I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t done a thing in my shop since November, unless you count the “Christmas tree” I made.

We don’t have any kids in the house to nag us to death about getting a tree and our dogs aren’t any help in motivating us to get one. They always seem surprised that they have new toys on Christmas morning, even after the big decoration session of the night before.

In any event, it was Christmas Eve, we had no tree, so I took a couple or three 1×2s, split them and made a triangular outline of a tree. Adding a few (6) strings of red lights from Walgreens, and viola, a tree. Sort of.

The camera flash exaggerates the light color of the frame, but in normal room light it was masked by the red lights. Next year my wife wants me to re-do it, more in the shape of a tree than a triangle.  I’m  not looking forward to un- and re-winding 600 lights.

After producing a prototype for anything I’m working on, I debrief myself on the problems I encountered. I take the notes I’ve made, usually right on a copy of the plans and/or cutlist, and give them a little organization. I put circled numbers on those notes to indicate the sequence I’ve made them. I use the notes to make a list and then add observations on how I solved a problem. Sometime the solutions aren’t found until afterward or until the next version is made. This addendum is kept and a copy is filed with the plans until needed again.
I’ve done a comparison of those notes, and here is a list of steps I keep in mind when starting a new project:

1. Make notes. Anything that isn’t correct, took too long, needs a special accessory or jig, anything you think will help if you want to make this project again. Don’t be afraid to write on the plans/cutlist. (You can make a copy and write on that if you want.)
2. Acclimate your stock to your shop environment. I’ve rushed into milling newly purchased wood, and resumed work a week or so later only to find the stock had changed size on me.
3. Refer to drawings and cutlists during planing and construction. Mistakes happen, and not all measurements in a plan are necessarily correct. Think about the way the parts will fit before you cut, and check back at the creator’s website if you can.
4. Organize similarly dimensioned stock for milling. I try to cut every piece of the same dimension with the same setup. If it’s right, they’re perfect. If it’s wrong, at least they’re all the same size. Maybe you can just adjust the other dimensions and not have to start over.
5. Cut everything you can while it’s still square or disassembled. It’s so much easier to clamp, route or taper at that point.
6. Dry fit as you go along. This will help you decide on the order of assembly, confirm the parts will fit later and help with glue-up. Sometimes just comparing a part you’re about to cut to the partially assembled project can prevent a costly error.
7. Assemble as sub-assemblies. You’ll need fewer clamps and won’t be racing against the glue. It takes a little more time, but the attention to detail often pays off with higher quality construction.
8. Finally, save the cutoffs. They come in handy for testing stains and finishes, or at least as clamp pads. Or sizing dadoes. Or parts for a jog. Or backup for drilling. Or…

Alright, I admit it. I save every scrap.

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen cooks on the Food Channel measure out ingredients, and they’ve still got the measuring spoons on the ring that is used to keep them together when they ship them to you. The wives on Take Home Chef on TLC are some of the worst for this. (And don’t get me started on them wearing rubber gloves just to handle vegetables!) Even Martha Stewart still has them on a ring. Once you’ve used one to measure a liquid, what do you do? Let it drip? Get another ring of spoons and use just one of them?

Take them off the ring!

We have two sets of measuring spoons that we regularly use here, a regular sized set and a narrow set to fit into spice bottles. Since we actually use these spoons, they were removed from their shipping rings years ago, and I made a wall-mounted measuring spoon holder to hold both sets. We can pick the individual spoon needed, and can mix and match measuring wet and/or dry ingredients without dragging along a handful of unused spoons along. We can also tell at a glance if one is missing.
So, my next project is going to be to make a Measuring Spoon Holder in two versions, holding either a single or double set of spoons. All sets of spoons I’ve seen have the same number and dimensions of spoons, even the cheap ones. (I don’t count the sets that have odd sizes or extra big/small spoons.) Here’s what it needs to do:

1. Hold a complete set(s) of spoons without hindering use
2. When replacing spoons, it should be easy to re-hang them without interference
3. Easy to mount on kitchen wall
4. Made of wood (I like wood)

I hope to have a prototype ready in a couple of days, once I do some measuring.

I decided to made two of this latest version, just to see how well my new written procedures would work when and if I go into production mode. This gave me a chance to time how long it takes to produce each part, including setup times. When I make only one, the setup time is often more than the time it takes to cut the parts. Also, I’m working so slowly when making only one, that I spend more time than I should examining each piece of wood before and after cutting. This is not something I should be doing if I want to make many for sale.

I had been making all of the cuts on my table saw, even though I have a radial-arm saw. Cutting pieces to length on it is a piece of cake, and I found that by using two saws I could reduce the time for setup by using the right saw for the job. I cut all of the rails, bottom and vertical pieces to width on the table saw, and then the bottom and rails to length on the radial-arm saw.

The nice thing about this design (relating to construction) is with the bottom and rails being the same length, if I accidentally cut them slightly short or long, they can still be used without re-cutting. This is only true if they are all in the same batch. I’ll have to remember to cut a batch and then assemble them before changing the setup. Probably a better idea is to make a jig that always cuts them the same length every time. I’ll cover that in another post when I make it. I’ll have to make one for the table saw as well, because the width has to be the same for the vertical parts and the bottom.

Below are some pictures of the Utensil Holders, after they had been treated with food-safe mineral oil. I use this all the time on our wooden spoons and I think it does a great job of bringing out the grain of whatever wood the item is made. The only spoons that don’t look better after a treatment are the cheap ones you get in the food stores in those 3-paks.