What We're Making

[Calico]

DW wanted a Zoom coffee table and a very specific size. Had a bit of thick walnut and finished it with a few pcs of 4/4 walnut for the top. Did a nice lap joint since I had the 6/4 sides.

Finished with ArmRSeal rubbed on.

That is stunning!

 

[Surewhitey]

I've been doing woodworking as a hobby for years and have always found finishing, whether it be stain or paint, to be the most difficult skill to master. Takes a lot of patience to get everything right and looking good. Some nice looking projects there!

You definitely have to not be afraid to make a mistake. Good thing is that you can typically get a redo if you want to improve it.

ArmRSeal is a pretty forgiving clearcoat that can be wiped on.

Shellac primer is the bomb in the hplv sprayer. Clean up is a bear.

Also Sherwin Williams has a really good Emerald line of urethane paints that are easily sprayed with an hplv sprayer.

 

[Surewhitey]

First time working with cane. Inserted into a shaker frame for a bathroom pantry door set. Solid maple frame.

 

[skyking1]

Nice work! I had 53 doors and drawer faces made in shaker maple for all the cabinets, and then designed and build the cabinets and face frames myself. My local shop sold me maple from the same lot for 3.50/bf sanded both sides and straight edged on one. I could not beat that deal, and the doors and face frames were a perfect match.

 

[Surewhitey]

Nice work! I had 53 doors and drawer faces made in shaker maple for all the cabinets, and then designed and build the cabinets and face frames myself. My local shop sold me maple from the same lot for 3.50/bf sanded both sides and straight edged on one. I could not beat that deal, and the doors and face frames were a perfect match.

That's a big kitchen... Most I do are 25-30 doors and maybe 6-10 drawer fronts. I did my kitchen also from maple and that was the beginning of my coast-j*b. It is a very rewarding thing to build anything for me, personally.

Material costs will eventually slow down the consumer though and then it'll be vaca time! (and catch up on honey-dos...)

 

[harley]

One of our pugs has neurological damage, with arthritis. And she's also mostly blind and deaf(-ish). When she started having problems a couple of years ago I was carrying her down the steps off the deck to go out in the yard. So I made a 16' folding ramp, with side rails, coming down the deck stairs. The side rails kept her/them from faling off the sides. I put a joint in it using piano hinges so it could fold up out of the way of the lawn mower and also for when we went away for the winter. I used 1/2"plywood and put some astroturf on it for traction. It's been great. The one pug can't use it anymore (gotten too crippled up), but the other two dogs still do. I also put some little solar lights like you'd use on stairs on the rails as landing lights for them. However, after two plus years of beach front wind and weather it's starting to fall apart. I've got some ideas on how to do it better, and once I rebuild it I'll post the pictures.

I guess I won't be building that ramp. We just got the news that our other pug (sisters from the same litter) is riddled with cancer, and her time is limited. We've decided to let them both go out the way they came in...together. I just went out and saw one of them come up the ramp, and burst into tears. This sucks. Hopefully we'll have a few good weeks together, but the clock is ticking.

 

[Ronstar]

A friend's mother passed away, and our friend wanted to make something out of her mother's bed headboard. So I cut the headboard into 6 squares to be used as panels for a toy box. Painted poplar with stiles and rails connected with dominos. Bottom is 5/8" baltic birch shellacked. Top is 2 pieces of 5/8" baltic birch with 1x2 poplar edging.

 

[Koogie]

^^ Really nice work and a heck of a keepsake. Well done.

How do you find the dominos ? Do you use the Festool system ? Do you prefer it to biscuits or dowels ?

 

[Ronstar]

^^ Really nice work and a heck of a keepsake. Well done.

How do you find the dominos ? Do you use the Festool system ? Do you prefer it to biscuits or dowels ?

Thanks. Yes it is a Festool domino 500. I prefer dominos over biscuits. The dominos are thicker and go into the wood further than biscuits. Stronger with more surface glue area.

I still use dowels occasionally, but I can get more done quicker with the festool machine. It was an expensive Blow that Dough purchase.

I bought a bunch of dominos with the machine and have bought more twice from Amazon.

 

[Finance Dave]

I guess I won't be building that ramp. We just got the news that our other pug (sisters from the same litter) is riddled with cancer, and her time is limited. We've decided to let them both go out the way they came in...together. I just went out and saw one of them come up the ramp, and burst into tears. This sucks. Hopefully we'll have a few good weeks together, but the clock is ticking.

Very sad harley...we are dog lovers and losing them is tough. Snuggle with them for their final days...they know you are there for them.

 

[Finance Dave]

Ronstar that looks really nice, and heavy duty! Looks like those are spring tension hinges too...expensive but really cool.

years ago I made a blanket chest that yours reminded me of. Green and Green style. Turned out really nice.

 

[Ronstar]

^ Thanks Dave. Nice Greene & Greene chest. Your chest reminds me of one that I made about 5 years ago. Lots of work with the ebony plugs.

 

[Finance Dave]

Wow that is gorgeous!

 

[Ronstar]

Wow that is gorgeous!

Thanks - so is yours - very similar.

 

[Walt34]

Progress continues on the new R/C airplane/glider. The basic structures are done but a lot of sanding remains. As one guy put it "The difference between a good model and a great model is sandpaper". Well, there's a bit more to it than that but it conveys the idea.

I'll have to install some of the radio control components before covering. This is a first, normally the R/C gear is about the last thing to go in. But on this airplane the aileron servos are mounted internally on the wings; one for each aileron. You can see the mounting plates installed with a slot for the control arm to reach out the bottom of the wing to connect to the aileron. So before covering the wing I have to have that stuff all set up and aligned. The advantages to this way is simplicity, in that there are fewer moving parts than installing the aileron servos in the center of the wing because the pushrods connect directly to their respective ailerons. The obvious downside is that if any maintenance/adjustment is needed you have to cut the wing covering open or go to the additional work (and weight) of building in a hatch for the aileron servos.

There also isn't much room inside the fuselage for radio gear and servos. The mounting plate for the rudder and elevator servos are visible. I forgot to take the forward hatch cover off for the photo. Right in front of that open bay is the removable hatch where the battery that powers the motor and radio gear is mounted. That way you don't have to take the wing off to change batteries.

I'm impressed with this kit from China. It's a simple and rugged design, although perhaps a bit overbuilt and therefore heavier than it needs to be. The balsa is thicker than I've ever seen in an R/C model airplane and it isn't the lightest density wood I've ever seen either. But it does have lots of wing area to carry the weight and the proof will be in how well it flies. One thing new to me is using carbon fiber rods for the wing leading edge. I've seen dowel rods used before but never carbon fiber. I guess the stuff is cheap enough now to replace dowels. It'll certainly be stronger and lighter.

Anyway, now that the "rough construction" is done the finer detail work begins.

 

[skyking1]

That's a big kitchen... Most I do are 25-30 doors and maybe 6-10 drawer fronts. I did my kitchen also from maple and that was the beginning of my coast-j*b. It is a very rewarding thing to build anything for me, personally.

Material costs will eventually slow down the consumer though and then it'll be vaca time! (and catch up on honey-dos...)

It was not so big, but rather than a walk in pantry it has doors and drawers there, and it included 4 in the laundry, etc. I just know I picked up 53 pulls at the hardware supply

 

[skyking1]

^ Thanks Dave. Nice Greene & Greene chest. Your chest reminds me of one that I made about 5 years ago. Lots of work with the ebony plugs.

Love the big dovetails!

 

[ERD50]

Progress continues on the new R/C airplane/glider. ...
Anyway, now that the "rough construction" is done the finer detail work begins.

Impressive! Kind of like the poster here with the incredible decorated cookies that look too good to eat, that plane looks too beautiful and too much work to fly!

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Wow that is gorgeous!

Thanks - so is yours - very similar.

You both do amazing work.

I do some woodworking, but nothing at that level. But I know enough to appreciate how good yours are. Very nice.

Maybe some day I'll post a pic of a few things I've made. It's not at your level at all, but not too shabby. But getting good pics takes work too (I know Ronstar has some good lighting set up for that).

-ERD50

 

[Ronstar]

Thanks ERD50. Yes - take some pics of the things you made and post them up. It's great to see things made by the folks here.

And good lighting helps. Lately I've been experimenting with textured backgrounds in photoshop. somewhat easy to replace the background with a texture and maintain a little bit of shadow by changing the background opacity.

 

[street]

Beautiful work to all. What talent we have here on ER. Thanks so much for sharing your talents and projects.

 

[finnski1]

I guess I won't be building that ramp. We just got the news that our other pug (sisters from the same litter) is riddled with cancer, and her time is limited. We've decided to let them both go out the way they came in...together. I just went out and saw one of them come up the ramp, and burst into tears. This sucks. Hopefully we'll have a few good weeks together, but the clock is ticking.

Cherish the last days with them. I literally slept on the living room floor with my last collie for a week straight so that I could take him out to the bathroom at all ours. Incredibly sad to let him go. That was over a year and a half ago and it still stings a little.

 

[Surewhitey]

Thanks ERD50. Yes - take some pics of the things you made and post them up. It's great to see things made by the folks here.

And good lighting helps. Lately I've been experimenting with textured backgrounds in photoshop. somewhat easy to replace the background with a texture and maintain a little bit of shadow by changing the background opacity.

Excellent work. Curious to know the wood here (coin case). Rosewood, coco bolo? Both are some of the nicest imo.

 

[Surewhitey]

Just finished a puzzle pc. I had the drawers and an extra door. Now make the cabinet... Took some mad math skills, but it worked.

 

[Jerry1]

Nice cabinet!