New Members: Please Introduce Yourself!

[KregRep]

Welcome to the Kreg Owners' Community!
 
This thread is the best place to introduce yourself and let other Community members get to know you. Please include your name, where you're from, your experience building with wood, why you joined this Community, and any other interesting facts about yourself. Also, feel free to share links to your blog, personal website, etc.

Once you've introduced yourself, be sure to check out Helpful Tips for New Members.

We hope that you find great use and enjoyment from the Kreg Owners' Community!

-KregRep

[John Gibbs]

I'm John and have always had a passion to work with my hands.  i think it is because my work always involved telephone and computer work and at the end of the day there was no visual reference to tell that I had done something.  In my wood shop I could spend some time and actually had something to show for it.  I never had a shop class.  My school was so small we didn't have such things.  My only instructors were Wood Magazine and Woodsmith Magazine.  Over the years I've slowly added tools and gotten better at woodworking.  Now I am retired and I can play for hours on end in my shop.  I live in Minnesota so it is usually a winter activity because when summers come around there is just too many things I want to do outside.  My shop is 26 x 30 with a 9' ceiling.  It is insulated and heated.  Lately I have been building the bean bag toss games and doing scroll saw work. 

[Lupe]

Hello Kreggers!

My name is Lupe. A stay at home grandmother, recent college graduate, and ready to learn a new skill. After watching many talented people build so many wonderful and brilliant projects, I wanted to give it a try. I have visited numerous websites to learn what I can about woodworking. From time to time I have used a circular saw, drill, sander- little projects. I am ready to build a big project. I have downloaded some plans for a farmhouse table with a triple base of some kind-Ana White of course. I am so excited to get started. I just purchased the Kreg 5 with all kinds of other accessories from Amazon. I just need to get a brad nailer and a good sander. Oh-and a jig saw. I understand these are the base tools to get started.

I am looking forward to learning a new skill and appreciating the talents of others who are willing to share. Blessings to all. 

[Gene Pogue]

Hi my name  is  Gene, I  am  from Des Moines  Iowa, I  getting back to wood working  after many years . A friend  recommended  the kreg jig and I  am  excited  to start. I  am  building  a  cedar chest.

[Keith Wales, Sr]

Hi, my name is Keith and I live in North Carolina.  I have been building things from wood for over 50 years but now that I am retired I am really have the time to get into it.  I have posted some pictures of projects I have in the works or finished.  I am looking forward to seeing others projects and learning more about the Kreg Tools.  I have a Kreg Pocket Hole kit, a Kreg router table w/ fence and a Kreg Miter Gauge that goes from my saw to the router as needed.  I want to build the Kreg design storage cabinet for under my router table next.

[Tim Myers]

Hey guys and gals,

Tim here, just getting back into woodworking after a pretty long hiatus from it. My dad got me started making what not shelves and cutting boards when I was 8 or 9. Back then I made all my Christmas presents out of wood. I had a great dad. Yep I was using power tools and survived well. i am now 59. Anyway he passed in 2011 and I got all of his tools. I built a new shed for the lawn equipment and did some work to the old shed to turn it into a workshop. Took me a few years but finally ran power to it and am using it for some small projects. A coworker turned me onto Kreg and I recently purchased a K4 Pocked Joinery set. I am also looking hard at a Kreg router table, probably going with the tabletop model as it would use less space in my modestly sized shop. Anyway glad to be here and absorbing information like a sponge.

[John Gibbs]

Tim, you must have a table saw, right?  What shop doesn't have a table saw taking center place in the shop?  You might look into converting one side of your table saw into a router table.  That's what I did when my shop was really small.  Now I have a big shop and a huge table saw but I still have the router table as part of my table saw.  You can build a MDF double thickness top to fit between the rails of the saw and then recess a router plate into it.  I put plastic laminate over the top of the MDF for durability before recessing the router plate.  Then I built a deluxe router fence and it clamps to my table saw fence.  It saves a lot of space.

Tim Myers said:

Hey guys and gals,

Tim here, just getting back into woodworking after a pretty long hiatus from it. My dad got me started making what not shelves and cutting boards when I was 8 or 9. Back then I made all my Christmas presents out of wood. I had a great dad. Yep I was using power tools and survived well. i am now 59. Anyway he passed in 2011 and I got all of his tools. I built a new shed for the lawn equipment and did some work to the old shed to turn it into a workshop. Took me a few years but finally ran power to it and am using it for some small projects. A coworker turned me onto Kreg and I recently purchased a K4 Pocked Joinery set. I am also looking hard at a Kreg router table, probably going with the tabletop model as it would use less space in my modestly sized shop. Anyway glad to be here and absorbing information like a sponge.

[Tim Myers]

I have looked at that but my table saw is a Rigid folding saw. Love the saw because I can fold it up ald put it in the corner. Not sure how I would configure a router insert into it's design.

So far I have a Hitachi Scroll Saw, Hitachi Belt/disk sander, Power miter saw, Drill Press, Rigid Table Saw, and Craftsman Band Saw. Lots of power hand tools.

[John Gibbs]

Tim it sounds like you are buying good stuff.  In a small shop everything either must be on wheels to move around easily and store away or they must fold up to store away.  I started with a Ryobi all aluminum portable saw and it was okay but soon after I started doing more woodworking I realized the importance of the table saw.  It really is the center piece of the shop.  It is a tool that must be accurate and capable of doing the type of work you do.  The Rigid saw certainly looks like a good tool to start with.  I bought a Jet contractor saw, all I could afford at the time, and it has served me well.  Now, with my larger shop I looked into buying a different saw but instead I just made mine more capable.  I had a sturdy rectangular tube steel frame built and mounted heavy duty casters under it.  I then built a row of cabinets upon which I put my saw.  On top of that I built a double thickness MDF work surface that matched the height of the saw table and surfaced it with laminate.  My table is now nearly 6' wide and about 4' deep.  Dust collection was incorporated as well as my router table.  I can still move it on its wheels but it resides pretty much in the center of my work area.  This made the saw more capable and provided a huge work surface.  I then upgraded the fence, something I've never regretted.  There is no substitute for a sturdy accurate fence.  Other power tools in my shop are a 14" Grizzly band saw, a Grizzly drill press, a Rigid thickness planner, a Delta jointer, a Delta scroll saw, a Rigid spindle sander, a miter saw station, a 2hp dust collector, a smaller portable dust collector and various hand tools and power tools.  It has taken years to collect all this.  I am truly blessed.

John

Tim Myers said:

I have looked at that but my table saw is a Rigid folding saw. Love the saw because I can fold it up ald put it in the corner. Not sure how I would configure a router insert into it's design.

So far I have a Hitachi Scroll Saw, Hitachi Belt/disk sander, Power miter saw, Drill Press, Rigid Table Saw, and Craftsman Band Saw. Lots of power hand tools.

[Jason Eakin]

Hello Kreg Community,

My name is Jason Eakin, and I am from South Western Montana.  I am somewhat new to this and look forward to working with some lumber.  I've done some pallet furniture and other small builds.  I am looking to build some more furniture, and I joined this community for advice and ideas.  I'm open for anything, being new to this.  I saw this Kreg tool on an infomercial a couple of years ago while I was traveling.  I finally settled down in Montana and purchased the Kreg Jig.  By the way Old Man Winter will not slow me down, ain't nothing like a garage heater.....

Don't hesitate to send me ideas and builds.... Thanks in Advance.

[diana carlo]

would anyone happen to know what this is? It has drill press on the side but i cant figure out how it is used.

[Keith Wales, Sr]

It is a Drill Press that uses an electric Hand Held drill motor to act like a Drill Press.  The Drill Motor is clamped into brackets you see at the front and you have a Bench Top Drill Press.  A pretty good system if you just have occasional holes that you want to drill more accurately then by hand.

[Keith Wales, Sr]

The plans on the Kreg site are very good and well illustrated.  Another source you might want to look at is www.Rogueengineer.com.  He puts out a Newsletter with all kinds of projects most very simple made with inexpensive materials.  I have built projects from both these sources and have been very pleased w/ the results.  I have gotten into building presentation boxes in while I am waiting on a furniture project to be ready for the next step and the one in the KREG plans is outstanding.  I built 4 of them, see pictures on KREG site as Christmas presents and all were loved.  Used combination of Red Oak and Walnut on 3 and the last one was Poplar and Purple Heart.

Jason Eakin said:

Hello Kreg Community,

My name is Jason Eakin, and I am from South Western Montana.  I am somewhat new to this and look forward to working with some lumber.  I've done some pallet furniture and other small builds.  I am looking to build some more furniture, and I joined this community for advice and ideas.  I'm open for anything, being new to this.  I saw this Kreg tool on an infomercial a couple of years ago while I was traveling.  I finally settled down in Montana and purchased the Kreg Jig.  By the way Old Man Winter will not slow me down, ain't nothing like a garage heater.....

Don't hesitate to send me ideas and builds.... Thanks in Advance.