What shop skills did you learn/master last year?

[smorris]

I was thinking over the last year while I was out in the shop and found I hard learned several new things this past year.

I now am acquainted with the card scraper and have learned to use it. The sound of it scraping is much more pleasant than a sander. Now if I could just master turning a burr, I still struggle with that.

I got an HVLP system and learned to use it. Much less messy that my old compressor and gun rig. Cleanup is still a drag...

I learned that sucking a shop rag into the dust collector is not a good thing.

I learned to use my jointer and planer to good effect. Buying rough cut wood is cheaper and I can size to whatever I need, and I have a lot more selection. Critical to this was learning to resaw.

I discovered how much kickback can hurt. I sure wish I had those teeth back.

What did you learn this year if you care to share.?

[dbhost]

I learned to do two things I hadn't done before, and one of those I have more or less mastered. Hand planing, and turning. I got planing down pretty well. Turning is an entirely different story, but it IS fun...

I also learned that a dado in the wrong place on a shop fixture isn't a disaster, it's an opportunity to learn how to patch a project...

I learned that I am able to enjoy the process of creating even if the end result stinks.

And lastly, I learned that the pursuit of perfection with wood is pointless. Woodworking is an art form, and by definition the media being worked with (wood) has its own ideas on what the end result will be, and no matter how much skill or effort you throw at it, the wood will get its way.

[crokett]

Well I built my shop last year..... I learned where there is enough will, there is a way. I also learned how to move big and heavy things around by myself.

[Uncle Cracker]

I finally perfected my ability to blend in with the shop wall like a chameleon and go invisible whenever LOML comes out there to ask me to be somewhere else...

[chopnhack]

LOL, please tell me you didnt really lose any teeth in a kickback accident!
This year was slow with small children underfoot, however, handcut dovetails were learned sufficiently to use on projects and some handplaning as well.

Maybe this year I will learn to cleanup and setup shop.....I think I said that last year too....time will tell

[Whaler]

I learned to turn pens between centers without a mandrel and mastered the CA/BLO finish.

[germdoc]

I improved my pen-turning skills, made a guitar and made a large cabinet. I have gotten pretty good at distressing things, i.e., making them ugly after I have just built them....

[Uncle Cracker]

I have gotten pretty good at distressing things, i.e., making them ugly after I have just built them....

I just make 'em ugly while I'm building them... saves time...

[dkerfoot]

Great thread - I added more tools/skills than I realized.

• I started using a card scraper as well and improved my hand plane skills.
• Bought a used Shopsmith MK5 and started turning this year - mostly bowls.
• Bought a jointer & planer and began dimensioning rough lumber.
• Biggest addition - I got much better at learning to take my time and work for details. I also started looking at all home projects with a much more detailed eye.

[Knottscott]

I did my first hand cut dovetails this year, and also installed my first gas line...not "wwing", but definitely "shop" related.

[Otter]

I learned how easy it is not to be in the shop.

[Bruce Cohen]

After about 100 hundred hours of Anger Management classes, I no longer throw the first & usually heaviest and expensive thing nearest to me against the shop wall/bandsaw/drill press/jointer when I screw up something.

Now all I do is punch holes in the sheetrock, waaaay easier and less expensive to repair (if I even bother), as long as you don't count the cost of fixing a broken fist.

Bruce

[RAFlorida]

Learned to keep my script safety

glasses on my face. The small print on the tape measure can be seen with the glasses on, and the boards aren't a quarter inch short!

[Hoakie]

I learned how to spend lots of $$ on tools AND stay married at the same time.....at least until she finds out

[Richard in Smithville]

I took up wood turning in 09. It actually encompassed a number of skills. Not necesarily in this order, the skills are as follows.

The basic ins and outs of turning, mostly pens, pencils, key rings, and bottle stoppers.
How to maintain sharp turning tools, including the construction of a jig to work with my bench grinder.
Finishing with BLO/CA.
I learned that my DP was not as acurate as I once thought. I was able to tune the DP table and now it is dead acurate for drilling blanks.

Although I still stuggle with woodworking skills, I still remember- An expert at anything was once a beginner.