shop it morphed to a truly professional shop when I was living in Denver.
When I moved to Mexico, I sold the vast majority of my stationary tools, and kept only some of the hand tools and power hand tools.
I have subsequently outfitted this new shop with a number of tools which at least approximated most of the functionality of my Denver shop, albeit on a much smaller scale.