First off, let me say that I started discussion of this project in my blog. I know realize that I should have used this Projects category but at the time I was doing a lot of SketchUp blogging and as things worked out it got posted in my blog just after I began planning it.

The design is an amalgam of several pieces I saw and liked and it is to date the largest single piece I’ve attempted. I quickly realized that I had underestimated just about every aspect of the project including just how well it would shape up.

Having a real affinity for White Ash when I saw these particular boards I had little doubt about where I would use them. I have no idea when my preference for working with Ash over White Oak came to the forefront, but none the less I do prefer it finding it far less brittle and therefore easier to work. For me it is also far easier to color than Oak although it does, like Cherry, require some care if you want consistently even depth of color.

Anyway, this piece has really emphasized just how spectacular this wood can be and just that aspect alone makes it worth the extra effort for me.

I’ve now begun applying the first coats of stain and man does this stuff pop! Unfortunately, just as the “curl” of the wood jumps out when it’s stained, so do my mistakes. That’s ok too though, I’ll just re-sand and do it again, I’m in no hurry.

No cutter, cap-iron or cap-iron screw came with this 1906 vintage unit, but it did possess a solid body and transitional plate, the tote and knob although slightly chipped and pretty loose were both sound, the japanning was in decent shape and sole and mouth were also in great shape. All in all it was a rust covered diamond waiting to be renewed. I read somewhere on LJ about using food grade citric acid, the stuff home brewers use, to remove rust so I gave it a shot in a one cup to one gallon of water solution. It worked very well for the most part. After soaking overnight I was able to remove all of the rust with a brass brush and rinse away the carbon residue with water and a nylon brush. Now I won’t say that it is as easy as what I have seen posted about Evapo-Rust, but it is initially less expensive although you can’t store it and reuse it a month later like you can the commercial product, and it does require some wire brushing. All in all the citric acid did a nice job on several planes as well as an assortment of other rusted implements I decided to immerse.

If you have the need and availability to Evapo-Rust, I would likely recommend it over citric acid. But where Evapo-Rust is not readily available everywhere in gallon quantities (you can pick up quarts at most chain auto parts stores), I know of few towns that don’t have a “home brewers supply” and they will virtually all have citric acid as it is essential to their process. Give it a try; it’s safe and effective at removing the corroded metal and leaving everything else in tact, including your wallet.

I would appreciate any comments be they suggestions, ideas or criticisms.

Both SketchUP files are available for anyone that would like them, simply email me and I’ll return them as an attachment to your email.

• Asian Inspired Bed – no metal parts will be used, just interlocking joinery
  

• Asian Inspired TV Stand – 40”L x 18”W x 34”H design
  

My wife has a small computer table in the kitchen and asked if I might be able to make her a filing storage unit that could go adjacent to her work station. Ever the optimist, I boldly sallied forth, took up my cordless mouse, fired up Sketchup and came up with this design.

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Although pleased with the design esthetically I fully admit to having had serious reservations as to whether or not this design could transition from the digital 3D world of Sketchup to a practical working unit or would it present an array of insurmountable problems for a neophyte woodworker? As I pondered the feasibility of not only of tackling a type of joinery with which I was completely unfamiliar but also of doing so with an acceptable level of quality, I remembered a line from an obscure David Marks video that got me back on track. I don’t really even remember which video it was nor do I remember the line well enough to quote it verbatim, but the gist of what was said was, “Those who believe themselves incapable of a thing, soon come to find out they were right.”. I blame David Marks for a lot if not all of the things that go right or wrong with these little exercises in woodworking, after all, he’s the one that got me into this, him, his uncanny talent and the absurd illusion his show presented that anyone might actually be able to produce masterful pieces of art in 20 minutes or less! So, anyway, “in for a penny, in for a pound”, as they say. And so, once again paying homage to that sage admonition against self doubt, I plunged forward, into the breach.

This was also my first use of a model, or more accurately a prototype. Knowing from day one that I was going to make two of these units, I planned to use the first as a platform for trial and error experimentation. I knew that practical procedure was to make a mock up out of MDF or some other “less expensive” type of material, but since I perceived my main challenges to be the joinery. Since my favorite hardwood of choice is White Ash, easily accessible and relatively inexpensive where I live, I decided to make unit #1 the “prototype”. On this unit I would test out and tune up the new mechanical skills I need as well as work out any design changes that would inevitably crop up. Then, once I had that units challenges ironed out, I would attempt to run straight through unit #2 and refine everything as best I could.

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Surprisingly everything mechanical was reasonably easy to learn and I was able to acquire the adequate skill level with only a few “do-overs” needed. From previous experience I had already learned to make work on my largest components first, allowing the materials that fall victim to the inevitable blunder to be more easily recycled into other, smaller components.

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The biggest challenge I came to find was once again, finishing. This time though, I picked up several books and DVDs on the subject of “furniture finishing” from the library, but in the end, after many hours of reading and watching, it all came down to trial and error as I guess it always does. Nothing went exactly as I had been told to expect and I did a lot of staining, sanding and re-staining until I finally got the hang of this particular combination of wood and finishing products. This is perhaps where the greatest difference between the prototype and the production piece can be seen. On the prototype, the finish although OK, is not of a quality with which I would be happy if the piece were going anywhere other than here.

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The finish on the second unit shows far greater tonal consistency and I think at some point I may be tempted to strip down unit #1 and redo the whole thing. But for today, it stands unobtrusively tucked away, left of the computer desk, a testimony to even an old snake wrangler can do if he puts his mind to it. :)

Hope you’ve enjoyed this blog entry.

The drum sander is one of those things that you know you can live without until you actually have an opportunity to use one. When I was given a demonstration by a friend at a local cabinet shop on a work piece I had been struggling with, I was instantly sold. The only real problem was finding the $1800 bucks needed to get a similar unit. Even if I could have sold my wife’s car, and replaced it with the sander (it’s very likely she would notice the difference) there still wouldn’t be enough room in the garage, ah…. I mean, in the workshop for that monster.

Fast forward…. Research, research and more research….My wife calls this part of my routine “procrastination”. Finally a break through when I happened upon the units sold by Stockroom Supply. For those that haven’t visited this interesting little company’s site, I recommend you check them out. More research led to a large number of shining reviews about this unconventional but highly effective method of surface sanding. The only things lacking were a hands on demo (there simply were no shows listed soon enough for me) and some type of break off of what I thought to be a rather pricey retail tag for the kit.
(Yes, I’m a cheapskate). Never the less, I was determined to have a unit of my own equal or better than what was being offered for what I hoped would be substantially less.

What I’ve come up with is the subject of this short series of posts. In this first post I’m covering the planning and the parts acquisition. Although the units shown on the Stockroom site appear complete and functional, I wanted to tweak those areas that I believed to be open to improvement. The design I’ve settled on is shown below and I would appreciate any helpful suggestions you might have. If anyone wants the actual SketchUp file of this plan, email me and I’ll be happy to provide it for you. I’ve also provided a breakdown so that you’ll have a good idea of what it’s costing as I progress.

• 1 – 36” x ½” threaded rod @ $ 4.50 – H.D.
• 2 – 2 inch hard rubber stoppers @ $ 4.20 ea. – H.D.
• 2 – sleeved pillow block bearings @ $16.50 ea. – Grainger
• 1 – 24” x 2” PVC – H.D.
• 1 – 5 yard box of industrial strength hook & loop @ $ 50.00 – Grainger
• 1 – 1HP motor and switch block @ $15.00 – Craig’s List
• 1 – 2” sheave ( pulley ) – $ 4.80 – Grainger
• 1 – 3” sheave ( pulley ) – $ 4.80 – Grainger
• several BF of ¾” maple plywood & some oak strips – scrap pile

• the dimensional drawing can be seen in a larger size at ” http://photos.imageevent.com/emeralds/cages/JP%20Color%20Drum%20Sander%20with%20Dims.jpg “

So that’s it for now. More to come and your comments are welcome.