Woodworking and the DIY bug

[Matthew Carberry]

It's weird. I can do rifle stocks with compound curves and action inletting until the cows come home, no sweat.  That 1903A4 restoration was a semi-inletted walnut blank before I got my grubby mitts on it, and it sports a red mahogany stain with 30 coats of boiled linseed oil - each coat taken down to the wood via steel wool until the grain was finally filled.  The finish is actually satin, the reflective sheen is from the Birchwood Casey stock wax. 

But when my wife wants a trestle table or bookshelf, I cringe in fear.  I cannot do joinery, mitre cuts, router shaping, or the like to save my posterior! I'd love to build a custom computer desk or two...

Someday I'll tackle that aspect of woodworking.  In the meantime, here's my 1906-vintage Remington Model 8, again with a walnut blank forend and buttstock lovingly shaped and finished by moi':

Now you're just showing off... 

[Gewehr98]

I want Mike to see it again, since it's willed to him.