Pigs and Skids

 I finished the two little boxes for my Grand daughters. The boxes were inspired by bandsaw boxes.

 When all was said and done the wee boxes are sort of pigs

  They will serve as a small hiding place, for a treasure or a treat.

 

  The props are for illustrative purposes only. The pig on the left is Ash, and the freckles are were the Emerald Ash Borer did its business. The right hand pig is a true bandsaw box.  On the left is a version were I carved out the inner space with chisels and forstner bits.

  As I use forstner bits regularly for waste removal a while ago I modified a 3/4 inch bit by grinding the center point off.  This way I get a flat bottomed hole, which makes clean up quicker.

  I was out and about recently and came across a small stash of light weight wood skids.

  I hate to pass up free wood.  I picked up four skids like this, the planks are about 3/8".  The wood is rough but cleans up not bad and will make a couple of small boxes or pots to hide plastic inner pots. 

useful boards

BBQ starter boards

  All that is not re-used are the terrible rusty nails. 

  I use reclaimed wood regularly in my shop and I have a saw that I use to cut unknown and dirty wood.

  A few years ago I bought this, it is a rough carpentry/pruning saw. This is the saw I reach for for fast rough cross cutting of all sorts of material.  I think its design was for cutting plastic pipe, but it tears though wood.  I have a set of really nice hand saws and several power tools as well, but for quick cuts this is faster than getting my reciprocating  saw out of its box.

cheers, ianw

  

 

Inspired by the Net

   There are several woodworking sites that I follow regularly, and most days I spend sometime wandering through the World Wide Web looking at other folks' projects.  Today's blog is inspired by two videos that came to my attention recently.

  The first video is from "Zack of All Trades" .  As a lone wood worker I am always looking for new and better (also cheap) ways to hold work still for planing or drilling.  To that end I have many clamps and jigs. "Zack" had a very good instructional video that mostly stated the obvious. It was of course one of those forehead slapping moments. The video shows a very tidy way to live without a tail vise.

These are my new solutions to work holding without a tail vise.  Needless to say they get my safety red, or they'd get lost amidst all the other bits of wood.  I made a thin and a thick dog and a long thin wedge. After drilling three more dog holes in my work top my set up works well now for planing small boards.

  June 2017's blog talks about tool trays and shows a couple I made with duct tape and coffee bags.  I am still using my trays for loose bits and pieces on the bench.

  I just included this to show that a good design and project continues to be useful.

  The other project was inspired by Jimmy DiResta, a talented and versatile maker.   In this video he made a rustic band saw box.  His project inspired me to follow his lead, but on a small scale.

  I had collected some tree branches over time and let them dry in my shop.  The plan was, walking sticks, or a lathe project .... ?  Anyway I've used some of the wood to make 'band saw style boxes'.

  The box is 5 1/2 inches long and is about 3 inches in diameter. I think the wood is cherry from in front of our house. I haven't decided exactly what hinges I will use.  This is a situation where hinges need to be either hidden or....in your face.  I await fulfilling inspiration.

 cheers ianw

  

 

Friday's Round Up.

  I have been slacking off a bit this summer.  I spent the beginning of this week on a short motorcycle road trip.  The weather was perfect, the roads were smooth and empty and the riding was wonderful. I need to do that more often.

  I arrived home to a patio furniture project with my friend David. Since it was a David project there was an excellent plan from which to work.  Never discount just how much easier it is to build when you have a good plan.

  The table is made from cut down 2 x 3 and will be painted just like the plant stand.  As David said, it is easy to make this sort of thing when you have the proper tools.  My table saw and sliding mitre saw enabled us to knock the project off in 90 minutes working slowly and talking steadily.  The project is all butt joints and screw fasteners, strong and quick.

 

  The table was made to hold up the round glass top from their previous patio table.  This photo was clearly and after thought. 

 

  This is the finished tear drop box.  It has two coats of shellac and two coats of Minwax spray varnish. I really don't have a purpose in mind for the box but I liked working with the maple and oak. 

  

  Here is Maui's hook for my four year old grand daughter.  You know what it is like making things for small children, she may love it immediately, or ignore it totally.  There is no way to know.  Two weeks ago Moana  and company where totally in fashion, this week, Moana and Maui could be old news.  We'll find out tomorrow when the hook is delivered.

 I apologise for the poorer than usual photographs. For some unknown reason the software was not importing photos properly and so I had to use another method that is not as clean or clear.

cheers ianw

Band Saw Style Box

    While I was working on my latest spoon I thought I would have a couple of small projects on the go too.  I like to have a variety of things going on in my shop.  It adds  interests and has me working with with muscles and in different postures, which helps my back pain issues. This is an oval (ish) box with a twisting lid. It has a maple body and oak top and bottom. 

  It is similar to making a band saw box but instead of cutting the ends off I shaped the body, through drilled out the inside and then added the end pieces.  Through drilling and adding the bottom afterwards makes for a smoother finish inside and on the bottom.  Fitting the bottom and shaping it is easy.

  I rough cut the oak and glued it onto the bottom.  Then I used my belt sander to form the bottom to the exact shape of the body of the box.  To fit the top exactly I use a trick I learned from wood turning.  As you can see from the photo there is paper residue on the wood. 

  To glue the top onto the body solidly enough that I could shape and sand it and still get it loose I glued a layer of ordinary printed paper between the two pieces.  I clamped the two pieces together and gave them lots of time (over night) to set thoroughly.  After I was done sanding and shaping I inserted a thin knife blade between the top and bottom and gently pried them apart.  

  At this moment I haven't got a use for the box.  It is awaiting multiple coats of shellac and spray varnish.  I will finish it when I am finishing other small projects. 

cheers, ianw

Band Saw Box - The Woodpecker

   I made my own band saw box last season.  This was a prototype project and one that I have yet to return to in an effort to develop my skills.  The band saw box turned out fairly well, but suffers from poor design.  When I made it I picked a scrap out of a burn pile and cut it up without drawing a design, and so....the drawers are pretty much upside down.  When I make another box I will reverse the order and have the largest drawer on the bottom.  As I was cutting this box out, I was making in up as I went along, the result is not a good design.

   On the net I was watching The Woodpecker make a band saw box.  As he went through his video he showed all the steps in order and when he was finally finished the result was technically good but he also made an observation about his design.  You'll have to watch the entire video to hear what he has to say.

   I have come to believe that I need to spend more time on the design phase of a project than I am.  My general wood working skills have risen over the last few years and my finishing skills have improved as well.  Now when I embark on a project there is a pretty good chance that I will get it build and it will be sound and solid.  Now I need to consider design, so that the project will not only be sound. but it will also be pleasing to the eye.

   A tool to aid in design is the internet once again it can be a tool which  provides a valuable resource.  If you wonder what I mean all you need do is type band saw box photo into a search engine, and shazam, hundreds of photographs of band saw boxes from all over the world. If you go to You Tube there as dozens of woodworkers showing off their methods for making band saw boxes. If you want to recreate period furniture you need to go to museums and study measured drawings, if you want to create something artistic and free form all you need is to see what others have done and use there work as an inspiration.

   Probably I will need a note over my bench to remind me to work on the design longer and with greater attention.  You can teach an old dog new tricks, it just takes a really long time.

cheers,