yeah, i got wood (and no it’s not because i’m glad to see your teenage daughters). i drove to kona (the other side of the island) to pick up the hem-fir. i had to go to lowes because home depot didn’t have any untreated, construction grade 2×6’s. i now have a workbench, so here’s a couple pics of my unimpressive, yet functional workbench and another one of most of the project wood:

the day after i bought it, i noticed some holes in the wood that look like they’re from insects. i’m assuming that the wood is not infested and the bugs that may have created the holes were evicted during the kiln drying process:

i’ve hand sawn a few boards and such, but mostly i’ve been practicing techniques and tuning equipment. my first step was to practice drilling holes for my bolts and screws. i realized quickly, that this was not going to be as simple as i had planned. using the advice of a lowe’s employee, i tried to select the lighter boards, which he claimed had a lower moisture content, which means less warping and shifting after the bed is put together. these lighter boards seemed to be more misshapen than the heavier boards. i decided to assume that the extra warping is not so bad because that means that these boards have sewn their warping oats and when i take them home with me they’ll be more likely to commit to the other boards without straying. getting to the point about drilling into this wood, it cracks and splinters very easily and i’m guessing that the lower moisture content encourages this. as you can see here, screwing w/o pilot holes is not an option:

brad point bits splinter; even the countersink bit splinters unacceptably. i’m sure that once the finish is on, no one will notice, but once i do something, i try to do it right. when looking for drill bits, the same guy at lowes redirected me to the forstner bit. i saw that it was plenty expensive, so i was weary that he might be trying to gouge me ( i didn’t read about that specific bit on wikipedia before i went to the store). i looked at the bit and observed that it was designed to cut the edges first, which is how a brad point is supposed to work, so i made a decision and bought it. when i came home, sure enough, i looked it up and it’s described as a cleaner bit than the brad points. allegedly the exit hole is clean too, but the forstner bit i bought couldn’t exit without splitting even when another piece of wood was clamped under it. the washer should cover up what the planing doesn’t remove. i could drill half way, then flip over the board and connect the hole from the other side, but that’s twice as much drilling; it doesn’t seem worth it.

i find it interesting that the western wood products association says, “Hem-Fir is additionally preferred by many builders because of its: resistance to splitting in nailing and screwing; ability to hold nails and screws securely; ease of sawing without splintering;..” i find it difficult to imagine a wood that is less resistant to splitting and splintering.

after going to home depot, then calling a couple other stores, i ordered a 5/16” forstner bit to use as a countersink for my #8 and #9 deck screws. i also ordered a 1/8” brad point from rockler.com. i’m curious if this bit, which other customers claim to be very sharp, will make a cleaner hole than the home depot bits.

all that time and effort to simply drill a clean hole. while practicing with the drill, i put a couple holes in the scrap wood i practiced finishing. here’s the results:

i was very disappointed to witness my $90/gal finish chipping like plastic. it took a couple days to put it together, but i later realized that the finish i have is a slightly more environmentally friendly polyurethane. it’s absolutely nothing new or unique. it seems to be regular water based polyurethane without the flammable thinner in it. i pride myself on my misanthropic cynicism, so i am not at all amused with myself for naively falling for their corporate propaganda. the voices in my head won’t let me hear the end of it for quite some time.

i’ve practiced some planing too, but it’s bed time so nighty-night.

this project has many constraints. i want it to cost about $500 total (including any new tools that i purchase). ideally, any new tools i buy will fit in my single tool box. i also want to minimize the environmental impact for myself and the planet. by using more hand tools, i use less electricity, which is in short supply in many impoverished regions, which is where i plan on going to in the distant future. hand tools also help to stave off lazyindolentmonkeyitis which plagues most americans these days.

my budget is as follows (some items have already been bought):

• $187 2 gallons sansin purity sealer (bought)

• $48 – anant smoothing plane (bought)

• $3 – plastic tri-square (bought)

• $11 – home depot course/fine sharpening stone (bought)

• $0 – rotting scrap wood for workbench (received)

• $9 – workbench ($7 for polyurethene) (bought)

• $2 – bungee cords (bought)

• $8 – 5 sheets each of p800 and 2000 grit from walmart (bought)

• $2 – 3 blankets of 3m sandblaster brand paper, p80 and 400 grit (bought)

• $31 – 1000/6000 japanese stone from woodstock by way of amazon.com (bought)

• $9 – wood chisel/rasp combo (bought)

• $3 – hammer (bought)

• $26 – pipe clamps and 2 18” pipes (bought)

• $1 – foam brush (bought)

• $1 – large foam brush

• $17 – drill bits

• $16 – gas to drive to the other side of island for wood

• $119 – wood (kiln dried hem fir):

  2×6x8 (2@4.64): $10
  2×4x8 (9@1.97): $18
  2×6x10 (3@6.18): $19
  2×4x10 (6@4.33): $26
  2×6x12 (2@7.61): $16
  15/32×4x8 (plywood): $12
  1×2x8 cedar furring (6@2.66): $18

• $21 – bolts: 5/16×4 (package of 50 hot dipped galvanized)

• $16 – nuts: 5/16 (box of 100 galvanized)

• $24 – washers:

  5/16 Lock (35): $10 (25 galvanized for $4.96)

  5/16 (70@0.20): $14 (galvanized)

• $49 – screws:

  3 1/2 (34): $10 (box of 57) #8?

  2 1/2 (36): $9 (for 84) #8?

  1 or 1 1/4 (8): $4 wait for keyhole brackets

  1 (48): $24 ($.48 for each stainless screw) #8?

  M4, 12mm: $2 (hex cap?)

• $15 – keyhole hangers (10)

  $617 – subtotal

• $150 – used, clean full mattress

  $767 – total

obviously, i’m well over budget. i should save some on the hardware with bulk purchases. i’ll also probably buy the zinc plated hardware, which will then likely get a massage with petroleum jelly before final installation. the mattress doesn’t really count because i originally assumed i would use the twin mattress in my furnished studio. after i decided to get my own mattress, i also decided to make the bed bigger. after some temporary delusions of grandeur involving a 6’x9’ loft space for a 12’x9 room, i settled on a full size loft (6’x4.5’). they’re hard to see, but here are the diagrams:

the base design is from oploftbed.com. they offer a lot of free info, which is very helpful. sure i could have paid $10 for their plans, but that would have been too easy, plus a few custom modifications can end up changing every measurement, plus i’m very stingy with my money (yes, i realize that the $200 for the tree-hugger sealer may seem contradictory to the ‘stingy’ statement). i plan on modifying the first design with the ladder from the second picture:

i should have started this blog earlier, but i wanted to get my design in order as well as my parts list. i already built the workbench, but i don’t have any pictures yet. i do have a couple before pics of the workbench:

i also have had some unpleasant experiences with sansin (the company that makes the sealer). maybe i’ll review the product (although, i can only offer a newbie prospective).

i’m starting the blog mostly for myself. it also may be beneficial to someone starting out. maybe they can avoid the mistakes that i made/will make. it may also be interesting because i plan on hand planing the construction grade lumber, which i already know will be relatively time consuming. i’m also testing the hand planing advice given on numerous websites. i want to know if the advice they give is really necessary for someone who just wants to do a nice job, but nothing that would be considered fine woodwork.

i not asking anything of anyone except to notify me if something that i’m doing is inherently unsafe. even if the project is ascetically disgraceful, if it’s safe, then i’ll be content. i’ve spent hours upon hours of internet research, so i’ve methodically evaluated and scrutinized seemingly every detail. i’m sure the friendly people on this forum will offer much advice. when i first signed up, there were like ten messages from people welcoming me to the forum before i even introduced myself. i’m reminded of the line, “it’s quiet.”“yeah, too quiet.” everyone seems to be a little too friendly. i’m keeping a sharp eye.

finally, i heard a voice in my head that said, “if you grow it, they will come.” i realized that to properly build a wood project, one must play the role of a craftsman. i don’t have any flannel shirts or a tool belt, but i can grow an ‘old man river’ beard. it’s a scientific fact that each day of scruff adds to the skill level of a woodworker. even though beards are less sanitary, i can’t defy the voices in my head: