That’s pretty cool. It’s something I’ve wanted to learn- I’d like to make a case for my saber from school, and one day make a nice sideboard for the dining room. I’d love to build new bedroom furniture.

Have you been to Ft Hood? Do they have a woodworking shop?

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If I don't, who will? -Me
It's like being bipolar in opinion is a requirement around here. -TripleThreat

I'm a light INF/ABN guy so my sorry ass has never set foot on Ft Hood. It's one of the super bases so i imagine it will have a wood shop.

/r

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Steve

I’m going to be stuck there for a year, and it looks like I can secure some on post housing. At 41, I can only lift and train BJJ so much before breakdown...

Got a reading list about 15 books deep so far.

Couple guys hunt and fly fish, so I’ve volunteered to learn to field dress anything they kill.

There’s a wood shop there, currently under renovation. If it’s not up and running soon, I’ll take lessons nearby on the weekend. Gotta be something in Austin or Waco.

I might not even bother with a TV- there’s way better stuff I can do with the off time, and all of it is stuff I want to teach my kids.

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If I don't, who will? -Me
It's like being bipolar in opinion is a requirement around here. -TripleThreat

That’s really nice. If you ever need an apprentice to teach/do gopher work- I’m clean, quiet, take my pay in education, and am willing to grill steaks nightly.

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If I don't, who will? -Me
It's like being bipolar in opinion is a requirement around here. -TripleThreat

woodcraft in Austin offers classes on a variety of things. Usually good basic stuff, just watch the class schedule when you are there.
My advice is free - just message me with questions.

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Jim
"In dog beers, I've only had one"
http://www.shakercolonial.com/
Creating custom made furnishing to your requirements

Milling - that is a whole other story.

It depends on how much you want to invest vs time. You CAN do it all by hand, but it is a ton of time.

Basic steps to milling - in sequence

Joint one edge. You can do this with a jointer, but also with a jack or jointing plane.
Flatten and thickness board - a jointer will speed this up, but you can flatten so you have at least two good registration surfaces with a scrub plane and jack plane. From there you can thickness by plane (lots of work), or you can use a thicknesser. The dewalt 3 blade is a good workhorse, and Rikon is now making one for not much more with a helical cutter head (my preferred for lunchbox planers).
Table saw to dimension wood - even Jobsite saws are pretty good these days - I would suggest a good thin kerf blade since the motors are not terribly powerful. Freuds new combination blade is the bomb. I have stopped using rip and crosscut blades since that came out. Bosch makes a nice jobsite saw with some good accesory outfeed and side support for sheet stock.

Also - if You just want to get the table saw, many lumber yards will offer dimensional milling for a fee. If this is just an occasional thing it may be worth it to get everything to 3S dimensioned (thickness and joint one edge).

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Jim
"In dog beers, I've only had one"
http://www.shakercolonial.com/
Creating custom made furnishing to your requirements