ABOUT

Welcome!

My name is Scott and I eat, sleep and occasionally bleed saw dust! I’m a woodworker, furniture designer, furniture builder and DIYer. In March 2015 I created Saws on Skates and added another title… blogger!

I love to research and I’ve read lots of posts about how to create an amazing “about” page. Some say “only talk about the blog.” Some say “don’t talk in the third person.” Some say “talk about you.” So many rules!

My about me page is going to totally break the rules. If you’re like me, you enjoy learning about the person behind the blog. So first, I’m going to tell you about me. Then I’m going to tell you about Saws on Skates. Then hopefully you’ll click “follow” at the end of this page 🙂

About Scott

I started building small furniture projects when I bought my first table saw in my early 20s. A few years later I bought my first home… an 1850’s broken back saltbox.

One of the first things I did when I moved into the house was to set up my workshop, but I took a hiatus from furniture building to focus on house restoration projects.

Some of the restoration projects have included installing a new roof, installing a wide pine plank floor, staining the cedar clapboard siding, building a wood bulkhead, restoring the original wood windows, plus many more projects.

window trim installed 2 sos

After I had a handle on the restoration projects I once again turned my attention to furniture building and my workshop. Let me tell you, my workshop is tiny! It only measures 10′ x 13′ (and some of that space is occupied by a furnace room). I mounted all of my tools on wheels in order to maximize floor space.

To improve my furniture building skills I enrolled in several woodworking classes and furniture making classes. I learned traditional furniture building techniques like how to hand cut dovetails, make mortise and tenon joints, resawing to make veneers, steam bending wood and more.

Then I went to a woodworking show where I saw a demonstration for the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig. I’m pretty sure I heard angels singing as I watched how easily and quickly furniture could be made with this amazing piece of blue plastic. I immediately bought one! Sure, hand cut joints are cool, but who has time for that?!

I searched for furniture plans that could be made with pocket hole joinery and found ana-white.com – a virtual warehouse of pocket hole furniture plans. I built many projects from the awesome plans found there and shared several “brag posts” on the site of the projects I built.

Next I enrolled in a two-day Sketchup class and from there started designing my own furniture plans. I shared a few of those original plans on ana-white.com and then…

Saws on Skates

The idea for Saws on Skates hit me like a hammer to the head… build a go-to place for do-it-yourselfers with small workshops who crave free, creative DIY plans for easy-to-build projects. Oh, why “Saws on Skates”? It’s a wink and a nod to my small, mobile workshop!

In addition to free DIY plans, Saws on Skates also features valuable info about setting up a small workshop, working in a small shop, safety tips and shop tips like this Miter Cuts Made Easy tutorial below.

Saws on Skates was constructed as a community for weekend warriors, aspiring furniture makers and those who would rather build than buy. If you don’t have a ton of space (ya know, a big workshop), you love free DIY plans and workshop tips than you’ll feel like Saws on Skates is your workshop away from home.

From time to time you will also see posts about repurposing discarded items into new projects, my rescued pound puppy, gardening, cooking, craft beer and any other topic that comes up.

Featured

Saws on Skates DIY projects have been featured all over the interwebs. My Coffee Container Tikis Statues have practically gone viral! They have been featured on littlethings.com, sanfranciscoglobe.com, boredomtherapy.com, awm.com, viralcozy.com and diply.com. The tikis have also been featured on Hometalk and the Hometalk Facebook page.

Hometalk.com has also featured my scrap wood Candle Holders and my scrap wood Rustic Mod Tablet Holder.

Knockoffdecor.com featured my West Elm Inspired Stocking Holders and my Plow and Hearth Knock Off Elmwood Stool.

Remodelaholic featured my outdoor beverage table in a roundup of Brilliant DIY Cooler Tables for the Patio.

Free DIY plans to Build an Outdoor Beverage Table with a hidden surprise!

I’ve also designed and built custom projects like my Designer Lamp which was created exclusively for Cutting Edge Stencils.

lamp finished sos

I love working with reputable home improvement and DIY brands. Let’s chat! Send a message to sawsonskates (at) gmail (dot) com.

Contributor

In January 2016 I was selected to be a contributor to Domestically Speaking’s 2016 Creative Team. Domestically Speaking is everything DIY, crafts, recipes, printables and more. I’ll be contributing six easy DIY projects over the course of 2016 and my first project, a DIY Pet Bed with a Recycled Drawer Look was featured in March 2016.