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Looking back, sometimes I lucked out as a newbie and would score a nice socket chisel or adjustable tenon cutter. Other times, I'd end up with something that looks good in a photo on a blog, but are as useful as a laser light on a marking gauge.
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Good thing we're so tidy, otherwise the garage would be a disaster. |
I also bought a LOT of lumber. Here in the middle of Pennsylvania, we're surrounded by farmland. And farmers always have stacks of lumber in their barns. So, early on in my woodworking life, I attended many farm auctions. Rarely were other attendees interested in lumber; people were there to buy farm machinery. So, after awhile I wound up with so much wood we could no longer park our cars in the garage.
Back then, I'd buy whatever wood I could get that was cheap, not knowing if I'd like to work with walnut, maple, oak, cherry, poplar, beech, or apple (all the species in my stash).
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Dyami lifted five boards to my one. |
I mentioned on twitter that I'd love to get rid of it and my friend, Dyami (The Penultimate Woodshop), came to the rescue. He drove down from Long Island with a flatbed truck and hauled a bunch of it away.
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Using a short handsaw to cut stickers apart. |
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But, this is all part of the journey. They are not mistakes.
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Except for the mice. Who now need to find another place to call home.
By the way, I'm not advocating setting up a complete workshop before you've even cut a board. Pick a few projects you like and get the tools you need to build them.