Woodworker++

I have legs!

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:18:00 +0000

For my workbench, that is. The sawyer called and I picked up four 4"x4"x36" pieces of kiln dried walnut. Only one has some minimal cracking, which is to be expected from kiln drying, but nothing that would cause structural problems. Wanna know how much it cost? $33 and some change, after tax. That's right. $33. If you're shopping for domestic woods, I suggets you try to find a local sawyer. You'll wait a while, possibly even a year. But the price is right. Pics to come soon. Now, to dig out the workbench plans and mill up the legs.

Legs for the workbench...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:20:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've updated this thing. We've been converting a dining room into an office, and fixing up the house some. So there's not been time for woodwork. I do have some news, though. The gentleman at the sawmill left me a voice mail and told me he had the walnut cut up for the legs of my workbench. It's currently in the kiln. So in a few weeks, I'll be able to take my workbench off of those saw horses and get it on a more stable surface. Finally.

I took the summer off

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Without even meaning to! I keep up with woodworking podcasts, forums, etc. I always marveled at the guys/gals that said "oh I take the summer off", or "I only do woodwork when it's the cool seasons". I thought "How can they live with themselves"? Well, now I know. I accidentally took the summer off from woodworking. I didn't even mean to. It just kinda happened. I'd like to blame the dining room to office remodel... but that'd be a lie. I was just too busy to even sneak in a weekend here or there. Well, it seems as the cool weather of fall is coming, I can get back into the garage. First I have to clean it! What a mess. I still have to finish up the office, but all that is left is to wash the walls, spackle & paint. Should be a fairly easy weekend. We'll see.

Woodworking during the summer...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:00:00 +0000

I was always curious about the guys/gals in woodworking forums that talked about taking the summer off. Some say heat is the reason, others time. I've not had to deal with either of those in the past. This summer, though, is totally different. The heat does not bother me. I've lived in Alabama all my life, I'm used to July & August heat. It's the time that I'm having trouble with. This is the first summer where I've been so busy I couldn't get to my woodwork. That's ok, I've been having fun all the same. Keep checking the blog, eventually I'll get back to the cabinet, the workbench, and maybe even that small tack box.

I'm not dead...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:54:00 +0000

I'm just busy. Too busy to get into the garage. One day I'll make it back to my ugly cabinet, legless wordkbench, and 2 sided tack box.

New camera!

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:59:00 +0000

Finally got a new camera. I'll try and take pics of the really, really... really red cabinet tonight.

Not much lately...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:49:00 +0000

I've been so busy the last month I've not had time for woodwork. Hopefully, that will change soon. I plan on getting back to painting the Krenov Cabinet and finishing up the small box.

Busy day today...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:36:00 +0000

I got an early start this morning and it payed off. I started out doing the quick 220 light sanding on the cabinet. I was sanding the seal coat in preparation for the dye. Once I had everything sanded I mixed up the dye. I'm using W.D. Lockwood Oil Dye (Brown Walnut). The instructions on the Tools For Working Wood web site said to mix it with a little bit of denatured alcohol and some oil. So I mixed it with a little alcohol and some mineral oil. Luckily, I was smart enough to to test it out on the back of the cabinet. It took a little while to get used to how quick it dried. Once I got it down, though, it was a breeze to use. I know everyone one says if you're using an oil dye you're supposed to spray it. But I don't have a sprayer, and I didn't want to use a water based dye. So I took a chance on wiping it using a rag. All in all, I think it turned out much better than the gel stain. Still not perfect, but I like to think it would've been twice as good if i had not gel stained it first. It looks similar to the gel stain, but it's different some how. If/when I get a camera I'll be sure to post pics.

While the cabinet was drying, I decided to work on the tack box a little. I got the front and back panel glued up. I got to use the mitre box my grandfather gave me. I'm still amazed at how accurate and easy that thing is to use. So, at this point the dye & glue are drying.

While I'm still waiting on something to dry. I decided to clean up my table saw. There were a couple of rust spots starting. I used 600 grit to sand off the surface rust, and made sure the entire top was clean. I then applied a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax. Guess what, I had to let it dry too.

So now, I have dye, glue, and was drying. What to do? I used some 220 & 600 grit to clean up 3 of the hand saws my grandfather gave me. The cleaned up really nice. Took me a while because some were pitted, but for the most part they came out good.

By this time the paste wax had dried so I buffed it out. Now the table saw is ready for duty.

Should get the dye today.

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:30:00 +0000

FedEx says the dye is on the truck for delivery today. No cabinet work this weekend, but I did start my next project. I'm going to use some maple I had left over from my workbench to build a small tack box for wifey. I cut up the back panel Saturday morning using the old Miller Falls miter saw I got from my grandfather. Wow, that 90 degree cut was perfect. It was a heck of a lot better than the cut I could do on my table saw. I hope I'm not becoming a true galoot.

I also cleaned up my wood pile a little. I can pretty much walk all around the tools in the garage now, which is not only nice but safe.

Ordered the dye...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:14:00 +0000

I ordered my dye yesterday. Tools For Working Wood was having a sell on their W.D. Lockwood dyes. If you buy 4 you get 10% off. So, I bought 4. W.D. Lockwood dyes seem to get good reviews and they're $10 cheaper than TransTint and basically all of the others I saw. I doubt they'll get here before this weekend, but I can hope.

Weekend doings...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:39:00 +0000

I spent Sunday sanding, quite literally. I started with 80 grit and worked up to 150 on the cabinet. Once I got it smooth enough, I put on a wash coat of Bullseye De-waxed shellac. I made up a 1lb cut using the unique and scientifically reliable method that The Wood Whisperer used in his latest finishing episode. Basically, I eye balled it. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up Bob Flexner's book "Understanding Wood Finishing: How to Select and Apply the Right Finish" and it has been a great resource. After reading most of the book, I realize all of the things I did wrong the first time I stained the cabinet. Wrong is not exactly right. I realize all of the things I did not do well. So, I got the cabinet & legs shellac'd this weekend. I've decided to use dye on the poplar instead of stain. There's 2 reasons for this. First, I want to learn how to use dyes. Second, I have some figured hard maple that I want to make the grain pop. From what I've read in Bob's book and seen on TWW, dye is the best way to do that.

Weekend happenings

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:21:00 +0000

Friday
I sanded the cabinet down to bare wood. Well, at least the outside of it. I have to sand the inside as well.

Not much this weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:03:00 +0000

I didn't do too much this past weekend. I played around with the stain some more on the cabinet. Think I'm going to strip it all the way down and start over. The walnut gel stain just didn't work. I picked up a book Saturday on finishing and have already discovered a few mistakes I made.

I also worked in cleaning up the garage some. I can walk through it now without tripping, which is very nice. I'm still not finished cleaning up. I wanted to take before & after pics, but my camera is dead.

OOTO...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:52:00 +0000

... so wifey and I were out of town this weekend. We ended up in Franklin, TN. While she worked, I got to visit Woodcraft. I love that store. There are two within 2 hours of our house. So it's not easy for me to get to go. I spent about an hour and a half in there just looking and talking to folks. I did buy some ~~toys~~ tools. I only picked up a couple of small things, but I'll list them out.

12" steel rule
Veritas Scraper Burnisher (can't wait to try & review this)
Magswitch Pro featherboard (another item for review)
General Finishes Mahogany Stain (oil based)

Yeah, that does it.

P.S. OOTO, just in case you're not familiar with it, is an abbreviation for Out Of The Office. A commonly used term around these parts.

More Horror!

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:19:00 +0000

"The Horror!"

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:18:00 +0000

The Cherokee called it "Valley of Death"...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:08:00 +0000

... or at least so goes local legend. Apparently, when the Cherokee were around this area they got sick a lot. Mainly allergies and sinus problems. Speaking of sinus problems. I've had a mild sinus infection all weekend. So I didn't get to work in the garage. The cabinet is still ugly... I'll post pics soon. I have an idea for the door that may detract from the disgusting look of the legs.

Stained...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:58:00 +0000

I finished staining the cabinet and legs this weekend. The cabinet looks pretty good. I hate the legs again. The legs came from a different tree than the cabinet and you can really tell. They look different. Not only that, they look distressed. I can see blemishes that I can't feel. I hate the legs. I took pics but am too disgusted to post them at the moment. Maybe later this week.

A good shellacing...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:25:00 +0000

The cabinet & legs are drying in the sun at the moment. I did a light sanding of the first coat of shellac on the cabinet and applied the second coat. I put the first coat of shellac on the legs. Like I said, they're drying in the sun right now. I didn't bother with pics, cause that would be like watching shellac dry. The legs looked fine where they had gotten wet. We'll see how it goes when I put on the stain in the next week.

Oh yeah, I've gotten a few toys in the past 2 weeks. I need to take pics an post about them. Maybe later today.

Water damage...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:13:00 +0000

Last week our washing machine leaked. No big deal, we had it fixed and now all is good. Little did I know, though, that the water had made it across the garage. All 4 cabinet legs wicked water. The legs had water marks between 3" & 5" high, the grain had raised and the legs were still damp in the center. I sanded the outside and it seemed to remove the water marks. I may end up having to amputate the legs at about 6" from the bottoma and make some feet. I got so disgusted this weekend I gave up and just hung out.

All day sand fest...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:00:00 +0000

I spent most of the day sanding. By hand. I started around 8 am using 220 grit to put a mild round over on all the corners of the legs & apron. I cleaned up the glue squeeze-out as I went along. When I got the corners like I wanted I took a double-cut file and rounded over the tops of the legs. Then I sanded those too. Once the legs and apron were acceptable I started working on the stand-offs that attach the base to the cabinet. I ended up make three because I split one when drilling out the holes. I like the idea of having the base separated from the cabinet with the stand-offs. I don't think wifey cared for them too much, though. Maybe she'll change her mind when it's all finished.

Two observations:
1. Hand sanding detail is tedious and makes you sore.
2. The result of hand sanding detail is worth the time.

Oh yeah, and I don't absolutely hate the legs anymore.

Tapered the legs...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:09:00 +0000

I got up early this morning to taper the legs. I wanted to have them kind of curve and taper, but they're a little to small for that. I ended up just going with a straight taper. I tried to make a simple table saw tapering jig, but that was going to turn out to be a bunch of work. So, I did a quick band-saw tuneup and cut the taper. The first cut didn't go as expected. At first I thought I had hit a really hard knot. Turns out the drill press was in the way. Mistake #221. After moving the drill press, the tapers went fairly quick.

Unfortunately, at this point I got pretty into what I was doing and forgot to take pics. Basically, I cleaned up the horrible bandsaw job I did to get the tapers. I used my No. 7 plane and got it down nice and flat, then I took my cabinet scraper and cleaned up the transition. They're by no means perfect, but they'll do.

Once I finished the cleanup, it was time for quick sanding and a glue up. Again, I was on a roll so the only picture of the entire leg & apron glue-up that I have is the one you see here.

While I was letting the glue dry I did a final sanding on the cabinet. I progressed from 100 up to 220 grit and put a 2lb cut of shellac on the cabinet, then set it outside to sun dry. Worked pretty well.

Here's the pic...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:51:00 +0000

Here's a couple of pics of the legs. Notice that my mortises are so sloppy I had to use a band clamp to keep everything together. I'm still learning, though. I hate the legs. I don't know why. I'm hoping I'll like them more after I get the taper on them, but right now I just hate them.

Got the apron done...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:04:00 +0000

I got the apron done today. Didn't have too much time in the garage this week. I'll post pics tomorrow maybe.

No updates this weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (nayzer) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:08:00 +0000

Wifey and I are out of town this weekend. So there probably won't be any cabinet updates for this weekend. There is, however, a Woodcraft store and a bunch of lumber yards in Nashville. Oh, yeah.