Two sides attached.

View of the inside. When I got to this point I though . . . “I wonder if those arrows will show when I’m finished.”

This it the top made from a piece of 1×4 D4S pine. It was ripped, a groove cut along the inside edge for it to fit over the top and a 45 on the outside edge to make it match the base(s).

It was at this point in time that DW poked her head in the shop. She started rooting around in my scrap\cut-off bin and found and found a length of beading that I made several years ago. She thought it would look nice along the bottom.

Here are various pics of the finished product. DW has a much better eye than I do when it comes to pictures so she dragged the vase outside.

Unfortunately you can see the arrows . . . however when it is full of dried flowers they will be invisible. The MIL is going to stain it to match her other furniture.

It was a fun little project that cost me nothing as it was made from scraps. The MIL called and thanked me and said it was nice and it was what she was looking for.

END BLOG

I ripped the band sawn pine into 1 5/8 strips to use as the vase base. I wanted mitred corners so I broke out the mitre saw, set the angle to 45, set up a stop block and started cutting. When I had them cut I laid them together on the bench . . . the angle was not 45 . . . it was less and it left me with a fair gap in one corner. I was not impressed.

At this point in time DW needed some crushed stone and topsoil moved. The physicial exercise calmed my nerves.

When I went back I did some fooling around with the saw and got it cutting on 45s. I managed to save the first pieces by using them for the top of the base plate.

After using my Kreg to hold the “frames” together I popped a 45 ¼ bit in the router and took a bit off each frame. I then screwed the frames together to make the base.

I then attached some poplar to the base so that I could attach the sides of the vase.

A test fit of 2 sides

I scanned the shop and found the following:
- 10 piece of ¼ pine panelling
- some 1×4 band sawed pine
- a quantity of short 1×4 D4S pine
- some ¾ poplar

The only plans I had are the ones in my head. It gonna be one of those projects that you build as you go. I like those types when they are not all that complicated.

Here are the majority of the scraps

Here is the pine paneling. I cut them to 22 ¾. Why 22 ¾ . . . the shortest was 22 5/8 and I wanted to square them all up.

Band sawn pine prior to planing.

Tools I used today. I finally put my mitre saw on the Bosch TS stand that I picked up for a song. Its super manoeuvrable.

I mitered the pine paneling. I hope the TS is accurate.

Pile of scraps getting smaller.

8 front legs @ 11.5 inches
8 side aprons @ 9 inches
8 front aprons @ 8 inches
8 back rails @ 8 inches

I also made a jig for the DP so that I can drill holes to mount the back rails.

Next is sanding and assembly

The previous set of chairs had a straight back, but this set I wanted a little rake. So I made this template from some packaged pine

I planed down some scrap spruce I had laying around to 1 ¼ for the front legs.

Here is the 2×6x8 for the back legs and a couple of pieces of 1×3 strapping for the aprons and back rails.

I milled the 2×6 to 1 ¼ and cut to rough length. Here I am marking out the back legs.

Rough cut on the ole bandsaw.

Getting ready with the template bit for final leg shaping

A close-up of the finished railing.

Here is the prettying up. The metal panels we actually found in someone’s bulk garbage pickup.

So as a recap we have come from here . . .

To here . . . .

To here . . .

Here I am admiring the railing. :-)

Four of the five pieces up.

This is the 5th piece.

I hoisted each one up using my handy-dandy tie down straps.

I tapped these blocks in place to ensure that all railings were a uniform distance from the flooring.

Then it was off to the bracing. I removed the strapping and put in its place a 2×4x14. Got it at HD and it was relatively straight. Those little Irwin clamps kept it in place while I shimmied along with the ladder and level and screws. Once held in place I lagged the brace. I must say I love those clamps . . . 4 for $20 at HD. Much better than the el cheapo ones hanging on my wall. These puppies will actually hold some tension.

Then it stated to rain . . . pretty heavy. I went in for a bit of lunch and ran back outside during a reprieve and snapped this progress pic. I am not finished with the railing nor the bracing. Gonna be tomorrow most likely.

I have set up my table saw to do some ripping.

Here is everything dimensioned. The stack in the foreground of the short square board will the rails while the remainder will make up the frames.

I took all the short pieces and used a ½ round over bit in the router to get the following.

Here I am using my cheap block plane to round over the edges of the boards being used for the frame. Im moving so fast that I made the camera blur. It was actually quite calming using the plane and watching the golden curls pile up on the floor.

I chucked up the 1 ¼ forstner bit in the drill press an drilled a whole mess of holes about 3/8 deep after spending a considerable amount of time marking their locations. This is the top plate and bottom plate.

Here is one of the railings coming together.

And here is one railing in its final stage waiting to be installed.

next it will be installing the rails, bracing and making it look nice.

I finished the last two boards on the deck. I had to notch out around the posts. I must have made 30 trips up and down over the stairs. What a workout.

I then started on extending the posts. I am making the first cuts here. Cordless tools are great . . . when the batteries don’t die. Mine kept dying. I had to resort to a not overly sharp hand saw.

Close up of the cut. Its 1 ¾’ deep.

A finished post. Boy my arm was tired.

The finished cuts

This was my biggest worry . . . how to get down through the house covered in fine sawdust without DW catching me.

Here are a couple of finished post pictures. I cut the posts to length and notched them to go over the cuts made earlier (see above). I put three lags in each post to hold it in place.

Next I will be working on the railing.

First on the agenda was to install the railing posts in the rear corners of the deck. Here is a pic taken from the upstairs door. And yes it’s a long way down.

I climbed up the ladder with the camera to take a pic installing one of the posts. The clamp held it in place while the short piece of strapping (screwed to the post) ensured that it remained at the correct height.

A view from the ladder across the deck.

The corner post in place. I’m using one heck of a lot of galvanized lag bolts. Thank goodness for predrilling and DeWalt 18v drill.

I decided on not giving a “board by board” picture review of the actual decking. Needless to say the first board against the wall was a little tricky as I had to cut the boards to fit around the 4×4s. The rest went down relatively easy. I put a ¼ space between each board. Here are a couple of shots from the ground.

And here are two from the deck. It was getting late in the afternoon and I was getting hungry and a little tired when I got to this point. The next couple of boards will have to be notched. In addition one of the boards that I picked up had warped so I will exchange it on Monday.

Next steps is to finish of the decking and laminate the railing 4×4s across the front.

Thanks for following.