Sandpaper Makes For A Smooth Christmas

It seemed like a good idea at the time when I told the wife I would be making Christmas gifts for the kids and their spouses and partners this year.

“It should be cheaper,” I seem to recall telling her earlier this fall. Sandpaper makes for a smooth christmas.

Oh, how I was wrong.

Christmas gift-giving at the Schneiders has evolved over the years. When the three youngsters were tiny, we and the extended family and godparents slathered them with gifts. If there was a new Beanie Babies critter or Barbie doll, or a new color of My Little Pony, it was under the tree for the two girls. Our son had Transformers and video games. They all had the latest movie releases on DVD.

As they entered the college years, there were more clothes and household items. In recent years the girls have been making crafts and adding those to the mix.

Crafting, if you haven’t noticed, is a growing pastime in America. People are making all kinds of stuff from old junk found in basements and garages. The fanciful name for this is “repurposing.”

Me, I don’t want to turn an antique into something modern, so I just decided to stick with woodworking for this year’s gifts.

First I had to decide what I wanted to give them. That was tough. I spent hours on Pinterest and Etsy looking for ideas that would match their interests, my limited shop skills and my even more limited supply of tools.

I finally found ideas for most of the gifts and resigned myself to the fact that one guy and his wife were just going to get a store-bought items.

All these projects needed several species of hardwoods. I was fortunate to get a donation of beautiful boards from a co-worker, who said they were destined for her wood stove. Those rescued boards are now items that will be under the tree on Christmas.

I needed other hardwoods that couldn’t be easily sourced. Three trips to South Bend and one to Michigan turned those up. Then the work began.

I cut, drilled, sanded, sawed and chiseled. I even used the two hand planes I found in a barn in LaGrange County this past summer and then painstakingly restored their luster. I made a lot of mistakes.

My band saw wouldn’t cut hard maple and the beautiful purple heart woods straight. I used up the small billets I had and had to make a long trip for more.

One item was originally going to be round. My circle cutter couldn’t handle the job. The gift is now square.

I needed to cut hard-rubber items in slices. I did, but I used up two bandsaw blades and needed to buy replacements.

Sandpaper became a constant purchase. No matter how many sheets I had in all grades, I always needed more.

Lacquer is not my friend. I needed to apply this finish upstairs out of the dust and cold of the workshop. The kitchen table was where I landed. Kelley indulged me, but the smell of the fresh lacquer gave us headaches. I opened the doors and windows and ran the ceiling fans for relief. I applied six coats of lacquer until the surface of the project was just right. I won’t be using lacquer indoors again.

Now, just a week away from Christmas, I have two projects to complete and one that has yet been started. It will take an all-out effort to get all the work done.

I hope I have enough sandpaper.