got a late start tonight and decided to work on carving 
up the boxes. Nothing fancy at the 
moment. I'll paint and finish them tomorrow. I like the way the fox and pelican turned out. We'll see which one pops after we add color tomorrow.
was spent making boxes. The table saw it a dream and 
I keep messing with it to "fine tune" it. Tonight I set up a dust bag under the saw to catch the small chips. It won't catch everything, but hopefully enough so I don't 
have to vacuum up after every use. I was able to make a total of 5 boxes from the materials we bought. One box is a little smaller than the others. My new friend is blue painter table for the glue up. It works surprisingly well, even though I still clamp things up when I can. Tomorrow, I'll carve them up with the three seats I have. Speaking of toilet seats. I was surfing the net for some ideas, when I saw the ultimate bathroom! It is too bad I did not get to carve up the seat. The guy says he feels like Indiana Jones whenever he uses it!. UPDATE! 
Cheryl reminded me of a seat that would have looked GREAT on that toilet. My old greenman seat! It's a VERY old picture....enjoy. Current weight: 261.4
I finally had an entire day to set up my table saw the way I want it. And I must say, I'm quite pleased with the results! After checking out the store to make sure they did not have any zero clearance inserts available, I had to totally make mine from scratch. I used a 1/4 inch piece of plywood to make it. For a first timer, I think it
came out OK. The piece was a little warped, and I may have to remake another one at a later date. But for now, this one works pretty good. The second thing I made for the new table saw, was a sled. I can' believe what a difference a sled makes when cutting small pieces of wood. It has revolutionized my cuts. I cut three times and 
they were all the EXACT same length! Amazing! ( for me anyway) Forget hand tools from now on. I could not cut a straight line with a miter box! And to be clear, this is NOT an expensive, bells and whistles table saw. But it works! Better than I had hoped or imagined. So I set out to make a 
couple of boxes tonight and what a joy it was to make them. For the first time ever, everything fell into place. I am very happy with the new tool and wish I had purchased it earlier. Even the cats approve! I have to wait for the first one to finish gluing up. I ran out of clamps! Current weight: 263.2
carved up a couple more seats for Etsy. Cheryl suggested a 
rabbit and I wanted 
another cherry blossom bird. I did not really have a chance to work on my table saw set up tonight so I will have to wait for another day. 
I'm off to the Etsy forums to hang out for a while! red the shop cat is giving me the "look".
finally finished one of the more challenging origami creatures. The Samaria head beetle has Over 145 steps and many repeats. ( repeat steps 31-50. Etc) I was not using the foil paper that I love
so much so it is highly likely that it will unfold and look like a big wad of paper in a day or so. This was my third attempt. I first used 6 inch paper and found ti to be 
almost impossible. It does not look much like a beetle. This picture was with 9 inch paper and I think it turned out better. The book recommends 12 inch paper! I found a picture similar to what I'm attempting. I think the paper one is more like a rhinoceros beetle. I'm planning on redoing this till it looks better. Possibly with thinner paper if I can find it. Current weight: 265
blog entry. 
Cheryl and I made some soap and are getting ready to kick off our soap shop. We want to have at least 5 different scents to offer before we list 
them. Next I purchased a small table saw to help me with my box construction. I also added
a couple of pipe clamps to my arsenal. They have helped out gluing up the tops and bottoms of the boxes. And I was able to carve up a new seat as 
well as one we sold. Staying with the 'cute" theme, I added a squirrel. Cheryl says 
they are rather popular on Etsy right now. So I'm hoping someone will find this one attractive enough to buy it. I'll show off my table saw another day. Lets just say it was on sale and I needed one that would not break the bank. It works! but the bargain comes from the lack of accessories. It's OK, since I only need it for a couple of tasks at the moment anyway. Right now I'm off to make a sled and possibly a zero clearance insert for the blade.
So finally Cheryl broke me down 
and bought a book for me. ( I didn't want to buy a "book" to show me how to make something this simple) I took the books advice and build a small box out of scrap wood with a simple butt joint. I did not realize that the boxes could be that simple. Well, Finally, some success! The wood is 3/4 inch pine scrap. I finally got my router table to cut an 
edge totally square and smooth, but did it after I assembled my first box. So I had to do a lot more sanding to fix the "mistakes". All in all, This one is a little sloppy, but I think I can make a better one down the road. Until I master the assembly, I'll stick with the butt joint, maybe reinforced with some brads or screws. I still want to carve them after all. The box has no hinge, Instead having a "keeper" that fits tightly inside the box. I cut it just right, then assembled the box upside down ( YEAH!) so I had to retrim it. its still a little "too snug" but at least the top won't be lost or fall out easily. My room is still a disaster, so today will probably be spent cleaning things up and carving a seat.
I'm sure there are wood workers out there that have a specific wood that they use more often than others. For me it is oak. I never thought I cared until my toilet seat supplier changed to birch 
( I believe). Oak has a "feel" to it when freshly sanded that sets it apart from pine, birch, even maple. As a carver, I thought that bass wood or maple would be good woods to carve in, but they are "fuzzy". The same goes for pine, birch and poplar. Oak is very common here in the United States. and is probably one of the cheapest "quality" woods out there. Its fairly heavy and strong. It also carves up nice! It was not until I read a book about Oak that I actually learned to appreciate some of the other qualities Oak has to offer. Just a few 
other things that Oak is responsible for: tannin ( used in leather making/ taxidermy) Ink, Charcoal, Construction lumber, and Acorns. Read more here: Oak: The Frame of Civilization (Paperback) 
I worked on salvaging the pieces of the box in a second attempt with an easier joint. This time I attempted a lap joint, which, according to one of the latest issues of some wood magazine ( can't remember which one at the 
moment) is one of the strongest joints and relatively simple. Everything was going along fairly well. Then I get to the assembly 
phase and POOF! It all evaporated. I had measured precise and gotten everything to match and then...BLA! I was so pissed after three hours of painstakingly measuring, marking, and recording all my measurements and STILL having it be off my about 1/4 inch. ( actually it was less, but quickly spiraled out of control. I still can't get around to explaining it to where I understand it!)
Regardless! I quit for the night fearing I might, in some fit of rage, cut off an appendage! So mark that as a second FAILED attempt! I still might be able to salvage the wood, but the box keeps getting smaller. I found my router table much more friendly and desirable to use. I currently do not have a table saw. I don't know how much easier that would make things.
another toilet seat tonight, and worked on a new origami frog. 
time schedule is still messed up 
a bit from the holidays, so I decided to take this opportunity to blog a bit during the day. the cats are not letting me sleep 
anyway. With this new found daylight, I decided to try to capture another close up of one of the gray squirrels. Sometimes I let the cats
out to chase them. What great fun! I also have been exploring the standing crane for my origami. I tried 
the book, but I like mine better. Mine stands better and, in my opinion, is easier to fold. Cheryl posted my new seats on Etsy last night. Here is the finished picture. The picture in my shop does not have the finish on it yet.
