Yesterday, I bought one of Taunton’s finishing books – I’m a fan of Taunton Press. The book taught me that I really had no idea how to apply a finish. So I used a cloth dampened with mineral spirits and wiped the pieces until they were no longer sticky. I was also able to wipe out some of the runs, though this took quite a bit more effort. I then sanded down what poly was left with 320 grit and began refinishing per my new instructions. Turns out, I like the wipe-on style of applying varnish over brushing. I seem unable to handle a brush very well, so I used a cloth that allowed me to have the control I needed. The finish left by wiping a varnish looks so nice too. Granted, this surface is still somewhat of a disaster from the previous errors. But I can see the little successes of this style in areas of the finish that are clean. It will take longer to get the same durable finish you could get by brushing, but I really like the look of the finish over what I can accomplish with a brush. As I was only an oil and wax kind of finisher before, wiping on poly seems like the most natural fit.

We used to have a dining room table. We bought an excellent bargain at an antique sale – it was an old-ish appearing oaken table about 6 feet long and 2 feet wide. It had some very heavy, solid members of 8/4 stock – presumably White Oak. We paid $150 for it, I think. The surface was showing signs of wear, but we didn’t let that stop us from eating off of it! After several years, it finally got to the point that I thought I should do something. I bought a belt sander and began stripping that surface down to what I had hoped would be a beautiful wood beneath the damage. Turns out, it was a very thick piece of particle board with solid wood edges and a veneer on both the top and bottom. I actually don’t know much about the bottom – it could be a thicker piece of plywood to add some thickness to the top. It’s ridiculously heavy, however.

I found some clearance Walnut veneer (with a thin fabric backing) at Grizzly and finished off the laborious sanding job on the table. The leg members were solid wood, so I merely had to launch a toxic assault to strip the finish off. The finish was a very dark Walnut, hence my choice of veneer. After some high anxiety with contact cement, I mounted the veneer to the table with little to no air bubbles. I was able to finish off the surface preparation by blending the veneer edges with the solid wood edges. I subsequently applied the first coat of a stain – a very rich and dark stain called “Jacobean” for the era it hearkens. It was really beautiful, though winter was setting in at that time and it soon became problematic to properly dry the stain and later, polyurethane coats.

Some-odd years later, I’ve dug the table out of the garage and applied one more coat of stain and three coats of poly. I also finished sanding the legs, though I rushed one of them and the stain has now highlighted this effect for eternity, I feel. I need only apply a second coat of stain on the leg structures and finish off with polyurethane to call this project complete! Of course, now I’m very afraid that my coats of poly will not be enough to ward damage to the veneer surface I’ve labored countless years on. Well…I haven’t actually labored on this for all those years, but there was labor in there somewhere.

I did, however, get some of the foundation laid with what ties I had and an order of 1 yd³ of drainage gravel delivered. It might have been a ½ yd³ (I should find out for sure since this bit of information could be very important to those who would like to attempt this project).

The site is approximately 16’ x 15’ and has a grade of about 10°. It’s the flattest area available to us, though it has almost a 3’ wall at the far edge of the 15’ length. I began by digging out the 16’ trench; 14” deep and 18” wide. This took a tremendous amount of time and effort. Using a mattock and shovel, I spent two days mostly digging trenches in Georgia’s red clay. The gravel filled in half of my 16’ trench and I worked to level it such that my cross ties would lie flat. Once adequately leveled, I hammered 4’ rebar through the ties, deep into the earth. This provides the foundation on which I can build the rest of the retaining wall. I also dug a trench perpendicular to this one for the first of four dead-men that would further anchor the foundation. These trenches are more difficult to dig because you’re digging into the hillside, making the whole considerably deeper. You have much less room to work a shovel and mattock in such a confined space. Regardless, I finished the trench and worked at length to level this bit as well. Laying a single cross tie into this spot and anchoring it with another 4’ length of rebar provided the second dead-man (me being the first). It’s also secured to the footer with a 1’ piece of rebar hammered through the two ties. In retrospect, I probably should have put in a gravel base on the dead-men as well, but the gravel was pretty expensive, and I was done digging ditches for a little while.

When I get started again on this project, I have three more ditches to dig for the remaining dead-men. After they’re placed, it’s a relatively simple matter of stacking the cross ties and anchoring each one to the one below it. It’s also important to note that you need to stack them towards the hillside. I’m offsetting each row by about an inch. The second row (the row containing dead-men) will have gaps between its units for drainage. These gaps are backed by an aluminum mesh to keep the gravel from escaping.

As a closing thought, I should mention that what you’ve read has very little to do with a “lumberjock.” It’s all for what will eventually require some real woodworking skills, and that’s the reason it’s being posted here. In the spirit of the board however, I did task myself with cutting the railroad ties with a handsaw. I don’t own a circular saw big enough to get through the wood, and a friend is still borrowing my chainsaw. Alas, the handsaw was the last option.

And of course a baby girl announcement is exciting! Our 5-year-old son is very excited about being a big brother, even if he doesn’t quite know what that means just yet. The added room will be the combined family’s entertainment room with computer, piano, board games, toys, and crafts. The baby will eventually grow into her bedroom (an office previously), so we want to get it squared away for her arrival.

“Standing on the shoulders of other people’s dreams could perhaps be the most pathetic of all dreams. The intent of my work is to create something short of its outcome. My goal is to create the idea of an object that remains a dream. The objects I create are based on fictions, rather than realities. I have always been interested in the ephemeral worlds established in film, or even in popular culture. Fictions or established hearsay allow for a flawed interpretation, which leads to a flawed result. The sublime is unattainable, and not an option. I further amplify this experience by only using my memory to construct my images. Failure is imminent. I find humor allows me to enjoy this experience, and I in turn build humor into the worlds established by my work. I have chosen to depict these states with unfinished wood, and other materials which convey a sense of the temporal. I find the beauty in life lies in between moments. My work offers a sense of what could be and what could never be simultaneously.”

- Michael T. Rea

I live in northeast Georgia, but hope to make it up to Virginia for the show. It’s running from April 3rd through June 15th. Hope to see some of you there!

From the onset of our decision, I had found a set of plans from “Workbench Magazine” that I immediately fell in love with. It’s sturdy, not overwhelmingly big, and attractive.

The beam extending from the face of the building attaches to a footed post – this design does not require any buried structures.

I like this design for a few reasons. The large timbers used to build the supporting structure and beam for the swing set are very attractive to me. It reminds me of the Craftsman ideal in form and function. It is built to sustain some rough times, yet looks stylish too. The house perched atop the base is quaint. It could be a trick conjured by color – one that may lessen if another color were chosen. Whatever it is, I like the appearance of this little house topped with cedar shingles, painted a deep hue of red, and trimmed in white. The plans call for certain amenities; a slide, swings, sandbox. I have a tire swing I’ll use made to resemble a bull. I will probably add a swing, as it has enough room for both. The sandbox will stay too, but I will switch out the slide for a zip-line we got for him at Christmas. I still have to mitigate the safety concerns on that little accessory, but I think I can figure something out.

The major downside to this construction is that it requires level ground – something I have a total absence of. I could alter the design a bit and sink some concrete footings for posts into the ground, but leveling the ground is an added bonus for the rest of the family. I had thought to terrace my entire yard – the house itself is sitting on a 4’/1’ slope down the backyard. This is a step towards that dream if I choose to level off a play area. The other downsides have to do with material costs. The plans call for cedar shingles and all pressure-treated lumber. I’m considering alternatives, but not interested in doing so at the cost of rigidity or durability. If I’m going to spend upwards of $1000.00 on something like this, I want it to be around for a decade or more. For the record, I live in northeast Georgia. Even treated lumber can can fall prey to fungus, termites, and sun-bleaching around here. This will be my first exposure to MCQ and ACQ treated lumber. Perhaps these newer chemicals will resist the local concerns better than I’ve seen in the past.

I should also give some extra credit to Chris. He’s one of the most responsive guys on email – especially for the amount of work he is responsible for. The articles in their magazine are fantastic, and the personal response that Chris is able to put into his communications out of band really seal the deal, so to speak. I know if I’m ever questioning a technique in the magazine or am confounded by something he said, he’ll answer for it appropriately.

Head over to the Woodworking Magazine site to get in on this inaugural subscription event!

(I’ll get a picture posted to demonstrate soon)

The problem I experienced recently was involving the insertion of brass screw inserts into some hard Magnolia lumber. I’m building a simple miter jig for my table saw, and I’m using inserts on the back of the fence to attach to the existing miter gauge. I could only find brass where I was shopping, and I didn’t figure the softer metal would pose any problem to even a dense wood like Magnolia. I was a somewhat incorrect in this assumption. First, I pre-drilled pilot holes smaller than the insert itself. I had thought the wood would give and offer a nice, comfy fit for the insert. I could even get it started because of the “pilot extension” on the insert itself. The hole had to be very close to the same size as the insert in order to seat it properly. I had some bits that were a matter of 32nds and 64ths from the mark, so I eased up to the size very gradually. I attempted to screw the insert in after each drilling to some disappointment. Of course, it got progressively easier as I was putting the insert back into the same hole with grooves already cut each time. As the insert got closer to my intended depth, I would inevitably shear off the top with my screwdriver and have to back it out lest I lose all recoverability.

Some of the options posed to me were out of my reach, so I went with the simpler ones first. I chamfered the the hole (by this time, the hole I had been working on was puckered a bit from the stress) and waxed the threads. I only gave a it few turns and decided that it felt pretty much the same, though there was no more puckering occurring. I then recalled seeing some custom tool in Rockler that I thought was useless at the time. A t-nut inserter. It was just a screwdriver bit with a block in the middle of the bit holder and a machine screw to fit the t-nuts. It got me thinking and I decided to try a similar tactic on the screw insert. I found a short machine screw to drive into the insert all the way without any exposure at the bottom. The machine screw I chose had a socketed head (with Phillip’s inside), which is what I wanted. I then used a socket driver (straight would be better than the traditional, 90° style) to drive it in without the risk of chipping the fragile brass.

The other techniques might have helped here, though I was not limited any longer by the brass’s rigidity and could apply as much force as was necessary to drive the insert all the way home. Worked like a charm! I don’t have one, but it would be nice to find a machine screw with a deeper socketed head for this purpose. Of course, on larger inserts, the screw backing it up would be larger too. At any rate, I know this trick is known well enough because there are screw insert tools available. They’re just a t-handle tool with the appropriate threading on the end and a stop. I didn’t think they were worth anything, but I realize now how wrong I was! The only thing I need to work on now is getting the insert to go in perfectly straight…

I took my rough-dimensioned ash over to a friends shop yesterday to get some time on his 8” jointer and planer. As we began to surface the slightly more than 8/4 boards, it quickly became apparent that I was not going to get the thickness on these boards that I had hoped. A small amount of bow and twist on a board nearly 4’ in length causes your usable thickness to go down quite dramatically when jointing for flatness. I learned some very valuable lessons in those few hours at his shop. Unfortunately, they came too late for my bench lumber as I had already picked it out and purchased it.

When picking out your lumber, you want to measure the thickness at the thinnest point on the board. That’s not always readily apparent, so it’s a good idea to take several measurements along the board – both sides – to find it. Use that thinnest measurement to a) go towards your dimensioned needs and b) negotiate board feet (ergo price). You’ll want the thinnest part of the board to be about 1/4” bigger than your final dimensioned stock. That means, you may have to buy 10/4 boards to get 8/4 after jointing and thickness planing. I hate to be so wasteful, but wood is an organic beast and doesn’t adhere to the expectations of “dimensioned” lumber requirements. Clearly, it also helps to buy boards that have been rough cut to accurate thicknesses up front. Using more reputable hardwood suppliers with better machinery will undoubtedly yield better results.

I also learned to keep your fingers away from out-feed rollers on a thickness planer. The idea was to lift the boards coming out of the planer to minimize snipe, but the shorter length rails were finishing their cut just prior to the last roller. I grabbed for one thinking I would be able to lift it up and out only to find that the planer was still feeding it. Two of my fingers found themselves between 8/4-ish ash held by a planer and a steel feed roller mounted to said planer. Needless to say, my fingers gave first. A painful lesson, but not the worst that could happen. At least I still have them!

You may recall that I had originally intended to hand plane these boards entirely. As such, I had cut them to within an inch of their final length and width to do this work. That waste threshold isn’t sufficient for machinery planers. Snipe from a thickness planer can eat up the ends of your boards if you’re not careful with your technique. Even with care, end snipe will always be present to some degree.

Regardless of my frustrations with the dimensioned stock, I must move on. As my friend told me, don’t worry over the dimensions. It’s a workbench and doesn’t require such rigid requirements as I am intending. Just get the lumber flat and go from there. Worst case, I laminate another wood inside of my glued-up pieces to get the thickness wanted and a decorative touch! In any case, I’m ready to move on to another part of this project. It’s time to glue-up those legs and cut the stretchers and rails to their final dimensions…