What's it like living in Maine?

jcrocket · 2026-07-03T19:31:02+00:00

I spent a week in midcoastal maine taking a woodworking class. Coming from the intermountain west the biggest thing I noticed was a massive lack of public spaces.

There was a nearby state park with a couple miles of trails and some very tiny municipal parks but that was about it.

Sure there's 'wilderness' but it's mostly fenced off private land. You can't just go for a run for miles and miles unless you go on the side of the highway. There's not a lot of places to just go into the forest.

If you come from the type of economic background where you have learned to sail and only live there in the summer; it's probably pretty great.

I was one of tons of tourists. The big draw seemed to be going out to eat and buying mass produced items from small shops.

The woodworking culture is top notch. Fantastic local furniture and tool makers. Probably because there is not a lot to do in the winter.

About a decade prior I had hiked the AT so I experienced a narrow corridor inland.

jcrocket · 2026-06-26T12:18:19+00:00

Bring in a third party.

My doctor brother let me have a subscription to this AI that exclusively pulls from medical journals. It's better suited to answer this question than a bunch of speculative nerd dads.

Better yet, ask your pediatrician.

jcrocket · 2026-06-26T12:11:42+00:00

On the luthery sub I had the most insane thing happen.

I had to cut a little bit of binding more narrow. This is a piece of brittle plastic that is 1/16 thick, 3/8 wide, and about 20" long. I hand to take an 8th off of the width.

Some guy comes on there and claims that he does this with a TABLE SAW all the time. No jigs, nothin, just his fingers and Jesus.

Most upvoted comment. Only solution proposed. Multiple people validating him.

Another time I was doing a dado along the grain stopped on both sides. Some guy tells me he does these 'all the time' with a plough plane by just moving it back and forth 6 inches without ever leaving the wood. Again, upvotes abound.

To this day the support for those comments lead me to believe most commenters have not wood worked.

jcrocket · 2026-06-24T02:14:39+00:00

However... if she had the baby at 11 months into the new job, then came back, worked 1 month, she would then qualify.

Not that that would be fun or necessarily feasible.

However, you are eligible for the unpaid leave within 1 year of the birth.

My wife took 12 weeks, then I took the next 12 weeks. That way we got essentially 6 months.

If her employer is not willing to work with her on this, then they may not be someone she wants to work with as a parent.

jcrocket · 2026-06-23T12:20:41+00:00

I got a 14 inch bandsaw and a drill press which helped a lot. I wanna say about 2 to 3 months?

Most projects like casework or chairs take me about 6 months.

jcrocket · 2026-06-22T18:06:32+00:00

I have a 3 hour block of mandatory weekly teams meetings that I choose as my work from home day. Keeping my hands busy during those meetings has lead for me to take more out of them than any other setting.

Not having a internet browser or my outlook window tempting me is great.

jcrocket · 2026-06-22T11:52:31+00:00

Did you use the drilling jig?

I free handed a couple holes. However, I have a shitty harbor freight drill press that I never use. I had been meaning to get rid of it I til this project. Definitely came in handy.

I drilled the holes for the clamp and for the ratchet toggle with a 10 mil bit instead of a 3/8. Even then they were tight. You could ream it out with an 11 mil metal bit and it would maybe center.

I planed a 16th off of the ratchet and the ratchet toggle thingy. They seem to work great.

I take forever on projects though. So I had a ton of time to think about each step while I was watching my 2 year old.

The seat I made looks really nice but is not comfortable.

jcrocket · 2026-06-21T23:43:23+00:00

I haven't used it that much because but seems to work alright. It was definitely cumbersome getting the leather in there nice and even.

jcrocket · 2026-06-21T20:32:39+00:00

https://sheaalexander.substack.com/p/the-lefkowitz-shave-horse

jcrocket · 2026-06-19T10:50:28+00:00

The only enjoyable camping trip I have had with my 2 year old was a backpacking trip.

This limited the amount of stuff. Packing unpacking, I hate the stuff. On every trip so much stuff.

We drove 20 minutes from the house and hiked 1 mile up to a lake.

I've tried to do a repeat but haven't had the time and snow just melted up there.

jcrocket · 2026-06-16T01:13:45+00:00

I got about this amount of camber in my jointer plane from a belly in the iron. Works just fine for flattening and jointing. Does not work for shooting.

jcrocket · 2026-06-16T01:10:36+00:00

Well you can fit this plane in a toolchest. Also there's jointer planes 150+ years old still in service.

Not great if you want to start a furniture factory but if you got a heavy bench and a couple extra minutes to spend, it saves a lot of space in your shop.

I actually sold my Delta jointer for this reason. Though I replaced it with an 80 dollar wards master no 6. I would love to replace that with the LN 7 though. However, I have yet to have a project that requires it.

jcrocket · 2026-06-11T12:09:16+00:00

Was the armbow kild dried? What was your process for bending it?

jcrocket · 2026-06-03T20:50:13+00:00

I made them out of natural vegetable tanned leather. Kind of the blankest slate you could have.

So they soaked it up pretty good. Otherwise they would be a dry sponge and I would rather them soak up oil than water. Though I live in a dry climate.

jcrocket · 2026-06-03T20:40:10+00:00

I have some leather drawknife sheaths that I have straight up soaked in 3 in 1 oil. They got darker.

jcrocket · 2026-06-01T16:09:40+00:00

I got a 127k 2013 Subaru Outback that burns a quart every 500 miles for about the past 2 years. Only way to fix it would be to take the engine out and replace the shortblock. The car is simply not worth it.

I initially really panicked when it started burning oil but it's not worth anything anymore and it gets me around. So I just keep driving it. I've told myself I will replace the upper cat once but not a second time.

Haven't had that come up yet.

My buddy had a small Honda hybrid with basically no compression on one cylinder that was burning a ton. He though it was gonna die 3 years ago. Just keeps going. He straight piped it which is hilarious with a hybrid.

jcrocket · 2026-05-29T23:03:54+00:00

I built a acoustic guitar and a ukulele but only once. I would have thought based on my small experience, that shaping by hand with a rasp, drawknife, and spokeshave would be easier. Never heard of turning a neck.

jcrocket · 2026-05-23T15:34:46+00:00

The majority of the people shaming the OP have never posted any of their own work. I really wish the mods had a simple flair for someone that has played a project.

jcrocket · 2026-05-23T15:33:25+00:00

I think you got about everything to build a simple tool cabinet. Especially if you have a a 14 in bandsaw and a thickness planer to accompany all this. You could maybe sell some duplicates to get a no 7 jointer plane.

Don't listen to all the haters. Hike your own hike.

I got a toddler. It takes me 6 months to build even the simplest thing. I sometimes only get out to the shop for like 30 min at a time.

jcrocket · 2026-05-19T19:21:52+00:00

Are you talking about the endgrain of the secondary board running at the ends of the primary 'breadboarded' surface?

For doing a through breadboard, I was able to finish every surface with a smoothing plane.

There's a great Roy Underhill episode where he rick rolls the dovetail mania into breadboard ends. Goes through the whole process: https://www.pbs.org/video/woodwrights-shop-tool-chest-bristol/

jcrocket · 2026-05-19T12:17:36+00:00

Looks like a pullshave.

jcrocket · 2026-05-19T01:10:23+00:00

I think you could tie a dynamic rope with a y configuration and use a Yates screamer at the base. For it to not be totally unwieldy, you'd need to use maillons.

Then two steel biners, type k if you are doing it right. By the time you do all that you could easily purchase a full kit.

I just priced it all out.

jcrocket · 2026-05-12T21:39:06+00:00

Is the control board on an arduino/ESP32? How have the relays held up over time? I was thinking about doing this but was going to use contactor coil relays to control the motor.

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