I need a woodworker's AA.......

I admit it now. I think I have over extended even myself this time. Last night because there was no internet I spent a little extra time in the shop. Some of it was constructive and some of it got me into trouble.

flattened the workbench a little

No internet so I headed for the shop. I first honed my marking knife on my 8K japanese water stone (I was going to it throw away).  Noticed that the blade is getting loose in the handle. How long is this going to last before it's toast ?

After I was done with that and I had managed to cut myself twice, I looked around for something else to do. I came up with this. I put my wooden jointer back into action along with old salty for a partial workbench flattening exercise.

This is only after about 15-20 minutes work with both planes. There are a few low spots but the majority looks to be the same. I have seen workbenches much worse than mine. The back is the tricky spot. It's about 1/8" higher than the bench top so I still  have to take it down some more.

all the lamp parts sans the glass

I think the size of this flicker lamp is going to be just right. I had ordered two but one didn't survive the shipping trip. I got an eight foot cord and a huge in line rocker switch for it. I'll be making a trip to the glass shop this weekend if they're going to be open. (big holiday weekend)

oops have to re-do it

I couldn't leave this alone. It was for the cherry cabinet. It was a tad loose (side to side) so me being bored and brain dead, I decided to re-cut it. I reasoned that I could cut it on the line of the miter re-glue it and it would fit hand tight. Right?  Wrong, sports fans. I screwed up the cut when I didn't cut on the line of the miter. I made it worse when I tried to plane the joint on my shooting board.

I was able to shave it to get the cuts back to 45 but now it was a tad too short. I had made the errant over cut on the long piece. If it had been the short one I could have salvaged it.  FYI - cherry doesn't stretch no matter how hard you pull on it.

new clock dial

This dial confirms that I am in need of a 12 step program for woodworkers.  I now have in various stages of being done 1- dresser top mirror 2- accent lamp  3-cherry wall cabinet 4- clock project  5- perfume caddy,  and lastly 6- a saw till.

And I have been running through my mind making a stool or high chair. This itch started again when I read a recent blog by Sir Chris on saddling a chair seat.

accidental woodworker

what I did during the storm......

I finally finished the drawer support system I installed in my mirror project. I also got a suggestion for a fold out drawer thingie for the large drawer by the bride. I'm not sure I understood exactly what she said but I'm going with a single drawer here.

right side small drawer support/guides

mirror left side

The drawer guides on the outside are glued on the pine about half way starting at the front to the middle and just nailed at the end. The u-shaped blocks glued to the uprights are providing support for the drawer guides on that side of drawer guide system.



smallest of the small drawers

 I dovetailed the front of the drawers and the back is held in place with a dado. The bottom is a piece of  plywood. I'll be applying a 3/8" solid pine drawer front to these drawers.

head on view 

When I checked these drawers for square I found that they tapered from the front to back by a 1/16" strong. This means I didn't get the back cut to the correct length. These are lightweight drawers and I don't expect this taper to cause any problems.



drawers fitted and they slide in/out smoothly

 

sanded  

I lightly sanded the entire carcass to get rid of the pencil lines and the plane tracks. On both ends I found a furrow across the top and bottom that I couldn't figure out what caused it. Turns out my edge plane had a burr on the end of it that made this little furrow as I used it. Filed that off and no more furrows.

It must have happened when I played Mr bounce test with Mr concrete floor. Didn't notice it until I started to sand the ends.

 It is now tuesday, 30 August 2011, and I have been without the internet, TV, and land based phone since sunday at about 1400. This sucks. I can do without the TV and phone, but I feel lost without the internet.

 I had to write this blog entry at work. I had more pics to put in but it took me over 20 minutes to upload these. There are too many filters to get past but you have to deal with what you have to work with. No whining allowed.

So until I get my internet connection back at home I may or may not be able to continue this blog. So if I miss a day blame it on Irene.

accidental woodworker

free wood.....

Hurricane Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit my neck of the woods. Got lots of rain and wind gusts that knocked one good sized tree limb down. We had a few flickers of power going south but we never lost it. Two streets over they lost it and still don't have it.

The biggie was losing the internet and TV. The bride didn't like that. Me, I just stayed in the shop and played Mr. Woodworker all day.

View from the back door 



view from the other side  hill hid most of this view in the other pic



this is the biggest branch to break

If anyone is interested all this wood is being offered free of charge courtesy of tropical storm Irene.

accidental woodworker

Irene is a knocking.....

What do you do when there is a hurricane coming? You head for the shop and make something. If you're a hand tool wanna-be losing power is something you laugh at. As long as there is light so you don't saw off any fingers, you are good to go.

I am still putting the drawer guides/runners in for the mirror project. I got both of the small drawers done and I'm working on the larger of two small drawers.So in between waiting for the glue to dry I started this.

next project

Surfed the www to find out how to lay out an oval because 1- I forgot how to do it and 2- I can't find my oval making machine. Most of what I found on the web were written by Pinheads. Page after page of formulas and tons of extraneous info you don't need. All I wanted to know was how to lay out an oval. Period.

I thought the instructions I had in this pic would do the trick. All these instructions did was make me dumber than a box of rocks. I couldn't figure out anything from these. Down loaded two more and they weren't much better. Finally I said this isn't worth the calorie count, I'll free hand it.

my free hand 1/4 oval

The directions I used had a stick method for laying out a 1/4 oval and I tried it. However, comma, slant, backslash, I couldn't get it to work. The short axis worked but I couldn't get the long axis correct. The length kept coming up short. And my ovals kept coming out as footballs.  That's my freehand 1/4 pattern in 3/8 plywood.  A little bandsaw work and some time on the disc sander to fair it in and I was done.

my oval pattern

 I was thumbing through this notebook yesterday and when I saw this I knew it would make a good Xmas gift for my daughter. I never made this project and it's the same for most of the others in here too. I made a lot of plans when I was in the navy, underway.

I no longer have the hots for purpleheart and I have already nixed the other woods in this too. I'm thinking of using walnut for the main body with padauk for the wedge shaped piece, and maple if I can't find holly for the thin straight piece. I might use cherry for the railings for a contrast with the walnut.

Of course I don't have any of the woods or other supplies to make this. But I do have the pattern which will be handy once I start it.

For now I have to deal with Irene. I have already made two trips to yard to clear branches and one trip to clear the gutters. I hope it doesn't worsen because Irene is just passing through New York as I write this.

accidental woodworker

hurricane who?

A hurricane may be coming but it'll take more than that to slow me down. I have gotten a lot done on the mirror project in the last two days. Yesterday I got my drawer dividers installed and this is what I managed today.

right front view

Dividers are in and planed flushed with the uprights and side. The small 45 degree blocks are going to be used with the large drawer guide I'll be installing.

large drawer guides

I'm using white and red oak for the drawer guides. The drawers will be pine (or poplar) and I don't think I'll have to worry about the drawer wearing out this guide. If by chance it does, I secured these with hide glue so I can reverse it.

back of the carcass

I used my router with a rabbeting bit to make the rabbet for the plywood back. I squared up the corners with my 1" chisel. One consequence of sharp chisels it is very easy to stab yourself and draw blood. Before I could sharpen this well, I don't remember drawing blood as frequently with my old set of chisels.

plywood backs

 I did entertain the thought of putting in solid wood backs but vetoed that idea. With what I have here, I just glue them in place and forget them.  With solid wood I would have to deal with the movement.

I labeled these so I won't cut them up and use them for something else. It's something I have been known to do in the past.

small drawer hangers

had to nip the corner

I had to cut a small 45 on the larger of the two small drawer hangers. The 45 brace that is used for the large drawer guide runners is in the way. The piece of pine (white wood) is used to give me glue surface area because the hangers don't have squat for it.

first one in and cooking

This is it for today. Someone named Irene is coming for dinner shortly and I have to get ready for her.

accidental woodworker

I couldn't wait.....

Yesterday I got an email from LN about my lock mortise chisels. It seems there is a material problem of some kind and I won't be getting the chisels for another 2-3 weeks. I can't sit around with my thumbs up my butt,  so I dove into the mirror project and cut the half mortises with my chisels and xcut saw.

left side half mortises

half lapped drawer divider cut with xcut saw

At this point I had finished chopping the half mortises on both sides of the carcass. I had also completed the half lapped drawer divider for one side. It was then that I realized I hadn't taken one pic yet of what I had accomplished. Whoa. Good thing I still have to do the much the same on the other side.

I ripped two pieces on my table saw for the two drawer dividers from the pins first dovetail practice board. Everything else to put the two drawer dividers in place was done with hand tools. And I started by knifing the pencil lines for the mortises.

After that was done I made two saw cuts on the outside lines and then two in between them. Getting a chisel in to make the straight in cuts wasn't that difficult. The shelf isn't dead nuts flat but it really doesn't have to be that. Mortises done, I moved on to making the drawer dividers.

Left done, checking the fit

left side glued in

I made these to be proud so I can then plane them flush to the uprights.  I could have made them so they would be flush to begin with but I like doing it this way. I am a firm believer in you can always take a little more off, it takes an act of God to add a little more.

Rt side divider in the raw

square one end

mark it for length and cut that square

using old salty to sneak up on the fit in the half mortise  It took six shavings to get a hand tight fit

length ok    side to side fit ok     layout the half laps

checking the half lap fit ok

both glued  ready for the next step

Please ignore the idiot picture taker leaving the mallet in one of the worse spots possible in the picture. Looking at the picture I am thinking that maybe I should divide the center drawer too.

We'll have to wait and see. It's on to drawers and whether to make them insert or overlay.

accidental woodworker

lamp pt III

Dead in the water. Lamp project is at pt III, the cherry cabinet is covered with dust, and the mirror project is awaiting a LN tool (2-3weeks). A lack of dollars, wood, supplies, and tools has me at a screeching halt now.

all glued and nowhere to go

remember sticks

It may be a while before I will order the glass for this and I won't remember the measurements at all. I will probably write them down and forget where I put the paper. I came up with these sticks. It was almost impossible to get a measuring device of any kind in the interior of this project. I cut these sticks for the length and the two widths of the glass. Now I just have to keep everything together.

I found two websites that sell lamp parts. I bought from the first one and found the second one after that fact. I wish that I had found the second site first and bought from them.

On the first site I almost found exactly what I was looking for (had to settle) and the cost of the parts was 14.47. The shipping was 13.27. I also got charged 5.00 for ordering less then the minimum of 50.00. That last one leaves a good taste in your mouth. This site is www.mylampparts.com.

The second website I found after I had ordered already and I was just surfacing. The second website had what I really wanted, which was an edison base. I might buy it if the candelabra base I bought is too weak of a light. This site doesn't penalize you for spending less then 50 or at least I didn't see anything like that. They also have a much larger selection of everything.

I did notice that the first site price's on flicker lamps is a lot cheaper then the second one. But with the five dollar penalty it becomes the more expensive of the two. The second site is www.grandbrass.com.

preview

I took a couple of lids that I screwed up making and I'm using them to give me sense of the look/scale. Both the top and bottom are going to get a beveled edge as it's only treatment.  The bottom will get some kind of treatment in the way of feet to raise it a tad.

I'll get the frosted glass this weekend - maybe. Seems someone named Irene is thinking of raining on everyone's parade in my neck of the woods. We'll wait and see.

accidental woodworker

saw till pt 1

I must be brain dead or the two surviving brain cells I have left are both fighting for oxygen. I got a real bad itch for making a saw till. It got worse once I got back the saws that Sir Matt worked on. I got a few things going on and yet I'm adding  another project to pot.

I started a  workshop reorganization a while back (still on going) . I did a shakeup and got rid of a lot of tools that I just wasn't using. The drawers under my cabinets I found to be very handy. (thinking of adding more) All this got me thinking as to where in this phone booth of a shop can I put a saw till?

this is it

This is the only spot in my shop that I could put a saw till that is one step away from my workbench. Most of the stuff in this corner doesn't see a lot of daylight. I'm going to have to find another hole to stuff all this crap into somewhere in the shop.

all cleaned out

this space is about 25" wide and about 42" from the beam to the top of the receptacle

I am not going to have an open till. I want my till to have a door to keep out all the workshop dust. I haven't put anything on paper yet; I'm still running it through my mind. It will most likely be about 8-10 deep by 24 wide by about 40-ish tall. I am also fighting with whether to make it out of ply or solid wood. I'm leaning toward solid wood because I want to use DT's in the construction. This is subject to change w/o prior notice.

I'm trying to figure out how to get a double layer of saws stowed in the door of the till.  I have 5 saws - 4-26" long ones and one 19" panel saw I want to keep there. One monkey wrench thrown in for giggles - I want to be able to add more saws. At least one 18-20" rip panel saw once I find it in my flea market searches.

a little mock up work

I wanted to hang my DT and Xcut/rip bench saws by their handles in the till but there isn't enough room to do that. I am going to hang them in angled slots. I tried 45 degrees first but it stuck out way too much. I dropped it to 30 degrees and although I didn't recapture a lot of space, I am going with this one. With this set up I can always add more rack space for saws as needed (translation-as I buy more). And the 30 degree slot makes it easier to read what LN stamped on the saw.

First draft on saw storage

 You'll have to use your imagination here to follow along with my ideas. The bottom board will rest on the two short "stiles". The left side of the board will be hinged with a piano hinge. The other set up that rests on the two higher "stiles" will be hinged with a piano hinge on the right side. I will end up with five sides - one  bottom, and 2 boards that I can hang my saws on. The total depth of this including the saws will be about 6".

I think a pine carcass, dovetailed together with a 3/4" plywood back is where I am headed right now. I want the 3/4 ply so I can put a screw where ever I want. I would like to put a couple of drawers in it too.  And maybe a two panel door. Refrigeration for a 1/4 keg of frothy stuff. A lot of possibilities in the planning stages.

accidental woodworker

new design pt II

The lamp project is moving along in spite of my on the fly decision making. This lamp is less than then half the size of the first one so I am changing the light in it. I am going with a flickering light to simulate a candle. I'm also leaning toward putting in frosted or opaque glass vice art glass.

cooking away

I like to glue things like this up one side at a time. I find that it makes it a less stressful glue up for me. The downside is that I don't learn any new words that are in the expletive class.

I also decided to get rid of the heat thingie. Once I had mocked it up to get a look at it, the heat thingie was history. It looked somewhat alright, but there were some headaches with it. Like trying to fit the top on and gaps in the posts that would have to be filled. Too many fixes/work arounds to keep the look.  I mortised two 1/4" holes in each the four sides of the top assembly to act as heat vent holes.

problem area

I like the off set the assemblies give from the post but it presents a problem. The problem is where the glass meets and forms a 90 degree corner, you will see the raw edges of the glass. I don't want to get into leaded glass stuff so I have to think of another way to hide this raw corner.

this is my solution

instant edge problem remover

I cut these strips on the table saw so that the rabbet lines up with the top of the assemblies. I still have an off set on the posts/assemblies and the glass edges will be out sight in this rabbet. I now have to decide if I should stain this or leave it as is.

Lots of time to to make a decision, I still have to glue the other posts on.

accidental woodworker

re- design, old project.....

arts & crafts lamp with art glass panels

I made this lamp last year (?). I saw pictures of them on an Stickley furniture website and the price of them was wow - the lowest one was 600 dollars. I decided to make one myself and see if I could do it for considerably less then 600 big ones.

The biggest dollar item for me was the art glass. All the wood came from the scrap pile -  beech leftover from a bed project. I bought a porcelain lamp socket, a fluorescent lamp, and a cord with a switch. I had the walnut stain. The total for the project was about $45.

starting point

The four upright posts are leftovers from the first lamp I made.  The pieces cooking in the clamps form the top and bottom assemblies of the lamp. Once all four corners are set, I'll glue them to the uprights. The rabbet is where the art glass will sit. You can use glaziers points or silicone to secure the glass. (I've used both)

I used two red oak stiles from an old project that wasn't completed and was gathering dust. Got just enough to make these assemblies. This includes me cutting one with the miters going in the wrong direction. So instead of the assemblies being square (original plan) they're rectangular (faux pas plan).

these are for letting the heat escape

not made for this but it works

This black thingie is for making square holes out of round ones. It worked like a charm in cleaning up these 1/4" mortises.

heat escape thingie

When I was checking the fit of this thingie I decided to set it back from the front edge. This will give me a shadow line here at the top. So far I have beech, red oak, and mahogany in this project. I still have to come up with something for the top and bottom.

I would like to use beech for the top/bottom, but I don't have more of it. Pine is too soft and not the right look. I have some white oak I bought for something else that might work. However, I want to use beech that I don't have and need to get.

top/bottom sub assemblies

Another change in plans. Decided to stain these assemblies walnut. I want some contrast between the posts and these assemblies. The blue tape protects the area that gets glued to the posts from getting stained.

heat thingie cooking away

Since I decided to set this back to make a shadow line I might have a problem with it. By setting it back I made a gap between the posts and the heat thingie. It might be a problem or it could be a design  faux pas that might look good. I'll deal with it when it comes to mock up.

accidental woodworker