Ronn W

Angel Oak is a Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) located in Angel Oak Park on Johns Island near Charleston, South Carolina. The tree is estimated to be 400-500 years old.[1] It stands 66.5 ft (20 m) tall, measures 28 ft (8.5 m) in circumference, and produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet (1,600 m2). Its longest branch distance is 187 ft[2] in length. Angel Oak was the 210th tree to be registered with the Live Oak Society. Absolutely Beautiful. jUst thgouth I would share it.

Great lid joinery on the mahogany box. I like it. great choice of contrast on the Sycamore box. I like it.

OK, so I am a lttle behind but I finally bought one of these push blocks (with the 1/8" side plate added for no add'l cost at my local Wodcraft). I love it. Solid and easy to use. I had to make a bunch of 3/4 x 1/8 "boards" for the outside of a barn for play farm animals. tI worked great - took no time to rip several dozen about 16" long and I could cut the last 3/16" strip to 1/8" thick. On the last one I didn't have the block solid against the rip fence so I kinda killed the 1/8" side plate but that was my fault. I was impressed that the saw just cut the plastic with no kickback - very safe. When I saw that the replecement side plate alone was $16 and said, "what the hell, I can use 2" . So I bought another one wth the side plate.

You got it. I only run into trouble when I try to take too much off at once. I have found that the drum sander takes patience. I try to adjust the depth of cut and the feed rate so that the auto speed control does not kick in. Especially true for maple and cherry that tned to burn easily.

I am strictly a Norton water stone guy with a Vertias MK II guide and a diamond sotne for flattening - It's just how I learned - person preference.

Welcome. I hope that i am not telling you something that you already know but shellacis not a very durable finish. The good news is that you can put almost anything on top of shellac so that , If you find that you want to, you can use something like a wiping varnish on top of it. ONe of the "go to" finishes for a lot of people is Arm-R-Seal by General Finishes. Above all, have fun with your journey.

Looking good. I have have a suspicion that Drying too fast or too hot is becoming the norm. More "Stress relief" when ripping than there used to be. At least it seems that way.

The big challenge on both boxes was to get the veneer on the fronts (and sides) to line up. I did not want to veneer the box and then lose 1/8" when I cut the tops off so the box was veneered after it was cut apart. I was shooting for a perfect grain match. I will probably not do that again since it added so many steps and days to the effort. The first box is Karelian Birch with narrow dyed black and wider Ribbon stripe saplele filletti. The frame is solid walnut. The interior is walnut. Brusso hinges. The box itself under all that veneer is walnut whcih only show at the mating surfaces of the lid and bottom. The second box is a walnut burl veneer with a wide ebony veneer filletti. The maple border and legs are glued into a rabbet cut along all edges. The mating surfaces of the topa nd bottom are also veneered with ebony. That is another reson for applying the outside veneer after stting the box apart since I had to apply the ebony veneeer before the external veneer so the ebony edge would not show witht he lid is closed. The interior is balck walnut with a Georgia cherry gel stain. The box its self is 3/8" baltic birch butis not visible anywhere. Brusso hinges. The works have 72 note cylinders. It was amazing how the sound improved and got louder from open box, then add the glass, then close the box. Now for the shameless plug: I got the works from http://bettermusicboxes.com/. Interesting guys. Rick tunes the works for better sound after they recieve it from the supplier. He also recomposes some of the music so it takes advantage of the works' abilities. Steve makes boxes that they sell. Check out the site. They sent a lot of good info on dimesions and info other things that you can do when building the boxes get the best sound. They spent about 30 minutes on the phone with me one day talking about the effects of different materials, how to construct the bottom and how to mount the glass.

I won't elaborate on the problems (self made and otherwise) that I had with these, but they are done and the sound is great. Both boxes are veneered inside and out. The liners are solid walnut the bottoms are 1/8" baltic birch with walnut veneer. Finish is many coats of clear shellac and then waxed. It was worth the headaches.

I will probably go to Amana. Vegas would be fun to - gotta think about that one. - Some other member

I am replacing some wood slats on an outdoor chair. The owner has decided to leave the wood bare since that is the most maitenance free alternative. But here is my question.... What it I were to do just one coat of shellac just to pop the grain then apply no further finish. I am assuming that it will look a little more attractive to start with but would still weather to gray. Any thoughts?

I like your space. Thanks for the tour.

Chestnuts pic is an extreme example but he is right. I usually do the mortises with an router and rather than squaring of the ends of the hole with a chisel I round over the ends of the tenons. A little gap beween the tenon and the end of the mortise is fine, I an most concerned about the width having a nice fit. There are times that you want a more exact fit like for through tenons, etc but those are less common and you will know it when you see it.

I just learned that the MN DNR considers balck locust an invasive species . Who da thunk it?

the insect or the tree? In eaither case, I don't know. It may not be form here originally. Is Black locust you guess? I will look it up.