Accidental Woodworker

I haven't gotten much time in the shop yesterday or today. Spent some time helping my wife out with her storage unit. She wanted to remove some shelving I put together for her a few years ago. She wants to transit from mailing books from the storage unit to having it go directly from the printer to the requesting party. She hopes to get there before she has to replenish the storage unit shelves. Got a few things ticked off and I should get more tomorrow.

knocking the sharp point off

Didn't saw this one plumb on the front. I took care of that with the chisel.

last one

The back legs didn't get as much knocked off. Did better sawing the last 3 straight and square.

shortening the screws

Blacksmith bolt still doesn't have the screws I want in stock and I'm not waiting anymore. I will paint the heads of the pivot screws with black enamel oil based paint.

done

It took some filing to clean up the threads after I hack sawed them to length. I thought I had a 1/4-20 die but I didn't. I'll look into getting one. I will use red locktite on the acorn nuts to keep them on the screws. 

nice and shiny

This shelf liner worked well with keeping the brass stationary while I sanded them. Started with 220 and ended with 600.

already gone

It has been less than 2 minutes and the brass has already dulled. The shine is almost gone completely. I don't have any lacquer and I don't like using it. The smell of it lingers forever and it gives me a wicked bad headache. The brass will just have to have a patina.

hmm.....

I hadn't noticed that the pics on this calendar were different sizes. The are 9 of one size and 3 that were slightly smaller. (BTW the paper cutting gadget is sold by Wally World - it's in the paper/gift wrapping aisle and Amazon)

doing some layout

I wanted to use this frame but it is too big. The margins around the perimeter and between the pics would be too wide IMO.

need 4 frames

Decided to go with 4 frames, each holding 3 pics. Three of them will be the same size with the 4th one a wee bit smaller.

been a while

Sawing a piece of walnut in half, kind of. I really only need one piece but I'm shooting for two. This wasn't the easiest one I've sawn in two with the ryobi but I got it done. Maybe it was just me a bit rusty from not doing it.

tiny curly qs

This walnut had a hump in the middle and the grain reversed there too. Got some real ugly tear out when I tired to plane it first with the 5 1/2.

the curly q maker

I have had this iron for as long as I've owned this LV low angle jack and this is the second time I've used this toothing iron. The first time was to try it out when I first got it. Used it today for the first time for a real application. Planed it end to end with this iron followed by the 5 1/2. Almost zero tear out on the follow up as long as I didn't take a lot of passes.

one done

One is thicker than the other but that is ok. The left one is done, the right one is next. I plan to use them for the top and bottom on this box. I started this last year (?) and I will complete it as a in between project. I still have to plane/clean up the opposite face on both.

both are done

I didn't go nutso and try to get both of them the same thickness. There isn't any need to do that. Once they are in the grooves you won't be able to see how thick they are. I stickered them and tomorrow I'll make the rabbets to fit the grooves.

accidental woodworker

 No more cable TV but I got my Firesticks last night around 2030. I got one installed (not 100% sure of that) on the living room TV. I had to do it 3 times because it updated twice and after each update I had to install from the beginning again. All I wanted to see was the prime video screen when I sign into Amazon prime on my computer. Never made it anywhere near that point. And fun ain't over yet because I get to repeat all that fun when I install it on the bedroom TV.

I wasn't expecting a ton of buy this and check out this trial offering. All I wanted was access to prime video of which there is a button on the Firestick remote. But pressing it just had me selecting and downloading and entering PINs for what I don't or didn't know. I gave up installing it and and the bedroom one is waiting in hot standby. 

One last tidbit is I want to install Amazon Silk so I can surf the net and You Tube hopefully. I watched and read how to do it but so far nothing on my Firestick home screen matches/agrees with anything I saw on the instructional downloads. 

screw blocks

Glued and screwed these to the center stretcher and I'll screw the plywood to them after they have cooked.

done

Why I wanted this shelf. Usually the 3 on the bottom lived on the top shelf or on the toolchest behind it. I'm hoping that I don't have to play musical chairs with these 3 as much now. They have made multiple round trips from here to tablesaw to the drill press table (not necessarily in that order) sometimes a bazillion times a day.

not working

I want to sand these up to 600 grit and I made a 'holding' insert for  them out of 1/8" plywood. The brass is proud of that but only by a couple of frog hairs. I'm not sure that this will work but I'll give it a try.

thick veneer

I stuck two pieces of the thickest veneer I had but it won't be sufficient. I can barely feel a difference between two veneers and no veneer.

too tight

The right side, outside leg is bowed and it is too tight. I should have planed this before I attached the X brace and the stretcher. Didn't so I get to do it now.

got a hump

Planing this hump wasn't the nightmare of busted knuckles I thought it was going to be. It was a bit awkward but I was able to plane it flat.

had to pull it

Because of the grain direction I had to orient it this way. I was able to plane about 3/4 of the way inward from the outside edge. I really don't have to get it up the braces and stretcher because the legs don't close up fully against each other.

took a while

The left inside leg had a small hump too but it was easier and quicker planing that one flat. The right side is now flat from end to end.

the front legs

Removed the end blocks for the dowel and the screws from the treads. (Blacksmith bolt still hasn't stocked the 2" screws I want). There was a minuscule bit of a hump on the front legs. I planed the both outside legs flat from end to end.

dragging

Moving one end causes the opposite end to pivot and move about a third of the way down the straight edge. That tells me that this is flat when repeating from the other end does the same thing.

much better

These leg sandwich loosely with the front legs now. No rubbing anywhere when sliding them up/down or pivoting them up/down. Before I planed this, it was fitting snug and would only go down about a 1/3 of the way.

fully laying flat

The right outside leg at the top bows outward a wee bit. However, the outside legs are fully seated on the front legs and they move with no binding whatsoever.

didn't forget them

The front face on both got some scratches and debris on them from sitting on the standoffs. Cleaned, sanded them up, and painted them again. Tomorrow I'll get back to applying the clear poly to them. It is looking like they will be ready to go to Maria next week sometime. 

new thing to frame

There are 12 pics of various hand tools taken apart and laid out. This calendar dates from 2015 and I have walked by it for years without paying any attention to it. I am going to cut out the pics and install them in a frame. As of now I'm thinking of grouping them in 3 or 4 per frame. That is subject to change. 

accidental woodworker

Just before 1130 I got the new high speed internet installed, tested, and working. We went from 100MB to 500MB and as usual with upgrades I didn't see a uptick. I'll give it a few days and see if that opinion changes. 

Internet is working and the Verizon tech told me about something called Amazon Firestick. Basically it makes a dumb TV into a Smart TV. I have two on order and I can't wait. Supposedly you can stream on the TV along with surfacing the internet. That is something I'm really interested in - I want to be able to watch You Tube on the bedroom TV. The two sticks are scheduled for delivery between 1700-2200 today.

folded

This is as much as I can fold the ladder up. One leg is hanging up on the oval head screws. Blacksmith bolt responded to my email and the flat head, black oxide, screws I want should be back in stock tomorrow. This ladder is heavy, a lot more so than I would like for a kitchen helper.

1 1/4" radius

The plan was to hacksaw off as much of the waste as I could. That didn't go so well because the hacksaw blade I had was dull and wouldn't cut this brass easily.

triangle file

To give the saw a helping hand I used the file to make a kerf for the saw to follow. That worked a little better but the blade still struggled to cut the brass.

Yikes!

It took a boatload of calories to clear all the crappola that was covering the disk sander. I left it on the shelf and rounded the brass corners there. This sander weighs in the neighborhood of 100 lbs.

done

I like this look a lot more than as a rectangle. The round overs didn't raise much of a burr neither. I was expecting it to be bigger and ready to slice and dice my fingers.

circle jig

Found this while clearing out space for the tech to run his wires and such. I thought I had lost this. I will ensure that I put this with the two cut off sleds for the bandsaw.

wow

Another find clearing out the crappola. After finding it I remembered it. I never installed it because at the time I didn't know how to do the saw blade kerf. Doing that now is not a mystery anymore. As of now I don't know if I'll use it. After all I just made 6 MDF inserts.

gone

80 grit sanding block knocked off the square edges lickety split. The only sharp points left on the ladder are on the bottom of the two legs.

the after pic

I threw away a ton of crap I had on the ledge above the stool/oscillating sander. Ended up with some empty space that I can fill up with new crap.

1/2" CDX plywood

Most of the day was wasted waiting on and helping out the tech. Decided to do something that I have been meaning to do for a while. I got reminded of it when I saw this in the corner of the boneyard. A bottom shelf for the set up table.

squaring the ends

I got the width done on the tablesaw because I had two factory edges to use. The length I had to square one end. I didn't go nutso on this because it wasn't necessary for the application.

done

Planing plywood isn't difficult at all. The Lee Valley low angle jack ate it up without hesitation.

sigh....

I had a senior moment brain fart. I wanted to mark and cut at 33 1/4" and I marked it at 32 1/4". Why? Because I was thinking (out in left field) that I should saw it long to square up the other end and then cut it to final length. But I measured wrong and that turned into liquid fecal matter real quick. Lucky for me I had 3 more pieces of 1/2" plywood to start over again with. 

hmm....

I wanted to get this bottom shelf installed in one piece. That didn't happen because I couldn't get the plywood to cooperate with me. The diagonal between the legs on the long side was a couple of inches shy allowing the plywood to fit. I had installed a center stretcher on the bottom when I made this table just in case this happened.

notched and fitted

Flipped it up so I could eyeball how the two pieces lie on the center stretcher. The two don't split it exactly on half but it is close enough. The two pieces lie flush with each other too. I think I'll just put a couple of screws in each piece to hold it down. No glue. It would be a nightmare trying to remove it if I had to.

 

more horizontal storage

I will concede that maybe this is a me-steak but it may work out for the better. This table has found a home positioned directly behind the tablesaw. So far it is working and I haven't had any desires to give it flying lessons. I can keep things on this shelf that I leave out on the big roll around tool chest.

 

Latest Lost Art Press book

This book is unlike any other LAP book I have gotten from them. Heavy paper, crisp drawings, and in color. I wish they had come up with this one first.

not want I expected

When LAP said this was in color I jumped on board with both feet. I was expecting the illustrations to be 'colorized' but they aren't. However, IMO it is well worth the price.

accidental woodworker

 I plugged and chugged all day and at 1548 I snapped a pic of the kitchen ladder done with the exception of a finish. I didn't think I would get to the finish line today but I did. The last couple of steps just fell into place with no hiccups for me. I also still have to do some round over work on the brass stop plates. I'll do that tomorrow.

needs to be cut down

I had a larger acorn nut that I wanted to use because it more closely matches the ones I'm using on the leg pivot screws. This is a 8-32 nut  and it must be lacquered because it is shiny as a bright day. The larger ones are all dull with a patina.

nope

I had already cut this down 4 times already and it is still too long. I thought of used two of them but one will do it.

finally

Got it tightened down after 5 attempts. I still don't know how to gauge how much to cut the the pliers. Being brass it was easy to shear off even a wee bit.

checking the fit

Checking to make sure that the back legs fit over the front ones. 

glued and cooking

I glued the X brace on and I let it cook for an hour before putting in screws.

brass RH screws

Used one screw at each notch. Chose brass to match the acorn nut and machine screw at the X crossing.

worked a treat

The first notch I sawed I dug into the leg. I cut off of piece of the water jug and used that as a wear surface.  I didn't dig in or leave any sawing scars on the other 3 notches. I put this away with the flush cut saw.

3 screws

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how many screws to use on this along with where to place them. In line (which I used) or on a slanted line top to bottom. What I was concerned with was having all the screws in line and having them potentially splitting the leg. The screws are 2" apart so that should be far enough where one would split the grain and have it run into another screw.

hasn't changed

This book is from LAP and I compared it to a another workshop reference book and they agreed. The LAP book I believe was first published in the 1930's. I used three #12 screws in each plate.

end blocks

The maple dowel is held captive with an end block on each leg. Just screwed in place - no glue. This will allow for any repairs or upkeep needed.

plates attached

I am going to round over the top edges and the top and bottom outside corners. I want those to be large - 1 or 1 1/4". Still puzzling over how to do the edges. The large radius corner round overs I think I can do on my 12" disc sander.

legs won't fold inward

It looks like I will have to round over a large chunk of the leg to allow it to pivot. When I did this I had checked it and then I only needed to clip the point directly to the left of the screw.

not much to remove

As I swung the leg in/out I penciled the marks and there isn't a lot that has to go bye bye. I used my 80 grit sanding block to round over this point.

done

I was surprised by this fix. I thought it would still hang up on some other hiccup that I failed to catch. Leg pivoted in/out without any hang ups or other issues. 

hmm......

Noticed one more step to do when I snapped this pic. The top of the front legs are squared off. I think that would look and feel better if it was was rounded over. The other one was after stepping on it I think I should have have put 3 steps on it. I felt like something was missing when I was standing on the 2nd step. 

accidental woodworker

 My wife got back to the barn today a little before 1300. Unlike the trip down to North Carolina she stopped for the night in New Jersey on the way home. She is going back to NC next month again but by herself. I might have surgery before than I want to stay close to home until I'm fully healed. I'm hoping to make it down there at least once this year. Fingers crossed and I'll be thinking happy thoughts.

wee bit shy of flush

Before I screw the stretcher on planed this leg flush with the stretcher. The other end it ok - its flush.

3 of 4

No glue yet, just screws. I still had yet to ensure it folded up and there was sufficient clearance between the legs.

hmm......

The oval heads on this side are holding up the legs closing further. On the opposite leg there is clearance. I checked and I don't have any flat head screws, black oxide or plain steel, to replace these. I checked Blacksmith Bolt and they didn't have any of what I wanted in stock. I got an email out to him and I should have a reply next week sometime. Until then I am kind of dead in the water again.

laying out the x brace

The plan was to get this first leg notched and fitted. Then lay the opposite one on it, layout where they cross and knife it and its notches in the leg.

sigh

I had to reset and redo the layout. The bottom of the cross brace was too close to the bottom stretcher. Missed that when I sawed this notch on the wrong side - There were three knife lines and I picked the wrong one.

slightly proud

This was planned. I left this a wee bit proud to give me some wiggle room for adjustment after the brace is seated in the leg notches. I did this half lap first and then the last two leg notches.

done

This is more for show then application. The look is good but the notches are a botch job. I used the dozuki to saw them and hindsight that was a me-steak. The cut happening on the pull or push didn't play out well for me. My notch cuts came out barely adequate and certainly not what I know I could do better on.

gap

Not only did I saw on the wrong side, my cuts on the far side were off the layout line. On some they were in the waste and a few in the good meat. I wasn't expecting the dozuki to wander off as it did.

wrong side

I did pretty good on the side facing me and sawing on the layout line. Can't say the same for the opposite side I couldn't see. I went into this confident and without feeling any heebie jeebies about sawing. Even after the first errant sawing I still felt good and that didn't change until the last one I did. The results I got were disappointing considering I approached this like it would be a nothing event to knock out.

the best one

Had problems with the notches too. I got a lot of tear out with this maple. I was expecting it to be clean and easy (its a hardwood?) and it was almost the direct opposite of that.

the best looking one?

Overall I don't have a warm and fuzzy with my X brace. I am considering painting it now so I can hide all the sins I see with it.

flushed

Happy with how this came out. I wish the walls were bit tighter but as is it is self supporting.

worse notch tear out

This notch broke off a big chunk when chiseling it. I was erring on the side of caution and chiseling upwards from the bottom of the notch upwards to the middle. One piece broke off from one side to the other and took out the entire knife line on this side of the leg.

This isn't readily visible and won't be so when opened for using it. I am going to sleep on painting this and decide it tomorrow. One idea floating around the brain bucket is to paint it 2-3 colors?

the best one on the back?

Maybe I'm being too critical of myself but I really hate gaps. I wanted all the joints to be snug, tight, and self supporting. Almost with any of that doesn't cut it for me.

crossing glued

The X brace is a 1/2" thick and screwing it could be tricky. Drilling a pilot hole won't be easy. The glue may be sufficient but I'm sure this brace will be used to open and close the legs. Another thought for securing it further is using a machine screw and a nut. I have some small sizes along with acorn nuts in brass.....

Did some serious eyeballing of the back here. The brace is clamped to the legs and it honestly didn't look all that terrible. My wife looked at and didn't notice anything. I told her before hand about the gaps there and she said it looked fine to her.

a 'can you' project......

These are glass tiles roughly 1" square. You can see through them. Daughter #2 asked me to make a table for her with these tiles. She gave me a pic of a table she liked and it is for putting drinks on. I have never worked with such small tiles but I'm concerned with how to secure them to the substrate?

Because you can see through them I would think that using thin set isn't a good choice. I'm thinking of using epoxy over a substrate that is painted the same color as the table is. Not sure how that will look so I plan on seeing if I have any extra tiles and I'll make a sample substrate first. This doesn't have to be done until august so I will have time to order extra tiles if I need to.

accidental woodworker

 The post man came early today while I was eating lunch. He brought a couple of books I had ordered from the LAP (Lost Art Press) a couple of days early. The thought was to leaf through them while filling the pie hole and then go back to the shop. What happened was me reading half of one book and it was 1330 before I realized how much time had elapsed. I'm sure I'll be finished with it before the sun comes up tomorrow.

the left one

It blows my mind that craftsman were able to make the things they did with just dividers and straight edges. The hound & Eye is the book that captured my attention and I just plowed through it. I thought I had both of these but I was a good boy and checked my library first. I didn't have either one so I ordered them. I think this completes my herd with all the books these two authors have written.

done

I came back to the shop last night and got the 4th and 5th coats of shellac on these. Looking at the sides I can't tell that I had sanded half of the original finish off and applied 5 more. The (left one) back molding is almost a perfect match to the door stiles.

the other side

I like the top back apron. The height is just right where it doesn't look like a correction for a brain fart.

Yikes

It took a lot of calories to get this lid off. I obviously didn't clean the rim the last time I used this. On the flip side it worked in my favor by completely sealing it and keeping oxygen from getting to the finish.

 I transferred the contents of this can into an empty quart paint can. I filtered it through a filter that I use for shellac. The filter caught a ton of debris. I got the first coat of this finish on the backs of the two frames.

needed a 1/4" dowel

I'm using the brass rod as a sleeve for the 1/4" machine screw to move against rather than having it rub and move on wood. The dowel is so when I saw off the lengths I need (4 of them), the saw won't collapse the brass tube.

driving it home

The 1/4-20 screw with the button head was use to drive the tube home. This way the end of the brass tube won't get deformed from the hammer blows.

1/4" fender washers

I really don't want to use these washers - they would have been used between the legs. I had gone to ACE to find some plastic washers and Nada. On the drive home I thought of making my own plastic washers out this plastic lid.

worth its weight in gold

I used this to drill the four 9/32" holes I needed for the brass tube. This ensured that the holes were 90° to the face of the legs. This goes from a 1/8" to 3/8" by 64ths. There a companion to this that goes up to a 1/2". So far I haven't had a need for anything beyond 3/8".

found an old water bottle

I didn't want to use the first choice because I use them for glue ups. I am going to double up the washers because this plastic is thin. Along with making the legs swing freely, I also want the washers to provide a wee bit of space between the legs.

drilled chamfers

I couldn't find any black oxide oval head 1/4-20 machine screws. Using flat head ones and I'll paint the heads black - these are plain steel.

acorn nuts

I'll cut down the screws and top them with these nuts. I got them from Blacksmith bolt and they weren't cheap. I wasn't expecting them to cost what they did. Instead of buying 25-50 I only got 8.

hmm......

Got some decisions to make on this. I found some brass 'U' shaped channel but the price of it was insane so this will have to do. I still think it is a better choice then using wood stops. how many screws? brass or black oxide? finally how to round over the exposed edges?

sigh

I was getting ready to get the 2nd coat of poly on when I noticed there was a ton of build up on the outside edges - on both sides of the rabbet. Had to take a step back and scrape it off.

how did I miss this?

This leg is out of square. The opposite side is square but it tapers upward from there to this corner. Another brain fart to deal with.

fixed

Bullnose plane and some chisel work. I'm square now in the four corners but I had to take a couple of steps backward. On well, stercus accidit.

tomorrow

There isn't that much left to do to complete this. I have to do some cleanup on the left leg here. The notch for the bottom stretcher is proud of it but flush on the right leg. After I get this glued and screwed to the legs I'll plane it flush. 

accidental woodworker

 I am finally done with the big picture frame. I am not doing anything more with it. I couldn't see any snaking raised grain on it even in raking light. So the home team finally wins. The experiment frame came out good but it still took 3 coats of paint to cover it. Raising the grain with a wet rag paid off and I will definitely do that before I start in on the 7 Stanley poster frames. 

I didn't get the frame to Maria this week. But on the flip side she won't be open on monday so I'll have sat/sun/mon to apply the water based poly to them. I have gloss oil poly and I may use that, maybe. I am not a fan of shiny, glossy picture frames though. I prefer a satin or at the outside a semi-gloss.

2nd one

Used a butt joint on the bottom and miters at the top. I could have also used a butt joint here too but I like the cleaner look of the mitered joint.

offcut is short

It would be long enough if I used a butt joint not for a miter. I used one of the screw ups from the original frame.

top back rail detail

I nixed using a simple round over on the top corners mostly because there isn't anything else round on either cabinet. Everything about both of them is rectilinear. Going with a shallow, long angle instead.

don't like the look

I am definitely not getting a warm and fuzzy with this. I thought of decreasing the length of it but killed that too. I didn't think that would warm me up any at all.

KISS

I'm sure everyone is familiar with KISS - keep it simple stupid. Well you can't get anymore simpler than this. And I like it a lot but there is one thing I can't quite put a finger on about it.

KISS pt 2

This is where my finger landed. I sawed the height down to a little more than an inch from 1 1/2". This I like and IMO it fits in with rest of the lines of the cabinet.

sigh

This popped out when I sanded the frame with 220. I didn't see any evidence of this before sanding. I'll have to wait and see what it looks like at quitting time after the paint has dried for several hours.

ready for shellac

Both the panel back moldings and the top back rail are secured only with screws - no glue. That should be more than adequate for keeping them in place. With the back panel it should be was easier to hang this on a wall or leave it to sit on a table. 

side/back peek

I flushed the back molding with the sides. I used a blockplane to get it close and sanded them flush with 80 and 120 grit. I don't mind the  color/grain difference between the molding and the sides. I'll be able to make a better determination of that once I get 4-5 coats of shellac on them.

a first for me

I don't recall ever using nails on a miter joint. There wasn't any meat at the top here to screw this molding to so I glued it. 4 hours later I put two nails into the miter - one from each side of it.

came early

UPS said these were coming any time up to 1900. They were on the front porch when I came back from lunch. The bags have black oxide set screws for normal use. The box has black set screws that are corrosion resistant. Both of them are the same size with flat bottoms.

trying it

The metal insert set screws are painted. It is still flush with the table top years later - the paint is like a glue. I'm going to 'paint' my set screws with super glue. Fingers crossed that they won't vibrate and move like the sheet metal screws do.

the bottom & top

I flooded and filled both sides of the set screw holes. I put the insert into the tabletop and I road tested immediately. No problems making a couple of rips and crosscuts on some scraps.

sneak peek

The woodworking is done, the shellac prep is done, and finishing is in the batters box.

hmm......

Drilled the hole out to 9/32 which is the OD on this brass tube but it doesn't fit. I set it aside for now and I'll deal with fitting it in the AM.

finally

What a relief it was to check the big frame and not see anymore _)&*@*@_%(_+@)*%^)(*&^)@$%)_*)_(*+%@ snaking raised grain. I was ready to say No Mas with this if there was more cursed raised grain.

two coats on

I got another coat on before dinner and the plan was to get a 5th one on before I hit the rack. You won't know that outcome until sundays blog post.

accidental woodworker

I have a bunch of things I've made over the past few years that I don't have room for anymore. So I decided to gather them up and give them to my sisters, Sue and Kam. Donna won't be  getting anything because it is too expensive to ship boxes to her. Sue and Kam will divvy up the goodies and decided who gets what. 

With that in mind, there are two tea cabinets I made over two years ago that they will get. However, I didn't put backs on them because they are meant to hang on the wall via a french cleat. I made five and 3 of them sit on tables. Even though I explained that they were designed to hang on so the wall becomes the back. Since that ain't working out before these last two go to them I will put a back on them. That is what I dealt with today.

they are looking good

The smaller frame I'm calling done. It needs the back side to be painted to be 100%. The larger frame initially looked good but.....

nope

On the right long leg I could see a few snakes of raised grain. From 6 feet away I couldn't see it but I can up close. Once the satin poly goes on it will pop and be visible from 6 feet.

one more time

I inspected the other 3 legs and they were ok. In raking light I caught another snake on one of the 3 legs. Drat, and double drat.

time to get tough

This is getting old real quick. Sanded it lightly with 220 and then I wet the leg down with a wet rag to raise the grain. After it dried, sanded it with 220 and painted it again. Hopefully for the last time.

tea cabinet

Cabinet as is. I had already taken the door off and flushed it with the bottom of the cabinet last year. Originally all the doors extended past the bottom by a 1/8" because they were designed to hang on a wall. This is something my sister Donna asked me about. I told her to saw a 1/8" off the door bottom.

look see from the back

I couldn't find the site I bought the tea sets from (pot, cup, saucer, tea bag holder). Even my wife couldn't find it so these are going out sans tea sets.

1/4-20 set screws

I got a box of sheet metals screws too. One set screw at ACE was 79 cents and I refuse to pay that price for 24 but I did buy four so I could do one insert. After I got home I ordered 50 of them - two pkgs of 25 ea - from McMaster-Carr. I bought two different types and with S/H and taxes it set me back $36.

needed an insert before staring on the tea cabinets

I got the old insert under the new one. The blade can't retract down enough so it is below the bottom of the insert. 

first headache

It split when I drove the nail home. This is to keep the insert from flipping up. I filled the split with super glue. This won't be a problem and won't effect flushing the insert with the tabletop.

2nd headache

The nail at the front wasn't low enough so it was causing the insert to be tilted. I had to fill in the first nail hole and drill another one just below it. After that it was easy to level and flush the insert with the tabletop. I used the 4 set screws I bought from ACE and tomorrow when the McMaster-Carr order comes in I'll replace them.

put the original back in

Used my 80grit sanding block and leveled and flushed the insert to the tabletop. I'll use this one until new one goes in but I'm going to save it. It might be useful to have one that I can abuse and trash if needed.

white line

This is the problem child frame. I sanded this ever so lightly but it was raised. I could feel it with my finger tips. This can't be plane tracks because they are straight. I have never seen a bowed or S shaped plane track.

wet it down pretty good

Fingers crossed that this will finally end this. You would think that with all the paint coats that they would have built up and buried this by now.

PM session

Just before lunch I got the moldings for the back sawn out. The plan is to put the rabbeted moldings on the back and slip a 1/4" panel in them.

post lunch Lowes run

I like this plywood a lot. Especially so the face veneer on this side. It looks like it is quarter sawn?

tossed into the shitcan

There is no need for the french cleat system anymore. This frees up some space in the top shelf area.

one down, one to go

I think this plywood compliments the pine nicely.

hmm......

Me thinks I didn't think this through all the way. The frame for the plywood is good but I didn't account for the gap at the top.

this will do the trick

This is 1 1/2" high and an inch longer than the top. Haven't decided yet what to do with the top. Leave it square as is or round over the top outside corners or saw an angle on them?

started on number two

Removing the french cleat on this too.

not pretty

This one didn't break off as cleanly as the first one. To my eye it is ugly looking. I think I'll glue a thin piece of pine over it to cover. I'll try to match it to the one at the front.

time to quit

Confused myself and paid the price. One of these is left over from the first one I did. It is not the same dimension as the molding for the 2nd one. I sawed the miter in the wrong direction on two and the other two I sawed short on the length.

before I killed the lights

I made another set of rabbeted moldings for the 2nd cabinet. I should be able to get these on in the AM session tomorrow and get some shellac on them.

accidental woodworker

 After talking it over with my wife yesterday, she canceled the cable TV portion and kept the internet service. A technician has to come to the house and set up. That is supposedly coming this tuesday between 0800-1200. I have no problems with no TV because I rarely watch it now. My favorite/watched shows are on PBS and 99.99% of them are on You Tube. 

My TV/internet bill with Verizon started out at $149 and last month I paid $214. Over the ensuing years TV offerings that I did watch were summarily taken away and absolute garbage channels given as replacements. 3 of them were spanish programming and 'nada' is the only spanish I know. The only channel my wife watched was changed to Hi Def with no replacement so she is fine with the TV being gone. My only headache might come this football season - but I'll wait and see how that shakes out.

hopeful

I did go back to the shop after dinner yesterday but I didn't do anything with the frame. I decided to let it cook until the AM. It looked good then and I lightly sanded it with 220 grit and it appeared to be clear - no raised grain. I painted it again and the initial look was encouraging. However, 3 hours later when I looked at I saw another raised grain snake. I'll be washing, rinsing, and repeating again. At this rate it will be april before I get the frame to Maria.

the experiment frame

Before I sanded this, these round dots weren't visible. They popped out after sanding and there are 4 of them now. Yesterday I only saw 2. The all disappeared after I painted it. Fingers crossed that I'm done with it.

almost all the way

This is the largest Yankee screwdriver I have and it drove the screws 99% of the way down. The small part left I screwed fully down by hand.

I really like how the screw heads look against the whiteness of the maple. These black oxide screws are becoming my favorites. More so then my beloved brass ones.

sigh.....

These covers are R and L handed and I blew it. I wasn't paying attention to that when I routed the chamfer on them. Had to back up here and make another one.

Yikes

The dark area on the insert is where I mistakenly threw a wet rag. It swelled up over a 1/8th of an inch. I don't know of anyway to fix a boneheaded boo-boo like this so I'll have to make a new insert.

another big sigh

I meant for the other side to be facing out - it is clear like its sibling on the left. If this bugs me when it comes time to screw it on the leg I'll make a new one. I have enough maple to make at least 5 more of these.

done

I tossed the extra one so it doesn't confuse me which doesn't take much with me.

might as well

I had already scraped off about 14 pounds of the nasty looking congealed sawdust from this worm gear. This one elevates and lowers the blade (height). That is why I couldn't fully lower it beneath the tabletop. I spent a few more calories scraping and sucking up another 14 pounds of sawdust.

the original insert

I can't use these blade stiffeners with this insert. Another thing I don't like about it is the gap is too wide. My insert was a zero clearance insert - nothing but sawdust got sucked down beneath the tabletop.

too wide

I sawed a lot of boards to get thin strips to use as banding. This insert sucked up and destroyed a lot of them which is why I made my own. Another reason why I made my own is my insert also cut down a lot on fuzzy wuzzies on the bottom of the boards I sawed.

overpriced 1/2" MDF

Made a road trip to Lowes to get a quarter sheet of this for $27. The last time I bought it I'm sure it was less than $10. I have made inserts out of 1/2" plywood but I didn't like them. The didn't last long as MDF and they weren't as smooth. Plywood tended to be grabbie when pushing stock over it. 

making 6

Decided to make 6 at once. This way I won't have a odd piece of MDF left over. The length of this is 13 1/2" long and after cutting that off, I was able to get 6 inserts out it.

template routing

Used the tape and super glue trick. Zero problems with any of them.

slip fit

Checked and all of them fit just a few frog hairs from snug.

layout done

Four holes for the leveling screws and one hole for a finger grab. At the top I'll put a clipped 4 penny nail that will act to keep the insert from pivoting up when pressure is on the front of it.

need some screws

Initially these leveling screws would vibrate and change the height of the insert. I would adjust it and it would repeat shortly afterward. The last time I did it I applied super glue to the internal threads to build them up and strengthen them. That worked better than I expected and I'll use the same method on these six. I'll have to make a run to ACE hardware because I don't have any small sheet metal screws.

The plan is too make two inserts and stow the others somewhere that I will not remember where I put them. Maybe I'll figure out a hole to stick them in that I will be able to remember. This insert has served me well for several years so I got longevity out of it.

 accidental woodworker

 Got the wife's crate/box done along with the Kreg loose tenon box. That was done woodworking wise but needed a finish. The platform is done and once the finish is dry I can use it. Started back on the maple kitchen ladder after that.

I called Verizon and I got lucky in that I finally got to talk to a human. A foreigner who obviously didn't speak english as his first language. I managed to navigate the maze of the frog leaps from one robot representative to the next the one before getting to him. A second after he said he would check my account, the connection went dead. I'll try it again tomorrow.

only one glamour shot

Done. The wife liked the pics I sent her which is the most important thing. I put it in her office to collect dust until june.

done

I will leave the lid propped up for a week or so to give the shellac a chance to set and harden. I put all the goodies back in it without it effecting that.

hmm......

The grain under the paint was still raising with each coat. I have already put on 2 and this one is the 3rd.

going bye-bye

I don't see any need for the back of the tread to extend past the leg. I am going to plane the small triangular part off.

close

I planed away a majority of it before I glued it up. 

glued and cooking

Didn't realize it but I made a minor me-steak. I had eyeballed and thought though what the next step would be before and after gluing the treads. Or so I thought. I missed that I should have drilled the holes for the maple grab dowel first.

black oxide, oval head screw

I plan on putting two, 2 inch #12 screws in both ends of the two treads. I don't want to rely solely on the glue bond.

the missed hole

The hole for the maple dowel. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get a drill with the bit on the inside. It wasn't problem - I had plenty of room.

color is not a match

The platform will do what I want it to do. I can't abide by the mismatch color in the pic though. The TV cabinet is poplar stained walnut. The camera shows it orange whereas it is a lighter walnut brown than the platform.

drilling the hole

I drilled the 1 1/8" hole for the dowel from both sides. If I had caught this I would have drilled the holes on the drill press. Now I had to drill them by hand and I am not good at drilling square by hand.

gave myself a B+

I was pleasantly surprised at how well I drilled the holes. There was only a small bit of misalignment in either hole. Coming from both sides does work.

nope

This was as far as I could get the dowel in the hole. It was the same when I tried it in the opposite hole.

made it a wee bit larger

Wrapped 100 grit around a 3/4" dowel and sanded the misalignment marks away. 

dowel end caps

The dowel was easily tapped into the holes after sanding. I left it long because it isn't going in yet. The inside width at the top tread is 13 1/8" and further up where the dowel is, it is a frog hair under 13". The end caps will keep the dowel captive. I'll screw them on so if needed the dowel can removed for repairs, etc, if necessary.

not what I was looking for

I spent over an hour trying to find the 1/8" thick brass for the back leg stops. I searched all the usual holes I stick things in and nada. I didn't know that I had this piece of brass but I don't think it is thick enough to use.

ta-da

What a relief to find it. I was thinking that I had inadvertently swept it up and tossed it in the shit can. Found it when I looked for the machine screws for the back legs to pivot on. I have to figure out a way to round over the edges on the brass. I don't want anyone getting sliced and diced on the edges of it.

raised grain

The previously raised grain on the other legs is gone but I am still getting a wee bit on this one. Looks like I'll be sanding and painting it again.

experiment

Picked out a frame and wet it down to raise the grain. After it had dried I sanded it with 220 and put on a coat of black.

two round dots

Except for these two the rest of the frame wasn't showing any raised grain. They are about the size of flat head screw. Other than that I don't know what caused them. I will try to get back to the shop after dinner and see if I can sand them off. 

accidental woodworker

 On friday last I got the new Verizon FIOS cable TV box. I tried to install it on sunday and it didn't go well. The cable won't work because the WiFi router is incompatible with it. It seems Verizon was supposed to ship a new router with the FIOS box but didn't. The WiFi router is still working but I don't have any TV in the living room. The flip side is I don't watch much TV there anymore so no big deal. However, it would be nice to see what 1080 resolution via HDMI looks like on a 720p TV. I might have to upgrade - the living room TV is probably 10 or more years old. 

I can't fix the hiccup because the cable account is in my wife's name. Verizon will only deal with the named account holder. So I'll have to wait till my wife calls Verizon from North Carolina and gets a new router shipped.

3 coats

Yesterday I got 3 coats on the crate/box and the Kreg loose tenon box on the bottoms. I got two more on in the AM and called the bottoms done.

quickie project

With the old cable box gone I no longer have the time it displayed. Couldn't believe how much I looked at it to get the time of day. Anyways, I needed something to elevate the DVD player and WiFi router up. I have a back stop on the TV stand and I can't stack the two of them because of that. This stand will elevate them enough so the wires coming out of the back of them clear the back stop. 

I came back to the shop after dinner yesterday and got it glued and cooking. Simple build - mitered front corners and I'll rout a rabbet along the top inside edges for a piece of plywood to sit in.

new banding cooked all night

The short side banding on the left is a wee bit high - it isn't down tight to the plywood bottom. I'm leaving it as is because it isn't anywhere near as bad as the replaced long side banding was.

lower left corner

I missed it initially but saw it after I looked a bit more carefully. From a few feet away it is almost invisible. I doubt anyone other than another woodworker will ever notice it.

stained pine

I don't remember where I read about staining pine blotch free. I followed those steps and this is what I got. I have never stained anything (including pine) as evenly as this. Can't remember the blog nor the steps. I do remember using the pre stain conditioner but there were a couple of extra steps. Today I'll just be using the pre stain stuff and hoping for the best.

not the same stain

I also don't remember the stain I used on the fielded panel but the platform has special dark walnut on it. Pretty happy with how it came out but it isn't as even as the pine panel. Those extra steps are necessary.

2nd coat of stain

The plywood top is birch plywood and it looks pretty even too. There is some white trying to say hello but at least it isn't flashing neon bright. Tomorrow I'll slap on a couple of coats of poly.

00 steel wool

Got two coats on it and before the third one I rubbed down this box and the one for the wife. Subsequent to in between coats I'll rub them down with 0000 steel wool.

saved myself a road trip

I have more than enough left in the can to apply to the black frame. I have two coats on the back and one on the front. I will leave the back with two but I think I'll do 3 on the front. According to black paint can, I can apply the poly after 24hrs. So I should be able to get this to Maria by saturday?

3 on

The more I look at this the more I like how well I did the fingers and dovetails. It looked pretty good with 3 coats but I am going to put on 5 - that is what I did on the bottom. I'll wash, rinse, and repeat for the Kreg box.

touch up

One nice thing about using a local paint store is the service. They went into my account and found where I had bought two quarts of this paint. I doubt Lowes or Home Depot could match that. I touched up the wounds and 2 hours later I could pick out only one and that one will definitely need at least one more coat. I'll get that on tomorrow. There is no rush to get this done at all.

new clock

I could easily just look at my computer to see what time it is but I don't. I made this 12 years ago and it will have to do for now. Thinking about making a digital clock (numbers, no clock face) and I'll look on line for a kit. You can see the back stop thing - the DVD player and WiFi have to be 4-5 inches in front of to lay flat.

accidental woodworker

The wife's crate/box got 3 coats of shellac today. Last night she let me know that she didn't need it until june. Oh well, it will be done in the next few days and she'll get the pleasure of finding a hole to stick it in until june. I'm betting on the boneyard hosting it. BTW it was another beautiful warm pre-spring day. The mercury topped out at 71F (22C) here abouts.

rounding the top corners

Used the dozuki to saw most of the waste off. Followed that up with a blockplane and finally the shinto rasp.

corners done

I wasn't going to but I sanded a round over on the top edge. The arris felt too sharp when I tried out the handles. I knocked it back on both the inside and outside edges.

sigh

Sanded this ever so lightly and it now sticks out like a blinking neon light. I didn't notice it when I glued it up because I would have put it on the bottom if possible.

why not?

To make this look like it was deliberate I transferred the location to the opposite side and I sanded in a matching divot. 

almost shellac time

I am going to apply 4-5 coats of shellac on the bottom first. Get that done first and then shellac the rest of it.

a couple more to-dos

There is a large snake like depression on one side that I'm going to attempt to steam out. The canned air is to blow sawdust out of the pin/tail gaps so I can hit them with super glue and pine sawdust. Branded the bottom with my logo and signed it.

see it

There was one small divot and a 5-6 inch snake like one. My wife's iron will spit an impressive amount of steam. Now that I used it I'm going to buy one to have in the shop. The small divot swelled and sanded flush but the snake didn't. I would say that maybe 80% - 85% of steamed flush. I tried 4-5 times to get the remaining part to swell but it wouldn't. What I was able to get will have to do. One of the joys of using soft pine.

one more fix

If I sanded this out it would look like crap IMO. Maybe if it wasn't at the corner it wouldn't look to be bad being feathered out.

dutchman ready

I didn't have many pine scraps to find a color match with. I had cleaned up the shop early in the week and dumped all my scraps then.  Glued this and after it cooked, I sawed and planed it flush.

dark spots at the baseline

The super glue and sawdust filled the gaps nicely. The dark spots will disappear under the shellac.

my nemesis

One more thing to address. I hate gaps and I saw more here than I did yesterday. This one is big and highly visible.

didn't see these yesterday

Or maybe it was what I wanted to see. I decided to apply banding around the bottom inside to hide this.

long sides first

While this was cooking I flipped the box over and put on a couple of coats of shellac.

two boxes to do

I put the Kreg loose tenon jig on the bench too. I might as well get shellac on it at the same time.

hmm....

I want to get this frame done and out to Maria before I do any of the Stanley poster frames. I am not impressed with this color (expected a deeper black) but it should look better with the second coat. I am going to cover it after the painting is done with either shellac or a General Finishes oil - I can get that at Koszela Lumber.

big sign followed by another one

I had to take out one of the long side bandings because it wasn't fully seated along its length down to the plywood. There was a big gap on the whole length of it. After I got the short sides done I glued another long side banding and made sure I pushed it down tight to the plywood as I clamped it with the ghost sticks.

that long ago?

I got a comment about using a dovetail miter joint and I had tried it before. Didn't realize it was over ten years ago. 

that's a miter

I don't like the look of this joint at the bottom face side. The half pin has to be bigger than the opposite end one to accommodate the bottom grooves.

too small for 1/4" plywood

In order for this to work with my 1/2" plywood bottom this would have to be at least 3 times as wide as it is now. It will definitely hide the groove but at the expense of throwing the symmetry of the tails and pins off. I had made a box with this joint but it wasn't with others in the samples hole. 

Now that a few years have elapsed I am going to revisit this joint and make another box with it. Maybe my mind will be changed once I see it again in a box. I don't recall this giving me any particular problems making it but I do remember the layout kicked my arse about figuring it out.

accidental woodworker

 Got to my goal of getting the wife's crate/box glued and cooking. I had my doubts during the AM session but that evaporated before the lunch bell rang. Stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something that I failed at previously. Even though I am making boxes I've been trying new tricks of the trade whenever I can in making them. As my skill improves, so does how I feel comfortable doing something new.

quick check

Got the first set of pins done and I had to check the fit. One of the things I tried that was new for me, was the finger before the tail on the left. The initial fit looks good without any gaps. One down and three more to go.

Yikes

I noticed something was OTL (out to lunch) when I was chopping the other side of the tails. The baseline there was deeper than the other side. I checked it and the baseline on this side was tapered and it was short thankfully. Don't ask me how I managed to brain fart my way into that because I'm clueless.

the pin is ok

I think this was the corner that I knifed the baseline wrong. The pin looks good and there aren't any gaps on either the outside or inside.

no twist

It went together off the saw. All the tails are fully seated but there is some proud between the tails and pins. It didn't effect the square - the diagonals were dead nuts on. The proud is only a few frog hairs and will disappear when I plane it.

something old again

I'm going to try and rout a stopped groove/dado in the long sides. I didn't want the groove/dado to run straight through out the ends. The bottom is 1/2" plywood and that would make for large visibly plugged holes. The last time I did a stopped dado it turned into a through dado. Laid it out so it will fall in between the tail sockets.

the first easy one

I tried to keep this as close to the bottom edge as I could. I didn't want to sacrifice any more depth than I had too. Knifed the outsides edges and removed most of the waste with a chisel. Got it to a 5/16" depth with a router.

first stopped one done

One of the biggest problems I've had doing these is blowing out the little bit on the tail. That part of the groove is fragile, especially so in soft pine. Took my time chiseling this out, taking small bites, and avoiding putting any undue stress on it.

a little short

Did another dry fit to check the alignment of the grooves 360. I didn't make the stopped ones long enough. I had to extend them another 1/8" on both ends so that they aligned with the groove ends on the short sides.

now I'm flush

The groove on the bottom was short of the groove on the vertical one. Other than that minor hiccup the groove runs aligns 360.

doesn't fit

I measured for the width and length and I was long on both of them. Used two sticks to mark the length and then the width.

done

The bottom fits and more importantly all the tails and pins are fully seated/mated. Zero gaps to talk about on the in or out sides.

hmm......

The grooves didn't come clean with crisp walls. The walls on both got wonky and I experienced a lot of tear out. Most of that was due to the chisel being a tight fit. However, with the bottom in it looks good. There is only one spot on the inside where I could see any tear out. The bottom was worse but still not that horrible to look at. The plywood is a good snug fit and that hides/blends 99% of it away.

maybe a shoulda....

I drilled out the handles before I glued the crate/box up. Thinking now that I shoulda did the round over on the top outside corners too. It shouldn't be too difficult to do the round overs after it has cooked.

handle holes are off

When I drilled one of the handle holes I didn't clear the chips from getting between the wood and the fence on the drill press. The near hole has a flat, horizontal bottom whereas the far one dips below the horizontal. Of the two I like the far one better and I used a rasp on the near to match its sibling.

the baseline hiccup corner

The gap on the tail is from me correcting for the tapered baseline. Still I'm happy with the overall look. Especially so with the fingers. This was the first time I done fingers like this and all of them came perfect - as in a snug fit and no gaps.

happy with this

Both fingers look perfect to me. My sawing to a line continues to improve.

opposite side

After 13 years I am calling myself a pretty good beginner dovetailer. I think after a few more years of doing the finger detail I will be able to add that too.

I should be able to get some shellac on this tomorrow. The tails and pins fitted snug and seated so there was no need for clamps
 

came today

The 1/4-24 die and starting tap came today. I thought I had ordered just the die but now I have and extra tap. I'll have to check my Stanley plane break down chart and see if there are any other oddball taps/dies and I need to get.

accidental woodworker

I didn't get as far with the new project as I thought I would but that is ok. I don't know when my wife will need it but I'll be done with it before next friday rolls around? I had one stupid wood trick I had to deal with that slowed down the time line. Got my fingers and toes crossed that I won't have anymore to deal with.

first change

Decided not to glue up the end boards to make them higher than the sides. I couldn't concede having a glue joint visible. Instead I'm going to decrease the height of the sides and leave the ends at 11".

drilling the handle holes

Didn't know whether or not to do this now or after the dovetailing. Since I thought of it here I went ahead and knocked it out.

roughed out

The holes still need to be sanded/rasped smooth and the inside/outside edges rounded. That can be done after the dovetails are checked off. One end has some knots that I couldn't avoid. 3 sides are clear and the knots are small too so not so unsightly.

first time I think

Wasn't too sure how sawing both sides at once would go. Up to now I have only sawn sides that were up to 5/8" thick - this 1 1/2". Spoiler alert - no hiccups, no problems. You still have to saw square and then down at an angle regardless of the thickness.

hot knife through butter

Well not quite that easy, but it wasn't difficult neither. I had plenty of stroke with this 12" saw. Never felt any binding doing any of the tail saw cuts.

stupid wood trick hiccup

The center of both of the ends is also the center of the tree that these boards came from. I had already planed both of the boards twice but the right hand board decided to throw a hissy fit. Initially the center had a hump and after planing that off it kind of spread out on either side of the center. There appears to be a lot of tension in these two that planing released. 

Put these two aside and made a road trip to Lowes to get another pine board for the ends and plywood for the bottom.

prices went up

The 4 foot long 1x12 cost more the 1/2" plywood panel (2'x2'). There is a large enough clear section on the 1x12 to get the two ends from. Using 1/2" plywood for the bottom to beef up and strengthen the crate/box. I wanted to use 3/8" plywood but Lowes didn't have anything but CDX plywood in that thickness.

The plan for the plywood is to use stopped dadoes to house it so I don't have to use plugs in the tails/pins. That is subject to change if an oops pops up doing said stopped dadoes.

just as well

Noticed a crack in the original end boards - this one I split with zero effort with just my hands.

ditto for the 2nd one

No visible cracks on the #2 but it also split with one sharp rap from my fist. 

quitting time

If I didn't have to make the Lowes run I would have gotten the box dry fitted and possibly glued and cooking. The tails are done and the pins are sawn out. Should get this dry fitted and glued in the AM.

accidental woodworker

 

next project

This is crate/box/holder thing I made 10/2010 and it is used to hold the paper recycling. My wife asked me yesterday if I could make one for her but square - ish and taller. She wants to for some dead people meeting thing she is going to. Doesn't matter to me because it means I have something to do after the frames are done and before I get back to kitchen ladder/stool.

two down, one more to go

Nailing and gluing the rabbeted back frame on the last 3 poster frames. The width of these 3 is roughly a strong 8th short on the width and +/- a 16th on the long length. There isn't enough of a difference to catch eyeballing them.

hmm......

I sanded the last 3 frames - no planing at all. This pine is weird to plane. It planes smooth then tear outs, goes back to smooth then to a little bit of tearing out and all within the first 3 inches. Sanded the front and back with 120 grit and it looks and feels ok. I will sand the front and the outside edges with 180 & 220 before I paint them.

last one

Needed some help both miters on this end had gaps. Snapped the pic before I got the other clamp cross wise on.

what a mess

I am getting better at not pack ratting everything single scrap of wood I produce. However, this is mostly plywood and I have been saving those scraps. I had a bazillion piles of it vertically placed all over the shop. Stopped working on the frames and attended to this. Placed the shit can by the bandsaw and cut this pile into little pieces. I saved only the large ones.

didn't fit

The original metal insert broke again. I had fixed it several years ago with epoxy but it failed. I had bought 10 of these Carter inserts then and they don't fit. The insert was a few frog hairs too wide. I sanded it with 120 grit and got it to fit. That alone surprised me to no end.

Got the diameter to fit the hole but it was slightly proud of the table. Tried sanding with 120 grit on the workbench but I wasn't making any progress doing that. I put it in the table and got it 99.99% flush. It is less than half a frog hair proud but it I cut up a ton of plywood without any hiccups. I'll revisit it and spend the calories to get it dead nuts flush later. 

13 of them

Wow, even I'm impressed with how many I made. I didn't make the seven poster frames all with different joinery. In fact, all 13 were done with bridal joints. I liked the different joinery idea and I intend to try it again in the future.

weak suction

Which means the filter is jammed packed with dust. Couldn't remember how to remove the filter so I could shake it out. I thought it was threaded but it isn't. I had to You Tube it - the white thing is a nipple that you pull the filter off and push it back on. Who knew, not me?

Besides dumping a shit can full of plywood scraps I also cleaned up the shop a wee bit. I didn't go nutso and I did clean off the workbench finally. It has been crowded with crappola for a couple of weeks and now it is down to bare wood again.

last thing done today

I went to Lowes and bought two 1x12x72 pine boards. They were the clearest ones in the pile - I looked at and fondled every single board in the rack. I haven't decided on a size for this yet but I do know the ID will be wide enough for a standard size file folder. The two short width boards are for the ends which will be 3-4 inches higher than the sides. My wife wants the same handle detail for this box.

stickered overnight

I was hoping to get the sides glued up but it didn't happen. By the time I got the stock broke down it was 1455 and almost quitting time. I'll do the glue up in the AM if the wood doesn't do any stupid wood tricks.

accidental woodworker

 Another beautiful pre spring day again. There is a saying about march here about that if it comes in like a lamb and goes out like lion. It is almost the 1/2 way point for the month and it is supposed to turn to rain and cloudy for the next few days. We'll have to wait and see if the lion shows up.

rabbeted back frame

I've settled into this method for doing the back frame. I lay it out in pencil and then go around gluing and nailing each side into place. With that method it was hit or miss (mostly miss) with the last leg fitting nice with no gaps. 

With this new method I glue and nail one long side first and then repeat for the two short sides. I then measure and saw the last long leg a few frog hairs long. I then sneak up on the fit by planing a few strokes and checking the fit. I don't know why it took me 5 frames before I eased into doing this way.

nailed it

The top and bottom margin is about a 1/4" more than the long sides. That is to account for the logo and lettering.

close

The ID of these four poster frames are within +/- 5 frog hairs of each other. The OD dimensions are +/- a 16th. Four down, and 3 more to make.

last three

I got one frame from the last 1x4 I bought at Lowes. The other two came from a 1x5 pine board I got from Koszela lumber. I have two more of them left.

hmm......

The Lowes frame wood came out almost perfect. I checked the slot mortise using the tenon leg by putting it against the mortise. It stuck past the tenon about a 16th. With the Koszela wood I had a 8th inch of the mortise proud of the tenon. I was careful and I checked the stock and the saw blade after each cut I made.

dry fit

The tenon is good, snug, self supporting fit. The tenon is proud and the slot mortise is flush. I don't know what I am doing wrong - racked my brain thinking of hiccups I did and missed.

one down, two to go

The fit appears to be mirroring the other 4 frames. I couldn't see any glaring gaps between the them.

last two

Overall I'm happy with how well these last 3 match the previous 4. More importantly I don't think I'll be able to see/pick out any size differences in the frames. 

The last two came out looser than I like. And that was after making 4 test tenons before committing to the real deal. I was able to pinch the slot mortise on the tenon with my fingers and make it self supporting. 

finally came

I bought a 1/4-24 starting and bottoming tap along with a 1/4-24 die. After a week of '... order delayed, new arrival is....' two of the items came. The die is supposed to come anytime between the 13th and 18th. The seller added two frog washers as a gift. Finding these size washers was something I never found a source for.

extra frame?

I'm not sure what this frame is for. I don't think it is a poster frame so it must be an extra. I bandsawed a boatload of stock to make four back rabbet frames.

last one cooking

I didn't realize it was almost 1500 here. I got into a groove making these last 3 and lost track of time. These will cook until tomorrow. I just have to plane them flush, add the back rabbet frame, and rout a chamfer on the top inside and outside edges.

loose frames

Used my larger quick grips to clamp the bridal joints. I don't anticipate any problems with these two once the clamps come off.

accidental woodworker

 I took monday off from trying to sign into the new VA log in and tried it today. It started off good with me visiting the Post Office. The clerk knew about the authentication procedure and I didn't have to make an appointment. Good news there so I went home and tried logging in again.

At first things were going along swimmingly. Signed in with no hiccups and got right into the new authentication procedures. I had very high hopes because I got a lot further today than I have previously. That all came crashing down when they said my cell phone couldn't be verified. WTF?

I signed into login.gov with my cell phone number and it sent an access code to it that allowed me to start authenticating myself to you. Now my cell phone number isn't in your records? The biggest thing that bugs me about this is that there is no human or AI human I can call and talk to. So I'll try it again tomorrow. At least I didn't piss away a bazillion hours this time chasing my tail.

hmmm....

I spent the entire shop time I had playing with the frames. Made a dent in them and I started with the 3 poster frames that are toast. Laid out 45° angles trying to maximize how much of the frame I could salvage. I didn't like the options I had with either of them.

from the 3 frames

The pieces aren't as long as I was hoping for. The shortest ones aren't sufficient for a 5x7 pic. Looking like this will gather dust in the boneyard scrap pile.

what I wanted

The margin between the pics and the frame is maybe a wee bit too much now but I'll take it. I don't like the thin margins on the paper mat.

rabbet frame done

This frame is almost ready for paint. I just have to do a little finish sanding and it is a go.

squaring the corners

There is name for this that comes from masonry work but for the life of me I can't recall it. The word had come to me while I was doing it but it went back to the black hole.

paint choices

When I was at Koszela Lumber I bought the black. She carries a good assortment of general finishes - paint and poly. I can't make up my mind for the multiple pic frame. I would like it to be two toned but I would need clean, crisp lines between the colors. I can't think of a way to do it on this frame. I would like the main color to be blue and the stripe between the chamfers, black.

my crocus flowers

There are 8 blooms and there are 3 more that budded but haven't bloomed. It is a shame that these will gone until next year in only a few days.

poster frame

This is one of four and I trimmed the proud cheeks first. Followed that up by flushing and smoothing the four outside edges.

ready for paint

I sanded these 4 with 120 grit after planing them. These all will be painted black. I have to make 3 more frames to bring my total of poster frames back up to 7. I have seven posters so I need 7 frames.

needed some help

The back frame miters were open slightly. It would never be seen unless you took it down and looked at them. However, Maria will see them and I want them look good.

last one

Got 3 of them done and I'll do this one in the AM. Glad the paint is latex so I can knock them out quickly.

the extra frames

The top frame needs the back rabbet frame to be done. I am leaning in the direction of painting 3 of these blue and 2 black. That is subject to change when I actually start slapping paint on them.

accidental woodworker

 The temp today topped out at 67F (19C) here at my corner of the universe. It was a beautiful day with blue skies, wispy clouds, and a light warm breeze. Spring officially shakes hands on the 20th so hopefully today is what is to come.

On the flip side of the coin, I only have seen 3 crocus flowers by the back door. I usually see them flower in feb but I saw none this year. The current 3 is about 6-7 shy of the usual number of blooms. Maybe it is because the temps at night are still forecasted to be hovering around the freezing mark. But today was the 2nd time this year that I went out without a coat. 

the next day

This was the last one glued up and it is the first one to be unclamped. I was a good boy and left them all alone to cook until this AM.

I'll take it

 

All the frames I glued up yesterday were all flat. I checked each for rocking on the tablesaw and none did.

within a 16th

I don't understand this because the diagonals are telling me I'm square but the square says I'm not. The long ID dimension is 12 11/16" and the top short leg is 9 3/4" while the bottom short leg is 10".

hmm......

One frame failed already and is sitting in the kindling pile for now. I had my fingers crossed that rest won't disappoint me.

new frame

This came from the bowed/cupped board and it measures width wise, 1 3/8". This will be for the multiple pic frame.

story pole

Marked the short and long dimensions of the paper mat to transfer to the new frame for it.

sawn to rough length

I added 2 7/8" to the story pole to get the final length on the short and long frame legs.

double triple checking myself

After each saw cut I checked the height of the blade against the stock to make sure the blade wasn't creeping upwards.

tenons were next

Checking the tenon length against the width of the leg with the slot mortise.

too snug

The test cut tenon wouldn't fully seat in the slot mortise. I think if I tried to do it with a mallet, one of the cheeks would have split off.

wasn't expecting this

The test tenon fit in all four of the slot mortises. The first tenon in the real stock fit in the first slot mortise I checked but it is too tight for the 2nd one. I had to rasp a couple tenons to fit their respective slot mortises.

didn't forget

I remembered to glue the frame together with grain running continuously 360 in the same direction. I had to plane both the inside and outside edges on all of them to do that. 

height of the tenons

I knifed it before I sawed them on the tablesaw. I checked the knife line of each one against the height of the saw blade before cutting them.

dead nuts square

The dozuki is a good tenon cut off saw. Its kerf fits in the knife line like a hand into a well fitting glove.

rasps I used

The one on the left is a japanese rasp that I consider to be fine. The maker says one face is coarse and the other fine. I disagree with that and I think one face is fine and the other finer. The right rasp is a machine stitched one and it is coarse. It will hog a lot of material off in a hurry. I had to be careful with this one and try to rasp at a skew to prevent spelching.

nope

The frame ID is what I measured it for and I don't like it. I what a larger margin on the sides, top, and bottom.

measurements of the ID

I made another frame and I wrote the ID down for reference. I have to add at a minimum 3" for the frame plus the margin I want for the mat.

Stopped here because I had to go to Koszela Lumber. Amanda asked me to make a small table for her. She set me a pic of something that she liked and dropped shipped tiles to me. She wants the top of it to be tiled and painted.

using poplar

No sense (IMO) to use a good hardwood for this and especially so because it will be painted. Didn't want to use pine due its softness so I picked poplar. Poplar is an easy wood to work and it takes paint well.

story pole

On this frame go around I added 5" more to the overall length of each of the legs. That should leave an inch for a margin 360.

wash, rinse, and repeat

The previous frame came out ok so I'm checking this one the same way.

a frog hair proud

The tenons came out looser than I wanted but they should be fine - clamping them will close them up. I thought I would have had a tight or not fitting tenon too. I left the entire pencil line so it should have been that.

three of the seven are toast

All 7 frames measured 12 11/16" on the long sides and 3 are OTL (out to lunch). The top is 9 3/4" and the bottom is 10". That is enough that I can see it is out of square.

what to do, what to do.....

The easy thing to do is give it my best goofy look, nod knowingly, and give them flying lessons. Or, I could saw off the bridal joints and make 3 smaller frames. However, I have a lot of time and calories invested in these so I'm going to try and salvage them as is.

it is still going to be painted

This actually might work. I planed a long wedge and the inside of the frame top and bottom now is 9 3/4". Along with the measurements being the same, it is 90° in the four corners.

another big hmm.....

The wedge on the inside makes the ID square but the outside edge of the frame isn't square. It is out about a 1/4" top to bottom. It is looking like I would be pissing into a head wind here. I think the sane thing to do is to make 3 smaller frames.

2nd idea

Instead of the wedge, an 'L' molding worked too. I put a 1/4" spacer at the bottom between the inside of the molding and the frame. Kind of liked that idea but this is where I saw the outside of the frame wasn't square. It measures under 5/8" at the bottom between the 'L' molding and the outside edge and almost 3/4" at the top. I'll be going with plan #3.

accidental woodworker

 Please tell me that I am not the only person on the planet who didn't know it was spring ahead time? I didn't catch it until 0850 on one clock when I compared it against my cell phone time. That really discombobulated me all day long. I felt like I was playing catch up until I hit the rack at 2200. I still have 3 clocks to 'spring ahead' that I'll do tomorrow.

a 1/4" long

The other side has 8 pics in oval and rectangular cutouts. Maria already told me that she match/cut out the same on a mat. I have to paint this first before I can bring it to her.

rails

These aren't all within +/- one frog hair on the width but that is ok. I picked the widest one to set the height of the slot mortise.

done

This didn't take long to knock out. I don't know the exact time but I would guess it took me around 30 minutes or less. 

sigh

I now know why some of the slot mortises are long. The saw blade drifted upwards a wee bit. I set the height at the beginning and I didn't check again until now. I did a test tenon and it sunk down into the slot mortise too deep.

I'll work around it

What sucks is the slot mortises gradually increased as I did them. I left them in the way I laid them up as I did them. I'll keep the last 4 to use together and mix and match the remaining the 3. At the end of the day I only had a problem with the slot mortises. For the most part the tenons all came out consistent.

too thick

I want the tenon to be a frog hair too snug. I would rather rasp the tenons to fit than have to add veneer to increase the thickness. I made one more saw cut on the tablesaw to where the tenon fit snug - I checked it randomly against 3 slot mortises.

good fit

Rasped the tenon until I was able to seat the tenon in the mortise with hand pressure only.

sawing the cheeks

I knifed the shoulder lines using the first one I did to mark the remaining 13 others. I didn't employ the knife wall, rather I sawed in /on the knife line. I only had 3 shoulders come out with gaps. Two of them were due to double knife lines and the 3rd one just wanted to be ornery. I'm painting all of the frames so I'll be able to hide the sins with wood putty.

done

Got all 7 frames dry fitted and ready to glue up. In spite of some of the slot mortises being long, all the frame inner diagonals were square within a 16th. The inside corners on all seven were 90° when I checked them with a square too.

two glued and cooking

I will have to find some stock to make the back rabbets for the glass and mats.

first two glued and cooking

I put getting more of these aluminum clamps on the to get list. I have eight 24" clamps and ten 36" ones. I would like to get 8 more 24" and 6 more 36". I'll keep my eyes open for a sale because they have increased in cost a lot since I got mine.

and one more makes 5

It was 1510 here and I called it quits. I went at it longer than I thought I would today. I was only going to glue up two but that went so easy I kept going.

two for tomorrow

The frames all agree on the ID but vary slightly on the OD. However, the variance between them is minimal. I will line them all up and eyeball them together and gauge how noticeable that will be - if any.

I forgot

One thing I wanted to do was to run the grain on the stiles and rails in the same direction. I made sure that the reference edge was facing the interior but missed doing this. I'll just have to check the grain direction when it comes time to plane the frames flush and smooth.

accidental woodworker
 

 Today was better than yesterday because I didn't even attempt to sign in to the VA's new log in. However, come monday I'll be back in the trenches  doing battle with it again. Wish me luck and I'm glad I have another day of rest before that.

Well boys and girls I got the sad, sad news from Home Depot after lunch. First the door is a special order because my door is not a standard size. $1000 for that special order and it will be here in a month or so. The labor and materials to install it is $1700 and I may have to adjust my woodworking  because this took a huge bite out of my wood budget.

I celebrated the HD experience by going to Lowes and buying some pine. I ended up getting 6 1x4x48 pine boards to finish up my Stanley poster frames.

no elves came overnight

Two frames on the bench and two in the clamps. Out of the 4 only one is the correct size. I'm sure that I can find a use for the other 3 because I've changed my mind on using them for the posters.

the right one is bowed

I could have sworn that this looked a lot worse yesterday. I'm going to try and salvage the right one. I think I can work around the bowing by sawing it up into the frame parts.

better

The two on the right sides are from the cupped one. I planed the hump out and ripped them on the tablesaw. I lost an 1/8" making the outside edges parallel and straight. I labeled them after so I don't mix them up with the other frame parts which are a 1 1/2" wide.

what I wanted

This is the frame that I got my 3/4" margin for the mat.

almost the same

The margin on this one is about 7/16 to 5/8. Probably won't notice that but you will see the frame size difference. There isn't anyway that I know of to hide or blend that in.

6 of them for $35

All of them are dead clean with the grain running fairly straight top to bottom. One of them had a small knot that went bye-bye when I sawed that aboard apart.

two 1 1/2" wide frame pieces

I got almost two complete frames out of each of the two pieces.

another on the fly change

I got enough stock to make the needed 5 frames. Made another lane change here based on the remaining pine boards I had. Decided to make and batch all 7 frames at once. This way I have a much better chance of them all being the same size. And I'm going to make all them the same bridal joint joinery.

3 off size frames

This also helped to nudge me in the direction of making all 7 at once. I don't think I would have been able to bring myself to have different frame sizes to look at in the shop.

done

Got all seven frames sawn to rough length and width. It is easy to screw things up with batch woodworking. You can be lulled by the monotony and end up in La La Land before you know it. After I planed a reference edge I sawed the frame parts to length.

can't use it

That divot would probably disappear when I chamfered this edge. But the problem is the split runs on the edge and the face for about 3-4 inches. This is one of two frame parts I had remake new ones. The other splintered when I hand sawed it to rough length.

last two

I knocked this out quickly - practice is making it almost perfect.

I have one taken already

I have some pics of the kids when they were young I'll use for one frame. The frame that those pics were in fell apart years ago and I never got around to making a new one. One down and 3 more to go.

accidental woodworker