More finger joints and workbench

so this is where I am at on the workbench. This will be the main width of the top with an 8" tool space added to the rear. This will bring it to a total of ~29" deep. I have been using reclaimed 2x4 material from a renovation going on up the street. Some of the 2x4's are not full length so I have tried to space them 1 full 2x4, 1 partial, 1 full.....I also have tried not to have the joints over lap at any point. This has been more work but my goal is not to buy any lumber for this workbench.



Here are the legs. 2 come from a 4x4 header and 2 are laminated 2x4's.



This is a shot of an almost done finger joint. I have to trace out the pattern on the other piece of wood, cut and do a final fitting. Lots more work but it will look good.

Finger joints/ Workbench

The rough cut of the finger joints on the long pieces of the "V" top have been cut. Now I have to go back with a chisel, chop out the rest and fine tune. I will then transfer the finger spacing to the side boards and do it all again. Top is on the left, bottom on the right.



I have 5 2x4's in my lamination for my workbench top done. I have maxed out the jaws on one of my clamps, so I have to build another 2 more sets of 5 and find some way to put them all together. The arrangement for the workbench top will be 15 2x4's on edge, 1 2x6 flat and 1 2x4 on edge. This way I have about 16" of work depth with a 6" tool tray and a backer the same height as the front to support long pieces.

Mish mash

On the left: shooting board, on the right: start of workbench.

I made the shooting board to help square the edges of the kids bookcase. It worked pretty well but a sharp plane is needed otherwise it chatters.

The workbench will have a laminated top. On the right is the beginning of that. I have salvaged 2x4's from a remodel that's going on up the street. I have to take out nails and remove any dirt but it is free and will work fine. The workbench design will be a blend of roubo (link 2) and "Bob and Daves' good fast and cheap" (link pdf).

Kids Bookcase

I have the pieces to the top all roughed out. So now you can finally see the "V" taking shape. I think I will just do a finger joint for the sides. I just don't feel comfortable cutting dovetails on angled grain yet. I will be adding a divider in the middle so as to have 2 sections.






This is a close-up of the boards I am using for the top. These were from the kitchen re-model we did recently. They are very nice single plank boards 11 1/2" wide. These would cost about $5 ft. new. That's alot of money saved.


Also, I will be making a shooting board to trim the ends of the pieces.

Yep, It's a box

The bottom is done to the kids bookcase. Well, the rough-in of it anyway. Still need to sand, trim and paint. Yes, you heard me right, the base will be painted. I will put the base coat of white, then I might let my daughters (4 and 18mths) spruce it up a bit. It is for them ya'know. The top "V" just gets a good coat of paste.

I had just found how to make my own paint over at Robin Woods blog. I think I might try it here.

Here is the start of the bottom of the kids bookcase. The "V" will rest on top of this piece.



Here is a detail of the corner. This is the rear. The back panel will fit in the recess created by the wood blocking that was glued to the side. As a note, I should have lowered the glue blocks so the top would rest only on them and not the side and the block. This would have created a rabbet and more stable joint. Oh well, live and learn. I have not cut the bottom for it yet, hopefully that will come tomorrow.

Its Cold

Freezing temps kept me from doing much woodworking last night. The place I do my wood work is an unheated backroom addition to the house. Glue does not like to set up and fingers go numb when it is that cold. So, the wife and I sat down and played games on the Wii. A good time letting the brain go, blah (except for playing tetris, you really have to think to play that).

Kids bookcase 2

I have the side of the bookcase in clamps at the moment. I have either the top of the bottom portion or the bottom of the bottom portion cut. I am not sure which as I want to see the other piece cut and then I will decide which is which.

I am up in the air on the top "V" design. I was thinking about using a dovetail for the side pieces but I am a little hesitant about cutting dovetails in angled grain. I should mention that for the top I have some really nice old pine boards that were salvaged when we remodeled the kitchen. The other way of attaching the sides was using a through tenon on oversized side pieces. The bookcase is not being done in any particular style just copying what is at the library. The library shelves are melamine coated particle board, so anything I do is above and beyond.

Shoerack Bench finished

Here is the finished Shoerack/Bench. I believe it turned out good. As with all things one makes, you can always pick out the imperfections. There were good lessons learned on this project which can be applied to future works.






I finished it with just a coating of Minwax Paste (Natural finish). I did not want to stain it, it would have turned blotchy for sure looking at the wood now. Most of our furnishings in the house are lightly finished anyway (notice the bamboo flooring), so it will blend it quite nicely. There is no gloss to the finish yet. I think I will do another coat in a few days after we live with it for awhile.

Kids Bookcase

Here is the plan for the kids bookcase. The top is a "V" shape so the books will be upright and facing you. You can flip through them easily that way. The bottom will be for storing books like a normal bookshelf, spine out.

Frankenstein?

Almost complete. All that's left to do is chop the dowels, sand and finish. So far, so good. I went with a chisel and chipped all excess glue out. That Gorilla glue sure does foam up. I went and bought a bottle of Titebond II and see how that works. I glued the dowels in with it and it sure is easier to clean up.


And here it is in its maiden voyage doing what it was built to do.


Beginning this weekend I will start the kids bookcase. It will be about 2ft. tall, 14" deep and 32-36" wide. I am not sure of the width yet because I don't know what I can get from the scrap plywood I have lying around. The bookcase will be from all scrap lumber I have about the house. The only tough part about it will be the dado I want to make to slide the back into. I have two ways in mind though to do it. I will let ya'll know which way worked for me.

The post title come from the fact that the bench looks like frankenstein with the long dowels sticking out.

Shoerack/Bench 3

Here is the current incarnation of the Shoerack/Bench. It is almost done. I need to drill the holes for the 3/4" dowel, these will be placed at the back of each shelf to support long shoes (ie. Hill family shoes). I will be using a brace and auger bit to drill the holes. I got the brace from amazon and the auger bit from Lowes.

This is a shot of the front.

This is a shot from the rear. The dowels are trimmed off, but there is glue still poking out everywhere.
I will be trimming all the glue off, giving it a light sanding and rounding all the edges. For the finish I have decided to use Minwax Paste wax (Natural color).

Shoerack Bench 2

Here is a photo of the rails clamped on the shoerack/bench. I put rails on the top front and back to support the seat and then one rail on the bottom. The bottom rail will be in front and serve to keep the sides from splaying out and as the catch to keep shoes on the shelf. If you look you will see I added dowels to the sides for reinforcement. I will be adding those to the rails after they dry and to the shelves after they are installed.


Here is a close-up of the dowels. They are 1/4" oak and extend 1" into the top. I'm not sure they really add that much strength but I always like they way the look. Obviously they will be trimmed flush once dry.

Shoerack Bench

So here is the background to the wood in this project. I work in a scientific laboratory and get all sorts of deliveries. The pallets that scientific equipment comes on are usually hand built and if of European decent, than it is birch plywood. This wood came from pallet that an ultracentrifuge from Germany was shipped on. It is NICE wood. Anyway on to the details.

I cut the sides as a stack so the diamond detail would be accurate and line up. The bottom was cut the same way.


I took each side half separately and cut the rabbet to accept the top. In hind sight I should have waited till I had the sides glued together to cut the rabbet because now I have some trimming to do to make the top sit flat in the rabbet.


I then glued the sides and top halves together to form solid pieces. After trimming the rabbets and squaring the top, one side and the top were glued. Tonight I will trim the other rabbet and glue that to the top.

Garden Beds part 2

I got the 3 of 4 beds together. Here is a detail of the corner. Each corner is secured by 1, 3 1/2" drywall screw in each direction. Nothing fancy, but will last for a long time.



Here you can see the beds in place. With the chicken coop in the back ground.

Garden Beds

I started making more raised garden beds today. The wood came from my in-laws. They tore down their deck and asked if we wanted any of it. This is PT wood that has been outside for about 10 years. 1 face is OK and 1 face is good. I took half of what was there (all that would fit in my little pick-up). Its all 2x6x at least 8 ft. This is a great use for this wood that would have been thrown to the curb.

So, I picked the longest ones I could (12ft) and cut a simple overlap for the corner. I had used butt joints before but this will be much stronger and last longer. I cut the short sides stacked up all in one go. Made the cross cut and then popped out the remaining piece with a chisel. It is a satisfying sight to line up a chisel, give it a few good mallet whacks and POP; out comes the trash. I then cut the long sides two at a time. I got through four boards before I was needed for childcare duty. I will do the other four later. My wife says "I think you just like making small chunks" as there were many 1 1/2 x 2 5/8 x 1 1/2 end pieces laying about.

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Adventures in Handtool Woodworking

This will be all about my adventures in woodworking. I will post more about who I am and what this blog is all about.