Staying Busy and out of trouble, 2020-21?.

[Don P]

Waiting on my partner to say he got the lull to fire and I'm out the door. I've run into something kind of similar recently, in this case the builder violated clearances. Take a look at, I think, a UL 1777 rated liner. I was on Rockford Chimney's site when I found a kit, there are others. That work is way down the road for me and I need to talk to the inspector about it beforehand so put it on the back burner.

[Old Greenhorn]

You haven't been able to inspect my work up close, but uneven joints gaps are a consistent feature in my work. It's kind of like my signature. :D
8)

[doc henderson]

if the landlord goes slow, can you buy parts and fix it, and take it off the rent next month.  then you know it is right.  It is part of the heat and essential.  In Ks we have provisions for that.  
I know you are staying busy, but what evidence do we have that you are staying out of trouble?  been meaning to ask.   .  sounds like you are the leader in your family.  lots of experience and skills.  your projects are looking great!

[Old Greenhorn]

I'd rather not get in the middle of that. We will see how he proceeds. Not sure when I will get up there to take a look at it and what can even be seen before the tear out. I believe it is a thimble issue, but now that the building inspector is involved, best to let this follow the proper course....until it doesn't.
 Don, I could not find 1776, but I did find 1777 so I think that's what you meant. First we need to see what the problem really is and how much needs to be re-done the right way, a recurring theme with this house.
 Doc, right now, I don't have the time to get in trouble (nor the funds) so all I do is keep things going and warm and try to get work done everyday. I am starting to bore myself just a little nit being able to sneak in a gig here and there and I suspect some kind of urge may be welling up inside me. For now I will keep that cat in the bag. ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

   I thought the same only with less detail, as Don on the liner. I have used them in the past with great success. I am thinking this may be a very quick and easy fix. I really think a stainless steel liner should be mandatory on all chimneys. Makes them lots easier to clean too. 

[Don P]

Yup UL1777, I caught and edited it just before DB called to say he was rolling.
Here's the code reference, its a good chapter to review as well for anyone working on a chimney or fireplace. Pretty much stock language in most state codes.
2015 VIRGINIA RESIDENTIAL CODE - CHAPTER 10

The UL 1777 callout is section R1003.11.1

[Old Greenhorn]

Unrelated to absolutely anything I came in the shop the other morning and found that somebody had put this magnetic sign on the back of my Mule.

 
Yeah it was my son who is finally learning the art of practical jokes. Pretty funny I thought. So then I thought about my neighbor who just got a new triaxle log log truck with a grape. I wonder if I could sneak that on there. Just picturing somebody following that truck down the road. :D :D

[WV Sawmiller]

  One of the best practical jokes I ever heard about was a lady bought a new car and her next door neighbor would sneak out and add a gallon or two of gas every day or so. He asked her one day how she liked her new car and had heard they got good mileage. She said she loved it and it was getting 90 mpg. Then the neighbor started sneaking out and taking a gallon or two out. He asked her again a couple weeks later about her car and she said it was only getting 12 mpg. He told her "Yep, you took it in for service and they found they had left one of those new experimental carbs on there and they replaced it with the regular one." He heard later the lady went back to the dealer and raised Cain with the dealer demanding they put that experimental carb back on and of course the dealer had no idea what she was talking about. 

[doc henderson]

do they have a caution for elderly retired machinists?  

[Old Greenhorn]

I hope not

[gspren]

do they have a caution for elderly retired machinists?  

Hey! I fit that description! Actually maybe I should have a caution sign. :D

[WV Sawmiller]

do they have a caution for elderly retired machinists?  

They probably need a bright flashing strobe light and siren for that one. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Nah, machinists do everything with precision, we don't know any other way.

 Today I took all the clamps off the cherry Bench and am pretty happy, the legs are dang square and there is no rock that I can see, so I avoided all that after glue adjustment. But as happens with epoxy, there are always gaps to fill and I want this perfect. 
 So I rough sanded all the corners to blend with each other and that looks pretty good, actually real good. Then I masked it and set it up on a 45 to allow the epoxy to lay in the crack and perk on down. Poured the first joint and went onto other stuff. 
 The maple test bench is looking pretty good and all I have on it is Danish Oil so far, which has now set, so I decided to go ahead and just wax it.


 

It's going to take a few sessions to get the wax right, I am not so good at it and I keep getting wax blobs here and there. It's either technique or the right buffing rag, I will figure it out eventually. That little bug defect came out fairly nice for bringing out the waterfall effect.




After that the Cherry bench epoxy was cured enough that I could flip and pour on the other inside corner joint.  Unfortunately, that one had a small leak and I tried too late, to *DanG it up. Will have to wait until tomorrow to see how bad it is, I might have to do it over after some cleanup sanding. Not a big deal, just lost time. Anything worth doing right is worth doing twice, right? I want this right, I think it is going to be a sweet piece. I spent a good chunk of time researching finishes for this bench today. I am figuring it is time to kick it up a notch and try something better. So I found that minwax makes a product called Grain Highlighting Finish Wax, which is used before their Soft Touch Finish Wax. This is supposed to make the grain pop. It is not cheap (by my reckoning) but it is not really expensive either, so I started looking for a distributer. Lowes carries it, but is out of stock locally. As I need to make a harbor freight run anyway, I will drive up to Catskill and do harbor freight then head to the lowes up there which has it in stock and pick up more epoxy too. Going to be an expensive day for me. So that's the plan for tomorrow morning anyway, but the wife wants to 'keep me company' for the drive, so it might take the better part of the day.

[doc henderson]

after I put wax over Danish oil, I use 000 steel wool for a light rub and to make it all consistent.  It was the final step on my favorite walnut bench I ever made.  the grain wax I am not familiar with, and it may just have stain or color added, so do a test piece first I would say.  looking great.  



 

wedding bench for my cousin.

[Old Greenhorn]

OH thanks for that Doc, great idea! I will give that a try this afternoon.
 If you search the name, you can find a video tutorial on its use from Minwax. I think it is worth a try because I have other projects I would like to use this on if it works. Besides, knowledge is power and even knowing what doesn't work has value.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well today was mostly a lost day, as planned we made to the drive to Harbor Freight and I stuck to all the stuff on my list and only made one extra purchase for an angle gauge I saw and needed (can't find either of the two I already have, for months now). I was tempted a few times to grab other stuff, but there is a budget. I could easily blow 500 bucks on general supplies in there. Then we went to Lowes and wow, that is a much bigger and nicer store than we have here, cleaner too with lots more stock and items. I got the two waxes I wanted and a new can of linseed oil (mine is 50 years old and a tad 'stiff'). The wife browsed and as if by magic, she 'found' some stuff. :D So between the 2 stores, our wallets are lighter by about 250 bucks. We got a cheap lunch at a drive through, don't do that often and did the hour drive home.  I unloaded and put stuff away and it disappeared into the woodwork, mostly I just got cheap throw-away supplies and some bar clamps which I never have enough of....ever, 6,12, and 24". Got a bunch of moving blankets to cover my finished projects, some chip brushes, carpenter pencils (they always disappear), that spray gun that Rob recommended, paint filters, rags, and some other stuff. By the way I have to check with @tule peak timber and pick a bone with him, He said "get the purple one for around 16 bucks", so I did, but there are 3 purple spray guns and 2 of them are 15 and 16 bucks. Hope I made the right choice. ;D
So when I finally got down to work I did some cleanup sanding on the Cherry bench and poured some more cracks and tiny holes in joint edges. Then I got the drops and started doing some finish samples. I tried the new wax treatments on bare sanded wood, and also on a sample that had Danish oil on it. I had already done one in plain wood with just paste wax. Photos don't work for squat with this stuff, but here are the samples:
 

 

In the photo, the top sample is with the Minwax Grain Enhancer and it's associated wax, the middle sample is just minwax paste wax on bare sanded wood, and the bottom is Danish oil with the grain enhancer on top. I have discarded the Danish oil from consideration, don't like it. That leaves the top two and there is only a very subtle difference between the two, but even after laying out all that money for the 'grain enhancer' I think the plain paste wax looks better, but it's a toss up, they are so close. (The cost of education ain't always cheap.)
Unless something else comes along ( I have not tried the linseed oil yet, tonight or tomorrow) I will pick one of these. I am thinking simpler is better. My daughter is a kitchen designer and install project manager and she has done a lot of Cherry counters and cabinets and she tells me I have to be patient. Every cherry job they have done looks like this wood does when installed, then when she goes back in a year the deep dark cherry color is coming out and it looks totally different. The first time she saw that, she thought the client had new cabinets made because they looked so different and she had just reviewed the installation photos before her visit. So I guess this wood requires a little faith. ;D My daughter has never lied to me (that I know of). :D
I'll get back out for a little bit after dinner when I fill the stove.
Not much of a day, but progress continues.

[tule peak timber]

The difference in price is a meter and valve for pressure adjustment. Also they sell a little water inline desiccator which work pretty well a good idea.... I have no idea how they produce and market a gun that is at least as good as the big$$$ ones for 16 dollars ?? Cheers Rob

[Old Greenhorn]

Thanks Rob, I will check again and see what I bought. ;D I was just searching for where you recommended it to see what we are taking about so I could go find the finishes that would go through it, but I haven't found that yet. I have been reading the instructions on every can of finish I see in the stores now loooikng for spray application instructions and the all say 'brush or wipe', so it may be a while, but I have to find that section of the thread now that I think I have narrowed it down to the right thread.
 Thanks again, will let you know how badly I mess this up. ;D :D

[tule peak timber]

after I put wax over Danish oil, I use 000 steel wool for a light rub and to make it all consistent.  It was the final step on my favorite walnut bench I ever made.  the grain wax I am not familiar with, and it may just have stain or color added, so do a test piece first I would say.  looking great.  



 

wedding bench for my cousin.

Doc,  stick some scotchbrite fine or medium grade on an orbital sander,,,and start smiling. Nice looking project  Rob

[WV Sawmiller]

OGH,

  Sounds like you had a good day. I like to go to our local HF and the moving blankets, magnets, 97 cent shop brushes (They may be more by now). 6 packs of work gloves and cheap nylon tarps are some common items I get there. One of the managers is a customer of mine. he repairs old spinning wheels and buys cherry slabs to use for that and last time he spotted a handful of cherry stickers I had saved when edging some boards and he bought several of them. If he is on the register I get employee discount although I never ask for it and have told him it is not necessary.

   I made this as a prototype coat rack after seeing something @alan gage  made and showed on his retail store thread. I took an approximately 24" long live edge 4/4 black walnut "cookie" (?) with a lot of sapwood and marked and cut it roughly in half with a circle saw. I planed it to a consistent thickness between 5/8' &  3/4" I guess. I quartered a walnut cookie and in the end only used one quarter of it as a brace. I had extra length on the hanger screws so I screwed them on to the top half of an ash board I had ripped at a 45* angle to make my first ever French cleat. I hung it on the end of my barn as a test and realized I had the cleat hanger backwards so I removed the screws and rehung them. I wiped all exposed surfaces with tung oil.


 I decided one brace was plenty and attached it with a long screw through the back. I did not attach to the top. I did have 2 exposed screws on the top and next time I may use a 1"X1" sticker on the back and attach to the top and back from both directions. Also cutting with a circle saw was a mistake - I need to make some kind of sled and cut my. next piece on a tablesaw for a more accurate cut so they fit better. I added a small spacer block so the rack mounts flush against the wall with the French cleat.

   I started 2 walnut benches but will list that elsewhere.

[Old Greenhorn]

Doc,  stick some scotchbrite fine or medium grade on an orbital sander,,,and start smiling. Nice looking project   Rob

ARRGH! Another neat trick from the master..... After my shopping trip. ;D I will have to look and see if I have some laying about, I should. I like scotch brite better than steel wool.

[Old Greenhorn]

ARRGHHH AGAIN!!!! I was just planning my week out and planning on finally getting to the county clerk now that things seemed calmed down. We have the boys tomorrow, so I figured Tuesday I would go down. As I am reading my email a few minutes ago and learned that just today they have closed the county offices again because of the spike in positive cases. ARRRRGGGHHH! I should never have delayed when it smoothed out. I confess it's hard to understand why the county offices deserve more protections than the cashier at any grocery store, but oh well. I will give them a call tomorrow and see if anything can be done. Otherwise, I wait some more. Geez this 'new normal' is getting old.

[Old Greenhorn]

Disclaimer: in the following post it should be clear that I am not boasting about this piece. There are so many others here on the forum whose skill and deftness far exceed what I can offer on my best day. By comparison I am but a bumbling hacker. I am simply tickled pink that I didn't screw this up too much.
 So this morning I sanded all the little tiny epoxy fills on the Cherry bench, then I worked my way through the grits down to 320. After that I hand sanded any larger epoxy areas (there are only a few), with 800 thru 3000 grit to make it as clear and smooth as possible. About that time as I was letting the blood back into my finger tips, @nybhh showed up for a visit. I walked him through all the finish samples I had done and got his opinion on a winner. He came down to the same 2 I picked and we settled on a final winner. Hand paste wax over linseed oil. I showed him the test bench too, and he didn't hate it. ;D
 He seemed to like how the Cherry came out, so while he was here, I laid down some linseed oil and we both like the way the grain started coming through. I think we both got a little excited to think how this will look when it ages a little and darkens up. After he was gone, I finished the first coat. It was warm in the shop, so it soaked in in short order. A while later I did a second coat. Of course, oil raises some grain and I found some spots that need re-sanding and of course the whole thing needs another fine sanding before another coat, but it is looking fairly good. In a NYC market, this would probably be a $750 bench or better. The joints were what I was sweating and I wanted to see what Brandon thought of them. He gave them an 8 out of 10. I had given them a 7. I'll work on that with the next one.
 This wood brought a lot of character to the table. Keep in mind that all the cracks you see have been filled with epoxy so it is glass smooth all over. That is not clear in the photos. So in no particular order:
One of the branch bumps, maybe I should have cut these back to the bench profile, but I left them as found and just smoothed them off.
 



The long view.


 

The other long view.


 

Bottom side.


 

Corner joint, pretty happy with the even epoxy line on this but I know it is not perfect.


 

The grain is starting to show and it is young yet.


 

Anyway, I am pretty happy with it. Looking forward to the final sanding, then getting some wax on it. This should be real pretty. Wish I had an NYC outlet for it, but we can work on that down the road. Now I am thinking about the next project, I will play some more with these blind spline joints until I get it right. Pretty soon I may be half competent at this.
 I may do another oil coat tonight, then tomorrow is another day.

[nybhh]

Here is one of the pics I took that shows the nice contrast between the heartwood and sapwood during that first oiling and as you mentioned, this should increase and become even stronger as it ages.



Seems like most projects that use cherry try and avoid this heartwood/sapwood contrast but I feel like this piece is really enhanced by it as it seems to reinforce the waterfall effect.  It really does look like its flowing over the edge.  Great job!  

[WV Sawmiller]

   I did not mention it the first time but I really like those cut off limb stubs. I think they add a lot of character and I really like the way they finished in your photo.