I’ve been dreaming about a workshop rebuild that will probably happen next summer. My original plan was to build a bench down the side of the garage to hold my tools. Then I realized that it could be more convenient if I had a few rolling carts to hold the tools. They can be rolled into place when needed and then pushed off to the side when they aren’t important.
I designed this one out in Sketchup and that worked extremely well for me. After designing it out, I also laid out the cut list and cut ALL of the pieces before starting to build. It was a leap of faith but it worked out great! I didn’t have to recut anything. I was almost completely done before I realized that I had made a big mistake. When I put the tools on top of the cart, they didn’t fit!
In a bonehead maneuver, I had never actually put the tools in the position that I would have them on the top of the cart to measure the total space. I just measured the individual tools and when I did that, I forgot to include the part that sticks out of the back of the jointer. ARG!
Thankfully, the jointer and the planer only overhung the edge by about an inch. I resolved this by running a 3/4″x3/4″ piece of leftover cedar all around the top edge. I also trimmed out the rest of the cart so it looked more intentional. It looks fine and everything fits without hanging over the edge.
The drawers came out pretty nice. This was my first time using drawer slides and they work wonderfully! They were really easy to install and I got the full-extension drawer slides so I don’t have to fuss with stuff hiding in the back of the drawer.
The final touch was to build a simple attachment to hold a power strip on the back of the cart. This means I only have one plug to power the cart and I also have some extra power ports if I need them.
I want to build one more of these to hold the drill press, spindle sander and belt sander. I’ll probably use a very similar design but this time I’ll make sure that I lay the tools out and measure the total space!
The DJ at our wedding introduced us to a group called “Vitamin String Quartet”. As the name implies, they are a string quartet. They play covers of popular music. That was the music he used during the dinner. If you aren’t paying attention, it just sounds like classical music, but every once in a while it catches your ear and you realize what song they are playing.
I finished watching all seven seasons of 
What is Advent?
The church year starts with the season of Advent. Advent starts four Sundays before Christmas and runs up to Christmas. So for most years it starts the Sunday after Thanksgiving. These four Sundays are sometimes represented by four candles. One more candle gets lit each week. Some Advent wreaths have a fifth candle in the middle and that one gets lit on Christmas Day.
Advent is a season of waiting. We’re not just staring at our watches, waiting for Christmas to come. We are joyfully anticipating Christmas and reflecting on why we need Him and what His birth meant for us. Believers in the Old Testament waited thousands of years of Jesus to come. We only wait a few weeks and we get to celebrate it each year. But in addition to preparing and focusing on the birth of Jesus at Christmas, we also expectantly wait for his return at the end of the world when those who believe that Jesus died for their sins will be taken to heaven.
Want to know more? Check out this article about Advent from our church body.
I’ve already written a post about why I celebrate Christmas so it will be a little while before there’s another post in this series.