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

[Kristen Salmon]

Hi, My name is Kristen. I am kind of new to all of this. I have been collecting wood for a while and have built a few things, yet have not used my Kreg yet. I am having trouble coming up with what to do with it. 

I am from Milwaukee, and am in the process of building a desk, although the plans provided are way over my budget for a desk. I have the materials at hand, just not the skill to make my own plan. 

I joined here becasue I need help! 

So far, I have built a platform bed. I normally use already finished furniture and redo it. My sights are much higher now. I have watched many of the kreg videos, and while helpful, it is just something I can't wrap my head around. 

I go to Home Depot A LOT and I talk to a lot of people to get advice- but I am still lost. 

[Mike Jones]

Hi Kristen,

My name is Mike.....congrats on the new Kreg Jig.  Check out the projects at the right under Ana White,

she has some great project plans...and they are easy to follow.

Have fun with you new toy !!!

 

Mike Jones

Kristen Salmon said:

Hi, My name is Kristen. I am kind of new to all of this. I have been collecting wood for a while and have built a few things, yet have not used my Kreg yet. I am having trouble coming up with what to do with it. 

I am from Milwaukee, and am in the process of building a desk, although the plans provided are way over my budget for a desk. I have the materials at hand, just not the skill to make my own plan. 

I joined here becasue I need help! 

So far, I have built a platform bed. I normally use already finished furniture and redo it. My sights are much higher now. I have watched many of the kreg videos, and while helpful, it is just something I can't wrap my head around. 

I go to Home Depot A LOT and I talk to a lot of people to get advice- but I am still lost. 

[Robert Brennan]

Hello Kristen,

All you need to get your confidence up is to get some of that wood you have been collecting and practice.

Once you get the hang of it you will be away.

You do not need any plans just work away at your hearts content and you will be amazed at what you can build.

Once you are happy with that its plans and off you go!

[Jay Boutwell]

I agree with Robert totally, You do not need plans to build and in fact the better projects come from being built from your own imagination and ideas.  That is what is becoming wrong with the woodworkers today, they all think they need some body elses plans.  A person gets a pocket hole jig and right away they start the familiar saying "anybody got plans for this or that?  If you want to build a piece of furniture and don't know how then go look at a piece that I something you want to build and then build it.  Something to remember is that a plan is only as good as the person who built it.  Robert said the magic word, "confidence" .
 
Robert Brennan said:

Hello Kristen,

All you need to get your confidence up is to get some of that wood you have been collecting and practice.

Once you get the hang of it you will be away.

You do not need any plans just work away at your hearts content and you will be amazed at what you can build.

Once you are happy with that its plans and off you go!

[james wilhelm]

Agree with Jay and Robert , the best projects are the ones that you think of , build with your own two hands , then you can say this is one of a kind and I built that, and always be proud of what you build, no matter how big , small or fancy !!  And always have fun and be safe , JIM !!

[Ken Darga]

I'm sure Noah didn't download plans from the internet, when he built the ark.

[Robert Brennan]

Hello again Kristen,

I forgot.... welcome to the Kreg Community, as you can see there is a wealth of information and advice available here, all backed up by trade background knowledge and physical results for you to see, and most all of us are OK with sharing that knowledge.

A story

I was working at Smith Crisps last week repairing Potato crates, some of which were made from Jarrah timber.

A good Auzzie product grown mainly in Western Australia and were used primarily as railway sleepers ( what a waste) anyway I brought some home and made some stuff from the broken boards heading for the rubbish skip.

I didnt use any plans just physically matched everything as I went this is some of the results

A piece of the pallet base and some deckboards made into a mallet and a small stool.

You can also do it

[Lorrie]

Hi Kristen,

I just wanted to tell you that when you start using your Kreg jig, it will give you confidence and you will start to think that you can build anything.  When I started, I didn't even know about this site, and I was flipping thru some magazines and I saw a cabinet that I wanted to build for my garage.  like you said, the plans were too expensive for me to build.  I thought, I wonder if I can just change a few things and use 2 x 3's instead of the plywood the plans called for.  I just went for it.  I started building it and it turned out great for me.  I didn't follow the plan and I had no idea what I was doing.  I hadn't built anything like that before.  You can check out my pictures and you will see that you can do this.  Good luck and have fun!!!  I know that I did!!! 

[Kristen Salmon]

Hi new friends,

Thanks for the welcome and the advice- Mainly I think that it isn't plans I am looking for, but a general understanding. If that makes sense. Confidence is a definite! That is spot on 

I am also a quilter, *I have a lot of hobbies?* but I design my own patterns, for the most part- however, I needed the basics to be able to do that. 

I should take a picture of my garage- Craiglslist has certainly helped in my quest to become a hoarder. Free wood, I am there. I actually got a guy's whole collection of scrap wood when he was moving, so that is great. 

I am attempting to make a desk for my husband's office. I want it to be L shaped, and have the plywood for the top, just can't seem to decide how to create it. 

The Ana White page is a great one- thanks for that tip- I have looked at her stuff for a while now, and I agree, I don't want a set in stone plan. I just want to be able to sort of have an idea of what I am doing before I begin. 

I have looked into carpentry classes, and the only one I could find is for conviceted felons. That doesn't fit me...

I appreciate all the feedback and the kindness! I believe that I need to just get out there and put some stuff together- and then my mind will be able to wrap around the concept better. 

Thanks again- and I also don't think Noah had any plans when he built the ark. 

[Stephanie Raper]

Hi!  My name is Stephanie and I live in Arizona.  I found Ana White's website a few years ago and decided to try out a project and have been hooked ever since.  I have 3 kids so I don't have to much free time but when I do you will most likely find me in the garage.  Unless it's the middle of summer haha.  I am slowly replacing all of the furniture in my house with homemade furniture and blogging about it along the way!

www.simplylovelylumber.com

[Joe L]

I sort of build from head, but at times I like to look at plans to see how things are done.   As I am still fairly new to making furniture type stuff, I just want to make sure I am doing things right so they don't fall apart. 

[Ken Forward]

Hello Fellow Woodworkers;

Just wanted to stop by and say hello. I must say that, I am not the greatest woodworker around but I sure do love making stuff with wood. Hoping that sometime along the way, I can ask a few questions on here and hopefully one or more of you fine woodworkers can help me out when I am stuck. 

Looking forward to seeing some of your fine wood work on here as well.

Take care and play safe..

Ken (Buckshot)

Alberta Canada