Bulletin Board Complete

  Before I get carried away with today's blog,

Happy Canada Day 

to one and all

  Now, back to the task at hand.  Last blog was my bulletin board glued up and awaiting completion.  I finished it and put it up yesterday.  The Elm trim has orange shellac and spray varnish on it and the large surface is two quick coats of spray paint.

    The BB is above my work space at the front of the house.

  I used my stud finder and screwed the bulletin board right to the wall.  At first I thought of hanging it like a picture but decided that it was best attached solidly.  A side note, the electronic stud finder is worth the money, I've used mine hundreds of times for years and years.

  

     You can see in the close-up photos I glued pieces of wine bottle cork along the bottom and drove 3/4 inch 10 steel screws into the trim to act as places to attach magnets.

  This is another of those projects that can use a few or many tools.  Since I have a table saw and a sliding mitre saw I made the trim myself and mitred the corners. However, this project could have been done with trim from a Box store and a hand saw and mitre box.  The magnets came from a $ Store and the rest of the project was glue and screws.  I used lots of clamps to make my BB but that isn't necessary, lots of trim is held in place with brad nails. 

  Get out there and make stuff.

cheers, ianw

Latest Shop Activities

 Sometimes shop time seems to be filled with a bunch of small things, some of which take up a bunch of time.  

  For example:

    If you are a Freemason you know exactly what this is, and if you are not, it is exactly what it looks like.  The operative word here is exactly.  Rather than just knock out something that is symbolic I went to significant lengths  to have it accurate and therefore a real working tool.

  The inches are marked by pieces of 1/8 brass stock set into the length of the gauge.  I can't decide if I want to put a hinge in the middle or not.  Often times these things are hinged but the real gauge was not because a hinge can compromise accuracy.  I cut all those 1/8 inch slots on my sliding mitre saw (My Bosch saw is not a new model but is still an accurate quality tool.) after careful layout and marking. This is an occasion when I used a marking knife rather than just a pencil. 

   Another little project that has been floating around, and isn't really finished yet is:

     A wee walnut box for a wrist watch.  I mitred the corners on the aforementioned mitre saw with the jig I talked about Sept 28/2013 and then edge glued three pieces of the narrow board together to make the lid.  Why did I have the long thin piece of walnut?  I must have picked it up cheap at a wood show, once upon a time.  

    Sometimes when I don't feel like taking on a big project, or when my back is aching just a little too much I wonder into the shop and putter away my time with little bits and pieces. Sometimes I find a hunk on wood and then decided what to make it into, sort of the workshop equivalent of "clean out the fridge soup".  It is getting to be time to make a plan and work on a larger piece again, I just don't know what it is going to be yet. (we did see, today,  a nice table design that would be worth borrowing )

  

a bonus penguin

Necklace Jewellery Box

    I couple of seasons ago I made a prototype of jewellery box to store necklaces.  My wife has dozens of necklaces from all over the place and for a long time the strings of beans etc. lived a tangled life in a shoe box.  Sometimes it took longer to get the accessories sorted out then getting all dressed up. 
  

   The solution was a box that featured a bunch of hooks and room for things to hang.  The version is made from left over poplar and actually nailed together, left unfinished.   This is definitely a prototype.

   After a while, a year?? I have got going on making a quality version of this jewel case.

   This is the fully clamped and drying box that I started with to make the new case.  This example is built from oak, roasted oak and the corners are mitred.  

    Next I cut the box apart I got two equal halves that will be hinged on the left side. I bought the hinges last evening and I need to figure out some nice feet.

    After the feet are designed and attached I will begin the finishing process.