Watcha Makin'?

[RetiredTech]

Looks like Resonator finished his already. But I'm still plugging along. I may not have it finished for primitive weapon season this year. Started sawing the sweet gum logs for siding today. Saw a few boards and nail them up, then saw a few more.

 

[doc henderson]

I like how the sap wood goes together, and you can hardly tell one board, from the next.  How do y'all make windows for the blind.  gotta be quiet.  The ones on Dallas's blind have swollen in the rain and were tough to open and hinge down.  we made a wood frame around plexi-glass.

[RetiredTech]

Weather down here doesn't usually require a window. Two of the others I made have wooden window plugs to keep the squirrels and rats out when not in use. I hinged them at the top and ran a draw string from a position above where the hinged piece would be when open and fastened it to the bottom of the hinged piece. When you use the blind you push the piece out a little from inside then pull the string and wrap it around a nail or something inside. Like I said They're just to keep critters out. You can't hunt with them closed. I haven't decided what to do with this one. Probably much the same. We're still waiting on some real fall weather. The gnats have been miserable this week. I may need screen instead of glass.

[doc henderson]

We do windows for the weather, but also for the smell so we are not busted, and so we can talk a bit without scarring all the deer off.  If fact, when it is hot, it is a pain, and when it is cold, they fog up.  we also hinge from the top, so they rest in the open down position while taking a shot.

[doc henderson]

I was asked by a lady I work with if I would help with a wedding gift.  She had worked at hospice with a lady, who died of covid a few years back.  So, she and other nurses who worked with her are going to her daughter's wedding.  She wanted a charcuterie board, with the soon to be newlyweds last initial.  also, in memory of the mother, an owl which "she was into".  I found a 10 foot long, 12 inch wide 1.5-inch-thick walnut board/slab.  cleaned it up a bit and set to engraving.  They also wanted it to be from them as surrogates for the departed Mom. 







I like this one as it appears the owl may be in paradise.  It engraved very well and looked classy.  IMO.

My brand was requested on the board. 

[tule peak timber]

Working on the finish for the Doug Fir top 52 X 126 X 3 to get rid of the orange color.

[fluidpowerpro]

Last winter I built a laundry room in the garage area of my pole barn/house.
This summer I cut some red oak to panel the outer walls.
Just finished putting it up.
1st ran the board through a table saw to straighten the edges.
2nd, ran through my small planer.
3rd, used dado blade in table saw to make shiplap.
4th, nail it up.

Next will be to apply a clear coat finish of varathane.

[Old Greenhorn]

I have two benches getting finishing coats and one stool with no legs yet I am working on. In between other projects I started piddling away on a wooden mallet for my own use. I have two leather wound mallets I use on chisels and such from time to time, but I wanted something a little more solid. I just grabbed stuff that was bund for the woodstove. Here and there over a period of a week or so, I worked a little at a time on it as a diversion.


The head is the cutoff from a branch bench leg (Maple) and the handle is another piece of a branch and I think that is maple too. The handle came out with a bend to the side, but I am just calling it a 'right handed mallet', unless of course, you flip it over.
 It's been very slow lately waiting for finishes to cure and this keeps my mind (and hands) occupied.

[SwampDonkey]

I made one out of some black cherry years ago, handle and all. Handle is still in there solid and no cracks in the head. I've whacked some mortising chisels with it over the years, but she holds up.

[doc henderson]

Tom, that mallet is great.  what do you mean for you.  do you guys up in NY have any limbs or branches?  I would make 30 of those in small medium and large.  Man Women, Child.  Sell at 25 bucks or so.  In bulk you can easily set up and cut a box of heads and handles.  They are cute but rugged.  rustic but serviceable.  Too bad you do not have an engrave r(bang not worth the buck) but it would draw a crowd to custom engrave the grand kids name on one in 60 seconds for another 10 bucks.  might sell on the website.  A Christmas mallet... God bless us everyone!

[Old Greenhorn]

Yes Doc, we have some branches and limbs around here. I just made this for my own use in the shop. It's not pretty, it's functional. I don't make 30 of anything unless I have already sold 25 of them.
 Actually I was inspired by Austin doing some woodcarving and I thought it was time for me to improve my limited skills with the old tools, so as you may have noted I have been working with the draw knife a lot lately and messing around with what I could do with it. If you knew how much time I wasted spent on this thing getting the blind mortise shaped with a chisel and matching the handle to it you would not be suggesting I make 30 of them. That might kill the whole winter. If I did the pocket in my (non-running) milling machine, it would be a heck of a lot faster of course, but that's cheating.
 I really don't see anyone wanting one of these except another woodworker, who could make his/her own. The chainsaw artist I know makes walking sticks and spoons which he hand carves, but I don't really want to compete with him. Having said that, I might try making a spoon just for the heck of it, but I need a scoop knife and haven't found one yet.

[doc henderson]

use a tenon cutter and Forstner bit.  yes, all these things take longer than we think.  you could rough the transition with 5 pulls of a draw knife.  heck, take a shaving horse to events and have a handle i it with shavings on the ground even if you hopefully do not have time to work at it for all the customers you have.  I know, pie in the sky.  Feels like when you get the proper limb, they get roughed to size and put in a box for heads and handles.  fitted when you have shop time watching the paint dry.  If that ever happens.  good luck my friend.

[Old Greenhorn]

The handle pocket I put in there is oval much like you would find on a hammer handle. I suppose I could go with round, but as I said, I was working on my skills to create those shapes and match them up.
 I have considered making a shave horse, but am a ways from settling in on a design. Right now, I have a vise mounted on an oak stump round. As and IF my skills improve I may make that shave horse, but before that I would want to get my skill to a point I could actually make a saleable item. So I am working on the skill first, then the items, then the tools to support it all.

[Wlmedley]

A year or maybe two ago. I made several bushel crates that after a couple improvements suggested by members of the forum turned out pretty well. I gave a bunch of them away and they got used for various things but being I never got that big potato crop I originally built them for I used one to keep in the back of my Subaru to put groceries in that tend to want to roll around. Anyway I still had parts cut to build some more so I decided to build a really good one to replace the one in the car. Now that I have a planer I planed all the parts and took my time and built this one and even applied wood wax when it was done. Probably spent more time on it than what it was worth but it wasn't the first time.

[doc henderson]

Won't be the last.  those are the projects that refine skills for the future project that come out perfect the first time.

[aigheadish]

Beautiful Bill! 

Tom, I agree with Doc that those mallets may sell... That being said, SD mentioned he has one made from Black Cherry, which I have a lot of, so I may try it out. I don't have a lot of use for a wooden mallet, and I have a few already, but it may be fun to make one. I've never done mortis and tenon (is that what it's called if they are round?) so it may be a neat experiment. 

I tried a few birdhouses again over the weekend and found by resawing some lumber I had sitting around that I made it too think to nail together properly. I'm getting frustrated because my standards are higher than my skills and I'm trying hard to be patient and make wise cuts and joining decisions. At the end of two attempts I ripped them apart to start over. I ended up with one birdhouse that will stay in my possession, rather than go for Christmas gifts, as it sucks. It should be a very simple box and I'm struggling... Oh well, keep on trucking. 

[doc henderson]

I use glue and a 23g pin nailer for stuff like that.  I can do crafty stuff at quarter inch.  you can plan how you will nail it and use a mix of thicknesses if the goal is to make it lighter or use less material.  there are plenty of bird houses from 3/4-inch standard boards.  

[Machinebuilder]

Tom, 

for making spoons I found a scoop knife is more difficult to use than a bent gouge.

I tend to make big spoons and do it just for fun, carving them is very relaxing to me.

I was going to add a picture, but my gallery searching is failing.

also look at making spurtles. I made a few after a friend saw my spoons and asked for 1.

When carving don't do like me and pick up a piece of walnut or pecan, they are very hard and not easy to carve.

[doc henderson]

I have made paddles for beer brewing and syrup making.  I use maple.  what a guy does with it at home is up to them.  

[SwampDonkey]

You can get a Narex (Czech Republic) spoon carving chisel, Lee Valley or Amazon has them.

Link with photos

[Old Greenhorn]

Working backwards through the previous replies...
SD If, and it's a big IF, I get into making some of this stuff I will take my usual approach, which is to make a few with what I have and see if they sell. If they don't no harm done. But if they do sell, then it becomes worthwhile to get the correct and better tools to do nicer work.

Doc, Never thought of paddles, I would definitely need a shave horse for that. Someday I'll make that shave horse I suppose. As for having it at a show, that would be very limited because I barely have room for my stuff in the booth let alone a demo.

Dave, I would love to see a picture, maybe I'll cruise your gallery if I can figure out how. I have quickly learned using dry wood is not good for me as a beginner. So I go with green to at least get the major shape roughed out before it get too hard. Sanding works best when the wood has dried.

Austin, hang in there. You know what to do and mostly how to do it, but you suffer from the same malady I did for many decades. You have limited time and want to get it done, this leads to haste and poor choices. When I started with wood I had a LOOONG talk with myself and decided to take the zen approach, be one with the wood, be one with the tools, only make cuts and joints when your mind is in the right place. If you need to stop and stare at it for a day or three until you have a firm decision on how to approach, then do that. It's not going anywhere while you think on it. For guys like us, making this transition in thinking is not easy and takes focus, but you can do it.
 Every time I get rolling fast and don't take the time to re-think and evaluate I make a mistake. It might be big, or it might be small but I make a mistake. Patience and thought are learned skills.

 Small items that look easy are often not so easy to make either. When I started making the cremation urns I think I tried 4 different jointing methods, each requiring different wood thicknesses, until I settled in on something that looked good and also did the job.

 Hang in there and slow down your thoughts.

Bill, That box looks great! I made a crate for the truck/trailer bed to keep all my straps and hold downs together. Works out real handy even when just sitting in the shop. I just grab the whole crate when needed. But mine looks like a junker compared to yours. I like the accent with the walnut slats on the top. Very spicey.

[SwampDonkey]

I'm always looking for ways to purchase a new tool. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Our daughter and family including our 5 y/o GD and almost 8 y/o GS Quinn came up last weekend. Sunday afternoon I took the kids for a 4 wheeler ride then while at the barn I gathered up some scrap pieces of wood and threw a couple on the table saw to cut to6" wide and proper length/angle. I predrilled the pieces and used 6d nails to fasten them together, I'd get the nails started and hand the hammer to Quinn. He'd choke it up within an inch of the head and start banging away. I'd eventually take over and "finish" it for him. When we got done we went over and attached it to a post under my plum tree behind the barn. It is a good area far enough away from my other boxes they should use it. We named it and now I just need to send regular reports with pictures of eggs and the kids can name the chicks and such.

   The kids had a blast and it was the most fun I had the whole trip. Its always great to make memories with the grandkids.

[beenthere]

Recently saw an image that was intriguing to me as a "chair" made from wood (looks like dead wood with bark removed). Bore out a cup holder hole or two.
Not sure if the frame is from lawn furniture where the cloth wore out or something else.

[fluidpowerpro]

Lately I've been reading a lot about how the black plastic cooking utensils are bad because they are likely made from black recycled plastic. I guess most black recycled plastic comes from electronics. They contain chemicals to make it fire resistant. These chemicals are toxic and come out of the plastic when exposed to heat. 

Because of this there ought to be a renewed interest in wooden cooking utensils.