More woodworking fun

[Koz]

I'm still pretty much a novice at woodworking but I find I enjoy it and have enjoy drawing up plans and learning new techniques. I've also met the Bait Monkey's cousin, Shop Monkey and that has led to some new purchases. This time it was a router, router table, and a bunch of router bits. And clamps. I've found out that I can never have too many clamps.

 

My latest project was a coffee table for the living room. Because I'm still new at this I again used inexpensive white wood from the big box stores. It does take a while to find pieces that aren't cupped or warped too badly and don't have too many knots. For my next project I may step up to select pine or a hard wood.

 

Anyway, I sketched out a plan and my cut sheet and went to work. One thing I wanted was for the table top to have a little bit of decorative variation to it rather than just a flat, boring top. So using the router I cut about 1/16" along one side and both ends of the middle boards at about 1/8" deep so when I joined them there was a small groove. I also used the router to put a rounded edge on the outside pieces and used a pocket hole jig (another Shop Monkey purchase) and pocket hole screws to assemble the top.

 

The base was pretty straight forward. The legs were made up of 1x3's glued together. But when I put it all together the square legs looked rather boring. I don't have a lathe (yet) so I could not turn my own table legs. I looked for some stock legs but didn't find anything I liked. So I took the base apart and after some trial and decided to put my new router to work again. I cut a v-groove around the perimeter of each leg and also edged each corner of the leg to try and enhance its appearance. It's not great, but at least it's not a boring square leg. I did see a video of someone that built a home made jig to turn their router into a lathe type device and he made some great, decorative pieces. I may give that a try in the future.

 

Again, looking to make the table more decorative I made some faux drawers on each of the sides. At first they were rectangular, but that looked boring with a rectangle on a rectangle. So I cut the corners at 45 degrees. I then used a Roman Ogee bit around each edge to give it some definition and added half shell drawer pulls I purchased at a big box store.

 

It didn't come out perfect, but I'm not a pro at this. But it passes the eye test. Now hopefully it will hold up over time.

 

All along I had decided I wanted to paint the table rather than stain it. I also wanted the top and the base to be different colors. Almost all of the wood furniture (entertainment center, bar stools, sofa table, etc) are espresso in color so I went for something different. It's a lighter brown top with an off white base. It took me a number of different paint samples to get the right base color. I probably should have gone a little darker with the top, but it will do. I still have one final sanding to do and then apply a finish. If I use wax it should darken the top a bit, but since it's a coffee table and needs to be durable I will probably use polyacrylic.

 

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the way this came out. Now my son is interested in giving woodworking a hand so I told him I will help him build a matching end table. I'm not sure what my next project will be but I'm leaning towards either a kitchen table or a computer work station. I also have an idea in my head about a wood wall art piece.

 

 

[jimmyjoe]

   That looks great!

   If you're into a dining table next, you might want to consider this:

   https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/97414

   Although it might be a little crude. Looks strong, though.

   It appears you have a fine eye for the finishing touch. That's not common, and it is valuable.     jj       

[Hammer 4]

As a retired Contractor/carpenter, I'd say your doing very well from what I can see. Tables look great.

 

When I retired over 10 years ago, I had a Ton of tools, ect..Went in the garage last week, and was surprised at the number of clamps I still have, from tiny to 36" pipe clamps. Maybe it's time for a garage sale..lol

 

Anyway, nice work..You learn with every build..

[lo n slo]

good job brother

[Oregon Native]

Looks good....found out many years ago the more skilled I got ...the more honey do's I was presented....now I just want to fish and golf....

Especially when the significant other says....When ya going to do ...........

Gotta have limits....

[Koz]

On 7/12/2020 at 10:48 PM, jimmyjoe said:

   That looks great!

   If you're into a dining table next, you might want to consider this:

   https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/97414

   Although it might be a little crude. Looks strong, though.

   It appears you have a fine eye for the finishing touch. That's not common, and it is valuable.     jj       

That's quite an interesting base on that table. I would not have thought of that.

 

I don't know why, but I'm not big on 2x4 builds for indoor furniture. Outdoor furniture or shop tables I'm OK with. Initially I drew up plans for this using 2x4's because it was cost effective, but after dimensioning everything out it was pretty bulky and really heavy so I opted for using 1 bys instead.

 

My son is now interested in helping so I think we'll do a matching side table next.

[J Francho]

You should check out sugarpercussion on Insta. Jefferson makes some amazing drums, but his furniture is art. 

[jimmyjoe]

48 minutes ago, Koz said:

 .... after dimensioning everything out it was pretty bulky and really heavy so I opted for using 1 bys instead.

 

My son is now interested in helping so I think we'll do a matching side table next.

 

   I know it's a PITA for the woodworker, but I'm a big fan of massive styles.     jj

[spartyon8]

Nice work! Like you, I am fairly new to the hobby but not carpenter type stuff. I always try to challenge myself with the next projects. Sometimes it can be something like size, tool in a new way, technique, etc. My latest was a cherry waterfall table that incorporated some epoxy and butterfly inlays (on bottom of table). I also mill my own lumber with a chainsaw a dry it with a small dehumidifier kiln. It is very rewarding to see the work from full tree to finished item. 

[Koz]

1 hour ago, spartyon8 said:

Nice work! Like you, I am fairly new to the hobby but not carpenter type stuff. I always try to challenge myself with the next projects. Sometimes it can be something like size, tool in a new way, technique, etc. My latest was a cherry waterfall table that incorporated some epoxy and butterfly inlays (on bottom of table). I also mill my own lumber with a chainsaw a dry it with a small dehumidifier kiln. It is very rewarding to see the work from full tree to finished item. 

Very nice! Getting quality lumber at a decent price is a challenge so kudos to you for taking the initiative to do it on your own.

 

I've been able to do a decent job with the builds but where I still struggle is with the finishing work whether it be stain or paint. I took some time with the above project and applied acetone, then a mix of acetone and paint, sanded, then paint, sanded, and paint again. I still have one more light sanding to do and then apply the poly which I hope to start on tomorrow. I'm praying it turns out decent.

 

The good news is I now gace a decent amount of scrap wood to practice my staining and painting techniques. You did a great job on yours to bring out the beauty of the wood.

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

You should check out sugarpercussion on Insta. Jefferson makes some amazing drums, but his furniture is art. 

That's some amazing work. For some reason it kind of reminded me of guys who glue different types of wood together and then cut it into bowls. I'd love to learn some of those techniques but for now I'll stick to my blocky furniture!

[spartyon8]

22 minutes ago, Koz said:

Very nice! Getting quality lumber at a decent price is a challenge so kudos to you for taking the initiative to do it on your own.

 

I've been able to do a decent job with the builds but where I still struggle is with the finishing work whether it be stain or paint. I took some time with the above project and applied acetone, then a mix of acetone and paint, sanded, then paint, sanded, and paint again. I still have one more light sanding to do and then apply the poly which I hope to start on tomorrow. I'm praying it turns out decent.

 

The good news is I now gace a decent amount of scrap wood to practice my staining and painting techniques. You did a great job on yours to bring out the beauty of the wood.

That's some amazing work. For some reason it kind of reminded me of guys who glue different types of wood together and then cut it into bowls. I'd love to learn some of those techniques but for now I'll stick to my blocky furniture!

So far, I have found General Finishes Arm-r-Seal and Osmo Polyx 3043 to be my favorite finishes. The Osmo is what is on that table. It is meant for floors so it is quite durable. It is also easy to touch up. I tend to stay away from stains and paint as I love natural wood. 

[Mobasser]

Koz, I've been a carpenter for over 30 yrs. I think your work looks great. Nice job!

[Koz]

I finished another project this past weekend. Last week my friend and neighbor, Bill passed away at 81 years old. He would always stop by my garage to check out what project I was working on and what tools and techniques I was using. He mentioned a few times that if COVID ever cleared up he wanted to work on a project with me. He and his wife also hired my son to do chores around their house.

 

I was thankful for his friendship and his interest in whatever I was building. So in his honor I built a small oak keepsake box for his wife to place his wedding ring, a few photos, and any other small objects that she has in mind.

 

I kind of rushed the build because she is heading out of town to live with her daughter for a while and I wanted to get it to her ASAP. The build actually came out good, but my finishing technique still needs work, especially the polyurethane. Luckily, I have a bunch of scrap wood to practice with.

 

My next project will be a dog bed for my dog Boomer. Tonight I was looking online for a pillow to put within the frame and that left me with a question, "Who the heck pays $200 for a dog pillow?"

 

 

[Koz]

OK, I think this is going to be the last one for a while - unless I build the side table to match the coffee table.

This week it's a new dog bed for Boomer. Again, a relatively simple build with the plywood box frame and some corner posts put together with glue and pocket holes. I have neither the tools nor the talent to make an ornate project, but I do like to add visual interest when I can.

In this case I used 1/4" x 2" poplar strips glued to the frame. But before gluing them I ran one edge along a 1/4" straight router bit at a depth of 1/8". This gave it that vertical shiplap look. Originally I had planned to only do the outside of the bed, but I had some wood left over and added it to the inside along the back before I ran out. I'll need to pick up some more this week to finish the two inside, side panels.

In planning this I found out that dog pillows can be really expensive. So instead I took a standard bed pillow and wrapped it in Boomer's favorite blanket. It works well and it will make it easy to clean. Anyway, it was a fun and easy project.

[J Francho]

That’s nice!

[Koz]

OK - another new project this past week. That coffee table that I built earlier needed something on that big empty space on top. So I built a simple serving / display tray to for a couple of plants and to hold coasters or the remote as well.

 

There's not a whole lot to it, but because it's an eight sided join the miter cuts have to be precise so you don't have any gaps where the side pieces join. Normally when I stain a project I sand it up to only 220 grit so the stain absorbs well in the wood. But for this project I wanted to give it a distressed look and with that I didn't want the stain to absorb as much. So I sanded it to 1000 grit, put on a few coats of Polystain, then distressed parts of it with a Philips head screwdriver. When I added another coat of stain that stain settled into the distressed marks making those gouges darker.

 

Fun fact - if I left the handles off I could have also stood it on end, added shelves, and had a wall display case.

 

 

[roadwarrior]

[slonezp]

Very nice.

[islandbass]

Very nice work! I am not a carpenter but I love working with wood. Everything I know I learned from two shop teachers in 6-8th grade. I learned the basic tools: sanders, router, saws, making calculations, etc. 

 

It’s been enough to make lures from wood, like poppers and crank and jerk baits. And the never ending honey do projects, especially this year. 

[Koz]

7 hours ago, islandbass said:

Very nice work! I am not a carpenter but I love working with wood. Everything I know I learned from two shop teachers in 6-8th grade. I learned the basic tools: sanders, router, saws, making calculations, etc. 

 

It’s been enough to make lures from wood, like poppers and crank and jerk baits. And the never ending honey do projects, especially this year. 

I thought about trying to make some lures, but after watching Marling Baits on YouTube I realized I don't have the artistic skills to make something that I would be happy with. Maybe one day I'll give it a try.

 

Here's a link if you  haven't seen him in action: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa-xsrfvLmgaUfPFE1TK7OQ

 

[islandbass]

1 hour ago, Koz said:

I thought about trying to make some lures, but after watching Marling Baits on YouTube I realized I don't have the artistic skills to make something that I would be happy with. Maybe one day I'll give it a try.

 

Here's a link if you  haven't seen him in action: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa-xsrfvLmgaUfPFE1TK7OQ

 

Yeah, I know. The skills of some of those bait makers is incredible. Much respect to them.

 

With that said, you and I have something in common! My artist skills are not even a zero, it’s negative. However, I learned that  this painting/artistic handicap I possess did not stop the bass or other fish from being fooled. Trust me. They bit. I was cleaning out my garage and came across a lure I shaped and primed but never finished and an old rapala I found that has its lip missing. I’m going to try to get them done and fish with them before the weather turns. 
 

Start with a popper or propeller bait like a devils horse (smith wick). This lure type does not need wire through construction nor do need the proper placing of lead to to upright in the water. They can also be made out of basswood or wood dowels (the heavier the wood, the smaller the popper or else it will sink by its own weight). You can use screw eyes for the trebles and the line tie. Get the screws from a place like lureparts online or other similar stores. 
 

Give it a try. If you live in a part of the country where winter pretty much shuts down fishing, this can get you through the cabin fever days, lol.