Watcha Makin'?

[Old Greenhorn]

Well no finished photos, not even close yet, but this is new for me so...
 I got a request for a sign mount, it's a 2' round sheet metal sign and they asked for a round frame. To me that means turning, and I don't 'do' turning. :D  I went back and suggested a rough wood cross type thing with a weathered barn wood look and 4 posts sticking up and notched so that the edges of the disc would be captured. They liked that, then asked if it could be backlit. Yeah sure OK, we'll figure that out later. :D I told them I needed to do some messing around to get the finish right.
 So now I am trying to figure out how to make new wood look like weathered grey barnwood. :D
I took a wire wheel to some pine and that sort of worked. (Felt weird to plane the board then hit it with a wire wheel, but oh well.)
 I then got some paints from a hobby shop and mixed white and black to make grey, then thinned it with water and dabbed and rubbed it in. It doesn't look too bad so far.


 

 I put some smears of black on it and smeared those out for some 'effect' (whatever that is). The physical texture is hard to show in a photo. I did catch it in the right light coming down the stairs and I think this catches it better.



 

 I think it will work out ok. This is really Tule Peak black magic stuff, but I am doing what I can with it and my limited abilities. The edges are tricky and I will have to practice some more on that part. This will have to be sealed in some way, which is another step to test. Right now I am waiting for this to dry before I try something else.
---------------------------
In older news I have been working on display and transport accessories for doing shows, I have another one next week:
 A crate for holding my beer caddies, brochure stands, and device stands.


 

A leaning rack for the coat racks I am trying to sell.


 

More beer caddys:



 

 I also made an umbrella type stand for my firewood slings, but neglected to get a photo of that.
 I'm staying busy anyway. ;D

[doc henderson]

you watch and someone will want to buy the big crate made to carry all the other stuff.    I know some use flame to raise grain.  I have used coffee stain and steel wool soaked in vinegar and brushed on. I think it may soak in and not look as much like paint.  I remember. @tule peak timber showing his arsenal of tools used to realistically distress wood to make it look old.  Around here, I could (and have) got trailer loads of old barn wood.  Glad you got some income producing, hopefully short turn around projects.  I think Howard of the elusive but famous project committee has said, he gets more referrals from these events than direct sales.  You could try things, and maybe make a series of finishes to choose from and save these examples to take along or have in the shop for future clients to peruse.

[Larry]

I have used coffee stain and steel wool soaked in vinegar and brushed on. I think it may soak in and not look as much like paint.  I remember. @tule peak timber showing his arsenal of tools used to realistically distress wood to make it look old.

A few months ago I did a little commission job that need a aged look.  I added some steel wool to a quart of vinegar and let it set for a few days.  Wiped it on red oak but the color was not dark enough so I had to wipe on strong tea (to add tannin for the chemical reaction) to get the color dark enough.  It was just a medium light gray.

Fast forward.  We are working on a large table that is a weathered root stump with a glass top.  This thing sets on a red oak base out of kiln dry lumber that has to match the color of the weathered stump.  So I pull out the left over vinegar mix from the last project....Wow, never would have believed how dark it left our little red oak test piece.  Back to the drawing board as it needs to be lighter this time.



 

[tule peak timber]

Soft pad with 220 grit and then lightly go over it with a Nylox wheel to get near your desired color. Seal and then color tone further in top coats with maybe a little spot glazing here and there. Spot glaze might be a little different shade of your background color. Looking good 8)

[Hilltop366]

Not sure about how to do the weathered look but if you are looking for a rough sawn look I had good luck using a chain saw, I used the chain on top of the bar and sweep the saw from right to left (starter cover up) so it does not dig in. This is using the side of the chain to rough the board and pulling the chain away from top of the bar so it is important to have the chain properly tensioned. It works great and is fast, the part that takes the longest is fastening the board down so it does not take off on you, I used tie downs for just making a few but would make something faster if doing a bunch. After the saw I gave them a quick rub with 60 grit sand paper with a random orbital sander to git rid of any potential splinters. Added bonus is with the grain opened up and rough surface it holds exterior stain well.

[tule peak timber]

Proof coat on the oak burl tabletop. 63 X 48 inches X 1.75 inches thick. Getting closer.

 

[doc henderson]

WOW!

[Larry]

Wanted something to hold my phone up to check work I do on the PC.  I think a useful item made from scrap that would go in the burn box.

I made the angle slot using my Bridgeport milling machine.  Since the slot is phone/case specific its not really a saleable item plus it takes too long to make one.  Working on a little different idea that will fit most phones and can be made lots faster using a different process. 

[beenthere]

Saw these..




Like yours better.

[Old Greenhorn]

I make those from the drops off of live edge stuff. I had a box of those pieces collecting dust and my wife insisted that I make something to sell for cheap at shows and she also asked me to make her one of these. Well, I made her one, then one for my desk, use it everyday, then I made a bigger one that holds up my flat screen monitor. I finally took the box of blocks and put random sized slots in them on the table saw (multiple passes at 5° angle on the blade. I put finishes on them whenever I happen to be finishing a real piece, again, random finishes. Some tung oil rubbed, some poly, whatever. I sell a few at every show, started out with about 20 in the box and only have 5 left. The next batch I will do with a dado blade to save time, but I am out of drop and am now searching for pieces to cut up. I also have gotten requests to make these for record albums from a music store owner, actually two. Still working on that one, need wood.
 


 

The issue with these is that it seems like every device is a different thickness. SO I randomize them but put bigger slots on the deeper blocks. Also, the slot has to be deep enough to keep the device from flipping over backwards. I ignore the charging cable issue. Just turn the device sideways. ;D

 Obviously mine are cruder than yours, but I only charge 5 bucks a piece. Next batch the price goes up a bit. I also made some for my business cards that I scatter around the booth. Small blocks obviously and have sold a couple of those when other vendors commented on them. Last show I had some crate pieces laying around and I made a couple of card holders in a tiny crate style that would hold about 50 cards. I was tired of digging out and replacing the smaller ones all day. Well another vendor (a wood turner) saw them and talked me into selling him one for the same reason I made them. Those were so simple I never even shot a photo of them.

 What you got there Larry is very nice and I would think it would sell for 20 bucks or so, but a lot more work than the ones I make of course. As you noted, fitting for a device is on a case by case basis, which is why I take the easy way out, go random, and tell folks to try them on their devices before they buy them. It's just a cheap little thing in the booth to engage folks and get them talking. They get a kick out of it when I can pick one up and match it to a piece of furniture in the booth where I cut it off. I have had several women buy them for their tablets to use in the kitchen when they are cooking and following recipes.

[Don P]

I made something slightly similar for my wife's farmers market booth. Scraps of 2x4 with an angled slot, in her case they hold small pieces of 1/4" ply painted with chalkboard paint. She can write a label and price and put it beside a tray of whatever or beside an item for sale.

Most of what I've done is service work, construction, but it gets into repairs and millwork at times. Raining again so I'll glue this up and call in for glass today. Just a simple barn window.



 

The tools and hose end to the right.. someone decided to chew on my air hose yesterday. I always wanted a short one for the shop  : it was fun watching his reaction to the sudden hissing snake :D.

[burdman_22]

Since we were sharing phone holders...no phone in it, cause I needed to take the picture. Made them out of scrap 4x4s, and the first two were made by accident when I was trying to cut a 4x4 in half with a 45 degree angle....blade wouldn't reach all the way through, so was going to make two cuts. Dropped the piece of wood on the floor after the first cut and it broke evenly where the cut stopped...it made a perfect phone holder. Now we use them to hold the phones horizontal for watching shows and such.



 

[Old Greenhorn]

Hey Burdman, that's pretty slick. I may steal it or modify it, then steal it. :D At 45° does your phone tend to want to flip over the back? Mine generally hold the phone or device at between 0 and 15°. I have been thinking on ideas on how to make one where it's easy to keep it in the stand with the charging cable attached.  I am always hearing stories about phones on charge that catch fire from the batteries overheating. So I charge mine in a stand (so it's not laying flat on papers or something and lay it on the long edge to get the cable in it.
 I do like this idea you have though. 

[TroyC]

 

 
Definitely some neat ideas here. This is mine, made from thin left over scraps. Make parts from longer pieces and cut to length and glue together. Holds phone and tablet at the same time.

[Old Greenhorn]

Nicely done Troy. I think my mental image of you from here on is going to be "Oh yeah, he's the over achiever". :D :D
 That looks way to nice for any of my stuff. ;D

[burdman_22]

Hey Burdman, that's pretty slick. I may steal it or modify it, then steal it. :D At 45° does your phone tend to want to flip over the back? Mine generally hold the phone or device at between 0 and 15°. I have been thinking on ideas on how to make one where it's easy to keep it in the stand with the charging cable attached.  I am always hearing stories about phones on charge that catch fire from the batteries overheating. So I charge mine in a stand (so it's not laying flat on papers or something and lay it on the long edge to get the cable in it.
I do like this idea you have though.

No problems with it flipping over, but again, this is for holding the phone horizontal (landscape, not portrait). If I put the phone in vertical it may want to flip. I liked mine just because it is super quick and easy to make. One or two cuts, a little chisel work, and then sand and finish and done. (We made 6 of them one night in about 10 minutes)

[mapleack]

Small board as a gift for my gf's parents. 


 

[aigheadish]

Beautiful mapleack!

I'm making a bridge over my dry creek. I've rebuilt this bridge a couple times now and this time I put two healthy 2' in diameter culvert pipes in the ground. The creek is usually fairly dry but we do get the occasional storm that will flood a good deal of the back yard and wash the bridge to the back couple acres out. I'd previously had three 12" or so pipes that got clogged up and were too short, so that allowed dirt to roll off the sides making it scary for the bee guy to drive his truck across and terrifying for me to drive the backhoe across. I've had these pipes for more than a year and was hoping to have my rock screener done, so I could sift all the dirt from the previous bridge build and harvest some rocks from it, but I forgot about the screener. 

I dug a hole tossed the pipes in and got them squared away pretty well, then dumped a bunch of dirt and rocks and junk back on top. They look shallower than they really are and I've piled dirt on top of them quite a bit. I took the backhoe over (around 14000 lbs.!) for the first time in probably over a year yesterday and we didn't see any movement, other than dirt compacting a bit. Feels good. There'll be some more cleanup as time goes on, and I'll level things out better and extend the bridge entry and exit a bit, and maybe put more dirt on top. I also cleared out some of the brush, over to that tree, on the right side to widen the path a bit, as the wife has a garden on the left side (behind the bucket), though it's a bit overgrown.



 

[doc henderson]

what are the wood species Mapleack?
walnut, curly maple and purple heart?

[mapleack]

what are the wood species Mapleack?
walnut, curly maple and purple heart?

Doc,  exactly right.  

[tule peak timber]

I've spent the last couple of weeks grinding out stair treads for a tower in one of the local wineries. In addition to the treads, risers, landing t&g material, landing leaders, base and trim are part of the package. The treads are gunstock walnut, with a 2" thick bullnose, finished in a custom colour hard wax oil. The landing material is 550 sq. ft. with 50 treads and risers. I'll be taking this weekend off!

 

 

 

 

[Brad_bb]

@tule peak timber What are you calling Gunstock Walnut?  Can you explain what that is?  I'm thinking it's from the root feet of the stump?

[doc henderson]

looks like a lot of character.

[tule peak timber]

It is just a higher grade of English Walnut. Older, more figure, usually larger logs, and way more expensive.
  When a block of walnut trees in the central valley comes up for sale the brokers go in and select the premium burl trees first for the automotive guys, then the gunstock guys take the best of what is left for their high-end use. What is left over is what I normally purchase as lower grade English, usually with the graft intact. Roughly this is how it goes out here.
  Loads of walnut logs run from 15 cents a pound to over a dollar a pound for a 40–50 thousand-pound load. 
  Good English logs have tremendous figure throughout the heartwood and when cut correctly yield all the flames, marble cake etc, that is so pleasing to the eye, whereas lower grade English has a lot of sapwood and just a "Walnut" look inside.
  

This little 4 foot stack of ugly boards is what is left of a mid priced gunstock truckload that I made the treads and flooring from from. A lot of work and laminating but I can't afford to waste any of it. A shot of the winery main floor done in lower grade English I did for the same place.

 

[Walnut Beast]

Very impressive! Very beautiful work!!