The Sawdust Chronicles Build Challenge is Upon Us Again

The fall is here and that means cooler temps and fewer excuses to get out into your shops woodworking friends! Rick Waters and Neil Lamens are at it again with the latest Sawdust Chronicles Build Challenge. In the initial 30 day challenge in the Spring of 2009 I won a bunch of finishing products from General Finishes for my desk organizer.

This was a great project because it is not something I would have normally done. By signing up and participating I was held to the rules of the challenge which was “build a desk organizer”. The design exercise that resulted was a new and exciting experience for me and one that I highly recommend you take advantage of.

There are lots of build challenges and group builds floating around the Internet now, but I believe this is the only one where your design is the focus and you get honest and constructive feedback. Plus it doesn’t hurt that you get the chance to win some great prizes and the adoration of woodworkers everywhere. I can’t tell you how weird it was for me after I won a prize in the inaugural build to walk down the street and have random people come up to me and say, “hey, why are you carrying that desk organizer around with you?”

In all seriousness, this challenge is something you should consider. This time Rick and Neil have recruited Adam King to help them with the judging and they are asking contestants to build something that suspends a surface up to 32″ off the ground. No more guidance than that (actually there are more rules but you have to go to Rick’s site to learn about that)

This lack of guidance is what is so exciting. You are free to let your imagination run wild. Based on the judges and their work and tastes, I think you had better feed your imagination some peyote because these guys can be pretty out there.

So my recommendation as a past contestant is to jump into this with both feet. The contest starts today and you have until the end of October to finish the piece and submit it. I must admit I’m still a little on the fence because I have so much already on my schedule both in and out of the shop. Woodworking in America is a month away and that usually is a podcasting festival for me so I may lurk a little and see what my brain comes up with before jumping into this. But don’t let my weakness stop you! You can still register even though the contest is underway.

Go on, get going, nothing more to see here!