A woodcarver visits my shop

A wood carving artist. My dad visits my shop to work on some wood carving items (love his sweatshirt).

Sometimes when my daughter does something, I think to myself, "she got that from me" or "that is just like her mother." When I look at myself, I know I get my woodworking abilities from my father. He has been working with wood for as long as I can remember. But lately my dad has been really focusing on carving wood. He participates in monthly wood carving meetings and on occasion takes classes conducted by visiting carving experts. As you can see from the photo below, he has become pretty good at it.

"Cowboy Slim." My dad's latest work is this cowboy.

He stopped by to use my bandsaw. With Christmas approaching, he will be busy carving many small, but special items for gifts. It's always fun to have the two of us working on projects in the shop at the same time.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com or you can contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Subscribe via email or RSS by clicking here.

My top three projects:

1. My coffered ceiling project. 2. The Scott Bookcase. 3. My foyer project.

What's next?

This question was asked by a friend the other day – “So, what’s next?” Since I finished my coffee table project this week, I need something else to work on. I have a variety of things in my mind to make, and I want to dive right into another project. I need a new computer desk for our guest bedroom. At one point I had decided to make a new end table for our family room. Maybe take our bedside table down into the shop and spruce it up some. But what I need the most right now is a new workbench for my shop.

Borrowing inspiration from three benches
A recent edition of Popular Woodworking magazine featured a cover story on a new LVL workbench. One of the problems faced by the simple woodworker is how do I easily glue up a number of long boards and make them flat. The key word here is easy. First, see the photo below:

A cool bench. A modern take on a traditional bench design.

I like a few of the features on this bench, namely the big wooden vise and the sliding deadman (both made from tiger maple). But, the top which is many glue-ups of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) requires the boards to be flat and uniform. To accomplish this I need the use of a thickness planer (I don’t have one of these yet) and some tedious hand planning (I am not good at anything tedious). So, I like most everything on this bench, but the top is a deal breaker for me. Plus, I just looked back through the article on this bench and realized the wooden vise alone costs $170.00. This is an expensive bench.

The winter 2005/2006 edition of Fine Woodworking’s Tools & Shops issue features a plywood workbench which is remarkably easy to make. See the photo:

Real simple. This is well within my woodworking skills level.

The bench top is a lamination of 3/4" plywood and 3/4" MDF. This, I can do. I like the shelf space below, so along with the shelves, I will use this top on my new workbench. Another good idea with this bench is the method of building up the thickness of the legs and stretchers.

In yet another issue of Tools & Shops, this one from the winter of 2004/2005, is the workbench below:

Big and beefy. Note the bench feet and the gigantic collection of hand planes.

Note the large vise, the large table surface and the many drawers below. The thing I most like on this bench are the feet which have a nice old world look to them. And maybe I could incorporate a drawer or two on my new bench.

So, my bench will utilize some ideas from all three benches. I will begin to work on the plans this weekend.

Another opportunity
I am still working on drawings and pricing for a potential client who needs a large bookcase. If this project becomes a reality, I will have to put the workbench on hold. This bookcase has the potential of being nearly as difficult as the massive bookcase. I hope the seven foot tall, five foot wide bookcase shrinks to four feet wide. That one foot change in width is much easier to deal with since sheet goods come in four foot widths.

See the next post in this series by clicking here.

________________________

Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com or you can contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Subscribe via email or RSS by clicking here.

My top three projects:

1. My coffered ceiling project. 2. The Scott Bookcase. 3. My foyer project.

Coffee table: completed!

Completed. Another project wrapped up. This was a fun table to make. While simple, I did try out a few new things which were interesting. I am pleased with how it turned out.

Finally, the coffee table project is completed and the old one is out. I made the clips necessary to attach the shelf and the table top to the frame which went great – this is the first time I have attached a top this way. I carried the table up from my basement shop and it now in place in our family room. First let’s take a look at the toy chest that the coffee table replaced.

Worn out. This old pine toy chest served us well, but the wood the hinge is attached to is damaged, the dog has chewed on it and it has various dents and scratches from many years of use. I am going to have to pay more attention to keeping my old projects looking better.

The old toy chest was necessary to hold the many toys that my daughter played with when she was a child. Some notable things about this toy chest: this was my first attempt at raised panels. They were cut on the table saw since my first router was not big enough to handle a panel raising bit. The wood is pine except for the top which is hard maple (chosen for durability). The drawers are false, allowing for deep storage space. I will recycle the top and dismantle the rest of it.

An updated look. I like the simple, clean lines of this table.

A post project critique
I am going to be brutally honest on this blog, which may be hard at times because I know other woodworkers drop in for a visit from time-to-time. So here is my critique…

What went well: I love the color - the stain and polyurethane went on very well. Applying the stain and finish is usually my weakness, so I am very pleased. The dowel joinery was hassle free which has not always been the case. I am pleased with the grain of the oak and the curl in the tiger maple pops much better than my last project with that wood. I like the simple, straightforward design.

What I would do differently: From a design standpoint, I would probably make this project a little larger, but only by an inch or so in every direction. I am not pleased with the grain of the oak plywood shelf. For some reason, I thought it would not be that noticeable, but it is. Originally, I had planned to use an ebony stain, but that changed during the project. My thinking was a dark color, and the fact that the shelf is going to usually be in the shadow of the top, that the somewhat wild grain of the oak plywood wouldn’t be an issue. One other thing, I am going to have to spend more time sanding and scraping the wood.

So, there you have it – another project in the history books or in this case filed away on an internet blog. I have not yet decided what I will build next – I am thinking about a new workbench, a miter saw station, renovating an end table I made about ten years ago, or a new computer desk. It will probably be a new workbench – stay tuned.

BTW: If you would like to see this project start to finish, click here.

________________________

Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com or you can contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Subscribe via email or RSS by clicking here.

My top three projects:

1. My coffered ceiling project. 2. The Scott Bookcase. 3. My foyer project.

Coffee table: stain and polyurethane

I have come to an anxious time in this project - time to apply stain and see if I prepared the wood properly. This is both fun and a little stressful. I have my stain picked out; Minwax Golden Oak. My finish is Minwax satin wipe-on polyurethane and it is time to get started...

Brush it on. I use a chip brush and liberally apply stain to everything at once.

Golden oak. I love this stain color. Oak has to be the easiest wood to stain.

Ready for poly. By the time I finish brushing on the stain, I can go ahead and wipe off any excess stain. By the way, my shop lighting is so bad that I did not realize I missed staining the edge of the table top. It has since been fixed (the camera never lies!).

The finish. I use a wipe-on polyurethane finish. Of all the finishes I have used over the years, this has been the easiest to apply with good results.

Wipe it on. The poly is applied with a lent free cloth. I use an artist brush to get into corners.

The non-visible parts of my projects.
I know that some woodworkers put a lot of effort towards making the non-visible parts of their furniture look as good as the parts that are visible. Not me. I once saw an article on how some early American antiques - very prized, high style, highly carved museum pieces had somewhat sloppy looking backs and poor looking interior parts to them. These craftsmen simply put all their attention to the parts of their furniture that people would actually see.

Now, I don't want my projects to look sloppy, but I don't put a lot of effort in making non-visible parts of my projects look great. I want them to look good though. I will simply paint the undersides of the top and the lower shelf.

After the paint, I need make the clips to attach the top and shelf and then I'll be through!

UPDATE 10/23/11: If you are interested in staining pine, cherry or maple, consider a pre-stain conditioner to help even out the color. See my review of Charles Neil's Pre-Stain Conditioner by clicking here.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com or you can contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Subscribe via email or RSS by clicking here.

My top three projects:

1. My coffered ceiling project. 2. The Scott Bookcase. 3. My foyer project.

Coffee table: final sanding

True hand sanding. Some mass produced furniture is labelled as hand crafted.
My coffee table is the real deal.

I really don't like sanding wood. The saw dust gets up my nose not matter what I do to control it. And it is hard work. But fortunately, the sanding on this project started early on. As I cut parts such as the apron, stretchers, and legs, I sanded them with my orbital sander. So all I need to do now is final sanding.

One of the issues I need to clear up is some residual glue around the joints where some apron and stretchers meet up with the legs. These areas can be hard to get into with sandpaper. I use a used foam sanding block for this task. One of the problems with sanding this way is that there will be cross-grain scratches in the wood. If these scratches are not taken care of, the stain will magnify them. Because the sanding block is worn any subsequent scratches will be kept to a minimum and will be somewhat easy to remove.

A little glue. Despite my best efforts to wipe away excess glue, some remains (red arrow).

Getting into the corner. I use this sanding block to clean up this inside corner.

Final sanding. I sand up to 400 grit paper to ensure a good surface for stain.

Just as I commented in the post on my massive bookcase, I love the look of wood ready for stain. I will use Minwax Golden Oak stain on the red oak.

________________________

Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com or you can contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Subscribe via email or RSS by clicking here.

My top three projects:

1. My coffered ceiling project. 2. The Scott Bookcase. 3. My foyer project.

Coffee table: a change in plans

Uneven stain. The red arrows point to a very undesirable look in a prized piece of tiger maple.

For my coffee table project, I had planned to stain the tiger maple a light brown and the rest of the project a very dark brown. My plans changed when I tested stain colors on the tiger maple. The tiger maple looked horrible with the light brown stain.

Maple can be a challenge to stain. I had tested an "antique maple" dye which turned out to be a strange color of yellow. So, instead of continuing to be frustrated with my first try at a aniline dye, I opted for the tried and true Minwax stain I have used for years. I first used a pre-conditioner to help even out the stain, and as you can see the stain was still very blotchy (red arrows above).

So, instead of staining the maple, I have decided to go with no stain on the tiger maple which means it will be a very light color and a medium brown stain for the red oak.

Tiger stripes. After a coat of boiled linseed oil to add some depth, coats of
wipe-on polyurethane add protection.

Tomorrow, I will finally glue the top together and start final sanding on the rest of the table. The end is in sight.

By the way, if the aniline dye had not been such a strange color, it would have been a good way to color the maple. The dye did not lead to a blotchy look like the oil stain did.

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Have a question or comment about this post? Comments are encouraged on this blog. Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below.

Note to self #2

I have been stealing a little time each morning to do some work on the table top of the coffee table project. I am nearing the finishing stage of this table and am wrapping up a few loose ends before sanding the whole thing down one more time and applying the stain.

Yesterday I worked on a patch. One of the short pieces of the table top frame had a little tear-out on one end. Note to self: I have to come up with a fix for tear-out since it happens from time to time and it is an instant blemish. If the tear out can be located or is still partially affixed to the wood, then a mostly invisible repair can be achieved. That was not the case with my coffee table and I had to cut away the damaged area and glue on a patch. It will be unnoticed by most people, but I will know it is there.

The patch. This oversized piece of oak will fill the damaged area above.

Clamping the patch in place. A little glue and a pipe clamp does the trick.

This morning I set up my router with my panel raising bit and cut a chamfer on the outer top edge of the top. Everything went perfect with this operation.

Trimed and shaped. The patch is sanded flush and the edge detail has been routed.

The table top will be two different colors. The figured maple insert will be a medium brown and the frame of the top will be a dark brown. So, I will have to finish these separately and then assemble the top. So, the next step is to begin the process of using, for the first time, an aniline dye for the figured maple along with boiled linseed oil - also a first.

To see all the posts on this project, click here.

________________________

Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com or you can contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Subscribe via email or RSS by clicking here.

My top three projects:

1. My coffered ceiling project. 2. The Scott Bookcase. 3. My foyer project.

Coffee table: fitting the top insert

Boy, it seems that one thing after another has been keeping me from woodworking. Some of it not so good and some of it a lot of fun. Let's see, my back was killing me a couple of weeks ago. Then we went to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama/Tennessee game. Then I had an out of town work trip to Atlanta. Finally, this past Friday evening I spent about two hours in the shop along with a little time this morning before church.

The top is nearing completion. I will have to stain the tiger maple insert prior to assembly since these boards will be stained a different color than the rest of the top. Hopefully, I will be able to make some real progress this week.

Difficult sanding. I need to send the end of these boards, so I make a jig to help me do this.

Keeping the angle. This jig helps me keep my sanding at 45 degrees.

Fitting the tenons. I use loose tenons to join the slats.

Sliding every thing into place. With one corner of the frame glued,
I slide the tiger maple slats into place.

The test run. Except for the one corner of the frame, everything else is dry fitted to
test how the frame will go together.

About finished. I love the look of a project just before the stain goes on.

Before I can get to the stain, I have to route a decorative edge to the table top, plus do a little final sanding.

To see all the posts on this project, click here.

________________________

Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com or you can contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Subscribe via email or RSS by clicking here.

My top three projects:

1. My coffered ceiling project. 2. The Scott Bookcase. 3. My foyer project.