Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Progress..


I think the colors are going to work well together.

Finish on the the door panels. Danish oil ans several coats of shelac.

Joinery for the door is cut.
Door parts ready for sanding and assembly.

Assembled doors, wiped down with mineral spirits to look for defects.

Mortising in the hinges for the doors.

Test fit for the doors

I love those panels.


Ebay score.   a couple of pieces of really nice 8/4 Walnut.  The figure in that one piece is great.
Might get the chance to work with some Sapele for a project at  the office.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Whiskey cabinet update

I was able to get all the holes for the Ebony plugs cut and the parts sanded this week so tonight I was able to glue up the case.  After a couple of dry runs I get the clamps sorted out and the actual glue-up went pretty smooth

Tried out "Frog Tape" on the inside of the case and must say that I am impressed.  It works much better than the regular blue painters tape at preventing glue from seeping under it.  Ended up using Titebond III for the case just to get the extra few minutes of working time.


While everything was drying I got some of the milling done for the door parts.  Just need to chop out the mortises and then size the tenons.  The panels are all milled to thickness and sanded, ready to be cut to size.  They will be pre-finished since they need to float in the frames.  I am thinking about trying some small pieces of weather stip foam to keep them centered.

After the main case glue-up was complete I was able to glue on the case side of the french cleat for hanging the cabinet.  The part in my hand will be attached to the wall and the cabinet will slip over it. Should be plenty strong enough.


A couple views of the case with some bottles and glasses in it for a test fit, looks good so far.  I can't wait to get some finish on this wood and see what it really looks like.


Random shot from the house earlier this week.  It is currently snowing pretty hard so tomorrow should be a powder day. Probably won't get much woodworking done.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Scotch Cabinet is under way...

Finalized my design over the last few days and actually cut some wood today.
Reduced the number of fingers to 3 and decided on two different sized plugs.

Cut up the block up Ebony to make the plugs...

First test Plug came out pretty well.

Drew up a plan to work from.  Actually finished the design before I started building this time....

Joint for the shelf came out nice and tight. Undersized dado helped conceal it.

Dry fit of the case parts. next step is to get everything sanded and ready for glue-up.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Finally time for some woodworking...



I cut the joinery for the storm windows last week on the new bandsaw.  Saturday after skiing I was able to get them glued up and yesterday I got the final coat of paint on them.  This afternoon I got them installed in the frame which had been nailed in place, sealed with foam, caulked and painted.

Installing the frame with the windows in place to ensure an even gap.
Finished windows.  Ended up making "custom" trim for the top half.  Being able to re-saw and then run the strips through the planer made that a pretty easy task. Two slide bolts on the left window and two sash locks to keep te right one closed.  With the weather stripping installed the bathroom is already feeling warmer. 

I also got a chance to test out a method for cutting the finger joints for my upcoming cabinet project.

Pretty pleased with the results.  Cut the fingers with the bandsaw and cleaned them up with a chisel.  I think I am going to try using the dado stack on the table saw to clean them up next time.
Planing 2x6 framing lumber down to 3/4" makes quite a mess.  This is why I have a dust hood on order for the planer..
Test board for the finish.  The left third is the winner, danish oil with several coats of plain shellac.  It is hard to tell in the photo but the oil seems to give the wood a bit more depth.  
A few more test pieces and it will be about time to starting cutting wood for the actual cabinet. 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

New tools and projects.


A simple cutting board that I made from some walnut scraps and a nice little piece of hard maple.  Sized for serving a loaf of bread at the table.



The last week has been a good one for the shop...not so much for the bank account.  Picked up a used band saw earlier today.  It truly is "barely used" unlike most of what I was finding on craigslist and was set up really well.  


Last week I found a good deal on a  Dewalt planer.  These two tools should open up a lot of possibilites for my woodworking.


Ran a scrap piece of Alder through the bandsaw to try out how well it re-saws.  Cut a nice even 1/8" slice off of a 6" board.




 I also have a pretty solid handle on the design direction for the whiskey cabinet that I plan to build with that Mahogany.  After re-sawing a piece of spalted maple I wanted to use for the door panels I decided to go with a much simpler door design to not detract from the maple.  I got some very useful feedback and suggestions from some people on a few of the woodworking forums.


 Here is one of the mahogany boards scraped and wiped with mineral  spirits.  I am pretty pleased with the color and grain in these boards.  Nothing like this stuff, but for a fraction of the price I'll take it.  Some of the boards from Greener Lumber are absolutely incredible. Some day I will get some lumber from them for a really special project.


Tried out a few different finishes.  Played around with amber shellac  as well as danish oil and some stain.  

It's amazing what a coat of paint will do..

Natalie has wanted to re-paint our bathroom since we moved in.  In fact we have had the paint since then.  A few weeks ago we spent a day and got most of the bathroom painted.

The bathroom had been white with some pretty nasty green paint on the paneling...and a blue ceiling.  Now it is a very light shade of green with darker green paneling and nice, bright white trim.


We also removed the old shower curtain rods and installed some new, curved ones that make the shower bigger and keep more of the water in it.


Here is a before picture. The light green walls really make the bathroom feel a lot brighter.  This picture shows the large, greenhouse-like window that helps to make our bathroom so nice an cold.  I am in the process of building a french window style storm to inset in the opening and hopefully keep the drafts at bay.