Watcha Makin'?

[Brad_bb]

Having a local guy build a 3 panel walnut door for me.  I have too many irons in the fire to do it right now.  I am supplying him with the material.  The rails and styles need to finish at 2 1/4 inches thick and we want them out of a solid piece instead of a glue up.  So material that thick and dry is not easy to come by.  I still had three consecutive 26" wide walnut slabs that are 2.75" thick  that I had dried at the end of last winter.  So I had to sacrifice 2 of the slabs because the same half of each slab has a bark inclusion but the other half was pretty clear and quarter sawn.  I had chainsaw milled these a handful of years ago.  The pieces needed to be jointed and although I don't have a conventional jointer, I have a Woodmizer MP100 planer for my mill track.  It acts like a big jointer.  I usually use it to true up beams after they've air dried a few years and stabilized.  Anyway this works just fine for the bigger material.
Jointing Door parts

[firefighter ontheside]

That would have been nice when I built my bathroom door.  It's not easy to face joint door parts that are 7' long.

[doc henderson]

Working on the photo posting.  here is a shelf I made to raise the screen and speaker so the keyboard can slide under out of the way.  I often do my work meeting on my laptop at my shop desk.  This is a scrap of elm that has been sitting around.

 

[JJ]

Nice sound setup, better than pc speakers and you have a sub woofer
I see you keep surgical gauze and tape measure handy for the next injury 
:smiley_carpenter_hit_thumb :crash_dummy_examining_torn_ar

[doc henderson]

just cleaning the shop and reorganizing a bit.  too much and I cannot find anything.  No flat surface is safe!!!  :wideeyed:

It is a logi and was not too expensive.  I listen to music and have a beer occasionally and it has an amp so I can play along with my Dobro.  It sounds best after a few beers with the music turned up loud!  smiley_hillbilly_tub_base smile_banjoman smiley_fiddler

[tule peak timber]

Occasionally I like LOUD music in the shop. Working on a wall of oak today. Used to be firewood and boat bits....  

[doc henderson]

that speaker set (logitech) is 56 bucks on amazon.  50 watts.  It is great at the desk.  I have a stereo that plays the audio to fox new 24/7 unless I decide to hear music all over the shop.

[DWyatt]

I tweaked my back last week so no work got done on the kiln, but I did get the organizer hung and made some clamp racks this weekend. Slowly making the shop workable 

[Larry]

Made a organizer to fit on a cabinet shelf in my RV. 


My thinking is that I can store can goods, spices, condiments, and etc. in the adjustable slots.  I made 5 slats so I'll have plenty of slots.  Should keep them all in place.

Moving slowly forward, next step is to make a pullout for a shelf in the lower cabinets.  Think I'll also make pullouts for the space under the seats at the dinette.

Using up some low grade white oak fresh from my kiln.  I dried it pretty hard to 6%.  It works better at 8 or even 10% which is my favorite.  One of the things learned from being both a woodworker and sawmill guy.

[NE Woodburner]

I am getting ready to start a dining table for my daughter. She wants a table with simple lines in maple with a light stain.

I really want this to come out nice. I am confident in the woodworking piece of the project but I'll admit that finishing is not my strong point.

I'm a little concerned about staining the maple and not getting a blotchy finish and would love to hear ideas and tips. I'm also looking for ideas for the best finish to use for a good looking, durable dining table that is meant for daily use.

[chet]

Larry, yer a man after my own heart. When we bought our new camper the first thing I did was mouse proof it with steel mesh at every utility perforation. That included removing the bathroom sink and tub & shower unit to get to some of those holes. Also added pullouts on all lower cabinets and installed  drawers under the dinette seats as well as under the bed. Then made all new cabinet doors and drawer fronts so all the existing ones matched the new ones.

[Larry]

A blotchy finish is caused by the finish not being absorbed equally in the board.  Usually caused by figured wood, and worse in cherry.  Two methods to prevent it.  The first is a coat or two of de-waxed shellac followed by your finish of choice. Second is sand to a high grit, and raise the grain with water a couple of times.  Doesn't always work and sometimes can cause problems with a oil finish.  I'm sorta weird and like it when the finish blotches a little as it adds interest.

Two choices for finish.  Film or penetrating oil.  Film is something like conversion varnish, poly, or epoxy.  My favorite, but not the one with the highest protection is Waterlox High Gloss.  Been around forever, used to be called "Gym Floor Finish". Its a phenolic resin varnish with a high solids content.  Easy to use but you will need a dust free place to apply it for 24 hours.

Oil offers the least protection buy easy to repair.  The buzz word today is hard wax oils.  The two most prominent are Rubio and Osmo.  I use and like a oil by the name of Livos #244 followed by Livos Countertop oil.

If I were making a everyday use table for a family with small kids I would choose Waterlox High Gloss. It can handle lots of abuse. For a table in a house with old farts I would definitely use oil.  So much better look and feel. If you want to chance a oil finish table in a house with kids, make em some coasters, and buy them some place mats.

Whatever you choose it would be worthwhile trying it on a test piece or small project before the main event.

[doc henderson]

NEB, your daughter is prob an exception, but many interchange the words stain and finish.  I rarely stain anything but choose the wood for its natural color and character.  Poly will add a golden glow and the beauty of the maple can shine through.  I would do a scrap in several finishes and see if she likes it natural.  general finish makes a wipe on wipe off poly that is pretty clear, can be reapplied and with wipe off no brush marks or need to spray.  It tends to be clear and not yellow.

[NE Woodburner]

@Larry - thanks for the tips and information.

@doc henderson - she does want stain; she likes maple but even with the amber color of an oil based poly she wants a bit darker/brownish color. I've made her a few things over the years so I'm getting to learn her taste.

It's hard sometimes to make something for a loved one with different tastes than you have. I've made things for my son and daughter and other close family members and I have to remind myself that I am building what they like, not what I like. It's hard not to inject your personal likes into a project.

Thanks for tips so far and I'm open to hearing other tips and opinions. I won't be starting the table for a bit as I have to gather the materials, but I do like having a woodworking project going in the winter and mud seasons. As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy woodworking and feel that I have decent skills, but I need to get better at finishing.

[Larry]

I got together with a group of woodworkers this morning. One gave a report on a nano ceramic finish coating as sold by Blacktail Studio. There are others that sell the stuff.

He said the finish gives a level of protection he has not seen. Liquid spills no problem. As a bonus he said the finish also gave a extra pop to his figured walnut. To use it he finished the table as normal with Osmo than coated with the ceramic finish. Might be well worth it especially if the client foots the bill. I thought the cost was way too high but he said it goes a lot further than one would expect. Think I'll wait till I hear a few more reports.

On the other hand a Sam Maloof table finished with his old time oil finish still brings money in the five figure range when sold.

 

[21incher]

A cart for the packout boxes I have customized to hold tools and hardware. Stacking is nice for mobile jobs but a pain in the shop when you need it quick.  27 dados did not go well the first try 

[Broncman]

Night stand from ash and white pine. All from my property

[doc henderson]

very nice.  is that a fan on top?

[Broncman]

 that is a box fan and filter mounted on top of my bandsaw over in the corner. I have a walmounted air filter system you can see in the other pic. I put the box fan on when I first bought the bandsaw and it comes on when the bandsaw is turned on.
 Dust is a never ending battle...

[beenthere]

Broncman
I have that same arrangement to filter air in the shop. Works great with fine dust floating in the shop air.
I'd show a pic, but my shop is so crowded that it is difficult to see that box fan with the furnace filter hanging above the radial arm saw and over the belt sander and the jig saw (would get rid of it but its table holds my drill bits). 

[WV Sawmiller]

  I started on a dog, coon. cat and bear resistant trash box today. I've been using 55 gallon drums but the bottoms have rusted out of the metal ones and my plastic one got brittle in the sun over the years and broke into pieces. I'm using poplar because I have lots of it on hand. Won't be real rot resistant but I left spaces between the floor boards and I will likely attach some short locust posts or such to the bottom or put it up on stones or cinderblocks so it is off the ground. I'm just making a 45" X 30" X 32" wide box and will make it 36" tall at the back. I'll rip a 2X6 to get the slope from front to back. I haven't decided on the top yet. May just make a picture frame style frame for the top. I may cut up some scrap roofing to cover it. As you have noticed a lot of my design is done on the fly.

   Oh yeah - I had to stop because I ran out of 12d nails and will resume work when I get some more.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I finished my trash box today. It was a real learning experience. First it is way too big and way too heavy. It is about 4' wide X 3' deep and slopes for 3'-2.5'. I will try to move it tomorrow. I don't think my FEL will lift it. I have a set of pallet forks my son left me years ago I have not tried. They may do the trick. Worst comes to worst I can drag it into my 5X8 trailer and move it with it. I doubt my wife can lift the heavy cover. The hardest part of the build was trying to figure what kind of hinges to use and how to install them. I found I had a really good mix from butt hinges, to strap hinges to T-strap and even J-bolts. I even thought about piano hinges but there is too much weight there for them.

   I am scared to ask the design committee for recommendations but what the hay.  I need to figure some way to install a counterweight system. If I ever go to built another I'll make it about half-2/3 this size.

[Crusarius]

design committee is here.

Amazon.com: A-Premium Hood Lift Supports Shock Struts Replacement for Dodge Ram 1500 2500 3500 5500 2002-2010 2-PC Set : Automotive

Hood struts!

When I built me package delivery box I actually put the hinge / pivot point at the bottom of the box so the lid slides / pivots back. That way even when there is 50 pounds of snow on top of the box its still easy to open.

But for your box I think the hood struts will be very helpful.

[Hilltop366]

We always make ours with the lid divided into two or three sections, much easier to handle. Put an old blade on your circular saw and a few more hinges...don't forget the safety glasses or face shield.

The next issue is the hinges will want to pull out without a backstop for the lid, At the apartments I like the backstop to be ahead of centre so the lid can't be left open but for my own I would put it behind centre so the lid will stay open when opened.

At one building the bin gets a lot of wind and would blow down the hill so I had to sink some pipe in the ground and tie it to the bin.

[Crusarius]

My trash bin has held up to the racoons and bear but I made it so the front was on french cleats and easy to remove. The lid is just 7/16 t1-11. With furring strips around the edge to keep it straight.