Watcha Makin'?

[aigheadish]

Jimoney Christmas, beautiful Larry. That piece of sweet gum is incredible. I see Southwest/Utah-ish hillsides in the grain pattern. I don't remember if I've seen similar lines in Zion National Park but that's the first place I'm thinking.

I always know, when I see Larry's name on the thread that I'm about to click on, that I get to see something neat. It's usually accompanied by an envy/jealousy of your talent, where I say "uhg" but at myself.

[GAB]

In serious need of adult supervision while in my shop. Only a child would think up a polka dot stool .

Throwing stuff on the wall to see what sticks!

It's not close to being finished and I see space to add a few more polka dot's.

Larry:
Now all you need to add a music box that plays a polka, with a hidden on/off switch.
Supervision you don't need supervision that just might curb your creativity, and that would not be good.
GAB

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, I built/build my bird houses to Audubon spec. The front opens up for clean out. You don't want a hole too large either. And yeah, we have found 6 foot off the ground is what they prefer. I have them on mowed lawn and they actually like to sit in the white birch the most on a low limb, but they sit on the hydro wires a lot to. They sit pretty much in any tree around here, even on the porch or barn roofs. The darn thing got in the flu this year, I paddled it's but and sent it packing. 

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like some kind of sand dune and aliens have landed. 

[Resonator]

Next one put a big yellow dot in the middle, and you'll have a map of the solar system!

[WV Sawmiller]

   And a nice place to put Uranus.

[WV Sawmiller]

    Been working this project an hour at the time it seems. We finally got some much needed rain and I sandwiched in some more bench kit work. I cut 3-36" long ash bench tops off a single 8/4 LE slab I've had in stock a long time. They were too wide for my lunchbox style planer so I sanded them with a belt sander to remove any water stains, discoloration and tooth marks.

  Today I got out and bored the mortise holes in the 3 benches.

  Here are the 3 bench tops. I bored one mortise in the 3rd bench and tripped a breaker and had to go reset it. The panel is in the boathouse several hundred yards away. After reset I bored the other 3 mortise holes I added 4 legs from the ones made in reply 1725 earlier. Then I shrink wrapped the legs to the bottom of each bench and stored them in my shed for future assembly.
  These will make nice little bargain benches.

[Old Greenhorn]

I like your kitting idea and wish I had the discipline to do that. My rustic benches move slow, but they move a LOT faster than my high end ones. So it would be nice to have a few 'kits' on hand so I could whip some together between shows when I need them. Certainly what you are doing will make me think about improvements in my own system.
 My 'issue' is that after 50 years of dealing with fast production in the manufacturing industry I have gotten my fill and then some, so I HATE repetitive production work and my sub-brain hates it too. I would love to have a rack full of legs ready to go, but I put a lot of steps in mine. I make full octagons, then rough the tenon and then hand sand the tenon and fit to a master jig. This takes time and is tedious.
 I am out of leg stock and getting low on bench stock, especially first cut slabs, so I have to dedicate time to that also. I was 'saved' this season because I had a bunch of first cut slabs I prepped 4 years ago but never finished, so I could either make benches or stools from those, which I did. I also had a bunch of stock I cut to make wheel barrow handles that I never got to, so those were used up for leg stock. I think that all gone now too. Bottom line is, I guess I have to dedicate some time to do hardwood milling for myself this fall.
 You have a nice stable of benches ready to sell, I have enough for shows, but nothing in reserve. My stools move pretty regularly and I have none of those in reserve either with no stock.
 So I take inspiration  from your preplanning and preparation work. I spent this year trying to figure out shows, now I have to spend this fall/winter prepping for next year's to do a better job. Stools, rustic benches, and smalls seem to be the way to go, whether I like it or not. Hoping the shows improve when this danged election is over.

[WV Sawmiller]

  I thought I was low on leg stock but tried ripping some 8/4 stock and found it works fine so now I have plenty. Any LE slab with heart check or serious splits that will not make a good bench top will potentially still make some good leg stock.

  Also on my first 2 walnut bench kits I had bunch of 2.25" leg stock that was about 34-36 inches long. I cut off 20-22 inch legs for the kits but saved the 10-12 inch pieces and may experiment with some stools in the future and use them.

  I think in the future I may make my bench tops/LE slabs 9/4 instead of 8/4. That does not change anything in my bench making process.

  In fact, if I had a 5/4 or 6/4 board I wanted to use for a bench top I could fasten a thin board on the bottom where the mortises go to allow more contact with the tenon.

[doc henderson]

My bench heights have ranged from 8 to 16 inches by 2-inch increments.  So a 18-inch leg stock works as mine do not go all the way through.  The short pieces can make a smaller shorter bench.  Most of my bench stock is left full length so you do not get end splits.  I usually cut off about 2 inches off the leg after it is in the bench.  I store the 2x2 + tuff in a plastic barrel and it is about 8 feet long.  I can cut out defects after I know what leg length I need.  One piece will usually make a whole four-legged bench.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Just piddlin but I got out and looked through some of my stock and found a badly split 8/4 walnut slab and a small maple (I thought it was oak) and an ash that I ripped with a circle saw then ran then through my planer to clean them up and made leg stock for future benches. There is enough there to make 8-10 benches and maybe a couple of 3 legged stools if I land on a design I like. 

   The next step will be to run them through the table saw to knock the corners off then cut tenons on them. Often making the legs is the time consuming part of bench making. For narrower tops *under 12") I can run them through the planer. Wider slabs require a lot of sanding with a belt sander. 

   I have never tried a smaller hand planer. Any suggestions about using one of them instead of a belt sander?

[doc henderson]

I have a 3.25 and a 4-inch Makita.  use them all the time.

[Larry]

I've had a Porter Cable hand planer for a long time. Bought it to take the crown off floor joists, and studs when building a house. Works fine for that.

On benches and chairs I much prefer a #6 or #7 Stanley. Its just about as fast as the power planer without the noise. The Porter Cable also makes a bigger mess to clean up. I just did a demo flattening a chair seat with the Stanley. Students were impressed with how fast and quiet it went.

[SwampDonkey]

I might add, for what it is worth, Veritas makes good planes to. 

[WV Sawmiller]

  Okay - how does a power hand planer compare with a belt sander as to speed and finish? Are the knives on a power planer replaceable like on a big one? (I see I need to do some research here.)

EDIT: I see the replacement knives are available.

[Ljohnsaw]

IMO, power planers won't give you a final finish on a wide board. The base isn't long enough to do it. Also side to side it's very difficult to not leave ridges. 

But, they do remove a little a lot of material FAST.

[Andries]

WV, have you given a router sled a try?
If you have a router they're inexpensive to build.
With a wide bit the router will flatten even the twisty-est of slabs and get you to that final finish fasten than anything. (other than using what Jake and Robert have in their shops 😛)

[doc henderson]

Makita makes one 6 inches wide, but it is over 600 bucks.  you can use winding sticks and get things close for running through a planer.  I use mine to clean up the face of joints on site for pot and beam etc.  for big stuff you can cut them on the mill, to flatten.  some come with carbide edges that are replaceable, and others have high speed steel that can be sharpened. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Andries,

   I am router illiterate  . I did buy one and a lot of bits and manuals to go with it at a flea market a couple years ago but have not mastered (okay -tried) it out yet.  I'd love to learn more but would prefer to have an experienced user show me how. I've done plenty of dumb things (and have the scars and bite marks to prove it) but I still have all my fingers and both thumbs and would like to keep it that way..

   I am not looking for the mirror finish I see with the slabmaster from WM or the Baker model or other or even the homemade ones. I'm must looking to smooth off the rough finish, saw marks and water stains or other discoloration on slabs too wide for my 12.5" Porter Cable lunchbox planer. These are slabs are mostly used to make primitive, live edge, 8/4 mortise and tenon style benches.

   I don't have the time, proper workspace or desire to make finished wood products like Tom, Doc and many, many others, 

   What I'm thinking is using a hand planer then maybe a pass or two with a belt sander to remove any excessively obvious marks or lines.

Doc,

   The 6" model sounds way out of my price range with my experience and outdoor work area. Thanks for the info though.

[doc henderson]

a router sled is easy to make, and use.  Easier than using the router by hand.  the router will teach you pretty quick which direct to rotate abound a piece.  the wrong way tries to run away and the other pulls the bit into the wood up to the guide bearing.  I think they even have a 12-inch hand planer.   you can alter the direction to get fairly flat.  you tube is a fine place to start.  

[Hilltop366]

I think I have read on here someone using their mill with a carbide band to re-flatten and smooth out slabs, seems like a good way to do it and if you saved the blade for only this purpose it should last a long time.

[WV Sawmiller]

HT366,

   That may very well work but I am not trying to flatten a slab. I'm just dressing it up a little to remove any saw marks, discoloration or water stains. These are primitive benches I'm making not fine finished high end furniture.

All,

   More piddlin. I got out a little while this afternoon and octogonated and tenonized and cut to rough length the leg stock I made the other day.


   The crate on the left has a few more ash legs. The one in the middle is walnut and enough for 4-5 benches. The crat eon the right is 4 maple legs so only one bench from that batch.

   Next time I will pick out a few slabs, cut to length, smooth with some 50 grit sand paper on my belt sander or new hand planer if I buy one while I am out tomorrow. If under 12" wide I can just run them through my existing lunchbox planer. Then I will bore the mortises and associate the legs and make kits out of them

[Old Greenhorn]

I like the carbide blade idea. One other thought is to check craigslist or marketplace for a drum sander. You can often find some of these used 18 or 34 inches wide and that might be the best bet for what you want. I have a big double drum 36" that does well on slabs fairly quickly compared to a hand belt sander. But that is more than you need, a single drum should work pretty good for you. Lots of other applications too, like cookies and such.
-----------------------
I too have been piddling along finishing off the stuff I started last week. Today I did the cleanup work and bagged the 5 boxes I flocked up yesterday. These are in the inventory now.

[Ljohnsaw]

You went through a lot of Corona getting those done

[Old Greenhorn]

Heh! That's funny, I didn't realize that. It's actually rare for me to have any bottled beer here, but it happens once in a while. But I use those caps under my work to keep it off the deck for drying. So I collect those at parties and such. The trick is to take them off so they don't crease and lay flat. I get a lot of (creased) rejects and they go in a separate jug. When little Inga comes for a visit she gets a hammer and pounds the bent ones into flat ones and says she is making 'pennies' .
 I probably have about 5 years of bottle caps in a  couple of jugs around the shop. Sadly, I did not drink all those bottles. I collect them where I find them.