LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Woodworking as Therapy

103K views 145 replies 44 participants last post by  djak 
#1 ·
What's old again is new again

I"M BACK! Sorry - I should not have shouted so loudly.

I've been lurking in the background for quite some time and have from time to time posted a stray comment or two. But I've not been very active in actual woodworking for quite some time. I have had some false restarts and stops and so now I'm starting again and hoping this will not be another false start.

Some of you "old timers" will know that I was at one time quite active on the site and posted quite a lot - then-I had a car accident on my way to Kelly Mehler's school in Kentucky (I highly recommend his school by the way). Somewhere on this site is the long sordid story - but I could not figure out how to cut and paste the link here-- it's a bit boring really. But for those who don't know, I had a car accident in 2008, ended up with a 3" plate in my neck, I got back into woodworking again in late 2009 but then started to have some more health problems. I have been diagnosed with trauma induced Generalized Dystonia - pretty weird sounding name. The doctors figure the Dystonia is directly related to my car accident. Regardless the long and short of it is is that the whole ordeal has really set my life into a tailspin - and that's because I let it. I've always have had to deal with depression but the Dystonia and all that came with it just really set me on my big old butt.

Well after lots of thought I've decided the only real way to keep me going was to put myself "out there" to my friends on the site who will at least read my little blog and say a word or two of encouragement (yep - I'm looking for some help).

So I've started a new blog for myself - "Woodworking as Therapy". I'm going to try my best to keep it up and hopefully this will help push me over the top and get me back, not just into woodworking, but life in general.

I'm also going to try to start posting more comments on others work on this site. I've really missed the back and forth of the forums and blogs.

Sooo without further explanation here is what I've been working on the last week or so.

A hospital that a friend works at does a children's safety program and they had this old beat up foam fire engine that look like it might have been with Moses at the parting of the Red Sea that they used for demonstrations and story time. They decided they wanted the same thing only in plywood. I'm going to show the pictures - but it really won't look like much - because it's not painted. And thank goodness they didn't ask me to paint it because it would never look like a fire engine. They actually have a professional artist who is going to paint it.

The engine is just short of 8' long and is made with 1/4" plywood. The joining pieces are just some old 2×4 pieces I had lying around that came in handy for this project.





You may not be able to see but the seams are actually where the door will be so that it will blend naturally with the rest of the engine.

Here is how I've put the back together.





Since I made it in three parts they will be able to take it apart and store it in a small space. Also, since most of the folks have smaller cars it had to be made into several parts to be able to be transported. The rope you see in the picture is what they will use to carry the engine from one place to another on the stage.

Admittedly this was not a piece of master craftsmanship but hopefully, once painted, it will look pretty good.

My next project is to finish this load of cutting boards that have been waiting for attention for close to two years now



I'll be working on the cutting boards a little at a time, but while I work on those I also have this project that I would love to accomplish before Christmas. The project is a serving tray that you've probably seen in Woodsmith Magazine (Volume 33 - No. 196). This would make the perfect gift for my boss. She's really into having some dinner gatherings and wine tastings so this would be a nice thing to give her.





Here is the curly maple I've found for the project.



I've not found the perfect wood for my handles yet - that's probably going to take me a little while. The project calls for Cocobolo - but that stuff really makes me break out in hives - so that's not going to happen. I'm thinking black walnut or maybe even Mahogany.

I know that there are others on this site that deal with major health issues that impact their woodworking and I've taken inspiration from them and now I hope to give a little back.

OK - so I'm out here again now. I hope that you will enjoy my little blog (if you don't - please don't tell me!).

Until next time.
 
See less See more
8
#54 ·
The more I do the more I realize that I used to do with no thought

So tonight I decided the cut the notches for my serving tray. But what I forgot to do was change my blade to my flat top instead of the v-shape blade so as you can see from my picture I have a little bit of cleaning up to do on the bottoms of my notches.



I decided to leave that for another night when I can sit and do it a tiny bit at a time. The good thing is the notches fit the 5/16" boards just perfect.

I went ahead and cut the rabbit on the edges of my bottom piece and with the sides together this is what I've got so far.



As you can see I did not get the bottom edges of my sides just right - but that's a design opportunity that I'll fix toward the end. The next step is to glue the sides to the bottom - which will be a challenge but I will probably use tape like they used in the magazine.

Now back to that drum sander issue. I promised better pictures of the drum and the pesky clamp.

The first shot is just a frontal view of the drum.



This next shot shows the clamp that's the issue. The pencil is pointing to the "flex" part of the clamp. It's not rigid which creates part of the problem.



I am beginning to think that my best bet to deal with the clamp is simply to ignore it and use the hook and loop paper. So I'm going to look into the prices for that and get moving in that direction. I need to get this thing to where I can use it as I want to get my cutting boards cleaned up as several are going to be Christmas presents.

it's been very enjoyable being out making some sawdust again. Even though I can only do a small amount at a time, it's worth every minute and I'm going to make the best of them.

Until next time - hope all of you are having as much fun making sawdust as I am!
 
#58 ·
Moving along on my serving tray - but have question

I've managed a couple hours in the shop this week. Yeah! I'm starting to work more on my serving tray for my boss.





I've got my sides together and you can see I did not get the bottom exactly right - but I can fix that with a nice strip of matching wood. The inside angle is correct according to the text and my measurements.



Tonight I used my band saw for the first time in a very long time - made me very nervous so I cut way outside the line and used my drum sander to get down to the actual cut line. I figure I could handle an abrasion from a sander disc and lot better than a cut on the band saw!

Anyway, I was able to cut out my handles and they fit into the slots just fine. However, and I apologize I don't have a picture - not sure where my camera is - but the angles where the handle meets the slot is perfect on the inside top, but has gaps on the inside bottom edge and on the outside it is pretty close to perfect on the top edge and has a gap at the bottom.

My question to you, without the help of a picture (sorry) since the sides are angled and the handles are curved would that naturally leave a gap? There does not appear to be any gap on the magazine shot of the tray. So I'm wondering if my angles are off just a little - even though I'm pretty sure that I measured and cut correctly.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

(PS - I decided to go with mahogany handles since I have that on hand instead of going out and buying some walnut.)

Thanks in advance.
 
#61 ·
Frustration does not equal therapy :-(

Frustrated-- can't find my camera to show my issues-rats and double rats.

First I still can't get my handles for my serving tray to come out right - they just don't fit - arg!

So I start to think to myself-okay Betsy - you just can't do anything but square things sooooo off I go to my cutting boards. Well that's not so good either.

I sanded all 6 of my cutting boards-- they feel good to the touch, sanded through 220. But when I put a straight edge across them - they are all dipped in the middle. I did the "run a pencil mark all over the board trick", ran them through the sander and the pencil marks all go away. So why are my boards cupped?

So I did get some hours in the shop-but I'm frustrated with my results.

If I could spell oh wow is me-- I'd say oh wow is me. :-(

Thanks for listening - or reading.
 
#62 ·
I'm with you Betsy! lately it seems no time on my projects is worthwhile since all I'm doing is trying to fix what appears to be an impossible problem. Keep thinking on it! you'll figure it out :) and it's "Oh woe is me." :) Sorry I can't help with your cupping issue - I would think planning would be the solution. Hopefully help will soon be on the way!

Becky
 
#71 ·
Sanding done -- and found my camera!

Found my camera-- it was a victim of the "someone's coming over - clean up quick" syndrome. Not that I'm slob but I do have a clutter problem - when friends come over sometimes things just get shoved here and there to look better. Alas-- the camera is found.

So here are my cutting boards all sanded and ready for finishing.







They don't look half bad. The really tall one is a special order-- a friend wanted one a little longer than the standard not sure why - but longer was not harder to make than normal - so there it is.

The tray I'm working on is a still causing me fits. I've cut 3 sets of handles just to see if maybe I didn't have them just right. But none of the handles look good.

The first shot is the top of the handle from the outside. Looks good from the top.



The next shot is from the inside looking down. - Big gap. Looks awful.



Not sure how to fix it. But my tray sure doesn't look like the magazine picture.





But the really good thing - I got the picture of my fire engine that's been painted today. I posted it in the projects - but thought I'd share here too!



Safety Bear has a pretty cool looking ride! (makes me feel better about my tray!)
 
#74 ·
Do not try this at home!

So now you married and/or attached folks do not follow my lead and try this at home!

Being single and having a crappy kitchen counter makes this an easy place to do finishing work.



Those are four of my cutting boards getting all finished up and ready for giving away.

I hope you all had a very nice Thanksgiving. I had dinner with 60 of my closest friends. We have a group that goes camping every Thanksgiving. Of course, camping, for most of us now means RVs and lodges - but we still call it camping. Any way we rent a lodge at a nearby campground and spend the Thanksgiving holiday together playing cards and this year a new game called Marble Pursuit. I highly recommend the game to all of you, it's a hoot, easy to play and fun as all get out. Can't tell you how many games we played - but we had a blast. We also played a lot of the card game 31-- I lost all of $3.75 playing. Yep a real gambler I am, but it was great fun.

I came home late yesterday and started working in the shop. I took a nose dive onto the floor. Yikes! I'm okay, but it made me realize that I need to reorganize my shop and set things up a little better. It also scared the you know what out of me because I did not have my cell phone in my pocket. That's a no no. If I had hurt myself no one would have heard me yelling or missed me for a while. I have a roommate, but she knows I can spend hours in the shop and it would have taken her a long time to realize I had not come inside. So I've been cleaning and rearranging today - with my cell phone in my pocket!

Cleaning is also good therapy - but I can't wait to get it all done so I can get back going with the sawdust treatments. That is the type of medicine that can go down without any sugar at all! :)

Well - going to get back out there for a few more hours and see if I can't get just a little bit closer to the sawdust.

See you around the shop-- and remember - don't follow my lead by taking over the kitchen counter-but if you do - don't tell your other half you got the idea from me - I have enough trouble already!
 
#75 ·
Right there with you in the camping department, Betsy! My idea of camping out is calling for room service at the Holiday Inn.

Kitchen counter looks pretty good to me, besides a little mineral oil never hurt anything!

Lew
 
#80 ·
Cleaned up the shop a bit and found unfinished projects to do.

I just wonder how many unfinished projects we all have laying around in our shops. I know I get started on one, either get bored with it, get stuck not knowing how to do the next step, or get frustrated because I can't get the project to look like that darn magazine picture. :)

While cleaning I realized that I had not finished a set of child size Adirondack chairs for friend of mine. That's what I've been doing tonight. I've managed to get both seats done and one back rest. I think about 3 or 4 years ago I said I'd never make another set of these, but here I am making more. I think I can make these things in my sleep.

Here's a quick pick of the chair without the arms.



It's hard to tell, but this really is a child's chair - it only stands about 20" from floor to the top of the back rest. A normal size adult (is there such a thing) could not sit in one of these - once the arms are on - anyone bigger than maybe a 12 year old would get stuck!

I notice in the pick that it looks like I have a slat on the seat that is sticking up. I'm not sure how that is because it's not in real like sticking up - might be reflection I don't know. But the seat is smooth.

And last but not least , for good measure - I'm going to throw in my finished cutting boards. I've only snapped a picture of three of the finished ones - there are six all together.



All in all I'm on a pretty good streak of sawdust therapy this week. Actually, to be honest, I was thinking earlier that today has probably been my best health day in about a year. I feel great. With my Dystonia I know that won't last but I sure am grateful when I have good days, and having a great day is just icing on the cake - and I love icing! :)

Thanks for reading and letting me share.
 
#81 ·
Hey, save a slice of that cake with icing for me!

Glad you had a great day. Your friend will be pleasantly surprised when you complete the Adirondack chairs and make arrangements for delivery/pickup…

The cutting boards are beautiful.

Well, keep up the good work. Glad you got things done this week.

Be Careful!

Herb
 
#85 ·
Small discoveries

Raining and dreary outside in North Texas today so it was a good day to be inside playing in the shop. I spent quite a lot of time working on my child's size chair set for my friend. I've discovered that working on the floor is a pretty good place to be for someone with balance issues. It actually works really well. I put a piece of mdf on the floor so it was a flat surface to work on and just plopped down and started my assemblies, painting and some sanding. I got a lot done and I realized that I was more relaxed. I guess the idea of falling is always on my mind so that was taking a little of the fun out of things for me. I don't intend to do everything on the floor - but I think when I know I'm not having a good balance day - that's my solution.

I also managed to get my board ready for my first generation cheese board that DeGoose has been doing and that I've been PM'ing with Scott Smith. I'll be playing with this more tomorrow. The woods are walnut, maple, cherry, maple and walnut.



And last but not least I just had to try the wine bottle holder thing that everyone seems to do. I just didn't think it could be as easy as it looks. But thanks to the video by Tim a/k/a The Head Chuck-- I took about ten minutes and made one out of a scrap of pine.

Here's a link to the video

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/56695

And here's my quickie holder - I can see there will be some very easily made Christmas gifts this year - the design possibilities are endless.

'

All in all a good day in the shop.
 
#86 ·
Betsy,

That is going to make some beautiful cheese boards!

I don't sit on the floor- too hard to get back up! But, I do have a low vanity bench and made a "Lazy Susan" type of assembly table- that sets on 2 saw horses. I can sit comfortably in one spot and rotate the table to get to various parts of the same project.

Lew
 
#88 ·
First generation cheese board

Slow day in the shop today but was able to cut my first generation board cut. I can certainly see how these can be addictive to make. The design possibilities are mind boggling. Have not quite figured out the second and third generation cuts yet - but will get there.

Here's my board just clamped with no glue at this point. I imagine I'll only glue up two or three sections at a time, you get off kilter just a little and it would spoil the effect.



I've also almost have the child's chairs to the completion point - just waiting on the arm assemblies to dry.

gotta say it feels good to be in the shop again.
 
#89 ·
Betsy,

Very nice looking! I really like the design and variations in shading. Can't wait to see it completed.

L/W
 
#94 ·
Slow and easy wins the race....

I heard that once never believed it though. Now perhaps I'll take it more to heart. Spent most of yesterday having a blast in the shop and have spent most of today recovering! I'm certainly going to have to learn to pace myself a little better if I want to stay in the shop at all. It's a funny thing this better-living-with-chemistry idea. It can really curb my symptoms but it gives me a false sense of wellness at the same time. I am having trouble getting used to the idea that my muscles, while now under control (mostly), are still not up to the tasks they used to be. They feel like they should be but they are not. So there's this little bit of a disconnect going on and I have found out big time that I have to learn to pace myself or I'll be having more down time than fun time. Just such a weird feeling.

Anyway - I did get a lot done yesterday. My child's chairs are all assembled and the plugs are put in place and drying ready to get knocked down then I can do the final painting. I've also managed to get the parts for the footstools made.

I've tried doing the handles for my serving tray again and I'm just at my wits end on getting them right. I really think it's my band saw technique. The band saw scares the dickens out of me just because I know that at any one moment my hand could do a flying leap right into the blade and that would really spoil the wood. I also tried cutting them out on the band saw leaving a larger space between the cut line and then taking the piece to the oscillating sander and finishing them up. Still no good. I'm thinking now that the tray is going to be made into other things! That's okay though I gave it a good shot and just couldn't do it. On to other things.

I've also got my first 1st generation board glued up and have started to put a boarder on it. It has not come out as well as I would have liked, but for the first one I'm okay with it. Once I get the finish put on, I'll post pictures. I still plan on giving it to my boss for a Christmas gift. I don't think anyone but me (or you all) will notice the little imperfections. I'm going to get a nice cheese slicer to go with it and call it good. :)

I am also working on the Adirondack chair class notes so that can get on to a good start. I'm looking forward to doing the class and I'm hoping that it keeps me motivated and moving forward with my woodworking. The commitment I think will help me push myself along. So that's all a good thing.

Well - i need to get moving onto the net to see if I can find a good doggie door for my sunroom.

thanks for all the support I've been getting from you all. I appreciate it greatly.
 
#99 ·
In progress first generation board

I'm almost done with my first cheese board. It's been an experience. I've never done anything quite like the chevron. It was a little bit of a challenge but I think I did okay. I'd like your opinion on whether or not I should round off my corners or just break the edges.

Also the artistic side of my mind (which is not exercised very much - so it may be wrong here) wants to put in some fancy diamond shaped inlays on the sides, just small 1/4" diamonds in walnut. What do you think?

You'll notice that my chevrons are off center, they were centered and they just didn't look right to me so I chopped off a little on one edge to "fix it".

I can certainly see how degoose and others get so many design possibilities with this process. Anyway - here's my board - what do you think?





The woods are walnut, cherry and hard maple.

I have to admit this woodworking therapy sure seems to be working! The more I'm out in the shop the more I feel like my old self.
 
#100 ·
I am so glad you are feeling more like you old self… as to the chevron pattern… well I am impressed… it is coming along wonderfully… I would suggest just breaking the edges… and maybe rounding the corners..
Can't wait till you oil it and those colours POP…
 
#108 ·
First generation board with first coat of oil

Well here it is, I've just put on the first coat of oil. I think it looks pretty good. I rounded the corners and broke the edges just a little.



Now I'm working on my second board. This board I cut at 30 degrees. I was going to make this into two boards, but I'm thinking of doing something different and I'd like your opinions.

The idea is put a strip of maple in the middle of the two boards and then surround the whole board with walnut.
Do you think it's too busy? Should I just make it two boards?





Here's the other therapy I've been working on tonight.



What you see here is the best peanut butter fudge you'd ever want to sink your teeth into. I'm the fudge lady in this neck of the woods and I must say its pretty good. :)

I look forward to your opinion about the second board.

Thanks in advance.
 
#112 ·
This is the best of all therapy!

I started making this set when my boss with about 6 months pregnant. Lou Lou turns 2 next week and I just got the chairs done. Needless to say this was a slow going project. But despite some of the parts not being the best (I made them when I probably should not have been making them) the set turned out pretty well. The look on Lou Lou's face was worth the wait.

Enjoy.













Thanks for looking.
 
#119 ·
Ruminating ideas for projects

So I'm quickly coming to the close of my Adirondack chair blog class (just the final assembly to go), my sun room addition is now complete (just got the French doors put in today) and I've managed to put up some shelves Sis wanted in the laundry room (nothing major - haven't decided if I'm going to put doors on them but they are framed so I can add doors if I want to), so now my mind is turning towards some new smaller projects that I can do.

I've purchased chairs for the sun room and am considering ideas on small tables to build. The room is not large - 15×10 - almost all glass except an 18" Austin stone knee wall. I know I want a small table between the two recliners and one on either side of the couch and arm chair.

The problem I'm trying to figure out is the proportions and styles. It took a long time to get the right furniture that won't overtake the room (I'm not a shopper and it took me three weeks of going to different stores to get what I wanted - it was exhausting, I just don't know why people think shopping is fun), so I don't want the tables to be too big or too small.

Then I'm trying to decide do I want just a table, or a table with a drawer and shelf, arts and crafts style, mission style-Betsy' style. The only thing I'm certain of is that I'll be using oak as I have a ton of it in the shop that is perfect for tables. Then I think again that it would be nice to have a table with drop leaves that can be put up to allow a card game.

So now that I'm thinking about tables, I start to think, perhaps I can make a new vanity for my bathroom. That's a larger project, but still I'm thinking if I break it down into really small portions I can probably handle it physically.

Then I go into my bathroom area and I decide that the vanity there just is outdated. The vanity that is there now is one that is made for someone to sit at to put on makeup, etc. I have a lot of friends and they all have vanities like this in their homes (yep all cookie cutter homes) but I don't know a single one that sits there. My particular area simply doesn't have enough room to have a chair and still get past it on the way into the little bathroom area (which also could use a new cabinet for the sink). If I had a chair there and didn't move it every night before bedtime, I'd trip on it during the night - so that vanity area is a lot of wasted storage space. I'm thinking I could add a drawer stack and maybe another cabinet. That would take a lot of stuff that has really no place to be. I'm thinking this area could simply be essentially three cabinets and I could probably handle that if I break it down into small parts and have my Sis help me with the assembly. So then I think to myself, as you all know, one home remodeling project leads to more. So do I really want to try to do this? I know if I update my bathroom area my Sis will want her bathroom area updated and if I update hers, then the hallway cabinets will need to be updated to match since her bathroom is essentially the guest bathroom and is off the main hallway.

To do all of that I'd really have to be organized because it would probably take a very long time for me to do it since my physical abilities come and go. I'm thinking just my bath, Sis's bath, the hallway cabinets has 8 cabinet doors and six drawers, it is better if you can do all the set up at one time and not doing one door now and another door two weeks later.

Long and short my mind is whirling around what I can/should do for my next projects. I'm tired of doing boxes and cutting boards but I don't want to get myself in the middle of a project and can't finish it.

I can buy new bath cabinets but what fun is that?

So here I'm sitting, mind whirling and not sure what way to go. Reading, thinking, looking at plans, making drawings, and wondering what if…....

Not sure if all this thinking is good therapy or bad therapy, the what if's can nail you sometimes.

Well - I feel better that I've got that off my chest - do you all ever find yourselves in this spot?
 
#123 ·
Hand tools

So I've been lamenting that my use of some hand tools is limited due to strength and cramping issues when I hold things. I sold almost all my planes because I no longer have the arm strength to use them, but I've hung onto my nice chisels and dove tail saws. The tools just sit there staring at me begging to be used. So I've been thinking of some work arounds.

For my chisel handles I've been experimenting with the pipe insulation that comes as a tube with a slit in it. The workmen used this to insulate my pipes for the Sunroom and left some behind. So anyway I put some around one of my chisel handles and it actually works pretty well. It is not a great fit, but I'm going to experiment more with it. I think if I use some electrical or athletic tape and tighten it up a bit, I might be able to use my chisels again! There is a slippage issue, but I think if I do the taping right I can make that work.

As for my dove tails saws, the insulation just is not going to work. But I am going to dig out my anti vibration glove and see if that might work. I'm not sure it will do the trick because its not very thick. I am leary of using tape on the nice rose wood handles, but to use the saw I really need to build up the grasping area so that my hand is not curled up as much as it would be with the current size of the handle. Of course it can't be built up too far because the handle opening is not all that big.

I really think if I can get these two issues worked out, I just may be back into the hand tool using arena. I know that I will have to limit how much time at each session I use the tools, especially the saw, but I figure if it takes several weeks to cut dovetails for a box, so what. I'll be doing what I've always wanted to do and that is to make hand cut dovetails in my projects. Since this is a hobby and not a business, time is not an issue.

I'll need to think of some way to do the sharpening that won't hurt my hands, but that is down the road. Right now my chisels are all wicked sharp, so with the limited use it will be a while before I need to worry about sharpening.

Does anyone have any other ideas I might use to build up the girth of my hand saws?
 
#124 ·
Betsy instead of taping the foam on you may want to use rubber cement to glue the foam on. If you're able to use your saws again who care what the handles look like, they're tools and meant to be used! Do you work with a physio-therapist or occupational therapist? These folks do amazing stuff in helping folks adapt to their individual 'new reality' and can often help people regain functionality. Jenn was in some pretty severe accidents before we married and she'd probably be completely disabled if not for the PTs and OTs. Could you have handles custom turned for you? If I could turn I'd volunteer to give it a shot.

Your persistance will pay off.
 
#134 ·
Hand tools bulking them up.

So I'm working a little on getting my chisels to the right size that will keep my hands from cramping. Taking some of the advise my fellow LJs provided I've gathered a few things to work with

I went to my neighborhood bike shop and they were kind enough to give me a trashed inner tube. As an aside, I had forgotten how nasty those things smell. Yuk. I also got some athletic tape and some of the under wrap to use with it. I also bought some new plumbing insulation to play with.



You should know that the easiest way to cut the plumbing insulation is with the band saw, it cuts clean and easy. One difference on the insulation that I used and what was left from sun room project is the new stuff has adhesive on the edges to bind it together when it's wrapped around the pipe.

1/2" insulation is too small for the chisel handles and the 3/4" is too small but closer.



I could not hold the chisel and do the wrapping so I had to wrap the business end in paper towels and painters tape to cushion it for holding it in the bench vise.





The first thing I tried was the insulation with wrapping of athletic tape.

You can see that it does bulk up the handle, but you can see in the picture that it's still not enough.



My goal is to get the handle up to the point where my fingers are about as far apart as the next picture.



So I'm not quite there. I next tried to add another layer of the pipe insulation.



With a layer of athletic tape, the two layers of insulation was too much.



Next up I took off the second layer of the insulation and wrapped the first layer with a layer of rubber tubing.
As an aside the inside of tubing has a nasty white powder that you really need to clean off of your hands will get dried out from it.



With a layer of athletic tape I've gotten pretty close.



A second layer of rubber and tape and I feel pretty comfortable with the grip.





I'm going to play with this a little bit before moving onto my hand saw. Will definitely use the the athletic under wrap on the saw handle to protect the good wood handle.

Slowly but surely I may be able to at least use my chisels comfortably in my everyday woodworking. That's a comfort all in itself. :)

Thanks for all the help.
 
#140 ·
Relearning Google Sketch Up

I started this blog http://lumberjocks.com/Betsy/blog/5302 quite a long time ago to learn Sketch up and to take everyone else along for the ride while I was recovering from a health issue. Quite a ride it was. I actually kind of got the hang of it. But, alas, you know the saying, "you don't use it you lose it" well that's where I'm at right now. I'm going back reading through my own blog to teach myself SU again, I've also been going through videos tutorials, etc. to learn my way around the program.

Right now I'm trying to relearn the thing so I can make a "hose box" for my sister. I've just put a new sun room on the back of my house and I've told her that the hose needs gathered up every night and not laying around making the new digs look sloppy. So she shot back that I need to make a box! Well that's all well and good, but I need a plan. I can build pretty much anything with a good plan. But designing my own plan - not so good.

I asked her why not just buy one of the fancy hose reels you can get, there are some really nice ones out there, but she's against the idea. She thinks I can make a better box. We'll see.

So I'm challenging myself by putting out this post that I'm going to design, draw and build my sister her hose box. This should keep my feet to the fire.

The basic look of the box is this: it's going to have 4 legs (how about that--a three legged box would just not do), I want the box to be up off the ground about 2" maybe 3", have a bottom drawer that's about 5" high to store nozzles, gloves, etc., then the main box will be about 15 inches high. The box as a whole will be about 18 wide x. 20 high x 20 deep and it will have a lift off lid of 3/4 material that's rabbited 3/8" so that it lays on top of the box with a 3/8" lip. The back of the box will have a 1" hole to feed the hose to the tap.

So that's my challenge. Whether I can manage it without pulling out all my hair or turning gray will be another story.

Hang on, it might be a bumpy ride!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top