A stitch in time

This was a posting I didn't publish at the time since it was a Christmas gift, and I didn't want to ruin the surprise.  Enough time has past though  ( Christmas in July anyone?) and it is about time to share the results.

This antique sewing machine cabinet came to me in a pretty sorry state.  There was major wear and tear, including several splashes of paint.  It was being used as a stand for a miter box in the garage.

Before I did anything to this, I had to pause and make sure I wasn't ruining a potentially valuable antique.  Perhaps I've just seen Antiques Roadshow too many times, but I really wondered if the "original finish" on a piece like this would be important to keeping its value.

It turned out that the hype on the popular antique shows was perhaps a bit overstated.  If you had a one-of-a-kind item, or a very rare piece, there would be a benefit to retaining an original finish.  Especially if the furniture was very finely made.  In the case of sewing machine cabinets, they are relatively common, factory produced and not too terribly hard to find.  So knowing this, I decided that the piece would be more enjoyable and more usable if it was restored to a better condition, and would never be a priceless heirloom that a foolish carpenter stripped the finish off of, rendering it junk.

I unfortunately failed to capture the stripping process on camera, as it was a bit of a time sensitive process of applying and wiping/scraping off.  But I basically painted the gel stripper onto the wood, one face at a time.  Then scraped and wiped it off.  It worked really well on the flat areas, and took a bit of extra effort in the small nooks and crannies.  I did some light sanding, being very careful not to work through the veneered parts.  Where the veneer looked to be lifting free, or splitting, I re-glued it.   Here are the results:

I saved the original Eldredge decal on the front face, because I really liked how it looked.  The wood got three coats of Minwax Tung Oil Finish.  In the future additional coats can be applied to restore a fresh finish.  Tung Oil is an older style finish, and while it is not as durable as a polyurethane, it also displays the grain of the wood much better since it penetrates the wood, and gives a hand rubbed lustre.

The little drawers had the same detail as the box above, and look great once I used a bit of brass polish on them.  Underneath the box of course is where the sewing machine is stored.  The cover would have kept dust off the machine, and giving it a cleaner look in your home.  The grain patterns on this part really looked great once it was finished.

I also sanded the iron legs and treadle wheel that the cabinet sits upon.  Then it got a fresh coat of black paint, that really made it pop.

 Now's the time to get those orders in for Christmas!  Only 165 days left!

A bit of shade on a hot summer day.

Here are a few images of a pergola that I built this week in Fayetteville.  It's about 12' x 12' at the base, and the back corner had to be worked in with the clipped corner of the deck.  There are double posts in that corner, and the lattice ends in an open pattern, short of that corner.  It was a bit of a head scratcher to get that right, but I think it turned out well.

The existing rail posts were really uniquely done.   Running down, and bolting into the skirt-board/rim joist is a 2x4, and then spaced about an 1 1/2" forward of that is another 2x4 that rests on the deck itself.  Joining them are 1x4's that were spanning the gap and used to frame out the section of spindles.  The homeowner was having a bit of trouble with them pulling free as they were joined with only finish nails.  Fortunately for this add-on though, the 4x4 post fit perfectly into the void, once I removed the interior 2x4.  Then after it was done, I modified the top railing to fit around the new extended posts.  Once it dries and can be stained, I think it will look as though it was always a part of the deck.

Jig-a-rama

If you've spent any time around a shop, you've got a pretty good idea what a jig is.   Feel free to skip the next paragraph if short on time.  Or, if you are killing time at work (shame on you), read through it and post your improvements to it. 

So, here's my quick and dirty definition.  A jig is something you use to machine multiple parts with the same characteristic(s).  It is not to be confused with a pattern.  A pattern would be for creating multiple parts of the same size and/or shape, but would not aid in the actual application of tool to material.  Instead, patterns are used to trace a shape onto your material.  A jig is always combined with a tool to do its job.  Templates could be either/or, but I would say closer to the pattern end of the spectrum.

So, with that said, let's get back to jigging.  For a recent project, I had to create a tapering jig for my table saw.  There are a pretty wide range of ways to make a jig but something I have noticed is that there is a definite time/money/quality triangle that applies to building one.  In this example, I chose quick and cheap.  When it comes to jigs, that usually means it will do the job with the materials on hand, but wouldn't be something you want to be using 2 years from now.

For this tapering jig, I used scraps from around the shop.  There is a piece that rides along the rip fence of your tablesaw.  Then, hinged off of that, is a second fence that can be angled away from your normally perpendicular rip fence.  This fence has a sled for the part to ride on, as the entire assembly is pushed through and past the blade.  The result is a part that is angled slightly along the longest dimension.  There is a stop at the back of the sled to keep the piece in place and prevent it from kicking back.

I used a few scraps of primed MDF for the two fences, and had some concerns about them bending and bowing out of true.  Adding the sled to the blade-side piece seemed to square it up, so I did the same to the fence-side.  I made a U-shape that cupped the ripfence nicely.  Everything is glued and nailed together, except where I used screws to attach the hinges and the piece that locks down the taper adjustment.  The U-shaped runner works very well.  I like how it holds the fence true to the rip fence, much safer than a freely sliding assembly.

The taper adjustment will not last much past this project.  The materials I used just do not stand up to repeatedly having screws taken in and out.  You can see that the MDF is splitting where the screws go.  For the adjustment, I would use a threaded insert, or a t-nut that could be fixed in place, and yet be adjusted as needed.   If you look closely at the first picture, you can see I added a block of wood to hold the angle at a fixed distance from the ripfence. 

As time goes by, I will use this quick and dirty jig to model a better, more durable one.   I could buy one here also, though there is something fun about making your own, and using up those oddball scraps.  Solid maple fences and  replaceable plywood sleds, threaded metal inserts for adjustable points.  Nylon washers or runners to make it move smoothly.  It's enough to make me want to build just jigs. 

Temporary though the jig might be, it did a fine job helping me create these tapered black walnut legs for the desk.  I'm using them set at a compund 10 degree angle.  Pretty sweet, no?  Feel free to post any comments, or questions and if you enjoy the posts, please consider clicking the "Follow" button to get more updates from my shop.

Some work in progress

A few posts back I showed you some concepts for a small school desk.  I sketched a bit of it, and even did a small prototype.  With the lumber I picked up recently, I began to build a finish version of it.

There is just something about clamping up lumber that pleases me.  I like how the glue squeezes out.  I like how strong and steady a good pipe clamp is.  (You can tell by this photo I don't have nearly enough of them.  Those puny bar clamps in the middle serve the purpose but the T-handle of a Pony(tm) clamp is just so much easier on my hands.)  I really like working with something outside of the standard 3/4" lumber most things are built from, and taking the scraper to freshly glued up stock is about as pleasing as popping bubble wrap.  I love it!

These will be the legs for the desk.  At the time I clamped this up, I still had not decided on the final shape of the leg for the desk (I tend to design on the fly sometimes).  I had an idea to shape them on the lathe and while the glue dried on this, I was turning mock ups on the lathe out of scrap 2x4 pine I had laying about.

I think it would be fun to do legs like the one I turned here, but I just kept thinking it was too round and delicate for the look and style of what I had.  I did another one that I chucked off center in order to get a rounded taper.  It had potential, but I think I would need a larger rough stock than what I had glued up so far.   I'm also fighting some issues with my Rigid lathe.  I was a bit rough with it when I first brought it home.  I turned some large off center chunks of firewood, and I think I've got the headstock a bit wobbly.


I eventually settled on a square taper, and I'll get some pictures of the jig I wipped up for it in my next post. In fact, that was the second jig I built for this project, perhaps you'll just get a post that is completely jig-centric.  Yes, jig-centric.  I should patent that.

One last teaser, I've also got the top part of the desk roughly fabricated.  I did the box out of black walnut and the top is maple.  I just get giddy over maple and black walnut next to each other.   More to come.

Picked up some lumber today.

 

Picked up some lumber for a few projects I want to work on over the next few weeks. I get my solid stock from a local dealer.  He's located in Prarie Grove, AR and is a 3rd or 4th generation sawyer.  He's semi-retired, but will take a break from deer hunting to sell lumber.

I got a few short pieces of black walnut, and several lengths of clear maple.  I went with a fairly select stock for both.  The maple is really clear and has some beautiful grain patterns, the black walnut is equally breathtaking.  I figure I will let it rest in my shop for a few days to acclimate to the moisture change.  I can't wait to get started.

The original sketch-up

Saw an old school desk at a yard sale a few weeks ago.  Stopped to take a look, but it was in lousy shape.  The chair didn't really match the desk.  The top was plywood and not solid.  I have been wanting to find a set of these desks for the kids' playroom, but this one just wasn't worth it.

When I got in the shop a few days later with nothing pressing, I started making a few sketches.  Perhaps I could build one in wood for less.  As you can see, I don't always go to the computer to design.  In this case a quick pencil sketch helped me get a clear picture of the desk I wanted to build.  Don't laugh, I wasn't planning on showing anyone this until I started to like how things were looking.

It seemed simple enough, so I started building a quickie prototype.  I had some plywood scraps that were perfect for the job. 

Taking the "rough sketch" idea even further, I experimented with an idea I read about a few months ago.  It was the idea that a carpenter can build without a tape measure. 

Wierd huh?

Basically, you know how big things ought to be, and what proportion those things should be in relation to each other just by looking at them.  Then, you just make cuts and such by copying other pieces.   So knowing how big a desk is by sight, I just cut a piece that looked like a desk.  I still don't know if it is 28" wide, or 26" wide, it just looks about right.  Then, I cut a piece narrower to represent the width of the box and so on.  When I was doing the box sides, I just set the tablesaw to the width I wanted, and knocked out equally sized parts.  It was really fun, really quick, and I will be playing with the idea more.

Here's the result:

 

It's really rough, the legs are just some ripped down 2x4 scraps.   I used them just to figure the angle and height I was looking for.  It does the job to see how it looks.  The exposed front of the opeing is raw plywood.  With all that though, I think I like it.  I've already started on a second prototype and I think I will follow it with a final version in clear maple, with a little chair.  Stay tuned, and be sure to leave a comment if you like it.

The sun will come out, tomorrow!

Finished the shed this week, and it was simply glorious working in the sun again.  Wasn't much left to finish here, except for adding the door and some trim.  Also did a two color paint job so the trim would match the white soffit and fascia of the house.  Turned out very well, and was a hit with the homeowner.

Mike,

Thank you very much for building my shed.  Your quality of work is second to none.  We came into this project, thinking that it would be very costly and that it would take several weeks.  We were wrong on both accounts.  The cost for the shed was w/in reason and you finished the project in less than a week.  You are very professional and we would not hesitate to contact you for  future projects.

Darryl

Of course here's some pictures