I was finally able to get back into the shop today.

Last week was a pretty slow shop week. Izzy was sick the second half of the week, so I had to stay home with her. She’s feeling mostly better today, so I was able to get to the shop. Susanna’s car is still with the mechanic where they are trying to diagnose some sort of electrical problem (or declare the car dead), so it was back on the bus to Rottne with Hoagie. The bus schedule doesn’t give me many hours at the shop, but it does help me get some exercise walking to and from the bus stop. Plus it is better than being stuck at home.

Today I finished throwing together a bench to support the planer. I built the bench out of scraps so it is pretty ugly. But it works. I think I have enough of the workshop built out, so I’m in business. At least this week. Next week is winter sports break for Izzy, so I’ll be out of the shop for the week (but we are visiting Stockholm for a few days, so that will be a fun adventure).

Today the sun came out and it warmed up a little bit (though still below freezing). Izzy was finally feeling good enough to get outside for a short hike. So, this morning the whole family agreed to go for a hike (with some members less excited than the others). We walked downtown, caught the number 4 bus to Öjaby, and walked to Dragsåsen naturreservat. The nature reserve sticks out into Öjabyviken (Öjaby bay) in Helgasjön (Lake Helga). The lake is frozen and we passed an area where a family had shoveled the snow and was skating on the lake. Hopefully Izzy will get the opportunity to skate on a lake some year, it is a pretty cool experience.

A little farther down the path we found a place to walk out onto the lake. We explored a bit while Hoagie had a great time running around on the open ice. He loves running in the snow. Izzy was the most adventurous of us and walked on the ice a ways along the shore while the rest of us walked the path and while Hoagie ran like crazy up and down the trails and hills. If only we could live every moment as carefree and excited as Hoagie is when he is running through the woods.

After a short walk, we crossed the bridge to the southern most part of the nature reserve. The snow had piled fairly deep on that section of trail, so we decided to wait until warmer weather to explore it fully. At least the humans did. Hoagie was having a ton of fun running through the snow piles and he explored a lot more of the southern island than we did.

Overall it was one of the more scenic hikes I have done in the area. It was way more interesting than the loop at Hissö that Izzy and I did on another windy day earlier this winter. It is a very short hike (under a mile) and we spent a lot more time walking to and from the bus than we did walking the trail.

I decided to rearrange the shop a little bit. Susanna’s parents had an extra couch that they said I could put in the space. I liked the idea, but I needed to make room for it. I decided to move the second workbench and place it back to back with my first bench. That workbench was a bit wobbly and wasn’t in the best shape, so I had to spend an afternoon taking it apart and doing some minor repairs.

That cleared up a space in front of the windows for the couch. Now Hoagie has a new place to hang out!

The new arrangement got rid of my sharpening station that I had setup on the second workbench. I’ll build a new one when I figure out where I want it. Or just sharpen at the benches and move the sharpening supplies off the shelf above the couch.

Today I built a bench for the CNC, but didn’t get the machine put together. I’ll work on that next week. The table turned out very sturdy, but I need to build a shelf (or drawers) below it to add to my storage. Susanna’s dad supplied me with the lumber and I cut the pieces on his chop saw, so the project was pretty quick to put together.

I made another big add to the shop this week. A few weeks ago I went by SweDendro tools and ordered a benchtop planer from Axminster. I had been sitting on the Danish Cord Bench project waiting for a planer and was getting frustrated about the wait. So, yesterday I decided I’d just pick up one of the benchtop planers that they had in stock, even though they cost a little more. Of course, as soon as I gave up on the planer, it arrived in stock. Susanna’s car is at the dealer, so I had to wait until she returned from work yesterday to pick it up. Today I unboxed it and set it up on the table I’m using as a finishing table. It has a spiral cutter head, so that should be a big improvement over the planer I had in the US.

Now I have to build a proper workbench to hold the planer. I’ll also need to figure out a way to remove the chips, but I’ll probably start with just hooking up the vacuum to the machine for now. There is an old single-phase dust collector on the other side of the building that I can probably borrow if I ask, but it needs some cleaning up and new bags. That will be a project for a later time.

I’m still trying to figure out what my go-to finish will be. It is a bit of a challenge to navigate the language and new products. I did some test pieces with LIBERON Bistrot Varnish and just picked up some Hozon 2C and put a first coat on some samples today. I’ll see how they look when they fully cure next week.

I’m trying to make Fridays my tool maintenance and shop cleaning day, so was able to get some pictures with the workbenches mostly cleared off.

My goal next week is to finish milling and do the joinery on the Danish Cord Bench. I ordered the cord and cord nails but don’t yet have an expected delivery date for them. I have a couple of projects in the queue, including a chicken coop for Susanna’s work, a loft bed for Izzy and a new TV/entertainment cabinet. The chicken coop needs to wait until I get the paperwork needed to work as a contractor. The loft bed will be a quick build (e.g. screws/bolts) . The TV stand/entertainment cabinet will be my first try with veneering so will take a bit longer. My landlord has sheets of veneer sitting around from when they built furniture for IKEA so I’ll purchase a sheet or two as needed.

The forecast for today called for clear skies and sun. I decided to walk Hoagie down to Växjösjön (Lake Växjö) after we dropped Izzy off at school. I wanted to try and catch some sunrise pictures around the lake. Instead of the sun creeping over the trees I found more grayness. The color of the Swedish winter.

I got a few pictures during the walk, but none of the morning sharpness I was hoping. But the weather wasn’t too cold and the walk was pleasant. And Hoagie is always (well, almost always) good company. I even found a new park to explore, the Museiparken. I had to look it up online after I got home and will head back one of these days to explore it in more detail. Probably when the weather warms up a bit.

The past few days have been a bit warmer, hovering just above freezing. Most of the snow has melted, but the ground is still wet and the ice is very slowly melting. It also means that there is lots of fog in the mornings. The dog park has been a block of ice which seems to be taking forever to melt, so I try to avoid it if I can. The forecast calls for freezing weather for the next week or so which will make everything slippery again.

The days are slowly getting longer, though it is still dark when Izzy walks to school. I don’t mind walking around the city before sunrise. Växjö is pretty in the dark; lots of Christmas lights are still up. Here are some pictures from my walk yesterday morning with Hoagie.

Workshop Updates

I’m still in a bit of a holding pattern on building furniture until the planer shows up. I was hoping it would be in last week but it didn’t make it. However, I’ve been busy in the shop. I was able to repurpose some lumber to make a set of shelves for the laser engraver and re-assemble the laser engraver. It survived the FedEx trip here. I’m planning on adding some drawers below the shelves if I can figure out the drawer guides that I found laying around. I’ll also add an enclosure for the laser and an air assist. The top shelf has space for a 3D printer if I get around to acquiring one.

I wasn’t able to move any of my power tools from my workshop in the US over here, so I started with only hand tools. The space I am renting provided workbenches and a few more hand tools. I did pick up a cordless drill; I’m not a psychopath of course.

I have pretty much everything needed to make furniture. I’ve been making the shop furniture from spruce and pine, which isn’t too particular about board thickness and is pretty easy to cut by hand. But no one really wants nice furniture out of pine or spruce, so I’m moving to hardwoods. I’m cutting the legs and rails of the hall bench I’m making from a 2″ slab of European Alder. It is softer and less dense than red oak, but still hard enough to make ripping the boards by hand a workout.

I have realized that it sucks to thickness a board by hand, and will go by the tools store today to order a thickness planer. Yesterday I decided that ripping the boards by hand was too much work. My goal is to enjoy building things, so I used the tools next door.

When I rented the shop, the landlord said I could use the woodworking tools in the shop next to mine if desired. They have a lot of large equipment from when the shop made furniture for IKEA between the late 1940s and the 1980s. Not all the equipment is hooked up (like the huge thickness planer), some of it needs work (the jointer needs the motor installed), but some of it works. And one of the ones that is working is the tablesaw. I hadn’t used it before and it is a large 3-phase machine with three motors/blades. Pretty intimidating to use. At least the section setup for ripping wasn’t too bad to setup.

Long story short, I have the legs cut roughly to size and am waiting on the planer to get to proper size. I’m not at the shop today, but tomorrow I’m planning on cutting out the rails. Joinery will have to wait. Soon I’ll need to order the danish cord and hooks to weave the top.

This morning I’m off to drop Susanna’s car off at the dealer. I’ll walk by Swedendro Tools on the way back home to see if I can order the planer. My plan is to organize our storage space in the basement before heading out to meet a friend for lunch. This afternoon Izzy is starting her after-school art program followed by a trial lesson at the boxing gym with a friend from school.

Izzy started school today, which gave me the chance to get back in the workshop. I’m starting the build on the Danish Cord bench. Today I started to saw out the legs. I don’t have any power tools in the shop yet (okay, I do have a cordless drill, but that is it), so the sawing is going slow. I’ll see how much I miss having a stationary saw, but I already know that getting the boards to proper thickness by hand will be a lot of not-very-fun work. So, a lunchbox planer is on my short list.

The shop itself is slowly coming together. I do need a place to hang my chisels, and better storage for the hand planes. But it is working for now.

The first week of 2026 has been cold, and the forecast for the next two weeks calls for more cold, with nothing above freezing for at least seven days. We got 9 inches of snow in the past week, and it will be staying for a while. I think a few more inches fell in Rottne on top of that. My workshop rent doesn’t include snow removal, so last time I was there I spent a while digging a parking spot for me. I’ll head back up there tomorrow and dig some more if needed.

It is Izzy’s last day of break before the spring semester starts. Izzy and I are taking it easy this morning, but Susanna had to return to work early this morning to make it for her preschool opening time of 7 AM. We’ve had a somewhat busy first week of 2026. Susanna, Izzy and I went ice skating over the weekend. I haven’t been on ice skates since college, so I don’t think I did too badly for not having been skating for three decades. Izzy and Susanna are hoping to get into skating lessons this winter, but we are still waiting to hear back about availability.

Things will start getting busy in the next two weeks. I’ll hopefully get my tax ID soon, but I know the wheels of the government turn slowly, even here. Izzy is back in after-school care three days a week so I can work on starting my business. Izzy is starting after-school art classes at the Kulturskolan (Culture School) one day a week. She is also trying boxing at a local gym with one of her friends.

Last year was tough at times. But I don’t think I was alone; I think it was a difficult year for a lot of people. There was a lot of change and disruption in my life, and that impacted not only me, but my family.

But it wasn’t all bad; with the changes came opportunities. A year ago we were getting ready to leave Sweden back home to the US and had been talking about our 5-6 year plan to move here when I retired. Then DOGE happened, and work became very painful, but it gave me an opportunity to retire early. So I start this year living in Sweden, several years earlier than we had originally planned.

There are times that I miss my old job, but I don’t regret leaving. I have had a lot more time to get to know Susanna and my kids better. And I got a lot of time with Izzy. A lot of time. Did I mention that we spent a lot of time together? We drove each other crazy at times, but I think that we became really close over the past year.

I’ve been thinking about goals for 2026 and have a few. I didn’t make a list of goals for 2025. If I had, I’m sure they would have been overcome by events.

My first and biggest goal is to get fully settled into life here in Sweden. I still have a decent amount to do, including getting my tax ID, signed up with a doctor, get a driver’s license, get a bank account and get into Swedish for Immigrants (Swedish language lessons).

My second goal is to build things. Back in my old life, it almost seemed that most of my woodworking projects were workshop improvements. I’d like to start building furniture. The shop is starting to get to a point where I can work on my first projects. It helps that we need furniture for the apartment. I’ll also spend time getting the space arranged and decorated as well, of course.

My third goal is to make the workshop self-sustaining by the end of the year. The rent on the workshop isn’t too expensive, so hopefully that isn’t too much of a stretch. I don’t think I’ll be able to make enough money just making furniture yet, but have a lead on some odd jobs that could help pay for it. But I need to get my tax identification number before I can register as a business. I think I also have a business name picked out, but I’ll post that at a later date.

My final goal is to keep active, go on hikes and get outside consistently. I need the exercise, and having a dog that needs to get out certainly helps keep me motivated.

Anyway, welcome to 2026!

I had hoped to get out for a hike with Izzy yesterday afternoon, but she was able to make last minute plans with a friend from school so we weren’t able to get out with Hoagie. The forecast for today was sunny, cold and windy. So, a perfect morning for a hike.

It certainly felt like a winter day today. The sun only crept 10 degrees or so above the horizon at its zenith. The wind was whipping up the waves in the lake and chilling us through our coats and scarves. The shallow inlets and coves around the island were covered with a skin of ice think enough for Hoagie to poke his head through for a drink.

Izzy and I bundled up in coats, hats, gloves and scarves for the 5km walk around the island; Hoagie wore his sweater. The temperature wasn’t terrible, just below freezing, but the wind made it cold. We skipped the optional look around Musön, the island just north of Hissö.

The trail was more crowded than I’ve experienced in my recent weekday walks here. However it is school break and the sun was out, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. I did have to keep Hoagie on the leash more than I’m sure he wanted.