MOJOE's Blog at LumberJocks.com

New Lathe

MOJOE — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 23:49:16 GMT

So my gal purchased a Rikon 70-050VS for my Christmas gift and I’ve been making shavings ever since. I’m learning each time I pick up the tools. Several folks told me “the lathe is the cheap part”, and man, they were right! I’m learning how to sharpen, and I’ve already decided I didn’t like my bowl gouge, so I reground the bevel! Anyway, I’ve finished a couple bottle stoppers and tried a couple bowls…...

Later,
joe

Rough River Birch

Bradford Pear

PurpleHeart

Maple

First Trip to Saw Mill

MOJOE — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:10:08 GMT

My folks cut down a birch in their front yard a couple weeks ago and saved me a 5-foot length of the trunk. Craigslist helped me find “Tom the Sawyer”, about 20 minutes from the office. Made an appointment and stopped by this morning. Thirty minutes later I had three 12/4 slabs approximately 11 inches wide and 5 feet long…...pretty cool! Now I just have to let it dry, and I think I will try my hand at flattening via hand planes. Not sure what to do with the lumber just yet, but was thinking a natural edge bench seat with through-mortise/tenon joinery.
Later,
joe

Christmas Turning Blanks

MOJOE — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:03:46 GMT

Today our family went to visit my folks for a late Christmas. My brother-in-law, who runs a mobile saw mill, brought me a couple turning blanks fresh from his farm. The smaller (about 12×12) is elm, and the larger is red oak. He knew I’ve been thinking about buying a lathe, so now I have a good reason to make the purchase…..two fresh blanks, and a nearby supply of cut-offs!

My First Bookmatched Panel

MOJOE — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:35:57 GMT

Today I decided to try my hand at making a book matched panel that will fit nicely into a lid for a box project I’ve been thinking about. For my first attempt, I think it turned out fairly well. Now to find time to build the rest!

I would like some suggestions on a wood type for the remainder of the box…..I would prefer something that contrasts only a little bit, but am open to any and all suggestions.
Thanks
Joe

New (to me) Planer

MOJOE — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:08:33 GMT

Found out Friday that my boss’ brother-in-law is moving out of state and leaving all his shop equipment behind. I went through the list of items, and though most were much too big for what space remains in my garage (which isn’t much), he did have a portable Delta planer. It was the 22-540 with an unopened set of knives, knife setting tool and original owner’s manual. It is in very good condition, looks barely used, and he was asking $150. From what I’ve read, this might be about $30 high, but I figured it sure beat looking at my stack of resawn timber with nothing to surface it, so I ponied up the cash. I’ve also read mixed reviews, but figure I’ll work my way through it’s quirks by surfacing said stack of resawn lumber. No pics yet(but here’s a stock image from google)....it’s still sitting in the truck…..but I can’t wait to give it a whirl. If anyone has any experience with this model, I’d be curious to hear about them.

Later!

First Resaw Session

MOJOE — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:39:17 GMT

Finally found some shop time and decided I should try another attempt at resawing a few logs I’ve picked up over the last year or so. I had a chunk of osage orange that I had previously worked on, and it went pretty well. The other log was a different story…not sure what kind of tree it’s from, but it is fairly heavy. It started out about 12 inches in diameter and 24 inches long. So as to not mess it up, I hand sawed it lengthwise through the center. I have been trying to decide what method to use to cut these into slabs, and finally decided on a tall shop-made fence and a flat sled that rides in the miter slot. I am able to adjust for drift with the fence, and shim the log on the sled to keep things aligned. Anyway, it worked pretty well, and all slabs ended up a consistent thickness….about 3/4”. I’m pretty happy….also ended up with a couple OK bookmatched pieces of the unknown log. If anyone has any ideas on what type of wood this is, I’d love to know.
Thanks

Wood Gloat.....Locust

MOJOE — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:41:38 GMT

We had a pretty intense storm here in KC last night….lost a couple limbs from our maple tree, but they were pretty small and not really salvageable. My in-laws have multiple old growth locust trees in their yard, and last night this limb fell. It’s about 20 feet long and around 14 inches in diameter at it’s largest. Tried to bring home a chainsaw from work, but the oil fill cap was broken off. Tried to start my father-in-law’s chainsaw, but it’s about 30 years old and just wouldn’t go…...so I quartered it with a Lowe’s carpenter saw….all I had handy. Anyway, should be able to section this thing up into more manageable pieces next week and allow them to start drying. Gonna have to buy a lathe, should be plenty of bowl blanks in there somewhere!
Later,
joe

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic….after carrying the pieces uphill to the truck, my arms were a little shakey!

Name That Plane

MOJOE — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:43:17 GMT

I recently acquired the plane shown below. I’m pretty sure it’s a No. 4, as it is about 9 inches long. Here are the facts:
- body is blue
- frog and chipbreaker are yellow
- “made in usa” on body between mouth and front knob
- “U” stamped into backside of cap iron
Any ideas who made this plane, or when it was manufactured?
Thanks,
joe

Jedi Wood Find.....Update :(

MOJOE — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:23:28 GMT

Well, I happened across a nice piece of crotch locust about 8 months ago while driving home from picking up my kids from daycare. It has been sitting in my garage drying ever since. I put it on the JET bandsaw today and was going to slab it up for a later project. Long story short, the thing was loaded with wire fence. At first glance, I though it was just a couple nails, so I cut around them….wrong….still hit them. I think rotated the log and cut again…..hit another piece. When I inspected further, I realized that this tree must have grown around a fence, cause I saw 6 shiny spots throughout…..my timberwolf blade is mad at me now…...LESSON LEARNED…...I have another log, but will perform a good inspection prior to placing it on the saw…...

By the way, when opened, the log had beautiful spalting…..

Found Wood in KC

MOJOE — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:10:59 GMT

So a few weeks ago I stopped by a home site and picked up a small portion of stump. I opened it up on the bandsaw and it was wonderfully figured. There was a sizeable crotch there as well, but I was not big enough to get it into the truck. Anyway, that evening I thought that I wanted to keep my eyes open for another piece. The next evening, I was picking up my kids from the sitter and to my suprise, there was a crotch log sitting in the middle of North Oak Trafficway…..I stopped and picked it up. It has been sitting in my garage drying ever since. Now for the odd part (other than finding a nice log on the median of a busy street that is), about three days ago, I did an image search for “osage orange” and decided that I needed to buy a piece to make a turkey call. While driving to my office yesterday, I stopped at an intersection and noticed another log sitting on top of a short retaining wall. I turned around and picked it up…...get ready for it…....osage orange! I think I must be part Jedi, cause the last 2 times I thought about looking for a certain type of log, I found one laying on the road. Just kinda odd I thought…...maybe I should think about finding MONEY!!!!!!

My first found wood.....

MOJOE — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:17:12 GMT

Some folks are building a home around the corner from me, and knocked down a few trees in the process. I picked up a medium sized crotch and bandsawed it open today. As long as it dosen’t check too bad, I will make this into a small clock for my daughter. Not sure what type of wood it is, but the colors and figure are really nice. I think looking for pieces of wood laying around and sending them through the saw may have just become a new hobby of mine.
joe

Finally.....My Boy Sleeps In His Crib

MOJOE — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 14:49:07 GMT

Well, 2 nights ago, my son Noah finally started sleeping well enough that we didn’t have to take turns watching him throughout the night. He has been having some belly issues, but it appears they are behind us. The wife and I decided to put him in his crib. I must say, I just get warm and fuzzy when I see him sleeping in the crib that I made. Kinda goofy I guess, but it just makes me feel proud, I really think the project came together well, and am really happy to see it being used.
Just thought I would share.
Joe

1 Year Anniversary

MOJOE — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 14:56:27 GMT

I just received a comment that my 1 year anniversay is Monday…...man a year went by fast! I found this site while building a toybox for my daughter, now I have a son and was inspired to build him a crib and dresser, before long another toybox will be on my project list. Anyway, thanks so much for all the comments and fast help when needed. This really is a community of great people. Also, I know this is a couple days early, but knowing myself the way I do, I will probably forget on Monday. I just gotta take care of things when they are on my mind.
Later,
Joe

New Shop Buddy!!

MOJOE — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:41:07 GMT

Today at 10:14 am, God blessed me with a baby boy, Noah Blake. He weighed in at 7 lbs 6 oz, and was 20.5 inches long. I couldn’t be happier. Mom and baby are doing fine, and I can’t wait to get this guy in the shop….though I should probably wait a little while.
joe

Name That Wood??????

MOJOE — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:45:37 GMT

Hey All,
The wife has expressed an interest in a bench seat to match our kitchen table. I would like to match the wood if possible. Not really sure what it is though. It’s fairly light in color, and seems to be pretty open grained. The end-grain looks alot like oak. Anyway, check out the pics and see if it looks familiar.
Thanks,
Joe

A quick story of stupidity!

MOJOE — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:37:06 GMT

Well it happened, I was building a couple drawers for my boy’s dresser and had a small accident. While I was a little tired, I just didn’t think. I was cutting multiple pieces and assembling. Once 2 drawers were complete, I decided to cut the pieces for one additional drawer…..that is when it happened….kickback! Set up the fence to cross-cut a couple matching length pieces, but forgot to add the small scrap block spacer to allow for a gap for the off-cut piece. Let me tell you, all went down hill in the blink of an eye. The piece (1/2×6x15) flew back and hit just to the right of my belly button and then into the wall and onto the floor. Surprised me more then hurt, but today it is tender and I have a quater sized bruise…....I was lucky, and will not make that mistake again.
joe

New Crib #6.....Finally Got 'er Whipped

MOJOE — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:46:14 GMT

Well, I finally finished up my son’s crib….well ahead of my Feb. deadline I might add. Once everything was mocked up and fit nicely, I took the headboard portion off and sprayed the finish on in 2 sections. I used Bullseye Sealcoat tinted with 40 drips of Transtint Medium Brown (40 drips cause I didn’t have a measuring device). Anyway, sprayed on 6 coats with 320 sanding between each. The final coat was buffed with 0000 steel wool. I am pretty happy with how it turned out…..especially since I didn’t follow any pattern. I also had my first experience with a spray applied finish. Worked well, I picked up a Critter spray gun, and though my compressor is a bit small, it worked fine. There are a few photos below…...next up…..matching dresser!
As always, all critiques are welcome,
joe

New Crib #5

MOJOE — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:46:58 GMT

Man….been a long time since I have worked on the crib! Good thing my boy doesn’t arrive until February! Well, it has been about 2 months (I think) since I posted last…been studying for the PE exam (which sucked!). Now that the test is over, I can get back to the shop. To date, I have constructed all 4 sides, and broken about 1/3 of the sharp edges. Using a light chamfer for the slats, and a medium round-over for the rest. I managed to clamp everything together to get a sort-of “first look” prior to completion/sanding/finishing. The lines seem alright, not too bad for “winging it” from a compilation of internet pix. Anyhow, I’m gonna try to post some pix (if I can remember how!)
Thanks,
Joe

New Crib #4

MOJOE — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:51:33 GMT

Well, I spent Thursday afternoon looking through 2 Home Depot’s worth of birch plywood. I finally found 3 pieces that suited my needs. I actually found a 1/4 sheet that had some very procounced dark brown streaks (maybe spalting…not sure) anyway, I used it for the center of my headboard panel. I also routed a rabbit/groove in the back side to accept the panels, and put in ogee around the perimeter of each panel in the front. Today I cut the panels to fit and glued them up. I also drilled out about 50 mortises on the drill press, but am not absolutely happy with them, so some router table or table saw work will need to be done. Anyhow, here are a couple pics of the headboard. Sometime in the future I will spray on the shellac finish.
Later,
joe

By the way, considering using maple for the slats on the sides and front. Thoughts?? Will this look odd to have a lighter color wood against this much birch??

New Crib #3

MOJOE — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:42:49 GMT

Well guys and gals, the wife is at a baby shower and the 2 yr old is with Grandma at the water park. That means I have a few hours to work on the new crib again!!!!! I recently cut the radius portions on the legs and headboard top. To do this I cut the first leg with a jigsaw (man I wish I had a bandsaw) then used it as a pattern on the router table with a flush trim bit. Everything went well until the last leg. The bit caught some grain and split a little bit of the lower leg. No worries, a quick buzz through the tablesaw and all was well. I really chewed up the headboard top with the jigsaw, so I re-marked the radius and went back to the router table with a straight bit for a little free hand work. Took it down to within a 1/16 of the line, and took my time. After that, I put the sacrificial fence on with about 1/32 of the bit showing. Keeping the radius touching on both sides of the bit, I removed that last little bit. Cleaned everything up with a palm sander. Probably not the best, but the safest and most accurate method I could come up with. Next came the interesting part, I finally used my pocket hole jig to put all pieces together for the headboard (minus the panels). That thing is awsome. Since it will not show, thougth this would be OK. Went together well, and stayed flush and square. Just for kicks, I put “paint grade” plugs in for a little contrasting color. They will be against the wall, but I will know they are there. All and all, pretty happy with today’s progress. I plan on routing a rabbit in the back side to place the panels. It should work pretty smooth with a straight edge (in my mind at least). Anyway, thanks for reading and here are a couple pics.
joe