Lately I just haven't felt like blogging. Not sure why. I find I tend to blog in fits and starts. Sometimes I get up to 10 blogs written and lined up for weekly posting. Lately, not so much. I'm hoping to break this streak but writing something, anything.
I am close to finishing up two projects. One is a "classic" Shaker nightstand table. It's out of cherry, with ebony and figured maple accents. For the top, I purchased a really nice piece of quilted cherry. Just added my last coat of Tried and True finish this past weekend. Should be able to put the top on next weekend. I like to go a full week between coats, which is much longer than the instructions but I'm not in a rush. Took about 150 hours; of this, likely 100 hours were spent on all the inlay on top, feet, and bottom of rails. Happy with the way it came out. Will write a blog series on this. Considering to enter this into the local country fair. Have a friend who enters his bee's wax and honey and I like county fairs so this could be fun as long as it doesn't get stolen.
The other project is I am making a sub-woofer speaker box for my nephew. He likes audio equipment and bought a Chevy Suburban to house this (he gave me the dimensions for build). It is made from Baltic birch, finished with garnet shellac. Challenges for this project was the size and sheer number of dovetails. I even included a hounds tooth. Dovetails are about 1/16" proud to add some dimensionality to it. Not just a matter of cutting out the top and bottom. I have about 100 hours into it. Chopping out dovetails in plywood was "fun." Learned a lot that will be helpful when I eventually build large bookcases and a China cabinet. I will blog about it.
Next batter up is to clean up the workbench that my grandfather made for my cousin in the 1960s. It doesn't contain lead paint as I checked for that. Super excited to have this. Will use to keep my sharpening stones on it and my daughter can use it woodwork on when ever she wants. Just need to clean with some Krud cutter. I also have some child chairs, a side table and a storage cabinet. All of which will find use somewhere either as functional furniture or, in the case of the chairs, decorations on the house.
Next project is to finally get the bandsaw I purchased off of the pallet and the electrician in to add some additional lines/plugs in the garage. I bought it sooner than I wanted/needed it as I hadn't seen PowerMatic's go on sale for two years. When this went on sale for 10% off on a Black Friday sale I bought it. Debating between an Oneida or Harvey or ClearVue dust collector. Have the money saved up. Waiting for a good deal. Again, likely don't need this set up and running till 1Q24 so not in a huge rush.
With those all out of the way, I can finally get to the project I had really wanted to so in January of this year which is to make Christian Becksvoort's 15 drawer chest. It's on my bucket list and wood has been in my shop for two or three years at this point. I will get good at dovetails by the time this project is done. Hopefully I will write more frequently soon.
HI Joe
ReplyDeleteI like the shine you got with the finish. I tried it but I didn't get nowhere near the sheen you got. I like the inlays you did on the table, it really makes something simple and functional pop out.
As for blogging don't worry about it. Pick a day and post something. It doesn't have to be a thousand words with accompanying pics. Once you get a schedule and routine going it gets easier.
Thanks Ralph. I think at least one of the photos on the bench (if not both) were done just after I applied a coat but before I wiped it off two hours later. It still looks good but I don't think it is as shiny as it looks. Still very nice. I have 3 coats of the Tried and True Varnis with 0000 steel wool rub down after each a week after applying the coat and then two coats of the Tried and True with Beeswax. I really like this oil but I don't think I like it more than shellac. I'm quite happy with the way the inlays came out as I was expecting them to be more gappy. I also learned that using inlay with all black or a black border is helpful as the black color helps to conceal any gaps.
Delete