<div dir="ltr">Nice work, and, as always, a great story to boot! Thanks for sharing, Joe!</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Regards,<br>-Steve<br><a href="http://woodworking.bigelowsite.com" target="_blank">http://woodworking.bigelowsite.com</a><br></div><a href="http://pen-blanks.us" target="_blank">http://pen-blanks.us</a><br></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 5, 2017 at 9:44 AM, Joe Johns via Woodworkers <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:woodworkers@lists.sawdusters.org" target="_blank">woodworkers@lists.sawdusters.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">So it's December 20th around 1800 hrs and I'm sitting at home enjoying the few short days before Christmas eve.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">The phone rings and in typical fashion I'm scurrying around the house trying to find the damn talk into and listen outta thingy.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Good evening."</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Hey Joey, it's Jacques. Say, I got to thinking this morning about our boy and the state of his room and how much he could use a toy box and I..." I interrupted him.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Wait, I see where this is going so lemme guess, you want this before Christmas, right?" We've been friends ever since I moved here to the Mission Valley.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Yeah, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, just nail some plywood together and throw some finish on it and..." I interrupted him again.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"How 'bout I give you a cardboard box instead, I got a couple big ones here and..." He interrupted me.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"He's been using a cardboard box and it ain't working b'cuz he likes to sit on it and he has..." I interrupted him.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"How 'bout I do it this way, Jacques, let me wing it?"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Well, his wife, Jenny, musta been within earshot of the conversation and I can almost see what happened immediately after he hung up with me. She sneaked off to the back porch and called.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">This time I knew where the talk into and listen outta thingy was b'cuz it was still in my hand. "Good evening."</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Joey, ummm..." Her voice is very alluring...much like Lauren Bacall's and I've known her since forever, too. "Hey Jenny, this is a coinkydink I just got off the phone with Jacques and..." She interrupted me.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"I know, I heard. Listen, can you make it bigger than the standard size toy box?"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Why, certainly. Do you have any other particular requirements?"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Yeah, make it so the lid doesn't slam down and crush his fingers and..." I interrupted her.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"I'm on it. Nothing fancy, no grueling efforts associated with climbing out of a cardboard box and no chance of phalanges being dismembered."</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Now, y'all know I'm not one to do things where it 'doesn't have to be anything fancy'. At the same time, I'm not one to simply cobble something together without a bit of thought. True, this project wasn't "fine woodworking" but I tried to keep it within constraints I was given.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">After the basic box was assembled I put my thinking cap on and said out loud to no one in particular (mainly due to the fact no one else was in the shop), "This thing needs more stuff. But what kinda stuff?"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">While I was pondering on that I walked to the wood stove to throw in a couple chunks 'o wood and glanced at my pirate hanging on the wall and at that precise moment was when my 'what kinda stuff can I add to it' question was answered.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">I ripped home, did a Google search for pirate art, found the perfect picture, printed it then moseyed my way back and this was when Jeff became involved with the project.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Jeff walked into the shop to see what I was up to. "What the hell are you working on now?"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Hey Jeff...ummm, I got this...well...it's a toy box and I'm having some birthing pains. I was given free "wing it" status so now I'm trying to figure out how to plus it and showed him the pirate picture.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Well, hell, Joe," He said with delight, "I think that is a perfect idea...how 'bout we burn the edges of it to make it look old?" We did that, glued it on the front and next thing I know he's out the door headed for town.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Now, I'm back into thinking mode.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">I says to myself, "Self, this is a pretty big toy box and you know every boy has some smaller, more precious things that absolutely must be kept separate, right?"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">It's pretty scary when you answer yourself. "Yeah, so what about it?" I said.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Well, what if you was to put in a sliding tray for all them separate precious things?"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">I had some honest to goodness gold doubloons left over from another project I got from the Dollar Store a couple years ago and I glued them authentic plastic doubloons all willy-nilly like. And then came time to decide on the handles.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">I thought, "Pirate...honest to goodness fake plastic gold doubloons...so what kinda handle goes on a treasure chest?" Then it hit me, "I know! Rope handles!" So I called Jeff because I knew he was going to the hardware store - turns out no one in the entire world has sisal or hemp rope anymore. So I milled them from pallet wood, spray painted black then lightly sanded to make them look worn.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">In the pictures only the stain has been applied. Jeff had the idea to take the hinges and grind notches in the edges to make them look forged.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">The day after Christmas the phone rang and once again I'm running around trying to find the damn talk into and listen outta thingy.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Merry Christmas!"<br><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Hey Joey, it's Jacques..." I interrupted him.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Hey Jacques, does the boy still have all his fingers?"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">"Ahhhh, yeah, he does, but that ain't why I'm callin' - I should'a had you make two of these." </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><img src="cid:ii_ixklevbo5_1596f7b19074a949" width="435" height="562"><br> <br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><img src="cid:ii_ixkhh9m70_1596f164812a244b" width="562" height="316"></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><img src="cid:ii_ixkhlblm1_1596f192c1907b3d" width="562" height="316"></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br><img src="cid:ii_ixkhlbm12_1596f192c1907b3d" width="562" height="316"></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br><img src="cid:ii_ixkhlbme3_1596f192c1907b3d" width="562" height="316"></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br><img src="cid:ii_ixkhlbmq4_1596f192c1907b3d" width="562" height="316"><br><br><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br></font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="m_-5448123921873475360gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Joe,<br></div><div>The Twisted Knot Woodshop, "There's never been a classier joint"</div><div>Visit the Twisted Knot Woodshop - <a href="http://www.twistedknotwoodshop.com" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr>twistedknotwoodshop.com</a></div></div></div>
</font></span></div>
<br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
I want to be one of my friends for a day so I can see how cool it is to hang out with me.<br>
<a href="mailto:Woodworkers@lists.sawdusters.org">Woodworkers@lists.sawdusters.<wbr>org</a><br>
<br>
To unsubscribe from this list -<br>
<a href="http://lists.sawdusters.org/listinfo.cgi/woodworkers-sawdusters.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.sawdusters.org/<wbr>listinfo.cgi/woodworkers-<wbr>sawdusters.org</a><br>
<br>
Address to contact the list ADMIN staff -<br>
<a href="mailto:woodworkers-owner@lists.sawdusters.org">woodworkers-owner@lists.<wbr>sawdusters.org</a><br></blockquote></div><br></div>