Completed Drawer, Project #7ish - A painting trick too

I completed the drawer last evening.  It fits in beside the white refrigerator drawer snugly.  

  When a box is made using dadoes it can be glued together without needing any fasteners,

  although you do need a bunch of clamps.  Once the glue dried over night I added some nails and screws to increase the rigidity of the drawer.   

  Having decided that I wanted to paint the project white I used a trick I learned from Izzy Swan.  Recently I saw, but now can't relocate a video of Izzy drying latex paint with his propane torch, fast.  I modified his method by drying the white paint with my heat gun.(almost as fast)  

  I used the highest heat level  to dry the paint, and by moving it around steadily I didn't have any troubles.  Using the fast dry method last evening I put on two coats of paint in 30 minutes, including clean up.   I like the idea of very short drying times.  

cheers ianw

Back Home Again.

  It seems that the last two months have flown by in a whirlwind of world travelling.  My wife and I just returned from twelve days in Sweden with our children and two grand daughters.  The kids are nice, but the 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old girls  are the real reason for making the trip. After a long but uneventful trip home yesterday, I've completed my unpacking and am returning to routine.  One of my favourite routines is shop time.

  This morning after breakfasting and dealing with laundry I went down to my shop, made a coffee and a plan.  You can see my drip coffee maker in the back ground and my wooden coffee spoon in the fore ground. The coffee is great in Sweden but coffee at home just tastes that little bit better. 
   

  I thought I should get working on something, just to see if I remember how.

  In the garage by the back door is a small shelving unit upon which we store fruit and vegetables. The unit is  from a flat pack store and you can see we use left over refrigerator trays for storage.  This morning I decided I needed to make a couple of drawers to use up the rest of the space more efficiently, 'cause we need it? no. 'Cause I like making boxes, and stuff that has a use. 

  If you are going to make boxes one of the best tools to have is a router table and rabbeting bits. 

  Second only to a round over bit I use my set of rabbeting bits most frequently. It is nice to travel, but it is nice to be back too.

   These drawers are being made from plywood and lumber from the 'left over' bin.  I like box joints but they turn out better when you begin with solid wood rather than plywood.  Maybe the next project will have nicer wood.

   cheers, Ian

Sweden looks like Muskoka Ontario to me.