Some Stuff in the Works

Mortise Bit Holder

Mortise bits are pain to store, so here is my idea.
Sketchup model.


Sandpaper Cutting Jig

Cutting 1/4 and 1/3 sheet sandpaper can be time consuming. I saw this idea in a magazine and had to give it a try.
Sketchup model.
PDF build sheet


Tool Stand

Having a small shop means I have to be creative when comes to storage and access of equipment.
Sketchup model.
PDF build sheet




Past Projects / Completed

2009;

Lathe Project; Practice Plate

Practice Plate

The last time I used a lathe was 22 years ago in high school. It is amazing how much I forgot or never learned.
But I have forever longed to have a lathe, even made a small in high school. But after many years of waiting (22 years)
I found a smoking deal...and now it is mine!
My first project was nothing more than practice, most likely destine to be firewood.
BUT my wife liked it and found a use.
The finish is nothing more than paste wax applied while still turning.




Mallet

The second project was this simple carving mallet.
It turned out to be much heaver than I like for chisel work, but is still usable.




Wine Stoppers

Had to try wine (bottle) stoppers.
Talk about finding an addition!

Left to right; Bocote, Blackwood, Cocobolo and East Indian Rosewood.


Left to right; Tamboti, Olivewood, Pink Ivory, and Pau Rosa.


Just some Laminated Hardwood stoppers



First Bowl

As part of the lathe deal I received some bowl blanks.
After some practice on other project, mallet, stoppers and making scrap
I finally had enough courage to take on a bowl, and reached for one the blanks.
And grabbed the blank of "Lignum Vitae" better known as IRON WOOD!
It held up to its name, I had to sharpen the bowl gouge three times...which is unheard of on a
small bowl like this one.




Shop Project; Drill Press Table


Sketchup model of the drill press table
PDF of the build sheet for the drill press table


Pantry Pull Out Shelves





Rustic Desk Project

(See the Desk Page for the complete history and story)

The big desk is completed in just over a year. It started on November 2, 2007 and it was completed on January 3, 2009.

The desk fit perfectly in the loft area of my in-laws log home. It seemed small there, but in reality it
covers a square area 87” by 87”. That is half the space of a one stall garage, as seen in the second picture.
This project has a special place in my heart, and it started from a conversation during a family dinner when
my mother-in-law mentioned the difficulty of finding a rustic desk for their home.

This was my first real furniture project since high school and the first in my own shop.
Over the time of this project I learned so much. The maintenance and setup of the equipment, further
development of fundamental wood-working skills, some advanced techniques and working with logs.

A special thank you goes out to my father-in-law for all his help. Without it, this project would have
taken longer. He draw-knifed all the logs by hand, and did the majority of the finishing.



The desk on the morning of the January 3rd (The Last day).


The log drawer fronts turned out perfectly.



2008; Some miscellaneous shop projects

Blade Holder

(See the Shop Notes section for details)



Sketchup model of the blade storage cabinet


Wood Mallets

(See the Shop Notes section for details)






Router Table

(See the Router table section in the Shop Activities for more details)





2007; Workshop bench and Cabinets

All the cabinets and bench in the Front Work area was built out of a bunch of surplus OSB
with the additions of 2x4s and hardware. Including the lights the total investment is about $250.
The picture below had the lights.






2007; Benches for the Deck

We were getting ready for our house warming party when less than a week from the party my wife suggests
that I add some benches to the deck. So during the chaos of other preparations and the rainy weather I
managed to complete them.
By the way, the challenge was making level seeing on a not level or square deck!






2006; Reception Card House

In preparations for our wedding reception I made a special card box.... more like a card house.
Our wedding was in Mexico and our reception was here.






2004; Picture Frame

This picture frame was creation for my wife as a Christmas gift. It was constructed of decorative
trimming that I routered out the back to form a groove for the back. The mirror was made from a
plain 12-inch square mirror. To clear out an area to make it a window, the area was masked using
masking tape and the exposed to paint stripper. This removed the protective backing. The next phase
was to ferric chloride (PCB etching solution) to strip the mirror.






2004; Doll Cradle

The doll cradle was created for a Christmas gift for our daughter. During construction we decided to
leave it unfinished to allow her to decorate it. Afterwards I sealed it.






2004; Coffee Table

This project was a hand-me down, the person did all the milling and gave up.
I finished the sanding, staining and sealing.






2004; 12' by 8' Shed

Cheaper than a storage unit for year, and a life-time memory of my first construction project.






2003; Entertainment Center

My brothers and me threw this complete entertainment center together in about 3-days
from start to finish. It is constructed of common pine, and sealed with Danish oil.






1988/1999; 8-drawer Sewing Desk

This was the big project of my youth, my senior year of high school I took the advanced furniture and cabinet
making woodworking class. This class was 2-semesters long and 2 hours a day.

At time my mother wanted a sewing desk, which we have no plans for. Between us we came up with our own.
When I presented the plans to my teacher I could see he had concerns that I chose a overly aggressive project.
I went for it, besides I had all year and a double class period.

The desk is a mix of woods, lights with darks, and some compromises to save a little cash.
--Top was made of Birdseye Maple and Walnut
--The four sides are fram/panels that are Maple frames with birch ply panel
--The drawers are Maple front and Willow sides --The back is nothing more than common 1/4 plywood

All this wood in 1988 was only $110!

Even in the amount of time I had I was unable to finish it completely because of other class load. The desk sat unfinished
for nearly a decade, and faced the elements of neglect.

In 1999, as fate had it the company I worked for was hit by the hard times and down sized, I was affected.
At that time I was working towards my engineering degree part-time, and decided to
finish it as a full-time student.

Before enrolling, I took a month off that summer and head back home for a long
vacation. While back home I dug out the desk, the unfinished pieces and to assess the
damage of time. The top was water stained from a plant, warped, cupping, and cracking.
The drawers were just ok, all the pieces were there, but one side a slightly damaged from a dog chewing on it.

I set out to see if I could recover the desk from the damage of neglect. So during that month I finished
gluing up the drawers, sanding, sanding, sanding, and sealing. The finish was nothing more than
clear polyurethane.

That month of being unemployed was the best time I ever had, got to spend time with the family and finish a great project!






1986; Round Coffee Table

This was my first big woodworking project, in my junior year of high school I tool advanced woods.
Constructed using Philippine Mahogany (aka Wormhole Mahogany).






1986; Power Supply Cabinet

Back in the early days of getting into electronics I built a small 1-drawer cabinet that would
hold three separate power supplies. I made this using a small bench top band saw and basic
woodworking tools in my grandpa’s small woodshop. I would have to say that is one of the earliest
projects I did on my own.