Accidental Woodworker

finished glamour pic

I've been trying to get a hold of my sister Donna out in Indiana and nada. I'll past this on to my sisters Kam or Susan. I'm no longer going to populate the boneyard with projects.  

last night

Came back to the shop to clamp the front rail up. Decided to use it because I don't have any 4/4 cherry 6" wide. 

ready for layout

Thought about using a different wood for the drawer fronts. Walnut came up first but I don't have enough for two drawers. Pine is out of the question and I have no other 4/4 hardwood in my stash. It is looking like it is going to cherry after all.

hmm......

Still liquid and no 'foam' covering it this time. I stirred it and applied some to a scrap of pine. Covered well and seemed to be sticking. I wasn't expecting this to still be viable.

tenon layout

Initially I tried to do the layout with not one but 3 different mortise gauges. I felt like I didn't have thumbs - I couldn't get any of them to lay out equally from each edge. The tenon is a few frog hairs wider than a 1/4".

mortise layout

I took my time doing this layout. There is no bottom rail on the front and it is way too easy for me to screw things up. Got a layout triangle on the top that helped a lot with keeping me on the right track. Got it laid out first with light pencil marks, took a coffee break, and came back to check it was correct before finishing the layout.  I checked it again before I killed the lights for the day.

rail inset

This is the outside line for the rail putting the tenon centered on the leg.

got lucky

I was going to use a long 4/4 cherry board to get the two drawer fronts. While picking out that I saw these cherry scraps off to the left. The grain flows pretty good across the two so I'll be able to get a good match right to left.

hmm......

Got a snug fit on the ends and it is proud on the width. I'll plane them to fit when I do the 1/2 blind dovetails.

hall of famer at Cooperstown

Got a request to make two frames for these. One for each of the grandsons. They are related to hall of famer but I don't know how. My wife is the one who does the digging into dead people stuff. He was a great uncle to the grandson's paternal grandfather.  Either of these two frames is way too big for for a solo pic.

finally

Maria had told me bigger is better when matting a pic/photo. I started with a frame that would have a 2" border all around. It looked off to my eye so I started shrinking the frame. It took me 4 cuts before I got this. I'll whack out these two and bring them when I go to Maria's to check on two frame jobs I gave her last month.

accidental woodworker 

seven rails

Learned something prepping the rails that had gone over my head like a cement balloon. There is an order of operations with prepping the rails that I wasn't following. First op is to rip the rail to width. 2nd op is square one end and then square the opposite end and saw the rail to length. I was flattening/straightening one edge, squaring the ends, and finally sawing it to final width. The problem with that sequence? The ends were square to the original reference edge but not with the other one (width wasn't parallel end to end). For years I did prep that way obviously wandering in La La Land without knowing it. 

23 slats

I was able to get this many slats out of the off cuts from the stock prep.

my desk

33 slats on my desk that I will repeat on Miles's desk. I have a fondness for the look of this. They will be 3/4" wide by 3/8" thick. I doubt I'll use less then this number but I may add a couple more - to close the distant between the last slat and the legs.

44 slats

The width and thickness was different between the 5 batches of slats I did. To even all the slats I did one final ripping to width and thickness. The total operation of making the 44 slats took me 2hours.

cherry sawdust

Generated a bigger pile than I expected. There was also a fine sawdust in the shop that covered everything.

headache time

Didn't realize until after I was done with the front that I had made a hiccup. I was looking to get a continuous grain flow. I didn't want one drawer, I wanted two inset ones. The headache was caused by trying to figure out the length of the drawers.

the front rail

I first saw this done by Norm Abrams from the New Yankee Workshop. I think it was called the library table. I have done this once before without any problems. Trying to find the length of the drawers and the left, middle, and right dividers was making me feel like I had the IQ of a lima bean.

The result of this is the drawer inserts came out short. I just lost my continuous grain R to L.

hmm.......

Normally I would have used biscuits but I recently got a Stanley #59 doweling jig and I used it instead of biscuits. I did good on the alignment on the bottom but I was off on the top. I thought I had registered the jig but I did it wrong for the top one -either the divider or the top rail.

double, triple checking

I would have bet a lung I had done the registration correctly. Of the 4 registrations I was right on 3 and off on one. I was happy with the bottom - it came out dead flush on all 3 dividers. The fix was easy, glue in dowels and redrill for them. 

I couldn't wait

Twenty minutes after I glued the dowels in the errant holes I sawed off the proud and flushed them. Tried it with the center divider and I was flush top and bottom.

happy face

Dead on flush, top & bottom, on all three dividers.

it won't stretch

Got a 1/4" gap and I tried but I couldn't stretch it enough to close it up. Eyeballed it and I couldn't think of any way to 'fix' it. I can't use these drawers for slats as they aren't long enough. I will save them in the wood pile for a future use.

nope

I thought I was clever using a scrap of pine to figure out the length of the drawer. When I did it the pine was a snug fit in the opening. Turned out that the pine was the same length as the cherry drawer from the git go. Don't understand how that happened. But I did remember how I had done the previous front rail from many moons ago. 

On that one I had left the right and left outside dividers over length. On this one I had sawed the top and bottom to the same length as the back rails. I should have left the middle part over sized. Got me thinking about maybe redoing this. I have extra stock and the 'fix' for it. 

nice jig

One thing I have learned over the years is to leave jigs etc set up until everything is glued and cooking. This way it isn't a scramble to set the jig up again to 'fix' a me-steak.

accidental woodworker

grey pad work last night

Everything I read/watched about milk paint said sanding between coats wasn't necessary. However, a scratch pad works wonders smoothing out the paint. It surprisingly didn't generate any appreciable dust. I had used this grey pad (the only one I had) between each application of the paint.

happy with it

There was a 'foam skin' covering the top that stirred into the paint without leaving lumps. The consistency of the paint has remained the same since I first mixed it up. Hope that I have mastered making it now.

3rd coat

Although this doesn't look like latex paint with regards to coverage, I'm happy with how three coats of this batch of milk paint look like. I'll be ready to slap 3 coats of shellac on it in the AM.

the next day

The paint still had a 'foam skin' covering the top. Unlike last night it took some vigorous stirring to make it lump free. Consistency remained the same - encouraging that there hasn't been the slightest hint of it wanting to turn into a jello like blob.

4th coat

Didn't need another coat but I was curious about how the paint would be after sitting out on my bench for two days. Is it just me or does it look like the color has deepened a wee bit? The paint laid down with no problems or hiccups.

I started looking on line about making linseed oil paint. My grandfather worked as a house painter when he first came to the USA. He made the paint that he painted houses with. Supposedly linseed oil paint doesn't peel/blister/crack like modern latex/oil paints do. Just something to have on the back burner to muse about.

legs

Sawed out the legs for Miles's desk. This 8/4 cherry stock is 1-7/8" thick. 

prepping

Planed two adjacent faces square, flat, and twist free. Next step is to plane the four legs to equal thickness on the lunch box planer.

hmm......

Leg prep was done and I measured the two adjacent faces. This face was almost 2" wide and the other face was 1 7/8". That gives about 1/8"+ for wiggle room. There is nothing carved in stone for the thickness but I was shooting for as thick as possible.

done

It was a beautiful pre spring day for planing. The temp at the time I did this was 67F/20C. It didn't take long to do -  it took longer to set up and break down then planing the legs.

not perfect

All the legs when checked against each other were close. On a couple there was less than frog hair and I have no intentions of chasing my tail on them making them perfect. 

calling this done

Still have to hinge it and get shellac on the lid but no one will see that in a pic. I like these chests better painted than left natural. I wouldn't paint a nice hardwood one, but pine is a good choice for milk paint.

back/side view

There is a difference in the two paint jobs. The blue is a ton more streaky while the red is uniform with almost zero streaks. The red also covered imperfections/glue blobs much better then the blue did.

sigh

The area I sanded due to lifting grain. It lifted again but no as bad. Thought briefly about making another batch of blue but nixed it. Wish this wasn't on the front but I can live with it. 

legs

I had to redo my layout. On the first one I saw that I had put planer snipe facing the where the mortises were. There were only two of them, one I was able to place at the bottom and the 2nd one facing out toward the front. I'll plane the snipe off after the base is done.

wow

I love this bottom piece of cherry. I wanted to use it for the front but all the lovely grain was on the right side. The left side was flat sawn and bland. If the right grain was more centered I would have used it. 

big empty hole

I need seven rails for the desk. The one with the knot hole will be used for the top back - the knot won't be seen in the finished desk. It doesn't extend all the way to the opposite face.

accidental woodworker 

 Got a late start in the shop today. I had to go AAA to renew my truck registration. I maintain my AAA membership just to be able to do DMV (Dept of Motor Vehicles) business. It took less than 15 minutes to renew. At the DMV it probably would have been more than an hour.

After this I was going to go to the local recycling drop off but it didn't happen boys and girls. Luckily for me I had checked the site on line before leaving. The only thing in the truck that the drop off would have taken were the 2x4s. They don't accept plywood (had tons of it), stained or finished wood, sheet rock, and pressure treated wood. The 2x4s were at the bottom in my truck so I'll be moving on to plan 2. 

All I have on plan 2 is naming it plan 2. The Johnston landfill won't take construction debris which is what in my truck. At this point in time I don't have a clue as to where I can depose what is in my truck bed.

lime and pigment

Had to make a quick run to buy vinegar to make the quark. I got the pigment dye mixed and the lime was the next batter.

9 1/4 oz of quark

The author says the minimum is 8 oz/250 grams with any extra not sinking the ship. I brought a cup of water for mixing/whizzing everything up. Spoiler alert - I didn't use any of the water.

red milk paint

Kind of looks like tomato soup with some cream it it. The consistency is a little looser than the blue milk paint but not the same consistency as latex paint. Felt better with how this paint came out. I covered it to let it set up while I was topside cleaning up the containers.

I am not thrilled with the whizzing machine. It sounds labored and initially it didn't whiz up the quark at all. It all got whizzed once I added the lime. I will look and see what is available in small blenders. They should have stronger motors than the I whizzer I have now.

wow

I was surprised with how this batch laid down. No streaks and no bald spots. It laid down like a latex paint and covered. I wasn't expecting this and it is what I hoped for with making my own milk paint would be like.

hmm.......

I am not thrilled with the color of the red. I was expecting it be fire engine red whereas this is more of a salmon color(too much orange IMO). It doesn't look too much out of place against the blue of the chest. This will have to do.

this was surprise

This is one coat on the end grain. Usually paint on end grain soaks in  and looks bare. I thought this milk paint would do the same. The milk paint went on and lay on the end grain like it was sealed. The only prep I had done on the end grain was to sand it with 120.

wow again

The second coat coverage is outstanding. I can't see the wood grain clearly underneath the paint anywhere. This is what I wanted from this milk paint. The 2nd coat went on two hours after the first one. The paint still had the same consistency as it was for the first coat. I plan on putting a 3rd and final coat on after dinner. In the AM I'll start on shellac.

The only change I made with the red is using the quark right away. I didn't drain or stick it in the refrigerator (I did refrigerate two leftover ounces). I also didn't go nutso on my water management. I used 5 TBSP of water with the lime because it appeared to be a wee bit on the dry side. I used a lot of water mixing the red pigment. Not sure exactly how much but I'm guessing 6-8 TBSP? I hope that I can repeat my success with this on the next batch. 

I will keep the leftover red milk paint and track to see how long it will last before heading south. Very happy that the paint didn't turn to jello between the 1st and 2nd coats. (PS - didn't turn to jello between 2 and 3 neither)

accidental woodworker 

 Over the last 3 days the snow dumped by the blizzard has finally melted down significantly. I can see about 20 feet of my front sidewalk. Tomorrow it is forecasted to be 63F/17C so I guessing my entire sidewalk should be clear. Looking forward to not having to shovel it. The good news is I think we won't have any more of the white stuff for about 7-8 months.

happy with this

Got 3 coats on the new screw boxes. I separated the two of them - one has only flat head screws and the other has round and oval head ones. 

I'm calling the miniature chest blue paint job done. The coverage still isn't what I wanted but stepping back, I am ok with it for being milk paint. Decided to go ahead and make up a batch of red milk paint for the lid. I am can be a wee bit stubborn about some things and I just can't walk away from this milk paint hiccup.

I plan on using the quark right away for the red and I am not going to obsess about how much water I use. The blue batch actually started to look and lay down like paint when I added water. Fingers crossed on that and I'll be trying that in the AM.

why not

I measured each screw and put a tag in its compartment. I did it for all four of the #5 & #6 screw boxes. Thinking that I should also do it for the #4 screws. The rub on that one is that 16 of the compartments are flat head with two being oval head. hmm......

platform

I keep the screw boxes on top of my version of Roy Underhill's multi drawer cabinet. There is enough room on top for the 4 boxes but not for the current 6. The two cleats on the underside will fit in between the top moldings and keep the platform from moving/shifting.

top of the cabinet

This is where the platform will go. The platform is 16 x 19 and will easily hold the 6 screw boxes plus two smaller boxes. These two hold loose screws and brass brads.

done

I didn't want the platform to overhang on the R/L. Instead I put the overhang out at the back. 

Another slow day. It is getting easier to get my right shoe on but the right foot is still swollen. Walking is slowly getting better but not as fast I want it to. Some things I have zero patience for but I'm forced to have it with this. 

accidental woodworker

 Debating whether or not to do the red milk paint. After the results of the blue milk paint it ain't looking good for the home team boys and girls. I read the book again and I spent a lot of time on You Tube watching milk paint vids. Nothing I saw addressed the the paint turning it a big blob of jello milk paint. The only thing about the blue milk paint that I didn't have any hiccups with is the pigment dye. But that is only 1/3 of what makes up milk paint.

sigh

The milk paint got underneath the grain and it lifted. Having this pop up here and now sucked the wind out of my sails. I don't want to plane it but I can't leave it as is. I'll try sanding it with 120 and give it an eyeball after.

surprise

I was expecting to find a blob of blue jello but it is liquid. Not the the consistency of loose pancake batter, just a wee bit thicker. The shelf life of milk paint is short. Depending upon who you listen to it is anywhere from 24hrs to maybe 3 days if it is refrigerated.

I have to cover the spots I painted and I don't want to mix up a batch of new blue milk paint so I'm going to try and use this. I'm encouraged by the fact it is somewhat liquid.

hmm.....

Of course the first coat sucks. I can't leave these as streaks so I'll wait until it is dry to the touch and lay on another one. Fingers crossed the paint stays liquid.

hmm......

2nd coat and it looks a wee bit better. The paint is covering just like it did when I painted the chest. I did notice that it covers just a little better if I brush it on against the grain. With the grain the paint appears to slide over it without covering.

nope

The hinges I'm using for the new screw boxes requires a #3 screw. I have #3 screws but they are all flat head and I need a round head. I drilled out the screw holes on the hinges to accept a #4 RH screw.

one down, one to go

I am becoming a fan of the 90° stop hinges I used. They are flush mounted and more than adequate for these screw boxes. I don't like flush mounted hinges but for shop projects my OCD stays quiet.

lid first

I tried to clamp the box and the lid in the vise and apply the hinges to both. It turned into a real shit show on the first screw box from many moons ago. It is a lot saner for me to do the lid first, clamp the lid/box in the vise, and secure the hinge to the box.

done

Both boxes are hinged and have the first of 4 coats of shellac.

Only made 3 trips to the shop today. My right foot blew up to the size of a watermelon and it did the same today. I know I should be resting and keeping it elevated but I can't sit and do nothing. But I did manage to limit my time in the shop and how many times I had to go up/down the cellar stairs.

 PS - Who knew? I was totally oblivious to the time change. Wee bit of a shock when I got up this AM. 

accidental woodworker 

couple of hours later

Went back to the shop after dinner to get a 2nd coat on the chest. It was about 3 hours after the first coat and the paint was not like it was for the first go around. It had the consistency of hard peanut butter - like it had been in the refrigerator for a while. 

I stirred it but it didn't go back to the loose pancake batter consistency. I put a little water and stirred it in without much success. It got a bit better but was still too thick to apply with a paint brush. I doubt I could have spread it if I had used a trowel.

whizzed it up

This and a little more water, got me back to the pancake batter. I wasn't expecting the paint to go into La La Land on me like this. Got it thin enough to apply another coat with a paint brush.

not a happy camper

Not getting a warm and fuzzy with the 2nd coat coverage. It is barely better than the first one which was disappointing. In some spots, as you can see, the coverage was good but most of it is streaky. The paint just wasn't grabbing and laying down completely. The batch of milk paint, although it has a better color, isn't any better than the paint job on the first miniature chest.

hmm.......

Milk paint on poplar. Thinking maybe the eastern white pine I've been using is the problem. The paint coverage on the poplar wasn't shouting back at me. It is streaky and the coverage was just as poor and spotty as on the pine.

cherry

It is looking like to me that this milk paint doesn't give a rat's arse what it gets slapped on. The coverage and look is the same. So far the only thing giving me a happy face is the pigment - the color is good and without being splotchy. 

this sucks pond scum

It is the AM and the milk paint is a blob of a nice looking blue color. It wiggles like it is jello with the same consistency. I stuck, or rather tried to put a stick in it and nada. It was like it was rubber and I had to put some oomph into getting the stick inserted in it.  

No way this could brushed on. I tried putting some water in it and got nowhere. Stirring did nothing and I just ended up with a big blue, rubbery blob on the end of the stick.

whizzing it again

I started with 4 TBSP first and only a small portion was liquid. I had to dump in about a 1/4 cup more of water before it whizzed up into a smooth, but thick consistency. 

better but......

I was hoping for a better build with this after the 3rd coat. I have had latex paint act like this milk paint but this sucks pond scum result wise. The coverage is still not at the level I want. It has some good dark coverage spots but still has way too many streaky spots.

screws came in from McMaster-Carr

I don't have any room in my current screw boxes. Decided to make two more for #5 and #6 screws. These two boxes will be just for flat head screws. The current #5 & #6 boxes will hold round and oval head screws.

current screw boxes

#2 &#3 (in one box), #4, #5, and #6 screws (atop the big cabinet).

hmm......

I'm using the original ends intended for the current miniature chest. They were 11/16" thick and I had to thin them down to 1/2". This chunk popped off when I planed the board straight across.

two boxes there

The sides of the boxes are only 1 3/4" high so I'm using a single dovetail at the corners. I'll glue a 1/8" plywood panel on the bottom of each box. Got the dovetails done on each box. The next batter is doing the 1/2 pins.

1/2 pin sockets done

Next up is the part that always gets me revved up. How will it fit off the saw? I did both at the same time whereas I usually would do these one at a time.

first dry fit

Good fit and after a few pulls and tugs, got the diagonals to agree dead on.

glued and cooking

The dovetails were snug enough that I didn't need clamps. I had enough stock for the sides and one lid. The back box needs another piece. I'm not a fan of glued up lids but with my 4 other screw box lids, two of them are glue ups.

almost

Found a scrap of pine more the large enough but I had to thin it down to a 1/2". I left it a wee bit proud and I'll flush it after the glue has cooked.

dividers

I only did a groove for the two long dividers. The ends of the smaller cross dividers I'll secure with super glue. I already know that each of the compartments will hold more than a 100 screws.

one down, and one to go

No hiccups or an oops with the first egg crate dividers. My other boxes have 18 compartments and these two will have only 15.

shooting for 2 for 2

I got the half lap sawn on the long ones. I set them down on the cross dividers as far as they would go and marked them.

mark both sides

When I sawed the half lap I positioned the saw blade centered between the layout lines by eye.

two dry fitted

Happy that this came out without any me-steaks. I can easily finish this in the AM with the exception of slapping some shellac on them.

Slow going today and I didn't get as much done as I had hoped for. A couple of days ago when I took the desk top out of the clamps, it fell off the clamps and smashed down on my big toe on my right foot. I hopped around on one foot, screaming expletives for 10 minutes. 

The toe blew up and turned some rather interesting shades of purple, red, and black. It took me 5 minutes to get my boat shoes on the next day but I was able to do it without passing out. The day after I dropped the top I woke up to a huge blood blister on the big toe. Popped it and the toe felt a little better. Still walked with a slight limp. 

Yesterday I repeated the dropped desk top exercise on the same right foot. Didn't drop it on the big toe again but on the next two adjacent toes. Now those are an interesting shade of purple and black. 

The big toe swelled some more along with the two other toes. This AM it took me seemingly forever to get my right shoe on. The limp is more pronounced and I can't bend/flex my toes while walking. Walking flat footed very slowly and I had to rest and sit a lot while I was in the shop. Chopped the tails and pins sitting down which is a first for me.

I think it is going to be a few days before I will be able to do a full day in the shop. I will try to confine my movements/walking while in the shop as much as I can.

accidental woodworker 

from the boneyard

After seeing the price of screws yesterday, I salvaged more from the sewing machine cabinet I broke apart. I took all the spare wood I had in the boneyard and loaded it into my truck bed. I'll bring it to the town recycling friday or monday. By filling up the truck it will force me to get rid of it. 

over 2" thick

This an ash glue up I did several years ago. The plan then was to make this into a sharpening bench but that never happened. I couldn't bring myself to toss it into the truck bed. Maybe I'll get inspired to use it in the coming months.

still mounded

I got lucky and the epoxy fill didn't shrink over night.

flushed

Got most of the epoxy flushed with a block plane. I still have a ways to go before it is done.

almost

The black spot]on the right isn't part of the knot hole fill. I will have to plane that area until it is gone.

99.99%

The knot is flushed and within a frog hair of being done. The right spot is being stubborn. I hit both spots with the #12 and #122 scrapers. It is slow going but at least neither scraper was chattering on me. There is no need to get this completely done today but I was curious about how the epoxy fill would look done.

Wally World run

Got some containers for the paint along with some spoons, I ran out of them last week. Getting ready to mix up a batch of milk paint.

hmm.......

My quark turned out to be 8oz exactly. The quark is hard - ish. I used a quart of fat free milk plus one cup to get the required amount. 

ta da

This milk paint is so much better than my previous attempts. This one is smooth and has the consistency of a loose pancake batter. This batch matches close to what the author says it should be. 

The quark didn't whiz up easily. I put a couple of TBSP of water in it and whizzed it again. Difficult but it smoothed out when I added the lime. Got a smooth consistency then.

Rinsing the quark this time yielded better results. I was more patient this time and rinsed it until the water ran clear. A lot clearer than my last batch for sure. I think for the next batch (red) I'll use the quark right away. I won't wait and let it set up overnight in the refrigerator. The paint should whiz up quicker and easier than doing it as hard as the quark was today.

so so

The first coat of paint. Better coverage than the previous blue dye I used. Still not the coverage I was hoping for. 

other two sides

Kind of happy with the batch. I will slap on another coat after dinner. I don't want to see any wood with this milk paint. I want the chest to look like something close to if this was painted with latex paint. Fingers crossed I'll have a happy face on in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

making quark

Before I went to the shop I made a batch of quark for the blue milk paint. I will make the 2nd batch of quark for the red paint after I get this one done.

hmm......

The open knot on this face (the down side) is almost an inch and a half at the widest and 3/4" at its narrowest. Undecided about whether or not to fill it in on this side. It is on the underside and won't be seen - the drawers will cover it.

#4 1/2 with a 55° frog

The proud was not quite a 16th and I couldn't flush it entirely with this plane.

#80

Got it almost flushed with the #80 within a frog hair. I had problems with the #80 chattering a lot more than I expected.

got a hump

I got all 3 of the glue joints dead flush and it is flat on the opposite diagonal and there was a hump this way. The hump is right on the swirling bullseye grain. The 4 1/2" didn't have any problems planing this area without tearing out.

toothing iron

This is the third time I've used this iron. I've had it for almost 20 years. Using the jack so I could feather out the hump area.

almost

This wasn't as awkward to do as I anticipated it being. I have two stops on the workbench, one at the end and another on the left side. I pulled the planes toward me while standing at the end of the workbench. It took a while before the hump got flattened.

love the depth of the black color

I stuffed the knot hole with a bunch of cherry shavings so I didn't have to use gallons of epoxy to fill it. 

2nd application

About 20 minutes after I initially filled it I put some more on. One spot had dipped down below the top. Fingers crossed that come tomorrow it will be still over filled and not sunk down.

quark is 99% done

I think I did better on this batch then I did with the previous ones. I know I did better with rinsing until it ran clear. I put this in the refrigerator to dry out and drain any remaining liquid.

hmm.......

Got this yesterday from Amazon - 10 feet of plumber's chain. I wasn't sure here if it will work as a chain stay for the miniature chest.

not smooth sailing

As I smoothed one set of chatter marks, I made a new set. Tried all the tricks I knew but without success.

stubborn spot

I had smoothed this area of chatter marks but I had to take one more swipe. My reward? Three more lines of chatter. This one area was an absolute nightmare trying to smooth out.

the smoothing trio

The scraper plane (Stanley #112) was the only one that didn't chatter. The Stanley veneer scraper (#12) chattered a couple of times. The #80 was the worse. The scraping planes left behind a glass smooth surface, much better than the #80 did.

ornery spot

This area was a PITA to smooth out. It didn't tear out exactly but certain strokes left a fuzzy line.

been a while

I thought I had two #112s but it is two #12s. The last time I used these was when I made the cradle for Miles. Hard to believe but that was almost ten years ago. BTW I only have one Stanley scraper iron in these three. After searching I finally bought replacement irons from Hock. I bought two toothed irons from Kunz - I emailed the US representative and bought two from him. Had to wait until Kunz in Germany made a batch of them. The fit with both the Hock and Kunz irons was perfect.

it works

Setting the hinges using super glue. Two dabs on each hinge with a little weight for 10 minutes holds the hinges in place long enough to get screws started.

underside

No leaks. The blue tape is still down tight and it isn't bulging neither.

two screws

Got two screws in each hinge. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have any flat head, slotted, #6 screws in the length I wanted. I went to ACE but two things stopped me from buying screws there (and having an involuntary bowel movement). They had brass screws in the size I wanted but they were phillips head (a no no for me) and the cost took my breath away. 50 screws in 1/2" was $17 and the 3/4" size was $19. I don't remember screws costing this much the last I bought a pkg of 50. 

I ended up buying the screws from McMaster-Carr. Bought two boxes of 100 each and the price was almost as much as the ACE pkg of 50 screws cost. I'll have to start watch vids on making without any fasteners like screws and nails.

hardware is done

Got the chain stay installed without any hiccups. The hinges are all set to be reinstalled once the paint is done.

shellac time

Got 4 coats on the interior of the chest (done) and two on the back doohickey thing. 3-4 more on it and it will be done.

accidental woodworker

hmm.......

First change is with the top. This one will be about 36x24. I got four boards to choose for the top. That will be whittled down to a 3 board top. My desk top is 44x 25.

maybe not

This is the cherry bookshelf I made for Mile's desk. It looks a wee bit too big IMO. I pictured this being used for reference or school books (CD/DVDs too). I'll be rethinking this - I have two smaller cherry bookshelves waiting in the wings that might look/fit better.
 

took a while

I went back forth with the four boards and I ended up using the one with a knot. I like how the grain flows with these three boards. The knot goes straight through the board. This face has the smaller opening with the opposite face over twice the size. I am going to fill it in with epoxy dyed with black pigment. 

can't dutch it

I was thinking of covering the the knot hole with a dutchman. I didn't have any cherry off cuts with a circular grain pattern like the knot has.  First option was cherry and then I thought of using walnut. Nixed both because of the grain.

jointing the top boards

This is about the only time I use my #8 Stanley - just for jointing boards for edge gluing. Checking for the edge square to the face. Used a 48" straight edge to check the edge was flat and straight.

hmm......

There was a slight gap here due to a hump. It took a few plane and check steps before the gap disappeared.

sigh

I dry clamped the top 3 times before I glued it up. All three dry attempts I had problems flushing these edges. However, I didn't have any hiccups get it flush when I tightened the clamps. That changed when the glue went on. It was flush initially and when I finally got all the clamps tightened down, I saw this. By the time I saw it and tried to fix it the glue had already set. This is the major reason I went with 5/4 cherry for the top.

glued and cooking

I used the Bessey clamps to keep the joint lines flush and tight to the clamps. Got a surprise when I checked the joint line from above again. It had closed up a little more. I should be able scrap away what it is now there with the Stanley #80.

Real crappy day here in RI. The weather seers said it would rain, sleet, and snow off and on all day long. Some rain, no sleet as of this blog typing but it did snow for about 20 minutes. The seers said that none of the precipitations would accumulate. 

accidental woodworker 

 I haven't forgotten about Miles desk. I have decided to make a copy of the desk that I use. Mine is red oak and Miles will be cherry. For that matter, Leo's desk will be cherry too. I wanted to finish the current plate of projects before jumping into the desk build. Now that the miniature chest woodworking is done, the first thing on the desk agenda is making the top. I have the measurements of my desk but I won't be following them exactly. They will be subject to whim and what I think looks good.

hmm....

I applied wood putty to the dings and divots on the chest yesterday. The chest will be rustic looking but I don't want to see all the boo boos under the milk paint to come.
 

hinge mortises done

I had three sets of these hinges, two in bronze and one brass one. The brass one was buried in the hinge goodie bin. Got the heebie jeebies thinking I was losing it again but I found it. 

chamfer done

I stopped the chamfer 1 1/2" from the back edge of the lid. I did this with my battery operated router. 

looks a wee bit rough

This is making my OCD tingle a wee bit but I'll try to get over it. The mortise is shallow leaving the hinge is 1-2 frog hairs proud.

prepping for milk paint

The last milk paint I used the last miniature chest didn't cover/stick to the wood putty well. So I applied shellac to them and the end grain of the front and back. Not sure how milk paint will do on end grain but the shellac sealed it and it should act as a primer coat.

done, for now

Decided on how the back doohickey thing will be attached. The lid will be painted red and the doohickey will be finished with shellac. I attached it with 5 screws and I will remove it before I paint/shellac it. Once the finish is done, I'll screw it back on.

finger grabbie thing

The lid overhangs the front of the chest only about a 1/4". Decided that wasn't enough to ease opening the lid so I added this to help out.

ready for paint

Spent about 30 minutes with my head buried in my arse searching the shop for some window sash metal chain. I know I had some left over but as usual I can't remember where I hid it. I'll search/order some from Amazon. I have time before I'll need it.

sigh

Well, boys and girls, they ain't done yet. The cherry one was borderline but the two walnut ones needed some help with the top edges on the ends. After dinner I'll eyeball them again and more than likely they will get another thin coat of shellac.

I had to go the VA after lunch because one of my meds ran out. The doc will review it and I'll  get the refill in the mail. In the interim I got a ten day supply. The streets leading to the VA were a complete mess. I thought the side streets were I live were bad but the ones in Providence were way worse. A 5 minute ride through them pre blizzard took me 20 minutes today. Thankful that I don't have to go to the VA for an appointment until next month.

accidental woodworker

now they are done

No home for either one of these. I'll ask my sister Donna if she wants them. If not I'll give them to my sister Kam. I still have to get a hold of her for day to bring the boneyard goodies to her.

3 more done

The middle cherry one is for Miles desk. The two walnut ones are homeless for now. But I am thinking of gifting one of the walnut ones to Maria at the Frame it shop.

hmm....

Got the moldings in and the two long ones are a few frog hairs higher then the short ones. I had checked them and it looked to me that they were all the same height. I'm leaving it as is. I just nailed the moldings in place with no glue. I didn't glue the plywood bottom to the bearers neither.  

I hand nailed one short molding and pin nailed the others. There was barely any room for the hammer head to hit the nail. Nailing it off with the pin nailer wasn't much better but I managed to get it done.

hmm......

Thinking about how to attach the back doohickey thing. Clamp and nail it, or use screws? Also, do I do it before the hinges are attached or do it after? Good place to kill the lights and head topside. This was all I got done today in the shop. Spent the rest of the day watching old Star Trek shows on Amazon Prime. I never saw the first few years of any of them.

accidental woodworker 

hmm.........

These two were the original ends] for the miniature chest. The bottom one is dead flat and is the one I had clamped a split/crack in. The top one was flat but it ain't anymore. No problem flattening it with hand pressure. No idea what I'll use these for but they will be available in the scrap pile.

glamour pic

I like how this turned out. Initially I wasn't happy with how the bandings were applied vice inset in dadoes/grooves. Now that I can eyeball it with the lid on, I like the look.

hmm.....

I think the feet being applied and proud help to anchor the bandings. There is a lot of color and texture from all the different woods to look at.

oops

Thought I was done with it but it ain't so boys and girls. I missed getting shellac on the inside of the top of the lid.

nope

I had left the cupped, smaller doohickey clamped over night and most it was gone this AM when unclamped. However, I ripped out another one a 1/4" taller and a few frog hairs thicker.

got lucky

The top has 4 coats on it and the pine has a light honey color that compliments the cherry insert nicely.

the after pic

The lid had cupped slightly and no matter which way I put it on the top there was a gap at the front. Put the board on the bench and planed the hump flat first and then the cupped side second. I only lost a 16th on the thickness too - ended up at 11/16".

sigh

Today the chest was rocking. Put the sticks on the legs expecting to see some twist and nada. The sticks told a tale of zero twist so why was it rocking?

the problem??

The miniature chest is on the tablesaw laying dead flat and zero rocking. On the blue outfeed table it was rocking. No rocking on the workbench neither. Looking back I think this table was causing the headaches I had with the walnut bookshelf. I had checked for rocking first on this outfeed table.

A quick check with a long straight edge showed this table has some twist/hump. I'll stop using this to check for rocking starting today.

molding choices

I wanted to use the quarter round molding but it is too small. It would be a ROYAL PITA trying to nail or glue it in place. I am going to use the beaded molding on the right. This one I can press down tight to the plywood bottom and nail without any hindrances that I can foresee.

3 coats of shellac

Almost done. It looks ok with three but one or two more will raise the shine up a couple more notches.

one more coat to come

I had to scrape waterfall drips on all three of the bookshelves. One more light coat of shellac and they will all get a check mark in the done column.

accidental woodworker 

cooked overnight

This was going to be the ends for the new miniature chest. Didn't know it here yet.

eats up a lot of real estate

The bottoms are done on all of them. Next up is getting 4-5 coats on the rest of them.

yikes

One of the ends and this decided to shake hands with me. There was a split/crack on one end what when I tried to open it up so I glue it, it split opened from end to end. It didn't separate entirely making it easier to fill it with glue and clamp.

I made another end but it was thicker than the other original one. I had the stock so I just made another end panel so the two would be the same thickness. 

one miniature chest

There is surprisingly little stock required to make this chest. Two ends at the front with the front, back, and lid behind them.

came yesterday

This a 1/2" timber wolf wood slicer resawing bandsaw blade. I got it from Highland Hardware. Can't wait to see if this is the cats meow for resawing.

hmm.....

The fence and the blade ain't square to the table. Fixed that boo boo before I tried resawing again.

big negative on that Houston

The 3/8" chinese bandsaw blade had zero problems ripping through this pine. Unfortunately for me the cut was far from stellar. Parallel at this end (the entry) but angled on the exit.

this ain't good

Again, the blade eased through this better than a hot knife going through a tub of cheap oleo. This cut is something new for me. I had tried to push the stock through the blade like I have seen on a bazillion You Tube vids. The saw cut had a mind of its own than this was what it wanted to do. 

yikes

This was the last resaw I attempted. I pushed the stock through the blade. I didn't go nutso pushing the stock tight against the fence as I pushed it forward. I have yet to see one You Tuber pushing against the fence as the stock is fed into the blade. Time to step back, resist the urge to give free flying lessons, and think about what the (*^)(_*(!@$^&*)_@(+$ am I doing wrong.

need a dutchman

The grain is uplifted here and it will be a catch hazard. A dutchman will cure that hiccup.

good fit

It is ready to glue with a few gaps. My initial knifing of the dutchman was faint and I had trouble refining them when I chiseled the outline.

glued and cooking

No need to clamp this. The dutchman fit snug.

why?????

One continuous cut, smooth with zero binding or hesitation. Why can't I duplicate this cut with resawing?

comparison

Sawed these notches on the bandsaw. Smoothed one and the top one awaits its turn. The amount of scalloping wasn't effected by pushing it slowly or fast through the blade. Rough as it is/was, it was square to the face.

hmm......

The side panel is proud of the leg on the end. This is harder to fix then if the leg was proud of the side panel.

fixed

The side panel and the leg are flush now. I used the same fix on all four legs.

the fix

Planed four strokes with the LN 140 making a shallow rabbet. I wasn't too concerned about an exact depth. If it was a little too deep, a few strokes with a plane on the leg would flush it. Nailed the front and back on with 5 cut nails on each end with a wee bit of glue.

ledgers

Nailed and glued the ledgers on that are for the plywood bottom to be secured to.

bottom in dry

Thinking on whether or not to put a molding here to keep the bottom in place. I did that on the previous miniature chest and I like it.

lid and the back doohickey thing

I like the proportions of this miniature chest more than the previous one. The length to width ratio looks better to the eye IMO.

hmm......

The doohickey thing has a healthy cup to it. I was able to clamp and flush it with the back edge of the lid. Not getting a warm and fuzzy with it in spite of the ease with flushing up. I would rather have doohickey thing be straight and flat from the git go. 

I hadn't expected to get this far with the chest today. After I got the front and back nailed to the ends, everything else just fell into place. No hiccups or road blocks. This will be painted with milk paint and the pigment dyes I bought. Blue for the main body and red for the lid. At least that is the plan as of today.

accidental woodworker

 The old body isn't screaming at me but it is achy through my back into my upper thighs. What surprised me was my left shoulder didn't hurt. There was a wee bit of achiness but no rip your face off pain. 

The plow  truck came through overnight and it was expected. They blocked off the end of the driveway and the front door walk way. They also only plowed my side of the road. They made another run around lunch time. So I had to shovel twice more today but I lucked out because it wasn't nowhere near the blizzard level snow dump.

sigh

Not too bad and it took me a little less then an hour to clear the driveway and the front door walk through. No hiccups with the left shoulder, I was expecting it to start singing arias within a heartbeat but it didn't.

hmm.......

It is signed 2023 but I would bet a lung that it was older than this. I think I signed this when I hinged it. I know this sat in the boneyard for several years without hinges. This is the pine/cherry jewelry box and I'm slapping shellac on it finally.

sigh

The banding is offset on this corner. It looked like crap and was setting off alarm bells in OCD central. Chiseled it off and glued on another piece.

wow, and wow again

I can't believe how dark the legs and bottom banding on the small box popped after just one coat of shellac. I think this is ebony but I'm not sure. Regardless, I am in love with the color.

flattening

I didn't go nutso on this. I planed the hump on one face and the cup on the other. Made no attempt to make the faces dead nuts parallel. No pain working with 3 different planes flattening this board. I wasn't sure if the left shoulder would protest or not.

done

Happy face on. The board ended up 11/16" thick which was my target.

resaw time

The blade is only 3/8" but it didn't protest resawing this scrap of pine. The blade effortlessly glided through the board with no binding or hesitation.

hmm....this sucks pond scum

In spite of the ease sawing the stock it didn't come out okey dokey. The saw cut is angled. The outside cuts aren't usable but the middle one is.

why I was resawing

This board will give the ends for the miniature chest. I am going to dutchman this pitch pocket but not the knots. Pitch pockets can bleed and run when the temperature gets hot.

second step

Knife and the chisel the outline of the dutchman. I chiseled it out and checked the depth with an adjustable square.

good fit

There is a bit of a gap on the top long edge. It isn't a big deal and I'll fill it with wood putty. This is going to be painted and won't be seen.

glued and clamped

Tomorrow I plan to go to Lowes and buy a couple of  1x12 pine boards for the miniature chest. I'll whack that out before I start on Miles's desk.

two coats of shellac

Two coats on the body and three coats on the feet. One more to go on them and they I can finish the rest.

accidental woodworker

I must have gotten some snow blindness because I was way off on how much I had to shovel. 16' didn't even make it to the end of driveway. I measured once I cleared it out to where the plow trucks dumped their stuff. From where I left off yesterday to the snow line in the road was almost 42 feet. I would have gladly accepted it being 16'. I started shoveling it at 0738 and I got done with it at 1248. I worked right through lunch because I just wanted it over and done with.

a little over 3 hours

I still have a chunk of snow on the right to shovel. My shoulder was starting to hurt a lot here. To add an insult to injury, it snowed for most of the time I shoveled. It turned to rain briefly before ending. On a brighter note, Mr Sun said hello around 1400.

awesome helpers

These are like football cleats that went on a super crash diet. Absolutely no slipping and sliding with these on. Because they slightly elevate your shoes they don't get soaking wet. I wouldn't have survived shoveling the driveway without them.

almost forgot to snap this pic

The fruits of my labor. I am going to be sore for a while. I can't lift lift my arm up above my left shoulder. Can't remember whether to ice it or apply heat. I'll google it later on.

I went to Shaws to get some vittles and my street was barely a single lane. There is no way two cars could pass each other. I noticed that a couple of side streets weren't plowed at all. The main road going to Shaws was clear but the left lane (4 lane road) was a wee bit short on the width. That made for an interesting drive dealing with the morons in the right lane. 

hmm.......

This walnut bookshelf didn't want to get its pilot license. It isn't rocking here at all. No rocking when I checked on the tablesaw top neither. I'll be keeping an eye on it to make sure it behaves.

been two days

I was too impatient to wait another day because I had to see how it looked right now.

about the same

I really couldn't see any difference after this second heat and clamp. There is still a wee bit of a cup on one face and a hump on the other face. Still much better than what it was before I tried this. When it comes time to plane the hump/cup I shouldn't lose that much in the thickness. Hoping it will be about a 16th or less.

almost done

This almost didn't get the final check mark today. My shoulder stopped singing arias and was screaming at me. I stayed in the shop long enough to get the last two bandings on and clamped. This was all I got done in the shop today. I don't expect to light the world on fire with shop time in the AM. That is dependent upon how much use my left arm will have to render.

accidental woodworker 

The last big blizzard was in 1978 and I missed it. I was somewhere in the north Atlantic onboard the USS Cavalla SSN 684. My wife had to deal with it but she survived, She had gone to her mother's house to ride out the blizzard. The snowfall from this blizzard was over 2" more than the 1978 one. Kind of wish I had gone to north carolina with my wife now.

this sucks

I shoveled the spot in front of the truck and my wife's parking spot first. I waited until after I made a trip to the shop first.

this is going to hurt

The city only plowed a single lane down the street. The end of my driveway has an extra 5 foot wide mountain of snow I'll have to shovel . The headache is there is ittle real estate to dump snow. On a brighter note, about a 1/3 of the driveway had almost no snow. The wind blowing pushed a lot of snow down to the end of the driveway.

hmm.......

Starting the banding yesterday and before I went out to shovel all that white crap, put on two more pieces. I attached the banding with super glue and fingers crossed that it holds up over time.

wife's spot

Shoveled the back stoop and this spot. The sun was shining and it was kind of warm, the temp was above freezing (0C). Almost 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back.

21"

When there is this much of the white stuff, this is close enough. The back right corner was over 24". This is the foundation of the old garage and it is where I park the truck. Shoveling my wife's spot and mine took me a little over four hours.

welcomed

The bare spot was nice not having to shovel. This part of the driveway is a ROYAL PITA. The left side doesn't have any where to dump snow. So I have to shovel and walk it over to the right and dump it there. It was good work out. I quit here with about 16 more feet to go before I hit the road.  

90 minutes

Cleared it from the front door to road. At least the postman and deliveries can be made. I didn't do the front sidewalk. I'm sure the plows will be coming through again to widen the road, or I hope they do. Then I'll shovel a path to walk in.

hmm......

Banding is almost done. There is one more going around the top of the lid. This would have looked better if I had inset the banding into the box. This being plywood, it would have been a nightmare plowing the dadoes for that. 

WTF?

The walnut bookshelf is rocking still. The left rear leg is a 32nd off the saw table. I am at a total loss as to what is causing this to lay flat on one day and the next day rocking again?

awkward

I had to sand the left front leg to eliminate the rocking. Moving the bookshelf over the sandpaper and trying to hold it at the same time was difficult. I finally got it to lay flat on the tablesaw and not rock. Also didn't rock on the outfeed table and the workbench. There is free flying lessons available if this rocks on me in the AM.

done

These were done a few days ago but I forgot to post it. I am going to have to figure out a stop of some kind for kickstand leg. As is it goes back to far, thinking of gluing a ribbon as a stop. Other than that I like how they turned out. 

Didn't finish the shoveling. I will be back at in the AM. My back doesn't hurt right now but my arms and shoulders are a wee bit sore. How I'll feel in the AM is a question mark.

accidental woodworker 

I don't know where this official level was done, but it wasn't in my part of the universe. The drifts here might be that high but the actual amount of snow on the ground is probably less than a foot. The wind blew all day long blowing snow into drifts and then blowing them away into a new drift. I didn't shovel at all today because of the wind. I'll do the shoveling  tomorrow, as long as the wind has died down.

hmm.....

The two walnut bookshelves side by side. Initially I was going to leave the left one with flat feet. Nixed that in favor of having the shelf tilted backwards. There are slight differences between the two of them as I didn't want to make clones.

back slats

With the angled fronts this design allows for the back slats to be positioned higher. With the rounded ends I have to be careful about how close I place the top one to the round over. 

On Miles cherry bookshelf I put the top back slat a wee bit too far down. It has no effect on the bookshelf's function it is more of an aesthetic option. 

needs help

I sawed the front and rear legs with a dozuki saw. First look was good but it was rocking some. Trying to plane the front leg was difficult and I switched to a 80 grit sanding stick. 

99%

Took 5 sand/plane and check steps before 99% of the rocking disappeared.  Called it done here.

yikes

The holder for the saw went south on me. I stapled the heel of the plastic for now. If it fails again I'll go to plan #2.

sweet

Wow. This came out much better than I expected it to. The cup on this end was more than an 1/8" at the middle. Now it is about a 32nd and to the eye it looks flat. I'll try this again hopefully with the same results.

not square

I should have planed the angle on the ends before I glued the bookshelf. I didn't and it was awkward trying to hold the bookcase and plane the angle. Got it done but it ate up a lot of calories and time.

no twist

The bookshelf was rocking again. )@&#Q%_*_^_)*(^@%& Checked for twist and there was none. On the workbench it was, with the back left foot a good 16th shy of it. Did I cause it by planing and sanding it after I did it the first time?

done, again

No plane this time. I got it done with a 80 grit sanding stick.

double, triple checking it

Tried it for rocking on the tablesaw, the out feed table, and the workbench. This time I installed the Miller dowels before I sanded the feet. That added a more rigidity to the bookshelf.

new batch of shellac

Used the last of my shellac flakes and I'll have to order some more. I think I have enough to finish the current 3 bookshelves.

why I'm banding it

I have to cover the screw holes I plugged because they look like crap. I have enough of this banding left to do the top of the bottom and the bottom of the lid. I am using super glue to attach the banding.

hmm.....

 The end that wasn't cupped, decided it wanted some attention too. I heated both ends with my heat gun and clamped it again. This time I'm going to leave it clamped for a few days.

My wife just emailed the snowfall tallies for Rhode Island. Warwick, where I live, had 30 inches fall. I just looked out at my driveway and I still don't see 30 inches. The wind is still blowing and drifting the snow. 

accidental woodworker 

The snow fall dump forecast has increased. It now stands at 18" to 24" with drifting up to 4 feet. Sounds like lots of fun will greet me in the AM. The governor has declared a state of emergency. There is a ban on driving after 1900 today into tomorrow. Fingers and toes double crossed that it won't be as bad as the weather seers are saying.

oh what a relief......

The epoxy has hardened and set up. The color is fantastic. I have used liquid dyes and stains before with epoxy with mixed results. This pigment color is rich and deep. There are zero occlusions and no dead spots in the epoxy. Very happy with how this came out. 

sigh

This pine board is cupped but only on this near end. The other end is dead flat. Why I don't know. I had clamped this end yesterday and it didn't take out the cup. Helped a little but still too much to be usable.

worth a try

I remember watching a japanese woodworking You Tube vid where  he ran a cupped, bowed, and twisted boards over a kerosene heater to straighten out the board. The boards were used to make a 4 drawer dresser with doors. I don't have a kerosene heater but I do have a heart gun. I warmed up the 4-6 inches on this end on all four edges for about 5 minutes. After that I clamped it again. I'll check on it in the AM.

2nd walnut bookshelf

Got the layout done on the 2nd one. Having a lot of squares was helpful with each one set to a specific measurement.

looks good

There is still a gap but I did get the larger part of it plugged. Not sure what to do with small gap. The cherry putty I have is too red to fill it. Hide glue and cherry sawdust sounds like a better choice.

self supporting

Ok with that but having no gap is much better.

hmm......

Tried this and it worked. This is my small saddle square. I used it to ensure that I had the last 1 1/4" (the chisel width) at the end was square. I didn't use it on the rest of the dado. 

first one dry fitted

Two left side back slat mortises were loose on the cheek walls but snug on the top/bottom. The clamps didn't have any issues with fully seating the shelf in the dado leaving the front gap free.

wow and wow again

Not at all what I was expecting. I put the 3/8" blade on the bandsaw and I prayed it would stay sharp for the two cuts I had to make on the bookshelf. It was like a hot knife going through a tub of butter. Smooth, effortless, fluid, and with zero hesitation. I have never made a continuous round cut like this ever on this bandsaw. It didn't bind and easily made the curve all in one stroke. Did I say wow already?  

sneak peek

Eyeballing the cheery shelf against the walnut. Decided against staining it and I'll leave it natural. As this bookshelf ages the cherry will darken and the walnut will lighten another reason to leave the cherry  natural.

caught it

Went to adjust the depth on the router and noticed that the depth stop doohickey was MIA.

got lucky

2nd walnut bookshelf dry fitted

It was looking pretty good that I would get two bookshelves glued and cooking before 1500 roll around.

hmm........

A lot closer to the dado bottom than I would like to be. At least with this one I remembered to saw the angle on the bottom. I think I should be ok with the shelf and the dado, there will be Miller dowels helping out too.

Besseys suck

I rarely use the big Jorgensen bar clamps. I had to because the Bessey wouldn't pull the ends in to fully seat the shelf in the dado. The bar clamp did with with barely a 1/8 of a turn of the handle. The 'J' bar clamps have a large clamping head - bigger than the clamping head on my aluminum bar clamps

hmm......

The glue is bleeding through the saw cut out. Not a lot just a few little beads of glue. I'll clean them up when I take it out of the clamps.

accidental woodworker

 The weather seers ain't giving out good news. Snow starting on sunday with a blizzard on monday. The predicted snowfall for the two days - 12-14 inches. This is the lowest estimate from the three weather stations I checked. I have a plenty of projects on my plate to wait out anything Mother Nature throws at me in my part of the universe.

done

Kind of like this one considering it went south and came back up north.

cooked overnight

No hiccups when I took the clamps off. The headaches come from it moving as you loosen the clamps - not a good sign. Creaking and moaning could go either way. None of those symptoms today.

done

12 Miller dowels, 6 on each end. I will need to buy more cherry dowels, I have enough to do the remaining 3 cherry bookshelves. 

Yikes

Blew out a big chip rasping the cutout. Put a damper on getting this ready for shellac.

small cutout

The important thing is that it isn't rocking. I don't understand why this cutout is so much smaller than the previous ones. 

sigh

When I had clamped this I didn't see a gap on this side. Out of the clamps and the gap was shaking hands with me. Used the cherry in the vise to saw off a shim to fill the gap.

filled

This was the second shim. The first I did had the end grain facing up. This one has the face grain up.

2nd walnut bookshelf

Prepping the  stock for the next walnut bookshelf. Thinned the back slats to 5/8" and planed the four edges smooth.

cherry shelf

I went to Kosezla lumber this morning to check out the black walnut. They only had two 4/4 boards but both were only about 4" wide. There was a lot of 8/4 but I wasn't interested in resawing stock that thick. She told me more walnut was coming next week but I don't want to wait. This bookshelf will be cherry and there is also the possibility that I could stain the cherry walnut.

black pigment

Trying out the black pigment mixed with epoxy. Not sure how this will look. I don't have doubts about it mixing well with the epoxy.

wow

This color is incredible. It is a deep, edge of space, rich black. I filled in the voids/defects in the back slats. fingers crossed on this epoxy setting up because the last time I used it, it didn't harden. I put the two back slats on the furnace to help keep them warm.

accidental woodworker