# Why buy it when you can make it!



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*My woodworking goal: to never have to (default on) buying furniture again...*

As a hobbyist, I had to set a goal to justify to myself why the time, energy, and money (fun can't just be the goal) is a worthwhile expenditure. I set the goal to grow high enough in skill level, so that any piece of furniture that I or my wife may like, is within reason for me to build on my own. And so I set my woodworking goal, to be at a skill level where I can build any piece of furniture that we might want, so that I never have to default on buying furniture that we like.

Fast forward to 2 years later, and I find that I am always swimming in a sea of projects that range from (non)starters, (limbo) mid-project, and (so close) near the finish line. Due to the pressures of my 9 to 5+ job, and two very active young children, don't complete projects nearly as quickly as I would like to. So I thought I'd start this new blog series to chronicle the project progress and share my progress towards my woodworking goal.


----------



## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *My woodworking goal: to never have to (default on) buying furniture again...*
> 
> As a hobbyist, I had to set a goal to justify to myself why the time, energy, and money (fun can't just be the goal) is a worthwhile expenditure. I set the goal to grow high enough in skill level, so that any piece of furniture that I or my wife may like, is within reason for me to build on my own. And so I set my woodworking goal, to be at a skill level where I can build any piece of furniture that we might want, so that I never have to default on buying furniture that we like.
> 
> Fast forward to 2 years later, and I find that I am always swimming in a sea of projects that range from (non)starters, (limbo) mid-project, and (so close) near the finish line. Due to the pressures of my 9 to 5+ job, and two very active young children, don't complete projects nearly as quickly as I would like to. So I thought I'd start this new blog series to chronicle the project progress and share my progress towards my woodworking goal.


This should be very informative


----------



## kaerlighedsbamsen (Sep 16, 2013)

paxorion said:


> *My woodworking goal: to never have to (default on) buying furniture again...*
> 
> As a hobbyist, I had to set a goal to justify to myself why the time, energy, and money (fun can't just be the goal) is a worthwhile expenditure. I set the goal to grow high enough in skill level, so that any piece of furniture that I or my wife may like, is within reason for me to build on my own. And so I set my woodworking goal, to be at a skill level where I can build any piece of furniture that we might want, so that I never have to default on buying furniture that we like.
> 
> Fast forward to 2 years later, and I find that I am always swimming in a sea of projects that range from (non)starters, (limbo) mid-project, and (so close) near the finish line. Due to the pressures of my 9 to 5+ job, and two very active young children, don't complete projects nearly as quickly as I would like to. So I thought I'd start this new blog series to chronicle the project progress and share my progress towards my woodworking goal.


I think that i sa great goal to set!


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*

My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).

Fast forward a month, our daughter has decided that she prefers sleeping on the floor, because it means she won't fall out of bed. My wife and I talked about procuring a bed rail to keep her in bed, but have dawdled on it. Good thing we dawdled, because I certainly didn't want to spend money on something that I would have to modify to fit the Craigslist crib/toddler bed we picked up back in December. So today, I (with the help of a good friend) whipped up this (with absolutely no plan or idea what I was making), using lots of scrap MDF that I had lying around.

My wife and daughter were quite pleased with the project progress (which still needs to be sanded and painted). To quote them: 

Wife - It looks great! I didn't expect you to make something as fancy. I expected a few boards screwed together
Daughter - Daddy, put back on my bed? Daddy made it for me!

To my surprise, they requested a bedtime debut tonight. So I doubled down and did a quick sanding of the entire surface and broke the edges. So far, we have a sleeping toddler and no *thuds*.


----------



## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*
> 
> My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).
> 
> ...


Well done, dad.


----------



## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*
> 
> My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).
> 
> ...


Now is she gonna make you crawl in to read the bedtime story? That was my only reason for not getting around to doing the same was trying to lay on the bed at story time. Instead I folded up a large thick blanket to pad the landing area. Semi bad thing was the dog thought the blanket was for her to lay on though she did provide extra crash pad for the kid to lay on.


----------



## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*
> 
> My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).
> 
> ...


Great solution and love it covers the area beneath


----------



## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*
> 
> My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).
> 
> ...


Way to go Dad! The hero of the day! I'm sure she loves it.


----------



## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*
> 
> My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).
> 
> ...


Super dad to the rescue! Nice job indeed and a happy camper … sleeping daughter!


----------



## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*
> 
> My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).
> 
> ...


She'll love it even more when figures out how to make a cave with a blanket, perfect bed for that.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*
> 
> My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).
> 
> ...


I sized the opening so that both my wife and I can sneak in to tuck the little girl in at night. Escaping however, takes a bit of persuasion (of the little one that is).


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *My daughter asked "Daddy I sleep on floor?"*
> 
> My wife and I were recently (forced to) transition our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. I say forced to because one day, she decided to go on a diaper protest and fully potty train herself. Unfortunately, her potty training regiment did not include training to stay in her bed. She is absolutely horrible in her sleep and rolls around everywhere! As a result, there wasn't a single night where we didn't hear a *thud*, from the poor girl falling out of her bed (6 inches is a pretty far drop at that age).
> 
> ...


I also "designed" (a.k.a it sounded like a good idea at the time) the unit to have about and inch and a half of extra length behind the rail. That way the bed rail just tucks in behind the bed frame, with no fasteners needed to keep it in place. It works surprisingly well. All I need to do is slide in the bed rail to the left side toddler bed, and then lift the right side of the bed to tuck the bed rail behind the right foot.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*"Sleep on floor" Update - Toddler-resistant and the journey to limbo*

One week (and many hyper toddler body-slam attacks) later, the bed rail is still standing strong. It is rather surprising given that the entire project is MDF, held together with glue and nails. I'm also happy to report that despite a few attempts to sleep on the floor, my daughter has stayed safely in her bed throughout the night for over a week.

Unfortunately, my hopes of properly finishing the project over the Memorial Day weekend has been thwarted, as a toddler's bedtime kinda interferes with reclaiming the project for final sanding and proper finishing. I should have guessed that if a project gets put into use, any hopes of quickly getting back is like a pipe dream. Anyway, maybe I should chalk this iteration up as a cheap MDF prototype, and make a replacement with solid wood.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Lumberjockette in the making!*

This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…










Turns out, she saw a sanding sponge on the floor, picked it up, and knew what to do. She got straight to work sanding! I was so proud of her that I let her keep going for a little while so that I could snap a few photos. Eventually she found a hole (knot) and wanted to fill it. This was the best idea she could come up with…










I'll chalk this one up to a 2 year old not knowing what epoxy is, or perhaps the difference between a pipe cleaner and a pipe clamp yet. Nevertheless, brownie points (and one happy father) for her creativity.


----------



## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


Aww, that's..well, cute…what a good helper ;-)


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


Awesome start to raising her right!


----------



## clieb91 (Aug 17, 2007)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


Thats just awesome!! I bet she was happy that she could help you in the shop.

CtL


----------



## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


Praise for her all the way. Get them involved as soon as possible.


----------



## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


A very impressive youngster! Congrats on raising her right and encouraging her efforts.


----------



## Buckethead (Apr 14, 2013)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


They just ask for a noble mission. Well done, dad!


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


My first thought is ,That's amazing, my second thought was I hope it doesn't have lead paint on it.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


a1Jim - After reading your comment, my wife and I had a freakout moment (we didn't run a lead test). After a dash to pick up one this morning, I am happy to say that the paint is lead free. Therefore, stick with your first thought.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


I'm so glad it turned out well,I cringe to think of anything bad happening to your beautiful little daughter.
It's my pleasure to only see joy in your photo and story.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


Us too. My wife and I spent the better part of last night trying to figure out what to do… Thankfully it wasn't necessary.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


Sorry to cause you and your wife distress ,but perhaps it will have other readers check there refinishing projects for lead
before proceeding with their refinishing plans.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


a1Jim - No need to apologize. We'd both rather be cautious and prepared than not. And by figuring out what to do, we meant reading up about it how to verify if there was lead.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


Gotta get the rugrats started early!


----------



## camps764 (Dec 9, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Lumberjockette in the making!*
> 
> This morning, when I ran down to the basement for something (probably laundry), my 2 year old daughter did what she always does and followed me downstairs. While I had my back turned, I heard what sounded a lot like sanding, and was worried that my daughter was up to mischief with the Craigslist dresser rehab project I left out. When I turned around, low and behold, I saw this…
> 
> ...


Made my morning seeing this! With a 2 and half year old of my own at home, seeing stuff like this makes me smile like a dope. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Improv Fir Step Stool [Part 1]*

A few weeks ago, I was looking through my humble wood stash and saw a few large boards of remaining fir from my Wing Chun Dummy project and wondered what I could make for my family that would be a practical use of material. Later that day, I had to lift my daughter up to the sink to wash her hands, when it hit me that a step stool would be useful. Knowing that I have plans on making the Popular Woodworking I Can Do That Step Stool, I had to come up with a different design for the fir.

Being far from the creative artsy type, I googled "build a step stool" for inspiration. One of the first (in the top 5) links led me to Marc Spagnoulo's (The Wood Whisperer) site. A quick peruse through his project videos, and I found his Power Sculpted Contemplation Bench to be the right inspiration for this project. While I don't plan on doing any sort of power sculpting, I heavily borrowed his construction approach of splitting the wider board to create the giant mortise-tenon (or rather a big box) joint.

Armed with a 1.5" x 7" x 4' piece of fir (which I eventually had to augment with a piece of 2×4 fir to expand the stool foot print), I re-milled the material to S4S, and split the board into 3 equal sizes before crosscutting the pieces to the right shape. I used biscuits for alignment when gluing the boards back together, carefully matching up the lines and triangles I drew for reference.










After a dry fit, I noticed that the stool was too narrow, so I opted to mill some additional scrap fir and glue one an extra 3/4" on either edge, bringing the stool to 8.5" wide, a comfortable size for my daughter. Spent some time in a local shop tonight skip planing the glue-ups and cutting them to size. I made enough progress for a dry fit to show my wife, who is happy with the design.










Next up, sanding the parts before final assembly. I plan on just breaking the edges to keep the rectangular shape. Also, I haven't decided if I plan on reinforcing 4 joints (2x mortise-tenon/box joints, and 2x butt joints for lower stretcher) with glue and dowels, or capped screws. I don't have strong opinions either way, so any opinions/recommendations would be much appreciated.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Improv Fir Step Stool [Part 2]*

I decided to take my wife's strong hinting that dowels would "look better" than capped screws as a justification to pick up some new woodworking tools and accessories. Stopped by my local Woodcraft this evening and picked up a dowel center set. I almost spent some more money for a doweling jig, but decided to use my Kreg shelf pin jig to make myself a drill guide (I don't have a drill press at home). After a few minutes of creative clamping (no vise either) and drilling, here's the new dry fit.










Looks like NOW I can get to sanding the parts before the glue-up…


----------



## NiteWalker (May 7, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Improv Fir Step Stool [Part 2]*
> 
> I decided to take my wife's strong hinting that dowels would "look better" than capped screws as a justification to pick up some new woodworking tools and accessories. Stopped by my local Woodcraft this evening and picked up a dowel center set. I almost spent some more money for a doweling jig, but decided to use my Kreg shelf pin jig to make myself a drill guide (I don't have a drill press at home). After a few minutes of creative clamping (no vise either) and drilling, here's the new dry fit.
> 
> ...


Looks good. 
I really like how sturdy it looks.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Improv Fir Step Stool [Part 2]*
> 
> I decided to take my wife's strong hinting that dowels would "look better" than capped screws as a justification to pick up some new woodworking tools and accessories. Stopped by my local Woodcraft this evening and picked up a dowel center set. I almost spent some more money for a doweling jig, but decided to use my Kreg shelf pin jig to make myself a drill guide (I don't have a drill press at home). After a few minutes of creative clamping (no vise either) and drilling, here's the new dry fit.
> 
> ...


It holds up my weight, so definitely a promising sign


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Improv Fir Step Stool [Part 3] - SAS Regiment*

After a brief hiatus thanks to work and social obligations (groomsman in a friend's wedding), I finally had a chance to dive into the SAS regiment (sand, assemble, stain). This project is certainly becoming an interesting exercise in using up what I have lying around.

Sanding: I sanded all the parts (except the top) down to 220 grit prior to the glue-up. It can get tricky sanding small parts (with a random orbit sander) when you don't have a vise, but you'd be amazed what you can get done with 2 wooden hand screw clamps clamped down to a stable work surface. The 2×12" ones I picked up from Harbor Freight came in very handy. The absolute star of the sanding phase was my Preppin Weapon, which worked like a champ when hand sanding and breaking edges.

Assembing: I must have had a mental lapse because I went straight to putting glue on once I had grabbed my brush (and before getting the clamps I needed. After a bit of a rush job (and a few glue drips that I am paying for), I got everything clamped up to dry.










Staining: When I started this project, I had decided that it would try to use up what I have instead of buying new wood and supplies. For the finish, I initially settled on the General Finished Java Gel Stain I got as a door prize from my woodworking guild. However, right next to it was the old can of Minwax Polyshades (Bombay Mahogany) that was an absolute disaster to use on my first project (a coffee table now re-purposed to be an activity table for my daughter). I decided I had nothing to lose, and I would give it another shot. After stirring the Polyshades, it was surprisingly still viable after almost 2 years of sitting idle. The pre-stain conditioner I was going to use up…not so much (it congealed to a very disturbing yellow-ish white blob suspended in a solvent). Being lazy, I decided NOT to go back downstairs and dilute a 1lb cut of SealCoat, to see what blotching would look like. I also decided to completely ignored all of the instructions and experiment with whether or not the rest of the Polyshades might be more pleasant to use. So after thinning down 50/50 with mineral spirits I started with a wipe-on application. Each coat became dry to the touch after about 2-3 hours, and I was able to apply 3 coats today (light sanding with 320 grit in between…with the Preppin Weapon of course). The result: very clear blotching, especially on the sides of the stool, but the top doesn't look too bad. The glue splotches I didn't success in cleaning up can still be seen, but they aren't as prominent thanks to the blotching. Also, thinning the polyshades knocks out a lot of the brown color, leaving it with more red. Looks like the rest of the Polyshades may have some usefulness for me after all…as a red tinted polyurethane.










PS: I'm still never buying Polyshades ever again…but at least I won't be throwing away the rest of the can.


----------



## robscastle (May 13, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Improv Fir Step Stool [Part 3] - SAS Regiment*
> 
> After a brief hiatus thanks to work and social obligations (groomsman in a friend's wedding), I finally had a chance to dive into the SAS regiment (sand, assemble, stain). This project is certainly becoming an interesting exercise in using up what I have lying around.
> 
> ...


(sand, assemble, stain) I thought this was going to be something that self destructed after reading !!

Anyway the stain looks good from what I can see.
Glue and other foreign object play havoc with stains, and it seems no matter how much prep work you do a section is always missed, and disapointing the creator.

The Preppin Weapon looks to be a worthwile tool, may have to locate one.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*First turning project - Cherry Pepper Mill*

A few years ago (before we were married), my wife bought me a monstrously huge pepper mill (I think it was about 3 feet long). It was awesome, except for the fact that it was a pain to use and had formed a fairly substantial crack over the years. Fate would have it that my daughter developed a huge love for dismantling it (apple doesn't fall far from the tree), and lost several key pieces of the grind mechanism. After a painful hunt, we decided to give up on that mill and consider buying a replacement.

After mentioning my conundrum at a recent woodworking guild meeting, a guild member offered to help (i.e. teach and majorly help) me turn a replacement. This gave me the opportunity to use a short piece of 12/4 cherry that I had somehow acquired a few years back. I had a chance to work with him this evening, for my first turning project. It was a lot of fun and before tonight, I wasn't convinced that I would be interested in allowing myself to catch the turning bug for a few more years.

Here is the mill at the moment, before putting the finish on it. Being cherry, I plan on letting nature do the work of changing it's color, and am planning on putting a clear satin finish on. Maybe this will be my opportunity (excuse) to finally pick up some GF Arm-r-Seal.










PS: Of course I had to feature Lumberjock in the background.


----------



## woodshopmike (Nov 5, 2013)

paxorion said:


> *First turning project - Cherry Pepper Mill*
> 
> A few years ago (before we were married), my wife bought me a monstrously huge pepper mill (I think it was about 3 feet long). It was awesome, except for the fact that it was a pain to use and had formed a fairly substantial crack over the years. Fate would have it that my daughter developed a huge love for dismantling it (apple doesn't fall far from the tree), and lost several key pieces of the grind mechanism. After a painful hunt, we decided to give up on that mill and consider buying a replacement.
> 
> ...


Good job. Definitely a great start for your first turning project!


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*First turning project - Cherry Pepper Mill [Part 2]*

I picked up some Arm-R-Seal on Friday during the Woodcraft anniversary sale and I am definitely a believer in the product's quality. For starters, it is so easy to use, and levels itself off very nicely. I have finished four coats so far, and plan on putting 1 more coat on tonight, before I let the mill cure for a few days. Looking forward to a grind come next weekend! (My wife can't wait)


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Dresser Rehab [Part 1] - 3 years of procrastination taking a toll & Microsoft Project to the rescue!*

This project series will be documenting (hopefully) the end of 3 years of project procrastination.

When we found out we were having a girl (back in May 2011), my wife had this grand design vision of a modern vintage furniture theme in her room. One of the focal points she has been on the prowl for, was an old dresser to "upcycle". Fast forward 2.5 years later (November 2013), she finally find a dresser on Craigslist that fits the design aesthetic she was looking for. After getting the dresser home, we find that the inside was in very bad condition, so I decided to gut the interior and save only the exterior for her to paint. I got as far as the gutting before I realized that I have zero personal motivation to work on the project, leaving it (any pretty much every project I start) in limbo.

About a week ago, I finally came to the realization that this project was a major woodworking motivation slump for me. I'm the type of person who wants to see what I start come to an acceptable level of completion before I am able to move on to the next thing. Because the project has been sitting in my basement for months, it was constant reminder that I simply had to get it done whenever in because I had simply had to get it done and over with so that I could move on with my woodworking life. After talking to my wife about it (best summarized as a whiny rant that went along the lines of this "we just need to make it a priority for me to get this project done"), I did what I know is a fool-proof way to get the project done: create a project plan. After firing up Microsoft Project, I got to work writing out 22 different steps/task and inserting all of the dependencies. Re-energized with the project, I got to work this weekend and knocked out 6 of those tasks. All in all, I'd say it was a productive weekend…

PS: To show how awesome my wife is, not only did she let me disappear 3 nights in a row to the shop, she also apologized for making me take on a project I didn't necessarily want to take on, and that she hopes I'll be able to learn something as a woodworking from it, beyond the tools she said I could buy to make the project go smoother.


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *Dresser Rehab [Part 1] - 3 years of procrastination taking a toll & Microsoft Project to the rescue!*
> 
> This project series will be documenting (hopefully) the end of 3 years of project procrastination.
> 
> ...


What you have done here to plan your project is the way that any aspect of life can be planned. Complicated things are always made up of many small elements and once those elements are identified a step by step action plan can be formulated. A kind of road map leading to the desired destination. I often wonder why such a simple technique is not taught in school. Many could realize their dreams if they just knew how to use this simple but very effective planning method.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Dresser Rehab [Part 1] - 3 years of procrastination taking a toll & Microsoft Project to the rescue!*
> 
> This project series will be documenting (hopefully) the end of 3 years of project procrastination.
> 
> ...





> What you have done here to plan your project is the way that any aspect of life can be planned. Complicated things are always made up of many small elements and once those elements are identified a step by step action plan can be formulated. A kind of road map leading to the desired destination. I often wonder why such a simple technique is not taught in school. Many could realize their dreams if they just knew how to use this simple but very effective planning method.
> 
> - stefang


Most of my before-9 to after-5ish work involves planning and managing execution. As you pointed out, it's a shame planning isn't taught in school. I will add however, that planning is more of a natural extension of some personalities than others (I am far more a planner than some of my relatives).

Despite my planning nature, I have tried to keep my woodworking hobby as stress-free as possible, which involves not treating it as rigorous and to a plan/schedule as possible. But when a project grows in scale, it's hard to avoid it. Project plans can get very rigorous when you toss in dependencies, estimates, and start tracking progress. But that's a discussion for a whole other forum. ;-)


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *Dresser Rehab [Part 1] - 3 years of procrastination taking a toll & Microsoft Project to the rescue!*
> 
> This project series will be documenting (hopefully) the end of 3 years of project procrastination.
> 
> ...


I can agree that planning can sometimes take some fun out of things or at least hinder creativity a little. I don't plan my woodworking projects out too detailed as I almost always like to make changes/imrprovements underway.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Dresser Rehab [Part 2] - HVLP Priming*

Two weekends and a good amount of work has gone into the dresser. Following my project schedule, I managed to…

Pick up the plywood and processed it into drawer stock, ready to be cut to length for box construction. 
Build out the inside dresser to be ready to install the full extension drawer guides
Cut replacement "dust frames" 
Completely scuff sand the dresser case
Breaking out my HF HVLP Spray Gun kit Spray Zinsser BIN primer on the dresser case and drawer fronts

After letting the primer dry, I did a quick knockdown of the primer with 320grit and am extremely pleased with the results. The surface is smooth, and better than any brush job I could have hoped to accomplish. Very smooth finish and no runs on the vertical sides.




























I'm very glad that the wifey strongly recommended I get a tool to spray the primer and paint for this project (not that I needed much convincing). While the HF HVLP won't win any awards with me (as it bleeds rather profusely), I think it does the job as a starter tool and was very easy to learn, use, and get good results with. For my current usage, it does the job at a good price point. I'll probably look to upgrade when the unit dies.

Next up, install the drawer glides and install the drawer boxes. Now if I can just get the wifey to settle on a paint color scheme…


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Dresser Rehab [Part 3] - We have drawers!*

When I set out to rehab this dresser, my wife and I agreed to use do it once and do it right. On her wish list for this project, was to make sure the drawers worked well. To meet that goal, I opted to tear out the old drawers, saving the fronts to be attached to new drawer boxes with full extension glides.

Retro-fitting full extension glides was a lot more work than I expected. I had…

Glue/nail in a few pieces of plywood to account for the 1.25 offset from the frace frame" 
Install the full extension Accuride drawer glides I picked up during the August Woodcraft sale
Make a whole bunch of drawer stock from a sheet of 1/2" birch plywood from HD. 
Cut the drawer stock to size. The Incra 1000HD was a major life saver for this step
Build and install the drawers (I opted to prefinish with 2 coats of Zinsser Sealcoat shellac










My daughter is ecstatic, and has been filling up the drawers with any she can find, including the new dress my wife made her. My son (8 months old) was also eager to help out, and took a more direct approach to test out how sturdy the drawers really are. The test only took a few seconds.










And so ends any woodworking for this project. The last step is to spray on the topcoat paint. My wife claims that she's picked the color, but I'm not convinced since I don't see paint waiting to be sprayed on.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Birthday Party Activity [Part 1] - 20 Duck push toys need lots and lots of wheels*

With the break point in my dresser rehab project (waiting for a day when I can spray the paint top coat on the dresser), I got started on my daughter's birthday party activity. Inspired by the Grasshopper pull toy posted by Marc Spagnoulo, I decided to adapt the idea as a birthday party activity for my daughter's 3rd birthday. My wife and I are a more of the hands-on "make it" type amongst a pool of not so hands on friends. I suggested the idea to my wife that, "the kids could paint them, and the dads can figure out how to assemble them". She chuckled and liked the idea.

After mulling it over a bit, I decided that the design Marc had would be far too complicated to batch out large quantities of them in the next few weeks. I lieu, I opted for a simple duck push toy instead, with a body, 2 wheels and a dowel rod as the stick to push it. This project was a great opportunity to use up a large pile of pine and poplar thins or shorts, leftovers from other projects or salvaged from some Ikea furniture I dumpster dove and found. The project is certainly a test of patience as there was a lot of repetitive tasks to cut matching parts, and I suspect it will be 100% hand sanding. All in all, I estimate that each duck will cost at most $1 for the dowel and parts needed to finish the project.

*Wheels* - The wheels were cut out on a drill press and a hole saw. My first few wheels were nothing short of a disaster, as I wasn't proactive enough to clear out the chips. Not only did the hole saw get unbelievably hot, but it clogged and required a lot of effort to push the wheel out. Eventually, I found cutting 75% of the way through so the the center drill bit clears the wheel, then flipping the board to finish the cut made a whole lot more sense. I'm pretty sure this meant more than half my time cutting wheels was spent on the first 4 out of 40 wheels. I increased the hole size to 3/8" before moving onto sanding…lots and lots of hand sanding. With parts this small, there really isn't a good power tool option (OK maybe a drum sander). To make my life a little easier, I stuck on 100, 150, and 220 grit paper onto a spare sheet of MDF. Probably 4 hours (averaging 5-6 minutes of sanding per wheel to clean up all faces and break edges) of YouTube videos over the course of the weeknight evenings (while sanding) and I have 40 nice and smooth wheels.

The sand paper board









The sanded stack of wheels









*Duck Body* - I was gearing up to look online for a pattern to follow when I happened to spot a duck-shaped picture frame in my daughter's room. It turned out to be a great size for the duck bodies. After rough cutting on the bandsaw and smoothing the edges on the spindle sander, I had a blank will serve as the template for the other 19 duck bodies. I chucked up a flush trim bit and got to work. Didn't take too long to knock out 4 extras before I realized I was in the shop a little too late last Saturday night. One of the ducks is quite heavy, and I believe it is a scrap piece of ash I somehow acquired.









Still a few more bodies to make this coming weekend. I stopped by HD to pick up a dowel (glad I did, since it led to 2 unplanned but awesome new additions to my tool arsenal), so that I could do a dry assembly. I think the final customer is happy with the to be product. 









Next up, cutting and template routing the rest of the duck bodies before (you guessed it) more sanding.

PS: I just realized that the dress my daughter is wearing is also handmade by my wife. It's called the triangle dress.


----------



## wiwildcat (Jan 10, 2013)

paxorion said:


> *Birthday Party Activity [Part 1] - 20 Duck push toys need lots and lots of wheels*
> 
> With the break point in my dresser rehab project (waiting for a day when I can spray the paint top coat on the dresser), I got started on my daughter's birthday party activity. Inspired by the Grasshopper pull toy posted by Marc Spagnoulo, I decided to adapt the idea as a birthday party activity for my daughter's 3rd birthday. My wife and I are a more of the hands-on "make it" type amongst a pool of not so hands on friends. I suggested the idea to my wife that, "the kids could paint them, and the dads can figure out how to assemble them". She chuckled and liked the idea.
> 
> ...


Nice project.


----------



## CFrye (May 13, 2013)

paxorion said:


> *Birthday Party Activity [Part 1] - 20 Duck push toys need lots and lots of wheels*
> 
> With the break point in my dresser rehab project (waiting for a day when I can spray the paint top coat on the dresser), I got started on my daughter's birthday party activity. Inspired by the Grasshopper pull toy posted by Marc Spagnoulo, I decided to adapt the idea as a birthday party activity for my daughter's 3rd birthday. My wife and I are a more of the hands-on "make it" type amongst a pool of not so hands on friends. I suggested the idea to my wife that, "the kids could paint them, and the dads can figure out how to assemble them". She chuckled and liked the idea.
> 
> ...


Why, indeed?! Sure to be a hit! Thanks for sharing.


----------



## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Birthday Party Activity [Part 1] - 20 Duck push toys need lots and lots of wheels*
> 
> With the break point in my dresser rehab project (waiting for a day when I can spray the paint top coat on the dresser), I got started on my daughter's birthday party activity. Inspired by the Grasshopper pull toy posted by Marc Spagnoulo, I decided to adapt the idea as a birthday party activity for my daughter's 3rd birthday. My wife and I are a more of the hands-on "make it" type amongst a pool of not so hands on friends. I suggested the idea to my wife that, "the kids could paint them, and the dads can figure out how to assemble them". She chuckled and liked the idea.
> 
> ...


Very nice idea! The kids will all love these. I want to do these with the hole offset (not centered in the wheels) as this give the ducks a neat waddle.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Birthday Party Activity [Part 1] - 20 Duck push toys need lots and lots of wheels*
> 
> With the break point in my dresser rehab project (waiting for a day when I can spray the paint top coat on the dresser), I got started on my daughter's birthday party activity. Inspired by the Grasshopper pull toy posted by Marc Spagnoulo, I decided to adapt the idea as a birthday party activity for my daughter's 3rd birthday. My wife and I are a more of the hands-on "make it" type amongst a pool of not so hands on friends. I suggested the idea to my wife that, "the kids could paint them, and the dads can figure out how to assemble them". She chuckled and liked the idea.
> 
> ...





> Very nice idea! The kids will all love these. I want to do these with the hole offset (not centered in the wheels) as this give the ducks a neat waddle.
> 
> - gfadvm


Nice idea. I wonder if I made a slight wobbly in eyeballing center when drilling the 3/8" holes.


----------



## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Birthday Party Activity [Part 1] - 20 Duck push toys need lots and lots of wheels*
> 
> With the break point in my dresser rehab project (waiting for a day when I can spray the paint top coat on the dresser), I got started on my daughter's birthday party activity. Inspired by the Grasshopper pull toy posted by Marc Spagnoulo, I decided to adapt the idea as a birthday party activity for my daughter's 3rd birthday. My wife and I are a more of the hands-on "make it" type amongst a pool of not so hands on friends. I suggested the idea to my wife that, "the kids could paint them, and the dads can figure out how to assemble them". She chuckled and liked the idea.
> 
> ...


I really think you need to offset the holes in the wheels (hard to do if you are using a holesaw to cut out the wheels). I'm gonna cut my wheels with a bandsaw.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Birthday Party Activity [Part 2] - Duck Duck, Goose?*

With only a few more weekends to go, the time will undoubtedly fly by before my daughter's birthday party. Knowing my track record, I opted to high tail it, so that I would be able to pre-prime the parts before the party. I managed to sneak some time in this weekend to:

Trace out and rough cut the remaining 16 ducks - I tried to do as much work as I could at home before heading into the shop. I've decided I need a new jig saw. My Skil (older version of the 4290 one) is very weak and deflects very easily. 
Pattern route out the ducks and round-over the edges - The flush trip bit I used needs a sharpening or to be replaced. Several of the ducks experienced some pretty bad blow-out, with one completely losing it's tail. Others had some significant chip out that required some work with the disc/spindle sander to smooth out (no one will notice the defects right? it only adds charm).
Sand the ducks with 120grit - This went along a whole lot faster than the wheels since the router left a cleaner edge, and the ducks were big enough for the ROS.










Next up, I need to:

Fill any of the big holes on the ducks and wheels
Cut the slots in the wheels for feet, to motivate my wife to cut the felt feet.
Sand the ducks to 220grit
Prime the ducks

As an interesting discovery for the day, as I was sanding, I noticed that 2 of my ducks are missing. I presume that someone declared duck season because 4 of my wheels are also missing too. Oh well, guess this means we can only have at most 18 kids.


----------



## GrandpaLen (Mar 6, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Birthday Party Activity [Part 2] - Duck Duck, Goose?*
> 
> With only a few more weekends to go, the time will undoubtedly fly by before my daughter's birthday party. Knowing my track record, I opted to high tail it, so that I would be able to pre-prime the parts before the party. I managed to sneak some time in this weekend to:
> 
> ...


...ducknapped???


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Birthday Party Activity [Part 3] - Start em early, start em young*

Yesterday was my monthly daddy daughter day (DDD). After a long day of activities and dietary violations (ice cream anyone), I told my daughter that daddy wanted to sand the ducks for her birthday party. Her response was "should I help?". So off the DDD duo went to sand all of the ducks. Most of the work was done by me outdoors, with my daughter safetly behind a closed patio door. After I was fairly confident I had blown away and wiped down all the dust from the ducks, I let her come out and "blow" off the ducks one last time.










Twenty minutes (and way too many giggles) later, my wife and I had one screaming toddler as we dragged her away from the compressor for dinner. But thanks to the sanding, I was able to spray on the primer today. With that, the ducks are more or less ready for the kiddos on the big birthday shebang. The conclusion of the weekend is…it's incredible difficult to get an almost 3 year old to keep her safety glasses stay on.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Dresser Rehab [Part 4] - Almost finished...well finished but some assembly required*

After an unexpectedly long detour detour to get my ducks in a row for my daughter's birthday party, I finally got to spraying on the paint for the dresser rehab. This was no easy feat, as I had to tackle two major roadblocks.

I needed to get over my fear of trying out a HVLP. Since I was using a Harbor Freight HVLP, I wasn't sure how well it would work.
I had to get my wife to mix the paint color she wants out of the 3 cans of General Finishes milk paint we bought a while back.

The main dresser body got 2 coats of Valspar semigloss. It took a lot of trail and error to thin the Valspar paint sufficiently to spray. Eventually, I found a 4-1 mix of paint, water, and a good amount of Floetrol was needed to get the viscosity cup to run within 20 seconds (per the Rockler manual). I suspect I probably violated some mixing guidelines, but overall there was decent adhesion and the results were quite smooth using the 2.0mm tip.










My wife had decided on "coral" as the color for the drawer fronts. I told her it was her responsibility to mix the GF paint for it (she used to work in a hardware store paint department). The hard part was getting her to do it so that I could get on the paint this weekend before the rain came. After about a week of daily nagging (we have some role reversals in our marriage ;-)), the paint was mixed this morning, and sprayed on two coats (1 before church, and 1 after). Two coats later, and we have coral drawer fronts. I also took the opportunity to spray on a coat of "coral" paint to the little rocking chair.



















Getting the right viscosity was a piece of cake. I did have to thin it with a little bit of water, but nowhere near as much trial and error as with the Valspar. In the future, if I do any more painting with the HVLP, I'll certainly be tempted to splurge for the General Finishes. All that's left, is to give the drawer fronts a few days to cure before I re-assemble the dresser and deliver it to the little princess. And just in time for her birthday too!


----------



## Sylvain (Jul 23, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Dresser Rehab [Part 4] - Almost finished...well finished but some assembly required*
> 
> After an unexpectedly long detour detour to get my ducks in a row for my daughter's birthday party, I finally got to spraying on the paint for the dresser rehab. This was no easy feat, as I had to tackle two major roadblocks.
> 
> ...


A late comment to #13

A trick i still have to try myself when cutting with a hole saw (don't remember where I have seen it):










With the drain hole, the sawdust should not accumulate in the saw track. Obviously the piece must be suported in such a way that the sawdust can escape trough the drain hole.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Dresser Rehab [Part 5] - Screwed...*

After a rather busy work week, I was confident that the paint on the dresser drawer fronts were fully cured. So tonight, I got to work attaching the drawer fronts to the dresser. The fronts were attached to the drawers with 3/4" Spax screws. When I got to re-attaching the drawer pulls, I found out that I was screwed. Well to be exact, the screws weren't long enough. somewhere between 1/2" to 3/4" too short that is. Guess it's off to the store tomorrow to buy new screws.

On the bright side, I got a chance to apply some touch up paint to the doors.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Dresser Rehab [Part 6] - Hardware tweaking and tangent...*

My wife wanted to re-purpose the pulls to a satin nickel color. After a few quick sprays of some Rustoleum spray, we have some "satin nickel" pulls.










While waiting for the paint to cure, we decided to move the dresser up to my daughter's room. It's already loaded up and ready for use. I figure I'll attach the hardware tomorrow night once the paint is cured. We still have plans to rehab my bachelor days Ikea dresser for use in my son's room, and told my wife I "need" another tool to effectively get the job done (efficiently). But in the meantime, I'll decided to tackle the dresser's weak point by gluing the MDF panels into the drawers.










About $250 (retail) worth of parallel clamps to tighten up 3 drawers in a $100 particleboard/MDF dresser. Somehow, that feels kinda wrong.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Dresser Rehab [Part 7] - Epilogue*

The dresser is finally done with the project posted! And my wife has turned around and asked for some work (strip and re-paint) to be re-done to my old bachelor days Ikea dresser for our son. My first declaration was (naturally) "I know just the tool to get the job done! But I don't have it so I'll have to buy it to get started. *wink*". I've decided to take a different approach with this project to "have fun". So for my first round of fun…mommy look where I found myself!


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Storage Crates [Part 1] - Furring strips! How cheap can I go?*

Sometimes I think my wife enjoys my hobby more than I do. After all, she keeps coming up with project upon project that she would like me to make for her. Having finally finished that upcycled dresser and shocked all of our friends with the duck painting kits for my daughter's birthday party, the took the day off to make some progress on the next 2 projects.

First on the agenda was to make some headway on the end-grain cutting boards for my in-laws Christmas present. Nothing exciting about these boards. The project was actually well underway. I finally built the router flattening sled today and took down the high spots. Using a 3/4" straight bit left a very rough surface, so lots of sanding is in order.

The other project are storage crates that my wife has wanted to help control our children's toy infestation. Her criteria was rather unique, wanting them to…

Be light enough to carry up and down the house (pine or plywood)
Stained to a light wood color (stain grade)
Fit under our dining buffet, as well as an Ikea shelf that has been re-purposed for toy storage (fixed dimensions)
Doesn't need to be "perfect" (#2 common acceptable)
Needs to be done last year (excuse for shop time)

She held off on pulling the trigger on some store bought staple joinery, and give me a chance to exercise my creativity in beating the price.

After sketching out my idea and coming up with a rough plan, I did some research to figure out the lowest cost I could pull off. Treating this project as an experiment, I decided to use furring strips to see how well they last. If all goes well, each crate will use only 2 furring strips, costing me $4.30+tax out of pocket, and allowing me to use up an overstock of hardboard that I have in my basement. Wish me luck!


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Storage Crates [Part 2] - Oh the pith =(*

Part one of the storage crate project began with material procurement. About a week ago, I went to my local Lowes to pick up as many straight-ish furring strips I could pull off. What I found is that either my local Lowes doesn't stock enough of the 1×4 furring strips or they are an obscenely popular product. After scouring through what was left, I walked away with 10 boards that were acceptably straight. Unfortunately, about 4 of the boards had the pith in it, so time will tell if these "prototypes" will stand the test of time.

After letting the boards acclimate for about a week, I was happy to see that they didn't deform as badly as I was prepared to. It helps since I am currently without access to a jointer, and I was crossing my fingers in hopes that I can cross-cut and clamp the boards into an acceptably straight panels. The accomplishments for the day were to…


Skip plane everything down to about 5/8" thickness
Cross-cut all the pieces into final length
Edge glue as many panels as possible. Run out of clamps halfway through and declare a project delay that requires more clamps. The irony is that I had enough clamps to do the panel glue-ups, but I ran out of short clamps (6"/12" F-Style) to straighten up the panel glue-ups.

While I was skip planing, I noticed that one board had begun to crack along the pith. Not really thinking much of it, I kept going and managed to get exactly enough parts for 5 crates. All was going smoothly, until the first panel glue-up exploded. I must have applied just the right amount of pressure to take advantage of the crack along the pith, forcing the board to shatter and pop the clamps out (and no I did not crank down). So down goes my hopes of 5 crates, and my wife will have to settle for 4. If that's the worst thing that happens during this project, I'll take it.



















On an amusing note, no project of mine is complete without some antics from my daughter (3 year old). My planer is a Porter Cable PC305TP with no dust/chip collection. After running the planer today, I was left with a massive pile of pine wood chip in my backyard. I let my daughter join me while I was working on the panel glue-ups when she declared that daddy's mess was a nest. She proceeded to plop down into the nest, like she does in the piles of leaves we rake up. Panel glue-up had to be put on hold, as I tried to clean her up in time for dinner. Pine wood chips and leaves…I suppose they do both come from trees.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Storage Crates [Part 3] - Wife needs to run a few errands = A lot less woodworking*

Public holidays are great for weekend warriors, who can pack in a lot of woodworking in a finite amount of time. After falling behind on my 2 day woodworking schedule (due to a shortage of clamps), I had high hopes of making up the time, getting through pre-sanding of all the parts so that I can handle finishing in the evening hours before assembly. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed when I was informed by my wife that she had lunch plans for us as a family, followed by many errands that would be more efficiently done if I stayed home to watch the kids. Since I wasn't crazy enough to watch a 3 and 1 year old with running power tools, I lost over 5 hours of daytime woodworking time.

What I was able to accomplish today, was the last bit of panel glue-ups, and sanding all the panels to acceptable flatness. On the agenda for next weekend…doing what I thought I could do today…in the cold…


----------



## rhybeka (Nov 8, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *Storage Crates [Part 3] - Wife needs to run a few errands = A lot less woodworking*
> 
> Public holidays are great for weekend warriors, who can pack in a lot of woodworking in a finite amount of time. After falling behind on my 2 day woodworking schedule (due to a shortage of clamps), I had high hopes of making up the time, getting through pre-sanding of all the parts so that I can handle finishing in the evening hours before assembly. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed when I was informed by my wife that she had lunch plans for us as a family, followed by many errands that would be more efficiently done if I stayed home to watch the kids. Since I wasn't crazy enough to watch a 3 and 1 year old with running power tools, I lost over 5 hours of daytime woodworking time.
> 
> What I was able to accomplish today, was the last bit of panel glue-ups, and sanding all the panels to acceptable flatness. On the agenda for next weekend…doing what I thought I could do today…in the cold…


I'll be out there with you pax! We just have to remind ourselves some shop time is better than none. And I'm sure your munchkins always enjoy time with their parentals good progress even if it feels tourtiseesque


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Storage Crates [Part 4] - Man is it cold... but thankfully I'm almost done?*

A little bit of work here, a little bit of work there. It is not fun woodworking outdoors in the cold. After a few days of scattered work, the crates are now assembled. I think the make-shift finger joints look quite nice.










Given my choice of material (SPF furring strips), and my low expectations for long-term survival, the crates are assembled with just screws (no glue). Each side of the crate has 6 screws and the hardboard panel is floating in the groove. My daughter had a blast being my assistant, handing me screws whenever I needed them.

Thankfully, the accelerated build schedule meant that most of the boards have stayed as flat as I got it (from skip planing and clamping during panel glue-up). In a few cases, my parallel clamps were put to work closing up the gaps before I pre-drilled and drove the screws. The inside faces are already sanded to 220 grit. Next up, flush trim the finger joints and sand the outside to 220 grit before stain and poly.

Speaking of finish, my wife gave me general guidance for the color she would like to see. I picked up some Rustoleum Ultimate Wood Stain a few days ago and stained one of the cutoffs. Two coats seems to do the trick.










PS: Yes I know that snipe looks horrible.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Storage Crates [Part 5] - Do you want to do some special painting with daddy?*

Braving the cold weather today meant I was able to finish sanding and apply the stain. Rather than spending the time staining on my own, I asked my daughter if she wanted to do some "special painting" with daddy. So off we went to apply the first coat of stain. All that arts and crafts time with mommy must have paid off cause this 3 year old did an awesome job. I decided to try Rustoleum Ultimate Wood Stain and was surprised to see acceptable blotching. The 1-2 hour re-coat time was also a nice perk. I think I may have found my inexpensive finish of choice. After bed time, I applied the second coat to get the color my wife wanted (she was OK with just stain on the outside.










Next up, applying the polyurethane. For this project, I'm going for Rustoleum Ultimate Polyurethane. Hopefully, I'll be able to give a thumbs up on that product too.


----------



## GrandpaLen (Mar 6, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Storage Crates [Part 5] - Do you want to do some special painting with daddy?*
> 
> Braving the cold weather today meant I was able to finish sanding and apply the stain. Rather than spending the time staining on my own, I asked my daughter if she wanted to do some "special painting" with daddy. So off we went to apply the first coat of stain. All that arts and crafts time with mommy must have paid off cause this 3 year old did an awesome job. I decided to try Rustoleum Ultimate Wood Stain and was surprised to see acceptable blotching. The 1-2 hour re-coat time was also a nice perk. I think I may have found my inexpensive finish of choice. After bed time, I applied the second coat to get the color my wife wanted (she was OK with just stain on the outside.
> 
> ...


Pretty fancy Storage Crates and they have a Green and Green (sort of) look to them.

I am a huge fan of keeping the youngsters active in the shop, at any level.

Best Regards. - Grandpa Len.
Work Safely and have Fun.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Storage Crates [Part 5] - Do you want to do some special painting with daddy?*
> 
> Braving the cold weather today meant I was able to finish sanding and apply the stain. Rather than spending the time staining on my own, I asked my daughter if she wanted to do some "special painting" with daddy. So off we went to apply the first coat of stain. All that arts and crafts time with mommy must have paid off cause this 3 year old did an awesome job. I decided to try Rustoleum Ultimate Wood Stain and was surprised to see acceptable blotching. The 1-2 hour re-coat time was also a nice perk. I think I may have found my inexpensive finish of choice. After bed time, I applied the second coat to get the color my wife wanted (she was OK with just stain on the outside.
> 
> ...


Thanks GrandpaLen. My wife is happy so far, and has ordered 8 more of them. I figure I'll see how these first 4 handle the test of time before making the next 8 (and maybe +4 as replacements to these 8).


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Storage Crates [Part 6] - Finished!*

After a few days of applying polyurethane, the crates are now fully finished. A total of 3 coats were applied each day for the past 3 days. With that, another project is finished!










Now for about a week of curing time, and then they can be put to use. When I declared project completion, my wife's response was "well, I still want to put some labels and rope handles on them." My response, "my job is done…."

Once the finish is fully cured, a new project post is in order.


----------



## gawthrrw (Sep 13, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Storage Crates [Part 6] - Finished!*
> 
> After a few days of applying polyurethane, the crates are now fully finished. A total of 3 coats were applied each day for the past 3 days. With that, another project is finished!
> 
> ...


Outstanding! I like the idea and may copy these.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Too many cutting boards...*

We had a slight break in the cold weather in my neck of the woods, so I ducked outdoors to do a bit of sanding of the cutting boards my wife asked me to make as Christmas presents for several of her family members. The router bit I used for my router sled left a bit of a mangled surface on the 3 end-grain cutting boards, so armed with a brand new Ridgid belt sander, I got to work with some cautious sanding.

I can't say I'm too experienced with a belt sander, so I am rather proud of myself for not de-flattening the surface (it's still very flat). At first started with 120 grit and a very low speed, but found that it took way too long. So after switching to 80 grit, I gradually raised the sander's speed and found a good rhythm. After dinner, I debriefed my wife on the following results:


I had very low expectations for dust collection on a belt sander, but I think I made the right choice with this Ridgid sander. One of my dust extractor adapters fit perfectly, and I was surprised by the amount of dust that was in my dust extractor and separator (probably somewhere between 50%-75% collection). 
The HF sanding belt cleaner was a God-send. I stopped to clean it off the paper every few passes to ensure that I wasn't wasting my time.
My MLCS router bits (I used a 3/4" straight bit for the flattening) are showing their limitations. It may have worked on the long grain but didn't do so well for end-grain. I will gradually be replacing them with premium bits (i.e. Whiteside) as they come on sale. 
If I am going to do more cutting boards, I'll be looking to buy a bigger and more premium bit for flattening purposes.

After about 2 hours of on and off work, I got 2 of the 3 boards sanded with the belt sander to 120 grit. One more to go tomorrow (forecast calls for 60 degree weather), and I'll be ready to put the edge profile on the boards before switching to the ROS for sanding through the grits to 320 grit.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*On the (business day) night before the Christmas (door decorating contest...)*

With Christmas just around the corner, I was gearing up to "close up" my outdoor shop for the winter. Work however, would have different plans. The Friday before the a Christmas door decorating contest, my colleagues and I were brainstorming decorating ideas. The design for our decorated door was coming into fruition when one colleague declared that I could make the tree and star for the door.

At first, I cringed, knowing that the weather was cold, and without a band saw readily available for use, the star would be a pain to make. Then I realized, this would be a great excuse/reason to finally mount and invert my jigsaw. So when I got home, I got to work mounting my jigsaw onto a scrap piece of plywood. Unfortunately I cheaped out and didn't use a big enough board. After some creative screwing to 2×4s and clamping to my modified store-brand workmate, I ended up with this "monstrosity".




























Ultimately, it worked out and I ended up two stars that looked something like this.










I pulled the jigsaw back out and cut out a tree.










My daughter, ever so eager to help, was put to task with the priming.



















And a splash of green and gold paint later, we have our tree and two gold stars.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Doll House [Part 1] - My wife asked if I wanted to do any woodworking this past weekend*

We've had unseasonably nice weather in my neck of the woods this past weekend. After a few days of family time and activities for Christmas, my wife asked me if I was going to take advantage of the nice weather this past Saturday to get some woodworking done. Since she offered, I couldn't refuse and wanted to come up with a project to work on.

On Saturday morning, I asked my daughter (she's 3) what she wanted me to make her, and she said a wooden cutting board. I thought it could be a nice experiment to try to mill some hardwood lumber with hand tools. While we were in the basement storage area trying to scrounge up a small pieces of hardwood, I spotted a project that has been in limbo, her would-be play kitchen. The design for the kitchen was completely borked, but it dawned on me that the parts could be redeemed to become a doll house for my daughter's new Christmas presents: Calico Critters and a matching furniture set.

This project is proving to be a good use of my stock pile of salvaged MDF and panel board. Saturday was spent cutting additional dados, splitting the carcass to make two units, and thoroughly sanding the parts. The evening and Sunday was spent priming the parts before assembly. I forgot to grab pictures throughout the process. I plan on assembling the carcass tonight, with some progress pictures.

PS: When I dry fit the project and asked my daughter what it was, she said it was a "bookshelf". She also tried to climb onto it.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Doll House [Part 2] - Wife says, "This is starting to become a complicated project"*

Got to work assembling the doll house today. With two units to assemble, I couldn't resist "justifying" my black Friday haul of Jet parallel clamps. Each unit went something like this.










I mentioned to my wife that I opted to use my best clamps first. She replied "of course, you have them". All in all, 12 parallel clamps for the glue-up. It feels like a cheap existence, clamping up MDF.

Once the carcasses were clamped up, I declared that picking the interior was now the next step. So my wife got to work picking out wallpaper. While I was scrounging up paint.










I think she got as far as cutting out 2 panels before she gave up. Meanwhile, I had pulled out every sample pot of paint we have in the house. We have a lot.










We ended the night with a debrief of my next steps for the project, to include sanding the exterior, finishing the paint job, attaching the back and wallpaper. She looked at me glossy-eyed and we had the following conversation:

Wife - "This is starting to become a complicated project." 
Me - "It always was a complicated project."


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Doll House [Part 3] - Half a house from Once Upon An Alphabet*

I'm down to the finish line for this doll house project.

*The Back* - When it came time to attach the back, I busted out all of my 12" F-style (got to use my Small Business Saturday and Christmas clamp purchases) and a few Quick Grips (SL300s) clamps to glue to back panel on. Once fully clamped up, I asked my daughter if she thought daddy needs more clamps. She said yes.










*Painting* - The paint scheme turned out to be a multi-part paint job. My wife caved and said to just use the random quart of red paint, and to go with a grey for the "roof". After the 2nd coat went on, the red proved to be more of a neon red than she had expected. She's now she's regretting my cheap decision to "just use it up". Nevertheless, one more coat of grey and the painting will be done.

*Faux flooring* - While working through the multiple coats of paint, we (that is, my wife thanks to the overpowering influence of pinterest) settled on a strategy to use vinyl stick on tile for the floors. A trip to Home Depot yielded all the tile we need. Cutting down small strips of vinyl tile sounds just as tiring and frustrating as it sounds, and the shorter strips proved to be very poorly edge jointed. The larger panels on the other hand turned out quite seamless.










*Half a house from Once upon an alphabet* - With the flooring put in, and one coat of gray paint from completion (before the weekend is through), delivery to my daughter is coming just in the nick of time. She's been obsessed with a new book of her's, Once Upon an Alphabet and apparently asked for the dollHouse from the book. That is, Helen's half a house from the letter H story. Based on the way this doll house is made, I think it's a fairly good match.


The two units side by side










Helen's half a house from the book










This will likely be the last progress blog post. My wife claims that more modifications are to come, including a bathroom setup for the lowest level, wallpaper for the walls, and a roof/attic that I am supposed to make and attach to the top. I think I'll be happy to get this project wrapped up so I can move on to making excuses about the next project.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*I went for some Swedish meatballs, and walked out with a bonus chuckle*

My 3 year old daughter associates the letter I with 3 things: her name, ice cream, and IKEA. This past weekend, I took her to IKEA to get ice cream, and to cause chaos running around the showroom. Armed with a bag (which was quickly forgotten) she got to work, wrecking a few hours of havoc in the store (and my psyche).










About 2 hours in, we got to the dresser section. While I was there, a husband and wife couple were "cordially" debating over the stained or laminate veneered Hemnes (their finger-jointed pine furniture). I couldn't resist eaves dropping to overhear that the wife prefered the white laminate veneered version because she didn't want scratches to appear on the dresser. That was the last draw and I felt compelled to intervene, explaining that a stained one would be far more repairable because it was solid wood as opposed to particleboard glory. The husband and I had a nod of "thanks for backing me up" acknowledgement. The wife silently ignored me, but I heard her message loud and clear. "Mind your own [insert words of your choice] business you [insert more words of your choice]." Thankfully, my daughter called me at that moment and we moved on. My only thoughts were "enjoy reaping what you sow".

So where was the bonus chuckle? Well to my utter shame as a woodworker, the second reason I was at IKEA was to pick up a white-wash stained Hemnes dresser. I promised to make a dresser for my son before he was born. He's now 1 year old and I haven't started. My wife is patient but not that patient. When she asked that I just get "something", I pointed to the the chips in our veneered Crate and Barrel furniture to point to, and told her she had 3 choices: the natural, white-wash or black-brown stained dresser. When I got home, I told my wife the story and she chuckled.

PS: The ice cream was a hit for my daughter, and my son's new Hemnes dresser reeked of pine resin. Go #2 common pine and all it's glory.


----------



## leafherder (Jan 20, 2013)

paxorion said:


> *I went for some Swedish meatballs, and walked out with a bonus chuckle*
> 
> My 3 year old daughter associates the letter I with 3 things: her name, ice cream, and IKEA. This past weekend, I took her to IKEA to get ice cream, and to cause chaos running around the showroom. Armed with a bag (which was quickly forgotten) she got to work, wrecking a few hours of havoc in the store (and my psyche).
> 
> ...


Great story. I worked in retail for 10 years, rule #1 - never contradict the wife in front of the husband. Although I am sure that at the first scratch she will be telling him "See that man in the store told YOU not to buy the white one." Of course one scratch will also mean that it is utterly ruined and she will have to get a new one which won't match the rug, and the new rug won't match the paint, and the new paint won't match the other furniture, and the new furniture won't fit into the room properly so a new house will be in order, which will mean all new paint, carpet, furniture, and by this point probably new husband.

Thanks for the chuckle - now I am craving those Swedish meatballs.


----------



## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *I went for some Swedish meatballs, and walked out with a bonus chuckle*
> 
> My 3 year old daughter associates the letter I with 3 things: her name, ice cream, and IKEA. This past weekend, I took her to IKEA to get ice cream, and to cause chaos running around the showroom. Armed with a bag (which was quickly forgotten) she got to work, wrecking a few hours of havoc in the store (and my psyche).
> 
> ...


No problem with IKEA furniture for a kid. They're going to trash anything you put in front of them, so you might as well go cheap. Once they're old enough, then build them something nice.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *I went for some Swedish meatballs, and walked out with a bonus chuckle*
> 
> My 3 year old daughter associates the letter I with 3 things: her name, ice cream, and IKEA. This past weekend, I took her to IKEA to get ice cream, and to cause chaos running around the showroom. Armed with a bag (which was quickly forgotten) she got to work, wrecking a few hours of havoc in the store (and my psyche).
> 
> ...


Great story! I especially liked the part about the wife! I know it's tempting to intervene like that-I've been there myself-but you must resist that temptation. Let them sort it out themselves-you knowing that a few months down the line, you'll be completely vindicated!


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Ribba must be short for Ribbaff*

The night before my trip to IKEA this past weekend, my wife asked me to pick up a few RIBBA picture ledges for my son's room.










At first I said "sure", until I saw the price. Sticker-shock is an understatement as we both agreed that the shelf is nothing short of a ribb-aff (rip-off). For $10 (the cost per shelf), I'm convinced I could make more than she 4 shelves that was requested.

When I was IKEA, I scouted out this RIBBA shelf and found that it was just 3 pieces of "IKEA-wood" mitered together. After taking a few measurements, I decided I would make them out of scrap MDF. So today, I got to work cutting the parts and gluing them up. I made a total of 5 of them with scrap material. If I were to price the material out, I'd say it cost at most $9. Another hour before the glue sets enough for me to sand them down.



















My wife mentioned that she was surprised I agreed to take on this project, but suspects that I was willing to take it on because it helps me use up material so that I can clear up room for more wood. I added that it makes me happy when I can say I "ran" out of clamps.


----------



## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *Ribba must be short for Ribbaff*
> 
> The night before my trip to IKEA this past weekend, my wife asked me to pick up a few RIBBA picture ledges for my son's room.
> 
> ...


When you shop at a store, you are paying for someone else's labor. If you can do it yourself, so much the better. When asked; "why do you make it? the answer is because I can.


----------



## darkone (Jan 16, 2013)

paxorion said:


> *Ribba must be short for Ribbaff*
> 
> The night before my trip to IKEA this past weekend, my wife asked me to pick up a few RIBBA picture ledges for my son's room.
> 
> ...


I was in the same exact boat. I saw the price and decided to make my own from some 1/2" ply. I tried MDF but I thought it was a little too heavy. I painted it black and I couldn't be happier. Good job!


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Workbench Time [Part 1]*

For a while, I had been working on saw horses with a melamine coated piece of MDF I picked up from the Ikea as-is section. After abusing that thing for 2 years, I figured it was time to embark on a build.

My goal for the workbench was to make it as inexpensive as possible. I first thought of going the 2×12 douglas fir route, but opted to liquidate my stash of MDF. The MDF was laminated with Titebond and wood screws across 2 sessions. After finishing the lamination, I double sticked tape hardboard to the top, squared the sucker up, and attached 2 layers of 4/4 white oak edging with wood screws. Dog holes were drilled 3" on center. Overall the top measures 2.5" x 26" x 50". The Kreg bench dogs and holdfasts work great.










The workbench top weights in just north of 100 lbs and has been quite the workout to move. It is currently sitting on my sawhorses with 2×4's propping it up. I figure I'll try out a few different heights to see if it works. The current height is right to my wrist and can withstand some planing operations. Once I build a base for it, I will settle on a front vise. I like the idea of flush legs for additional clamping options, and am leaning towards a french Roubo style base. I will probably gravitate towards a traditional front vise with hardwood jaws. For the end-vise, I didn't want to take up any more of a footprint in my basement. I decided to go with a Armor Tool Dog Clamp. Looking forward to it's arrival next Wednesday.


----------



## Handtooler (Jul 24, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Workbench Time [Part 1]*
> 
> For a while, I had been working on saw horses with a melamine coated piece of MDF I picked up from the Ikea as-is section. After abusing that thing for 2 years, I figured it was time to embark on a build.
> 
> ...


Great less expensive start to a real user.


----------



## Rob263 (Jan 23, 2017)

paxorion said:


> *Workbench Time [Part 1]*
> 
> For a while, I had been working on saw horses with a melamine coated piece of MDF I picked up from the Ikea as-is section. After abusing that thing for 2 years, I figured it was time to embark on a build.
> 
> ...


Nice looking piece!

The hardboard is only stuck to the MDF using double-sided tape? Will that hold up? What kind of tape are you using?


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Workbench Time [Part 1]*
> 
> For a while, I had been working on saw horses with a melamine coated piece of MDF I picked up from the Ikea as-is section. After abusing that thing for 2 years, I figured it was time to embark on a build.
> 
> ...





> Nice looking piece!
> 
> The hardboard is only stuck to the MDF using double-sided tape? Will that hold up? What kind of tape are you using?
> 
> - Rob263


Almost 2 years later it's holding up quite well. Using the stuff I got from Woodcraft


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Basement Wall Cabinets [Part 1]*

When my wife and I bought our townhouse, I promised to take on some DIY projects to improve the storage options. When I took up woodworking, I amended that promise to make cabinets to improve the storage options in our house.

Fast forward 7 years, I decided to finally get to the first project on the list. I picked up 2 sheets of 3/4 birch plywood from Home Depot on Friday night. Had them cut in the store and after moving them into my basement, I committed to breaking them down sooner rather than later. Well one thing led to another and I found myself cutting all the parts and joinery (dados and grooves) at my makerspace on Saturday night. I was quite happy to finally use my dado stack.

Sunday (today) rolled around and I finished the assembly in short order.










After posting my progress on Facebook with a snarky caption, I realized that I had some edge banding (wife wants frameless) and got to work banding the cabinets. Then one thing led to another, and now the final sanding is complete, ready for painting. I believe we're ready for some HVLP fun tomorrow.

So in summary, I think I am trying to make up for 7 years of procrastinating.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Basement Wall Cabinets [Part 2] - Done?...*

It occurred to me that it's been 2 months since I posted anything. I'm actually done with the basement wall cabinet build and install and posted it as a project in my gallery.

All in all, if I had to time the build, at most 25% of the actual working time was spent on the actual construction of the cabinets and doors, 75% on the finishing (experimenting with thinning and spraying the 5 coats of finish used: 1x primer, 2x paint, 2x water-bourne polyurethane). I for one am certainly turned off of using paint meant for painting walls in woodworking projects.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*First hand-cut dovetail*

Being bored one night, I decided to head down to my basement and give hand cutting a dovetail a whirl. I had never hand cut a dove tail before and drew the layout lines on a whim. After some work with a saw that was certainly not meant for hand cut dovetails, a coping saw meant for moulding not woodworking, and chiseling, I had my first (sloppy) dovetail.










Say what you will, I'm pretty proud of winging it and learning a thing, two or two hundred for myself.


----------



## rhybeka (Nov 8, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *First hand-cut dovetail*
> 
> Being bored one night, I decided to head down to my basement and give hand cutting a dovetail a whirl. I had never hand cut a dove tail before and drew the layout lines on a whim. After some work with a saw that was certainly not meant for hand cut dovetails, a coping saw meant for moulding not woodworking, and chiseling, I had my first (sloppy) dovetail.
> 
> ...


Great job jumping in, Pax! sometimes that's all it takes


----------



## ellen35 (Jan 1, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *First hand-cut dovetail*
> 
> Being bored one night, I decided to head down to my basement and give hand cutting a dovetail a whirl. I had never hand cut a dove tail before and drew the layout lines on a whim. After some work with a saw that was certainly not meant for hand cut dovetails, a coping saw meant for moulding not woodworking, and chiseling, I had my first (sloppy) dovetail.
> 
> ...


I spent 2 weeks learning and practicing hand cut dovetails at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine (OK, we did much more than that!) and I must say I am a big fan of the practice. It is a "centering" activity and the result is very satisfying. I own a Leigh dovetail jig and have permanently put it away. Every time I look at the new bench in my front hallway, I get the feeling of accomplishment. I'll never become a hand tools only woodworker, but there are some things that make me smile… hand cut dovetails top the list.


----------



## handsawgeek (Jul 31, 2014)

paxorion said:


> *First hand-cut dovetail*
> 
> Being bored one night, I decided to head down to my basement and give hand cutting a dovetail a whirl. I had never hand cut a dove tail before and drew the layout lines on a whim. After some work with a saw that was certainly not meant for hand cut dovetails, a coping saw meant for moulding not woodworking, and chiseling, I had my first (sloppy) dovetail.
> 
> ...


Good start!
The more of these you do, the better you will get. 
You will find it to be quite a deal easier if you use a proper fine tooth back saw or dovetail saw. You get much more control on the cuts than with a coping saw. 
I didn't even attempt hand cut dovetails until I had tried a few box joints. Needless to say, my first few attempts were dismal.
Woodworking is always a progressive exercise!


----------



## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *First hand-cut dovetail*
> 
> Being bored one night, I decided to head down to my basement and give hand cutting a dovetail a whirl. I had never hand cut a dove tail before and drew the layout lines on a whim. After some work with a saw that was certainly not meant for hand cut dovetails, a coping saw meant for moulding not woodworking, and chiseling, I had my first (sloppy) dovetail.
> 
> ...


You have started down a dark road and there is no turning back. You will never be satilfied with a simple rabbet and dado when a dovetail can be used. congratulations.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *First hand-cut dovetail*
> 
> Being bored one night, I decided to head down to my basement and give hand cutting a dovetail a whirl. I had never hand cut a dove tail before and drew the layout lines on a whim. After some work with a saw that was certainly not meant for hand cut dovetails, a coping saw meant for moulding not woodworking, and chiseling, I had my first (sloppy) dovetail.
> 
> ...


Thanks everyone. I didn't write it in my post but my two main takeaways from the first cut was that there are 2 immediate needs before integrating into a project.

I need a proper vise. The hand screw clamped to my workbench won't cut it.
As handsawgeek pointed out, a backsaw will be bumping up on my list of tools to get.

It also raises my interest/priority to finish off my workbench.


----------



## bobdobbs (Jun 28, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *First hand-cut dovetail*
> 
> Being bored one night, I decided to head down to my basement and give hand cutting a dovetail a whirl. I had never hand cut a dove tail before and drew the layout lines on a whim. After some work with a saw that was certainly not meant for hand cut dovetails, a coping saw meant for moulding not woodworking, and chiseling, I had my first (sloppy) dovetail.
> 
> ...


looks like a good start to me! I just embarked on the same trajectory. I decided to make my daughter a nightstand, thought dovetail jig was in order…saw a bunch of videos on hand cut dovetails…decided that the jig was out and learning how to do it without a jig was the ticket….realised that my saw sucked…bought a $40 dozuki (amazon, it's quite nice!)...decided I needed a vise to hold my work…which led to the fact that my work "table" won't accept a vise and house my table saw underneath…so anyway, spent the day cutting and laminating MDF and I like your idea of doublesided tape on the hardboard. I was toying with the idea of screws but thought it would look less than optimal.
Cheers!


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*

I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.

Upon arrival, my daughter knew what to do…head straight to the racks. My son was a bit confused.









Eventually, he got the hang of it and started calling out to daddy. I was looking for maple, but not 4/4









While I was busy pulling the boards I wanted down from the top rack, little miss and mister found creative ways to keep themselves entertained. I don't know how to compute the board-foot price of these two wrigglers.









All in all, a successful trip (the first of many more to come) before we trekked on off to Woodcraft for their sale this weekend. Now that I think of it, my son over 1.5 years old. I suppose baby isn't the right way to refer to him.


----------



## Redoak49 (Dec 15, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...


Sounds like good times and memories. You need to take a piece of wood that you bought and make something for the kids with an included picture…like a box with a picture mounted in the lid. A way to keep the memory alive. You could put future similar pictures in the box.

My kids are grown but my son bought some pieces of exotic wood at woodcraft for me last Christmas. I was thrilled.


----------



## Limerick (Mar 16, 2011)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...


Great story! Looks like alot of fun and memories.


----------



## Bigrock (Apr 16, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...


Where is your hardwood Dealer in Northern Va. ? I some have a very hard time finding a good Dealer here in the Richmond area of VA. 
Thank You


----------



## Bigrock (Apr 16, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...


Where is your hardwood Dealer in Northern Va. ? I sometimes have a very hard time finding a good Dealer here in the Richmond area of VA. 
Thank You


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...





> Where is your hardwood Dealer in Northern Va. ? I some have a very hard time finding a good Dealer here in the Richmond area of VA.
> Thank You
> 
> - Bigrock


We went to Northland Forest Products. Their Troy VA location may be closer to you.


----------



## Bigrock (Apr 16, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...


Hi again:
I forgot to tell you how nice it was seeing you, a father taking his children with him when you were 
Lumber buying. When mine were young they loved going with me. It was always a treat for me and surprised me what they learned to look for in material.
I forgot a couple of questions. I must have been sleepy at the time. Do they stock Quarter Sawn White Oak? How are there prices?
Thank You


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...


Nice trip with the kids. You are so lucky to have a store like that within driving distance.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...





> Hi again:
> I forgot to tell you how nice it was seeing you, a father taking his children with him when you were
> Lumber buying. When mine were young they loved going with me. It was always a treat for me and surprised me what they learned to look for in material.
> I forgot a couple of questions. I must have been sleepy at the time. Do they stock Quarter Sawn White Oak? How are there prices?
> ...


To answer your questions:

Yes I have seen quartersawn material there. Didn't specifically look for it yesterday.
Their pricelist is online. You can see the price list from the per store site. Here is the Troy VA price list.


----------



## playingwithmywood (Jan 10, 2014)

paxorion said:


> *Restock - Baby's first trip to the hardwood dealer*
> 
> I had to restock on some maple today, so I told my wife that I was off to the hardwood dealer in the morning and that the kids were coming with me. I was fine with my daughter coming with me as it wasn't her first trip with me. However this was a first for my son.
> 
> ...


great lumber dealer to welcome your kids through the stacks and a good father to teach them about real life so young… I hope you can keep directing them away from video games and using their hands to develop real skills that do not involve looking at a screen


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Workbench Time [Part 2] - Nice legs?*

After a few months of slacking off, I'm finally picking back up my workbench project. I purchased 3×2x10's from the big box store and had them drying in my basement for a few weeks.

The plan calls for legs that around 3.75" square, built up like a French Roubo workbench. Tonight, I got to milling the lumber. After filling the dust collector, I was finally done milling the material, and glued up the legs. I decided to glue up 2 legs per clamp up.










After finishing the glue-up, I restacked and stickered the material I milled for the stretchers. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to work squaring up the glue-ups and mill to final thickness next weekend.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Workbench Time [Part 3] - Ready to work*

Last night, after several nights of working on and off on the project, I finally finished my workbench and I couldn't be happier. There's still a few loose ends to take care of (adding the shelf for heavier tool storage. I will write more about it in the project post.


----------



## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *Workbench Time [Part 3] - Ready to work*
> 
> Last night, after several nights of working on and off on the project, I finally finished my workbench and I couldn't be happier. There's still a few loose ends to take care of (adding the shelf for heavier tool storage. I will write more about it in the project post.


I like the headline " Why buy it when you can make it" 
That is what inspires a lot of woodworkers and machinists.
Sometimes at end of project I think of how much time and money I put into my project…...it doesnt really matter…..I can say "I MADE THAT",


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *Workbench Time [Part 3] - Ready to work*
> 
> Last night, after several nights of working on and off on the project, I finally finished my workbench and I couldn't be happier. There's still a few loose ends to take care of (adding the shelf for heavier tool storage. I will write more about it in the project post.


I do it mostly to save money, because otherwise my free time would be spent spending money =)


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*Silverware/Cutlery Tray [Part 1] - Clamps - Got em? Use em!*

After finishing my workbench, I realized that I had no projects in progress. I mentioned this to my wife, and said I would finally get to the tea box she requested. As expected, she asked me to re-order my priority list and work on a more "urgent" project, a new silverware/cutlery tray. Ours has seen better days, with a few partitions broken for some time now.

After taking some measurements and working out "requirements", I set to work today. I picked several cherry offcuts and resawed the 4/4 boards to 1/4" and 3/8" segments. After cutting all boards to length and a few dados, I was ready for the glue-up. Before I walked away, I decide to add a "few" clamps to level off each of the segments.










With that, I think I am ready to walk away and let the glue set up for the night.


----------



## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

paxorion said:


> *Silverware/Cutlery Tray [Part 1] - Clamps - Got em? Use em!*
> 
> After finishing my workbench, I realized that I had no projects in progress. I mentioned this to my wife, and said I would finally get to the tea box she requested. As expected, she asked me to re-order my priority list and work on a more "urgent" project, a new silverware/cutlery tray. Ours has seen better days, with a few partitions broken for some time now.
> 
> ...


Great piece


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

*No hand planing for you = Crocodile tears...*

Premise: In the last few months, I had picked up a Woodriver low angle block plane and 2 made in America bench planes (a Stanley #4, and a Sargent #5 equivalent). Despite the acquisitions, I have been putting off the honing of the blades out of procrastination for some time now. This was mainly due to the knowledge that the 2 antique plane irons needed some serious work. After seeing this month's Woodcraft sale on DMT Dia-Sharp diamond plates, I decided to bite the bullet and go pick up 2 of them to augment my King waterstones.

On a whim, I decided to take my daughter with me to Woodcraft yesterday to get the waterstones. When we got there, she made her usual bee line to the rocking horse display while I spoke with an employee about getting the diamond plates I wanted. When we got back, my daughter was excitedly talking about how she found the hand planes (the Woodriver hand plane display). She was gearing up to show me when (with a low angle block plane) we were told that store policy does not allow for children (especially 4 year olds) to demo the sharp objects. To my surprise, my daughter reacted with the most heart broken stream of crocodile tears. The words that broke her silence…"the man won't let me hand plane!" One on side, I was sad to see my daughter cry (ice cream fixed that problem). On the other, I'm happy to see that my daughter is progressing nicely in her woodworking journey.

In the end, I went home (after an unplanned ice cream treat) with 2 new diamond plates. I got to work on the plane irons. The x-coarse plate worked well to flatten the plane iron backs and re-establish the bevels (I don't have a grinder). I now have my 3 hand planes in working order. I also let my daughter have a turn gliding my block plane over a piece of wood a few times this morning. I now have a jealous son (2 year old) who wasn't happy he didn't get a turn…queue the crocodile tears (again).


----------



## Handtooler (Jul 24, 2012)

paxorion said:


> *No hand planing for you = Crocodile tears...*
> 
> Premise: In the last few months, I had picked up a Woodriver low angle block plane and 2 made in America bench planes (a Stanley #4, and a Sargent #5 equivalent). Despite the acquisitions, I have been putting off the honing of the blades out of procrastination for some time now. This was mainly due to the knowledge that the 2 antique plane irons needed some serious work. After seeing this month's Woodcraft sale on DMT Dia-Sharp diamond plates, I decided to bite the bullet and go pick up 2 of them to augment my King waterstones.
> 
> ...


What a wonderful day for you! Ya got your DMT's and a young lass that wants to PROPERLY use woodworking tools. Show both them your love and guidance in their progression. I didn't have that opportunity, My father couldn't fix squat and mother fixed what was in reason. Both worked daylight till dark in their career.


----------

