Woodwork Projects 2008

This was the first woodwork project that I completed last year. This made the other 2 projects a lot easier to do. As well as all the other woodworking projects we have planned. I wanted to add an end vice, I haven't done that yet though.

This was the second project of the year, an armoire for Ella's room. It's all made out of pine, we didn't want to spend too much on wood. I was still a lot more than an Ikea one would have cost though, which makes you wonder where Ikea gets it's wood. It's finished with danish oil.

It has shelves on on side and hangers on the other side.

The third project was the table that I made for my mom. It's made of Western Red Cedar, all 2x6's. I finished it with Sikkens Cetol 123.

Here it is on her patio. I'm sure it'll see some use this summer.

The forth project is the outdoor couch. I haven't finished it, it's ready to assemble though. It's too big to assemble in the basement and bring outside. I have to wait until the summer, so I can finish it outside. A friend of ours is going to make the cusions for us. It all Western Red Cedar as well, and we're going to finish it with Sikkens Cetol 123. It's going to be nice to relax on, on our deck next summer (between bouts of stucco removal I'm sure).

Outdoor Couch Status

Well, it's too late for this year... but it'll be ready for next year. All of the major pieces are ready to assemble. I measured the doors in the basement, and it looks like I'll be putting it together outside. So I'm just going to wait until the spring. Then I can put it together, sand and stain it outside. I don't want to do it now, because it'll be sitting outside all winter, which will make it more difficult to stain. I have to trim the front rail about 1/16", it's longer than the back, and it's not going together square. Other than that it's ready to assemble, then I'll build all the supporting pieces for the bottom cushions. All the joints are mortise and tenon, and I did most of it by hand. I used a mortising chisel and japanese saws to cut the tenons. It's all made of Western Red Cedar, so we'll see how durable it is. I found the cedar a little too soft when I was working with it, and it splits easily too if you're not careful. It's going to look great on our deck next summer though. I have one more project to do in the shop, then we're going to redo the shop, to make things work better. It's a little cramped, and storage and lighting could be improved. Hopefully I can work a little more efficiently once the shop is in order. The work bench has helped a lot, so I'm sure other improvements will help too.

Armoire vs. Stairwell

I'm building an armoire for Ella from the Stickley furniture book I got for Christmas. I just finished the top, so we figure we'd try getting the top up the stairs, you know, to see it the thing would fit. No dice. The top is 50"x22.5. It looks like I'm going to have to make it like flat pack furniture, so it can be dismantled. I bought a Kreg pocket screw jig, so hopefully I can just put it together with that. I don't know how many times it could be taken apart though, since I'm using pine, and it's soft. I think as long as I don't torque the screws down too hard, it should be okay. It is more complicated though, It's not so bad making the panels, I just hope if works. I think I'll assemble it first in the basement, then take it apart and put it back together. I've heard pocket screws make strong connections, this will be the test.

Workbench

I've had the top and the vice for over a year, so I decided to build my workbench. It's for using hand tools like chisels and planes, I have another bench to use power tools on. The top and vice are from Lee Valley, I made the base out of maple. I've never worked with maple before, it's a lot harder than fir. My tablesaw was having problems cutting it, and my drillpress was having problems drilling it. I couldn't find any stock thicker than 1.25", so glued up those to make the trestle legs. I mortised the legs in to the base piece, I drilled holes, then cleaned it up with chisels. It was hard work with hand tools and maple. The stretchers are 3/4" x 6", and are held together with bed bolt, like a lot of flat pack furniture uses, that way it can be taken apart. I made the jaws for the vice out of scrap, I think I have to redo them, the holes aren't quite in the right spot, the dimensions were in metric, and I made a mistake somewhere. I'd like the jaws to be a little wider anyways. I have the handle for the vice somewhere. I have a tail vice that I'm going to put on as well, once I figure out how to put it on. I need more maple, and it's a little pricey, so I think I'll wait. Next is cleaning up and reorganizing the shop. Then I'll start building some furniture, hopefully it'll be a little easier with the new bench. I still need to put some finish on the legs. I'm going to get some adjustable feet as well.