Organization Box with Limited Tools

  The box and handle have two coats of paint and the next stage is to assemble these two pieces.

  The finishing process is always important but especially important when trying to up cycle wood.  The orange crate is low grade plywood and the wood for the handle has been laying around my shop for a while.  After I pulled the unnecessary staple out of the box I rough sanded the box to get rid of the splintery edges.  The first coat of finish was water based sealer and I really soaked the box well.  After drying over night I gave the whole box  and handle another rough sand with 70 grit paper cutting off the runs and bubbles. Now the wood is sealed and smooth enough to begin painting.  My first coat of paint went on think and heavy, the plan was to fill the cracks and get a solid base laid down.  Again I gave the paint over night to dry, yes I know it will dry in a couple of hours, but I wanted it as dry and hard as it was going to get.  After the paint was dry I really sanded it with 70 grit paper again. The result could be passed off as 'distressed' but it then needs a clear top coat so there is no reduction in total work.     Coat two of the paint is the last coat.  That second coat is put on carefully with an eye to the quality of the final product.  Since I have a smooth and well sealed base upon which to work, the paint looks good and feels smooth.  If you didn't know you wouldn't guess the project began with throw away materials.

   To make the handle I stayed with my target of limited tools.  

  I cut the basic shape with my back saw and instead of rounding the top corners I cut them off at a 45 degree angle and shaped them a little bit with my wood rasp as you can see from the photo above.

  To make the handle hole instead of drilling several large holes with a Forstner bit which a home handy person may not have I drilled four 3/8 inch holes with my cordless drill and connected the dots with a coping saw.  Once it was cut out I used a rasp,file and sand paper to smooth out the edges.  * when drilling with a Forstner bit it is best to use a drill press*

  Next I have compartments to make to hold up various small items.  On my other box I used my band saw, on the box it'll be the hand saw again.

  The tool list to make this project is quite short and can be value conscious.

Back Saw --  $21.99 - $35.99

Coping saw- $24.99

Cordless drill - $54.99 and up,up,up

Drill bit.  Sets can cost a little or a whole bunch.

Rasp, not necessary, use sand paper. from $0.99 a sheet and up.

The paint I used is a $1.00 Opps sample from the Orange Big Box Store.

  If I were going to start from ZERO to outfit a shop I would buy a medium quality Jig Saw , a medium quality cordless drill and drill bit set.  From there my next money could be spent on things like clamps, a block plane, KREG jig etc.  I would add the tools as the projects demanded and pretty soon I would have all the tools a home handy person would need.

cheers, ianw

  

   

A Kreg Tip and an Organisational Project

  I found a quick  tip for an easy up grade to your Kreg Jig on  Pinterest  .  Being able to see the measurements and markings on a Kreg Pocket Hole jig is helpful for poor light and older eyes.

  We are doing our back from holiday/spring/every ten year cleaning and organising. We begin in our bedroom and bathroom.  

  A while ago I made a small box to hold my various bathroom tools, it was moderately successful.

  As you can see tall things fall over and small things fall to the bottom. It was time to make some small improvements.

  Now there is a place for everything, and every thing has its place.  This box is an up-cycled mandarin  orange box.  The added bits and pieces only require a bit of soft wood and glue.  I think this is one of those up-cycle craft type of project that could encourage people with a few tools to try or....a project for a young person.  

  Since I have a band saw I cut many of the shapes with rounded corners.  If I did not have a band saw the handle could have been cut with a back saw and just rounded with a chisel or sand paper.  

  In fact I have a box that I will up-cycle with only basic hand tools just to see what I can do.

  Successful up cycling is more about ideas and paint than it is about tools.

cheers ianw

10,000 Villages Projects

  I spent a couple of hours last evening doing repairs for my favourite charity, 10,000 Villages.  I have repaired many wooden products from Hamilton's 10,000 Villages store. This time I had two boxes to repair.

  One hinge on this box had broken lose also the lid didn't close properly, which is probably what broke the hinge. I glued the hinge in place, once the glue dried I began the process of filing, sanding and shaping the lid until it fit correctly. Fitting the lid would be easy if the box were not assembled.  These repairs always require careful clamping and gentle filing/sanding.  I have a drawer filled with files and rasps that I could not live without.  One of the first tools I bought with my own money was a Nicholson mill file. I used to mess with bicycles as well as wood and a good file was a necessity. If you use files and rasps you will soon need a fine wire brush .  The acacia wood products that come from India clog my files easily, I'd be stumped without a cleaning brush.

 The next box had a similar problem. It would not close.

  I had to file wood out of the corners to enable to lid to sit flat when closed.  I have done this many times. The wood reacts to the climate change between here and the India sub-continent and something expands and something shrinks and pretty soon the lid doesn't close.  One of the great things about working on these products is the finish is shellac or wax and not stained so it is easy to hide the work that I do. The wood is quite lovely with just a clear wax coating.

  The third job was funny, I needed to make a beak.

  I tip for making a tip.  I picked a piece of dowel slightly over sized.  Then chucked it into my drill and ran in against a file and then sand paper until I got the size I wanted. Easy-peasy.

  The last job was a bit trickier.  I was asked to fix a white spot on a small bowl.

  I didn't look closely at the bowl when I picked it up.  When I looked closely at the light spot on the bowl it clearly was supposed to be there. That is a feature in the grain of that piece of wood. I tried to tint it a bit but found that it was  like trying to put stain on a glass bottle. That wood is HARD and not likely to soak up much colour. (probably why it is nearly always waxed or shellaked).

  The was Volunteer Appreciation Week, get out and give your time. Especially if you have a special talent that would help other folks out.

cheers, ianw

  

In The Shop, taking all the space.

  Currently I have a couple of larger projects on the floor/bench in my shop. I have four feet of the chair rail carved.  There is a bit of sanding to be done and then there is only sixteen feet of carving left. 

  The carving work station is a particular setup. I have have my bench raised to where I can work standing without  being too hunched over and having my back hurt.  This arrangement lets me carve for an hour or so twice a day. I am using two Kreg clamps, and two bench pucks from a previous generation to hold the work piece down.  

   The other project that is taking space and needs drying time is a  table that I am going to refinish. 

   This table was picked up off the street a few years ago in is used to extend our dining room table when the entire family is here.  The table is solid but a bit tired and shabby looking and was always going to be replaced with something new...if we found something. Well.....after five or six years hidden under a big table cloth we've decided to keep the table and I have to fix it and stain it and make it look 'good'. 

 First task is to glue the oak skin down where it has lifted over time.  The oak is not veneer, it is 3/16" think.  I am pleased with that because after it is glued back into place I have a couple places to repair before serious sanding and staining. I think it will be easier to make repairs to thinker wood. At the end I am going to hide its age and experiences by staining the whole thing dark walnut.

  I also picked up a bag of repairs from 10,000 Villages that I will work on while glue/stain/ paint is drying too.  

Wheat Bran and Rolled Oats Bread.

    I like to make stuff all kinds of stuff.  I like to bake bread. My latest is a Swedish loaf featuring wheat bran and rolled oats. It turned out to be a really good bread for toasting. Bread baking is a D.I.Y thing too.

cheers, ianw

A Box Of Course

  Isn't just about all woodworking box making? or lathe work.  We arrived home from holiday and resolved to do our spring cleaning.  One thing that we discovered in guest bedrooms and our cars were facial tissue boxes 3/4 filled with tissues that had been attacked and savaged by one or more grand children. Why, I don't know?  

  Since I am cheap and love to make things that have a purpose:

  What makes this box interesting as well as useful is 

a: it is made from the wood that was a drawer in the dresser I took apart just before leaving for holiday.  

The thin lumber that was used to make the drawer once sanded and stained had real character.  The lesson learned is to check out old furniture sitting on the side of the road on garbage day.  &

b: 

   I wanted the box of tissues to stay inside the box when it was moved from place to place so I glued a strap made from bicycle inner tube. I used contact cement to glue the inner tube to the box wall.  I have found, over time, that few adhesives are as versatile as contact cement.  Yes it smells and it does take time to set but I just clamp the pieces and leave them over night. 

  This was an easy project that made use of reclaimed materials.  I think I may make a couple more of these and give them to our church to sell at the Christmas bazaar.  

  I have been spending time painting our new windows, and then touching up the paint on the wall around the windows. We then decided to rehang the old roller blinds and each window now needed a valence type of cover, hiding the roller blind.  We bought new windows, from a serious window company. There are three windows, all the same, except the frames are different sizes, but 1/4 inch.  It is also worth noting they are only sort of square. Jeez louise.

  The current project is a bit of a back breaker. (hunched over carving) I am making a chair rail that has shallow relief carving the full length that about about 25 feet of carving.  I will post some pictures in the next blog.  If you look up chair rail photos there is often wainscoting too, I like the look without wainscoting although a design decision will be made one the rail is up.

cheers ianw

365 Wooden Spoons or One a Day for a Year

  Last week Eva and I were in Bergen Norway and we visited the four main art galleries, Kode 1 through 4. There were many interesting things to see and I recommend setting aside  four + hours to visit all the galleries when you go to Bergen. 

  In Kode 1 was a year in the life of Stian Korntved Ruud.  For one year Mr. Ruud carved a spoon a day, he explored design and wood and the exhibit is fantastic.  A person could easily spend hours just looking at all his spoons. Imagine looking at each spoon for just a minute or two, 365 x 2 = 730 minutes / 60 = 12.6.  To fully examine each spoon would take several visits.

 Thanks to the wonders of the internet you can admire each of the spoons here:

the Daily Spoon  



  This morning I was at work in the shop knocking together a small table to stand beside a friends laundry room sink. 

  David arrived with four 2x2 by 6,  a couple of pieces of particle  board and a plan. In short order we had made the piece of laundry room furniture.  As David said it is not a sophisticated project and could have been done by him in his basement with basic tools, but...it sure is quicker and easier with a table saw to make the two rip cuts that were needed accurately and the sliding mitre saw to make the various cross cuts.  We used a couple of clamps to hold things together when we worked. 

  Building for David is especially easy since he always comes with a clear and measured plan.

  Last week we had three window replaced and one of the shop related things I have been doing is painting the window frames. The windows arrived primed only. At this point all three have been given two coats of trim paint and the furniture is ready to be pushed back into place.  I find painting fiddly diddly and I am not good at it, but with careful taping I think the windows look pretty good.  

cheers ianw

  

And We're Back

  Eva and I arrived home on Wednesday after having been away for one month in Sweden and Norway.  This spring has been a time of travel for us. Unlike our previous travels I did not write any blogs at all, it was a bit of a nice change.  
  While in Norway we saw hundreds of boats of all sorts.  I think Norway still uses boats the way we use transport trucks. There were lots of interesting wooden houses and wooden boats and I did take a few photographs but.... it was a holiday.

 So, having returned to the work shop what did I discover.

  The cool piece of wood that I bought just before leaving dried out and really cracked apart.

  I can't make a coffee table now.  I am confident that it is not fire wood, but haven't really got a firm plan in mind right now.

  What did I make in my shop. I made a push stick.

  I used Jimmy  Diresta's push stick as  inspiration but as you can see mine is wood and red.

  I made this push stick to sit on my band saw table.  There are times that I am cutting something small and should be using a push stick and just opt for a handy wood scrap.  I am trying to teach my grandchildren better safety habits than the ones with which I grew up.  You can never have too many clamps or push sticks. 

  I have several projects lined up for the next while as well as  home maintenance  things too. I will get back into the swing of things over the coming week.  I may even share some Norway pictures.

  

cheers, ianw