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77036 "Michael J. Miller" michael@C... 2000‑03‑31 Bio - Michael Miller
Hello,

While soaking up the knowledge from here and other forums, I've been working on 
my shop, acquiring and tuning tools, learning to use them, and building a real b
ench.  I'm still a grasshopper, but perhaps I can contribute from time to time. 
 Its time to come out of the shadows.

I'm 37.  I grew up in Clemson, SC, with one older sister and one younger sister.
  My dad was a physics professor at Clemson University.  There were two Millers 
there.  DP Miller was widely referred to as "Don't Pass" Miller.  That was not m
y father.  He was Max G Miller, which he claimed stood for "Make Good".  Never b
elieved it.

As a kid, I played in my dad's basement shop.  Amazing that I was allowed to pla
y with the radial arm saw: once dad took me through the paces, I was allowed to 
use it so long as I was careful.  Dad passed away a couple of years ago and I ha
ve the saw now. Its tucked off to the side and I'm not sure when it'll get hooke
d up again.  It is an old tool though!  I still remember when Dad helped me rip 
strips of pine that we used to build kites.  Later, but still very much a kid, I
 built a desk from 2x4s and plywood covered in luan.  It wasn't much, but I like
d it and remembered it.  I was set on becoming a mechanical engineer, so making 
something was good.

Fast forward to college and the introductory engineering courses: I discovered a
 knack for programming.  Never would have guessed, since the guys in high school
 that had TRS-80s were just nerds.  As a hard-core MVS Systems programmer, my at
titude has obviously changed. Graduated in December 1984 and started work in Feb
ruary 1985 at the Clemson University computer center as an MVS Systems Programme
r.  I'm still here, though my responsibilities have increased through the years 
and I now work on a program called ExLM (Expert Library Manager, which manages t
he tapes in a StorageTek tape silo).

About 5 years ago, my wife and I built a new house.  A basement was a requiremen
t because I wanted a woodworking shop.  It still took a couple of years for me t
o create a room in the allotted space.  The basement shop is in a space of about
 16x22.  I insulated and finished the walls, ran 220v wiring on three cicuits, s
everal additional 120V outlets, put in a floating ceiling and floor, ran plumbin
g, built a bathroom.  Never did any of that stuff before, but it all went fine. 
 'cept for the mistakes, cussing, fire-alarm going off due to concrete dust, the
 usual stuff.

I finally finished building the shop and started acquiring tools to outfit it.  
I got the large stationary things from the dark side (the kind that show up on a
 notorious TV show) and a few of the portable things with tails. I do use them f
or grunt work, but when I do use them, the goal is to quickly get the wood to a 
point where I can hear shwoosh, snick, and other nice quiet sounds.

First project was an insert for our entertainment center.  This was done before 
I had any decent hand tools, but I did have a 'dovetail' saw from CMT (the one t
hat is now Jesada) and a set of 6 Ace Hardware chisels. I put 'dovetail' in quot
es because the saw is 22 tpi, crosscut.  It worked well enough though.  I used p
oplar that I purchased at Home Depot.  Won't do that again.  Way too expensive. 
 I had no bench, but still managed to work dovetails into its construction.  I f
igured I would learn as I went, and the piece was to be painted anyway.  Any mis
takes wouldn't show.  That worked out fine and while the dovetails aren't perfec
t, they are plenty good enough for that piece.  I did learn how to deal with mis
takes and I learned that yellow glue gets really hard to scrape out of inside co
rners after a day or two.

Next project was a frame and panel firewood box, about 6 feet long, 24 inches de
ep, 19 inches high.  This box was built from scraps.  The panels are a pine of s
ome sort that came from the j**nt*r crate.  Never seen birds eye pine before, bu
t it looks cool.  I used planes to edge joint the panels and smooth them.  This 
was my first mortise and tenon project and the forgiving nature of pine (soft an
d compressible) both hindered and helped get me through.  I also learned more ab
out mistakes: how to avoid them and what to do about them.  One mortise was cut 
on the wrong side of a leg.  There's a fitted patch there now.

The plane.  THE plane that got me started down the slippery slope is a type 11 B
ailey #4 that I found at our local flea market (Jockey lot, Anderson SC).  I fol
lowed the tuning steps that you see repeated everywhere.  When it finally worked
, swish, swish, uh, oh, I'm hooked.  In January 1999, I bought a #7 Bailey from 
Patrick Leach and worked on it some to get it super tuned.  

Next project was a major undertaking: a real bench.  I inherited two pickup truc
k loads of old oak fence boards.  Twisted, weathered, badly checked, dirty, rott
ed in places, hooked, crooked, nails here and there, and basically a mess.  Ther
e are a few small stains on my cast-iron t*b*l*s*w top where I had to chase and 
smash termites that came pouring out of a fresh cut!  After cutting, jointing an
d planing with tools that could take a beating (meaning not hand tools), I final
ly worked my way past the grunge and into some good wood.  I ended up with lot o
f relatively clean boards of various dimensions.  Relqative is relative: they st
ill had surface checks, but no dirt or rot, and most of the checks had been plan
ed off.  They sat around for a good while to stabilize.

Then I picked boards carefully and used that #7 to get every face and edge just 
right.  Laminations went together smoothly and are virtually seamless.  I was ab
le to laminate 3x3 legs for the bench (5-board laminations) and 1.6" boards (3-b
oard laminations) for rails.  The panels took forever to pick out.  I pawed thro
ugh wood I had cleaned up.  Cleaned more wood, poked around, arranged...well, yo
u get the idea.  The base of the bench is frame and panel, with an enclosure for
 three banks of drawers but the legs extend 6" above the top of enclosure.  The 
hard-maple top is 68" by 29.5" by 2-3/4" thick, with 17 boards laminated.  I had
 to purchase the maple and as you know, it didn't come cheap.  All laminations w
ere done using Poly glue.

I chose the Veritas twin-screw vice for the end and the WoodCraft pattern maker'
s clone for a side vice. Two rows of round dog holes, 3/4" with the Veritas bras
s dogs. The bench was finished with Watco Danish Oil. It was a fun project and q
uite rewarding. My wife raves about it and its gotten quite a few compliments so
 I must have done okay. I don't have a digital camera. Maybe someday. The only t
hing missing is drawers and they won't get done for a long time. I have to, like
, actually produce something now.  You know, something that comes out of the sho
p and adds to the house?  Something that my wife wants.

Next woodworking project will be a blanket chest--something similar to the one f
eatured on the cover of a Fine Woodworking as "curly maple and cherry blanket ch
est".  Should be fun.

While building the bench over the last year, I've been rapidly acquiring hand to
ols of various sorts, tuning them, and learning to use them.  I now have Bailey 
and/or bedrock (round side) planes from 3 through 7, a #93, a 289, and the LN ad
justable block plane, #073, #4, #62, and #140.  A few block planes.  Couple of s
poke shaves. Two old back saws and one old crosscut saw.  A set of four Marples 
blue chips, and a bunch of beater chisels, two of which I've gotten working nice
ly.  Well, enough inventory.  The tool acquisition mode has plateaued due to a s
erious look at how quickly money can disappear.  Still...mm....I don't think it 
will ever stop completely.  Its a lifetime disease: you can keep it under contro
l with enough therapy (or low enough funds), but you can't eliminate it entirely
.  I'm also behind on tuning.  Yes, you only have to flatten the back of a chise
l or plane blade once.  When you've been rapidly aquiring old stuff that wasn't 
tuned properly, you've got *lot!
s* of flattening to do.  Even a new Hock blade (a shiney replacement for the #7)
 took days to flatten, but it sure does hold a nice edge.

For now the shop is semi-idle as I switch focus to outdoor projects. Landscaping
, fishing, and anything else that gets me outside.  And the rest of the basement
 is in dire need of straightening out (we dumped stuff everywhere when we first 
moved in and its gotten worse--time to take control). I still managed to do a li
ttle 'woodworking' last weekend: during Spring Break, I used a chain saw to mill
 logs out of a tree we had to cut down. The tree was a water oak, or perhaps a w
illow oak (I get them mixed up).  The trunk wasn't very large but I managed to g
et three boards, 8 feet long, 11 inches wide, and 2 3/4 to 3 1/2 inches thick. T
hey're a bit rough so the final dimensions will be smaller. The tree was having 
problems before we cut it down and the ubiquitous powder-post beetles were alrea
dy working their way inside it. The boards are in the basement under a makeshift
 plastic enclosure. I put a fogging type bug bomb in the 'tent' last night. Will
 repeat later and hope the litt!
le buggers stop munching after they've imparted character but before they destro
y structure. And, of course, I'll keep watch to make sure they don't turn their 
attention to the house itself! Hard work but small-scale and fun. If the boards 
survive the beetles, I should be able to use them to make something nice in thre
e years or so.

That's it.  I still feel like a grasshopper apprentice, but at least I have a li
ttle experience now.  I'll be around but mostly quiet--sitting off to the side a
nd speaking up only when I have something useful to contribute.  That's a hard t
hing to do with so much experience already out there but perhaps my personal jou
rney will take me down some paths less traveled, thereby giving me new experienc
es that can add to the group.

Thanks to all of you from whom I have learned so much.  The quiet ones are out h
ere, learning, dreaming, and working.

Regards,
   Michael Miller





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