The Corner Piece

Winter Shop Time

Here's a look at a couple of things I've got cooking.

The first is a bookcase for our living room. It' similar to other stacked bookcases I did a couple of years back. I actually had a couple of pieces of leftover cherry plywood, edgebanding, and hard maple from that project. This needed to fit large scrapbooks that didn't have a home; we'd long since ran out of shelf space for these.

The mitered corners of the plywood are strengthened by these maple splines. I applied an oil/varnish finish followed by wax. I think it's the absolute best way to go on cherry, below.

I made room between these two chairs. Not sure where the small table that was here will go....

The other thing I've been meaning to get to is finishing the lower area of my tool cabinet. I had cut a couple of grooves in the shelves in anticipation of adding some small drawers and just never got around to it - until now.

I cut some scrap pine to fit the grooves. The grain in the uprights runs the same way as all the wood in the cabinet to account for any wood movement, below.

A central divider was added between the uprights. I'll end up with space for two long narrow drawers in the center and deeper ones on either side, below.

A spot or two of glue on these pieces will hold them in there. I milled up some scrap pine and red oak for the drawer parts. I'll use it as an opportunity to practice some dovetailing.

 

 

 

Completed Cherry Bookcases

I finally got the bookcases installed yesterday morning. Max was kind enough to borrow a truck to help me with the transport. I owe him big time yet again..... They look great! Everyone is happy which is what it is all about.

 The finish on the bookcases took me parts of 5 days last week. That consisted of wiping on some satin polyurethane with light sanding in between coats. It really "popped" after about the 4th coat. Cherry is such a great wood to work with. It takes this kind of finish extremely well and will just keep getting better with age.

Not the best picture......you get the idea.

A project of this size is tough in my small shop!

I think this "stacked box" concept could take years to fully explore. Truth is I would probably get sick of it long before that. I think I'll pick my spots and keep it fresh.

Of course, as always, work got busy last week with some overtime thrown in. It made for a couple of very long days trying to meet this deadline. It has also been very hot........ Africa hot......its 96 degrees outside right now...... 

After installation, Wifey and I spent some R&R by the pool in the afternoon. I hope to do more of that this summer. First, both of us have some upcoming travel plans with my birthday in between. Should make this month just fly by.

Later.

More Cherry Bookcases

Another week came and went.......

Work seems to chew up so much of our time I almost start feeling cheated when I don't squeeze every bit out of available time off. Last week was a short work week but felt terribly long. This weekend has just whizzed by........well it's not over yet. We're stepping out to dinner (all I care to eat) with one of Wifey's oldest friends who's visiting from up north. Should be fun!

The bookcase project is really moving along. I can see the end of the proverbial tunnel. If I push I think it could be complete in a week or so.

With all of the maple splines glued into their corresponding grooves, a kind of tricky step was next. I had to figure out a way of smoothing them down flush to the ply-wood without messing up the cherry veneer. A router jig followed by a super sharp block plane was the ticket.

The veneers on commercial ply-woods are so thin. It's easy to burn right through them with adjacent work like sanding or planing. With this in mind this set up for my trim router was perfect. I set it to leave about 1/32" of the spline still proud. A swipe with the plane leaves it ready for sanding. I like idiot-proof set-ups and this qualifies.

 

Spline end result......worth it!

I moved next to edge banding the boxes. Edge banding is, in this case, a roll of wood veneer "tape" that has a heat sensitive glue on one side. It comes in all different wood species to match whatever you've got going on. This product is simply "ironed" on to hide the unfinished edges of the plywood. The end result makes ply-wood parts look like solid wood. 

This step could be done before any of the boxes are assembled but, with the thinness of the veneer, I like that I don't have the added pressure at glue-up to get everything perfectly flush. I can flush up any small inconsistency before I apply the tape.

 

I wonder if Wifey is looking for this iron....... Oh, um, anyway......The pieces are easily cut to rough length with scissors and go on, over lapping at the corners.

I use a small straight edge and a knife to cut a miter through both pieces at once. A little practice and the cut lines up every time.

A little heat from the iron and you can push the miter tight together. A piece of cake!

 

The last part in this process is to trim all the excess veneer tape off and flush everything up. I like my largest, razor sharp, chisel for this. It's heft makes it really easy for me to control. But gotta be careful!

 

Sanding, final assembly, and finishing are up next. But first, it's off to an all I can eat bonanza! WooooHoooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Memorial Day 2010

Ahhhhhh...........The start of summer and a long weekend............ It's always been my favorite time of year.......... Maybe because I was a June baby...........who are you remembering today?

We met up with friends at Clearwater Beach yesterday. It was a scorcher. I always have a great time out there. Forget about the sugar sand and awesome gulf waters(I sure hope the oil slick doesn't get there), the people watching is worth the trip. We watched I don't know how many umbrellas take flight with the wind. Some people just wouldn't give it up. It's also clear that some people should go to the beach alone because the family outing-thing ain't workin' for ya. Too funny........I'm glad we got this trip in......

Saturday and again today I spent a good chunk of time working on the bookcases. The next step in the process was to cut grooves at the corners for reinforcing/decorative splines.

 I made simple router jig to get it done.

Evenly spaced grooves will receive contrasting maple splines.

Like a lot of woodworking tasks, it's all a matter of repetition.

You get the idea. Before and after. I did all 12 boxes the same way and managed to get the maple milled down and cut up for the 248 splines needed. 

Have I mentioned how hot it is in my shop? Holy crap...........

Cherry Bookcases

It's a start......... 

I finally felt ready to really get moving on the cherry bookcase project this weekend. I'm not sure why it took me a while to get going on this one. Mostly I just had other stuff in front of it I guess.

This project is similar to a project I did a couple of years ago. It is basically a set of stacked up boxes of varying sizes. The boxes have mitered corners that are reinforced with splines that also add a decorative touch. I am experimenting with variations of that element. I hate doing something over and over again so we'll see. The previous set were made from red oak and had walnut accents. These are made from cherry and will have maple accents. The last ones filled a wall, floor to ceiling, left to right (more or less). These are more like individual, free-standing towers.

On Saturday morning I cut all of the parts for what will be two separate towers. Each tower is six boxes high and a kick base at the bottom. There are about sixty parts total in the project. Every piece had to have a 45 degree miter cut on each end. It took a lot of organization to keep everything right. Ahhh planning.......

Today I did all of the assembly on the fourteen separate boxes. The miters can be a challenge going together. Patience........

I use masking tape as a clamp and glue to hold it all together. The pieces go tip to tip, taped tight.

 

The whole thing is flipped over and glue is applied at the joints.

 

The whole thing is then rolled up and the last joint is taped shut-tight. If all the cuts were right it's a snap.

A major hurdle cleared.........

Maple Table Complete

I've been busy this week applying finish to the table. One coat each day means that it takes a week to accomplish. This morning I'll give it a hand buffing with some wax, install the latches that will keep the two halves together, and get it out the door. The finish looks great, it gives the grain some depth without being overly thick and plastic looking. It will stand up well to everyday use. 

I moved the finishing operation to the front half of the garage where the home gym used to be. It's nice having some extra space and since I'm in perfect shape already I didn't mind getting rid of it (yeah right). I still can't do anything else in the shop while I'm putting finish on something. I just have arrange things so this isn't a problem.

I have a chair and a cabinet waiting for repair and then some cherry bookcases to build next. I think I'll get the repairs done and wait 'til I get back from vacation before starting the big stuff. I also have three display cabinets to build coming up real quick. I had really hoped to have all major projects completed before the heat of the summer. It looks like I'll be well into June before I get a break. No complaints but, working in that relentless heat is just no fun.

Maple Table 2

It was back to work today after a busy weekend. Wifey and I went to our annual Braves spring training game on Saturday afternoon. The weather was finally  perfect. We had dinner out Sat. night with D&W-what a great day overall.

Of course, I was in the shop a whole lot as well. I got in a few hours Sat.early and then just about a full day yesterday. I'm trying my hardest to finish up the maple table project and a few other misc. items before we take vacation in two weeks. I think I may just make it.

The table has quickly taken shape over the past week. I managed to get the basic component parts all smoothed out, sub-assembled and put together.

Getting the table halves connected to their tops was a matter of making the attachment blocks or "buttons" and aligning everything so the two halves would mate-up properly.

I had to fuss around a little bit to get the two halves just right. The extension slides were a snap to install with a few screws.

 

Looking good all put together. One real hurdle to get past was installing the alignment pins in the edges of the table top halves and on the leaf. I ended up making a simple drilling template that rendered the task idiot proof (no small feat).

Using these extension slides is a first for me. It couldn't have gone any better.

I've just completed the second coat of polyurethane on the table. It will take a few more to get the final look I'm after. The wipe on stuff is so forgiving. It takes all the anxiety out of it for me. I almost enjoy putting it on, almost.......

Maple Table

The last couple of weeks have been a complete zoo. Ended up working lots of hours at the job and at home. Deadlines galore. With my crazy schedule eased up a bit it's time to get back on track with the extension table project before all hell breaks loose again. Day off, what's that......

I managed to get the table legs and apron pieces glued up over the course of last week. It meant completing the joinery and scraping and sanding all the pieces as usual. No surprises here.

 

Hard Maple is just that, HARD!

The table top consists of two halves 27"x36". When put together they will make a generous 4-1/2'x3' table top. Two 12" leaves inserted will extend it out to 6-1/2 feet long! The extension slides will allow for even longer-pretty cool.

Getting the halves flattened and smooth is all about horsepower! Glad we aren't in the heat of summer for sure!

All of the parts are starting to come together. Another good day at it tomorrow......

Making Lots of Wood Chips

The few projects I have going now are using a good amount of solid hardwood. Hard Maple, Cherry, and Ash. It is such a pleasure to be using solid wood. Last year I purchased a small Jointer/Planer combination machine which is used to process this rough material into smooth, flat, usable boards.

In a large shop, machines like this would be connected to dust collectors that suck up all the dust and larger chips from the milling process. In my small shop all I have is a shop vacuum. The vacuum works with the machine I bought but puts a lot of stress on it because the filter clogs quickly causing the vacuum motor to heat up. It's also a bit of a pain to empty the vacuum and clean the filter as often as needed with milling lumber.

So I did a little research and found a small cyclone unit that is used with my shop vacuum making it a two stage system. A two stage system is essentially a cone shaped collector that deposits the larger chips into a bucket (1st stage) before getting to the finer filter at the main vacuum (2nd stage). The advantage is that the vacuum filter never gets clogged, never heats up, and all the chips are in a bucket that's easy to empty.

With all the milling I had to do it worked like a champ. It was a little slow because the set up is intended more for hobbyists but for what I need it is fine. The Jointer/Planer takes really light passes but really smooth.

While I'm out in the shop making chips, noise, etc. Wifey is slowly recovering inside. She seems to be better everyday. I think she is really loving being at home for a few weeks-she deserves a break. It has still been somewhat chilly out so that is putting a damper on her tanning /recovery regimen. 

All for now.....

Extention Table and Cherry Bookcases

With Wifey feeling a little bit better I was able to sneak off to the shop today to start work on my next two projects.

My neighbor friends had been having a hard time finding a dining table that was the size and configuration they wanted so they approached me with the project. Essentially the table is a very straight forward rectangular extension table. It will have tapered legs, an apron and will be able to accept two leaves. I sourced the extension slides for the table this time. I would rather spend time focused on other aspects of the table than on the manufacture of that particular part. The ones I found are very good quality solid maple just like the rest of the table.

I did all of the initial milling today. I will begin to size parts and get some glue-ups rolling next.

I think I may have to start cutting the plywood for the cherry bookcase project next because, more than anything else, the material is in my way. I had envisioned having both going at once anyway so this will force me into getting it started. The bookcases are an excellent project from my best client. I am excited about that one!

I am out of room in the shop.......I will need to drag the plywood sheets out to the driveway to get them rough cut. This will free up space to work the table glue-ups simultaneously. Should be interesting...... Anyone want to buy a home gym?

I'm waiting on a new camera battery so no pics for now. Stay Tuned!