Tools of Winter

There has been some interest of late in getting started making your own bookcases and the like. Simple things that last, but not heirloom furniture.

Woodworking isn't my hobby. Like anything else, it has been a case of monkey see, monkey do. We have all put together pre-made furniture. Heavy slabs of particle board, held together with quarter-turn fasteners.

"Surely, I couldn't do this," we say to ourselves. After all, those parts were factory-made with precision cuts and drilled holes. Never mind that nothing quite lines up right when we're assembling it. We can't do this.

Not that I wouldn't try. Oh, I'd buy some 2 x 4s and screw them together with some drywall screws I had lying around. It would look like hell and fall apart.

Then, I wanted to remodel my bathroom. I wanted one stinking cabinet. Natural cherry, to match my kitchen. One lousy vanity. Okay, maybe some matching shelves. I couldn't find that anywhere. Anything close was thousands. Thousands. I didn't want the whole room to cost that much!

So I started looking, really looking, at my kitchen cabinets. And I thought, maybe - just maybe - I could make one, too. Christmas was coming, so I asked for a couple tools. Soon after, I had my master bathroom remodeled. Walls freshly painted. New toilet and sink. A lovely granite counter set onto a cherry vanity that I had made. On a tile floor I had laid.

All it took was a way to join two pieces of wood together in a quick and sturdy manner. And all because I wanted what I wanted, but was both impatient and cheap.