What did you do today?

[BillyJack]

Reason I almost shut the shop down. More projects than I can keep up with anymore..

[pkinneb]

Started working on a Windsor Loop Back bending form I need for next weekend. First up I copied the pattern on to a piece of banner paper so I didn't have to cut up the plans.

With that done I cut it out and transferred the shape to the plywood.

Then headed to the BS to cut it out

With that done I cleaned up the blank with the belt sander (outside curve), spindle sander (inside curves), and flexible long board at the bench for final touch up.

Used the cut out for form thickness underneath. 

I will use the cut out to make some drying forms before gluing up the bending form and adding the peg holes. Also need to knock out some wedges and prep the the back bows for bending Saturday morning.

 

[wtnhighlander]

Is there a particular reason for using ply, as opposed to mdf?

Or did you just have it on hand?

[pkinneb]

On 10/27/2024 at 10:23 PM, wtnhighlander said:

Is there a particular reason for using ply, as opposed to mdf?

Or did you just have it on hand?

There is a fair amount of stress when you are bending around the form so felt ply would be better plus that's all I have ever seen them made out of 

Having said that my drying forms will be mdf since at that point the bend is done and now you are just trying to keep the shape.

[Chestnut]

@pkinneb I wish i had more time. All these dead ash trees around here makes me want to turn them into lumber. I'm still going to try and get some from my neighborhood though.

Isn't ash a commonly used wood for Windsor chairs? IIRC it steam bends nicely. If you ever need some small (length) i have some 6'-7' long ash slabs, air dried obviously. I also have some air dried white oak slabs, those will be harder to convince me to part with though.

[pkinneb]

On 10/29/2024 at 9:40 AM, Chestnut said:

@pkinneb I wish i had more time. All these dead ash trees around here makes me want to turn them into lumber. I'm still going to try and get some from my neighborhood though.

Isn't ash a commonly used wood for Windsor chairs? IIRC it steam bends nicely. If you ever need some small (length) i have some 6'-7' long ash slabs, air dried obviously. I also have some air dried white oak slabs, those will be harder to convince me to part with though.

I have seen some yes most use white oak for spindles, white pine for seats, and sugar maple for turnings. Ash especially if not kiln dried should bend nicely.

[pkinneb]

...and then there were two. This completes the cribbage boards started in 2022. I made three in all, one for a xmas gift that year and finally finished these two this month. One will be a future gift and one will be for our game room. Another item checked off the list of unfinished projects, only three to go before I start my long needed hanging hand tool cabinet.

 

[Ronn W]

Beautiful.  I like it.

[wtnhighlander]

The light wood is maple, yes? Was it prettytough to carve?

I know chip carving is tedious, but the textured patterns can add interest to a project. Those look great!

[JohnG]

They look fantastic! Think you would ever consider making more? Or are you glad to have it done and over with?

[legenddc]

They look great!

[pkinneb]

On 10/30/2024 at 6:13 PM, wtnhighlander said:

The light wood is maple, yes? Was it prettytough to carve?

I know chip carving is tedious, but the textured patterns can add interest to a project. Those look great!

Basswood pretty good for carving with sharp knife. Thank you!

On 10/30/2024 at 6:40 PM, JohnG said:

They look fantastic! Think you would ever consider making more? Or are you glad to have it done and over with?

Nope! I think my chip carving days are done. So many area's of woodworking I enjoy and while I'm glad I did these it just wasn't my thing.

[Woodworking_Hobby]

Well it’s kind of embarrassing but it has almost been exactly a year and I am finally getting back to my miter station project. Life, work, and my other responsibilities seem to get in the way of woodworking.  Not to mention my squirrel like brain logic jumping around:

-well if I am installing this miter station I better fix the wiring so I have the outlets where I want them. 
-well if I am ripping up the walls and installing this miter station I better fix the walls. 

I finally have all of the drawers and slides installed and the rough lumber into the milling process for the drawer fronts and doors.

[legenddc]

Nothing embarrassing about that, at least not to me. Life gets in the way of hobbies.

I'm debating on taking tomorrow off so I can go work on the bookshelf I started on Nov. 30th according the pictures I just looked at. I only have the legs and side pieces milled up.

[pkinneb]

Agreed I'm making a concerted to finish up 5-6 projects that I started as far back as 2021...good news is 4 are now complete 

Last night I knocked out three drying forms for some chair bows I plan on steam bending Saturday. I used the form (before glue up) to trace the shape on to the MDF, then cut to the line on the BS, before finishing with a flush trim bit at the router table.

FWIW this double sided tape is the best I have ever used. Most are a pita A$$ to get the paper off but this Spectape is no problem at all. I use a fair amount between pattern routing and the Shaper CNC so nice to have one that works. I buy it on Amazon

[legenddc]

Pulled out the multi-tool to carve some pumpkins. Was super quick and my 7 year old son was able to do his pumpkin by himself.

[legenddc]

Found a bowl I started making a loooong time ago. Possibly 7 years. Finished it today with the cheap carbide tools. They work shocking well. 
 

Also made two loaves of bread. Thankfully my wife made the chili so I didn’t have to. 
 

[Woodworking_Hobby]

Finally got the false fronts all milled up; cut to dimensions, and installed today. They turned out ok; just used some danish oil to finish them off.  The pulls went better than I thought. Ended up making a template, drilled the holes, and tacked them to the drawers with pan head screws like TWW did in one of his videos. Worked pretty slick. Now onto the doors for the other two cabinets. 

[wtnhighlander]

Nearest thing to 'woodwork' that I've done in a while.

Whittled a 'pile of boulders', and modified the roof structure, to add lighting for this little table-top Nativity display.

 

Powlonia scraps worked quite well for this.

[drzaius]

Spending the day at home. First snowfall of the season.

[Mark J]

3 hours ago, drzaius said:

Spending the day at home. First snowfall of the season.

For a first of the season, Mother nature sure didn't stint on the white stuff.  

[Tom King]

72 here today.  Bermuda grass is still green, and the horses are good and fat to start the Winter.  We used to have to start feeding hay before Thanksgiving.  Looks like we'll make it to Christmas this year.

I had the non-fun jobs of working on old plumbing today.  Fixed a water heater that turned out to be the thermostat and replaced everything in an old toilet starting with a new valve.

I've had it with the cutoff valves from box stores and even local plumbing suppliers.  I used a Canadian made Dahl valve this time and it looks promising for longevity.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Dahl-511-46-31-1-2-Female-CPVC-x-3-8-OD-Comp-Straight-Supply-Stop-Lead-Free-Chrome-Plated

[legenddc]

Heard a bunch of leaf blowers running this morning. Guess they're cleaning our neighborhood without any warning. I managed to quick blow off the deck and back yard. Got some of my neighbors backyard too. The guys usually get our front yards but I got as much as I could anyway.

Cars will be a mess between the leaf blowing and mulching them into the truck. Normally if we're not in a drought it's not too bad.

My new headlight bulbs should come in today but looking at my work calendar I won't be able to get them in this afternoon. Hopefully I can tomorrow before it rains and temperatures drop from the 63 to 47.

[legenddc]

Right before I was testing my first face plunge cut with the Domino I decided to take it off of my table saw. I was thinking if the stop failed I would rather mess up the workbench than a cast iron table saw top. 

Should have looked to set the depth stop. Already filled it with epoxy last night. 

[fcschoenthal]

On 11/19/2024 at 8:23 AM, legenddc said:

Right before I was testing my first face plunge cut with the Domino I decided to take it off of my table saw. I was thinking if the stop failed I would rather mess up the workbench than a cast iron table saw top. 
Should have looked to set the depth stop. Already filled it with epoxy last night. 

My first few cuts with the Domino I must have spent half an hour measuring and testing on scrap pieces and still didn't hit my mark. They're great tools, but do come with a learning curve, especially when trying to convert to metric at the same time.