Trying new woodworking skills #1: Taking a plunge

After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
12”, 15”, 20”
Straight blade, spiral head, 2 blade, 3 blade,
Cheap, (disposable), expensive, new and used.

My space is small. Mostly because I never throw anything away. This planer should work well for my needs.

Now that I placed the order I had to disassemble my old and no longer used craftsman TS. Move it to the garage. Reassemble. Turn on to make sure it works because I’ll be posting it on CL next week. I also dragged out my home made router table for the same reason. While digging around I have found some of my Dad’s hand me down tools. It hurts to say this but some just have to be thrown out. One is a porter cable circular saw with a blade guard that flops around. I’d be afraid to sell it or even give it away because it is very dangerous.

I’ll be making a cart for the planer this weekend.

After I ordered the planer I found a guy locally who sells small quantity rough cut lumber on the side. He is very knowledgeable. His grandfather ran a saw mill. He grew up around lumber and decided to stock and sell because he had trouble finding a variety for himself. I bought 30 BF of 4/4 Quarter sawn white oak. He had a 2 car garage loaded with white oak, red oak, black walnut, cherry, maple, elm, Kentucky coffee tree and about another dozen I can’t remember.

All this is leading up to pushing myself to learn more skills. I want to prepare the lumber before building. I want to make something that is not just functional but pretty to look at. I want to try mortise and tenon joinery. Solid lumber construction. Using woods not found in big box stores or my local lumberyard, (good guys to do business with but they just can’t stock a big variety). I’ll follow up with progress reports on my schooling.

BJ