Woodworking: Making Things and Making Mistakes

In this episode, we talk about our attempts at woodworking, with projects that didn’t always go as planned. Some things worked out really well, and others… not so much.

We share a mix of small successes, predictable failures, and the lessons we learned along the way. From Larissa's bent saw blades and Misha's cracked desk top to a bountiful garden box and beautiful maple dresser, this episode is all about learning through doing and learning (or not) from our mistakes.

If you enjoy simple English, real-life stories, and a bit of humour, this episode is for you. It’s not about perfect results; it’s about trying, learning, and improving.

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Thanks and we'll talk to you soon.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And then about a week later, I'm sitting in my living room and I hear like spring. Oh, that's the best imitation of the sound I can do. And I look back and my desk has gone totally wonky. What? Yeah, it's so much so that it broke the screw, one of the screws that was attaching it to the base, snapped it clean in half. Hello, Eepers. Welcome to another episode of Extra English Podcast with Misha and Larissa.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

We're two Canadian English teachers talking about life in Canada, our lives, and anything else that might interest us. And hopefully it will interest you too. So join us for another conversation.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Today we're going to talk about things we have made out of wood. Wood. Very specific topic. Yes. But we have lots to say. We do.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

We are not a carpenter. I am not a carpenter. No, no, me neither. Or a woodworker, but you might order.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

I mean, I couldn't. Most things I make, I get help from my brother who is a professional cabinet maker. Okay. So on my own, I'm not sure I could do much. But you do have some impressive projects. Yes. My house has a lot of things made by me with help, including this desk. If you're watching us, which you can do on YouTube, you can see this desk. Yeah. If not, it's just a solid wood top. Yep. It's made of cherry wood. Okay. Uh-huh. But it it's been a real journey, this desk. First, I my father got some wood from his neighbor. Okay. My parents live out in the country, so everybody's farmers and they have wood laying around. I don't know. Well, I mean they cut down a tree. Absolutely. It's they cut down trees on their property and then they turn the wood into planks and it sits in the barn for 40 years. Okay. So they gave me my parents' neighbors some wood that we all thought was cherry, which is a common hardwood here. It's got a beautiful color, like a orangey, pinky, gorgeous color. So I made my desk. I laminated planks together. My brother has a full wood shop. So I did it there. I put a bunch of boards together. I sanded it. I clear coated it, which means I put a clear finish on it. And I bought a base made of metal that can go up and down so I can stand or sit. Oh, very good. Very convenient. And I was like, great, this is great. I love it. Yeah. And then about a week later, I'm sitting in my living room and I hear like spring. Oh, that's the best imitation of the sound I can do. And I look back and my desk has gone totally wonky. What? Yeah. It's so much so that it broke the screw, one of the screws that was attaching it to the base, snapped it clean in half. Wow. And cracked right down like one side. No warning. Just all of a sudden, spring. I mean, I think it had, I think I'd seen the crack a little of the starting. Okay. And I thought, oh, I'm gonna have to do something about that. And then yeah, I think it was like the screw was holding on for dear life.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

And then eventually it gave up. Amazing. Okay. So that is obviously not this tabletop. So I told my dad and brother this. And then we figured out that the wood I had been using was not cherry. Oh. You know, it was in a barn, it was dusty and dirty, and it'd been sitting there for decades. Yeah. So people just confused it. It was actually at a wood called beech. Beechwood, okay. And if you Google beechwood, everything will tell you do not make a tabletop out of beechwood. That's what everything on Google. It's the first thing every source will say. Don't make a tabletop.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Because it will dis uh disconnect itself from the base. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

It's rebellious. Beechwood is just prone to warping, which is the word we use for when wood chain like twists and changes shape. So what is beechwood used for? I think you can use it for anything where you're not gluing multiple planks together. Okay. So if you were using it, I mean, I think maybe it's not a very popular wood for for furniture. Okay. But if it is, it would be more like so I recycled my desktop into shelves. Okay. So I cut the planks back apart and used individual pieces for shelves, and it works great for that. Okay. So my bathroom shelves, these these shelves in my living room are all my old desk. Okay. And then we went back to the barn. Uh-huh. We found actual cherry. Confirmed. How did you confirm it? I mean, I don't know. There are people who know more than me and they say they're sure and I believe them. Yes. Also, this color actually, I could show you a picture of the old desk. It didn't have this brilliant color that this one has. So but you don't I couldn't see that until I plane the boards, until I cleaned them up. Okay. Well, it is beautiful. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

It's a beautiful desk. I do love it. And I would never know that it's multiple pieces put together. Yeah. You can see a little bit like where those two are such different colors.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

In some spots. Okay. Anyway, but I love it. That is a I do think it's one of the harder things to do in woodworking to make a really even tabletop. Ah. I mean it's not as hard as a drawer. But it's a it's a complicated. You have to be a little you have to have some skill. And mine's not perfect. I'm getting better with every project.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

It looks perfect to me.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

I mean, it's serving our purpose. It holds a microphone well. And it has a great story with it.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yeah. It does. Oh, I love that. Uh I have never made something as spectacular or useful as this. Um, but I did make a garden bed. Oh, well, that seems very useful. Oh, it is very useful. It's just, it's not beautiful or elegant.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Spectacular.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

No, I used a palette for it.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Palette is what is it? It's like what companies will put heavy things on to move them.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Um, how would you describe a palette?

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Yeah, it's a wooden thing meant to keep products off the ground, I assume. And to make them easy to move. So I think you can order a palette of like that's also a measurement for certain products.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Because like wood slats, slats, like kind of crisscrossed. So anyway, I found a free palette because people are often getting rid of palettes. Yeah, there are things online about like how to use a palette to make uh whatever. To make all sorts of things you can with it. So I I saw those things online and I thought, I want to make something with wood. And palettes are free, and I can do this. So I got a palette from the side of the road. I don't have tools. I'm so curious.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

So I had to go to my local library of things. Oh, this is I should utilize them more, and we should talk about it in another episode in more detail. But tell us a little bit, what is a library of things?

SPEAKER_01 6:58

It's it's like a library where that has books, except instead of books, it has tools and camping equipment and small um uh appliances, small machines, and there's a subscription fee. Okay, but it's quite minimal, it's quite affordable. You pay once and then you have access to everything in the library for a full year. Love it. Uh so I went and I requested a jigsaw. Okay. So I went to pick up my jigsaw, and the very, very helpful man there says, What is what project are you working on? And I explained to him and he said, Hmm. Can I suggest you get a skill saw instead? Yes. And he showed me a skill saw, and I said, Oh no, that looks very scary. I do not want that. Will a jigsaw work? And he said, probably.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

This is so interesting because I think of a jig a jigsaw as moving independent. That seems much more dangerous to me than a yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

I I felt intimidated by the parasol because I didn't know how to work it.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

It's got a big blade.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

He also said, Can I also suggest some protective gear? So I also signed out some safety goggles and gloves and a number of other things. I'm so glad that he was helpful.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

That's a good person to have at a library of things.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Yes. So I brought them home and I started working away, cutting the the padlet, padlet, the palette apart. Uh, and it was much harder than I thought it would be, probably because I was using the wrong tool. I'm trying to picture it, and I'm like. I ended up breaking one and bending another of the blades.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

So then I went and purchased new ones, and when I brought it back, I said, sorry, I broke it and I bought new ones. And he said, Oh, you didn't have to replace them. And I was like, What kind of amazing magical library is this? I can just use things and break them. Anyway, in the end, I got a little bit of help and we got it apart. Great. And then I just um screwed it together with a like an electric drill and filled it. I lined it with some some special kind of like gardening fabric. Yeah. Put some soil in there and I put it in my driveway. In your driveway? Yeah, because that's where I have the most sunshine.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

That's why you needed a box. There's no dirt there otherwise. Yes. Oh, and did it did the plants thrive?

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah. So the first year I planted tomatoes and they grew beautiful big tomato plants. Not very many tomatoes, not much fruit.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

So I've tried different things. Um, I can do some greens there. I'm trying rhubarb this year. It's getting thick but not tall. So again, not ideal, but it's it's working.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

And I think I'm transitioning now to raspberries.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Oh, I think that's a great idea. That might take a couple of years to this.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Is the second year. Okay. So I have a couple of stocks that I'm hoping will get fruit. Yeah. Raspberries don't need as much sun, and also they spread like crazy. And so being in a box keeps them nice and contained. I love it. They can't go. Like there's pavement under them. Yeah. They can't.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

They're stuck. She's trapped the raspberries.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Well done. So if I get a harvest, I will definitely let you know. I'm excited to do that. I want some of these driveway raspberries.

unknown 10:22

They're the best kind.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Not true. Foraged raspberries are the best kind.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Well, I was gonna say, I don't think we've ever gone raspberry foraging together. Oh. Foraging is when you just go out in the world and try to find the berry. Uh and there's a great, I love black raspberries. Yes, there are a couple good patches in our city. And they're kind of hard. I don't know why they're not cultivated as much. Like you can't buy them.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

I think it's because they are so painful. Like the, they have such um uh uh st like prickles on them. I always get my arms all cut. Oh, more so than a red raspberry. I think. Interesting. But also, if they cultivated them, they would just breed that out.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah. Yeah, I don't know why. Maybe the red are more brilliant looking in jams and pies. Maybe. But a dark blackberry is like a purple.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Also, why don't they cultivate like so many amazing things?

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Well, also there's a white. Have you ever had a white raspberry? No. Oh, yeah. When I was a teenager, we helped my mom and I helped an elderly neighbor care for his garden. Yes. And he had white raspberries. Wow. They're the sweetest of all three kinds. And they're big and juicy. They're kind of like they start out white and they get kind of golden colored by the time. Oh they're so good. I know about white mulberries. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

And they turn a little bit yellow also. Um and they are just as sweet as the red ones. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Oh. Anyway, we've got off topic. We're talking about wood, but it always comes back to berries. It's still spring. We can't all help it. So I mentioned that my brother is a cabinet maker. So he is, we're very different personalities, first of all. But he's very precise. Okay. Which you have to be as a cabinet maker. It's a very precision-oriented job.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Uh, I'm not. Nope. And I don't really feel motivated to be. So I don't put a lot of effort into it.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

I 100% understand. Remember, I don't even want to use a pattern when I'm sewing. Clear. Yes. It's a similar precision.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

No measuring. And in sewing, like it's somewhat problematic sometimes, but not really. But in carpentry, cabinet making specifically, drawer making specifically, you need to be very precise.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

What do they say? Measure twice, cut once.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Yes. And my brother, when he talks about measuring, like when he's helped me, he'll look at like, oh, this is one thirty-second of an inch off. And I'm like, what? Woo! What are you even talking about? That's a fraction. That is. It's within an inch. I feel great about it. That's not, it's not how you need to be. No. So one day, I don't, I don't always like to bother him because he's busy, he has a business, he has a family. So I was trying to make something by myself with yet another piece of found cherry. Actual cherry? This time it was actual cherry. And it was in his shop, but we both thought I had likely bought it at one point and stored it there and forgot about it. Okay. Anyway, so I was like, I can do it. Like, I'm gonna make a small kind of console table, which is a low small table, meant to put a TV or something on. Uh, and I'll I'll put one drawer in the middle. Okay. And I had this beautiful piece of walnut for the drawer front. Anyway, I was really excited about it. So I'm in the shop and I'm telling my brother my plans, and he's like, you know, I was using scraps. So this old wood that had been used for the drawer box. He's and he was skeptical. But I'm like, I can do it. It's just one drawer, it's simple. You know, I have the slides, gonna be fine. So I spent all day making this, probably more than, I don't remember, a couple of days. I make what they call the carcass, which is the part that goes around the drawers.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

The carcass. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Like a dresser without drawers is a carcass.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Wow. That's also the word we use for the bones of an animal.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Yeah, a dead animal. I know it's very weird.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Like that you put the carcass of the turkey in to make soup.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Yep, same thing. I don't know. That's not a word that that's not an English word that the average English speaker would know. Nope. I only learned it in my brother's shop. So I make the outside part, and then I make the drawer, and then I put the slides in, and I go to try to open and close the drawer. No. It's not happening. You got in though. I think I could I could get the drawer in, but not out. Or maybe I couldn't even get it to go in. I can't remember. Whatever it was, it was a complete failure. So it wasn't like, oh, it's a little, you have to put a little effort. No. No. It didn't work. No go. And my brother goes to measure. And of course, like in order to make a drawer, it has to be perfectly square. Perfect right angles at all four corners. It was nowhere close. But in my mind, I'm like, I'm just gonna crammer. It's just gonna work. It doesn't work. It doesn't work in woodworking to do that.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

So did he help you with the second one?

SPEAKER_00 15:14

No. I threw the drawer out. I kept the drawer front, which was the beautiful piece of walnut. I think it's still in my closet. Oh. My lumber closet. Uh, and I removed the drawer slides and it's just a cabinet without drawers. So it's in my son's room now. We put books on it. It's great. Yeah. It's a beautiful little cabinet without drawers is a shelf. Yeah, I guess I don't think you call it a carcass if it's not meant to have drawers. I don't really know. But it doesn't matter. It's like a shelf. But it's low to the ground. Oh yeah. You know what I mean? It's only one. Would you call that a shelf? Maybe a table. Yeah. Like a coffee table almost. Maybe. Anyway, whatever it is. It's looks lovely. The piece of cherry on top's beautiful. It stores books. But it's drawerless. It's sadly drawerless. Well, did you learn a lesson?

SPEAKER_01 16:13

I mean, probably not, to be honest. Maybe the lesson is no, no, I never.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

I think I think the lesson is if I want to make something with drawers, I probably need help. That's probably the lesson. That's what I was gonna say, but I didn't want to say it. It's very nice of you to spare my feelings. I can say it. I haven't made anything with drawers since. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Uh I am impressed that you even attempted the drawers. Thank you. I think that's amazing. I tried. Yes, good job. Uh, I have something at my house that you made.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Oh, true.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Uh I I love to work with my hands, but like Misha, I don't like to measure or be precise. And so I prefer more freestyle activities or or or crafts and hobbies. So I love to embroider. You do too, but this is my story.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

So she's very good at it. You have to see some of her work. It looks great. But also, you are incredible at embroidery. We're both amazing. We are keepers.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

We are so wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Well, sometimes we like to do crafts together, and that's the most fun. It is really a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

So, anyway, um, I used to live in the Middle East and specifically in Qatar. And when I was there, I thought, oh, I know what I want to do as a souvenir. I want to make myself an embroidery in the Palestinian embroidery style to take home. So I made a wall hanging. It has my last name, but trans transliterated into Arabic. So when Arabic speakers see it, they don't know what the word is, because it's not an Arabic word. It's it's an English word that I've just written in Arabic letters. It's kind of weird, but it's meaningful to me. Yeah, and it looks beautiful. And around I put a beautiful border with a Palestinian embroidery motif. Anyway, I had it for a long time, and it was just, it was just a a piece. I didn't know what to do with it. And I I got I was thinking about it, and I mentioned it to you one time, and you were like, I can frame that.

unknown 18:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

I was like, you can frame that? And so I gave it to you, and I think it was like months.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Months and months.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

I'm like totally fine. It was years that I had it. And then one day she comes over, knock knock, knock, here you go. It's my embroidery. Framed. It it looks so beautiful, and it deserves to be on a wall. It's so great. So do you remember the process of making that?

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Yes, I've done this a lot. You don't have to be as precise when you're just making a little frame. But as Larissa said, I also like to embroider. I have many of my embroideries in my house. So I've made dozens of, we call them stretchers. This is the term it's also used in painting when you're stretching a piece of canvas or fabric around a wooden frame. That wooden frame is called a stretcher. So it's not a, you can't see what I made. It's it's the fabric is wrapped around it. Um, so I don't know, it's not that hard to make. I remember I saved it for a time when I was doing some of my own. Yes. So then I just kind of did a whole batch at once.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

But you stretched it on a wooden frame and then you also put a wooden frame around it. Oh, did I make a wooden frame around it?

SPEAKER_00 19:37

I did. Oh, I'd forgotten that part.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Oh, I have to see a picture. Because the the stretching part, so I often will just buy a canvas from the store, like a painting canvas, and then staple my embroideries to it. Yes. I don't have to do the woodworking part. Um, no, you made the frame and then you made an outer frame and put little pieces in to hold it in place. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

It's very unique. Oh, yes. So this is the method, which I think my brother and I figured out. I made him a big painting at one point. And so I make a wooden frame with mitered corners, which are corners where the wood is cut on an angle. That's also a uh quilting term. Yes, it is. Same thing with fabric, angled corners. I don't know how to do that yet. It's a little bit hard in sewing, actually. And in woodworking. Um, anyways, and then to hold it in place, because you don't want to damage the fabric. So my method is I make little, you could just little wooden blocks, thin little pieces of wood, to pop in between the stretcher and the frame around all the edges at equal spaces to kind of hold it in place with tension. So it's a nice way to do it. It's not complicated. I don't know if anybody else does it this way. We just made it up.

unknown 20:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

But I think it looks nice.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

It is really, it's it has a unique look. I like that about it. I totally forgotten that I framed it also.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Cool. You did. So it's double thank you. You're double welcome. Fun. All right. I will tell you since I've told you about two failures. One success. So we end on a nice note.

unknown 21:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

So my biggest like thing I will keep all of my life that I love that I've made out of wood is my dresser. Oh, that holds really close. Does it have drawers? It has nine drawers. But listen, it it was a success because my brother, but more so my dad, helped me at every step. Okay, yes. So and it was a many weeks project. I used uh maple wood, which is very Canadian. Very, and it's called rustic maple, which means it has some like holes in it from where people drilled for maple syrup. Oh, it has like imperfections that are probably I paid extra for those imperfections. It's a really Beautiful wood. And then the drawer fronts, which is the part of the drawer you can see, is made out of a spalted maple. Spalted wood is when a mold gets in the wood. Oh, and the mold is killed during the drying process. So it's not, there's not currently mold, but it makes these beautiful black um like streaks in the wood. It's also something you might pay extra for. Yeah. So it really is damaged, but in a way that makes the wood more beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Okay, can we just stop and acknowledge how beautiful that is? Yeah. That there has been some you said damage, but also like the imperfection, the trouble, the problem that this tree had have become something beautiful and makes it more valuable. A feature.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Ooh, I love that. I know I love that too. Also, on that note, I like to leave a little bit of the tool marks on my so, for example, on this dresser, you can find some of the sawmill marks, which is the saw that originally would have cut the plank, which my brother doesn't like because to him that's like I just haven't done a good enough job. Yes. But I like to see the process the wood has gone through.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Well, and that's also that adds to the rustic charm. Totally. Rustic. When I think of rustic, I think of like a farmhouse or something kind of well, imperfect. Imperfect, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Anyway, so this dresser, first of all, it's so heavy. It is all solid wood. So the drawer boxes are put together with a dovetail joint where the wood is cut so you can slide it together. Which I only mentioned because I put them all, the drawer boxes, together one day when my brother wasn't there. And then he came and he's like, the the dovetail joints weren't perfectly flesh. Oh. So one side stuck out a little bit on all of them. He was so unimpressed. And he made me take them all apart and redo it. But this is why I have a dresser that works in the end.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

I correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like this this kind of method of attaching wood without screws or nails, I feel like that that feels very Mennonite to me.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

I don't know if it is. I think it's definitely like a long-standing technique that's been around for a long time. Mennonites are sort of known for their woodwork. Like you can in certain parts of the states, I don't know, around here probably too, buy like Mennonite wood furniture. Yeah. Yeah, so I actually I don't know. Okay. Yeah. I think it's a common thing in general. Okay. Is it also common in the Mennonite tradition? For people who are good at the craft. Yes, it's like a skilled thing to do. That's right. Um, yeah, so I will tell you one part that made me so proud. Is so I made the drawer boxes, and then you make the face, which is an extra piece that goes on the front. And that was my spalted maple. And I put all the faces on one day while my brother wasn't there. Okay. And when he came back, he said, Wow, you did this. It looks great. He was so complimentary, and I was thrilled. That's a big compliment. It was a big compliment, especially after I'd messed many things up along the way. So I felt really good about the fact that he was impressed. Look at you redeeming yourself. That's right. Give me enough chances and I will get it right. So it's finished now. I use it every day. I love it so much. It's also something I think will always remind me of that time spent with my dad building it. So it's a great keepsake. We'll post a picture of it. We'll post a picture of all of our wood projects. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

I think everyone should see my incredible handiwork in my driveway. Done with a jigsaw, keep in mind.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

Makes it more impressive. It's functional. Absolutely. And I am proud of it. That's a success. You should be. You were doing that with no knowledge on your own. Good job. I also should have gotten more knowledge before I started. You have to start somewhere. So we'll put those pictures up on our Instagram. Go check it out.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Yep. Um, yeah. And if you are a woodworker, would you be willing to share with us some of the things that you have made? I'd love to hear about it. Oh my gosh, I would love that.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

I'm so sure that so many of you are much, much more skilled than us. So please tell us about your projects.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Thanks for listening to another episode.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

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