New Projects and New Dad Top 10

     Logically, the shortest distance between two points is a line, but with the birth of our first baby 5 weeks ago, our “line” has been anything but straight and predictable – and I’m loving every inch of it! The frequency of my posts has suffered greatly as Patty and I progressed through pregnancy and the birth of Kensli Raye Kuriyama, our first baby, and it probably won’t change soon! Therefore, I wanted to summarize the recent work I’ve done in the shop (recent = since around December), and to give a quick rundown of the Top 10 awesomest things I’ve learned in 5 weeks of being a new father in regards to woodworking.

     Here is the final product of the changing table that I built for Kensli. As I said in earlier posts, Patty wanted something that would serve as more than a poop catcher as Kensli grows up and learns how to either use the “potty” or change her own diapers, like I had to back in the day when I was walking uphill both ways to school. Ignore the fact that this would mean I was still in diapers when I was old enough to walk to school.

     After the changing table, as Kensli’s due date came ever closer, I scrambled to help Patty prepare the nursery. My sister graciously loaned us the crib her son has long since outgrown, but it was in storage and the finish was in pretty bad shape, covered in dings and gouges and scratches. Had I known that I would be restoring this crib, I would’ve been much more gentle when I helped her move it years ago: c’est la vie, eh? So, in the cold of winter, I began restoring this crib, which was finished in a deep cherry. However, when I began to strip the old finish, I found that it was a printed laminate covering some Douglas fir – still beautiful and select, but definitely not cherry. Here’s a pic of me restaining a top rail and the crib all finished and decorated in the nursery. By the way – if you’re looking to cultivate the virtue of patience and endurance, try refinishing furniture.

      I made a couple of jigs for my shop to help me make the most of my very beginner-level tools and equipment, and I also made a couple of simple storage racks to store things like my chisels and planes, using them as a chance to learn and brush up on some techniques. For instance, I am now an expert at scraping wood glue out of my fingernails – they don’t teach you that in shop class!!!

     I learned that when you have a baby, you acquire related items that fill roughly 60% of the livable space in your house (+/- 3% depending on your square footage). Our kitchen was the first thing to be overrun with “associated sundries” like bottles, formula, sanitizers, bottle warmers, bottle drying racks, etc., so I looked for a creative and attractive storage solution. Our pantry and our pot/pan cabinet are grossly inefficient for storage, so Patty and I came up with a stove-side cabinet idea. Since the stove/oven is close to the entry into the kitchen, we needed it to be slender, but wanted it as high and deep as the stovetop, which worked perfectly as a place to stash baking pans, cookie sheets, and the like. So I made a large door on the front to store sheets, made a place for a little drawer on top for cooking utensils, and the side will have a few shelves for storing spices, EVOO, etc. We will paint it white to match our current kitchen cabinets, but we were unable to match our countertops for something that small, so we thought “Hey, a cutter board on top would be cool and handy!” So I’m making a two-species butcher block hardwood top for this cabinet in contrasting woods (curly maple and walnut, seen below).

     I’m pumped about this, but it’s been put on hold because we’ve undertaken a new, more pressing project: we’ve embarked on a bathroom remodel, in which we plan to do 100% of the work, utilizing Patty’s taste and flair for design and my ability to redneck-ify even the simplest task. Here’s a picture of Patty’s ideas for the cabinet doors and vanity drawers: I’ve made the doors, attached a beaded hardboard front and framed it in flat 3 x 1 trim, which we’ll sand and paint. Hopefully, if all goes well, it will have a wainscoted look and (fingers crossed) will appear to be uniform – the trouble is ensuring that the lines in the beadboard match between the drawers on top of each other, an issue I didn’t think about until I’d made the 6 largest doors.

The items we picked for the remodel were all found at Lowe’s, expertly chosen by my personal interior decorator/wife/baby momma. We chose the Capri Rust tile for floor and shower surround, American Standard Estate bronze faucets for vanity and tub, and pewter panels for the backsplash, as well as oiled bronze square knobs for the door and drawer hardware. Here are some snapshots below. I’d like to get some before, during, and after pics of this big project to post as we slowly progress, as well as any tips/tricks/”whatever you do, don’t do this!” lessons that we learn along the way!

     And now, without further ado, I present the Top 10 Awesome Things About Being a Woodworking New Dad!

10.          Prepare for an onslaught of project ideas! From decorative to functional, you’ll have 1001 new needs to meet and moments to celebrate – keep a notebook or file where you can jot down or sketch new ideas for when your kids are 30 and you actually have time and money to do them. Obviously, by that time, you won’t need them because your kids will be grown, but build them and give them to younger new parents who have no clue what they’re getting themselves into!

9.            Your underappreciated work and artistry suddenly becomes precious and desirable! Wives, parents, grandparents, and other loved ones which once thought “There he goes again to play with sharp tools and make a mess” will now see your new baby-related work and say “Awwww! Make me one, too!” Some call this pandering to the audience; I call it increasing demand for sub-par woodwork!

8.            You’ve got new reasons to learn new skills and techniques! One of the most awesome things about a hobby like this is that there is always room for improvement and growth! So use this growth of your family as a chance to grow your woodworking techniques. Never made frames? Start making cool frames and shadow boxes to brush up your mitering and measuring skills! Are you a bandsaw or scrollsaw novice? There’s nothing like building toys like rocking horses and puzzles to make you a master curve-cutter!

7.            You finally have a semi-unselfish reason to ask for permission to buy more tools! Repeat after me: “Honey, I really want to make a <random project> for our beautiful baby to enjoy and someday pass on to our grandchildren! The only problem is that I don’t have a <random tool>.” If she responds, “Why don’t you use the <random tool> that you bought for the last <random project>?”  just hang your head, shrug your shoulders, look lovingly at your new baby, and sadly say, “Yeah, you’re right honey. I just don’t want to give <random baby name> anything less than my very best.” Blam! Here’s your shiny new <random tool>! You’re welcome.

6.            You’ve got new chances for profit! Ever been to a baby store with a pregnant woman registering for a shower? They have 8 trillion items in stock, but only 3 of them are geared towards dads. In business school, we call this “opportunity”! Ever seen those gaudy, unflattering, unmasculine paisley-covered baby carriers for dads? Pfft! Scoff! Sneer! No thank you, I’d rather exhaust my arms! But what if a guy started making padded mahogany baby boxes that strap to my chest like this tastefully doctored photo? Yes, please! Inlaid wenge diaper box on wheels? I’ll take two!

5.            Children make the biggest fans! Show another woodworker your work and he’ll start evaluating: checking joints, looking for blemishes and uneven finish, etc. But kids don’t know any better! How awesome is that?! If dad made it, it’s an instant classic. Take advantage of this, because once they’ve got about a decade of life under their belt, you begin to be more and more of an idiot in their eyes. But until then, they’ll eat up every chair, horse, tea table, and toy chest that you make just for them. My 5-week old daughter just tweeted how much she loves the tiny picture frame I made for her sonogram.

4.            Your work takes on new significance! When I became a father, I began looking further and further ahead: days in the park, camping trips, counting stars laying on the trampoline, vacations, recitals, and the like. Likewise, I began looking at my woodworking with the next generation or two in mind, compelling me to look at my projects with longevity as the goal. Clean lines, solid joinery, and extra attention to detail have begun to push my mindset from “hobbyist” to “artist.” And though I’m not there yet, the focus on quality will progressively develop my skills to match.

3.            Your 9-month investment just birthed you a free shop helper! While there is a great deal of sharp, heavy, fast-moving equipment in the woodshop that is definitely not kid-safe (or for some adults, just to be fair), there are also a lot of really cool projects that you can get your little niño to help you with as they grow up! With a little help, using hand tools and materials you cut while they were safely out of the shop can make for some really fun and really important times with your kids that they’ll remember forever! I still smile when I think about times my dad would invite me out to the garage to “help” with something; though I probably made more work for him and ensured that nothing was accomplished that day, I got to see my father’s heart and learn so many things about life and love out there in the garage. I want to do the same for my little ones!

2.            Collaboration is awesome! My wife is very creative and artistic, which means that any project that we partner on becomes instantly cooler and more appealing to many more people. For instance, the Scripture inscribed around the border of my changing table was totally Patty’s idea! I am planning on making a rocking giraffe for Kensli when we finish our remodeling, and Patty suggested that instead of staining or painting the giraffe-skin pattern, we use glued-on fabric patches for the pattern. How cool is that? You could sell something like that, which could fund more tools, equipment and supplies – “win, win, win!” It also brings you and your wife closer and makes you a creative team, rather than solo artists! Throw another “win” in there!

1.            Woodworking can become less of a hobby and more of a craft! God gave Adam the task of cultivation, of tending the garden and all of its inhabitants; while all the area around the garden was wilderness, here was a place where cultivation (creation + dominion = cultivation) flourished, and so did everything that lived there. The earth bore fruit, the wolf and the lamb laid down in the shade side by side, and Adam and Eve delighted in all that God had made as they walked with Him daily. And though our sin broke everything, Christ has come to reconcile all things back to the Father, and we get to see a little glimpse of that in woodworking: the beauty of the things that God has made by His hand, and the work and skill we apply to it (also given by His hand) creating together something beautiful to lay at the feet of Him who redeemed us and brought peace again between Creator and created.