Doll Armoire - Project of the Week

May 16, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 1 Comment 

This week’s project comes from William. He writes:

Here are some pics of a doll armoire I built last year. My niece is a big fan of American Girl dolls and stuff. Her mother asked me if I could make an armoire as a birthday present. The one in the American Girl catalog is outrageously priced for a painted version. It was a fun way to mess around with hand cut dovetails on a smaller than usual scale. The armoire stands 25 inches high. The case is made of black walnut. The drawers and door panels are birdseye maple. The feet are mahogany. The drawers are solid birdseye maple fronts with poplar sides and back. Were I to do this one again, I think I’d try the hidden rare earth magnet trick instead of the magnetic catch. I didn’t notice until after the first round of finishing that I didn’t quite sand out the score line on the drawer side. Nothing says “hand cut” quite like a score line, eh? The finish is three coats of the “Maloof blend” of equal parts tung oil, linseed oil, and poly followed by paste wax. Small scale furniture can be a lot of fun, and a great way to use up some stray boards around the shop.


FineWoodworking.com Safety Tips - Tablesaw Safety

May 9, 2008 | Filed Under Project of the Week, Safety, Video | Leave a Comment 

The tablesaw is an essential piece of shop machinery, but it can also be dangerous. Learn how keep your fingers safe and avoid kickback with tips from Fine Woodworking magazine editor Asa Christiana. For more woodworking tips and techniques, visit FineWoodworking.com.

Low Back Chair - Project of the Week

May 3, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 9 Comments 

This week’s project comes from Jeff. He writes:

This is the chair that I just finished. All stock is 8/4 and this chair uses the “hip joint” we were speaking about. The finish is Waterlox and I put on 6 coats just by wiping it on. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Assembly Table - Project of the Week

April 26, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 29 Comments 

This week’s project comes from Patrick. My poor little assembly table is cowering in the corner with its tail between its legs. lol. He writes:
This is my take on your assembly table. I had been contemplating what to do for a replacement bench for a couple of years. It was not until I saw the assembly table you built that I decided to combine the features of a work bench with the features of an assembly table. It was this idea that actually ended up saving space despite the fact this new bench is larger than the two it replaced combined. It measures approximately 81” x 51” x 36.5”. The base is walnut, the panels are birch ply and the joinery is mortise and tenon. The top is a seven inch thick torsion box, wrapped in walnut, and includes two vises with the requisite bench dog holes. The bench dog holes presented a problem because I did not believe MDF would be substantial enough for the dogs to react against. Therefore, I glued walnut blocks in wherever a hole was intended. Blocking the dog holes also had the added advantage of not turning the top into a time capsule for every small part I set on the bench. Finally, I have a surface big enough to assemble a large project without the assistance of shims and saw horses.
**UPDATE** Patrick sent in a Sketchup file that details the construction of the torsion box and the role of the solid wood dog hole supports. Download Sketchup File

Butcher Block Cabinet - Project of the Week

April 19, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 11 Comments 

This week’s project comes from Tim. Here’s his story:

Unfinished BBWell, I have finally grown a skin thick enough to submit 3 project pictures of an end grain butcher block cabinet that I made for my parents recently. It just got shipped out to Singapore; cost me $800 for the freight!! I got the inspiration by watching you build your cutting boards, and have made up to about 20 so far. It’s a great way to use up scrap wood!!! Saw David Marks’ version on his woodworks show that day and thought that it would be an interesting challenge to build one. The top is larger than David’s design; it’s about 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep - a nice size for a single person to work at, and just enough counter space. You are probably wondering why I would put a semi-gloss finish on the top? Well, my parents want it as a piece for a corner in the house, so I thought I would spend a little time practicing my varnishing skills for a semi-gloss look.

I used 7 types of wood on it - purpleheart, black walnut, yellowheart, ash, mahoganey, jatoba, maple and cherry. Flattening the top was a major pain!! I have a 22-44 performax drum sander, but still had to use router rails to slowly but surely flatten one side before drum sanding the other. Touched it up with a Lie-Nielsen 7 1/2 bevel up jointer plane. The face frame is made of purpleheart (a major pain to plane, I might add), and the drawer fronts are made of ambrosia maple. Made a little effort to match the grain on the drawers + doors as well. The cabinet is finished with shellac (3 coats) via my Apollo HVLP spray unit, and rubbed out to a satin sheen with Howard’s feed n wax.

And yes, I did use casters - double locking ones - they put a strong brake on the wheel plus a lock on the swivel. They actually cost about $20 a piece from Linco Casters at Clairemont Mesa Blvd (next to the San Diego Rockler); They really do look a little utilitarian, but those were the best I could find in terms of durability and stability. Those red shop-grade ones at woodcraft were too tacky for my taste. All in all, it was tiring; but I have to give you the credit for the original inspiration via the cutting board! THANKS

The Mother Of All Cutting Boards - Project of the Week

April 10, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 8 Comments 

This week’s project comes from Ed. He writes:

dscf2342.jpgI just finished the Mother of All Boards…MOAB, we’re calling it…and here are the post-install pictures. My wife’s a gourmet cook and we built her a new kitchen. We used stock cabinetry and some granite on the sink-side, but she wanted a run of end-grain walnut butcher-block countertops on the stove-side of the operation. About forty square feet, I think. I got a $3,000 quote, thought “that’s ridiculous,’ and…well, you’re a bright guy, you know all about that particular road to hell. Actually, it was kind of fun. Scratching around for notes on technique was what led me to your site. I found (and enjoyed) your cutting board video and decided to adapt your technique.

Butcher Block Counter Top Butcher Block Counter Top

Here’s a run-down of my process:

1) Mill out a bunch of 19″L X 1″H X 2″W pieces (my hardwood supply’s 4/4 is actually about 9/8)
2) Mill out a second bunch of 19″L X 1″H X 1″W pieces
3) Join one 1″W piece to 5 2″W pieces, making an edge-grain board
4) Thickness plane these edge-grain boards to about 15/16
5) Slice the edge-grain boards to 2 1/16″ (each board yields about 8
slices of end-grain)
6) Join the end-grain into tiles, alternating the 1″W piece from left
to right to yield a checkerboard
7) Square the tiles and join them into larger blanks (or a big hollow
square, in the case of the cooktop insert) in a pipe-clamp press.

CNC MachineThen came the conundrum. There are four big blanks in these countertops, and I knew that thicknessing them was going to be a pain. My first thought was a 36″ drum sander, but I wound up going to my buddy’s high-end mantel shop, http://mantelsofyesteryear.com, and using his CNC router instead because I was worried about scorching and snipe on the sander. The CNC routing was really interesting. We spent a Saturday thicknessing and dimensioning these things, and the end result was a set of blanks that were precisely squared, dimensioned, and rounded over on the edges.

CNC Machine CNC Machine

Vital stats. These countertops are 1 7/8″ thick. I used about 130 BF of walnut and 2 1/2 gallons of Titebond III. They’re finished with food-grade mineral oil. And they weigh about three hundred thousand pounds! I couldn’t have done this project without Jet parallel-jaw clamps or a Freud crosscutting blade. Or without the Wood Whisperer, for that matter…thinking through your process was what made me see that there was larger potential. So thanks again.

Computer Cart - Project of the Week

April 4, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 4 Comments 

This week’s project comes from Dustin. Here’s the story:
computer cart 1“This is pretty much my first finished piece of furniture. I have played around with the idea for a computer cart for awhile now and couldn’t come up with something that didn’t seem so boxy but would withstand constant movement and children. I got the idea for the wings on the front from the hardware my wife picked up at Lowe’s. The wavy stainless handle for the drawer was complimented by the wings with the widest part of the wings roughly parallel to the handle and the skinniest part parallel to the knobs. This way it seems balanced. The wood choice was red oak ply for the carcass and red oak solids for the trim and doors. The joinery used was mainly dadoes and biscuits (gotta love those biscuits!) I picked a water-based stain (rosewood) because if gives a strong appearance to the wood once dry and the top coat was three layers of water-based poly sanded with 400g in between coats. Overall, I believe it contains a pleasing mix of curves and lines without giving up it’s focal point of our office. Thanks for taking a look!”

computer cart 2 computer cart 3

Mini Holtzapffel Workbench - Project of the Week

March 28, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 10 Comments 

This week’s project comes from Shawn. Impressive indeed! Here’s the story:

holtzapffel-01.jpgThis project was different than a normal one, I had to reduce the size down to fit my four year old daughter and stay within visual scale of the original. I got the idea to build this because my daughter is a tom-boy who likes to spend time in the wood shop with me. After seeing the reworked Holtzapffel workbench by Christopher Schwarz, I was inspired to create a scaled down version for my daughter’s Christmas present.

holtzapffel-02.jpgThe workbench is made of scrap pine I had in the shop. It is finished with amber shellac to give it a antique look and the hand cut scaled down hold-fast and bench dogs are finished in a black enamel paint. The hold-fast, bench dogs and clamps all work just like the real deal. I found it fun to do this project and quite challenging as well and it’s nice to step out of your normal work zone and be refreshed with something new and different. Plus help the next generation of woodworkers get started, even if they are only four years old.

holtzapffe-03.jpg holtzapffe-04.jpg holtzapffe-05.jpg

Music Stand - Project of the Week

March 21, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 5 Comments 

This week’s project comes from David. From Sketchup to reality, here’s the story:
“I asked you about a dark mahogany stain a few weeks ago and you suggested I go with Bartley’s Jet Mahogany. Well, I wasn’t able to get the Bartley’s stain in time for Christmas, so I was forced to go with the Polyshades. It didn’t turn out too bad, though it was a very frustrating process. I’ve attached photos of the music stand. The music stand was a gift for my sister Kristina for Christmas. I constructed it out of genuine mahogany. The sheet support spells her initials “KMK”. The height is fully adjustable using the thumb knob on the back of the hexagon shaft. The “hinge” is constructed out of mahogany and again, using the thumb knobs, can be positioned in any way necessary. This was my first real project. I haven’t built anything quite so complex in the past, so I was excited that it turned out better than I expected. I’m a Civil Engineering designer and I use AutoCad for everything I do. I’m also pretty decent at Sketchup, so I was able to model the stand before attempting to construct it in the real world. It certainly made the hinge aspect of the design function correctly the first time.”

musicstand4.jpg musicstand1.JPG musicstand3.JPG img_4395.JPG

Sculpted End Table - Project of the Week

March 13, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 15 Comments 

This week’s project should look familiar. I had a few requests for “beauty shots” of the final product. So, here you go! Enjoy.

front2sm.jpg highfrontsm.jpg

topsm.jpg detailsm.jpg

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