Making it through another year '21-'23

[aigheadish]

I think I've seen dowel making jigs for the table saw too, if I recall it's like a cross-cut sled which a 1x1 or whatever sits on a spindle of sorts and rotates around using the table saw as a lathe of sorts. It looks both terrifying and effective. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, there's always a handful of ways to do most anything. I will forgo the TS and RAS jigs for now because my face and fingers are more valuable to me than clean tenons. I still have some things I am working on. Waiting for a tool I ordered to arrive to try the next 'thing'. Stay tuned.

 BTW Doc, no embroidery here. The wife is getting grumpy so I dare not even mention 'enhancing' any projects. Just doing the sewing is pushing my luck. She says she is a quilter, not a seamstress. ;D

 Did a second tung oil coat on bench (stool) #6 this morning. I was staring some more at that RO slab and had definitely decided I would hack it up into two 17" square tables and two short stools about 6-8" tall. SO I laid it out and cut it up. I carried the parts upstairs and while I was looking at those two 17" squares, I had a brain fart. I still wasn't happy making tables out of them. They are not flat and although it's very clear wood I am just not seeing them look very good when done, to my eye anyway. Staring at them I realized I could make a chair out of them! One for the bottom and one for the back. Those stocky legs I have would look neat on it. I could make a blind spline joint but open the angle a little over 90° to let the back lay a tad further back. The cupping in the wood would actually suit a chair just fine. So that's what it's gonna be. I got a little time into this afternoon cutting the joint edges and thinking the rest of it through. I never made a chair before, it might be fun! What could go wrong? ;D

[Hilltop366]

I put a 5° angle for the base and 10° for the back for a outdoor sofa I made, it seems to sit pretty good, a search for "chair standards" will tell you lots of info.

[Old Greenhorn]

If/When I start one from scratch I will make it more to common standards. But this one has 'evolved' from several other planned uses and in my head been everything from a coffee table to a lamp table, side table, bench, and more. The legs were cut and drill a week ago. The only thing I could do was put about a 5° angle on the back. It will be more of an art piece than practical. Maybe wind up with a flower pot on it. :D ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

   I never bought or tried using one but I know they used to make dowel maker which was basically an inverted funnel shaped circle IIRC the size of the dowel with sharp edge. You'd cut the blank into a square stick just slightly bigger than the dowel you wanted to make and drive it through the cutter with a mallet and it would cut off the corners and put the round dowel on through. Obviously the longer the dowel you tried to make and the smaller the diameter the more you would break but I could see making lots of 6" dowels pretty successfully. I guess you'd push the final section through with the next dowel or a slightly smaller pin of some type. I never needed enough to justify the time and expense.

[btulloh]

Why does it have to be dowel?  Rip a strip, ease the edges, sight round over in handle area.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, as I said earlier, there are a dozen ways to do everything. Btulloh, that is a pretty good idea. I'll have to look around and see what stock I can dig up for the next round.
___________________

 Speaking of different ways. I started messing with this a week or so ago. I ordered a 1-3/16 Forstner bit and it came yesterday, so I did a test on RO. I ran a hole saw down the approx. center of a leg as far as it would go, just over 1-1/2" in a rigid setup.



 

 The above shows the leg after trimming, here is before:



 

Then right after trim removal with a hand saw (took about a minute).



 

 I had to sand just a light layer off, I used my 1" bandsander. I got a nice snug fit. Fits in the hole like a hand in a glove. So another way to do things.



 

 I did some more work on the new chair design. It's simple and blocky, but some folks like that kind of stuff. ;D This is just the dry fit up photo.



 

 Taking my time with this as I think it through. This uses the dowel tenon design. I had trouble getting the legs to stay square on the glue up, so I only did two. I am a bit short on long clamps that don't weigh 10 pounds or more. :D Today I will do the other two legs after the monthly food shopping. Don't think I will get to doing the back until tomorrow. Temps holding in the shop around 60°, so the epoxy is setting hard a bit slower than normal.
 Headed out shopping now, anxious to get back on this and keep it moving. No idea how I am going to finish it yet.

[WV Sawmiller]

    I have a 1.5" Forstner bit that I think came with my Lumberjack tenon cutter. I don't get much use out of it because I drill the mortises in my benches at an angle and the Forstner bit seems to need to be in a perfect straight up and down position to use. I guess I could start a pilot hole then use it. I bought a 1.5" auger bit that I am real happy with for that.

[doc henderson]

A Forstner bit can be "made" to work.  the most acute angle I have done successfully is a 45° as a guide for an eagle project to direct a drill up on the timber frame for an outside pavilion at the Dillon nature center.  I told the scoutmaster and father of the now eagle scout that if it started going to s*** to just let it go.  turned out ok.  son is now an architect, dad is a jet blue pilot, former navy.  I use a drill press and hit it a few time to give a flat area in the orientation of the angle I am drilling.  hand drill you can start flat and angle slowly, but may have a slightly oggled out opening.  I like the idea of an auger bit.  esp. in a hand drill.

not sure how the chair feels for balance, but for a sitter with a solid back, you may want to angle the back legs out a bit.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Howard, Howard, Howard. We went over this. I even made a video just for you, have you forgotten?
Drilling angled holes through a log slab with a short tip Forestener bit to get the angle you want. - YouTube


Geez man! :D ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

.......

not sure how the chair feels for balance, but for a sitter with a solid back, you may want to angle the back legs out a bit.  

Forgot to reply to this earlier. Yeah, I should have but as I mentioned the design wandered and by the time I decided what I was making I already had the legs made, drilled, and cut to length, so it was too late. I'll see how this one feels and adjust if I make another one. It seems I have a few cupped slabs for material. ;D
 I did sit on it with the dry fit and because the back is not sloped enough to get one's tookus far enough back it felt remarkable stable. I did the other two legs today. Tomorrow I glue the back on and we'll see on Saturday morning. It did feel pretty comfortable, but maybe that was wishful thinking. We'll see, and this is how one learns. ;D

[doc henderson]

I am sure it is great.  I find myself trying to remember angles and lengths of stuff.  You may have one, but I have started making notes to myself, so a year from now after all that R&D, it is not lost.  publish here as well so we can copy/collaborate.  

[Old Greenhorn]

I've been using the forum as my notebook. ;D It's part of the reason I may give too much detail sometimes.
 I had some difficulty getting the Stove or firewood to get the shop up in working temps yesterday and it dropped to 52 overnight. Hopefully today is better. Headed out there now to stoke the stove.

[Don P]

Some numbers I think I remember.

~16" top of seat, a few degrees back and a few "open", The chair test machine at state put 200 lbs on the front of the seat and rocked it back on 2 legs and started counting reps and angle of seat to leg deflection. I've forgotten the magic numbers to get a state contract but we were doing full on M&T classic chair design, press fits with glue and only passed by retrofitting with those angled stamped corner brackets. Don't turn your nose up at hardware.

Hmm, do your tenon on the tree part of a leg with bracing provided by a branch flattened and screwed to the bottom of the seat?

~28" dining table top

[Old Greenhorn]

Hmm, do your tenon on the tree part of a leg with bracing provided by a branch flattened and screwed to the bottom of the seat?

Don, for a Southerner you type too fast. I'd be flat lying if I claimed I understood one word in the sentence I quoted. :D ;D
 Can you say that another way, perhaps a little slower. Maybe it's the cold but after reading it 5 times, I still can't parse it out. :P

[doc henderson]

I think he may be referring to more a true rough log leg, that has the two inch "say" main branch with a limb going off that at an angle that can be fitted to the bottom to provide bracing.  



these may be mortice and tenon, but if found live, can work as is.  you can start looking for these when hunting mushroom logs.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I reread it a few more times and I believe you are probably right. But I would have to spend another lifetime in the woods to find 4 similar branch specimens to the ones in your photo. :D I would have to work pretty hard to get those angle holes drilled and lined up if I fabbed them. I don't like using branches for legs anyway, because you never really know the integrity under the bark. I think Don's point was that he thinks I need braces. I don't think so, but we will see. I did epoxy the back on today and will give it a test tomorrow.
 I also epoxied up a small stool and have one more to do, but ran out of mixed epoxy and I didn't want to mix more for just 4 small legs. Tomorrow.

 At lunch time today we got a phone call and sold the last firewood sling. I never even got to put one at the Egg Stand. So Pat checked her material and has enough to make 5 more. I went out to the shop and used Doc's suggestion and rounded off about 20 pieces of white cedar for handles. Worked like a charm on the table router!


 

 I had some odd scraps of short boards, just a few, and I burned them all up. There are some defects from knots, splits, or shake, and I'll use those for something else. I have plenty for know. I don't think the whole thing took 40 minutes, so faster than I could drive to home despot and back and a lot cheaper! Thanks for that tip. Tomorrow I will clean them up and put a finish on them. Pat cut her patterns and will sew tomorrow, I think. For something I made on a whim, that table router gets a lot of use. ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

  Aren't the dowels being used for handles on the firewood carriers and being covered with denim?

  Not meaning to be snide but if they aren't exposed why do more to them?

[Old Greenhorn]

Not at all Howard. Go back to reply 1712 and look at the photo. There are handle holes so you can get a grip. The handles are removable for those fussy folks who want to wash the thing once in a while. They should look nice and be smooth.

[doc henderson]

that worked well and hopefully took the cost to build down and is money in your pocket.  what does that come to in saving per board feet?   ;) :D.  that was my goal with the jean thing, I have a few pair I could send, but there goes the profit.  

My engraver does a neat job on denim, so if you start making them by the hundreds, let me know.   8)

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, um, not likely Doc. :D :D

Today was more of the same. Dealing with very weird weather. Nearly 50 when I got up this morning and it's 9° now. In the shop all day sanding, waxing, gluing, or whatever applied to each project. I have about 4 working right now.
 I did have to run down to Bill's and drop off a mess of egg cartons and one of the firewood slings that started that whole thig with a special request. In the process I encountered some heavier water than I expected. SO on the way out, I shot a video. I did not expect to run into Bill and we had a chat. I have no way to edit these videos. I am not a whiz as apparently everyone else is. I should have shut it off, but then I would have two videos. It's all very confusing but basically: here you go, this is what I got. At 17 minutes, it's a lot more than I wanted, but there you go. It's just a drive form Bill's place almost to mine. Aigheadish has been down that road, but now it looks a bit different than it did in July. :D ;D

Just another day in paradise - YouTube

[aigheadish]

Whoa! That's a lot of water! I wouldn't have thunk the swamp turns into a river but I guess that makes sense. I thought I had a picture of that waterfall but I can't seem to find it (maybe it's just in my mind!), when I was there it was but a trickle! 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah I went down to the mill yesterday to try and chip out a few 2x4's for a fixit project (no soap) and everything in that video, beside the deep water in the swamp is frozen, then the water dropped, so under the ice is a big air gap. When I went through that section where I had the full wake going, the truck dropped through the ice about 8" ( which was 'stimulating') and I was kinda stuck. :D ;D So I flicked the switch to 4WD and off I went. But the mill area outside of the deck is washed over with 2-3" of solid thick ice and I didn't put my cleats on for the few minutes I was there. It was dicey at best. Today we are hoping to get over freezing, which hasn't really happened in about a week now. I don't know if any of this ice will melt. That section of town road in the video is no longer underwater per se, but there is plenty of ice there. Such is life in a vacation paradise. ;D I have burned through a lot of firewood. I need your son to come stack some more.

[aigheadish]

I'm sure he'd be up for it! 

We're expecting 60 degrees in the next few days, so I'm sure everything will turn into soup. 

I'm hoping the mud in the barn dries out, once the temperature is up, so I can flatten that junk out and start getting the gravel in there. Waiting on the weather is for the birds.

[Don P]

Whoop, sorry to be slow to respond. Yup, Doc understood what I was trying to say, and you understood what I was thinking.

I'm watching one tree that has the perfect pair of branches for a house corner, just need to find 3 more  ;D