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

Am I just Cheap ? or....?

  A post ago I talked about using my shop to repair a snow shovel.  A couple of people that know me well thought they heard echoes of my father and grandfather in my belief that fixing things is a good idea, ( and maybe my being a bit cheap).  Where do our attitudes come from if not home, so...I hope that I can influence the Grand kids to repair and reuse not just throw away.

  Here is my latest cheapskate fix.
  

     In the basement is a coat rack that I made sometime ago and it has four hooks on in for hats and gardening clothes. 

  Last summer the rack got knocked over and the white metal hook broke off.  I thought about grinding the end round and leaving it on the rack but I decided against it.  I could also have thrown it out but,  instead:

   I rummaged around in a box of "loose and lonely" wooden bits and pieces and found a wooden ball.  Why did I have a wooden ball you ask, " because a craft store was selling a bag of lost and lonely bits and pieces off cheap one day years ago and I knew that I would use all the odds and ends in toys and projects over the coming years."  I was right.  I drilled a hole, dripped in some super glue and voilà, problem solved.  

  I am working at my desk, a home made trestle table upon which stands a raised section so that I can stand to type. Flanking my computer is a dovetail box I made to hold reading glasses and pen. In the room are wooden book cases, plant stands and toys.  

    One of the toys was a favourite of my wife's children and their younger cousins.  

  Little Lion has new wheels and a new push bar and my Mother painted a new face for this generation. 

  Before I had much of a shop I was content to modify pre-manufactured goods. The tv and stereo are modified Ivar from Ikea, I made the doors and matching end table.

  The Dragon Box was a joint project of my parents.  My father over engineered a box from pine boards and my Mother did the decoration. The box was for blankets, now it is full of toys, but it is still used and will last at least two life times.  My father is gone now, but I have tools and projects of his that will be with me for my lifetime and the next generation too.

  I guess my thinking is that good stuff is worth fixing and you can't fix or build without tools.

   Buying good tools and learning to use them is money well spent, so maybe I am not just a cheap skate.

cheers, ianw

http://www.leamingtontool.com/index.php

Jan. 31 and Feb 1 2014