Dresser Repair

 Before I get to the dresser, here is a photo of my new sand paper box. The hacksaw blade is screwed to the lid with two small washers offering spacing between the blade and the lid. I drew markings at one inch spaces for easy measurement while using the blade to tear sheets of paper to size.

  A week ago we brought a three drawer dresser home for our cottage/condo because it had dried out totally and was falling apart badly.  Eva reminded me that the dresser was nearly forty years old and so...should be forgiven its weaknesses.

  The top of the dresser came loose and then the sides sprung apart, and then the drawers wouldn't open and close properly.  You can see that the piece was held together mostly with glue, and the dowels were more for alignment than strength.  In the process of taking this apart I discovered that the construction was all just glue and staples. I guess it was sufficient for something not much used, and and this point it was sure easy to take apart.  

  After I got room to work by taking the drawers out it was easy enough to scrape away the old glue.  Once the old joints were cleaned up and I used Gorilla Glue and clamps to pull it back together. In this case I also made sure to dampen the joints first as Gorilla Glue works better on slightly damp wood.  After 24 hours the glue was set and the dresser was solid.

  Since I had the piece here, and apart I decided to re-enforce some of the joints that were somewhat frail and only held together with a small glue surface and a couple of staples.

  In the photo you can see that I am gluing wood pieces in to support the divider upon which the drawers run.  Once the glue has fully cured I plan to put a few small screws (maybe even a pocket hole or two) in to support the glue and make the dresser more rigid.  This way I hope that the joints that haven't let go yet, won't, and the dresser can hang out for another forty years.

  After all the carpentry is done I touched up the various dings and scratches with some spray paint and the piece looks pretty much like new.  

  Yes, it is a cheap piece of furniture, and yes it could have been easily replaced but, it was fixable using limited tools and skills. And so it did not need to become land fill.

REDUCE, REUSE, REPAIR, RECYCLE

 cheers, ianw

  

 

Three Shop Days

 So I went into the shop on Monday morning and put the legs on the plant stand. Not that news worthy. I also took time out to organise my working bits of sand paper.  For a year or so all the half sheets and little bits of sand paper have been thrown into a plastic tub by my bench. Finally I got a proper box with a lid, open storage in a wood working shop is always filled with stray dust, so the closed box is better.  I also added a hacksaw blade to the top as an aid to ripping sheets of sand paper to size.

  Tuesday, I spent time playing with my new cordless drill.  I decided on a:

Drill kit

 F.Y.I.

  I bought the kit with my own money, without support or consideration from either Dewalt or Thetoolstore. So, my opinions are my own.

  Why did I buy the DeWalt 20 volt? For fifteen years I have used Hitachi 14.4 Volt perfectly happily. The drills are still good, replacement batteries are both rare and expensive, so, not cost effective.

  For a few years I have used a Triton 12 volt drill and impact driver combination. Twelve volt is not quite powerful enough and I just don't like using an impact driver. So it was time for a new cordless drill. 

  I do not work my tools hard any longer so I do not need the most robust tools on the market.  My back will give out long before this drill will get hot when I work now.  I like that the tool sits on a large flat battery.  I like having the drill easily at hand, standing on the bench top while I work, takes up less space than the 12 volt is small but has to lay down.  I like the extra power available with the 20 volt, 18 volt probably would have been enough but I wanted to buy the newest generation of tool as I plan to use it for many years.(this deal had three batteries included).

 DeWalt is everywhere so I can run out and buy a replacement battery or charger nearly anywhere if the need arises. And lastly the 20 Volt system has a tonne of compatible tools available, I plan to acquire a compressor soon.

  There are many good tool companies, making fine tools but this new cordless drill appears to suit my needs.

  Wednesday-

 Using the new drill, I put our summer planter/gardening table in the garage.

Also I have a 35 year old Honda snow blower, that runs just fine, but was showing its age. Today the new drill wire brushed three and a half decades of rust off my snow blower so it could be repainted.  If I ever need to buy a snow blower, or if anyone ever asked which one to buy, Honda. They are fairly costly but....a person may only ever need one. The drill did a really good job spinning the wire brush and the key-less chuck held the brush very firmly.  Come to think about it a 20 volt cordless shop vac might be a good tool to add too.

 Needed to put the snow blower away and clean up the garage because yesterday I got my Maxi-scooter out of storage. Spring has officially sprung in my mind.

My model, not me riding.

cheers ianw

Furniture Making Tip

 Now I only make furniture for friends and family.  While custom wood working can be profitable, getting a final product that suits the customer can be a challenge sometimes. I found that the finished colour was the issue most often.  Clear varnish was okay and painted pieces were generally okay too, but, stained pieces were nearly always a problem.  Often the piece would not be the colour that the customer thought they wanted.  

  This plant stand I am currently fiddling around on is the perfect example of the what would have been a perfect customer.  I am making the plant stand for my friends David and Elise for whom I have made several things in the past. When they want something they provide an excellent plan, carefully drawn with all necessary measurements. There are no 'about or sort ofs', so the final product will be the correct size and shape. Usually, they do the finishing, so the stain colour never enters into the discussion.  In this case David brought me tin of the stain they want the stand to be.  Perfect. No 'oh!!, that's not what I thought it would look like' at delivery time.

  Not always fool proof, I had a customer a couple of years ago tell me exactly what colour stain he wanted his shelf units. I bought the exact colour from the exact company, I finished the shelves with the stain, it was hideous ( I knew that immediately)  and he was cross with the result.  I got paid but...he wasn't happy, not my fault.

  Dark Walnut stain of a plywood top.

 Dark walnut on legs. It remains for everything to dry.  Once fully dry I'll put it together, after I finish the top.

  You can't possibly guess what this is going to be.  It is glass and weights holding something down while it dries.  Once this is dry I am thinking of adding it to the top for a bit of ornamentation, I know that there will be a plant hiding most of it but...an advantage with working for friends is a flexible timeline and room to experiment.  After all if my idea doesn't work, it will be hidden by a large flower pot.  

cheers ianw

Spring is here? a cold spring, but sunny

 

Carved Forks and Finished Spoon

 I finished a couple  for salad forks and my fancy spoon while waiting for glue to dry and dust to settle.  Also I seem to have been busy with other stuff and out of the shop for a few days.

  

  Again I used poplar for the forks. This particular piece of wood has the green and white two tone grain colour that makes poplar unpopular with furniture makers but poplar with me.  The wood has good strength and straight grain but.....the  colour is not neutral,( it even stains strangely)

  I included these forks to encourage beginners. Below are the tools that I used after the basic shape was cut out on the band saw, a coping saw would work as well, only slower.  The fancy spoon is now finish sanded and ready to be sealed. I may stain it first since it isn't really meant to  be a cooking tool just an ornament.      

 

  

The straight bladed draw knife, or push knife is another tool for quickly removing wood.  A good basic carving knife like the one in the middle would do the job too. I used two palm chisels, a straight chisel and a shallow gouge. As you can see I saved money on the knife and the gouge by buying them without handles. There is a point where the beauty of the handle is more ascetic than helpful.  The tiny palm plane is also nice to have but....not necessary, an ordinary block plane would do the work fine.   

These are my two most used hand sanding finishing tools.  Once I am done carving I do plenty of sanding.  I use 80 grit to refine shapes and work my way through to 600 grit for a touch that is silky smooth.  I used dozens of bits of sand paper about the size of a business card. The wine cork makes a good backer for sanding curves.  The other thing is a home made flap wheel using nut and bolt.  I load the bolt with pieces of sand paper and drive it with my cordless drill. 

  I haven't decided what legs to put on the plant stand.  I have a dresser that needs attention and that has taken some attention in the shop.  I've been puzzling on a sander that keeps letting the sand paper slip loose,  I've been designing and painting Easter cards for my grand kids, and so I have filled up my time, outside the shop too.  It is great to have the free time and resources to putter around with many different things.

  cheers ianw

Feb. 8th 2012 - Spoons and Spoon Hold Down

  I took a week off.  I spent part of it away from home. And then I spent a couple of days not working my my shop.  My back likes to have a few days now and then to just relax and read a book.  

  When I returned home I saw a post about a foot operated hold down for spoon carving. I had recently been fiddling with a small spoon and thought a hold down was just what I needed.

Then I remembered I had a foot operated hold down hanging on the wall.  My hold down uses rope instead of a wooden lever but it works fine and stores away in almost no space at all when not in use. Stores so well that it can be forgotten.  I need to paint it red and hang it with my other shop jigs.

 Once I  I got the spoon clamp back into action I completed the centre(walnut) spoon and the right (pine) spoon quickly.  I used my hooked knife to clean out the bowls and then basic tools and sand paper to finish the spoons.  I put hemp oil onto my finished spoons, two treatments seem good enough. These spoons are used to scoop stuff like coffee beans or oatmeal, stuff that is dry.

 The fancy spoon (bass wood)  on the left just needs finishing  work.  It was started before the Covid-19 thing when I was going to a carving club at the Ancaster Seniors Achievement Centre.  I found it, in a drawer awaiting completion. For the spoon to be useful it needs some more shaping and final sanding.  I am eagerly awaiting the reopening of clubs and social centres, and when they reopen I will start some new things.

  The other thing I am working on is an 18 inch hex topped plant stand. I opted to make the top from two pieces of Baltic birch plywood rather than solid wood. Now I am end gluing real wood all around and will then decide what to do about the top. Dark stain seems the most likely possibility.  A plant stand needs to be sturdy and low key. 

 I started carving the spoons while the glue dried on the edges.  There are quicker ways to edge this project, I am just not in a hurry right now.  I nearly always have a couple of things percolating in my shop at any one time.  That way I can distract myself enough to let the glue dry properly.

  Anyway, I am back and covered with saw dust.

 cheers, ianw

spring is coming, it was 12 Degrees on the back deck this afternoon.