Well.  I’m almost finished with a couple of projects.  Hopefully tomorrow I can finish at least two of them, and keep working towards my goal this year of finishing projects (instead of just starting them and almost finishing them).

The piano bench is in the final finishing stages.  I made it out of red oak, and am trying to stain it dark to more closely match the piano.  I know, if I wanted dark, I should have started with a darker wood (walnut or cherry).  But nothing beats making projects from lumber already in the lumber pile.  I do have cherry, but it needs another year or so to dry.  Maybe sapele.  Of course I could always build another one – but that will need to wait until some other house projects are done.

I’m not too happy with how the staining turned out.  The test piece of wood turned out darker.  I applied a coat of Aqua Coat grain filler, then the dark stain. The test piece of wood turned out darker.  I think I sanded the bench more than the test piece.

I think I’ll add one more coat of stain tonight, then spray the top coats on tomorrow.

I also almost finished the bridge…. One more plank to cut and nail to finish the entire bridge.  It was just getting a bit too cold this afternoon to spend more time outside (18F or so).   It isn’t the nicest bridge, but it is a way back in the woods, and it is too cold in January to spend a lot of time making a nice looking bridge.  It did use up a bunch of the red oak I had sitting around (and some of the white oak).

Just to be fair, I do have more unfinished projects hanging out there.  I have the crown molding for the living room sitting in the basement primed.  Hmmm… I probably have more – I just can’t think of them right now (ok, there are yard projects, but it is January – so I won’t count them).

I completed several bread boards last month.  They were Christmas gifts, so I didn’t post any pictures when they were made.  Actually, it wasn’t just a project that I made.  The boys assisted as well (mostly sanding).  However, they each made one by themselves (with my help – I did the table saw work, but they did use the router table and drill press with assistance). They were actually a pretty simple (and quick) project to complete.  I constructed them from maple and sapele and finished with an oil/wax mix, and purchased dipping cups to go with them.  My initial thought was for them to be the right size for sliced bread and an oil dip.  However, the dipping dishes wound up a little small for that (next time I should get the 4oz dipping dishes).  Maybe they will work as sushi plates.

We recently picked up a piano.  Ok, so we didn’t pick it up recently, but it took a couple of months to get it moved from the garage into the living room.  It still needs to have some of the key tops replaced (I have them on order) and get it tuned (I’m leaving that to Susanna to arrange – I don’t play and can’t really tell the difference between an in-tune instrument from an out-of-tune one).  A new piano meant we were short a piano bench.  I decided to make a quick build piano bench out of red oak (and yes, I’m finally getting low on the red oak collection that Rob Sawyer and I picked up two years ago – but not to worry, I have a whole tree worth of red oak drying in the barn that should be ready for next summer).

The design is pretty simple.  Four legs, aprons to support the legs, and something to sit on.  Basically a piano bench. The only design feature is tapered legs (on two sides).

First step was to mill lumber from the rough oak.  No problem, I even found some thick stock so I could make 4 legs that were  1 1/2 inches square without gluing up.

The next step was to cut the mortise – I used a straight bit on the router table.  I used stops for the start and finish of the cut and cut no more than 1/8″ in depth on a pass.  However, I didn’t like how close the mortise was to edge of the leg (I was being lazy and didn’t want to drill another hole for router table fence to get the spacing right).  And once the mortise is cut… well… one is stuck with the location.  So back tot he lumber pile for another piece of thick oak. The original 4 legs are in the fire pile, and I made 4 new legs (and no more than 2 minutes to adjust the router table fence).  They turned out nice.  The only thing I would do differently next time is do a better job measuring where the router bit started and stopped cutting (maybe get the mortise closer to the top of the leg).

Next, I cut the tapers on the legs.  I don’t have a tapering jig for the table saw, so I used the jointer to make the tapers.   I don’t remember where I exactly I found the technique (maybe wood magazine?), but it requires two passes on the jointer – the first by starting the cut at the 1/2 way point of the taper.  It wasn’t a perfectly clean cut, but not bad at all – only requiring a little work with the smoothing plane to finish.  I finished the legs by hand planing chamfers on the bottom of all the legs.

I milled and cut the aprons to length. Then,  I cut the tenons on the table saw (using a dado stack).  Then the top and bottom shoulders were cut away by hand.  I rounded over the ends of the tenons with a chisel and cleaned up the shoulders.  I did a dry assembly, checked for square, then everything went back to the bench to be cleaned up (smoothing plane then cabinet scraper and finally a light sanding by hand).

Finally tonight I did the glue up.  The joints came out pretty good (this was the first time I made mortise and tenon joints not in a class).   This week I will apply a dark stain and finish the piece.  I plan on cutting a top out of plywood, and Susanna will cover it with padding and fabric (to make a padded seat).  I did set aside oak to make a plain top if the padded seat doesn’t work out (I’m worried that the pad may make the seat too high).

What would I do differently next time? I would start the tapers lower on the leg.  I think one of the tapers actually ends under the start of the apron.  The mortise and tenon joints are pretty tight, but not perfect. It wouldn’t take too much time to add some shape to the front and rear aprons, and that might make the bench stand out a little more.

Next project: Maybe painted bookshelves for the library/study.  I’m trying to figure out the best way to use a single sheet of plywood to make as many shelves as possible.

 

I’m trying something new…. I submitted my library table/desk plans to the Design Matters blog by George Walker (author of the Design Matters column in Popular Woodworking Magazine as well). It was posted today as the November design critique post.  Hopefully I can use some of the critique to improve the design over my first SketchUp attempt.

I completed the second set of shelves this week and installed them tonight.  The shelves are made from red birch (a very light colored wood) and the back is from sapele (much darker red/brown).

The spray finish is getting easier to work with – that is I am getting better at using the spray gun.

Now to move on to the next projects….

Susanna and I decided to have a low key evening, watching episodes of House, M.D.  I did get the last coat sprayed on the Ben’s shelves.  Okay, I really hope it is the last coat – I know I keep saying that.  I think I had the spray gun set to spray too much.  The next project I’ll try it on a lower setting.

I had started to draw out the next project.  Or rather the next tentative project.  I’m never 100% sure of the next project until I actually start it.  I am currently planning a desk (library table?) for the study.  It will be simple – the low height to support typing won’t allow drawers.  I am planning to make it out of red oak and will try to find a way to make the wood dark .  Tonight I put the project into SketchUp.  Here is the first look at the drawing.  Please feel free to comment and critique.  I’m not sure the legs fit right (they seem a bit heavy).   Click on the pictures for a larger image.

 

I completed the first of two shelves for the boys.  I had destroyed one of the backs with the router when I was cutting the dadoes for the shelves – destroying the last thick piece of birch  I had – which delayed the finish of the second shelf.

I searched the barn of lumber and found a few options – from white oak (similar to the birch) to sapele (dark reddish brown).  After consulting with the customer (Ben), I decided to go with the sapele for the back.  I kept the birch for the shelves (they were milled and sanded), which adds contrast.

On Friday I got the final coat of varnish sprayed on the 1st set of shelves shelves.  I’m still learning how to spray, so it took a little more spraying/sanding than I hope in the future.  But the spray finish is great – it dries to sand/recoat in 30 minutes, cleanup is a breeze, and it builds up a finish very quickly.  The only concern I had was the “cool” color that water based varnishes typically have (compared to the warmer color from a oil based finish).  I solved that by using a fist coat of dewaxed shellac.  The shellac also solves the problem of raising the grain when using a water finish.   I was able to hang the shelves on Friday afternoon (which would never happened if I had used an oil based wiping varnish).

On Saturday I finished the construction of the second back. Sapele is much easier to use than the birch.  The birch is hard (difficult to scrape and use hand tools on).  The sapele is a dream to work with.  This time (with a new router bit), I built the proper jig for routing the dadoes – they turned out much better than on the first set of shelves.

Today I sprayed a final (rather almost final) coat on the second set of shelves.  I found a run in the finish, so I may have to sand and recoat the top section again tomorrow.  I spent the afternoon with friends driving to New Bedford, MA for a visit to the New England Demolition and Salvage store.

My next project is to finish the exterior storm window for Ben’s bedroom. I have most of the material milled and ordered a router bit to cut the rabbets for the storm windows/screens.  I plan on assembling the storm window with pocket hole screws – it will be painted – so it should go together very quickly.  Just in time for the really cold weather. After that, I am planning a desk for the study (a simple table out of red oak – I don’t think I’ll put in drawers).  I was going to try to draw the desk in SketchUp tonight, but it is getting late and I decided to write instead.

Sometime last winter I had decided that it was time to replace the ugly cheap shoe cubes that sit in the mud room.  I figured that I could build a quick set of shoe racks that would last until I decided to eventually renovate the mud room.  Of course I started the project, and then other things came up and I didn’t finish (yes, I’m good at starting projects, a little less good at finishing them).

So the project sat in the basement until this week.  Partially completed.  I had milled the lumber out of scrap red oak.  Of course the shop isn’t heated in the winter, so I did rush and didn’t really spend much time picking out the wood for the project.  The pile of red oak I have isn’t the nicest wood.

It was a pretty hasty construction.  The rails and stretchers are attached to the legs using pocket hole screws.  The slats are just glued to the supports.  All the stretchers, rails and slats were milled to 1/2″ thickness, and some small details were routed into the legs.

So what do I not like about the shoe rack?  Several things.  I would debate remaking the whole project if it weren’t temporary, but it is better than what I have, and I have lots of other projects to work on.

From a design standpoint, I don’t like the supports for the slats.   The stretchers are attached in the middle of the leg, so to get a gluing surface I milled a 3/4″ square piece of oak and cut a dado into the legs to support the support.  Then the slats were glued to the surface. No end grain gluing, so it is pretty strong…. We’ll see if it fails over the next couple of years.  I think I would make the shelves similar to a door, using rails and stile construction, and then just sliding the shelves into the dados.

The other design change would be to make the shelf slats out of thicker material.  The 1/2″ oak is feels a little too flimsy across the span.  Maybe mill it to 5/8″ vice 1/2″.

I think also changing from pocket hole screws to mortise and tenon joints would look much nicer.  Maybe I’m still afraid a little to try my own mortise and tenon joints.

From a construction standpoint?  I made several mistakes.  First, I should have spent more time looking through the lumber stack to find better wood .  Look at the picture on the left and see the big knot in the leg.

I also cut one of the slats the wrong length… I felt too lazy to mill another part and get it to the right length.  Of course it was cut too short.  I could have shortened the rest of the slats, but didn’t think that would look good.

I should have constructed the frame, and then attached the lower shelves first.  That would have ensured that the frame was square (there is no front stretcher to ensure that).  It turns out that the front is maybe 1/16″ wider than the back.

I didn’t spend much time finishing the project.  It is only going to have shoes put on it… and will eventually be replaced with something more permanent when I redo that room.  I should have given myself one more night to sand the slats before gluing them on.  My planer still makes little ridges on the surface (I think one blade is the wrong height – I really should check it before the next project).  The oak isn’t the straightest grain, so I did get tear out.  Maybe this is an area where a drum sander to take the boards to the final thickness would help.

I did a single coat of shellac followed by two coats of wiping varnish. Maybe I should add a third coat tomorrow night, at least to the visible parts.

What is the next project?  I think a quick set of outside benches out of 2x4s for next to the fire pit.  Another nice project I can cheat with pocket hole screws.  I still think I need to make a storage shelf for the study/guest room.   And bunk beds for the boys.  On top of that lots of house projects to finish.

Approximately two months ago I decided to enter the Sawdust Chronicles 2010 build challenge.  Here is the writeup from that project.

Here is the final project:

I finished the build project.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it (it has been a busy month).  But I was able to do the final assembly and finish today…  I may decide to do another coat of varnish on the top of the bench at a later date, but it is completed and added to the furniture in the house.

What were my challenges?  I had initially thought of doing a bench out of red oak with an inlay.  However the oak is turned out pretty plain (too mid-toned – I wanted a lighter shade of wood for the top).  So I used the oak to make a prototype bench.  What a great idea.  It was a technical challenge – I had never constructed something like this before – and a design challenge – I didn’t really like the original design/proportions.  Overall it was a great learning project, and even better to have a deadline to work to to force me to finish it, even if I had to work a little faster than I liked by the end.

After I constructed the prototype, I posted it for comments on lumberjocks.com.  Based on those comments (and my ideas), I decided to change the design of the bench:

– I would keep the legs with the same curve, but add a bigger diameter hole.
– I made the stretcher a lot smaller, more in proportion to the legs, and added a gentle curve to the stretcher.
– I made the top longer (32″ long) – It would fit the location better.
– I made the stretcher the same thickness as the stock from the legs, it seemed to be a better proportion.

The first step of the construction was to make the top, and inlay the leaves.  I made the top of birch (I believe).  I cut the leaves on the scroll saw and cut the inlays with the router (based on a podcast by Marc Spagnuolo).  It turned out to be more challenging than it appeared by the podcast, but overall I like how the inlay turned out, and will probably incorporate that type of inlay into future projects.

I routed the sliding dovetail slot on the top.  On the prototype I made a stopped dovetail, on this one I made a through dovetail and used a piece of scrap walnut as a filler for the front of the dovetail.  I didn’t fill the back of the dovetail (so the bench can come apart, but not easily right now).  I think if I had more time I may have added one for the back.

I then glued up the legs from sapele and milled the stretcher from the same.  I believe it is sapele, but I have acquired a lot of lumber from a friend, and it wasn’t all labeled very well.

I cut the dovetail on the legs on the router table.  I did cut the legs a little long, to ensure that if I cut too much off in making the dovetails, I could start over and not have to throw the legs away.  After routing the dovetail on the legs, I cut the legs to length, and then drilled the hole and used the same template I used on the prototype to make the legs.  I rough cut the curves on the bandsaw and used a pattern bit on the router to get the final shape.

I cut the curve on the stretcher and used a pattern bit to rout the curve to final shape.

The stretcher and legs are joined by a half-lap joint, and then the while leg/stretcher assembly is then attached to the top using a sliding dovetail.  I used an American Woodworking project as inspiration for the construction method.  I cut the slots for the legs/stretcher on the bandsaw and cleaned up by hand.

What did I do wrong?  I made a couple of technical mistakes on the final project.  The half-lap joints aren’t as clean as I would like them to be.  I had the same problem on the prototype.  I may have been rushing a little bit to get the project out the door on the final project.  I also started to drill one of the cutouts at the end of the stretcher on the wrong side.  It is on the back so isn’t very visible, but if I had more time, I would have cut a new stretcher and started over.  I also finished the top prior to assembly, but didn’t have time to prefinish the rest of the pieces.  I think it would have been easier to finish if I had prefinished all of the pieces.

What would I do differently the next time?  Maybe use wood that would contrast even more (maybe ash for the top and walnut for the legs).  I would prefinish all the pieces.  I would try to get the half-lap joints tighter.  I really liked the idea of building a full-sized prototype to help with construction and design ideas (I included a picture of the prototype to show the differences).

What were my costs?  I purchased the red oak at $1/bdft, and the birch and sapele for about the same.  Even if I had to pay market for the lumber, I didn’t use much lumber to create the project, maybe 8 bdft.  Total cost for lumber I’ll say is $50.  Plus $15 for a can of wiping varnish and $5 for glue and sandpaper for a total construction cost of $70.

The only tools I purchased for this was a new dovetail bit for the router (maybe $20).

Below are pictures of the project

Chuck Curtis