Hey gang,
I have one plant, a rubber plant (or maybe a jade plant, I guess I should go over to garden tenders and ask) that I’ve raised from a broken branch. The great thing about this plant is even with my brown thumb I can not water it for 4~6 months, give it a drink, and it’s fine. Just the sort of plant for me.

Because it works so well for me, I decided I needed to give it a special home. I had a piece of cherry from the bookcase I just fininshed, and since it’s going in the same room I decided this would be the right material. I saw a project on ‘tree frog furniture’ (google the blog) and liked the curves. I copied the template onto mdf that I marked out in 1” squares and used that with the router.

The circles were cut out using a Pat Warner.com router base on my big DeWalt 3+hp plunge router. This was the first time in the ten years I’ve owned that beast that I’ve felt comfortable using it. It was very stable with that base.

Now I’ve descovered you can’t just run out to the big box store and get a pot that matches the stand. If anyone has a suggestion about where to find a pot that is size, shape, and period appropriate, please let me know.

I was looking for a low bookcase for a section of blank wall in the family room, and searching LJ I found one by Dr. Sawdust that I liked. This is made of cherry and cherry ply, BLO, and Shellac.

In the second picture you can see my test areas under the top where it wouldn’t show; starting from the back: varnish, varnish over BLO, shellac over BLO, a spot for wiping varnish (not tested), and finaly two coats of BLO. I finally decided on two coats of BLO applied at 130F followed by shellac. I think shellac looks nice, and properly thinned is easy to apply and to correct mistakes.

The last image is something I saw in a magazine: every time I set up the table saw to make a cut, I would also make one in this piece of hardboard and label it. Then when I needed to go back and make another part, I had the exact saw setup. This was pretty handy!
Topapilot

This is the Aurora Nightstand designed by Darrell Peart. The plans are available on the internet, but I don’t recommend them except for overall dimensions. The material is African Mahogany and Ebony accents. Construction is loose tenon joinery with a water based dye and six coats of Arm-r-seal wiped on. The dye came out darker than I intended, must have been due to differences in my technique on the sample board and the finished nightstand.

This was a real challange with lots of new techniques. Now that it’s done, I can see more of the style in the future!

Jatoba, loose tenons, and Teak oil finish.

I wanted a small table to go by the steamer chairs at the pool, and logged into LJ for some insperation. What a resource! In minutes I had found Dorje’s table: and I knew I wanted a smaller version. I had some Jatoba in the shop, and Dorje said I could copy his table, so here is my version.

I wanted tapered legs on this table, but had never done that before. I searched the web for “build a taper jig” and found all sorts of very nice jigs, but all would take more time than I wanted to invest. Then on a thread on Woodnet someone (sorry, can’t remember who) said “a taper jig is just a sled with blocking screwed to it” Well, that was simple enough even for me, and the gears got to turning.

A piece of ply with a runner screwed to the bottom, a maple stop block, and a block with hardware from my drill press table.

To set it up, I marked the leg with the start of the taper and where it would end at the bottom. I cut my jig to size by screwing on the runner, and cutting off the edge. That cut off edge will show where the taper will be cut. Then I put the leg on the sled in the correct position and screwed on the side block. Clamp the leg in place and you’re in business.

Then I got to use my new cabinet scraper, and that is a great tool. I’ve never been able to get shavings with a scraper before, but this worked perfectly.

First time using Jatoba, first tapered legs, first time starting and finishing a project in one week; must be progress.
Robb

Here’s the finished file cabinet I mentioned in my blog. It was designed to match the computer desk (complete, but no pictures yet; it’s covered in files…) I made at Christmas, and to hold a monster printer on top. The construction is red oak, red oak vaneer ply (from LSV, the local hardwood supplier, and really crap), and walnut. The legs have the “Blacker House” design I picked up from Darryl Pearts book, and the drawer handles are similar to handles I’ve seen elsewhere. The finish is one coat of 1/3 BLO, 1/3 Varnish, 1/3 MS; then multiple coats of wiping varnish made by thinning with mineral spirits.

I found LJ’s about the time this contest started, and it got the wheels turning! Since then I’ve been interested in the G+G style, been searching the web and reading books on them and the Hall brothers. I went out and plunked down the cash on two pieces of mahogany, but was afraid to make the first cut. Finally I decided to just get on with it, I’ve spent all this money on tools, why get hung up on the wood? Well, when the dust settled this is what was left:

Marissa kept an eye on the finishing; multiple coats of waterlox, but she couldn’t stop the runs. Oh well, if I don’t tell people, they won’t know.