Making Space, Part 1

It’s interesting to see just how much material stuff you’ve collected over the years when you have to examine it in great detail (or when you have to move it). It’s also interesting to note just how unimportant much of it suddenly becomes when you find yourself running out of room and trying to organize it better!

I don’t need help in organizing my stuff. I need to reduce the amount of stuff I have.

With that in mind, I examined the lumber I hauled over from the house to the new condo (old? New-Old? Ummm… it’s a little confusing since I’ve lived there before. Apparently confusing to the utility company, as well, since they keep messing up my account). I realized I had three groupings of lumber that were all destined for workbenches.

1-of-3 masses of workbench lumber

I’m not sure how I got to that point, but I’m there. And “there” includes a large stack of very wonderfully garage-kiln dried (you know, when you have lumber in your improperly vented garage for several summers, properly stacked and stickered, and it gets supremely dry because of the cycles of heating it goes through) southern yellow pine. It wasn’t a big deal in an oversize two-car garage. But in a standard-size one-car garage, it takes up a lot of space.

Last weekend, that lumber was delivered to Jon, a chap from England who has lived in St. Louis for several years and recently got the woodworking bug. He has shop space in the old Lemp Brewery (jealous!) and needs a workbench.

Space! Well, a little bit, anyway…

For a reduced price on what I paid for it, he got ready-to-go lumber delivered to his shop. I got some space back in the garage. And I got to take another picture for my album called, “Shit I Can Put In My Car”. Oh, and a little bit of cash to throw towards a future woodworking project.

232bf of SYP

I’m also a big believer in paying it forward. I’ve had so much good come to me over the years, especially the last six months, and I feel it is only proper to put “good” back out there for others.

1st Edition, Double-Signed Workbenches book

I recently picked up the revised edition of Workbenches by Chris Schwarz. My original copy was special to me because it had a rare signature drawing by a then-7 Katy Schwarz right next to her dad’s signature. But… I don’t need two copies of the same book. And I figured Jon would get some good use out of one of them. So I gifted him my prized first edition double-signed book.

He more than made up for the gift by giving me a quick tour of just two floors of the old Lemp Brewery. Man, oh man, I could spend hours there, snooping around and taking pictures of things like original track doors that are perfectly balanced with counterweights and metal spiral stairs.

And hopefully I’ve started a good friendship with a new woodworker in the area.

TKW