What We're Making

[doneat54]

Insane cookie skills......!!!

[Walt34]

Those cookies are works of art. It would seem almost a shame to actually eat them.

[Exit 2024]

Thank you all for kind words about our cookies !
Hope everyone had a great Christmas

[Boho]

I'm looking forward to making an innovative half-shelf in a kitchen cabinet once my package of weld nuts finally comes. The weld nuts are basically nuts two tabs that I'll drill screw holes into, making them mini rod hanger/ceiling flanges that take 1/4" threaded rod. Two threaded rods will hold the shelf. I may put threaded inserts in the shelf but I'll probably use more weld nuts. Hopefully I can make screw holes in the bottom of the existing shelf with an awl or nail, otherwise I have to buy a right angle drill adapter. Ten weld nuts for $5. I couldn't resist.

[street]

Here are a couple of projects I made for my home. The wood is all from old wood pallets. I don't beleive I ever bought any wood for wood project that I remember. I always find old wood that is in the junk or trash piles to burn and work it ovah for my projects.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by street Here are a couple of projects I made for my home. The wood is all from old wood pallets. I don't beleive I ever bought any wood for wood project that I remember. I always find old wood that is in the junk or trash piles to burn and work it ovah for my projects.

Very nice! And a little different from most clocks/shelves. Those spindles look hand carved, not turned? They have a nice rustic look. Same with the clock features - are those carved from that same frame piece of wood? I'm guessing they were turned/carved, then sawn in half lengthwise and attached to the front to get a left-right match?

Whatever the process, nice work!

-ERD50

[Nemo2]

^ More nice work!! Superb.

[street]

Hand carved on clock and I used a lathe on the medicine cabinet. I do thing the hard way I don't have much for tools. About 90% of the cuts I make I do with a skill saw or handsaws. Lol What I need is a small table saw or a band saw but really don't have to room for those tools. Hard to get things precise but it works.

[Ronstar]

Beautiful work Street! Making things out of old wood requires more skill than making things from new wood. It’s great that you took wood destined for a burn pile and turned it something so nice.

[Ronstar]

I had some leftover barn wood and a group of squirrels invading my bird feeders. So I gave in and made a feeder just for the squirrels. Not challenging or good looking, but it was fun and it's getting the job done.

[Boho]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boho I'm looking forward to making an innovative half-shelf in a kitchen cabinet once my package of weld nuts finally comes. The weld nuts are basically nuts two tabs that I'll drill screw holes into, making them mini rod hanger/ceiling flanges that take 1/4" threaded rod. Two threaded rods will hold the shelf. I may put threaded inserts in the shelf but I'll probably use more weld nuts. Hopefully I can make screw holes in the bottom of the existing shelf with an awl or nail, otherwise I have to buy a right angle drill adapter. Ten weld nuts for $5. I couldn't resist.

Finished. I wish they made rod hangers this small. Threaded inserts would need a bigger hole than I felt comfortable drilling in the upper shelf. I hammered in a nail to make the screw holes in the shelf.

[street]

I posted a few days ago about making a Compass Rose. I had a lot of great advise and some new ideas for this project. I decided to make the rose from 4 different wood species that I have from the ranch. The 4 points (NSEW) will be from cedar and will use cottonwood ash and juniper for the 4 fill in triangles for the rose. You will see the cedar and cottonwood that I used and split a few slabs for the project.

This after noon I started and got the pointers (cedar) and two triangle cottonwood pieces glued and doweled with dried river willows. They work very good for dowels for my wood projects. They are the right price also. Lol

It is all very rough at this point because I split the wood with axe and wedge. I will angle grind things to a smoother surface once the glue has set up. I also will need to get two more dry pieces of ash and juniper to fill in the other two angles pieces.
Here are a few pictures of what I accomplished so far.

[doneat54]

Well, not really making, but restoring. This is a speedometer "Pod" that was used in VW Beetles from 1943 until 1952, in various forms before the dashboard was totally redesigned in late 1952. I completely disassemble everything, clean, media blast, lube, buff, re-assemble. The Germans were notorious for date coding everything. The speedometer made by VDO is dated December 1950 in this pod. The pods are normally date coded on that brass ground fork, but about 5% of the ones I have had my hands on over the last 15-20 years are not. This restored pod has no date code.

This particular pod is was used for the non US market models as it it is in it's unpainted "bakelite". US market Beetles all got ivory colored pods. The first year a Beetle was sold in the US via a dealer was 1949. They sold 2 that year.

I buff the brown bakelite on a buffing wheel. Speedometer parts are all painted except the dial face. Reproduction dial faces, or decals are not available for this era, so unless you find a decent face, there is not much you can do. Everything else can be media blasted, painted, etc.

Although the bakelite is very hard and brittle, and will withstand a ton of heat (this pod has had some solder repairs to embedded brass rivets) they do often warp, especially if left outside in hot climates. I straighten these by sandwiching them in some custom wood pieces with a bolt through the center and heat them around 300 degrees for a few hours (the one in the oven pic is an ivory one, not yet stripped).

A complete pod like this usually sells in a few hours for around $1000.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doneat54 Well, not really making, but restoring. This is a speedometer "Pod" that was used in VW Beetles from 1943 until 1952... A complete pod like this usually sells in a few hours for around $1000.

How do you set the odometer to zero ?

When people order them, do they ever want the odometer set to some number, ie the miles originally on the car ?

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by street I posted a few days ago about making a Compass Rose. I had a lot of great advise and some new ideas for this project. I decided to make the rose from 4 different wood species that I have from the ranch. The 4 points (NSEW) will be from cedar and will use cottonwood ash and juniper for the 4 fill in triangles for the rose. You will see the cedar and cottonwood that I used and split a few slabs for the project. This after noon I started and got the pointers (cedar) and two triangle cottonwood pieces glued and doweled with dried river willows. They work very good for dowels for my wood projects. They are the right price also. Lol It is all very rough at this point because I split the wood with axe and wedge. I will angle grind things to a smoother surface once the glue has set up. I also will need to get two more dry pieces of ash and juniper to fill in the other two angles pieces. Here are a few pictures of what I accomplished so far.

Your compass rose is coming along nicely! And great that you're using your own wood.

[Surewhitey]

Gifted our coffee table to a new homeowner as DW wanted a "zoom" table. Had some leftover walnut, so here she is.

[finnski1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surewhitey Gifted our coffee table to a new homeowner as DW wanted a "zoom" table. Had some leftover walnut, so here she is.

Very Nice!

[doneat54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset How do you set the odometer to zero ? When people order them, do they ever want the odometer set to some number, ie the miles originally on the car ?

A couple ways, if the mechanism is fairly free, I take the odometer drive pinion of, fit a piece of small rubber hose on a drill and over the gear at the end of the number wheel set and spin it back. If it is all stuck together tight, I'll the odometer completely apart, ream out the number wheel bores individually, and then set the number wheels back in at the 0 position on the shaft one at a time.


Have not had anyone request a particular odometer reading in the 10+ years I have been doing this. This being buying these parts through various venues in the hobby restoring them and selling them outright. I do have people send me their pods/speedometers for restoration and request that the odometer be left at it's present setting occasionally.

[street]

Surewhitey, that is a beautiful piece of work.

[street]

The compass rose is not totally complete yet but I got the simple compass design made from wood that came from the ranch. The points are cedar and the tringle pieces are cottonwood and ash.
Today went to the ranch where I want to install the compass in a line shack. I am thinking I will need to cut out plywood and then glue compass down. Still figuring out how and what to use for a N,S,E & W letters. The compass design is 1/2 inch thick and flooring is 3/4 in particle wood so that is kind of my dilemma.
Here are a few picture of it in the floor where I might cut it in.