Big, Small or Middling

Rob-Portrait351One of the first pieces of furniture I built for my young family’s home was a coffee table from hickory. I measured it out in my living room, but when I laid it out in the shop, it looked tiny. So I made it a good bit larger. Well, you know what happened — when I got it home it resembled an aircraft carrier in proportion to the rest of the room.

Recently I’ve noticed that I am trending towards building smaller projects, for a number of reasons. I am wondering if this is as much a function of my age as it is my circumstances. I honestly think twice when it comes to hoisting 4 x 8 pieces of  ¾” plywood around my shop. In my 20s I’d carry two at a time.

So what about you? What sort of things are you building in terms of size? Big, little or in the middle … and have you seen a trend? Guys like me like to know this stuff!

Rob Johnstone, Woodworker’s Journal

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