Why I Oughta...

Back in February, when I was at the end of the line in terms of wanting to deal with snow, I posted something that amounted to a bonsai wish list (or to-do list) for the season.  It was a way to get my brain thinking about what the Spring and Summer will look like and a coping mechanism after all the snow.  (Listen...I'm not normally someone who hates Winter.  But, February...and ALL.THE.SNOW was, umm, a bit much.) So, out of that post , I mentioned that I wanted to do a few things including utilizing the existing nursery stock that I have on hand, acquire more for future use, dig up a 'found' bonsai (American Elm), take a bonsai class and...create a bench or table for the trees.   I've looked around (briefly) on the Web to figure out the right way to display bonsai and it seems like if you are interested in learning more about the topic, stop number one on your journey should be this Bonsai Empire post that talks how to display trees and gives some tips.  They also sh

Back at the end of July, I posted a photo of the wall-hung workbench that I had selected to build first in the garage (garden bench) and then down in my shop (once I got the hang of it!).  I pulled down some plans from WoodSmith Plans and got started ripping down the lumber to make all the pieces.  But there was a part that I got hung up on - these angled brackets with notched cuts at the bottom that I've circled above.  The plan calls for these supports to be notched and attached to a ledger board (that gets attached to the wall).  But, my little, amateur woodworking brain couldn't quite figure out how to make those cuts.  I took a sacrificial board and drew all over it to get the angles right.  I even took it over to Nat's Dad's house and had him mark it up so I could figure out the best way to make the cuts.  He showed me how to use my table saw to get most of the wood out, then a saber saw to make the final cuts.  But then I got home and had to actually do it

Bench via WoodsmithPlans.com In March of this year, I posted a photo of a wall-hung workbench that I came across on Instagram .  The photo above is of that same bench, but comes from the source of the plans:  Woodsmith Plans .  They're offering a plan for sale for the bench plus the tool holder above and the little shelf for hand tools on the very top for $10 .  I think I've settled on going with this direction for both a bench in my shop in the basement, but also for a garden bench that I'm now planning in the garage. This whole thing started with this initial wall-hung workbench with curves that I found online at the WoodArchivis t.  But, in looking at the space constraints that I have in my shop, coupled with some concerns about the rigidity of the curved superstructure, I've kind of drifted away from my initial plan.  In the shop, my plan calls for hanging the bench on concrete walls, which requires cleats or ledgers (as in this design above).  For the othe