Well, little did I know that a query about your biggest woodworking projects would bring such a huge response. E-mailed tales and descriptions of humongous pieces of every sort; many starting with: "I thought it would be a good idea to have ..." or, "A friend once asked me to build ..." .

Sometimes your project's inspiration was utilitarian, as with the fellow who built a camping box to bolt to his Volkswagen Bug (see Readers Write About Big Projects). But apparently, we all have built them, and regardless of how they turned out, we're secretly more than a bit impressed with our ability to have constructed something of vast scope and significant mass. Often the e-missives reported exact weights of these steriod enhanced wooden wonders: "all told, I reckon the entertainment center weighed in at 787 pounds and actually required the entire Springfield Junior High football team to carry it up my mother's stairs!"

Thanks for your e-mail. I do read every one, although I can't respond to each note. As I promised, I've written about a large project from my past (which included police involvement) and I've also attached a few of your notes on building big to boot. Read on and enjoy.