Woodworking projects for winter 2013

[moab_cj5]

Since my Jeep doesn't really need anything done to it this winter, I will be filling my free time skiing, wheeling, and woodworking.

Tonight I finally mustered enough motivation to start some of my woodworking projects for the winter. I usually hate starting multiple projects at the same time (cause then I might not finish any of them), but I have several to work on (some have been brewing for over a year) and promises were made a long time ago.

Here is my list:

1. Display cases for my son and my lift tickets and trail maps from last year's ski season. We used his 6th grade passport and my Yeti pass to hit all 14 resorts in Utah. It was quite a feat for us, and I am proud we got it done. To commemorate the accomplishment, I am building a shadow box like display for our tickets and trail maps. It shouldn't be hard, nor time consuming, but I haven't been motivated to do it until now.

2. A display table for my wife's Olive wood Nativity scene. This table will sit in our entry way, but the main need for it is to display an awesome Nativity my in-laws gave my wife. I have had the wood to do this since April, but haven't been motivated to do anything about it.

3. A desk for my oldest son. When I finished my daughter's room, I did a built in desk for her. My son was jealous because he is the oldest and doesn't have a desk, so I told him we would build him one. It has been a while since I made that promise. I bought the wood for his desk last week, but now I need the motivation to get after it.

4. A dresser, bed, and toy box for my youngest. He doesn't know the difference yet (he is only 19 months), but by the time I get to it (hopefully before he is 12) he will need a dresser and bed for sure. The toy box is for my sanity (I don't like toys scattered everywhere).

If there are any other woodworkers on here that do it as a hobby, feel free to post advise or questions. I am not looking to mooch free advise off of the pros on here, but they are welcome to comment as well.

 

[moab_cj5]

Display Cases

So I started on my son's display case tonight. I decided to make it out of poplar because I had some in the shop and it will be painted (I usually prefer stain, but for this project, paint will do).

Here is where I am so far. This is the layout I have chosen to minimize the size, yet still display the trail maps and lift tickets.

I cut the hardboard back to the size I determined I needed, then milled the poplar for the base frame. I then cut a grove in all 4 sides for the hardboard to slip into.

Then I cut the frame to size, and did a 1/2 lap joint for strength and so I can remove the top piece if the glass ever breaks so I can replace it without destroying the frame.

Then I glued the bottom to the sides, clamped it square, and set it aside for the glue to dry. I still need to route out a spot for the glass on the front of this sub-frame, build a mitered frame to dress up the front, sand it, paint it, and get a piece of glass cut. At least I am making progress though!

 

[moab_cj5]

Display table

After I glued up the sub frame, it was only 8:30 and I didn't want to call it a night while I was still motivated to work, so I started milling the walnut for my display table.

I opened the plans I bought, went to the material page, and started cutting and planning the walnut I bought in April. I think one reason I have been hesitant to start this project is the expensive wood I bought to build this. Walnut isn't cheap, and I have been nervous about screwing it up and throwing money away on a ruined piece of wood. But, alas, you only get better by doing something, so I started.

I don't have a picture of the board I started with, but it was about 14.5" wide, about 1" thick, and maybe 8' long (I don't recall now).


I cut the frame pieces for the table to rough dimensions, avoiding the 1 HUGE knot in the board. I got all the frame pieces I need, but I have VERY little room for error. There are 8 pieces to form the legs, 6 runners for the length, 6 for the width, and then 6 cleats for assembly and strength. It is all 3/4" thick now, and the legs will be 1.5" wide when cut to final dimensions and then glued together to get the right thickness for the final table.

The dimensions on the plan are too small for what I want, so I am modifying the plan a little to make the table bigger. As long as I don't forget to add the same amount to all the parts, it should go together nicely.

This project has TONS of work left to finish it. At least I started!

 

[moab_cj5]

Desk

I didn't do anything on the desk tonight, but I did use the pile of wood as a quasi-workbench.

Here is the pile of wood I will be turning into something useful... It is mostly Oak plywood, but there is some oak in there too.

 

[moab_cj5]

Dresser, Bed, Toy Box

I didn't do anything on these project yet, but my little buddy was out in the shop giving me a hand.



He HATES when I turn on any tools, so I put these ear muffs on him and he loved being out with me. He likely won't remember this project, but hopefully it is just the first of many things we can build together.

 

[mesha]

I didn't do anything on these project yet, but my little buddy was out in the shop giving me a hand.

View attachment 86477

He HATES when I turn on any tools, so I put these ear muffs on him and he loved being out with me. He likely won't remember this project, but hopefully it is just the first of many things we can build together.

He won't remember the project, but he will remember his dad having time for him. Nice work. On the wood and your son ;-)

 

[lewis]

poplar is nice to work with. I have a few projects of my own I am working on. I will get some pics later. I am currently building some indoor moveable plantation style shutters for my house. making them out of knotty alder, spraying them dark with some dark walnut dye and then finishing them off with some Sherwin Williams pre cat laquer. also working on a coffee table tray/bowl for my mom, making it out of African mahogany.

 

[moab_cj5]

poplar is nice to work with. I have a few projects of my own I am working on. I will get some pics later. I am currently building some indoor moveable plantation style shutters for my house. making them out of knotty alder, spraying them dark with some dark walnut dye and then finishing them off with some Sherwin Williams pre cat laquer. also working on a coffee table tray/bowl for my mom, making it out of African mahogany.

Those projects sound Awesome! I love mahogany. I picked up a couple of boards from Sierra Forest Products a while back that were in their scrap pile. If they have something in that pile you need, it is a very cheap way to get teh wood.

I would love to see some pics of your projects. Having a desk job, it is fun to do something where I can stand back and say, "yea, I did that."

 

[lewis]

ya the mahogany wasn't cheap.$60 for 2 pieces from mcbeath. I had almost the first one done, cleaning up the edges with the router and the bit caught and ripped out the side. this what I been hogging out the center with.[URL=http://s524.photobucket.com/user/superchargedlewis/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20131102_105326_zps7ac1fede.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[lewis]

here is one the shutters prior to the dye and doesn't have the.[URL=http://s524.photobucket.com/user/superchargedlewis/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20130620_211408_zps2411f9be.jpg.html] [/URL] tilt rod on yet

 

[lewis]

a table I built with a 2" poplar top.
[URL=http://s524.photobucket.com/user/superchargedlewis/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20130210_133044_zps47472c9a.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[lewis]

I redid the orange railings in my house and made new posts out of maple and added the steel balusters. this is the hardest project out of anything I ever built. each baluster had to be custom ground. 21 balusters at 2 hours grinding a piece. lots of hours in this. kinda a crappy pic but its all I got.

 

[lewis]

this is a 125 yr old pie safe I brought back to life. brought in from Iceland, been in my wife family for lots of years, been in my basement for 15 years, moved with us4 times and finally put it back together [URL=http://s524.photobucket.com/user/superchargedlewis/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20130519_111037_zpsebfccd9f.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[moab_cj5]

Those are awesome projects! Those shutters look awesome! I will have to see if I can find some pics of the stuff I completed last year. I don't do much with metal, but that railing looks AWESOME! I love the pie safe too. I have a few restoration projects to work on too, but nothing that old. Mostly stuff my Grandpa built that I need to restore for sentimental value. You are a true craftsman Lewis!

I have seen that chain type blade for a grinder at woodcraft. How smooth does it leave the surface? How hard is it to use? It seems there would be a ton of sanding involved to finish off the project when using something like that.

Mesha, I hope my little one remembers spending time with dad. My 12 year old (the one I am building the desk for) will come out too, but he gets bored and goes back in the house after a while. I am hoping to have him do a lot of the cutting and help with the layout work when we get to his desk. He is taking woodshop in CTE soon, so hopefully that will help peak his interest too. I have to continue to find ways to get him involved safely so he can learn to love doing this too if he chooses.

 

[lewis]

this is how she started out

 

[lewis]

Those are awesome projects! Those shutters look awesome! I will have to see if I can find some pics of the stuff I completed last year. I don't do much with metal, but that railing looks AWESOME! I love the pie safe too. I have a few restoration projects to work on too, but nothing that old. Mostly stuff my Grandpa built that I need to restore for sentimental value. You are a true craftsman Lewis!

I have seen that chain type blade for a grinder at woodcraft. How smooth does it leave the surface? How hard is it to use? It seems there would be a ton of sanding involved to finish off the project when using something like that.

Mesha, I hope my little one remembers spending time with dad. My 12 year old (the one I am building the desk for) will come out too, but he gets bored and goes back in the house after a while. I am hoping to have him do a lot of the cutting and help with the layout work when we get to his desk. He is taking woodshop in CTE soon, so hopefully that will help peak his interest too. I have to continue to find ways to get him involved safely so he can learn to love doing this too if he chooses.

. it doesn't leave the surface very smooth. just removes fast and they have different size chains to remove more faster I guess. I bought the one with the most teeth, 22 I think. I just put a flap sanding disk on to smooth it out. they same company that makes these makes some sweet disks for a grinder but they are $$4

 

[lewis]

I also forged the knobs.[URL=http://s524.photobucket.com/user/superchargedlewis/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20130519_111106_zps960aa747.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[smartass_kid]

suggestion for shadow box, instead of spacing them out overlap them a little. it will look less like a 1950's museum peice and more personal.

will be coming to you next time i need something built.

 

[lewis]

progress pic, used poplar on this one.
[URL=http://s524.photobucket.com/user/superchargedlewis/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20130325_212936_zpsdb7612ee.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[moab_cj5]

lewis, I am humbled by your ability! I aspire to being as good as that when I grow up...

smartass_kid, that is a good idea on overlapping. With the dimensions kind of set, I will have to play with the layout a little to see if I can fill the space and still make it look good. I am thinking of gluing some fake snow around the inside to act like a matte but don't want it to be too cheesy. I also am struggling with how to finish the hardboard back. I am leaning toward painting it, but I don't know what color to paint it. I don't want the maps and passes washed out by the background. I have even thought of opening one of the maps for the background, but I am not sold on that idea either. I was planning on finishing the woodworking, then worrying about how to finish the project.