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295K views 2K replies 173 participants last post by  robscastle 
#1 ·
The Beginning...

So I've lived in the same two bedroom apartment for ten years now. The second bedroom is my workshop and has a closet that's been my catch-all for anything that I don't immediately know what to do with. Needless to say, it's gotten to be a pretty scary place! A couple of weeks ago, I finally set myself a goal: to take out and sort one box a day until I could see the walls of the closet again…
As is usual with such things, the longest journey begins with the first step, and once I began I found myself sorting 3-5 boxes a day and the job was finished in a week or so. I found trash and treasure, meaningful and meaningless things. And this[IMG alt="My Grandparent's "Big 10" Sign"]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3444/3865449913_daaff6f529_o.jpg[/IMG]
It came from my Grandparent's house but holds no real sentimental worth, no fond memories. It's a mass produced item, no real value. I hold the "Big 10" in my heart, and live by them daily, but don't care for a daily reminder on my wall…What do I do with such a thing?
Well, upon turning it around, I discovered why I hadn't tossed this old thing in the first placeA very wide board
Yes, it's "only" Pine, but it looks like it came from a venerable old tree! 5/8'" thick, about 12" wide. As I couldn't bring myself to throw away the Ten Commandments, and NEVER throw away any wood, Friday afternoon I decided to separate Church from Wood. I saved the Brass Plaque, which was of surprising quality, but now can be slid easily into an old book or something, and the Wood is now mine to have some fun with! Started out by giving it some rough sandingAfter some rough sanding
The next step was to plug the holes left from the nails. Set the depth stop of the drill press in my usual fashion, by hanging my 3 lb. Estwing off of one of the handles of the press to hold it in the down position, and raising the table. Setting the depth stop
When I want to really fine tune, I raise or lower the drill bit in the chuck a bit.
Glued some dowel into the resulting holes and filed and sanded flush.Plugging the holes
A decision had to be made at some point about what exactly I was planning on making here, so I asked myself "What does Mike make besides boxes?". The answer, of course, was "MORE BOXES!!"
At first I was thinking of squaring up the piece, but that's easier said than done, with the curves on this piece. Ahh, the curves…they intrigued me and since this is "just for fun" and I don't really know what I'm doing anyway, I thought "Why not leave them and see what happens?"
And so, not having any clue, I pressed forward and cut this piece in halfThe beginnings of the vision
Upon measuring, I noticed that the crests of the curves were equidistant, 5 1/2" apart. Looks like this one's going to be square…
After cutting the pieces as near as I could to the center of the crests, and all 5 1/2" long, I brought them to the "Marking Board". Marked the depths of the cuts by using the pieces themselvesMarking depth of finger joints
There's still the detail on the other side, and I can't extend finger joints into that region. Let's see…I'd like 3/8" fingers for this project, but the wood I have to work with isn't divisible by 3/8". But 4 1/2" is. I'll just tilt the ruler! Nobody's watching!Marking finger or box joints
After that, I'm on familiar ground again. Drill some "maneuvering" holesDrilling Manuevering Holes for the Scroll Saw
And off to the scroll sawSawing away the fingers
There's probably a bunch of people now who are saying "What a Nit-Wit!! Has he never heard of a box joint cutting jig?!" and they'd be right about the nitwit part! But I don't own a stacked dado head cutter and it only took 6-7 minutes per side, and this is JUST FOR FUN! It does take a few minutes to mate each joint, filing one side and then the other until they mesh snug, but not too snugTwo sides completed
And so, to make a long story even longer, after 4 hrs or so total,I went from the unwanted sign to thisA Poor Man's Box
I've begun to call it the "Poor Man's Box".
In the next installment I hope to finish whatever it is I think I'm doing…
 
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#565 ·
A Few Details...

What with working all weekend, I didn't get more than a few hours to work on the suggestion box. But I did manage to get a few important details out of the way…
The first, was one that I approached with the most trepidation, the cutting of the slot. I wanted it to be slightly tapered from outside to inside… so I tilted the table of the scroll saw and made the two cuts… from the bottom side…Cutting Slot
It worked out just fine and the sample card fits with room to spare…The SlotCard fits with room to spare...
The second detail, was a quick one, but very important. One of the requirements of this job was that the box be wall-hung, so I had to drill and countersink for screws…Holes for hanging drilled and countersunk
The last detail was the cutting and gluing of the lettering, which is pretty straight-forward, but time-consuming…Working on letters[IMG alt=""Comments" cut out"]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/5193325744_8025be6bfe_z.jpg[/IMG][IMG alt=""Comments" glued on..."]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5196534618_1d8f351cee_z.jpg[/IMG]
I've got the next three days off, and am hoping to wrap this up this week, but we shall see… The next step is uncharted water, a wooden hasp… hmmm… ????
I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all (and to all of yours!!) a very Happy and Peaceful Thanksgiving!! Enjoy the Day and Be Safe, my Friends!! :)
 
#580 ·
Of Hasps and Pins...

The second requirement of this "Suggestion" Box, was that it be locking.
To that end, I began cutting out a hasp, starting with the loop through which the lock will pass…Twenty minutes pondering...
It's a good thing these are small parts!! My scraps of Mahogany are getting awfully small… It took about 20 minutes of musing, and about 5 minutes of cutting to get here…Five minutes of cutting
Since this box already has "Ears", I've been referring to this as the "Nose"...Looks a little like a nose...
Next came the flap that will cover the loop, and some hand fitting…Fitting the partsConnected
I can't finalize the shape of the flap, until the next "link" in the chain is cut, so I went ahead and cut that one out…Third link in the "Chain"
Then I re-sized the holes where necessary, cut the two small anchor pieces, and shaped the pieces to connect… They still need a bit of clean-up but here it is…All cut...
With these nearing completion, it was time to pin the corners of this box and close it up for good. I couldn't do it in the regular fashion, with the drill press, because of the high back on this thing… So I had to do it by hand, with an extended drill I bought a year or two ago but never used…Drilling and Pinning top corners...
That went well, so I clamped the box to a handy sawhorse and did the underside the same way (I had to stand on a chair to reach!!)and the bottoms
I also found the time to fill in the holes in the side from the bottom dado and to do most of the final corner relieving and sanding…
This is winding right down, Folks!! All that's left is to soften the corners a little more, and glue and pin the hasp to the box… and then it will be off to the finishing department… :)
 
#615 ·
Another Fine Year...

...Ends in the toilet!! LOL!!
As I've said and shown in numerous postings, the apartment building I live in is rather old and it has not a few idiosyncrasies. One of them is a settled bathroom floor… meaning that it slopes at a fair angle of about 3/4" to a foot!!
Anyway, whenever it was that they installed the toilet, they used the floor as a reference… with the result that the whole assembly (including the tank) leans to the left… It works fine… indeed, it's one of the older kind that flushes resoundingly, but it's a little difficult to place anything on top of the tank…Small shelf unit shimmed on poorly hung toilet
I had nailed together this small shelf thing back in "94 or "95 in my "Utilitarian" days. There's not much to recommend it, but it has seen use in my kitchen as a spice rack, in my bedroom as a nightstand adjunct, and in the kitchen again, as an addition to the telephone table… Now it's in the bathroom and I had to use some cut-outs as shims to level it on the back of the toilet tank…
Now this was fine in my Bachelor Days living alone, well aware of how precarious the shelves were, but now that Debbie is here, I have to say Goodbye to that certain "Tree House" mentality… I resolved yesterday to fix this once and for all…
I simply cut a scrap of Oak to the desired length and width, and attached the same two shims as cleats in the proper locations…An Oak Scrap cut to size, with cleats attached
I then just hang the right cleat over the edge of the tank lid, to keep it from sliding, and the other cleat acts as the "leveler"...In place as a "leveler"
It's over-sized enough where it will give a little additional shelf space and to protect it, and make it a little more becoming, I've been putting on a few coats of Wipe-on Poly…After a coat of Wipe-on poly...
That should do the trick… I just hope it doesn't make the shelves look too bad in comparison!!
And speaking of bad, looking around, I noticed another old project that could be up-graded… a grocery list thing I made "on the fly" one day…In need of an Up-grade??
Oh well, maybe next year… :)
 
#616 ·
well mcguiver
you sure got that figured quick
and you get a new 'finishing' room
in the process
where you can sit and work

nice 'list' holder
progress can be tough sometimes
hard to upgrade constantly
 
#632 ·
A Slow Start in 2011...

... or, "How to make Something completely different from what you planned…"
Last month, just before Christmas, I was told that my Dad's car was going to be sold. I asked the price, and it was a fair one, so I bought the car for Debbie and I…Before clearing the car yesterday...
Isn't it a Beauty!! LOL… That boat-shaped thing in the snow, was my Father's 1992 Volvo. He loved and babied it, so it's in terrific shape for a vehicle nearly 20 years old. It's now ours and, by now, you're probably wondering what this all has to do with woodworking… Well, let me show you…
There is a hole in the console where I assume the CD player is supposed to go…I need a small drawer for the car...
Now that would be fine as a handy stash spot… I could put a cellphone there or a pack of smokes, maybe some change for tolls…
Except it's open to the back, and anything put there falls irretrievably behind the dash!!
My first thought was to make a small drawer, to keep things from getting lost. I had some Cherry that I had re-sawn that I thought would be appropriate…[IMG alt="One of my early "practice" attempts at re-sawing"]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5359177183_1a9bcc676b_z.jpg[/IMG]
I cut a couple quick dadoes with the table saw in one of the pieces…A little Cherry, after cutting dadoes...
And in short order, I had a made a very small drawer to fit in the openingA small drawer or tray type of thing
I made my first Dovetail on this drawer, an embarrassing attempt, but a learning experience…Attempted a Dovetail... very badly...
I'll return to dovetails, but I think I'll try them on something a little larger next time!! For this tiny drawer, I returned to regular box joints…
But… the problem with drawers, is that when they fill up, the drawer either starts jamming or things start falling out the back… which was exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place!!
Scratch the drawer idea… unless I put a lid on it??? And make it… a box…Small Drawer with lid added...Opened...
This might work…
But… the little knob that I added isn't giving me enough leverage to pull the thing out of the hole in the console… I made it too tight of a fit…
So I had to saw the knob off, then made and added a serious pull out of some dark green Poplar…After changing the pull, and beginning to apply finish
A little shaping, some sanding, some finishing later, and I think I've arrived, though not where I had originally intended…After finishing
The incredible thing is, it actually fits too!!New Box in place...
I did have a happy coincidence on this… Lookee here what just fits in this little box!!Look what just fits inside...
Almost like it was planned…
If this is any indication of what kind of year it's going to be, I can see myself trying to make tables… and ending up with chairs… :)
 
#652 ·
Make Something!!

We had some pretty good snow here yesterday, so there wasn't much to do…
I thought to stroll through the shop… sometimes, things break, and I can salvage some of the material…What Luck... a broken clothes rack
What Luck!! One of these drying racks is a bonanza of dowels!! As for these pieces here… I've always wanted to try something with them… and it's now or never…
I cut them to the fullest length between holes ( 8 1/2"), and ended with this stack of "lumber"...The Lumber...
I couldn't tell what kind of wood it was until I sawed some… it's unquestionably Poplar…
Hey, I like Wood…
I'm thinking box (of course!) and after stacking these up… there's just no way it'll work out, the box will be too short…
I'll have to re-saw them… First I marked them out, using a couple scraps of flat stock that are close to half the thickness of the pieceMarking for Re-sawing
I hold it firmly against a straight-edge, mark the line, flip the piece, and mark it again…
That way, when I saw the piece, I can just split the lines…Splitting the lines...
While I was sanding each piece, I played around with them a little… wouldn't this be fun?Wish this were possible...
Unfortunately, I don't have enough of the darker strips to do it all the way around… curses…
The fun ended yesterday, with the parts cut for the sides, and an old drawer-back selected for the top and bottom….Starting to get fun!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, I began by cutting my former zero-clearance board into the widest common denominator…[IMG alt="Trimming an old "zero clearance" board to maximum width"]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5414626908_1c06c66706_z.jpg[/IMG]
Cut them to length, and started to "Staple" the pieces together with wooden pegs… Tedious stuff…[IMG alt="The "Corduroy" box begins"]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/5414626882_8529994681_z.jpg[/IMG]The Walls go up...
Each course, I attached the long ones first, then marked for each short side…Marking one of the Short-side pieces for length
I have one more course to staple on, and the lid yet to assemble, but it's starting to resemble a box… a sort of "corduroy" box… :)[IMG alt="The "Corduroy" box so far"]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/5414626774_9426cf856b_z.jpg[/IMG]
 
#667 ·
Thanks Everybody!!
I actually went into the shop to make a box, but out of some of the Mahogany that Patron had sent me…
This stuff was in the way…
It intrigued me enough to keep it and I almost salted it away, to play with at a later date. (read: stash away and never see again!)
For once, I did something with an idea immediately, rather then perhaps never…
This method got me to thinking that a box of almost any shape could be made in this fashion…
I guess it does look somewhat like Lincoln Logs, but I'm not terribly familiar with them… We were a Tinker Toy family…
JackT: That table was my Parent's first kitchen table, from 1953… It's one of those indestructible tables they made, in what I like to call "Early Bad Taste". I understand that there is a certain "Retro" movement going on, and these are popular once again…
I've had it for about the last twenty years… Before that, my older Brother Steve had it for many years as well.
At one point he had his Harley engine disassembled and spread out on top of it in his basement!! As I said the thing is indestructible…
Anyway, it's not inlaid… It's patterned laminate of some kind, on top of about an inch-plus of high density particle board…
Thanks again… :)
 
#669 ·
The Experiment Works!!

This experimental box that I've been trying out sat idle all weekend, what with work and all…[IMG alt="The "Corduroy" box so far"]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/5414626774_9426cf856b_z.jpg[/IMG]
This morning, I put on the top course and then fashioned the lid…Sides up, lid together
This box is a little different, at least to me… Usually, I spend a lot of time making the sides of a box fit right together… and then there's a separate "assembly phase"...
Here, it was all assembly and when the walls were up, it's DONE… almost…
The walls were built, but not actually connected… one to another…
So I took a few minutes to pin the corners with pegs…Pinning Corners...
This all went so smoothly, that I had a chance to slap together some quick hinges out of some scrap White Oak…A Quick pair of hinges
And to slap them on…Slapping on the slapped-together hinges...
Ordinarily, I would have glued them on first, and then pinned them… But because of the "ribbed" surface on the box, I didn't think the glue would hold very well…
So I went straight to pinning them on… and after a little sanding, this went straight to the finishing department…After 1st coat of polyurethane...
And what were the results of the experiment?
#1) If I give it another go, I'd make the walls a little thicker… so as to make it easier to "Staple" the pieces together. I popped through in a couple places… or alternatively,
#2) This would work excellent, if the pieces of the sides were simply glued together!!
#3) This would also look very cool using alternating species of wood (light and dark) as suggested here…Wish this were possible...
All in all, this theory worked very well!! I was reluctant, but I tried the old "Stand On It" test, and it passed with flying colors!!
There surely are a lot of ways to skin a cat… or to make a box… :)
 
#682 ·
Some Pre-LJ's Fun...

The good news is, at 52 years of age, I got my very first Driver's License!! I thought that the "mug shot" on the temporary license would make a good avatar… at least temporarily…
The bad news is, I've been so busy with it all, I haven't had time for much woodworking…
Last night, I was looking through some old photos and found pictures of some fun I had about ten years ago… They're a mixed bag, but mostly Scroll work…
I worked with this guy years ago… hard worker, but man, could he ever make a mess!! We ended up dubbing him "Tornado Boy" because of the way the kitchen looked after he was done with it… Now, every Superhero should have their appropriate emblem, so I just had to make this for him… He loved it!! A Gesture for Tornado Boy...
At about the same time, they built an Arena here in Manchester; a home for the Los Angeles Kings farm team, our very own Manchester Monarchs. There was a lot of hype about it, of course, and the local paper printed a perfect Scroll Saw pattern for me… at least I saw it that way… I cut it, and put it on a backer board, with some purple psuedo-suede behind it (Team color is purple, emblem a lion…)Roar...
And speaking of lions (or cats) my Parents had lost their last pet and my Mom took it pretty hard… I wanted to cut a cat for her, but couldn't find a pattern… I was forced to draw one… definitely not my forte, but it came out alright…Small Cat for Mom
Mom was the recipient of a lot of my earlier work… Painted RoseA Time for Angels...
However, Debbie has not been neglected!! Our Sign
I posted "Our Heart" sign a while ago, but I happened upon the building Photo. The Arrow was a completely separate piece and I cut a trough in the back with my circular saw… back in the days before I owned a router…Making our sign...
The "Prayer Desk" that it's sitting on was made with a great stash of White and Red Oak that older Brother Steve came into possession of… One of my first projects on LJ's was a shelf/open cabinet type of thing, that I made for him out of White Oak… but I made another one for Debbie and I out of the Red Oak scraps. The pieces were just a little shorter, so the whole unit was slightly narrower…Making the Red Oak shelvesThe second set of Oak Shelves
Lastly, sometimes you got to do what you have to do, and we needed a paper towel holder… An under the cupboard paper towel holder
Hopefully, there will be lots more fun to come…
Drive carefully my Friends, I'm out on the roads now!! :)
 
#683 ·
nice projects michael

and hooray on the license

and a volvo to start is pretty classy

that mug shot
make you one of the usual suspects now
you are in the big leagues

welcome
 
#708 ·
Boxes in my Blood...

Is it possible, that box addiction is hereditary?? I was going through some of my Grandparent's and my Dad's things and discovered that they all had a certain fondness for small wooden boxes!!
None of them were home-made, but there were some fairly nice ones in the bunch… Dad's Parents had a habit of buying His and Hers, so there was two of these little beauties…His and Hers boxes...

These were USED and look it, but I'm impressed by the thinness of the wood used in these…Open

Not sure about their age… On the bottoms, they are clearly labeled, "MADE IN JAPAN"...
The next one was a dandy little recipe card holder…A Cedar recipe card box...

This one has the simplest of hinge arrangements, a small brass triangle tacked to the corners… I'll have to borrow the idea some time…Hinge detail...Hinge open...

Perhaps the prettiest of this collection is this veneered "baby" box…Cutest little box of the bunch...

My Dad was not forgotten!! Some kids back in the "old days" wanted to grow up and be firemen or cowboys… Dad dreamed of being a Pirate!! His Parents got him a fine "Pirate's Chest" for him to hoard his treasures…A Pirate's Chest suitable for a young boy's treasure

His treasure is still safe and sound… My Dad's small "treasures"...
Last, but not least, are two pencil boxes that are (I think) the oldest ones in the collection. One is my Great-Grandmother's and the other my Grandfather's… though it's no longer certain, who's was who's…
She would have been of school age in the late 1880's, while he would have been circa 1910…
In any event, they're each over a hundred years old…Two small pencil boxes...

One is a slide top, while the other is hinged…Pencil boxes open...

I'm frankly amazed by the durability of the small box joints and thin wood in all of these pieces!!Detail of small finger joints of pencil box...
Maybe, my desire to make small boxes is entirely out of my control, and just… in my genes… :)
 
#728 ·
At Last...

So anyway, when I was last in the shop I left off here… an unfinished urn…Unfinished Urn
And there it sat… and sat… never to be finished???
Older Brother Steve is gone now… and at peace. He'll have no use for it…
Younger Brother Scott called and asked me to give him a hand, moving furniture and things out of Steve's place a couple of weeks ago… I arrived a little early, in the rain, feeling a little low… But, whatever your beliefs, you have to admit that sometimes, the world sends you a happy message… The sun found the rim of the clouds while I waited for Scott, in front of Steve's house…Rainbow at Steve's house...
Later that week, Scott phoned again, wondering if I would help him to drop a few small trees up at a "Friend of his" Cottage up in Maine… I said sure… maybe it would spark some interest in me to do some woodworking…
And so we went up to York Beach, where he revealed that the Cottage was HIS!!!Scott's Place at York Beach!!
The recent events in my Family have made him start rethinking his own future… He and his Fiance decided to pull the trigger on this place and I couldn't be happier for them!! A place for them to enjoy in their Golden Years…
And we really did take down 4-5 trees too!! We did a bunch of raking as well…Pile of Wood we cut...
It was pretty nice wood too, some Red and White Oak and another that I think was Gray Birch… I probably should have taken some home, but I have plenty to play with, and no room to store it to dry anyway…
As you can tell I've been feeling a little morose and discouraged… The first sides that I had joined of the urn, what seems so long ago, were looser than my norm, and I was feeling like I had lost my touch…
But the siren's call of the wood was finally heard again by me this week and I ventured back into my shop… There waiting, was Steve's unfinished and unnecessary urn. I'm going to build it, if for no other reason than to get it off the top of the pile in the shop, or perhaps the pile in my mind…
So at last, on Wednesday, I got back to work…Work resumes...Three sides standing...Not bad line-up on the inside dadoes...Another Boxes' sides joined...
It only took 40 minutes, and the joints were nice and tight, the way we like them… If you notice, I left "extra" wood on the top and bottom… I want to cut some sort of detail there…
In searching through my stockpile I couldn't find anything wide enough for the top and bottom, so I hopped in the car (God Help Me, but I love driving!) and took a trip up to the folk's to scrounge around… Came back with a couple of Drawer sides that my Dad had been saving… I gave them a quick rough sanding with the belt sander to see what I have and it appears to be White Oak… These should do the trick…A couple of Oak drawer sides from my "Private Stock"... After two minutes of rough sanding...
Now I just have to cut them to size… and fit them…
And Brother Scott wants me to make him a sign for their Cottage…
It sure sounds like Fun to me… :)
 
#729 ·
What a wonderful rainbow, yes he was smiling to you I have no doubt.
Sounds like you do get the best out of life these days, and I agree with you, it is a good idea to finish things.
Best thoughts,
Mads
 
#745 ·
Of Box Panels and Getting Sidetracked...

Today I had some spare time and managed to get a little bit of work done on the next part of my latest box, the raised panels…
If you recall, I had procured a couple of Oak drawer sides from my folk's house, and given them a quick, rough sanding…After two minutes of rough sanding...
Next was to size them… I first squared them on one side, clamped up the box sides, then took a size from them for the width…Trimming drawer side of "waste"...Box clamped for measuring...Measuring width with calipers...
It was then a simple matter, to transfer the size to the saw… and cut them to width…Transfering measurements to saw...Cut to width...
Next was the length, for these panels-to-be… and it was here that I got sidetracked…
I have a home-made miter gauge but it sets off alarm bells in my mind…The Sled beats the hell out of this thing!!
Ordinarily, I've always just used a square, marked them, and cut them on the scroll saw… I can cut a pretty straight line, but it's never exact and it bugs me…
I don't have a Radial Arm Saw for this… Hmmm… What to do???
Well, I've wanted a cross-cut sled for the Table Saw since the first time I saw one, so I figured it was as good a time as any to make one…
I took my first cuts out of my ""Mini Wood Gloat from so long ago, a couple of small strips for runners… It's unquestionably Cherry…Time to build something I've needed...
And then I cut a couple of wider pieces for the uprights…Cutting two wder pieces for quick shop project...
Small saw, small sled, and I found a piece of particle board that ought to work for the base of this thing… The runners are just a little proud of the table, so I gave them a bead of glue, referenced the base to the Table's edge and glued them together in place… My handy old Boat anchor made a good weight for this step…Gluing the Base to the Runners...
After about an hour, I flipped it over, and tacked the runners on with some small brads… Then glued the uprights in place and weighted them, for another impatient hour…Gluing the sides to the base...
It's probably overkill, but I then screwed four 1 3/4" screws into each upright from the bottom… two on either end and two on either side of where the saw blade will ultimately go…Screwing through the bottom, into the sides...
Nothing left, but to try the thing… I grabbed a bit of scrap, slid it through, checked the cut with the old Starrett, and it's Dead-Bang on!! I love when that happens!!First test cut...
I'm probably going to add some thin braces to the top of the sled later, but I wanted to at least get the panels cut to length today… I squared one side and then cut them to length… Easy as Pie… Why didn't I do this sooner?!Two panels-to-be...
I won't know whether these were cut to the right dimensions until I make them into raised panels… but that's a story for another day… :)Cut to size, ready to be turned into raised panels...
 
#746 ·
Mike, looks like a great start on another one of your boxes.
Just a comment about your cross-cut-sled. You are probably are going to do this later, but don't forget to add safety features on that sled. For some ideas, type in 'cross cut sled' in the search area.
 
#758 ·
Ever Forward...

If you recall, I left off in the last episode with two panels cut to size for the latest box…Two panels-to-be...
The plan is to make simple raised panels out of these with the table saw. At first, I was thinking of trying this a different way, involving a sliding board, with the pieces seriously clamped to it… but I didn't have the right board handy, and was too lazy to knock together an elaborate jig…
So I went with the way I've been doing it, with the "Tall" fence and a sacrificial Zero-clearance simulator clamped to the saw…The panel cutting set-up...

With a push-stick, and working carefully, it can be done…First panel cut...

Then came the moment of truth… Up until now, I had no idea whether these were cut right, because they were too thick to fit in the grooves…
Tension, concern…
But all my worrying was for naught!!Dry fitting...

I'm well-pleased with the way that worked out… using that new cross-cut sled really helped in this process…

This next picture doesn't illustrate a thing… I just thought it was a cool angle…Next: give the sides some shape...

Next was to shape the sides a little… I had an old cut-off that I had saved that was perfect for tracing onto the long sides, and I made up a smaller version for the short sides… It's a very traditional design…Marking for cut-outs on sides...

It took barely ten minutes to cut those out with the scroll saw…After cutting the sides...

Then I parted the top from the bottom, cutting the sides one by one on the SS…After parting, top from bottom...
But now I've put myself in a box, so to speak, and broken one of my unwritten "rules"... I like to try to sand as I go, but I didn't this time…
Now I'm faced with sanding all the parts before I can move on to the next steps… When will I ever learn?!

Anyway, you might have noticed that "littlecope" has grown a good deal littler!! I was looking through some of my Grandparents old photographs, pictures that I've never seen, and came across this old gem…September 7, 1959
Happily, Granddad was a stickler for dating his pix, and this one was taken three days after my first birthday, in 1959…
This Avatar probably won't last long, it doesn't translate well to the "Small Screen", but I was getting tired of my "Mugshot"... I've got to have a new one taken… :)
 
#773 ·
Wow, Fifty?!

When I started the "Just for Fun" series, I never thought that I could keep it going this long!! But here I am at my fiftieth "Fun-type" blog… Many Thanks to all of you, for the encouragement and interest my Friends!!
To my astonishment, You have made this the third "Most Discussed" blog series on Lumberjocks!!
And now, back to the Fun…
We left off last time with the latest box freshly parted, top from bottom, and awaiting sanding…After parting, top from bottom...

The sanding was achieved, and I decided to start some wooden hinges. Lest you think, that these things come natural, the first set split terribly on me…The same old drill...

I don't know whether I was being too cute or too quick but I failed to follow the correct steps… I actually went back to my own blog on the subject to refresh my memory… It's been over a year since I made a set like this…
I was a little discouraged by the failure… and then I watched Steve in Marin's video on his attempt to make the old ladder and descending climber toy… I got diverted trying that out for a couple hours… Made a quick ladder, and "walker"... However, the ladder I made had round rungs and clearly, this does not work!! The construction was quick and simple… I found a couple long narrow scraps…Building a quick mini-ladder...

Studies have shown, that the human eye is very good at halving things, and I made a mark on both ends of the pieces… [IMG alt="Eyeballing "half" on each end"]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5190/5833842393_cf5c83874a_z.jpg[/IMG]

And then connected the dots…After marking between the points...
A quick measurement, and some division, and I set the dividers to 2 1/2" and walked off the spacing…Walking off for the rungs...

Drilled the holes and cut the rungs…Cutting rungs...

Even though this didn't work, I thought one of the key measurements could be made in place…Marking for holes

I'll very likely return to this and break out the popsicle sticks to use as rungs later… but it was time to return to some serious fun…
Thus came about hinge attempt part deux…Hinges... second try...

These should work…These should work...These better work...

Next step is to close the box up for good by pinning the corners with 1/8" dowel… To this end, I cut a "platform" piece out of my abundance of particle board… This will keep the scalloped edges level on the drill press…Steadier than it looks!!!
I'm hoping to glue and pin the hinges on today… I haven't yet decided what I'm going to make for a finger pull for the front… hmmm…
Anyway, for the fiftieth time, don't forget to have some Fun my Friends!! :)
 
#774 ·
Mike I think your blogs are so popular because of the way you inject your enthusiasm for woodworking. Your good humor shows you're having fun even if the wood splits on you! And your ability to create fine and unique project pieces with only the use of basic tools is admirable. You are the king of wooden hinges! Keep those blogs coming!
 
#789 ·
A Rare Sight, and a New Home for an old "Family Member"...

There hasn't been much to report from here lately… I haven't begun any new projects since I finished the last box. But I have not been idle!!
It's Summer here of course, with more opportunity for outdoor activity, and we've taken advantage of the fine weather…
Indoors, I did manage to finally get a bed out of the corner of the shop. It had been taken apart and leaned up against the wall, quietly occupying space… After I moved it out of the corner, in one fell swoop, I was exposed to that rarest of sights… Empty Shop Space!!!A corner opens up in the Lab...

It wasn't empty long…
In order to free up the window again, and let some light and air in, I slid the shelving into the corner…Slid shelves into corner...

A little more cleaning, and moving, and I was able to shift the shelves against the other wall…Then turned it against the other wall...
The bucket on the Table holds yet another project that needs re-doing… It was a handy place to dump the parts of a wind chime I had made… Plied Wood had been used for the wooden parts, and they had disintegrated out in the elements so I took it down last year…A bucket of chime...Former Butterflys
But that will be for another day's fun…

Yesterday was the culmination of all the moving and shifting… Some of you may remember this old thing, my Dad's Band Saw…Dad's Powermatic Band Saw
I went up to the Family Compound the other night, removed the bolts that hold top to base, took off the belts, and generally got the thing ready for the "Big Move". My younger Brother Scott helped me yesterday as we lifted, rolled, dragged, pushed, pulled, and sweated the beast from Dad's Garage, into the trunk of the Volvo, and up a flight of stairs here, finally placing it at it's new station…
It was manfully done…[IMG alt="A "Family Member" finds a new home!!"]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6015/5935756020_d1cee41927_z.jpg[/IMG]
Though it cost me dearly personally, this cost me nothing financially… I'll be cleaning up the old dirt, grime, and metal chips from it, and obtaining a few decent blades for it today… I did a good deal of work with this in the past, rough-cutting Metal Stock for my Father, so it's almost like welcoming back a long-lost Family Member…
I am tickled pink, in a bitter-sweet sort of way…
All that's left in the shop re-organization, is to consolidate two corners of lumber into one, and to update my Shop Pictures here on LJ's!! :)A new shop arrangement...
 
#806 ·
Not much going on... might as well build a birdhouse...

Those of you who've been on LJ's for a while may recall my first effort at a birdhouse which began here
Somewhere in there, I mentioned that there was another one to re-build, but I had to wait until it was vacated… Well, the thing finally fell to the ground and the sparrows were forced to re-locate…A birdhouse that's seen better days...A front view...
So today I had a rare free day, and decided to re-work this… Just to begin with, I didn't like the "eaves" arrangement… I think the guy who originally made these boards weren't wide enough!!
I began by tracing half of the pattern onto a piece of paper…Marking one half of the old birdhouse onto paper...
I then used carbon paper to trace the same pattern onto the same paper, after folding it at the halfway marks of the birdhouse…Folding pattern in half...
I then place it on a window and re-trace it back onto the first side… I do it this way because it's a fairly accurate and fast way to "mirror" two sides of an odd shape… Tracing it onto correct side...
After the pattern is drawn, I transferred it onto the wood… I actually did this twice, because I had the wrong grain orientation the first time… Using Carbon paper to trace pattern onto wood...
After getting it right, I cut the piece into a smaller, more manageable section and screwed it to another, so as to cut front and back at the same time…After cutting the pattern piece down to size...
I would have cut this with the band saw, but my ordered blades haven't arrived yet…:-(
The access hole was cut next and then sides added… These are pegged in place with 1/8" dowel…After pegging ends to sides...
After that, I cut some strips for" roofing" on the table saw and trimmed them to length on the scroll saw… in this case 8"...Cut a bunch of strips on the tablesaw...
Next was to make a suitable bracket for hanging the thing, and attach it…Cutting a "bracket"...Bracket attached (toe-pegged)
To attach the "roofing" I took one piece, marked it, and then drilled it with a slightly undersized drill… then used that one to pre-drill all the others…Pre-drilling roof parts
I set it up in my simple "Box Vise" and began the pegging…Pegging roof on...
Then I trimmed the excess pegs and filed down the "nubs"...After cutting of excess pegs and filing "nubs"...
Continued onto the second side of the roof, add a floor and Voila… A New Birdhouse ready for the Finishing Department!!New birdhouse...
If I can finish the thing in time, I'll try entering it in the Contest, but I've already seen some pretty stiff competition!! :)
 
#807 ·
Cool renovation! The birds will be proud to come back to lodge at this spiffy place next time! It really came out nice!

Sheila :)
 
#822 ·
Adjustments...

Fun lately, has been in the form of fine-tuning and cleaning my "new" band saw…
After purchasing a couple of Timberwolf Blades, I fed one on and centered it on the tires… (Tires, which will have to be replaced, when the budget allows…)Centering blade on tires...
I quickly discovered that my Dad had the guides set to the left, pulling the blade in and towards the body of the saw… Perhaps this is more desirable for metal cutting but I can't help but feel it would cause undue stress on the guides, friction to the blade, and a general "quicker wear" on all parts involved…
I straightened them out to the blade, Upper…Upper Guide...

And Lower…Underview...
The blade now rides straight from wheel to wheel, rather than bowing to the left…
When my Brother and I moved this saw here, the table of the saw was a very convenient place to grab hold of… but resulted in the table being a little out of whack when I returned it to the set-screw setting…Adjustments to make...
But I had a hunch, which proved to be a good one… A tiny clump of metal chips had fallen on top of the screw and was "just enough" to keep the table from seating on the screw… A quick paper towel wipe, above and below, solved the problem…Almost Square...
This thing is ready for some cuttin'!! :)
 
#834 ·
Another Mixed Bag...

Quiet times around here…
Brother Scott requested a sign a while ago for his new cottage up in Maine… "Can you make me a sign, with shamrocks, that says, Peg's Place?"... Simple enough, right?
Simple, perhaps, for someone with an ounce of Artistic ability!! But for those of us with none, like me, patterns or templates become necessary… The lettering is pretty straight forward, and I'm on familiar ground, so I began with that, developing the words from an alphabet of cursive letters…A new sign begins...

I then make a "booklet" out of the mock-up, a sheet of carbon paper, and a blank sheet to create an actual pattern… been here, done this…A pattern transfer "booklet"...

Happily, I had made the word "Place" a few years ago, there was no need to revisit that…Peg's Place...
I transferred these onto some Cherry that was kicking around… All set, right?...Peg's Place transferred onto Cherry...
Maybe… I'm not completely satisfied with this, because I'm thinking, feeling, that this sign should be a bigger-than-usual one…
Scott and Peg's Cottage is set back from the road some, and while I don't want to make a bill-board, it'll look silly if it's a little tiny thing too…
The Shamrock in the picture was one I down-loaded and I wasn't all together pleased with that either… The size is good, but it doesn't seem very life-like… What to do?...
Enter a Kleenex box of tissues!! Debbie had bought a box and I spotted something in the floral pattern…Matte making...
Do you see what I see?!
After making a quick matte and scanning the thing, I simply enlarged the image, taped a piece of graph paper over my screen, omit a leaf, and I had something I can believe in… a four-leaf clover…Tracing...Four-leaf Clover pattern...
I've got a pretty good idea of how I want this thing to go now, but it's been a sort of bogged down development stage… There's also this, when I actually get to cutting on these signs, it goes very quickly, and I'd like to have something(s) lined-up to do afterwards…

In other news, I took my first test cuts with the newly adjusted, newly bladed band saw… An 1 1/2" into the cut and I found out the lighting is all wrong… The saw is next to the window, but the sunlight is almost blinding in my shadowy shop!! So I had to add another string of light… literally…
A few years ago, I put up a clothes line over the most used machines…Shop Lighting...
With varying lengths of coat hanger S-hooks, I can illuminate anywhere I need with a handy fluorescent drop light… They're carefully attached with a small nail to the top of the door and window frames…Shop lighting close-up detail...

Anyway, I attached a new run (from the closet door), that can be used for the band saw, table saw, and any floor work I might get involved in…After running another line...Infinitely adjustable...
It probably seems ridiculous, I know, but this would work great in an auto shop!! If you had a grid system set up overhead in a garage, I think it would prove itself useful…
I got the cuts made finally, with the band saw, removing a couple of approximately 3/8" strips and revealing the heart of another cribbing block…Another heart revealed...
This is crying out to be made into a box…
Ahh, boxes…
I never really thought much about it, but upon reflection, I've been consciously or unconsciously copying a box I received when I was about ten years old!! A small Chess set I got for Christmas came packaged in this fashion…One of my first Chess sets...An old box for Chess pieces...
A small sliding-top type, I still can remember my desire to make something like it… I still want to, and haven't yet…
I've seen a number of fine pencil boxes here recently and have been pondering making one… Between the Chess box and this old example here I should be able to come up with something…A century old Pencil Box...Lid detail...

Distractions come in many forms… I've obviously done very little in the way of woodwork lately, besides lining up a couple projects. Debbie and I are preparing to go on vacation Labor Day week and that's been fun…
I'm also re-reading a few gems from my Dad's book collection…Dad's Eric Sloane Collection...
I cannot recommend these books, or any of Eric Sloane's work, highly enough!! They are not how-to books exactly, but any page can be opened to find interesting things about the way life (and woodworking) used to be lived (and done)... For those of us who just like to look at the pictures, they are delightfully illustrated on almost every page with Mr. Sloane's own pen and ink drawings…Sample drawings from Eric Sloane...
Regrettably (and shamefully!) these are now out of print, but they can still be obtained on Amazon… Well worth the price too, as they're fairly reasonable…

I can't hardly wait 'til vacation!! We're going up to Maine for a week and I'm really looking forward to getting my batteries recharged… It's been almost twenty years since I had some proper time off…
tick… tick… tick… :)
 
#859 ·
A Tube Indeed...

Another Manic Monday… Worked from 5;3O this morning until two… good to get home, the beginning of my "weekend"... Can't forget the mail before I go up to the apartment…
The mail… What is this?!The Tube...
It looks like a giant Firecracker!!! Where is the fuse?!
But wait, it has oddly familiar handwriting on it… I'll need some Moxie to open this, it's very secure…
Inside I found this…The Contents...

It seems our very own Vintage Architect, "Mafe", took it to heart and mind to make me a Pestle!! And what a Pestle!! Finely turned and finished, from what looks to be Mahogany(?)...The Pestle...
This all started when my Friend Jim Jakosh posted his heavy duty Spoon project and his favorite recipes… One of his recipes was for Applesauce, and methods were discussed, old and new, for mashing the Apples…
I brought up the Chinoise and pestle way…Chinois...
I had mentioned that, if I ever had a lathe, I would definitely take a turn at making one of those Pestles…
Mafe heard… and his Great Heart set his Mind and Skills to work on this lovely Gift!!
And it even has the Maker's Mark, the Mads Seal, on the handle!!With the Maker's Mark...
Mads, You are a Gem, and I want to Thank You for your Gift and the thought and care behind it. Your hope of bringing a smile was amply fulfilled my Friend… :)
 
#885 ·
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

In the middle of October, I started a new box. It was to be in typical "Just for Fun" fashion, playing and developing as I went along…
A block of old scrap pine became the four sides of it…A Scrap of Pine...Scrap cut into box sides...Sides up on another box...

I was concerned about a major crack that went through the large knot feature and decided to cut through the crack and glue it back together…Cut...and Glue...
I routed a lip around a thin scrap of Cherry, to use as the bottom, and was going to make a slide top… I even had plans for a discussion of pencil usage…Pencil Use...

And then, everything changed…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those of you who live in the New England area, are well aware that there was a major snow storm at the end of October. It was the largest, earliest, snowfall recorded, since they started keeping records of such things 142 years ago. Because most of the leaves were still on the trees, there were broken branches, fallen trees, and downed power lines everywhere…
Anyway, at the height of the storm, around midnight of the 29th, this happened…A life-changing experience...
Our state newspaper, the Union Leader, got most of the facts wrong, including the street address, but the gist of it is true… We were thrown out into the street…
Debbie and I scrambled for a week or two, first staying at my Parent's empty house and then taking a room at a hotel. But money is tight, and we couldn't stay there forever… We honestly didn't know what we were going to do next…
But then my Aunt Judy called… I was embarrassed to tell her what was going on, but Debbie urged me to…
After explaining, Judy of course felt terrible about it… She called me back in about ten minutes and offered me her home!!
And so we find ourselves, transported from the "Big City" life, North and West to my Aunt Judy's home in Henniker, N.H. It took a few days to dissemble 13 years of Apartment life and we lost most of our furniture, bedding, and clothing from Smoke damage… But the shop made the trip, though it still has to be organized…Temporary Shop placement...

My very first Henniker project was a fast and dirty mail box stand…First Project...The new Mail box...
I'm going to have to dig it up again, and move it, because the Mailman says it's not close enough to the road… I wanted to do that today, but it's snowing this morning… We'll see…

There's one more episode in this Saga…
So to make a long story even longer (and sadder), the Sticks where we live gave me a real "How do you do?" last Sunday morning… I was headed to work around quarter to 5:00, when I "got my first deer", a 160 lb. four-point buck… Regrettably, I got him with our poor Volvo… He didn't run or jump, he leisurely walked right out in front of me…Volvo after collliding with a four-point buck this morning...
The car is a total loss… Fortunately, I payed the money for the good insurance. I cried when I payed, but I'm not crying now…
Anyway, despite recent bad luck, we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. No one was injured in the fire and I wasn't hurt hitting the deer… and I'll be forever thankful to my Aunt Judy for her gracious opening of her home to us!!
Best wishes to you all for a very Happy and Peaceful Thanksgiving my Friends…IMG_20111117_104442.jpg
 
#886 ·
Hi, Mike:
I am so sorry to read of your hardships. Thank goodness you are all healthy and safe and in a place again. I know you have probably heard this, but things like this make families stronger. I wish you all the best in rebuilding your life and getting back on your feet. I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. It is good to see that you still realize that you have much to be thankful for. (((HUGS)))))

Sheila
 
#919 ·
What a Bunch!!

You made my Girlfriend cry…
I was called out of the kitchen yesterday (where they usually keep me chained)... A Very Nice Lady wanted to see me…
It was the Wife of our very own Kerry Drake!! She was heavily laden with Gifts for Debbie and I from Lumberjocks near and far!!Look at all our Loot!!
It seems after reading of our recent misfortunes, a group of my friends here formed a conspiracy… A conspiracy to shower us with the beauty of their Work, and to try to make our Christmas a more joyous one…
You succeeded on all counts my Friends!!with flash...
Bob Kollman sent us an excellent Cutting Board, all the way from Wisconsin!! This one is my New Working Board Bob, and I Thank You!! I'll actually be using it Tomorrow… That Yellow Stripe in the middle is a puzzler (as to what it is?) but it's wicked eye-catching!! Beautiful Job my Friend!!
My Buddy Lenny sent along a stunning Serving Tray from Rhode Island!! Lenny, you wrote that it was the first time you ever used Bloodwood… Well, you did an unbelievable job with it… The Tray is as smooth as glass!! We're going to use this on Christmas too!!
From Pennsylvania, Lew sent me one of his World-Famous Rolling Pins!! Lew, I'm amazed… not only at your craftsmanship, but also your kindness… When I first saw one of your pins on LJ's, I thought how it would be the bee's knees to have something like that… and now… :)
Ellen and Lorna, my Good Friends from Cape Cod, sent along a generous Gift Card to Market Basket!! The Turkey we'll be eating tomorrow, is one You provided Ladies… :)
These co-conspirators were assisted by Mr. and Mrs. Kerry Drake, who volunteered to make sure the goods got to us!! Kerry sent along a Beautiful Bowl that he turned out of what I think is Cherry… It's already holding our Lindor Truffles for Christmas!!

You made Debbie cry tears of gratitude and incredulity at the extent of your kindness and thoughtfulness my Friends… For my part, it's difficult to put into words, but you've made this Christmas a very, very Special one…
A thousand times, Thank You!! May God Bless You All, not only at this Christmas-time, but throughout the coming New Year!! Merry Christmas Everyone!! :)Christmas 2011
 
#920 ·
Well that is just fabulous… Brought a tear to my eye… just how wonderfully generous… not only of gifts [handmade at that] but of spirit too… and in my humble opinion… well deserved… it made me sad to hear of your dilemmas but now I am slightly envious… such amazing friends…
Hope you and Deb enjoy your special gifts and have a great Xmas…
 
#936 ·
I Had to Find Out...

The week before Christmas, one of the waitresses at work told me of a customer who had come in and asked about the Signs and the Comments Box in the Restaurant… Who made them? Can the person make more or different ones?
It seems the lady wanted a sign made for Christmas…
Beverly the waitress told her who I am, and when I work, and that she could speak to me on Friday… But the Lady never called…
I told my Girl Debbie about it, and how I would have told the Lady that it was too short of a notice… I frequently take longer than a week just applying the finish!!
And then, Debbie asked me a couple of those startlingly, crystal clear questions…
"Are you up and running Michael?"
"Could you even do that?"
I simply had to find out, and I figured what better way to do it, than to make a small box…
Truth be told, I was not nearly as "up and running" as I thought!!
It took some creative "extension cording" to power up the machines, and to provide workable lighting… and I'm still trying to find some of the "Favorite" tools… but I persisted…
I found the remnant of Imbuia that Brother David, the Patron, had sent me a while ago, and plowed out some Dadoes with the Table Saw…Seeing if I can...

Table Saw running… Check…
Cut some Finger (or Box) Joints using the Scroll Saw and the Drill Press…Cutting some finger joints...

Scroll Saw, Drill Press… Check, Check…
As I find things, I have to get them operational, one by one… including one of the most important tools of all…One of the most important tools in the Shop...
Pencil Sharpener… Check…
With a little bit of tweaking with a file, the box sides went up… I use masking tape on them so I can see the marks on this dark wood…Three sides fitted...Ready for panels...
File and Hands… Check, Check…

Next came the top and bottom… I could have done a raised panel, but I wanted to re-visit the way I began making them… and take it another step…
To that end, I cut some strips of Poplar and some of Mahogany… Cut and sanded Strips of Mahogany and Poplar

After making a template, I alternated the strips and cut them outMarked and ready to cut...
These are not glued together. They'll be free floating in the box and can expand or contract as much as they'd like…
Did I mention that this is Fun? :)This is fun...
 
#952 ·
Another "Quick" Set of Hinges...

If you folks recall, I was having some Fun with a new box project, a sort-of "Striped" Box…This is fun...

One thing I've not found, in the recent move, is more time! So it's been slow going…
But I finally managed to cut the second panel's stripes, and to cut the top from the bottom of this thing…Second Field cut...
There was a problem with the top, and while I was figuring out what, exactly, I was going to do about it, I went ahead and made the hinge for it. In keeping with the stripes idea, I used the same two contrasting woods for the hinges, Mahogany and Poplar.
I began with drilling holes for the pivot pins, using the last scrap of Imbuia as a fence, to keep the holes uniform…Drilling for hinge pivots...

I use a slightly larger drill to bore the upper halves, so they'll swing freely…Contrasting Woods...

Then I used my very own, custom, Multi-purpose tool to mark them out…A Multi-purpose tool...

After cutting them out with the Scroll Saw, cleaning them up and sanding, I measured and cut a bit of Brass Rod for the hinge pin…Pieces cut, Brass marked...

All that was left, was to tap the press-fit ones on, using a handy piece of pipe…Tapping 'em on...Tapping 'em on, too...

Ultimately, they'll look something like this…Hinges will go something like this...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would be remiss not to mention, that the Season of Giving is not quite over. The other morning I arrived at Work to find a PRIORITY MAIL envelope on top of my Work Box… an envelope addressed from Lee Valley Tools!! Another Gift from Lumberjocks...

Inside, was a Precious Card with very generous contents…A Pretty Card...A Secret Admirer?!
The Sender preferred anonymity, but I would like to Thank them for their generosity!!
Thank You!! It won't go to waste!! :)
 
#969 ·
A Pressing Problem...

Anybody who's ever worked as a short-order cook will know what one of these is…[IMG alt="An old "Burger" Press"]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7058/6912400776_f34ae3cbd8_z.jpg[/IMG]

Yes, it's a Press, usually used as a weight to cook burgers in a hurry…
But this one's pins have been falling right out lately… The Problem...

So I decided to give it a quick fix, by giving it a new handle…
I started by removing the old one, and "persuading" the two brackets back to 90° with my trusty 3 lb. Estwing…Handle removed and brackets straightened...

I like a beefier handle than this one has, and don't have a lathe, so I had to find some round stock that will fit the bill… I found that at work too, in an old tired broom…A Broom that's seen better days...

I cut a short section off the broom handle and then clamped a parallel clamp around it… that will keep it from spinning while I mark and cut it. Clamped up for marking...And for cutting...

And about two minutes later a test fit… I made it with slots on either end to fit around the brackets… that way, the handle won't spin, and my knuckles won't bang into the hot press bottom… again…The test fit...

A screw in either end, and for once, I'm not going to have to worry about the finish… In two or three weeks, the new one will look very much like the old… :) Here, after attaching the screws...
 
#988 ·
Another Move...

Toward the end of April, Debbie and I finally got the apartment we were looking for, and on the first of May began the move.
We left my Aunt's Home in the hills of Henniker and moved to our lovely State Capitol, Concord, New Hampshire. It took twenty trips in the 'Yota, two trips with a U-Haul, and nine days (and it rained all nine days!), but the move was finally made…
So we've been pretty busy, trying to make order out of the shambles of moving, and generally getting assimilated back into city life…
The Rav-4 worked excellent for moving all the small stuff!! With the rear seats removed, I was able to fit everything but the biggest things…A good hunk of the shop...

I checked, and even though I was exceeding the allowable weight for the vehicle, I still got 22.5 mpg… which isn't bad… The move also cut my commute to work in half, so that will save us some moolah…

The new apartment is in an old, largish block of a building, very similar to what we lived in in Manchester… but the units are split "vertically", rather than horizontally, kinda like a condo… In other words, we're renting from the basement, all the way to the attic!! Four Floors, all told… I've already staked out the basement for shop space, but it's going to take considerable work to straighten it all out, bring in light, and such-like…IMG_20120522_101303.jpg

The Shop is in total chaos, of course, but I'll have a fine, big space to play around in when it's better organized…

The only Woodworking I've had a chance to do, was to re-hang my Porch Door. As promised here, the door made the move with us, from Manchester, to Henniker, to Concord… I had to shave a whisker off of it with the circular saw, about a blade's width, and then clean it up with the old plane, but it is "back in service"...[IMG alt="Installing the "New" screen door..."]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5445/7237605038_a9db8d0f4c_z.jpg[/IMG]

I was talking to Debbie today about maybe giving it some TLC when I have a chance… a little sanding, and some poly, and I think the thing will be good for another hundred years or so…
I feel bad that I haven't been able to keep up with everybody's work here on LJ's, no time, but it's been good to see that everybody has been busy!! Keep having Fun my Friends!! :)
 
#1,015 ·
The Well-Traveled Project...

Some of you might remember, that I had begun building another box while we were still living in Henniker…Cutting and Fitting top and bottom...

About a week before we moved, I spent a wonderful and quiet afternoon, hand fitting the raised panels to the sides…The Fun part...
Fitting the ends of the raised panel...

A fine "Blemish" appeared when I planed off the old stain. I liked it… and decided to use that as the top when I cut top from bottom…After parting top from bottom...

And then we did the moving thing to Concord, and all work stopped until last week, when I got the itch to make something again. I had an idea for some "simple" hinges for the box… 8 or 9 hours of work and they're still not on the box, nor am I sure they'll even work!!After cutting and cleaning the brass pins...

When I thought of telling the tale of this box it occurred to me also, that the sides had actually been re-sawn on the Band Saw, last Summer and in Manchester!!Another heart revealed...

It's taking forever to do anything here, because of the complete lack of shop organization, lack of lighting, lack of proper electrical outlets… I was also, shall we say, unfocused and a bit discombobulated by all the moves! But these things are being addressed, one by one…
I'm wavering on the new shop's name too, between "The Cavern" or "The Grotto"... :)
12 June 2012
 
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