Sawdust on the Floor

I don’t know how things work around your home, but in ours things just seem to evolve from a simple idea to a major project. What started out as a simple mission to buy a new bed for us, turned into several woodworking projects for me. Our old bed was a standard king size bed, with a curved headboard and foot board. Both of which were very nice, so our intent was to buy the same size bed, allowing us the reuse the head and foot board. Yeah, you guessed it, we ended up buying what the sales person called a” California King”, which is just a bit wider then the standard king.

When the new bed arrived, I tried to re use the headboard, only find out that the hardware to use a standard headboard was an option that we hadn’t purchased. Thinking back, I don’t recall the sales person mentioning this. Oh well. So for the time being we just used the bed with out a head or foot board, while we tried to figure out what we really wanted to do. Purchase the hardware kit, or maybe purchase a different headboard that actually would fit the dimensions of the new bed.

Around this same time, we received a catalog that totally changed the direction that this project was heading. In the catalog were this set of wall mounted wall sconces, with a scissor action that allowed you to change the position of the lamp. Mounted on the wall next to the bed, these would have been perfect for us, as we both like to read in bed at night. We could move the lamp closer when reading, then collapse it and push it away when we were ready for bed. Only problem, I really hated the look of the power cord hanging out of the bottom of the lamp. While the lamps were not cheap, the hanging cord made them appear that way, at least in my mind. Read more…

I saw a press release yesterday that while not a surprise, it still doesn’t seem right. Norm Abrams, the host of the PBS show, New Yankee Workshop is closing his shop. The press release states that Norm will not do any new Yankee workshop episodes, but will concentrate on “personal projects” and dedicate more time to the This Old House show.

As a long time fan of Norm’s show, I know that I will truly miss this show. While I didn’t always appreciate the projects that Norm worked on, I did appreciate the workmanship that Norm exhibited. Sometimes the tricks or jigs that he used were worth the time spent just watching the show.

Norm’s show first came into our homes back in the winter of 1989, as a spin off of This Old House. TOH and the New Yankee Workshop were the original DIY shows. Over the past 21 years, Norm and the New Yankee Workshop have created some indelible images on our memories, such as Norm’s ever present plaid shirts, to his famous reminder “There are no more important safety item, then these…” as he points to his safety glasses.

What ever the future has in store for this modern woodworking icon, I personally will miss his shows. But at the same time I wish him well and thank him for inviting us all into his shop for many enjoyable years.

Thanks Norm.