[Inor]

Greetings from very rural SE Arizona!

I have been a hobbyist woodworker for about 30 years. I have done a little bit of everything from making reproduction 18th century furniture with just hand tools to cabinetry. My most recently completed project was my wife and I built a house. When I say "we build a house", I mean WE built it.

Attached are a few photos of the kitchen cabinets I made for the house. I was pretty pleased with myself for those because all of the doors are joined with old-school mitre and mortise joinery.

Since we finished the house last year, I have not had much time for woodworking because I have been busy building an 11X20 building for my wife to use as a She Shack. Since I am getting down to end of that project (just sheetrock, topping out the electrical and trim left), I decided it was time to start searching for my next project.

I discovered your forum while trying to bone up on CNC routers and what would it take to build one. I am not committed to doing that project yet as I am still trying to figure out if I would use it enough to justify the cost and, more importantly, the loss of shop space.

I am looking forward to getting to know ya'll and trading some sawdust war stories! :grin:

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Welcome to the forum Mike . That’s great looking work that you’ve done . I’m sure you’ll enjoy it here

 

[Inor]

Thanks for the welcome and the kind words!

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

Welcome to the forum Mike. Nice work. Not everyone reads the intros so you may way to start a second post in the CNC section and you can look back through old posts in that section and find some of those answers too.

 

[Old_Tom]

Welcome to the router forums family Mike. Hope you enjoy your stay.
Nice work BTW mate.

 

[difalkner]

Welcome to the forum, Mike! We're glad you're here and that's some really nice work y'all have done - very nice!

David

 

[old55]

Welcome to the forum Mike.

 

[Inor]

Welcome to the forum Mike. Nice work. Not everyone reads the intros so you may way to start a second post in the CNC section and you can look back through old posts in that section and find some of those answers too.

Thanks! I'll eventually get to starting some questions over there. For now, I have just been reading what's already there so I do not ask too many stupid questions that have already been answered.

 

[Herb Stoops]

Welcome.Mike,by the looks of your work ,you are well on your way to us asking you how to do things.Great Job on the cabinets. I like the wood,What kind is that and what is the finish you put on to bring out the grain so well?
Herb

 

[roxanne562001]

Welcome to the forum Mike. Nice work those drawer fronts look like white ash

 

[Inor]

Welcome.Mike,by the looks of your work ,you are well on your way to us asking you how to do things.Great Job on the cabinets. I like the wood,What kind is that and what is the finish you put on to bring out the grain so well?
Herb

Hi Herb

Thanks!

They are just plain old Red Oak. The finish is 4 coats of high gloss wipe-on varnish from General American. (I LOVE that stuff. - As you get to know me, I am sure you will get sick and tired of hearing me rant about how great General American products are. :grin

 

[sreilly]

Welcome Mike and I echo what Herb said. Interestingly we have a wide variety of woodworkers here with abilities all over the place. CNC is something I read about but never really considered jumping in yet however there are a number of people here very well versed on their use and function. Wasn't too far back I think Woodsmith magazine had a series of article/videos on building a CNC system that might be worthy of looking into. Enjoy the forum and looking forward to more posts.

 

[Flipsaw]

Welcome Mike to the forums. Very nice work on the cabinets!

 

[JFPNCM]

Welcome to the forum. Excellent work on the cabinetry, well beyond the hobbyist level in my humble opinion.

 

[DesertRatTom]

Glad you decided to join the fun. Those are great looking cabinets.

I keep thinking about CNC (then I sober up). I taught maketing as part of my consulting for nearly 4 decades. So I've posted several times on how to make money with the CNC, focusing on signs. I've attached a 2 page pdf, on the topic. Hope it helps you think through the CNC step. For myself, I can't imagine getting a CNC and going through the learning curve without having the thing pay for itself at least. I expect that your appetite for excellence will serve you well.

Southern Arizona, does that put you closer to Tucson or Gila Bend? That's some big country out there. I live in the high desert in So. Cal. Altitude makes a big difference in the desert.

 

[Inor]

Glad you decided to join the fun. Those are great looking cabinets.

I keep thinking about CNC (then I sober up). I taught maketing as part of my consulting for nearly 4 decades. So I've posted several times on how to make money with the CNC, focusing on signs. I've attached a 2 page pdf, on the topic. Hope it helps you think through the CNC step. For myself, I can't imagine getting a CNC and going through the learning curve without having the thing pay for itself at least. I expect that your appetite for excellence will serve you well.

Southern Arizona, does that put you closer to Tucson or Gila Bend? That's some big country out there. I live in the high desert in So. Cal. Altitude makes a big difference in the desert.

Thanks for the kind words!

I am about 80 miles SE of Tucson. We are also in the high desert (about 5000 feet) so it is not so ungodly hot. Although right now we seem to be getting overrun by rattlesnakes! I've shot 2 of them in the last week. :grin:

If I even go down the CNC path, it is not going to be for money, just for fun. I enjoy woodworking too much to try and make it into a business.

 

[MEBCWD]

Welcome to the Router Forums Mike.

Really nice looking cabinets. We would love to see pictures of your wife's she shed.

When you get ready to look into the world of CNC just ask your questions and I'm sure you will get all kinds of answers.

 

[Inor]

Welcome to the Router Forums Mike.

Really nice looking cabinets. We would love to see pictures of your wife's she shed.

When you get ready to look into the world of CNC just ask your questions and I'm sure you will get all kinds of answers.

Thanks!

Here ya go on the shack... I built it to match the style of the house.

 

[MEBCWD]

Nice big windows to catch a breeze when the temperatures are nice. Are you building any builtins for the she shed?

 

[Inor]

Nice big windows to catch a breeze when the temperatures are nice. Are you building any builtins for the she shed?

No built ins. She does not want any. The only thing she wants me to build for it is a small cart for storing those big artist's sketch pads. Go figure... :grin:

Edit: The comment on the shack I will add: If you ever have the brilliant idea of building your own roof trusses to try something you've never done and save a few bucks, put that thought out of your head right now! I did them and they came out very strong and mostly straight, but what a time consuming pain in the neck! And for all that time and frustration, I maybe saved $80.