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Finally, after some danish oil on the trim ... it's ready. I've found before with cherry, that different boards can have a different colour when the finish is furst applied, hopefully as it ages, the colours will even out. Now I have to find out if it will fit through the door into the house ... maybe I should have measured that first!

Thanks guys ... yes it is very comfortable ... but now winter is over, I don't have excuses for staying indoors and using it. For sure. You may have noticed in some of the photos I also made a matching footstool, so I could practise any unfamiliar techniques before making expensive mistakes on the couch. I ended up making six legs for the footstool out of 8/4 cherry before I got four the same, and the technique reliable enough to try on the couch legs ... there are still the scars from a few catches that I didn't try to completely remove because it would reduce the bead too much,

I worked on the back of the backs today. I decided this is an expensive piece of furniture let's try something that I have never done before. I decided to get paperbacked veneer and attach it with contact cement. I started off by cutting the veneer down. I bought two pieces that came 2'x8'. Then I sanded both the mdf and the veneer sheet with 80 grit sand paper until they were no longer shiny. Then I applied the contact cement to both the mdf and veneer. I first tried to apply it with a glue roller. This left too much glue. I then used a squeegee. This was way better at spreading

Yes, retired. My efforts have been minuscule compared to people on the front lines, but I am happy to have been able to do at least something.

And finally I wanted some showy wood trim on the face. Originally I was thinking that running the trim all the way round the bottom edge would be nice ... but then I remembered I had made the upholstery go round a compound curve on the sides. I was having enough trouble getting trim to fit on the front which although flat had varying amounts of fabric and padding to cover up at the corners. I decided to continue with the knot theme on the legs ... Since the trim would be attached with screws, I made applied carvings that I could attach to cover over the screw holes.

Now it's time to get back to some woodwork ... starting with a lovely block of 16/4 cherry, it was time to rough out some leg blanks. Once I had all eight blanks turned, I got a bit carried away and though I could go a bit further, and carve a design on them too ... two legs would be hidden at the back and never seen, so if this idea turned out to be a disaster I could hide the butchered leg there. However, after carving a knot pattern on two of them, kit seemed to be alright, so I finished off the other six ...

The cushions were sewn, then stuffed with foam and batting. I had originally thought to add buttons to both the seat and back, but decided that it looked better with buttons only on the back, and a plain seat. With the correct dies the buttons were very easy to make ... I didn't invest in the expensive forming tool ... a pipe-clamp did the job just as well. The back cushion was then stapled to the frame, with the seat cushion left loose.

It's been a while since I posted anything here ... but I'm not dead yet. A friend of a friend was giving away his lathe, so I thought I could learn to turn during the lockdown last year. Of course a free mini lathe meant a very expensive acquisition of tools chucks etc ... then lumber ... nothing so expensive as "free". So after a few practise bowls, I decided that since I needed a new couch I could build it with turned feet ... Turning a few bowls may be an unusual way to start a couch build, but that was my jumping off point. Although I have already finished the project,

The upholstery goes on starting with the deck. Then the foam goes on the inside arms, followed by some polyester batting, and fabric. Then the outside arms are covered. Most of the upholstery is just staples onto the frame, but the cover for the small wings had to be sewn to fit first, and then attached.

First of two trips to the fabric store to get all the foam and padding needed ...

The wood for the frame is poplar ... a nice but cheap hardwood, and it doesn't matter if it isn't too pretty. Joinery was quite simple, a few dovetails, and a bunch of M&Ts to make the frame assemblies. The back was bolted on the seat to make it as rigid as possible. One of the big troubles I had was learning what a couch frame should look like, since they are always covered in upholstery I couldm't just look at completed examples. And online upholstery videos all concentrate on the upholstery, not the woodwork. And from what I could tell so much modern upholstered furniture is m

I've upholstered a couple of simple square foam seats before, but this was my first shot at something substantial, with curves and springs and welted cushions and all the rest. As for learning ... youtube all the way ... there's loads of people making vids of reupholstering chairs and cushions. It's not quite as complicated as it looks once you get going ... and sewing has similarities with woodwork: at it's most basic it's just cutting raw stock down to shape, and then a bit of joinery to attach the pieces together. The hardest part was actually the design of the skeleton, knowing w

Thanks Mark J, I appreciate your efforts. Are you a doctor? I am fully vaccinated. I don't like to see spiking the ball on the 5 yard line. Too much of that. I hear about people that want freedom of choice on these various items. Like masks. If I want to drive 70 in a 35 zone to feel free is crazy. The freedom we have is to make our rules by majority. No autocrat or dictator making the rules. I am thankful to follow the majority rule even if I don't agree.

First webbing is stretched across the bottom to form a base for the springs to rest on. Then the springs go in ... coiled springs for the seat, sewn into the webbing and tied 8 ways on top, and sinuous springs for the back. then the springs get covered with a layer of felt and burlap ... and I have something that resembles and functions as a couch ... although not too comfy yet.

I have a Mitutoyo and have had the same battery in it for the last 6 years. I have seen online reviews that the more budget calipers use electronics that have very high current draws even 10 fold that of the Mitutoyo even off, which results in the battery dying quickly even when not used. Knockoffs are highly prevalent in this field as well and the knockoff tools have poor performance. Though at the price difference you can buy a LOT of batteries... and woodworkign doesn't really need any additional precision that may or may not be offered.

Thats interesting, I have one that is 17 months old and still works on the factory battery. (I did run out to the shop and check before posting this.)

Got my 2nd shot yesterday afternoon. So far no side-effects. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself.

I just finished these two nightstands this past weekend. They are made of Sapele and finished with one coat of blond shellac and then I sprayed 3 light coats of General Finishes High Performance. I will be making the bed to go with them but won't get that started until June sometime.