Usually my projects start with the Free Stuff section of craigslist. This one does not. This started with the purchase of a pair of tables–tables that were in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I have never been to New Mexico. I’ve been to regular Mexico, but that’s a different story.

My friend Winston recently moved to Albuquerque, and he looks to see what people post for sale on facebook. He sent me pictures of this pair:

So $50 for the pair plus about as much for shipping. Normally I’m still at $0 when I bring a piece home, but by the time I got these, I was already in more than $100.

I saved a little bit of money on shipping by gifting the legs to Winston. I believe he then threw them away because he and I have a lot of things in common, and not wanting those legs is one of them.

Since this is a pair of tables rather than a single one, I decided to do an experiment to compare tools. In past projects, I’d used my Makita corded 1/4-sheet finishing sander. I then got a cordless DeWalt 1/4-sheet variable speed palm sander, which I decided to use for one of the two tables. For the other, I got a DeWalt random orbital sander. I hadn’t had one of these sanders before, but what better time to learn than to put it head-to-head with the other?

While I worked on these tables in sequence and not in tandem, I will be approaching this series as a comparison of the two processes, as they were extremely different. I made some mistakes, and I learned a lot. I had to modify my setup, get some new tools, and attempt many techniques for the first time. I’m glad I did this project, and, as of the posting of this first installment, the project isn’t finished. By the final post, it will be.

Keep coming back every Tuesday at 10am for new installments.