What's on the bench.

[JohnG]

On 2/14/2022 at 9:47 AM, legenddc said:

What kind are you getting?

Went to a fairly new lumber yard/sawmill this weekend. They've only been in business for 3 or 4 years but have a ton of equipment, lots of inventory and ability to mill things. Starting to have things S3S ready to be purchased for the same price as rough. 

Biggest downside besides being just over an hour away from me is most of their boards are 12' and my wife's SUV only fits 8'. Need to plan ahead some for that as I'm used to boards being closer to 8'. They were nice enough to cut them down for me on a miter saw but I bring my cordless jigsaw just in case.

Harvey Alpha 15”

I’ve taken a cordless circ saw to the lumber yard with me and cut down boards in the parking lot to fit them in the small SUV I had at the time. 

[Chestnut]

Fitting drawers and this drawer just would not close. It was flawless smooth 10 min ago there is no way the humidity changed already....

Might help if i removed my work light i guess. ..

[Woodworking_Hobby]

Finally made it out to the shop this weekend!  Got a bunch of boards rough cut and getting ready to dive into some projects. 

[Chestnut]

Doing some string inlay practise for a table project. This is way easier than i was expecting.

I will admit that i bought the OF 1400 to make things a bit easier.

Having the router on the track with a set offset to the bit makes this as easy as putting the track on the line and go.

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

Doing some string inlay practise for a table project. This is way easier than i was expecting.

I will admit that i bought the OF 1400 to make things a bit easier.

Having the router on the track with a set offset to the bit makes this as easy as putting the track on the line and go.

Please quit posting stuff extolling the virtues of Festool products. My resolve and wallet can only take so much. 

I have done stringing, but that track setup is soooo much easier.

[Chestnut]

2 hours ago, drzaius said:

Please quit posting stuff extolling the virtues of Festool products. My resolve and wallet can only take so much. 

I have done stringing, but that track setup is soooo much easier.

My apologies. I'll just post the finished picture and lave the tools out next time.

[gee-dub]

I got bored watching finish cure and so decided to see if I could burn up some scrap by making some small boxes.

[treeslayer]

one of my favorite things to do between other jobs, looks great

[Chet]

On 4/24/2022 at 1:39 PM, treeslayer said:

one of my favorite things to do between other jobs, looks great

+1

[Woodworking_Hobby]

5 hours ago, gee-dub said:

I got bored watching finish cure and so decided to see if I could burn up some scrap by making some small boxes.

Looking good!  You will have to share as they progress!  Anything special for the joints?  There are so maybe different ways to make boxes I am always interested in how they are done. 

[Chestnut]

On 4/23/2022 at 11:09 AM, drzaius said:

I have done stringing, but that track setup is soooo much easier.

I haven't done the stringing on the top yet and I'm very apprehensive about it. The dang top looks nice and i have a lot of time into it. I don't want to mess it up. It's been a while since I've been nervous to mess something up.

[treeslayer]

We’ve all been there Drew and every time I hesitated and didn’t go the extra step I’ve regretted it, good chance to test your skill and you’ve got lots of skill so I say go for it 

[Chestnut]

5 minutes ago, treeslayer said:

We’ve all been there Drew and every time I hesitated and didn’t go the extra step I’ve regretted it, good chance to test your skill and you’ve got lots of skill so I say go for it 

It was a direct request and I'm up against a deadline so i have no choice, it's happening tonight.

[Woodworking_Hobby]

Nothing to write home about, but I got the first coat of Danish oil on one of the little boxes I was making to practice my joinery and practice at casework.  This is the first box I have made in a lifetime and think it turned out ok. There is a little gap you can see where the side meets the base, I might try and lap the bottom on some sandpaper next go to see if that helps. When I tested the box on the base it did not rock so I thought it was flat enough but there must have been enough of an edge somewhere that it caused the gap when I glued it all up. I am guessing this is just one of the small details that will come together with time and as I hone my skills?  Still working on the memento boxes and will post an update when those are done.

[wtnhighlander]

Looks pretty good! It might be that the corner where the gap is has the edge a bit out of square to the faces. That would let the inside corner rest against the bench and not rock, but the outside corner have the gap.

Are the box walls just butted to the bottom, or is there a raised portion of the bottom that fits inside the walls?

[Chestnut]

I forgot to ask. Do you have a drum sander? Often those are good tools to make the bottom of a box flat and parallel to the opposite side.

Another option that may reduce that gap in the future is to frame the box instead of gluing solid wood to the bottom, it's small but in larger boxes movement could present an issue. I've also glued a bottom on like that and added tiny trim the the bottom edge to hide a gap.

[Chestnut]

The string inlay went well but I probably didn't think through the size of material I was using. I have approximately 1/4" of material proud of the surface, which leaves me wondering how to trim it down. I'd normally use a plane of some sort but with the swirly grain of the top and it being maple I didn't want to deal with large chipout. Does anyone have any recommendations?

[Chet]

I would probably use my cabinet scraper or spoke shave until I got to the point of being able to finish with a sanding block.

Or set your router just shy of the top and trim it that way, then sand.

[Woodworking_Hobby]

6 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

Looks pretty good! It might be that the corner where the gap is has the edge a bit out of square to the faces. That would let the inside corner rest against the bench and not rock, but the outside corner have the gap.

Are the box walls just butted to the bottom, or is there a raised portion of the bottom that fits inside the walls?

For this build it was just pretty basic; and the box just sits on the base. I am guessing in design of a box this is why sometimes the bottom fits inside the box and sits inside a dado or rabbit. Would lapping the bottom on sandpaper help with that or is it being more aware to the faces and edges in fitup?  In a side note over the last year I have learned woodworking is more about how you fix things than do them perfect  especially with the nature of wood and how it is always moving. 

[Woodworking_Hobby]

3 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I forgot to ask. Do you have a drum sander? Often those are good tools to make the bottom of a box flat and parallel to the opposite side.

Another option that may reduce that gap in the future is to frame the box instead of gluing solid wood to the bottom, it's small but in larger boxes movement could present an issue. I've also glued a bottom on like that and added tiny trim the the bottom edge to hide a gap.

Do you mean an oscillating drum sander?  I only have an old belt and disc sander but not a drum.   How do you shape the bottom to the side with the drum sander?

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, Woodworking_Hobby said:

Do you mean an oscillating drum sander?  I only have an old belt and disc sander but not a drum.   How do you shape the bottom to the side with the drum sander?

https://www.rockler.com/supermax-16-32-open-stand-drum-sander

Similar to a planer, just feed it through. Not worth buying one though just for small boxes. I use mine for shop made veneer, oddball projects, and highly figured woods.

[legenddc]

Hard to tell the size but you might be able to put a sheet of sandpaper on a flat surface and move the box around to get it flat if you don't have a drumsander. Would take longer obviously but could work.

Or make that the back side...

[drzaius]

I just did something very similar. I used a block plane to take it close & then a card scraper to make it flush. Painters tape on each side helps keep from marring the surrounding wood. I was doing it with quarter sawn white oak, which is kinda prone to chipping & tear out so I was careful to watch the grain & change direction of the plane as needed. It goes fast.

[Chestnut]

4 hours ago, Chet said:

Or set your router just shy of the top and trim it that way, then sand.

Doh, i forgot i have a router set up to trim edge banding that would be perfect for this.... I won't post a picture because @drzaius might get some sweet ryobi router envy.....  

[drzaius]

2 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Doh, i forgot i have a router set up to trim edge banding that would be perfect for this.... I won't post a picture because @drzaius might get some sweet ryobi router envy.....  

HaHa! I just might.