Saturday, February 23, 2013

Poplar TV Stand: 5

The bottom shelf is done. Somehow I had a bit of an issue with fitting one corner. Lesson here I think is decide on the shelf design first and dry fit instead if trying to wedge it in and size it as you go. At least I learned a little repair work as a bonus. Next: attach top, sand, stain!



Small repair in the back corner, which ended up being the front.  It fit nicely.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Gramercy Tools Holdfasts

I had seen a holdfast used many a time on The Woodwright's Shop and elsewhere, and finally saw a reasonably priced option available from Gramercy Tools. They work as advertised, and I am pleased. It is actually quite amazing how often I find myself reaching for one. As a bonus, my bench seems much more "legit" with dog holes in it ;)
We shall see where this takes us now...

Poplar TV Stand: 4

Laminating the top. Next will be the bottom shelf. I found that just gluing two at a time was far easier though I was initially tempted to try all three at once. I'm glad a went with the former.



Poplar TV Stand: 3

The frame is coming together nicely. I got a crazy idea to test my joinery skills and try a sort of dovetail style joint for the cross piece of the bottom shelf. I'm pleased to report it worked out quite nicely and provided a nice tight fit.





Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Roubo book stand: poplar

While in the middle of the TV stand project, I got the itch to do one of these book stands. I had a very dark leftover piece of poplar from the TV stand, and thought this would make a nice stand. So I eyeballed the dimensions and made an odd number of hinge points... I am wondering if I have a panel saw up to the task of the final splitting...



Sunday, February 10, 2013

Stanley #358 mitre saw: my new chop-saw

I had driven by this a number of times in an antique shop window and finally went in to check it out. Since I am still early on in my learning woodworking I didn't really have an appreciation for some of these tools. I had seen this tool on The Woodwright's Shop. After having to make a series of cuts using a cheap plastic (and overly flexible) mitre box, I realize the incredible utility of this saw. It was well taken care of and I have had to do little other than lubricate it and it does the job well. I may contact an author of a post on his restore regarding the oft missing piece that controls the length of pieces

Poplar TV Stand: 2

The frame is coming together. I must confess that I tried out the technique of boring out the mortise holes with a drill before cleaning up with a chisel instead of chopping them entirely, just to compare. I would say, like most of these things, the drill method requires less skill overall which is nice since I am over my head with this project in terms of skills required.
My final tenons were nearly perfect as I finally figured out the correct/best way to pare them down to the lines. I'm now hoping glue will help my slightly loose tenons...



Monday, February 4, 2013

Poplar TV Stand: 1

Our TV stand was broken recently so this became the next immediate project. A little frightening since it is probably above my skill level at this point, but challenge is good.
We were going to go for maple but opted for poplar since again, I'm going to ruin a few pieces before it is done.
The legs were laminated and came together quite nicely. With trepidation I chopped mortises into them. So far so good. My tenons, on the other hand, was where I learned some new skills. I now fully understand the idea of "sneaking up" on the proper for. By keeping things just a little oversized, the trimmed fit to the mortise is now super tight.