Dragon and Padauk Box

 Aromatic cedar can give a silky, deep hued result when carved and polished. This wee dragon is a useless desk top dust collector that I worked on this week. I encourage anyone to work with rotary tools instead of knives and chisels since this wood splits along its grain easier than any wood with which I've worked.   After shaping I sanded to 800 grit, gave the carving three coats of shellac and a hand rubbed coat of bee's wax.  It feels like amber to the touch.  I'm thinking it is time to work with the little bit of cedar that I have left. I'm thinking I should make something that is meant to be handed and enjoyed, any ideas?

  I carried on with the keepsake box last week too. It is padauk, maple and white oak.  I had only a small piece of padauk and got just enough the sides for this box with a tiny bit left over.  I have found it difficult to work with, it has tended to splinter, (maybe it is very dry). However, the colour is wonderful and it is easy to sand, planing resulted in tear out.

  Since this is a fancy box for fancy stuff I tried a fancy corner.  I set up a jig on my table saw mitre gauge to hold the box while I cut the corners off at 46 degrees. It was a little nerve racking since I was afraid it might splinter as I was cutting it.

ready for final sanding and shellac 

  The lid is one piece maple, no mitred corners to make here. It was as quick to cut the opening with my coping saw as to drag out my scroll saw and set it up. As you can see below the cut out is to accommodate a stained glass insert, made by Eva.

  I have the wooden pieces made and am working on the finish.  I am planning to give the wood several coats of clear shellac.  Between each coat I will give the wood a light sanding with 1000 grit. I expect the finish to be glass smooth. (two coats done,  5 or 6 to go).

  After that hinges and a latch.  I will have to look around to get something small, delicate and worthy.

  

Book Shelf End Cap

  I was at a friend's place a couple of weeks ago and we got the brain wave that I should make an end cap shelf for his book ends.  There was a twelve inch space to fill between the end of some books shelves and a door so we designed an extension to fit that space.

84 inches by 9 by 12 made from 3/4 oak.

  Last entry you saw how the oak pew was cut using a circular saw, jigs and help.  I needed my wife's extra hands to hold the long section of pew while I ripped it to size. 

  This little job had a couple of challenges.  The oak is very very dry.  It has been in church for nearly 50 years and so it is very splintery.  Planing and sanding with the grain easily raises splinters so extra care is required.

  Another problem was getting 50 years of varnish, wax and cleaning solution off the wood.  Initially I tried a belt sander.  That was hopeless, the belt clogged up in seconds. The old finish melted into the belt's grit. The next method worked well but was slow and labour intensive, card scrapers.  I needed to re-sharpen the scrapers regularly but was able to remove the finish almost completely.  In the end it took a couple of hours of hunched over work. (tough on my back)  When it came to the shelves I tried another method, I used  paint stripper.  The chemical stripper worked well but still needed to be cleaned up with a scraper, so, it was easier but much more messy.  Next time I think I will try to soften the finish with a heat gun and then use scrapers. I have some pew wood left so I am sure that I will have a chance to try again. 

  As you can see I put a slight chamfer  on the under side of the shelves. I feel that the chamfer makes the 3/4 oak appear less bulky.  Having a router table and a good selection of bits makes adding details like that chamfer easy. 

  From the large to the small. My next project is a small fancy keepsake box.  I have most of the pieces cut out all I need do is fit the fiddly bit together and finish it.  I like contrasting projects.

Circular Saw JIg

  I am making a very tall corner shelf for a friend of mine.  The shelf is 8 ft. tall, 12 inches wide and 9 1/2 inches deep. I am making it from reclaimed oak church pew.

  To rip the pew to width I used a circular saw and the KREG ripping jig. ( the wood was too heavy and awkward to try and manage on my contractor table saw.) Once the saw is tightened on to the jig cutting long rip cuts are easy and accurate. In the past I have used this jig to break down many sheets of plywood.  It is not a tool I use often but it is great to have it on hand.

  As you can see I don't have a track saw, but over time have made a variety of jigs to enable me to guide my circular saw to make accurate cross  and rip cuts.  The jigs are clearly labelled which of my two circular saws fit the jig. 

  If my table saw gave up the ghost I would seriously, seriously look at a track saw system to replace it.  Even with home made guides a circular saw can do pretty good work.

cheers, ianw

Fish Tank/ Terrarium Stand

  Just finishing in my shop is a custom fish tank/ terrarium stand for my Grandson.  I had a partial sheet of 3/4 inch sheet of reclaimed Baltic birch plywood and was able to make the stand with almost nothing left over. 
  

  You can see that this is a pocket hole project .  I used my circular saw cutting guide (Jan 23/2017) to cut the pieces to size and then used my finishing sander to sand the edges smooth.  It seems the only change to the basic design is the dust collection attachment, a good idea. 

stained, and shellacked and ready
to go to Toronto 

  When my grand son was here for a week he was put to work on various jobs by his Oma. 
One job was to weave willow branches into the wires on the pergola that hops and other vines climb

before weaving.

after weaving.

  When the vines grow in over the next few weeks there will be a solid wall keeping out the hot, hot afternoon sun.

  As I have worked on some of the these projects I have been making lots of small changes to the shop set up and the dust collection system.  Having gotten so well organised and clean, I want it to stay that way.

cheers, ianw