The Adventures Of IndeMoJo: Jumping Into Spring Projects

Funny thing is, all these images are from my time living in Seattle, and trips taken from that point to Vancouver BC, La Jolla, CA, and the Glass Museum in Tacoma, WA.

The neon parking sign photos were in Vancouver, BC. The Hot Coals photo was taken in La Jolla. The Glass Volcano is from the Glass Museum in Tacoma, WA.

As old as these images are, I still love them! They make me smile!

#photography #photos #photographs #LaJolla #VancouverBC #TacomaWA

In preparation for the “fencing project” coming as soon as the first blush of Spring, I’m starting to accumulate the tools I’ll need. This way I get to set them up, square them, and play well before the first pressure treated piece of lumber & welded wire cattle fencing shows up.

I’m strangely excited by all of this: the tools, the fence, designing & executing the entire project. Sure hope I have the energy!

I put together the miter saw folding stand Tuesday in my dining room. Once done I wheeled it down the 2 flights of stairs to the basement. This afternoon I unboxed the miter saw, bolted it to the stand, and put on the 12″ saw blade.

There may be a 10″ Delta cast-iron tabletop contractor’s table saw in my near future too. We’ll see.

What’s really scary & or über-creative is: I’ll be using 10ft 4×4 as the fence posts. What I want to do is design & build bird houses as finials on the top of every post. The fence will be around the entire perimeter of my property. Guess we’ll see about that too! lol

#saw #construction #toys #homeowner #project #fencebuilding #birdhouse

The company I’ve been using to make canvas art prints for my home (Canvas Champ) gave me a free 11×14 canvas print free for my birthday. How nice! All I had to do was pay for the shipping and “extras” I added to the job.

This is one of my all time fave photos of Joe Strummer I took back stage @ Bonds in NYC circa 1981 (assisted by Ms. Dorothy Orant Morrison ). I’m very proud of this photo.

The original un-Photoshoped version has been published in books, magazines, appeared in a Clash documentary, as well as adorned the cover of the Australian DVD release of that documentary.

This version now hangs in my computer room/office/laundry room, where I can see it every day. Perfect size too. ❤️

Has also got me thinking that I might start selling my photos as canvas prints direct from my go2jo.com website. I have to work out the logistics.

Let me know what you think In comments or interest in buying my photos. 👍

#joPhotos #canvasprints #theysayitsyourbirthday #CanvasChamp

Figured it was a good thing to try as a sawdust collector rather than buying a whole dust collector unit. I figured: start small & work up.

I like that it uses a shop vac which I already had. 👍
I did my research & this is how I’ll roll for a while. (pun intended) 😝

#woodwork #woodworking #boytoys #shopvac #imjuststartingout

#joWorkshop: A boy & his toys …

Well I finally got my Shop Fox hybrid table saw. Awesomeness! ❤️❤️❤️

It came on Monday. I was so very fortunate on a few levels:

1. The truck it was delivered on had a lift gate.
2. The delivery guy was extremely cute! Woof!
3. My neighbor and her nephew were in the front yard.
4. The nephew was built like a linebacker! Wow!
5. My neighbor asked her nephew to help me get it from the street down into my basement.
6. He helped load the 300 lb unboxed saw onto my hand truck and maneuver it to the back near the stairs.
7. He then proceeded to pick the entire saw up by himself and carried it down the cellar stairs … like he did this every day. Didn’t break a sweat. He was in sandals too! Damn!

That was incredible luck! The woodworking godz were looking out for me! Thank you! And huge thanks to my helper!!! 👍

It took me a couple days to get it all put together, aligned, and ready to cut my first piece of wood.

I still have 10 fingers! Woot! 👐

#woodwork #woodworking #boysamdtheirtoys #tablesaw #shopfox #imjuststartingout #greatful

Is it trash or is it sculpture?

I am a saver. I tend to save boxes from items I have purchased. But no more!

I came to the conclusion @66 this is probably the last big move of my life. Why would I waste all that space storing boxes anymore.

So off to recycling with the boxes on Monday. Though I do need to find a place to recycle all that styrofoam. I’d hate like hell to send it to the dump. I’ll research that on Monday.

All of this to make more space for my basement #workshop.
Out with the old & in with the new! 👍

#ButisitArt #recycle #recycling #cardboard #styrofoam

#joWorkshop: Used my new #Dewalt #MiterSaw today for the first time. ❤️

Started the process of cutting 2x4s to the lengths I needed them for my worktables.

The project is for two 2 ft x4 ft mobile worktables that I can use in whatever configuration I might need. They will have toggle clamps on the legs to clamp the 2 tables together when needed. Plus heavy duty casters for rolling them around easily.

BTW I returned the Rigid saw for the Dewalt. The Dewalt is much nicer … but what lousy dust collection! Dewalt! WTF!!! Am researching a better dust solution. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just another day in IndeMO. 👍

#saw #construction #toys #homeowner #newproject #woodproject #woodprojects

Now I just need to figure how I want to finish them. Or at least the tops. Danish Oil, tongue oil, shellac, or polyurethane. I think it will be poly … but we’ll see. I’m in no rush on that.

All my new tools got a workout: KREG pocket hole jig, Makita plunge track saw, Makita jigsaw, Makita orbital sander, and my Ryobi drill was up to the task as well. (No … this is not an advertisement. lol)

For now I just started putting tools etc on & under the 2 new tables, until I can plan some organization method. On the back burner for now.

The next project may be a miter saw station/table. We’ll see.

And made the new tables the same height as the new table saw. So in theory I can use them as off feed for larger cuts. Guess we’ll see.

Just another day in IndeMO. 👍

#worktable #woodworking #powertools #toys #homeowner #newproject #woodproject

It’s February 27th & it’s 62° out. Figured it was a nice day to cut the lawn & mulch the leaves that have sat on it all winter. Sure … why not!

Funny … under all those leaves I can see new bright green clover shoots waiting to bust out for spring. Awesome!!!👍

Another day in IndeMO …

#waitingonspring #lawncare #homownership #homeowner #mulchitbaby #mulch

Thought it was a great idea and I had the 2x4s … so why not!

This way I don’t have to clean off and use my new workbenches to do ply cuts. Win win! 👍😃👍

#worktable # wood #woodworking #crosscut #plywood #plywoodstation #newproject #woodproject

This is a drawing I did for my new miter saw table in #SketchUp. I took a little time to learn the basics of the program, had a few failures … but learning the keyboard commands for the tools was key to speeding up progress.

I did this drawing in about 3 hours. The cool thing is all the measurements are spot on to the fraction of an inch. And to someone who is “fractions challenged” … this is a great thing. ❤️

In my basement, there are sections of the cement wall that jut out about 2.5 feet. So rather than build in front of it, I am building on top of it. 👍

I reworked an idea from another YouTube video for a miter saw table. Mine will also have a fence on both sides of the table, as well as t-track & tape measure routered into the deck to be able to have stop blocks on either side to cut repeat lengths of board.

Now all I have to do is build it! 😝

Just another day in IndeMO. 👍🤓👍

#mitersawtable #mitersaw #wood #woodworking #newproject #woodproject

It’s sunny & 70° @ 5:00PM here in IndeMO. Made a lumber run earlier this afternoon. Now I’m just relaxing & “resisting” the setting sun in my eyes … me & Smokey. 👍😎

Things coming together slowly but steadily. 👍

#woodvise #vise #workbench #workbenchbuild #polyurethane

I’m all for protective equipment. While I’m doing any cutting, drilling, sanding, etc I wear a a dust mask and protective eyewear. I also wear gloves 3/4 of the time.

Since I’ve been working more and more in my basement I have been injuring my head more often. Even though I wear a baseball hat ALL the time, there are still a LOT of low hanging pipes & HVAC ducts. Even though the ducts are covered in silver backed insulation, they are still a noggin hazard. Just look at the one photo of the top of my head—that’s just one week of injuries.

So. I figured maybe it was time I did something to protect my precious melon. I bought a hardhat! Who woulda thunk!
Today was my first full day of wearing it. I was actually surprised how comfortable it was. True it does add to my height a bit, but now if I hit the top of my head—no more baseball cap button slamming into the skin of my head. Guess if I had more hair … that might offer some cushion. But I doubt it.

Oh well … as crazy as it might seem. I think I’m better off.

And the Keith Haring “Radiant Baby” sticker gives me a giggle each time I see it & generates massive amounts of creative energy. Giggles are good. Head injuries not so good.

#OSHA #protection #woodworking #basementworkshop #booboos #keithharing #radiantbaby

#joWorkshop: Looking more like a place to work than just a catch all.

Everything in it’s own time. It IS a process. 👍

Still working on the miter saw bench. Trying to make a dust hood. Plans are still in my brain. Need to dump them into Sketchup to plan for real. lol

#downinthebasement #woodworking #wood #workbench

Hell I even put up my new poly-wood birdhouse today. So very colorful! Hope some happy bird family nests in it. Either way it’s very cool. LOVE the colors! Pop!

#garden #gardening #leaves #driedleaves #justanotherthang