At the beginning of the summer, Susanna asked me to make three outdoor toy boxes for the her preschool (her classroom shares the three playgrounds). The school paid for 9-sheets of plywood and some wood varnish. I donated my time, some additional lumber, hinges, and screws as needed to finish the project. This is my first commission project – even though I’m not getting paid, there is a customer involved.

The plan was to finish all three and deliver them at one time.  However, the summer was busy, and I don’t have that much space in the workshop, so I am working on one at a time. I finished the first one last week and delivered it today.

I learned some lessons on the delivery:

• Next time make sure to bring some tools to tighten up any fasteners that loosen up on the drive.
• I should have removed the doors for the drive, the doors are heavy and it is a pretty bouncy drive down to New London.
• The magnets are too weak.  I’ve ordered new magnets to hold the door shut.
• I should bring some equipment (rakes, etc.) to level the area where the boxes are to be placed.

I’ll have to head back next week and tighten fasteners and change out the magnet holding the door shut with a stronger magnet. Despite all that, it feels good to get a project out the door.

The boxes are 5-feet wide, 3-feet deep and almost 3-feet tall and are constructed from hardwood plywood (from the box store) with a mix of red and white oak for edging. The hinges allow the doors to swing all the way open and are held open by magnets on the sides of the boxes – hopefully having the doors out-of-the-way will keep the kids from hanging on them. I think these boxes would hold up longer if they were constructed from MDO – but the materials could cost twice as much, and I think I would have to paint the MDO.

Now onto the next box.  Maybe I’ll change it up a bit and use maple for the edging. Or sapele. No wait that I’m saving that for the boat.  I’ll be pretty tired of building boxes when I’m finished… but heck, Susanna wants one for up on the patio.  Anyone else interested in outdoor boxes? Considering a sheet of good (i.e. non-box store) plywood costs over $100, it would certainly be much cheaper to get plastic boxes from the box store, but the wood boxes look much nicer.

The 4th of July (or “Colonial Insubordination Day” as my friends in the Royal Navy like to call it) calls for hot weather, barbecue, beer and fireworks. However, this year, thanks to Hurricane Arthur, we get cold and rain, though as I write this, it sounds like someone is trying fireworks in the distance. Not sure what there is to see in the rain tonight.  And don’t worry; even cold, rainy nights can support beer.

Today I got an escape from my chores to spend the day in the workshop. I’m building outdoor toy boxes for Susanna’s preschool. Three boxes from 10 sheets of plywood, so I have lots of left over plywood scraps and decided to build a small (16″ wide x 12″ deep) storage shelf for the office. It is also a good chance to test out the finish that I plan for the toy boxes. The shelf was a quick, taking less than a day in the middle of another (larger) project and was a good reminder to prep surfaces as much as possible prior to assembly.  I finished the shelves with a coat of shellac followed by a coat of spar varnish. I’ll probably be lazy and only apply one coat of varnish to the shelves (unless they look like crap tomorrow after the varnish dries).

I’ll post pictures of the boxes when I get them done. I have one box (sides, top and bottom) glued up. Tomorrow I’ll sand the interior and put in the shelf. I need to mill more red oak for the face frame and door edging.  And when I’m done with the boxes, I’ll need to get back to finishing the dinghy build. At least the barn swallows are enjoying the half-finished dinghy in the garage as a place to hang out.

This afternoon I installed the starboard side and the middle frame piece. The boat shape is starting to show – though it looks a bit skewed in the picture – I think that is the angle of the camera. I need to add all the wire stitches and make sure that the shape is even before gluing.

But, I think I’m finished for the night. I’ve been fighting a cold all weekend and want to take it easy tonight.

The next project is moving along. I spent a two hours this afternoon cutting out the last two pieces from the 3/8″ plywood sheet and started to stitch up the panels into a boat.

It will be interesting to see how the final shape turns out. My plan is to work a little bit each night this week and maybe I’ll have a boat shape by the weekend.

After the panels are stitched up I will apply epoxy glue to the joints and cut away the wire stitching. I’m not sure what the proper order for assembling the panels, so I’m just doing it counter-clockwise from the bow. It seems to be working so far.

This is the third time; I hope good luck lies in odd numbers.
– Shakespeare from Merry Wives of Windsor

After yesterday’s first attempt to make the drawer to complete the second nightstand I decided to take the night off. I needed to be more careful marking the dovetails out, and I figured that a break would make me less likely to mess up the joint a second time.

Tonight I headed back into the workshop to tackle the drawer again. I shortened the offending drawer side and cut the tails from the existing pins. I even got the top side right. Not that it is the cleanest joint, but my dovetails are getting a little better.

The next step was to cut the half-blind dovetails where the sides meet the drawer front. I cut the tails on both sides at the same time and chopped the waste out with a chisel. I then carefully marked the lines from the tails to the front panel so I could cut the pins. I even put an “X” in the spaces I should remove. However I got mixed up again (probably rushing a bit again) and put the “X” in the spaces that should have not been remove. Which required me to mill a new front for the drawer. Good thing I had some spare oak sitting around.

So, as they say, the third time is the charm. I even more carefully marked the pins and cut away the waste. After a little chisel work, the sides and the front fit together. I then went to the tablesaw and cut a dado for the bottom to slide into. I applied a little glue to the joints, assembled the drawer and then clamped the piece for the night.

Tomorrow night I should be able to cut and fit the bottom panel into the drawer. And hopefully this weekend I can sand and finish the second night stand and give it to Will.

That drawer back doesn’t look right…. The two sides are supposed to be taller than the back. The drawer bottom needs to be able to slide under the back after the drawer is assembled.

So where did I go wrong? I wasn’t being careful when I marked out the dovetails. I should spend a little more time drawing out the layout before starting to cut.

So what do I do now? I think I will just shorten one of the side pieces and cut new tails to match the pins on the back side. I’ll then have to cut the front end of the other drawer side to make them the same length. The drawer will just be a little shorter than the drawer in the other table.  It should be a little bit of a challenge. I have been making the dovetails “tail first” and haven’t made any “pin first”. But I need to learn sometime.

Oh well, that is what I get for rushing. The question is: Do I go back into the shop tonight and fix this, or decide that I’m not being careful enough and call it a night….

Finally the weather is warm enough for long enough to get some time in the shop. The boys didn’t have school today, so I took a day off of work.

This afternoon I cut the remaining tenons  and glued up the second nightstand. The first nightstand is in the loft above the workshop waiting for a finish. I figure I’ll apply the finish for both of them at the same time.

Next I will finish milling the pieces for the top and glue up the top. I also have to install a pair of cleats on the inside of the side aprons to attach the top and a pair to act as slides for the drawer. After the table is assembled I will need to construct and fit the drawer. Hopefully I can make progress this week and next weekend on the remaining steps.

I finished the first nightstand this week. Okay, I completed everything except the finish. I’m planning on building the second table and then applying finish to both.

Overall, the table turned out okay. It isn’t perfect, but looks nice. The drawer is still a touch tight, so I may plane the sides a touch thinner before applying the finish.

This is a pretty basic piece of furniture. The four legs are square, with a slight taper starting 6-inches from the top. The aprons and stretchers are connected using mortises and tenons. The top was constructed from thee pieces of oak, and attached using screws.

The drawer is made from solid oak. The box is constructed with dovetails. They are hand-cut dovetails, and it was my first attempt at making a drawer, so the dovetails aren’t perfect. The bottom is made from two pieces of oak that I resawed (by hand – they were too wide for the bandsaw) to 3/8″ thick.

What am I happy with on this build:

• The wood is clear and the case looks nice. It is built from quartersawn red oak that I had cut from a tree that was taken down in Ledyard two years ago. I have an entire section of the tree cut into boards, so I have enough wood to make a full matching bedroom set.
• The solid drawer bottoms – I debated using plywood, but I like the feel of the solid bottom. The panel is aligned so that the wood will expand and contract from front to back (and shouldn’t bind the drawer in the summer)
• Most of the joinery is pretty clean. Not perfect, but it is getting better.
• The drawer front is a good fit. I’m hoping that there is enough gap that the drawer won’t bind in the summer, but it is quartersawn and shouldn’t move too much.

What will I do differently on the next build:

• I messed up the mortise for the bottom rail. It isn’t inset enough (the front of the mortise is lined up with the front of the rail). There is a slight gap and no front shoulder on the corresponding tenon. I’ll need to set the mortise back 1/8″ on the next build
• I will try routing the mortises on the router table. I don’t have the best mortise chisel for 1/4″ mortises. I think the router table may be quicker to get all the mortises finished. But I am not sure if I can get the full depth of mortise on the router table. The current mortises are 1″ deep.
• I’ll be more careful on the thickness of the spacers to guide the drawer. On this project they were a little too thick which requires me to plane the sides of the drawers a little thinner (and leaves a little larger gap around the drawers than I wanted).
• I need to be more careful making sure that the drawer front and sides are flush on the bottom.
• I would like to have the dovetails be cleaner right off the saw. I know that just comes with practice.
• The half-blind dovetails were tough to get clean.
• I need a better bench to cut joinery on.
• I need a better way to hold the piece down when I’m cleaning out the dovetails.
• I never properly sharpened my skew chisels. That (and the previous comment) made for a bigger pain cleaning out the half-blind dovetails than they should have been. A dovetail chisel would be a nice addition to the toolbox.

I’m making progress on the night stand. I took some vacation time yesterday afternoon to meet the boys off the bus. I was able to get the first table glued before I took Ben to basketball camp. It isn’t perfect, but I feel pretty good about the construction.

Today I applied shellac to the base and top. I wound up making the top a little narrower (I had planned 20″ wide and wound up with 18″ wide).  When I put the top on the base, it seemed a bit wide. Susanna agreed with me, and it took 30 seconds to run the top across the table saw and remove the 2-inches.

Tonight I glued in the cleats to attach the top as well as the runner for the drawer. Tomorrow I will attach the top and make sure the project is cleaned up and ready for the drawer to be built.

I’ll probably build the second table before building the drawers, but that is always open for change.

I also haven’t decided on a final finish for the tables. I may get some more water-based finish to spray on, or I may just use a wiping varnish. I’m leaning towards the spray finish – it will offer a little more protection than just the wipe on varnish. I have wiping varnish on hand,  but I would have to go purchase more water-based finish to spray. Luckily, I don’t have to decide right away. The shellac will offer a little protection until I put a real finish on it, and they don’t need to be ready until Christmas anyway.

This week I found some time to work on the nightstands. I have material milled for both stands, but focused on putting together the first stand. Will came over for dinner on Tuesday night, and for the night on Wednesday, so I had a little less time than I had planned – but it is worth taking time from the workshop to spend with him. But I also did get workshop time both nights (a big thank you to Susanna for encouraging me to get out of the house and work on my projects).

I was able to get the carcase of the first table assembled. I still have to adjust one tenon and clean up two of the aprons prior to gluing up, but I should be able to glue up the carcase the next time I’m in the workshop.

The tables are made from red oak. I cut the mortises by drilling out the waste on the drill press and using a chisel to clean them out. I could use a good 1/4″ mortise chisel – that will be on my Christmas list (I’d love a 1/4″ English Mortise Chisel by Ray Ilse from toolsforworkingwood.com). The tenons were cut by hand. I did the first several using my dovetail saw – but the saw is for detail work and took forever to cut the tenons. The last two I cut using my carcase saw (an old backsaw sharpened by Matt Cianci – “The SawWright”). If you have any old handsaws that you need sharpened, I would highly recommend him. He is backlogged, and it takes 10-12 weeks, but a professionally sharpened handsaw is amazing to use.

The next step is to glue up the table and add the cleats/runners. Then I have to finish milling, glue up and add the top. Finally, I will have to mill the lumber for the drawer and build the drawer. I’m still a little nervous about cutting the dovetails for the drawers.

I plan on trying to route out the mortises on the next table using a 1/4″ upcut spiral router bit I just purchased. I’ll let you know how that works out. I am not sure I can get the full 1″ depth of mortise on the router table. I may have to clean out the tenons with a chisel – so it may not save me much time on construction.