Why Every Tool on My Pegboard Has an Outline
There's a marker outline around every tool on my pegboard. It's not because I'm tidy. It's because of grandkids, Earl, and a coping saw that went missing for a month.
Pull up a stool
Howdy, I'm Dale.
I spent thirty-some years building other folks’ houses. Trim, cabinets, stairs, then a small crew of my own. My back retired me in 2024. My hands didn’t get the memo.
Dale’s Workbench is the name on the sign over my shop door. It’s been there since 2015, and so have I, most Saturdays.
Now I build in a pole barn behind the house and write down what I know. Woodworking that holds up. Fixes that stay fixed. And the plain, calm kind of being ready that keeps a family comfortable when the power goes out.
Pull up a stool. Coffee’s on.
Buck is under the bench. He's supervising.
Shop Notes
All Shop Notes →The Five-Minute Fix That Ate a Saturday
Linda's bathroom door was sticking. I told her it was a five-minute fix. I want to tell you how that went, and what I'd do differently.
The $8 Yard-Sale Plane That Earned Its Spot on the Wall
A rusty old smoothing plane, a Saturday morning, and the steps that turned it from a doorstop back into a tool.
Projects
All projects →Saturday builds with cut lists, written for folks who want it done right the first time.
- How I Taught My Son to Sharpen a Chisel
Matt fixes furnaces for a living and can handle any tool you hand him. But he'd never sharpened a chisel. One Sunday afternoon we fixed …
- A 2x4 Garage Shelf That Won't Sag (Unlike the Last One)
My big-box garage shelf folded up like a lawn chair one night. Here's the 2x4 shelf I built to replace it, with a cut list and the reasons …
- Lily's Step Stool: A Sturdy First Project with a Cut List
My granddaughter couldn't reach the bathroom sink. One pine board and a Saturday later, she could. Here's the cut list and how to build it.
Be Ready
All of Be Ready →Water, power, and pantry. Calm, steady steps. Prepared, not scared.
- The Pantry Linda Built (and Why My System Lost)
I had a system for our food storage. Linda had a better one. Here's how her pantry works: store what you eat, eat what you store, and …
- A Power-Outage Checklist That Isn't Scary
Most outages are an inconvenience, not an emergency. Here's the simple checklist we keep by the back door, plus the generator rules I won't …
- Storing Water When You Live on a Well
No power, no pump. No pump, no water. Here's how I keep water on hand now, so I'm never hauling buckets from the creek again.
Dale’s notes
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