Kitchen Cabinets Bathroom Cabinets and Furniture Blog

This is always a hard one for people, you spend your entire adult life working in one trade and then you need to make a change, where do you go? I have been doing a lot of reading to help guide me to the next part of my life. Now I think through the comments from friends and family, and this blog that I will figure out a way to do something in this industry that has treated me  so well for so long. As one old customer told me when he called me the other day ” your my private woodworking encyclopedia”  He sure has helped in this decision to keep writing and to see where this blog goes. I think it is headed into do it yourself articles by me and experts in other areas of construction.  We will also do some reports on the great new tools out there for homeowners. We will show you the best source in your town for hardwoods. All kinds of stuff. What do you want to see? Let me know or let me know if you are in the trades and you want to post a article yourself. The guy who did this sculpture started out doing this for fun.

Dam yesterday was tough. The last day after thirty years it did not seem good. This is not what I had intended as my exit plan. I don’t even know why I am writing today it is a habit I seem to have. We had a lot of fun with this blog and why not it is a down home blog, we have written about personal things along with our business stuff. We did a lot of community stuff like back in 2008 we gave away 132 king size cherry wood sleigh beds to victims of the Witch Fire. There are memories of the giveaway that I will not ever forget. The customers we have had through the years have been great some have become very good friends and we will miss seeing them. One regret is that my grandson was not old enough to ever do a project in the “big shop”. I will dream up a piece of furniture that him and I can build at home, wait a minute isn’t that how this all started 30 years ago with my son? Today’s photo shows my grandson pursuing my favorite pastime I wonder if he has my passion for building stuff?

Today we close our doors after thirty years of business. The economic downturn has finished us off. We currently have no business booked for next year and have no quotes out. So myself and what is left of the crew head to unemployment. This has been a sad year it seems like each month since  our man Obama was sworn in I saw a little more of my business fall off. The Man has done a disservice to Small Business Well enough about him and the Leftist movement in our Country This is not a fun time I was not ever prepared to close my doors and walk away with nothing, I mean this business was my retirement plan and at age 57 time is not on my side when it comes to putting together a new plan for retirement. Stop crying and move on. I must say that I will miss building things but oh well. Not sure what we are going to do with the blog , we have a lot of readers and maybe we will do a cabinet and furniture resource center . Who knows . Look for my giant machinery and supply sale in December. Thanks for your support for all these years. and don’t forget to check out elect a conservative. As usual your comments are needed  and appreciated.

The Denrey Downdraft Sanding Table has a 72×36 work surface.  It operates with an air system that takes all the sanding dust and particles and sucks them into the filters below the table  (that is why Lyle does not need a mask).  Yesterday’s blog showed you the drum sander, used as the  first pass for rough sanding.  After the drum sander and assembly, the nail holes at the doors, drawers and frame pieces are first puttied, then the receive two levels of sanding at the sanding table; one at 100 and the second at 200.  After this prep and final assembly furniture pieces receive their hand rubbed oil or stain.  If the work is for cabinets, they are ready for finish by the on-site paint contractor.   Proper sanding is one of the most important elements for a fine finish.  No matter what the construction, if the sanding is not done patiently and properly you will have a sub par finished piece.  For a project you will be proud of, take the extra time to sand properly.

The drum sander is the first machine that the solid wood hits after the material has been ripped. The material for face frames are run on one side while the door stock is run on both sides to a certain spec. The glue ups for doors, tops, and various other things are also run through the drum sander. The sander was bought new by me in 1983 and was manufactured by Haney Machine Co. in Oregon. That Company is long out of business, they were a victim of the Chinese taking over our machinery industry. This machine gets a least 5 hours of run time every day, and has been in fulltime service for 26 years. The Chinese knockoffs have a 5 year life. Another fine mess our politicians have got us into.