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 Found some sinus medicine that almost cleared my snot locker. 95% better than what it was without it. Got a good night's sleep and only got up twice for the toilet trots. I still had to empty it through out the day but less frequently and with a lot less snot. 

it is full

The house shit can holds two boxes of snot rags. This is after 2 1/2 days.

happy face

Both of the leg blanks are laying flat and straight on each other. Happy that I don't have to deal with any stupid wood tricks.

reference edge

The plan was too establish one face and one long edge as references. Then I would run them through the lunch box planer to thickness. It wasn't necessary at this point but I like planing cherry.

hmm......

Used my catch all bench chisel to remove all the nicked blade ridges on the faces of the two boards.

last one

Made the long edge square to the face I planed a couple of days ago.

moving along

Got the leg blanks planed to thickness - not quite 1 7/8" thick. Next batter was sawing the legs out of them.

hmm......

The tablesaw was struggling to rip out the legs. I did get one done with the blade high enough to rip it out. All the subsequent legs I ripped out half way from one face, flipped the boards 180, and ripped the leg off. I had to go slow because the saw bogged if I pushed too fast.

drawer guides

These are all that are left over. I think I can get all four side drawer guides from them.

two extras

I ripped out two legs first, one each from each outside edge. I ripped another leg from the middle portion left. The four faces aren't straight grained but swirling with some cathedrals. I got 3 legs out of each blank.

the four desk legs

This leg on the left only has straight grain running vertically on three faces. This one has some cathedrals and I'll put this at the back. The other three legs all have straight grain running vertically. 

time to relax

When I sawed out the legs only one of them curled a bit. It didn't pinch the blade and the legs are over length by about 6-8". I can saw off the bit of bow. I'll let these hang out on the table for a few days to make sure they don't do any stupid wood tricks. After that I will run them through the lunch box planer to square them up. I think I can get them at a minimum of 1 3/4" square.

rail stock

Next up on the A list was sizing the rails to width and length. The top rails will be 5 1/2" wide and 31" long.

finally

See the rough spot left here? It was originally almost 12" long and it was a valley. It took me 10 minutes to plane this edge straight and flat. It also made the width of the board a few frog hairs less than 5 1/2". Didn't know that yet.

side rail

Rather then work around the knot holes and pockets, I am leaving them and I'm going to fill them with black dyed epoxy.

hmm......

I used putty to fill in a couple of defects in the splines. With shellac they will pop out and I don't like that. So I asked daughter #2 to ask Miles what color he wanted me to paint his frame. I'll find out tonight what the color will be. Amanda said it will probably be red.

side rails

The defects are more prominent on one one side than the opposite one. At least both will have something visual to look at.

helping hand

I'm trying to avoid the me-steak I made with Miles desk twice or was it three times? Anyways I laid the rails out as they will be and marked the edge with chalk that will get the mortises for the slats.

2nd bite

I had to remove the screws on the front to rip it to the new width. When I put the screw back in, it cracked the block again. Glued and clamped again and set it aside to cook. Sigh. If the screw cracks it again I'll have to replace it somehow.

I like

Used the Dowel Max to check drilling holes in one of the side rails. I love the spacing of the holes, it almost perfect on the two outside ones.

hmm.......

Filled in the defects with black dyed epoxy. It is going to need a 2nd round because a couple of them are sinking. Some of them were a surprise because they didn't look deep enough to suck in that much epoxy.  I'll do round 2 in the AM.

the legs

I was a roll so I planed a reference face on two edges. That is all I need to run through them through the lunchbox planer.  I might be getting ahead of myself but I was feeling good about the legs behaving.

not working

I need a 1/4" drill collar to set the depth for the doweling jig but none of these fit the 1/4" drill.

this explains a lot

I had bought these a bazillion years ago and I remember having the same problem - they didn't fit the drill bit. It didn't occur to me then that they weren't imperial. I checked three of the collars with my metric drill bits and they fit. Big sigh. I'll check Amazon and get some imperial ones on order.

Had a good day. Got in a full AM & PM session and I made a serious dent in Leo's desk. Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be as productive too. 

accidental woodworker 

 Spent another fitful night trying to sleep. Besides getting up for two toilet trot races, I got 7 times total to blow my nose. There was absolutely no position where I could sleep for more than an hour or so. I hope this blows over quickly because it sucks pond scum feeling like this.

I was hopeful

Took the clamps off and nothing moved or groaned. All the miters were still tight and passed the wiggle test. Felt good about the frame here.

last test piece

Trying to set this jig makes feel as smart as a box of pointy rocks. I thought I had it set correctly - I had measured from the plywood to saw blade - but it took me 7 attempts before I got it.

miters still suck

Two of the miters let go while putting the splines in them. I think the other two stayed together only because I already had splines in them. I had to use bar clamps to close up all the miters.

cleaning up the  back frame parts

Working in the shop today was difficult. I had the desire to be there but with the snot locker jammed full it was a chore working. I spent the AM session working in spurts which kind of worked in my favor. The frame shook hands with me several times before I killed the lights for the day.

2nd one

I had to replace the first spline because it was too thin. There were gaps on both sides of it. Without glue I was able to push the splines and seat them fully by hand. With glue, two of them locked solid before being fully seated. So I made the last two splines looser by sanding them. One filled/swelled the groove with glue but this one didn't.

sigh

Screwed up on the length of these, again. I've done this twice before but I thought I was done having that brain fart. It ain't so boys and girls.

new set

An hour later I made a new set for the back frame. I made the length a 1/4" over to allow for planing the miters and fitting.

almost done

Nailed and glued the back frame, set the nails, and filled them with putty. Thinking of using shellac on this frame. But if I change my mind, I'll paint it black.

hmm.......

I am leaving the frame as is. No chamfers on the inside and outside edges. I'll get this to Maria on tuesday so I can get it done as quick as possible and get a pic of it to Miles.

Hoping to feel better so I can get started on Leo's desk. I want to get it done ASAP. Been thinking of renting a U haul  to bring the things I made for Amanda to her. Waiting in the boneyard are Leo's dresser, Miles' desk, the small cherry table, and the bookcase.  Leo's desk will be joining it in a couple of weeks. My wife can only bring one at time when she visits. Depends on the cost which is probably cheaper than having it shipped.

accidental woodworker

Check out my latest Substack post!

New steel string acoustic guitars in progress, will be available for sale by the beginning of summer!

Stayed tuned for updates!

Starting feeling like crap yesterday afternoon. I couldn't sleep last night for more then an hour. My snot locker was stuffed full and I couldn't breathe with the CPAP machine lying down on my side. I spent a fitful night sleeping propped up against the headboard. Didn't feel much better in the AM.

broken dog

I lost the doo hickey at the top of the dog. Found this on the deck when I came to the shop in the AM. I would have just made a new one but as usual I couldn't find something. The something I was searching for was the bullet catch on the side of this dog. So instead of a replacement dog, I glued a new doo hickey on at the top.

checking the leg stock

Both boards behaved themselves over night. They looked to be still flat and straight. Neither one grew a hump back too. Cleaned one short edge on both boards. I'll make them 90 before I run them through the lunch box planer.

happy face on

Both boards passed the flat test with flying colors.

both for $6 and change

I couldn't resist the miniature bin. I like that it is clear so I can see what I have in it. The 5gal bucket was a lot cheaper than I expected. Lowes even had pink buckets for the ladies.

pic frame coming

I sent a pic of the frame I made for Leo's drawing and he remembered doing it. I didn't want Miles's to feel left out so I'm making a frame for a pic he sent me before my CT biopsy. 

done

After I got back from Lowes I finished the fitting the doo hickey on the dog. The dog is maple and the doo hickey is too. It keeps the dog from falling through the dog hole in the bench.

flushed the top

I still have the original metal dogs from when I built this desk. I switched to wooden dogs the last time I nicked a iron on them. I haven't noticed any difference in gripping power between the metal and wooden dogs.

shooting the miters

I'm making Miles's frame the same size as Leo's but Miles's is 3/4" thick. I didn't have any 1/2" thick stock but I don't like making the exact same thing for the grandsons. 

sigh

Gave up on this again. The slip nuts were nice with adjusting but I couldn't get all four miters closed and gap free.

hmm.....

And this slip nut wouldn't tighten, as it got close it slipped. Go figure on that. I switched it with another one and the same thing. I didn't feel like playing with it to find what went south. I won't be playing with this clamping method for the foreseeable future.

nope

I was able to get 2 then of the 3 miters to close up tight. I fiddled and faddled with it and then gave up. I went back to the miter shooting board and touched up the miters again. That didn't improve it and one miter was still open a frog hair.

sigh

I was expecting this to be the winner. I even tried sweetening the miter heels with a block plane. It worked for one but with the 2nd one I started chasing my tail around the frame.

this surprised me

This is the first time I can remember all four miters closing up tight with these miter clamp doo hickeys. I took it apart and repeated it with the same results. Decided to glue it up with these. If this hadn't worked I was going to try my metal band clamp.

success

With glue applied, one miter wouldn't close up tight. I tried but with glue applied I didn't have a lot of time to play with. I put bar clamps on and that worked closing up the miter tight. I put two more clamps the opposite way to equalize the force. I'll let this cook until the AM.

Clamping this up wiped me out. I didn't feel winded or tired, just spent. Like I had nothing left to give. I think I'm coming down with a spring cold because my snot locker fills up quicker than I can empty it.

Didn't go back to the shop for a PM session. Instead I sat at my desk and watched Unforgettable on Amazon prime.

accidental woodworker

The body of the mandolin is now together, so what’s next? In this video, I look at routing the rebate for the purflings and bindings. The purflings take quite a while to fit as there are tricky mitres to cut and the bindings (made from walnut) need to be bent on the bending iron to fit exactly. All good fun! Oh, and a bit about the fretboard too!

Cheers Gary

This is a project I've thought about for a long time.  We don't do a whole lot of gardening here at the humble abode, but when we do get a new plant it would be nice not to have to re-pot it on the ground or at the kitchen sink.

The completed project

It started with an internet search for some ideas and then later a Sketchup drawing.

Sketchup drawing

I did end up changing a couple things from the drawing, most notably I didn't use the shelf supports that are shown with the upper two shelves.

This project is far from "fine woodworking".  The lumber is just common pine 1x4s, with 1x6s for the upper shelves.  None of the boards was straight and there were lots of knots, but I wasn't looking for anything more.

18  1x4s, each 8' long

The construction was fairly simple.  The 36" front legs and 64" rear legs are each made of two lengths of 1x4, glued together at right angles.  I planed the edge on one piece, but did not bother planing the face of the mating piece.  The two main platforms, one at 8" off the ground, the other at 36", were basically boxes glued and pocket-hole screwed together.  Each was 20" x 47 1/2".  I added slats that were supported by a piece that was glued and screwed to the inside of the long sides of these boxes.

The two "boxes" roughed out and screwed together

I got to pull out the miter box to cut the 24 slats. There's a board clamped upright in the end vise acting as a stop for repeat cuts.

Here, I'm checking the fit of slats in one of the boxes

I got to use a variety of hand tools for screw holes and screws

Attaching a slat to the support piece

The gap between slats was 3/8".  Twelve fit into each box, with the first and last slat made less wide to fit the space and leave a 1/4" gap at the end.

To support the boxes on the legs, I glued and screwed small blocks to the inside of the legs.  The boxes rest on those blocks and are later screwed to the legs.

Starting to come together.  Here it is dry-clamped.

I fit the two upper shelves similarly with blocks glued and screwed to the inside of the back legs.  I cut those shelves for a good fit between the legs and they are also pocket-hole screwed to the legs.

View from underneath an upper shelf.  You can see the support block and also the pocket screws from shelf to leg if you look closely.

The back edges of the upper shelves were planed straight so that I could glue on a strip to keep things from falling off the back of the shelf.  Those pieces were glued to the back edge of the shelf and also pocket-hole screwed to the legs.

Back view showing the strips glued to the upper shelves and pocket-hole screwed to the legs

I thought I would glue and screw the main boxes to the legs, but after just screwing them together without glue and feeling how solid it was, I decided the glue was unnecessary.  This will allow me to disassemble it later if the need ever arises.

For the moment, I'm thinking there will be no finish applied.  It will reside under a balcony and will rarely, if ever, get wet.  I might change that decision later.  Maybe BLO or a poly on the main work surface to make it easier to clean off the dirt and cuttings.  Oh yeah, I might still add a shelf just below the right side of the main work surface.  The shelf would hold a plastic bin to catch dirt that falls between slats.

That's it.  A rough project, but I like the way it looks.  And it should make it better for us to do some gardening work.