Working plan: 1

Showing posts with label 1. Show all posts

Thursday, March 6, 2014

New Project Book Nook Part 1

Alright, alright, time for a new project! I was asked to build a childrens bookcase that would hold books with the covers facing outward instead of the traditional binding facing outward; kind of a book display really. I did a little research and found these are typically called a Book Nook. These are pretty interesting, and pose some unique challenges, because of the dimensions; typically they are only a foot deep, about three feet tall and about 4 feet wide. What got me was only being a foot deep; I felt that this would make for an unstable design. I did notice in my research that many of them had a way in which to fasten the top of the book nook to a wall for stability.

So, with all this in mind, I decided on the final dimensions and design. This one will be 12" deep, about 42" wide and about 36" tall. It will have 3 shelves with each shelf capable of holding about 4 books side by side and roughly 3 or 4 deep. I also decided that this piece will be made in cherry and the finish will be BLO and shellac, no stain.

My first order of business as was to make a trip to Peach State Lumber and get the cherry I would need for the project. I decided I wanted 8/4 cherry so I could resaw it for the sides, since I knew I would have to glue two pieces together. I literally had to go through the entire pallet to find the boards that would work for me, but sometimes you have to do that. So, here are the boards I picked up:

From Book Nook

I did get more than I needed because I will be using the rest for another project once Im done with this. My first order of business was to mill the lumber square so I could resaw it on the band saw. Some of this required the use of hand tools, which I dont mind.

From Book Nook

Once that was done, they were resawn on the band saw and laid out for glue up. Here you can see the book matched pieces, ready for glue up. I always make some kind of witness mark on the boards so I know exactly how they should be put together.

From Book Nook

Once I had both side panels glued up, it was now time for the tedious process of laying out for the 3 shelves. I wanted them to be equally spaced both vertically and horizontally. I did this by laying them back-to-back so that I could just transfer the lines from one to the other and know they were in perfect alignment. Here are the two side pieces laid back-to-back with the insides facing up.

From Book Nook

Also note that I make sure to mark the grain direction; that is was the arrows are for. This just helps me keep everything flowing the same direction. Next, I had to do all the layout lines, which took a good while because I wanted to be exact and there were some design features that I had to take into account. After the layout was done, I used a router to rout out a 3/8" deep dado for each shelf and then used chisels to square up the dados.

From Book Nook

So, my next order of business is to mill up the pieces that will be for the front and bottom trim. These trim pieces will serve multiple purposes. First, they will have a dado in them that will allow them to fit into the shelves so that will help to keep the shelves from sagging by adding support. Next, they will stick up from the front edge of the shelf about 1" which will provide a lip for the books to set into so they dont fall off the shelf and lastly, the will have a profile on them to add character. Once I have those trim pieces done, I will also begin to build the back of the shelves. That is all Ive got for now....

Be Safe!

Monday, February 24, 2014

FURNITURE MAKE OVERS before and after 1

All the wonderful BEFORE & AFTERS you are about to see look so amazing in person,

and the students that preformed the work were outstanding.

How many of you would like to attend a furniture makeover weekend?

Well the PR Guy here and the LNT Group in Merritt coordinated that exact thing,

and I was the chosen teacher.

we added drawer stops, learned some bled blocking tips, and added a graphic transfer on this dresser

18 students, some with multiple projects, 2 days, almost every tool I own,

and with years of experience we gotter done!

it was stripped, cleaned, painted grey, clear waxed, then dark waxed. It is off to the upholster soon!

The week before the class, students started to email photos and ideas of that they would like to do.

When this chairs BEFORE pic showed up George started to panic, but I wasnt worried in the least.

vintage high chair painted in a cherry red was heading back to Prince George to be a display piece in a floral shop

We traveled over 2 hours to get to our destination but some ladies traveled much farther to join us.

simple vintage chair given a new life with a light turquoise spray, sanding, and waxing.

We did lots of color mixing and I showed students how to thin and strain paint for spraying.

Any one who wanted to try their hand at using the paint gun could also try it out.

coordinating wallpaper was added in the back and you can see more of the detail of this cabinet now that it is lighter

We wallpapered and waxed, we stripped some pieces, we stained a few pieces,

we painted and polyed, but best of all ...

I had a blast running non stop repairing things, adding things, making suggestions,
and simply helping everyone leave with a beautiful new pieces of furniture they would be
proud to display in their homes.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Tea box part 1

Good Morning All,
Ive begun working on shaping and hollowing out this first in a series of three tea boxes. This box will be given to a wonderful friend who has been very kind to me and this is a way of saying thank you. And as she is very much addicted to chocolate, I suspect this box will never hold any tea but will become a chocolate stash in her office!

These first two photos show the box mounted on the lathe with some preliminary shaping in the second photo:

This second photo shows the foot of the box and Ive cut it down substantially from its original size. I think it looks better and lowers the center of gravity of the box so it doesnt tip over. Ive also left a rough section that will become the rim of the bowl. Im shortly going to put the top on the box and turn it together as a unit for a few minutes to true up both pieces and make the diameters match up.

Lets get the top on the lather and turn a tenon in the underside and flatten out the surface of the lid:

Here are the two parts jammed together on the lathe ready to be turned together as a single unit:

And here we are several minutes later:

I wanted to give the box kind of a pot-bellied shape and so I rounded off both pieces. The top still has a considerable amount of shaping left to do.

Truing up the bottom portion has also given me a sense of were the outside surface of the box will be and also that will allow me to establish the thickness of the wall and thus the inside diameter of the box;

And here we are about 30 minutes later:

The box portion has turned very well. The sides and bottom are a little less that 1/2 thick and this gives the box a heavy, substantial feel. It will also help to keep it from breaking should it ever be dropped.

Here is a photo of the side:

Ive left a broad, flat bead on the side of the box. This provides a transition to the lid.

This portion of the box will be sanded completely and then taken off the lathe. The lid remains to be turned and since this is a very visible portion of the box, well take this slowly.

Im going to stop for about and hour and come back to the shop later this morning. Stop by for more photos and explanation.

VW