Today is a national holiday (it’s Eid ul-Adha, the big Muslim holiday celebrating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son) and I was able to get in a little shop time today! But first, define shop. I needed to work on my dovetails for the aprons on my Lego Table, but had no place to do any vertical clamping. So out to the balcony I went. And voila!
I had to use one of the little metal vertical bars (you can see one on the far right of the above picture) to support the back side of the clamp, and bunches of scrap wood to support everything and keep my piece straight up and down. Here’s a closeup:
I used the balcony wall as a tool rest, which is a little scary being on the fifth floor and all! But I didn’t drop anything. I also tried to get a shot of the mosque in the background of the picture above, you know, cuz of the holiday and all. :^)
Now I had to get ultra super creative when it came time to mark the tails (I did two pins-first joints and two tails-first joints – I think I liked tails-first better). Here I used the clothes drying rack (slash secondary tool rest) with a plastic stool resting on blocks to get the right height for marking the mating piece.
I had to do a little paring on one of my tails, so I resorted to my bone clamp with ratcheting double-femur action. I was too lazy to go get my mallet so I grabbed a scrap of wood to help my dull chisel along.
At the end of the day (only a couple hours of “shop” time), I managed to finish two of the four corners. I’ve done all the marking on the other two, so next time I’ll be able to jump right into it
-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com
8 comments so far
Damian Penney
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1022 posts in 869 days
posted 334 days ago
At least you have lots of natural light in your shop.
-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso
Woodwrecker
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469 posts in 453 days
posted 334 days ago
Excellent use of your space.
Very cleaver way of using your environment to accomplish the work.
Can’t wait to see the finished piece.
I am always using bone clamps too…..
Beautiful surroundings as well.
Thanks for the post.
-- Eric
Betsy
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2378 posts in 773 days
posted 334 days ago
necessity is the mother of invention. Looks like you’ve got this nailed. Just don’t drop your tools over the edge!
-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.
Tomcat1066
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776 posts in 674 days
posted 334 days ago
No fair! You’ve got WALLS! :P
Seriously, nice adaption there!
-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!
Rustic
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1220 posts in 474 days
posted 334 days ago
nice shop :-)
-- There is no such thing as a mistake. Its called a design modification Rick Kruse, Grand Rapids, MI
Jojo
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580 posts in 850 days
posted 333 days ago
Looking nice Eric.
It always makes me smile when people complain about their small or dark and cluttered basement shops. They obviously don’t know how we, who are on makeshift shops, do without a proper one. I’m with you brother.
Being in downtown I don’t have your gorgeous looking scenery in the background but at least I have a family of wild ferrets living in our garden. They are a quite usual sight here in Kyoto.
By the way, if I’m not mistaken, picture #3 shows exactly why your kids need a LEGO table. Nice dozuki too. ;o)
-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/ · http://twitter.com/japanesetools
sharad
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685 posts in 682 days
posted 333 days ago
Fantastic presentation of your adaptability and hard work. Who took the pictures? Pl convey my compliments to he/she.
Sharad
-- patanjali
woodworm
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7815 posts in 468 days
posted 333 days ago
You know Eric, I smiled looking at your pic at work with serious face. Sure you were not acting?
Jangan marah ye!
Anyway, I recpect your patience, dedication and strong will. Keep it up my friend!
How is your newborn baby? I hope you have a great baby! I’m sure you will have less time for woodworking now.
I just back from my home town, Melaka (Malacca). I been there since Saturday. I missed LJs alot.
Take care my firend and my regard to your happy family!
-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.