Table Top, and Kid Projects.

  This was a grand kid dominated weekend, a great return to our normal life.  My Grand Daughter worked with Oma and created this lovely stained glass panel as a gift for her teacher. Once the panel was cooled it needed a stand. Clara and I worked in the shop to make the wooden stand.  She cut the wood using a back saw and mitre box.  I did use the table saw to cut the slots into which the glass fit to help out.

Stained Glass Apple 

  My next project is a coffee table using a large live edge slab of soft maple.  This slab was cut using a chain saw and so needed plenty of sanding. For a task like this I have a heavy duty diesel powered disk sander.  I inherited a 7 inch sander from my father's shop. My father had a "go big or go home" attitude towards tools.  Generally I use my 4 1/2 inch angle grinder with a sanding disk, but this job needed a 7 inch 40 grit disk to flatten the chain saw ridges. I think the table top will be very striking when finished.  It has some spots that will need epoxy to fill and I am going to consult with a friend who is expert in using epoxy before I take this on.  I would hate to mess it up and then have to grind out the mistakes.  

Live Edge Table Top

  This weekend also saw my Grandson make his first lathe project.  There are few tools as much fun as a wood lathe. Kieran designed this light house, complete with a little house for the keeper and made it on my mini lathe.

Light House lathe project

  The next time they are here I'll have wood mounted on face plates so the kids can make bowls.

  Our lives have returned almost to normal after so very long.  We have been blessed, no one in our extended family fell ill and very few people had their work disrupted. I hope that is the situation for you'all too.

cheers ianw 

 

Small Projects and an IKEA knock off

  My Grand kids were here for a couple of days on the weekend and as well as rambling adventures in the 'Dark Forest' behind our house the kids worked on various projects with Oma and I.

  Clara and Oma cooked, they made home made pasta and pizza including the dough and cup cakes, (from scratch).

  The batter and icing was filled with orange zest, those were not ordinary cupcakes.  Clara also has learned how to crochet slippers.  She has learned that things you make yourself bring the most satisfaction. 

  My grandson arrived with a project plan in mind, including dimensions.  He wanted a shelving unit upon which to display his many LEGO projects. He wanted a unit 75 inches long, 31 inches high with three shelves.  Once we seriously examined his plan it became clear that the unit would not fit into any of our cars to deliver it to their home.  We redesigned the unit into two pieces and then cut out all the sections, drilled the necessary holes and even counted out and packaged the screws.

  This project was a useful  learning experience for us.  The young fellow learned how to be a good table saw helper . Safety and operating procedures  are important things to learn from the very beginning.

  We are trying to keep a low profile and stay close to home and so it is a good time for maintenance and improvisation.  I have been sharpening tools as well as culling old finishes and lumber.  It is also a good time to replace glued sanding disks.

   

  My father made this sander/grinder for his shop when I was a kid. On the right side is a aluminium disk I bought in a tool store years ago to replace a plywood disk.  I have been using the sanding disk for a long time cleaning it with a crepe block. Finally I used my heat gun to loosen the glue and replace the paper.

  On the left side is the original sanding disk, a plywood disk with a 5/8 centre hole.  I had stopped using the wood disk, it flexed.  I decided to improvise and so found an old 7 inch saw blade, a plywood blade with lots of little teeth and glued it to the plywood disk.  Now I have two grits available to me 80 and 150. 

  I am working on 45 degree jigs in my shop now.  I have a couple of mitre corner boxes I want to make from thin wood, too thin to cut accurately with the mitre saw. I plan to rough cut the wood to length and refine the 45 degree mitre using hand tools.  The glue is setting and the jig will be in use tomorrow.

  I am a home body and so don't find the current situation a strain but if you do.  Hang in there, this is a short term aggravation  to avoid long term unhappiness.

cheers, ianw

A Summing Up Blog

  There is my latest box in it natural habitat.  Its purpose is to reduce clutter in my friend's home and look nice. Mission accomplished, I think.

  This morning's project.  The stars are to soon be painted and festively decorated.  Surprisingly there was some puzzling involved in getting the various boards aligned.  It was one of those times that clamps made life easier.   

  This is a sander/grinder that my grandfather made for my father from bits and pieces and a washing machine motor.  I don't know when this machine was created, its been around as long as I remember.  A few years ago I replaced the plywood disk with a metal one and have used it for a long messy time.  The belt is exposed and something of a hazard.  The other day I was sanding a couple of spoons into shape and nearly caught my fore arm in the belt as I manoeuvred the spoon around.   

 Finally I was modivated  to put that whirling belt behind a guard, having my arm hair removed swiftly and suddenly can be inspiring .  It was a job long overdue.  Next thing to fix is dust collection.  I bought a new RZ dust mask a while ago and love it.  It is the first dust mask that I don't hate to wear that actually fits well enough to do some good.  My lungs are in better shape but the other dust is still an issue.

  The last bit of summing up is my rustic bowl.  

  Once I got the inside more or less dug out I flipped it over and used my grinder to shape the ends.  I moved toward power tools from chisels because I found some punky wood and it is easier to sand/grind the wood away that to cut it off.  I was also afraid that using an axe or heavy chisel might break away a larger piece of wood that I wanted.

16 by 8 and 2 inches deep.

  There is the finished bowl getting into the holiday spirit.  If I come  across another log I will do this again, larger would be nicer.

  This is probably a wrap for the season.  December is always filled with family, travel and social gatherings and so I don't undertake much that is noteworthy in the shop before Christmas anymore.  Gone are the frantic last minuted projects of yesteryear.

If time permits I'll share something, it not...Happy Christmas, I hope you, your family and friends have an excellent holiday season and a glorious 2020.

cheers ianw

Charcuterie board

  My most recent project did not require much skill, just much patience. My wife asked me to make a live edge charcuterie board.  I dug around in shop and found a slice of dry rough sawn ash.

  The first stage was to attack the slab with my hand power planner and my old 3 x 21 belt sander.  Both those tools remove plenty of material and make a mind boggling amount of dust.  The air in the shop was filled with dust.  Both my sander and planner are old models without any type of integrated dust collection.  I will replace them, if they ever break down.

  Once the rough shaping was done it became a job for random orbital sanders.  First I worked with 80, then 120 then 180 grit using up several disks.  Getting the board smooth with the sander was a multi hour production.  Once I got the surface smooth (ish) I filled the smaller cracks and let it sit over night.  The next day was more sanding with 220 grit and then another hour of hand sanding with 400 and 600 grit making the surface as smooth as glass.

  To finish the edges I soaked the bark in several applications of water based sealer and then the top got three coats of hemp oil.  Each time I flooded the surface and let the oil soak in before clearing it off and rubbing it in.

  Though it is not a project that required special skills I am really happy with the results.  If I can find another slab like this I think I will do it again.

  cheers ianw.

A Spatula, A Sander and A Fish

  A while ago I collected three pieces of fire wood in the garage planning to make some more spoons.  Today I split the wood into eight pieces, a couple are destined to be big deep spoons and I plan to make a couple of long handed spreaders to reach to the bottom of deep jam jars. The rest of the pieces will get turned into something, sometime.

 You can see I have a spatula roughed out from that batch of fire wood.  Between the push knife and the small hatchet I was able to rough out the general shape quickly. 

  Once I got the shape established I turned to modern noisy tools this time. Hand work is nice, but mine is a hybrid shop.   My 36 inch belt sander really brings things into shape in a hurry.  This sander was very good value for the money, I've run it for hundreds of hours over its life time with me.  Several years ago I had to replace the drive belt but otherwise it has been a solid performer.

  After using the big belt sander with 60 grit paper I moved to my random orbital sanders. Those sanders will generally help in the final shaping of a spoon.  I have four sanders, with different grits mounted.  That way I am not tearing the sanding pads off all the time and the hook and loop system lasts longer.

  The finished spatula, is sanded to 320 grit and finished with hemp oil  .  I do my final sanded by hand using a contour sander or my own devising.

old fashioned black board eraser 

  The firm felt supports the sand paper without there being a hard edge that might scratch the work at the final sanding stages.

  I am also working on a colourful shop projects.

   We are going to see our Grand daughters next week and I am taking the four year old a board game. It is an easy counting game and the 'men' will be small wooden fish.  Games for kids are tricky. If they like the game they want to play it all the time, which drives you crazy.  If they don't like it, they never play it and you feel rejected. 

  cheers, ianw

Another Storage Solution

Every now and then the chaos overwhelms me. 

  Over the years I have acquired many pairs of suspenders, too many to keep straight on a hanger. My solution was a purpose built hanger.

  I originally  planned to make a horizontal hanger, but decided on a vertical one instead.

  I searched in my workshop junk drawer and found a big hook that I used to hang a bicycle and screwed it into the top of the hanger. Yes, it is over kill but for things like this I use what is at hand.

  The actual wooden part is cut from a 2 x 3. I do like to make these quick easy projects from softwood lumber. It is quick and easy to sand and/or plane things smooth.

  If I were a video maker I could have turned this little exercise into a production with close ups and slow motion. After all to make this simple thing I used a band saw, random orbital sander, many clamps, block plane, square, and drill.

  When I look around our home it is filled with wood stuff.  Where many people go to the local "Dollar" store and buy a plastic something to serve their need I make the something.  I grew up making stuff, and encourage everyone to make "stuff".  This little hanger is a perfect example. 

  

  A person in a small home, or apartment needs very few tools to actually make basic things. I believe that a cordless drill and decent set of drill bit is a necessity.  An okay drill costs about $125.00, less if you look for a sale, a sander is $50.00, less on sale.  A mid-range  combination square can be had reasonably and you can buy your wood mostly pre-cut at the big box store.  If you look around there are community centres that have public wood shops with big machines and expertise for cheap.

  It seems that we are trying to regain our  economic sovereignty. If you are going to appreciate domestic products we need to make some things for our selves too.

  cheers, ianw  

Oars - A Opa and Kieran Project

  My Grandson likes to work with wood and tools.  When he comes to our house we usually end up making something in the shop.  It is best when we can make something that is useful, and this time we did.

  Soon we will be going to a rented cottage on a lake, we are taking a small inflatable boat and yesterday we made oars.

  We used cedar fence boards to make these 39 inch oars. Since we began the project with 1 1/2 inch square boards it was an opportunity for K to use a hand plane to shape the handles. The blades where cut on our band saw and screwed to the handles with a cordless drill. The new tool for K was the random orbital sander.  He liked how much faster things went when using the sander.  It was always tough to get him to spend time hand sanding.

  Over the last couple of years Kieran has learned to use the band saw, cordless drill, drill press and orbital sander.  The important hand tool he has begun using is the hand plane, and he does like clamps too.  His education in the shop is progressing, slowly, but steadily.

  When he is paddling the boat around at the lake using paddles he made I am sure his level of satisfaction will be higher that if he was using plastic paddles.  

cheers, ianw

Finished bench topper

16.5 by 17 by 1.5 inches

  I got my bench top finished today.  Rather mostly finished. 

 Since my shop is filled with tools I like to use them. I am amazed at how many tools I used for this simple little job. There is no doubt that more effort and a bit more time and this whole thing could have been done with a small number of hand tools. But just for grins here is the list of what I used to stick five boards together and mount two clamp tracks along it edge.

 Last time I said I used my table saw (1) to trim the edges square on the boards. Then I used my pocket Zip Slot (2) to put in the loose tenons. And of course, glue and clamps.(3 & 4)

  Today I used my circular saw (5) to trim the edges square, after I marked the edges with my carpenter's square (6). After the ends were cut square I used my disk sander (7) and my belt sander (8)to flatten the faces or the bench top. I used sanders instead of hand planes because this is reclaimed wood. 

  After the face was flat I used my router table (9) to cut dados on two edges of the top. Then I used my shoulder plane (10) to clean up the dados. 

  I put off buying a shoulder plane for years from cheapness and ignorance. 

Don't make that mistake.

  Then the Kreg track had to be cut to length, enter the hack saw (11). Next I used my belt sander to clean off the burrs on the track. Screwing ( cordless drill 12) the track down meant I needed my 4 1/2 inch angle grinder (13) since the screws were just a bit to long and needed a 1/4" ground off. 

 Then I laid out and drilled six 3/4 inch dog holes. (drill press & Frostner bit 14 & 15)

 At this point I am not adding dog holes in the middle. My current plan is to make some dogs and use the top and then develop what I need for what I am using. Looks like a lathe project to me.(16)

 Was this an over produced event? No... Well-maybe. I just have all those tools and I like to use them.

cheers, ianw