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My
son and I own a small 2 man woodworking shop located on a small
island in the chain of islands known as the Florida Keys. This
chain stretches from the mainland of Florida, south of Miami,
some 120 miles to the south and west to its end at Key West. We
are about 90 miles NE of Key West and about 50 miles SE of
Miami. Since there are hundreds of miles of “Oceanfront
Property” in our area we are fortunate, to have as our
clientele, those that can afford that type of property. This
market niche gives us the opportunity to build many one of a
kind custom projects for some very discriminating clients.
In the early 80’s, while living in Sarasota, FL, I took a job as
an apprentice to a master cabinetmaker that had served his
apprenticeship in New York during the late 20’s. He was never as
famous as some, but the traditional methodology and quality of
product that he instilled in me has a value that I was never
able to thank him for. His poor health and subsequent passing
forced the closing of his shop and my employment shift into
custom home building. |
During the next 15 years I mixed cabinet making and home
building in Northern Michigan (The Upper Peninsula, U.P. aka “Yooper”)
with a crew of up to 15. We were fortunate enough to work on a
number of homes that were published in various home magazines
including one in Architectural Digest.
In the late 90’s, with my longing for Florida’s weather and a dozen
published homes in my resume, I was able to secure a position as
a project manager with an exclusive contractor performing work
in the Town of Palm Beach, FL and the Palm Beach Polo Club. We
built homes for many Fortune 500 CEO’s and notable sports
figures, most between $5M and $40M. This position allowed me to
observe and manage some of the finest craftsmen, methodology and
products available anywhere. After some years of this, I found
that the paperwork, scheduling stress and city driving were not
a viable replacement in my psyche for hands on woodworking,
which is very relaxing and satisfying to me.
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In 2000, after my second oldest of 4 sons moved to the Keys from
West Palm Beach, I found myself taking longer and longer
weekends in the Keys visiting him. In 2004, my 3rd son, Gary
Jr., and I had been working together for a couple years. We
decided to move to the Keys and set up shop. We incorporated,
and Islamorada Woodworks, Inc. was born. In late 2006, we moved
into our larger building in Tavernier. We have used this larger
building to add room for additional equipment, the most notable
being our PRSalpha 96-60. |
Even though I do not consider our ShopBot, or anything else we
own for that matter, to be the holy grail of woodworking
equipment, it has surely done more to improve our accuracy,
repeatability, methodology and expand our capabilities than any
other tool in our arsenal. My viewpoint in this column will be
somewhat biased. Biased towards using a modern piece of
equipment to add accuracy and functionality to our traditional
woodworking joinery. Biased towards getting the highest quality
cuts possible from the machine. Biased towards using the best
materials for a given job, rather than the cheapest or most
easily obtained. Biased more towards a professional shop
attempting to do profitable work, than the hobbyist. I will,
however, try not to let that bias keep even the most casual of
ShopBot users from getting benefit from this column.
Your Responsibility
Use suggestions, files, and designs
from this and other ShopBot WebColumns at your own risk. Make sure any
project or technique is appropriate for your tool and shop. And always
verify any toolpaths in Preview Mode and by air-cutting before actually
cutting material. If your material is expensive, it is always best to
first try a test cut in something you can afford to mess up.
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Contact
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your note in their column and will personally respond to your email as
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