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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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#1,039 ·
A Tale of Two Hinges...

I spent the better part of a day, almost two weeks ago, cogitating and musing on an idea I had for another set of wooden hinges…Time to make Hinges...

The idea was to make a simple set, in the style of what I've begun calling "Finger Hinges"...This time I wanted two smaller ones, to put on either side of the box, rather than a "piano" style across the whole back… I also wanted them to thin almost to a point, as the fingers extended…The idea...

I had a very hard time visualizing the cuts and cutting order with these!! I don't know whether I was over-complicating the matter or whether I'm just no darn good at making them!!
But finally, after eight or nine hours, I came up with these parts…The rough-cut pieces...

This will never be a production shop, that's certain…
Before I could find out if these little guys were even going to work, I had to cut and clean-up the brass pins I'm going to use…Here they are...

I immediately found out that there would be further shaping in order for these to turn freely against the box…[IMG alt=""Nubs" to be filed down..."]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7238/7355392868_9ee65bd605_z.jpg[/IMG]

When I was finally more or less satisfied with them, I put them aside and did the final touches on the box itself…Used a leveling wedge for the pinning process...Filling in run-outs...

And then I stopped… for five days!!
You may laugh to hear of it, but I was very anxious…
Even though I pre-drill holes (slightly under-sized) for the wooden pegs that will hold these on, I had a galling suspicion that these tiny parts were going to split on me when I did the attaching…
Finally I bucked up my courage enough to at least start the process.
First by clamping it in my handy box-vise…Clamp-up for attaching hinges....

Secondly, I gathered the necessary paraphernalia for gluing..Ready for hinge gluing...

There's a reason I clamp the front of the box only. If there is any discrepancy between lid and box, it will appear only in the back, where fewer folks will notice! To that end, when I'm gluing them and applying finger pressure, I'm also trying to pull the two halves of the hinges away from each other…Finger clamping the finger hinges...

Two more days passed before I had the courage to drill these and begin pegging them on!! These are small, barely a 1/4" wide, and I was to use 1/8" pegs… Not a lot of wiggle room!!
But ultimately, all of my self-imposed apoplexy and worry was for naught, they went in without a hitch…After pinning Hinges...Hinges are a Success!!

All set, right?
Actually, yes and no!!
The hinges worked flawlessly, except for one thing…
Because I made the raised panels of this box "proud" of the sides, when the lid was opened, the whole box rocked backwards… a regular "Rock & Roll" box…Rock & Roll Box...

This won't do!!
but I found a scrap…A handy scrap...
That was just the right thickness to stop the rocking…...Of the right size...
And I came up with an in-elegant, but effective way to correct the problem, by making a couple of little feet for the back…
I glued them on, and then "toe-pegged" them one way…Little feet toe pegged one way...

And then the other way…...And then the other...

No more rocking for this Baby![IMG alt="No more "Rock-back" when it opens..."]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7435294982_45a829d242_z.jpg[/IMG]

Phew! This one is finally winding down… I had an idea for a latch for the front, but the box is telling me that she doesn't need one this time…
A little more sanding, and this one will be off to the finishing department… :)A little more sanding left...
24 June 2012
 
#1,053 ·
A Return to It...

I finally have had a chance to have some Fun! We've been so busy, trying to turn our new apartment into our Home, that there has been no opportunity for Shop-work other than repairs…
But I had some scrap maple…
And the shop is at least usable…
And Boxes are always a blast to make…
And sometimes, you just gotta make something…
So I began in the usual fashion, plowing out some dadoes in the Maple… Beginning of a couple new boxes...

It's on my mind to make two boxes out of these pieces, but one has jumped way ahead in the process…
I first marked them for finger joints and began cutting them out. I returned to an idea I had to configure the joints so that the internal dadoes were covered. This idea had been abandoned because I never found a really good way to mark the pieces for it… I still don't have one…The finger cutting begins...

After cutting all of those, and fitting them together, I searched around for some suitable panel material for the top and bottom… Brother David, the Patron, had sent me some Mahogany a couple years back; these should work…Mahogany for top and bottom panels...

Just for fun, I whittled them down to size with the old Fulton Plane… It's a heavy thing, but works well… Planing panel ends to size...And the sides...

Sides, Top, Bottom… This should be ready to go together, right?Ready to go together, right?

Not so fast!! In my haste to "get on with it", there is a step I almost always neglect, and almost always wish that I had done… I want to ease the inside edges of the sides, where they meet the panels… There is also this… this box is going to be a little one, and the sides (at 1/2") are a tad thick… so I resolved to chamfer the edges inside and out…
I closed up the box, and marked for the end stops…Using a spacer, to mark the ends of the chamfers...

And then for the depths…Carpenter's Square used to mark the depth...All marked, top and bottom...

With them all marked, it's a simple matter to tilt the scroll saw table and rough them out…Fun at the Scroll Saw...

After some filing and sanding action I re-assembled the box… I'll close it up next...
If you've looked closely at the finger joints, you've probably noticed that one of them is slightly bigger… It's my intention to use the Table Saw to part the the lid off of this one, and the Saw's kerf has to be allowed for…

But that will be for another day's Fun… :)
1 August 2012
 
#1,054 ·
Coming along well Mike. I really liked the way you relieved the top sides and ends. It creates a stylish appearance. A great detail. Without stopped bottom and top grooves you will always get a hole after the box joints are assembled, but I don't think many will notice a glued in insert anyway. I do it that way myself.
 
#1,067 ·
A Woodworker's Prerogative...

So I made a decent pair of hinges, but when I placed them on the box, they looked a little big for the application…Hinges in place, to see how they'll look...

Well, I can't enlarge the box very easily…
So I guess I'll just have to "shrink" the hinges!!New hinge configuration...

It's good that these are versatile, but it took a little extra work to achieve…
The center/lid stop part had to have its hole re-sized (in order to become a slip-fit) and I thought it "Stuck out" a little too far… so I trimmed it down…Center/Lid-stop sticks out too far...About to trim...

In the course of making boxes and hinges, I have thoughts all the time about possible "Better Ideas"... Ideas that might save time and work, or be more accurate… I change my mind frequently about the way I'm going to do things…
When it was time to Glue and Peg these hinges onto the box, I decided to try one of those ideas…
It's a bit difficult, lining up the two hinges on the same axis so, I reasoned, why not put them on a single, temporary axis?An idea for a single axis...

I tried it… and will never do that again!
Though it seems like it would work really well, the problem lies, in that it is next to impossible to get the soles of the hinges perfectly flat, because of the flex and bend in this little "Axle"... :-(

In the end, I got them on in the regular fashion… Cutting away the excess...

All that's left on this box is to put a clasp on the front. I gave it some thought and decided on a slightly-modified version of a snap-shut I've made before…
I started with yet another small Mahogany scrap and drilling a couple of holes, very similar to the hinge work… These holes will be for two 3/16" dowels, that provide the "action" for the clasp…Beginning a Clasp...

Then I drew the thing on the scrap and drilled a few more holes… pilot holes for the pegs that will hold these on and holes for Scroll Saw access…Holes drilled for future pins and for Scroll Saw Access...

Then it was off to the Saw, first to cut the widths…Cut the widths first...

Then I cut the upper curve…Then the upper curve...

Next, was to cut this small stack out. But because the parts will be shaped differently, I could only cut out their shared profile…Then cut the piece to the shared profiles...

The center/moving latch part's shape was finalized next…Marking for cutting the center, latch piece...After Cutting...

I didn't take pictures, but at this time I also enlarged one of the holes on this small piece, and cut open a litlle "Mouth" on the other hole…
After completing that, I gave a different treatment to the two side "Anchors"...
In order to cut them more accurately, I temporarily put dowels in them…The two static, anchor pieces get a different treatment...More treatment...

Again, no picture, but I sawed these in half, right between the dowels…
The end result will look something like this…This is what the idea will look like...

And after the gluing and pegging of the clasp, this box is all set… except the finishing… of course…This Box is done... except for...

Thanks for your time Comments are always welcome!! :)
22 August 2012
 
#1,081 ·
A New Shrine for St. Francis...

For many years my Parents had a small statue of St. Francis in their yard as a garden ornament.
As I recall, my Mom picked it up about 15-20 years ago at a neighbors moving/yard sale and it had been staked out there ever since… Before that, the neighbor had it out in her yard for many, many years, so it's small, wooden enclosing Shrine was in pretty tough shape…An Old Garden Statue of St. Francis...
Today I finally got a chance to make old Francis an updated home…
The Good Saint was a very pious believer in the "holiness" of poverty and the evils of worldly wealth.
So I decided to make this intentionally un-fancy, using some fairly rough Douglas Fir that even had some live-edge on it…
I saw no real reason to change the design. After all, this one had been around very likely for longer than I have!
But I did want to replace the small pedestal piece that had vanished over the years…
I began by removing him from the old one. Imagine my surprise, when I discovered that the Statue had been carved from Wood!!A board for the back...

The Backer Board was cut first. The piece that I had was a little wider than the original, so I just tapered it down from top to bottom…
Next was the small, mitered Roof…After cutting the backer board and the mitered roof...

My hat is off to all you folks who make flawlessly mitered boxes!!
I don't have the precise tools for that so I had to just tilt the Scroll Saw table and cut away.
After the two sides were cut, I pinned them in place with wooden doweling…Projects 018

The Bark was gone, but you can see where I used what was left of the "Live-edge"...
Next, was the small pedestal…
I began by marking and cutting a circle, who's diameter was slightly smaller than the width of the backer board…Cut a quick circle to replace his "perch"...

Then I cut that in half and chamfered one of the halves on one side.
This will be the shelf the Good Saint will stand on…Cut the circle in half...And chamfered the bottom edge...
.
After a quick check for size, I quartered the other half, and chamfered both round edges…
This will be the support bracket for the shelf…After cutting the other half in half, and chamfering both roud edges...

With any luck, maybe this pedestal won't fall off…
At any rate, the two pieces will look like so…Like so...
The only thing left is some finishing.
I'm going to use Polyurethane on the "New" wood, but I'm undecided about whether I should give St. Francis a fresh coat of white paint…???
I had originally planned on mounting him back on his steel stake, and putting him back out side in our yard, but we're kind of fond of him…
I think he's going to find a place on one of our walls… :)Still have to apply finish...
30 October 2012
 
#1,101 ·
A Mitered Box?

Working on the last project (the "Shrine" for St. Francis) reminded me how inadequately I am set up for cutting miters…
I managed to cut the small mitered roof, but the way that I did it would never work for a box! The tiny discrepancies would be multiplied by the sides and I'd end up with huge gaps… But it got me thinking…
I've been fascinated with this old thing since I got it in 1999…The Miter Saw...

In the new basement shop, there was a large bench already in place… It's not a Woodworking bench, whoever built it, built it for glass cutting… But it gave me the first opportunity I've had to mount the old saw on a solid surface, and at a comfortable cutting height…
Testing it out on a scrap, I came up with this…Test cuts with scrap...
This looks promising, as far as it goes…
So I rummaged around in the wood pile and found a piece big enough to attempt a small box…
I cut some quick dadoes in it for the top and bottom with the Table Saw and cut away with the old Miter…[IMG alt="Setting up for some "real" cutting..."]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8189893594_1eb67691a0_z.jpg[/IMG][IMG alt="The "Money" cuts..."]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8488/8188813673_c63d62799c_z.jpg[/IMG]

I wanted a rectangular box, rather than square, so I inserted another spacer block beside the clamped stop block every other cut…
I taped (and folded) the pieces and in only forty minutes, I went from scrap pile to four sides standing!...Taped and ready to fold...A quick four sides...

It's difficult to see, but the miters are as good and tight as any I've seen!
Being well-pleased with that, I took some quick sizings with calipers and cut out blanks for the panels… and then fitted them…Planing panels to width for top and bottom...

Here it was, dry-fitted and held together with rubber bands….Another simple box...

Today, when I got home from work, I cut another quick dado on the inside and then glued it all up… and clamped it…The Glue-up...The Clamp-up...

There was actually only one part left to make, so while the glue is drying, I made a little handle for the lift-off lid that this box will have….The Handle...

Anyway, though it's limited to the size of work it can cut, that hundred year old Saw is as accurate as any!! :)
16 November 2012
 
#1,120 ·
Finishing-up the Mitered Box...

When I left off Yesterday, the box was all clamped-up, and the small handle was ready to go on…The Clamp-up...

After taking it out of the clamps, I first had to conform the handle's feet to the curved top panel of the box. That was quickly done by simply laying a piece of sandpaper on top of the box Sand-Up, and working the handle until it matched the contour…
Then i just placed and marked for the holes…Positioning the Handle...Marks to locate holes for pins...

I'll be using 1/8" pegs (and glue!) to attach it, but I like to drill slightly undersized with a 7/64"... I drilled right through the top and at an angle…Undersized holes drilled through the lid...

With those done it was time to cut the lid off… If you caught it in the last blog, before I closed up the box I cut a third dado in all four sides, at a depth of half the thickness…The Glue-up...

After I did that I reset the fence slightly, a blade's width lower on the box, and left the height of cut the same… I left it set until yesterday, and then completed the cut on the outside of the box to create a stepped lid…Stepped Lid...

All that was left, was to glue the handle on, and drill up through the bottom of the lid and into the handle feet, and tap in the pins…After pinning the handle from the underside...

And that's all folks!!
The box is currently in the Finishing Department and should be a completed project by tomorrow… Thanks for taking the trip with me, and know that your comments, questions, and critiques are greatly appreciated!!
And in case I don't get a chance, I'd like to wish you all the very best for a Peaceful and Joyful Thanksgiving!! :)
18 November 2012
 
#1,131 ·
Sawdust Update and a Not-So-Secret Santa...

So a New Year has begun!! I hope that you all had some Good Fun during the Holidays…
With some measure of delight (and relief!) the World didn't end or anything, though on the day scheduled for the event, I had a few concerns… The skies here in New Hampshire took an unusual look while we were out at the Post Office…Strange Sky...

But all was well, and your humble correspondent continued with the proscribed festivities…Christmas 2012...

In the Shop, shortly before Christmas I started yet another box, made in the tried and true fashion…
The only difference this time, was that I got to re-saw an old scrap of wood nice and thin for the sides with the New Band Saw… What a Luxury!!
The finger joints were Scroll-cut once again…Cutting finger joints...Thre sides cut on the latest box...

For the top and bottom panels, I've been cutting the dadoes in the sides with my Poor Man's Router Table,
and lately have thoroughly enjoyed making shavings, while hand-planing the panels to fit…[IMG alt="The "Router Table" set-up..."]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8504/8322795143_25d571f919_z.jpg[/IMG]Shavings...Yet another box...

The corners of the box were pinned this morning, and the final clean-up begun before the parting cut, top from bottom… That will be exciting, at least for me, because I'll be using the band saw for that for the first time…
Before I came upstairs to write this, I took a couple of pictures of the shop's latest incarnation… It isn't yet perfect, but it has started to reach a certain comfort level…The Shop's latest incarnation...More of the Shop...

But, of course, the Shop is a fluid, ever-evolving creature… especially with new tool acquisitions…
Speaking of which, Brother David, the Patron, the Not-So-Secret Santa, seeing that I had purchased a Band Saw, decided that I really needed another device… It arrived the Friday before Christmas… I was at work, but Debbie said the Fed-Ex Guy was not pleased with having to deliver it!!
But I can tell you, I was and am a Happy Recipient… :)
Thank You once again my Friend!!Brand Spankin' New Planer!!
2 January 2013
 
#1,165 ·
Some Tray Play...

So the box that I was working on was completed, hinges and latch attached, finish applied…Another view...

But this one is for my Sweetheart, and a small jewelry box besides, so it needs some trays…
I had some left-over wood from the box construction so I decided to use it for the sides of the trays…Cut to length for trays...

I cut some quick dadoes in the sides, cut them to height, and then joined them…Cutting dadoes for tray bottoms...Cutting tray sides to height...Sides all joined...

The New Band Saw made short work of sawing a 3/8" piece of Maple in half for the two tray bottoms!!Made even thinner for tray bottoms...

Next, I made a cardboard template to fit the tray… It's a lot less painful cutting the cardboard wrong than the wood, but I got lucky, and it fit right the first time… A quick cardboard template made from a cereal box...

After cutting the Panels template-sized, a few minutes were spent thinning the edges to fit the dadoes in the sides… And wonder of wonders, they FIT!!Beginning to thin the edges of the tray bottoms...They fit!!

As said earlier, this is going to be a jewelry box, so I'll be needing some partitions in these trays…
I decided to steal a page from Big Al's (Boxguy) playbook… He likes to use wood salvaged from Venetian blinds…
In my case, I found a broken louvered door in the basement when we moved in…
After sanding off the old stain, a few of these should do the trick…Leftovers from a broken louvered door...

After trimming them to height, simple through-mortises were cut to accept the tenons…Scrolling out a mortise for the tenon...

I also "added" a simple lift spot…Three holes drilled...

And there you have it, except for some minor details, the bottom tray is completed…Bottom tray assembled...

The top tray will have a slightly different configuration, but pretty much the same idea…
When they're all set, I'm going to try some suede in the bottoms this time… That should be Fun… :)
20 January 2013
 
#1,182 ·
The longest, shortest month of the Year...

A cold shop, repeated life interruptions, and the Winter blahs conspired to keep me from getting a lot done in February. The beginning of warmer temperatures is slowly getting things back on track…
February did see a first for me though, I went out and actually bought some Lumber!! Debbie and I took a trip down to Highland Hardwoods in Brentwood, N.H., a Woodworker's Paradise…
It's difficult to decide what to purchase, with the wide selection that they have, but I ultimately came home with some Walnut, Sapele, a piece of very curly Yellow Birch and a largish slab of Bubinga…First Wood I've ever purchased!!

The stuff has sat untouched until the last couple weeks… There were a few "Preparations" that had to be made first, before I could start milling it to usable size.
The bench that the lumber is sitting on needed some work (I was tired of barking my shins on the ends of my old scraps!) so I made a shelf for the bottom… Also, the bench was good from front-to-back, but racked a little from side-to-side… Some diagonal bracing was added to eliminate that…A quick shelf under the bench...Adding some diagonal bracing too...

I also ordered some decent Re-saw blades for the Band Saw, and while I waited for delivery, made a quick Fence for it…The new Band Saw Fence...Another view of the fence...

When the blades finally arrived, it took a couple of tries to re-adjust all the rollers to the new size… And the new fence needed a couple pennies worth of shims to be square…My two cents worth...

I began by slicing the 13" wide slab of Bubinga down to 6"...
This Stuff is HEAVY!!
I don't have machines heavy enough to handle it, so I resolved to cut the length down to a manageable size, about 18"...
But this, in itself, is problematic… Can't cut it on the Band Saw, too long… The toy Table Saw I have would probably break… The Scroll Saw wouldn't do it, it's too thick and way too heavy…
I might have used the circular saw, and cut from either side, but the blade is dull and it wouldn't give me the best of cuts anyway…
The answer finally came to me, the Antique Miter Saw! It was a bit of work, and took about five minutes, but it worked like a charm…Set-up for cross cut...Making the cut... The results...

The Piece was finally small enough to be compatible with the "Mill", 6"x 18"x 2 1/4"...The Shop getting a Work-out...

And after Re-sawing, and some planing, the first boards emerge… I simply must make a box…:) After re-sawing and planing...
19 March 2013
 
#1,207 ·
Sometimes, the ideas just fall from the Sky...

The Roof on our Apartment building sustained a little damage this past Winter. After the snow melted, I found the remains of two Slate shingles, out of the hundreds that are up there…A little Slate roofing that fell off this Winter...

The one in the front didn't survive the fall, but the one in the back put me of a mind to make something, if I can only square it up a little…
Back in my landscaping days, in the late "70's, we cut tons of Granite for Walkways and Stairs. It's a lot of work, but relatively easy to do. Though this Slate is a lot thinner, and "layered" stone, I tried the same basic technique on the Slate as is used on Granite…
After chalking lines, I Struck the slate with a stone chisel along the lines… Strike once, hard, then move the chisel… The idea is no different than cutting glass, creating a shock or stress that hopefully inspires it into a controlled break…Striking lines...

I used a rubber mat under the slate, so it wouldn't just shatter!
After the lines were scored, the hopeful break was held over a good, solid edge, where I tapped it off with an old ball peen…Over the edge...Just have to make a frame for it...

Right about now, you're probably thinking, "That's all very interesting Mike, but what does that have to do with Woodworking?"
Truth is, Nothing!
But what I have in mind, is making a frame for this little slate…
I began by cutting a dado in both sides of a scrap. I centered the dado by simply flipping the piece end to end…Cutting the dado for the "Panel"...

It's then a simple matter to halve the piece and make a quick frame…After halving the piece...Still needs "Refining", but this is the idea...

Almost every school child used to have a small chalkboard like this and they're still surprisingly useful…
All that was left for this one was to make it kinder on the hands…A small chalkboard...

In order to apply finish, I masked the Slate with Wax Paper and Tape… (Somewhere in there I drilled a hole to hang the thing…)In the finishing department...

And that's about it, an old fashioned I-pad…
I'm happy about the gift from above, but I'm even happier that it didn't hit anybody on the way down!! :)
23 April 2013
 
#1,231 ·
The Bubinga Box Begins...

A couple of months ago in J.f.F. #71, after a bunch of milling, I came up with some book-matched Bubinga that I said simply must be made into a box…After re-sawing and planing...

After a trip to New Mexico, to visit with the Patron,
and after Debbie and I re-doing our living room,
and several trips to the Beach,
and a hundred other things I can't even recall,
this Week, work finally began.The Wall...Woodcarving at Kittery Trading Post in Maine...Buffalo Dancer...4 coats in, refinishing our Oak Coffee Table...Getting rid of the Sofa...

Oops, Sorry! I kinda lost track!
Oh yeah… Bubinga… Box…
Actually, all the time that I was doing those things, my mind was ever on the box. For illustration purposes, after it was squared up on three sides (and cut to length), I placed masking tape at the approximate lengths of the four sides…After squaring up and cutting to length...

Now, I don't know much about the "Golden Ratio", but a box made with these dimensions (to me) would be rather tall for its footprint…
The thing I've been pondering is, if I have to cut it down to make it a little shorter, is there any way that I can use the off-cuts so as to continue the grain onto the top too?
I considered several ways, but the one that made the most sense, was to use a variation of our very own Martyn's (BritBoxmaker) E-Z Miter work…
I'll never match him for accuracy, that's certain, but I proceeded like this…
First, I set the Table Saw to 45°. then lowered the blade to just/almost breaking through the thickness of the wood…Setting the TS Blade...Making the first cuts...

The purposes of these cuts won't immediately be apparent, but after cutting that corner, and cleaning it up, I then made two more 45° cuts (the actual side "shorteners")...Another angled cut...And yet another...

Next, it was off to the Router "Table" to cut Dadoes…Careful setting for top dado...

Then, it was time to lay out the joinery. I'm using finger or box joints, and as usual, I'll be cutting those with the Scroll Saw.
But this time, the top and bottom on each corner will be mitered…Set up in almost the usual fashion...

Before the Scroll cutting was done, I took a minute to notch out the bottoms of what will be the miter cuts…Notches cut...

After the Scroll cutting, it was pretty simple to cut the corners of the sides. Lucky for me, the Scroll Saw Table tilts one way, while the Band Saw tilts the other!Scroll Saw tilts one way...The Band Saw tilts the other...

And after some file fitting, the sides are up!Enough for today...

Tomorrow I hope to cut and fit the panels, and if that goes well, maybe I'll be able to show you what the off-cuts are for! :)
 
#1,255 ·
The Perils of Panels...

Almost four days ago, we left off with the four sides standing, and I was about to begin adding panels to this latest box…Enough for today...

From the beginning, it was in the plan, to feature some of the Curly Yellow Birch that was purchased especially for Panel making…
I've done this many times, and it is usually a routine step in the procedure…

Alas, rumors of my abilities are greatly exaggerated…
Little did I know, that such pretty wood, would be so ugly to work!!
The panel making began in the usual fashion, clamping-up the box and transferring measurements with calipers…The four sides clamped up...[IMG alt="Bringing out the "Really Nice" wood..."]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8279/8904221806_eeec9e3dbd_z.jpg[/IMG]Transferring measurements using calipers...

This went well, until I tried to re-saw the piece… The drift was so bad, and the grain so demanding, that the blade was curving inside the wood… It is hard to see, but it actually cut through on the side! A real bad actor...

Not a good start to my day, very low on the fun meter…
But I pulled myself together, and thought, "In for a penny, in for a pound! I might as well cut another one!"
And so I did, this time doing it my old way by clamping the piece to a nice, square block and sliding the whole package through…Did it the way I used to...

At last, I had the two thinned pieces that I needed, or so I thought… The fun was just beginning…
They still weren't thin enough to fit in the 1/4" dadoes cut in the sides. That much is completely normal and anticipated…
It would be nice to thin them in the planer or on the jointer, but they're too small for the planer (it would spit them out at me!) and too wide for the jointer (7" wide + 6" jointer= no go…)
So they would have to be hand-planed.
Again, this was anticipated, and I usually look forward to making some quiet shavings while listening to the gentle sound of the plane at work…
But that was NOT TO BE!!
I have no experience with Yellow Birch and even less with Curly… This stuff fought tooth and nail!
There was a lot of gouging, and fiddling with the plane, trying to get the job done…
Minutes turned into hours, hours into days, with little result or improvement…Band Saw marks and Plane gouging...Now I'm planing out the band saw marks...

I spent most of Sunday trying to Hand-sand the Band saw marks and plane gouging out…
Monday dawned along with another idea… Why I hadn't thought of it sooner is a question I can't answer…

I brought out the Belt sander and just ground those marks off!! At last, they were sanded and fit!The panels finally in the box

Things went quickly after that as the box went straight to gluing…
I left the tape on the outside throughout and even added some on the inside, to help with squeeze out (and subsequent cleaning and scraping!)One last look at the joinery...The gluing station...Tape on the insides...Latest box, glued and clamped...

This morning, after the clamps all came off, it was a fairly simple matter to add the off-cuts as trim to the top… The grain does indeed match from sides to top… I left the edges sharp, splinters and all, because they'll be much easier to clean-up after the Glue is dry…Time to address the Off-cuts...Trim glued in place...
And that's it… There is still the separating cut, top from bottom, and the hinges to make, and lots of clean-up and sanding…
Panels usually don't take four days… :)Presently...
3 June 2013
 
#1,256 ·
Mike you are the master of ingenuity. You find a way to get there. Sorry about the band saw drift issue. I'm sure you will make the best of that issue too. The curly birch appears to me to be a great match for the bubinga. I guess we'll know for sure once finish is applied. Lastly, I love the use of those cut off pieces. As they say in the Guinness commercials: "Brilliant!"
 
#1,268 ·
Making Lemonade from Lemons...

In the last episode the latest box (a Bubinga type thing) was in the final stages…Presently...

After cleaning up the top's edges, some "reveals" were found, small separations in the miters of the top… I tried what I've heard about here so many times, making a slurry of the sawdust and wood glue, and applying it to the separations… The results were excellent!! When the project is posted in a few days, You can be the judge of where the reveals were! :)
Anyway, while waiting for that to dry and with the box at this stage, it was time to turn to the hinges…
For this box I decided on a more traditional set, and the ruined piece of Yellow Birch from the panel fiasco was to be given one more chance for redemption…[IMG alt="The "Ruined" Yellow Birch..."]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8255/8953253366_b65b027339_z.jpg[/IMG]

My fear with this was that the blade trouble that I had would translate into drill trouble as well, but such was not the case… The holes were straight and true…
Drawn…Hinges drawn...

Drilled….Drilled...

And Cut…And Cut...
It was now time to cut the top from the bottom and I again made a big sandwich of the thing and ran it through… I've found, that if I have a block on only one side, that when I reach the clamped portion the machine binds…
But when I add support blocks to both sides it does not… So that's how it was done…About to cut-off the Lid...Fresh from the Band Saw...

After some clean-up, the hinges were glued in place, and with a little time left in the day yesterday I fashioned a quick finger pull for the front… I like this type of lift, it's not only quick and easy to make, but it just feels "natural" somehow when it's used…Hinges Glued...A small pull for the latest box...Another view...

And that's about it for this one, this morning I pinned on the hinges with Dowel as usual…After pinning the hinges...
After making sure that the thing opens (it opens with a delightful squeak!), I did some more sanding and glued and pegged the handle on…
It'll be ready for the Finishing Department tomorrow.
I was thinking today that this must have been a lot of fun, because the time flew! Despite all the trouble I had with the panels, I only began work on this last Thursday… That's Fast Work… for me… :)
5 June 2013
 
#1,283 ·
If at first you don't Succeed...

So when the last project was finished, I had a tough time with the picture taking! Ideally, the best pictures are taken in Sunshine (or at least outside), but that's not always possible without waiting a few days…
I've seen quite a few different Light Tents here on LJ's, and thought the time had come to build one for myself…
The idea is simple, to make a box with no sides, over which can be draped a white bed sheet or similar cloth…
Lights are added to either side of the structure and the object to be photographed is placed inside.
On mine, I also wanted for it to be collapsible, so it wouldn't take up valuable space!
As usual, I did no research and went ahead and cut a bunch of particle board, drawing joints and connections for the construction…And then layed out...

I cut half-laps to fashion the top and bottom frames… kinda like Lincoln Logs…And then the top parts...

And then made through mortise and tenon joints, pegged with pins for the uprights…After cutting all the pieces...First assembly...

This was a really rickety structure!!
None the less, I draped a sheet roughly over it and tried it out real quick…Had to try it out...Testing the new light box...The whole picture...

Well this looks promising as far as it goes, but I think I need brighter bulbs, 100 Watt instead of 60's… And this thing being so shaky, I'm not happy about that…
The real kicker was when I took it apart and re-assembled it… When I took it apart the second time, my elbow just barely grazed one of the corners of the junk particle board, with this result… Oops...

Okay, back to the drawing board, or rather to a Real Board! I cut 4 strips out of a piece of Rock Maple that was kicking around…Cut into strips...

The Lincoln Log idea had been tried, with poor results, so it was time to switch to the ever-popular Tinker Toys! LOL
I drilled some offset holes, so they wouldn't interfere with each other…A few quick holes...

Then some 3/8" dowel were cut to length, inserted and Voila!... the Latest Box…The latest "Box"...

Though I wouldn't put any serious weight on it, this one is surprisingly sturdy, and should be more than adequate for the task… :)
19 June 2013
 
#1,284 ·
well you certainly got some good lighting from it
the diffused lighting really shows everything well

and the new one should be much sturdier

P. S. :

like the urinal you got in your shop
(last pic)
might need to do something similar
in my new one

might put a tent around it too
for when you have company
 
#1,290 ·
Make Something!

After fixing the hole in the kitchen ceiling, I didn't have anything lined up to do like I like to have… So for about a week, it was thumb-twiddling time (at least shop-wise)...
Every time the stairs were descended, heading down to the shop, there were no sparks of creativity going on, no light bulbs going off flashing new ideas…
But there was this…2 X whatever staring me in the face...

On top of my pile of "Real Woods" was the leftover 2" x 8" that I had cut in half for the kitchen project… Staring me in the face, it seemed to have something to say…
It took a week before the message got through to me!
Yesterday morning, I began converting the message into reality, by taking a couple of thin slices off of either side of a short piece of it…Cut the top and bottom off...

The idea, is to make a small pencil box, something I've been meaning to do for ages but have just never got around to… Half of the reason it never got done, was because a decision could never be reached on how I wanted to make one…
This one is going to be made similarly to a bandsawn box, the two thin pieces just cut will become the top and the bottom… But the insides are cut out with the Scroll Saw, since the body of the box is so thin…Then cut an inside...

Being separated from the "Parent" block, the thin first cuts are almost certain to begin to warp and cup, so the bottom (at least) was glued and clamped on immediately…Glue the bottom on real quick...A pencil box...

Nothing left to do but make a quick set of hinges… This was my first time doing the "Up and Over" type and, as it happened, they were anything but quick… They fought tooth and nail to be made…
Two tries (one set too short), a broken pin (too much twisting to get the fixed ends on)...
The second set isn't perfect either, but they are now glued on and in use… Surprisingly, they work very well…
They were made from Poplar scraps from the same ceiling fix…
Here are the fixed/anchor ends, the moving ends, and the glue-up…Hinges- anchor sides...The moving ends...Glued on...

As this is very likely to be a gift for a child, I wanted it to stay shut positively, so it could be tossed in a back pack or what-not without its contents emptying…
At first, I was thinking of a wooden clasp for the thing, but sometimes simple is best…
I got a couple sets of rare-earth magnets, drilled shallow holes, and tapped them in with a wooden block…The new Pencil Box...

And that's about it… I'm scratching my head about a finish on it… Maybe, it will be left as is, for the child to decorate…
More likely though, I'm going to give it to a specific youngster, painted a favorite color perhaps, with the little ones' name Scrolled out and added to the top… :)
8 August 2013
 
#1,314 ·
Sawdust Update...

Haven't done hardly anything in the shop lately… Tried re-sawing some more of the Bubinga for box-making and ran into a world of trouble… The cuts were so hoopy that the Planer wouldn't even straighten them out…
Wood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Hood Bumper

I know that using a sharp blade on the Bandsaw would help, but I can't afford to change out to a new blade every third or fourth cut! So a page was taken out of the Patron's Playbook; i.e., making "Guide" cuts with the Table Saw first, and then cutting the remainder in the middle…
I first did it on the crooked edge, and afterwards the board was split down the middle, except… I hadn't lined up the Table Saw with the middle, and forgot to make sure that the Blade was a full 90°, with this result…
Wood Gas Machine Metal Flooring

After planing, I ended up with two fine Boards, but they're barely a 1/4" thick…
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


Table Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor


Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


Oh well, looks like I've got a good supply of box tops and bottoms… and I did learn what to (and what not to!) do with the rest of the Bubinga…

In completely unrelated news, Debbie and I took our Annual Vacation Week at the Beach the first week of September… And had our Annual Coinciding Rain!
Water Sky Plant Vehicle Truck


To be fair, it only rained on Monday of the week but it was torrential! The rest of the week was Sunny and Clear, but Cool…
Of course, September's beginning also marked yours' truly aging another year… The event was celebrated in the usual fashion…
Food Candle Window blind Table Cake


Towards the end of August (just out of curiosity) I Googled Woodworking Groups or Clubs in New Hampshire, and found the Guild of N. H. Woodworkers… Long story short I joined, and read that they were looking for people to submit work for the Rochester Fair… I had to scramble a little to get an entry in, but submitted my Bubinga Box in the Amateur Fine Woodworking Division… When I brought it there, they were all Oohs and Aahs, and one of their first questions was, "Is it for sale?"... "No", I said, but they persisted asking me if I had anything else that was…
I saw it as an opportunity to clean off a shelf or two, so I brought a few boxes to the Fair…
In talking to the Vendors there, we found out that sales were terrible all-round, so it was no real surprise that I didn't sell anything…
But the Box that I entered to be judged fared a little better at the Fair… First Place!!
Wood Rectangle Shipping box Packing materials Font

I'm pretty proud of that, though admittedly there were surprisingly few entries…

Anyway, the Guild looks like it will be some good fun and experience with some great (and talented!) folks! Amongst many other things, they are non-profit, have events throughout the year, and give scholarships to worthy young applicants…
I'm looking forward to a long association with them!! :)
26 September 2013
 

Attachments

#1,315 ·
Sawdust Update...

Haven't done hardly anything in the shop lately… Tried re-sawing some more of the Bubinga for box-making and ran into a world of trouble… The cuts were so hoopy that the Planer wouldn't even straighten them out…
Wood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Hood Bumper

I know that using a sharp blade on the Bandsaw would help, but I can't afford to change out to a new blade every third or fourth cut! So a page was taken out of the Patron's Playbook; i.e., making "Guide" cuts with the Table Saw first, and then cutting the remainder in the middle…
I first did it on the crooked edge, and afterwards the board was split down the middle, except… I hadn't lined up the Table Saw with the middle, and forgot to make sure that the Blade was a full 90°, with this result…
Wood Gas Machine Metal Flooring

After planing, I ended up with two fine Boards, but they're barely a 1/4" thick…
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


Table Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor


Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


Oh well, looks like I've got a good supply of box tops and bottoms… and I did learn what to (and what not to!) do with the rest of the Bubinga…

In completely unrelated news, Debbie and I took our Annual Vacation Week at the Beach the first week of September… And had our Annual Coinciding Rain!
Water Sky Plant Vehicle Truck


To be fair, it only rained on Monday of the week but it was torrential! The rest of the week was Sunny and Clear, but Cool…
Of course, September's beginning also marked yours' truly aging another year… The event was celebrated in the usual fashion…
Food Candle Window blind Table Cake


Towards the end of August (just out of curiosity) I Googled Woodworking Groups or Clubs in New Hampshire, and found the Guild of N. H. Woodworkers… Long story short I joined, and read that they were looking for people to submit work for the Rochester Fair… I had to scramble a little to get an entry in, but submitted my Bubinga Box in the Amateur Fine Woodworking Division… When I brought it there, they were all Oohs and Aahs, and one of their first questions was, "Is it for sale?"... "No", I said, but they persisted asking me if I had anything else that was…
I saw it as an opportunity to clean off a shelf or two, so I brought a few boxes to the Fair…
In talking to the Vendors there, we found out that sales were terrible all-round, so it was no real surprise that I didn't sell anything…
But the Box that I entered to be judged fared a little better at the Fair… First Place!!
Wood Rectangle Shipping box Packing materials Font

I'm pretty proud of that, though admittedly there were surprisingly few entries…

Anyway, the Guild looks like it will be some good fun and experience with some great (and talented!) folks! Amongst many other things, they are non-profit, have events throughout the year, and give scholarships to worthy young applicants…
I'm looking forward to a long association with them!! :)
26 September 2013
Happy belated birthday, Mike.
 

Attachments

#1,339 ·
Milling around...

I spent this Sunday just milling around in the shop, finally facing up to the rest of the slab of Bubinga that was bought last February…
Flooring Gas Electrical wiring Hardwood Wood

The slab was about 14" wide to begin with… I had begun by slicing it roughly in half to make it more manageable and also to gather some experience with the new Band Saw and Planer; Experience, that was sorely needed!
When all was said and done, there was quite a little pile of "mistake" wood…
Wood Table Flooring Wood stain Floor


Of course I'll find uses for most of that, but I wanted to see if I could do better… I began by cutting the remainder of the slab down to 30 1/2", then ran the two pieces through the Planer…
Wood Road surface Flooring Floor Asphalt


Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Floor


The smaller of these two, I stashed away for some later date, when I might need some thicker stock… With the larger, I made a quick straightening cut, the better to accommodate the next step…
Wood Building Flooring Floor Table


I like to make boxes, and for those boxes I really like stock that's around 3/8" thick… My desire then, was to try to get four lengths of 3/8" stock out of this… To that end, I set-up the Table Saw to 7/16" with the tall fence, and then marked an edge and one of the sides of the slab to keep track of it…
Wood Hardwood Flooring Wood stain Plank

Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Flooring

I made a re-saw, then planed the remaining slab, then re-sawed again… Only when all the cuts were made, did I plane all the cut-offs… That way, they would all be a uniform thickness…
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I was on a roll, and decided to re-saw my remaining Walnut too! And since I hadn't taken any pictures of the Bubinga cutting, here is the simple process…
A quick cut on either side with the Table Saw…
Motor vehicle Wood Automotive exterior Vehicle Gas


A free-hand cut through the middle with the Band Saw (I used a couple of useful pieces of Poplar as "riders" to hold up the piece nice and straight!)
Wood Hardwood Flooring Machine Machine tool


Wood Table Floor Flooring Wood stain


And then a few trips through the Planer and Presto!
Table Wood Desk Wood stain Floor


All that was left was the clean-up… After significant cutting like this, I even take a minute to clean under the Table Saw… All told, I filled four small bags full of Sawdust…
Purple Wood Musical keyboard Pink Flooring


Ingredient Cuisine Dish Tire Flooring


Bottom line: I lost about an inch of wood from the original 10/4" thickness of the Bubinga… I couldn't tell you whether that's good yield or not, but it certainly gives me some decent Woods to have some Fun with!! :)
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Table


8 October 2013
 

Attachments

#1,340 ·
Milling around...

I spent this Sunday just milling around in the shop, finally facing up to the rest of the slab of Bubinga that was bought last February…
Flooring Gas Electrical wiring Hardwood Wood

The slab was about 14" wide to begin with… I had begun by slicing it roughly in half to make it more manageable and also to gather some experience with the new Band Saw and Planer; Experience, that was sorely needed!
When all was said and done, there was quite a little pile of "mistake" wood…
Wood Table Flooring Wood stain Floor


Of course I'll find uses for most of that, but I wanted to see if I could do better… I began by cutting the remainder of the slab down to 30 1/2", then ran the two pieces through the Planer…
Wood Road surface Flooring Floor Asphalt


Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Floor


The smaller of these two, I stashed away for some later date, when I might need some thicker stock… With the larger, I made a quick straightening cut, the better to accommodate the next step…
Wood Building Flooring Floor Table


I like to make boxes, and for those boxes I really like stock that's around 3/8" thick… My desire then, was to try to get four lengths of 3/8" stock out of this… To that end, I set-up the Table Saw to 7/16" with the tall fence, and then marked an edge and one of the sides of the slab to keep track of it…
Wood Hardwood Flooring Wood stain Plank

Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Flooring

I made a re-saw, then planed the remaining slab, then re-sawed again… Only when all the cuts were made, did I plane all the cut-offs… That way, they would all be a uniform thickness…
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I was on a roll, and decided to re-saw my remaining Walnut too! And since I hadn't taken any pictures of the Bubinga cutting, here is the simple process…
A quick cut on either side with the Table Saw…
Motor vehicle Wood Automotive exterior Vehicle Gas


A free-hand cut through the middle with the Band Saw (I used a couple of useful pieces of Poplar as "riders" to hold up the piece nice and straight!)
Wood Hardwood Flooring Machine Machine tool


Wood Table Floor Flooring Wood stain


And then a few trips through the Planer and Presto!
Table Wood Desk Wood stain Floor


All that was left was the clean-up… After significant cutting like this, I even take a minute to clean under the Table Saw… All told, I filled four small bags full of Sawdust…
Purple Wood Musical keyboard Pink Flooring


Ingredient Cuisine Dish Tire Flooring


Bottom line: I lost about an inch of wood from the original 10/4" thickness of the Bubinga… I couldn't tell you whether that's good yield or not, but it certainly gives me some decent Woods to have some Fun with!! :)
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Table


8 October 2013
nice yield there Mike.
 

Attachments

#1,356 ·
A Beach Find, Some Box-work, and More...

There won't be many more opportunities before the snow flies, so Debbie and I took another trip up the coast Sunday… It was a Glorious Day, a little windy perhaps, but Sunny and Warm…
Horse Water Sky Working animal Beach


During our Beach walk, we came upon a White Birch Log half buried in the sand… I thought and re-thought about whether to bring the thing home… I don't even know if wood is any good after floating around in the Ocean, but the Log moved me somehow, so I moved it, up and into the 'Yota… Here it is, after tossing it out of the car…
Road surface Grass Asphalt Wood Groundcover


As you can see, the Log isn't Driftwood exactly, it's more appropriately Wood that was adrift… Someone cut down a tree somewhere and a piece of it landed in the drink, floated up to Maine, and was discarded by the Tide…
I spent a few minutes barking the thing with a Drawknife and removed a couple strips of the Cambrian layer off too…
Asphalt Road surface Brick Cylinder Pollution


The piece isn't huge, 7" in diameter on one end, 8" on the other and it's a tad over 3' long… I'm torn about whether to split it in half to help it dry faster… Any thoughts?

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

On the Shop Front, I started another box on Monday, beginning to use some of the Bubinga I cut and planed a couple of weeks ago…
Brown Table Wood Rectangle Flooring


Wood Wood stain Varnish Hardwood Plywood


Wood Tool Hardwood Plywood Workbench


I made an awful video of the Scroll Saw cutting of the box joints if anyone is interested… Because I was trying to keep the video short, I was attempting to work fast… Which, of course, made it take a little longer… The video is just over seven minutes long, where it usually only takes five or six minutes…

Anyway, I managed to use some of the too thin "mistake" Bubinga for the top and bottom panels… That was slick! They didn't need anything but a quick cutting to size to fit into the 1/4" Dadoes…
Wood Table Hardwood Creative arts Wood stain


Lastly, since I learned how-to on these very pages, I've made all my boxes with wrap-around grain… It's a funny thing, but I saw a wrap-around box here on LJ's a couple of months ago and in the Comments section I was surprised to hear a few accomplished LJ Box makers who have not yet figured it out… It occurred to me that some things should be re-explained once in a while… Thousands upon thousands of woodworkers have joined since the discussion I read on the subject four years ago and not everybody can read everything here either…
So, quickly, re-sawing wood is tailor-made for wrap-around… Everyone has seen beautiful book-matched re-sawn Wood…
Wood Rectangle Road surface Beige Flooring


The idea here is, that the "book" can also be opened the long way, "hinging" on the ends, rather than the sides…
Brown Rectangle Wood Road surface Flooring


The "inside,re-sawn cut", becomes the outside of the box… and the pieces can be leapfrogged all day and the ends will always match…
Wood Rectangle Road surface Flooring Font


I hope that helps…
Man, time flies! Tomorrow will be my Fifth Year Anniversary on Lumberjocks! It has been (and remains!) a Real Hoot!! :)
23 October 2013
 

Attachments

#1,357 ·
A Beach Find, Some Box-work, and More...

There won't be many more opportunities before the snow flies, so Debbie and I took another trip up the coast Sunday… It was a Glorious Day, a little windy perhaps, but Sunny and Warm…
Horse Water Sky Working animal Beach


During our Beach walk, we came upon a White Birch Log half buried in the sand… I thought and re-thought about whether to bring the thing home… I don't even know if wood is any good after floating around in the Ocean, but the Log moved me somehow, so I moved it, up and into the 'Yota… Here it is, after tossing it out of the car…
Road surface Grass Asphalt Wood Groundcover


As you can see, the Log isn't Driftwood exactly, it's more appropriately Wood that was adrift… Someone cut down a tree somewhere and a piece of it landed in the drink, floated up to Maine, and was discarded by the Tide…
I spent a few minutes barking the thing with a Drawknife and removed a couple strips of the Cambrian layer off too…
Asphalt Road surface Brick Cylinder Pollution


The piece isn't huge, 7" in diameter on one end, 8" on the other and it's a tad over 3' long… I'm torn about whether to split it in half to help it dry faster… Any thoughts?

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

On the Shop Front, I started another box on Monday, beginning to use some of the Bubinga I cut and planed a couple of weeks ago…
Brown Table Wood Rectangle Flooring


Wood Wood stain Varnish Hardwood Plywood


Wood Tool Hardwood Plywood Workbench


I made an awful video of the Scroll Saw cutting of the box joints if anyone is interested… Because I was trying to keep the video short, I was attempting to work fast… Which, of course, made it take a little longer… The video is just over seven minutes long, where it usually only takes five or six minutes…

Anyway, I managed to use some of the too thin "mistake" Bubinga for the top and bottom panels… That was slick! They didn't need anything but a quick cutting to size to fit into the 1/4" Dadoes…
Wood Table Hardwood Creative arts Wood stain


Lastly, since I learned how-to on these very pages, I've made all my boxes with wrap-around grain… It's a funny thing, but I saw a wrap-around box here on LJ's a couple of months ago and in the Comments section I was surprised to hear a few accomplished LJ Box makers who have not yet figured it out… It occurred to me that some things should be re-explained once in a while… Thousands upon thousands of woodworkers have joined since the discussion I read on the subject four years ago and not everybody can read everything here either…
So, quickly, re-sawing wood is tailor-made for wrap-around… Everyone has seen beautiful book-matched re-sawn Wood…
Wood Rectangle Road surface Beige Flooring


The idea here is, that the "book" can also be opened the long way, "hinging" on the ends, rather than the sides…
Brown Rectangle Wood Road surface Flooring


The "inside,re-sawn cut", becomes the outside of the box… and the pieces can be leapfrogged all day and the ends will always match…
Wood Rectangle Road surface Flooring Font


I hope that helps…
Man, time flies! Tomorrow will be my Fifth Year Anniversary on Lumberjocks! It has been (and remains!) a Real Hoot!! :)
23 October 2013
That piece of birch will dry in a year or so, but it will probably crack inside due to it's shortness. I would cut it into boards thicker about 1/4" thicker than you might want when dried, sticker it and wait a year or so before you use it. It's pretty short so the boards should dry faster than the 1 year per inch rule. Alternatively you could try drying it in your microwave oven if the pieces will fit.

Good start on the bubinga box Mike, and a good tip on the wrap around grain.
 

Attachments

#1,371 ·
Woodworking on the Back Burner...

After taking the Summer off (and enjoying it immensely!) it was time to get back to Work! And after searching around in the available jobs, I was lucky enough to find Work in the finest Hospital in N.H., the Catholic Medical Center of Manchester…
It seems that their Cafeteria was only open for the first and second shifts, and their third shift employees had been requesting "Hot Food" for some time… A decision was made, and the Cafe is now open for them with yours truly in the newly-created night cook position…
So I've been busy with learning a new job (cooking is remarkably similar, but never exactly the same anywhere) and also adjusting my cicadian rhythms to the night shift…
At about the same time, an old friend and former neighbor of Debbie's needed a hand moving into her new home… Janet's place was not "brand new" and needed some small works done here and there, along with the actual moving… So even my Free Time has been occupied!
One of the fixes, which regrettably I didn't take any pictures of, was a floor repair under this Allure Flooring I laid…

There was a spongy area where the old refrigerator must have leaked… I cut out a 4' x 4' section of the rotted particle board underneath and replaced it with 1/2" ply… Right about where that box of flooring is sitting…
Now, I didn't watch the "Instructional Video" for laying the floor, but apparently it featured a Very Pregnant Woman who proceeded to lay the flooring down in only two hours!
It took me about eight, over the course of a couple days, plus the floor fix… But it ultimately got done…

With Janet moving into her new place, and her Birthday falling this week, I decided to make her a combo Birthday/Housewarming Gift, another sign…
The letters were drawn on some thin Maple…


And a backer board/plaque was fashioned…


As is so often the case, while I was scrolling out the letters I was thinking about the finish…
The original plan, was to "borrow" some of the paint that Janet had used for her kitchen walls, paint the letters that color, and leave the Oak as is…
But it occurred to me as I Scrolled that, #1) She may want to put the sign somewhere other than her Kitchen, and #2) Walls get re-painted over the course of time…
So I painted the letters Black, which will go with any color… Here is the Sign, after a few coats of Spray on Poly, ready to be given…


Lastly (and speaking of giving!) Your Friend and Mine, Mr. Dan'um Style, was thinking of me, and was kind enough to send along a Packet of Veneers for me to have some fun with!

Thank You once again Dan! When things settle back down into a routine again, I'm looking forward to experimenting with those… and some other fun I've been thinking of…

Oh, and in case I don't get a chance, I would like to Wish Everybody the Very Best, for a Blessed and Peaceful Yuletime and for 2014!!!

Man, can somebody tell me where 2013 went?! :)
6 December 2013
 
#1,398 ·
Well, Looky Here!!

When Brother David, the Patron, isn't busy nailing his trusses to the floor of his shop and grading himself harshly on his accomplishments, he continues to think of his Friends…
Yesterday, I was the recipient of another "CARE" package from the high deserts of New Mexico…
In it, were these bits of Treasure…
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Rectangle


It's Rosewood, and some of the last of his Private Stock… Thanks (again!) David for your thoughtfulness and generosity!
By E-mail, he was actually trying to apologize for some Void that showed up as he planed it!
Table Wood Wood stain Plank Hardwood


But I ask you, isn't that why we love Wood in the first place, because of it's flaws and imperfections?

I'm anxious to re-saw the Rosewood, and see what lies within, but the New Job has left me precious little spare time lately… Maybe tomorrow I can squeeze in a "Shop Hour" or two…

I did manage to bang out a quick Gift project for my Younger Brother and his Wife for Christmas… It was another Grocery List/Letter Holder thing, this time made from Walnut…
Wood Rectangle Flooring Plank Hardwood


It was finished so close to the day of, I didn't even get a picture of it with the finish on it! Actually delivered it after Work, Christmas Morning, on my way home (at about 4:00 AM)...
Almost like the Big Guy in the Red Suit, with the Beard…

I've mentioned Work here, a couple of times; the New Job is going famously!
I'm enjoying it very much, and they are very happy to have me… always a good situation!
There is something there that I just had to share, and that any Wood enthusiast can appreciate…

Now THIS, is a Cutting Board!
Furniture Table Wood Rectangle Varnish

The company name burnt into it is "Boos Blocks", and a quick search revealed that they have been at this sort of thing since 1887… Their Website lists the top of this one at 24" x 24",
made from 10" of 1 3/8" Walnut strips, all glued up end grain… Again, per their site, the shipping weight is 166 lbs….
Working on it, is like pounding on an Anvil!
They know their stuff too, it is exactly the right height (34") for long duration work… Those of us who have spent large portions of a day preparing food, quickly discover good tables from bad! As little as a half inch too-high or too-low can cause back troubles, shoulder soreness, tendon strain in the elbows, wrists and hands… Even Leg and Foot Problems!
This one, is as good as they get… :)
11 January 2014
 

Attachments

#1,399 ·
Well, Looky Here!!

When Brother David, the Patron, isn't busy nailing his trusses to the floor of his shop and grading himself harshly on his accomplishments, he continues to think of his Friends…
Yesterday, I was the recipient of another "CARE" package from the high deserts of New Mexico…
In it, were these bits of Treasure…
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Rectangle


It's Rosewood, and some of the last of his Private Stock… Thanks (again!) David for your thoughtfulness and generosity!
By E-mail, he was actually trying to apologize for some Void that showed up as he planed it!
Table Wood Wood stain Plank Hardwood


But I ask you, isn't that why we love Wood in the first place, because of it's flaws and imperfections?

I'm anxious to re-saw the Rosewood, and see what lies within, but the New Job has left me precious little spare time lately… Maybe tomorrow I can squeeze in a "Shop Hour" or two…

I did manage to bang out a quick Gift project for my Younger Brother and his Wife for Christmas… It was another Grocery List/Letter Holder thing, this time made from Walnut…
Wood Rectangle Flooring Plank Hardwood


It was finished so close to the day of, I didn't even get a picture of it with the finish on it! Actually delivered it after Work, Christmas Morning, on my way home (at about 4:00 AM)...
Almost like the Big Guy in the Red Suit, with the Beard…

I've mentioned Work here, a couple of times; the New Job is going famously!
I'm enjoying it very much, and they are very happy to have me… always a good situation!
There is something there that I just had to share, and that any Wood enthusiast can appreciate…

Now THIS, is a Cutting Board!
Furniture Table Wood Rectangle Varnish

The company name burnt into it is "Boos Blocks", and a quick search revealed that they have been at this sort of thing since 1887… Their Website lists the top of this one at 24" x 24",
made from 10" of 1 3/8" Walnut strips, all glued up end grain… Again, per their site, the shipping weight is 166 lbs….
Working on it, is like pounding on an Anvil!
They know their stuff too, it is exactly the right height (34") for long duration work… Those of us who have spent large portions of a day preparing food, quickly discover good tables from bad! As little as a half inch too-high or too-low can cause back troubles, shoulder soreness, tendon strain in the elbows, wrists and hands… Even Leg and Foot Problems!
This one, is as good as they get… :)
11 January 2014
Beautiful block, And some great looking rosewood.
 

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#1,419 ·
Where did all the Fun go?

With all the down time this winter, I began to second guess myself, wondering what exactly my "Goals" were (or are) playing around with this Woodworking stuff…
When my shop was in a single bedroom in my old apartment I used to have a ball, finding and using old furniture wood, and developing work-arounds for my lack of the necessary machines and tools to do desired functions…
At one point I recall thinking, if all else fails, that I would just make boxes, until I ran out of Wood!

Times are better(?) now, I've gotten all the machines I ever needed and even most that I wanted… But it seems like all I ever get done is processing Lumber, getting it ready to be used, never clear about for what…
And it's too much like Work!!

So anyway, that was (and has been) on my mind, when I decided to build yet another box… The Goal, this time (and hopefully henceforward) is to simply have some Fun… for me…

I have had some fine Rosewood and Curly Maple ready and waiting since last month…


I had plenty of time to experiment with scraping too, while getting it ready, using a Dough Knife purchased for about $3.00 at one of the bargain places…


Yesterday I cut the Rosewood to length for the four sides… The Maple will be used for the top and bottom panels so the size of the box was predetermined…
Masking tape is used whenever I'm working with Dark Wood… There's no need to be careful putting it on, a file removes the excess in a couple swipes…


Then the marking was done for the finger or box joints… I use a stack of small blocks to mark the spacing and the Sides themselves to mark the depths…


Those are ready to cut, but I first wanted to plow out the dadoes to accept the panels… My thought was to do stopped dadoes this time… To that end, a temporary fence and stop-blocks were attached to the drill press so that holes could be drilled at the stop points…


To transfer the fence and stop-block settings to the Router, I simply put a wooden dowel in the Router first and then set the piece on it… A little fussing was involved (only because I can't find my open-end box wrenches!) but it worked out smartly… Happily, the Drill, Dowel and Router Bit are all 1/4"...



After that it was off to the Scroll Saw for some joint cutting, except… I picked up a new-to-me DeWalt over the Winter… No time like the present to see how it runs…


Well, run it does! It seemed to hold the blade a lot steadier, which made for some nice smooth cutting… Nice having a light on the subject too! :)


Then came the usual file-to-fit exercise… until…


And so ended yesterday…

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

This mornings work went fairly quickly, the Panels were cut to size, the edges trimmed to thickness (where necessary), and I even took a few minutes to round over their corners…


After fitting those in, the Box was "pinned" together (dowels in the corners, down through the finger joints)
and then it was clean-up time, box and shop both…



It's amazing how much stuff accumulates making a small project, and that's not even the half of it!
The Box is ready for the lid to come off… and the Band Saw just got cleaned off…
But I was going to call it a day…..

Oh, what the heck…


I was going to use tape to mark the line on, and was thinking of how hard it would be to draw the line where I want, concealed by the tape as it would be…
In one of my rare flashes of realization, I thought, "Hey, why not use the tape as the line?!"
And so I did…


Sure beats Re-sawing and Planing in the Fun Department…
And I still get to make some Hinges and a handle or clasp or something for the front!

Can't forget to Wish a Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there too, hope it was a Great Day for You! :)

11 May 2014
 
#1,435 ·
Square Wood from Round Branches...

This has been a perplexing enigma to me for many years!


The old-timers would just split it (roughly square) and then square it up with progressively finer Tools… And that works very well, but there's a lot of time spent doing it!
I've had a Bandsaw now for over a year, and it's supposed to have this capability all of its own… With the right kind of set-up…
So, in the back of my mind, I've been pondering what kind of Sled was needed to do this… I have, of course, seen a few of them on these very pages… Some simple, some more complex, some that were downright ingenious!
Today, I made one that suits my needs, quick and simple…
I began by planing down a length of Maple that was kicking around until it slid freely in the miter slots of the Bandsaw, then cutting a narrow strip of it to use as a rider on the bottom of a scrap of plywood…


After that was secured with screws, it was cut to width with the Bandsaw…


It's actually operational as is; i.e., I could screw up, into the wood, from the bottom of the sled and saw away…
But I don't like the idea of the screw holes in the wood that would result… My idea (and I wasn't sure if it would even work) was to incorporate hold-down clamps into the Sled design…
All it took, was a quick trip to the Hardware Store to procure a couple of 8" Carriage Bolts (and corresponding nuts and washers)
Holes were then drilled, countersunk, and squared in the Sled to accept the Bolts…


A couple of quick Jaws were fashioned out of Bubinga scraps… First, two 3/8" holes were drilled…


Then a slot was made by cutting away between the holes with the Scroll Saw…


And It's ready to use now! Spacer Blocks were cut out of scrap to match the height of the Log and (with more than a little enjoyment!) I squared up the first side of the piece…




Later on, I may make a couple of stepped Spacers (incremented every 1/2"), but for the time being I cut two more spacers to match the height after the log was rolled onto its new, flat side…
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I humbly submit my first-ever sawn piece of Lumber from a Log…


To avoid 'Squeeze-out' of the work from the Jaws, I lastly put a "Retractable Tooth" on each Jaw, in the form of a screw that can be tightened or loosened…


Yeah, I know… You folks that have done this a thousand times are probably saying "Big Deal!"
But this is something I've wanted to do pretty much my whole life, and it was a pretty cool thing to have it work so well…
I'm smiling still… :)

25 June 2014
 
#1,451 ·
Plotting and Scheming...

So a new project has begun, a Commissioned piece this time…
Until I receive permission, I'd rather not discuss all the details, but you clever bunch will pretty easily discern what is being made here…
Some Wood was secured, Bubinga that had been milled last Winter… When the two matched pieces were butted together, they seriously didn't jibe, so trued ends were cut by marking and cutting them using a Square and Rule…



A good deal of Plotting and Scheming then ensued, to meet the asked for, and agreed upon terms…



One of the requirements, involves a curve… The normal shop "Curve" patterns (Coffee cans, old Records, Cups, Dishes, etc.) were not appropriate, so a quick Compass was fashioned…
First, a scrap with one straight edge was found and indexed to the center of the work piece…


Secondly, "Dimples" were made with the awl where the desired arc was to end…


Then the Awl was inserted through the swing arm of the Compass into the dimple, and an arc was scribed on the scrap piece from both directions…




Where the two scribed lines intersected another dimple was marked, the Awl and Pencil were reversed, and an Arc was plotted…



Except… The radius wasn't long enough and the Pencil line ran right off the piece…
Another, longer swing arm was quickly fashioned, with multiple holes for "adjustment" purposes…
After six tries, acceptable results were finally achieved…


And then before I could work any further on this, something else had to be addressed… It involved this, a rare actual Wood purchase…


To receive some of that 1/2" Birch Plywood, Dadoes had to be routed…
And so they were, but not until a longer fence was made for the "Router Table"...




And that's the adventure so far… I would like to be more specific about the details, and will, after Permission is given…
For the time being, the only hint I can give you is "Arrrr, harr, harr!"... :)


2 September 2014
 
#1,465 ·
The Work continues...

After a busy week of work and life, last weekend allowed me a few hours to devote to this latest "Mystery Project"...
Though it only took 3 1/2- 4 hours, the sides were finally joined sometime Saturday morning…






The last side is the most work, as it requires two corners to be filed to fit… These larger sides don't help, they're harder to handle, so the sides were clamped to the router table to facilitate the fiing…


I might have saved myself some work by making the box joints bigger too, but I'm looking for as much detail as I can get on this piece… And besides, I'm a glutton for punishment anyway…
Case in point, it was decided that the joints would be cut over-long this time, with the idea that some detail would be added to them…
And so it was, quickly and to the point… The sides' ends were marked in half…


With the Table of the Scroll Saw tilted, a pass was made from both sides…






Then the corners were knocked off again on the other Scroll Saw, with the Table at 90°… First from one direction, and then from the other…





They're so small, I'm not sure it was a very effective idea, but at least it was relatively quickly done… Both ends of each side only took 3-4 minutes and after some filing and sanding looked like this…



The time was ripe to cut the curves off too…


Those cut-offs will be saved, I can think of at least two times that they will be useful in the later construction…
After the curves were cut, the sides were assembled, and a quick line was drawn and cut… The Scroll Saw Table was still tilted, and matched the curve well enough, so…






And I thought, that's enough for today and got busy doing some life stuff…


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

But when the things were done, there was still a little time left in the day, so… off came the lid…


I was pleased with the work so far, and tired, so I took a break (a nap even!)...

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

And again, there was still time in the day, and I actually awoke refreshed… So, the bottom was set in…
The challenge here was SIZE… the Calipers might work for the shorter dimension, but no way for the longer…




I might have made larger Calipers, but I'm too lazy! A couple of dowels and some rubber bands, and the inside measurements were quickly ascertained…






Some of the 1/2" Birch Plywood was marked and cut, and in it went…


And that's where it's at, all in a weekend's work… A lot of details crossed off the list, but many more still to go… Thanks for looking in! :)

16 September 2014
 
#1,480 ·
The Lid... (Part One?)

The Mystery Project continues…
When we left off, it had the bottom added and the lid section cut away…


The idea here, is to make the "Roof" very similar to this, only properly fitted…


While Wood was being selected, a few minutes were devoted to doweling the corners and closing it up for good…
You may remember that the cut-offs were saved and they helped out a lot! Firstly for setting the depth for the dowel hole…


And then secondly, they were taped back in place, and allowed for the Lid to be level again…
The bottom, construction-wise, is done…




Time to make slats…

Unlike the Birdhouse, it was decided that it would be decidedly more Fun if the Slats were contrasting…
Some misbehaving Sapele was chosen… Because it had so much warp, it was halved, to try to lessen it's twist…


The lighter Wood was going to be Maple, until the Yellow Heart came into the picture…
Since the Bandsaw only cuts up to 8" anyway, it was cut down to that height now… First thing mark it…


For Safety's Sake on the little Table Saw, I prefer the fence to the left, with me standing behind it… This way, it operates more like a Router Table; i.e. passing the work past the cutter… To me it feels safer pulling towards the fence, rather than pushing into the blade…
And if the Saw wants to toss the piece, I'm not in the way either…
If that is controversial, I apologize! I know how heated Saw Talk can become…


Of course, for today's slat-making, only the off-cut was needed… It's length was halved to be easier to handle, and it was off to the Planer first, and then the Bandsaw (and then back to the Planer!) ...


Note the Warp of the one on the right!
Hope I get away with not needing that one…


This milling stuff takes a lot of time!
There is a good more to be told, but that's it for now… More later! :)


27 September 2014
 
#1,481 ·
i've got a few controversial saw words to say

&$^^@(%$
(i feel better now)

other than that
this looks great

may need to change your name to
LOTACOPE soon
you are sure getting good at this
and the projects getting bigger and bigger
 
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