There was someone bitching about someone else sharing every piddly little
accomplishment with the group, and I'm in danger of being added to the
bitcher's bitch list for this, but.....
I just bought my first real hardwood today.
I'm working on a nice checker set similar to my chess box, intended as a
gift for my grandfather. I made the board out of the last of that old
table, and that was about the end of my stock of wood. I was going to
build the box out of some knotty green poplar I got by arduously resawing a
4x4 piece of dunnage on my table saw, and surfaced by hand. I decided to
get fancy, to try to liven up the boring wood, and I tried to do dovetails
for the corners. I'm not good enough to pull that off yet (not where
they're obviously visible and screaming at you if they look bad), and I
ruined it. That was it for wood except some cupped 1/4" red oak boards,
some 1x3s and a waterbed frame. Nothing left that would really be
suitable. That 4x4 was the bottom of the barrel.
So I headed to Lowe's to buy more poplar, doing what I've always done.
Buying the cheapest wood I could afford at the only place I knew where to
buy wood. Right as I pulled into the parking space, I remembered about
Reed's Lumber Co. right here in town, which I learned about, oddly enough,
here on the Wreck some time back.
I decided to go check them out, figuring at least I could get poplar at a
more reasonable price. I only had $12 in my pocket, and that was scraping
bottom bigtime.
Wow! They have red oak, soft maple, poplar, birch, basswood, walnut,
cherry, mahogany, and various pines in stock in random lengths. Mostly 5/4
I think. I don't quite remember what that means, actually, though I know
which page of which book to turn to to look it up. (Just not where the
book is at the moment. :) I've never seen most of that stuff except as
furniture, or as trees (some of it not even as trees.)
Over the years I've built a select few things out of Lowe's red oak, but
mostly I've used poplar for the sake of economy. Nearly every poplar
project I've ever done has been stained the same color. Walnut. I've
always loved that look. I like dark.
So today, for the first time in my life, I not only touched real walnut
lumber, but I *bought* some!! WUHOO!!!!!!!!! Maybe some of you can
understand what that means to me. I never knew any wood could be this
beautiful unfinished. Every board I've ever worked has been some shade of
pale, and I always tried to make up for it with stain, because I don't
really *like* pale. Oak was always my "fancy" wood, but the truth is I'd
rather use walnut, or maybe cherry for almost anything. I just never had
the chance before.
My $12 got me a board about 6' long and about 5" wide. S2S, but only
barely. The edges are raw, and the faces have enormous milling marks. I'm
not sure if that's par for the course or not.
It cost $4.75 a bf, I think. I have no idea how that compares, but I don't
really care at the moment. It's WALNUT!!!! And I bought it one block away
from where my kids go to school. I can't believe I had never been to that
place before, but it's this sort of sprawling complex that takes up a
street all to itself, yet which has no real frontage on the main drag. If
you don't know what's back there, you might never go down that street.
So all my sharpening and planing skills paid dividends today. I made a
jointer fence for my plane using angle iron. It's not as fancy as the Lee
Valley model, but it damn sure works. I turned an extremely rough edge
smooth as glass, and close enough to 90 that I'd need some really thin
feeler gauges to figure out how far off it is.
Doing all of this work with nothing but a #4 really sucks, but I CAN do it.
I've never cut anything this well before. My jointed boards stayed
absolutely flush against the fence, and everything came out as close to
perfect as I've ever accomplished.
The checker board is pine, another of those cheater kerf deals, and I'm
leaving it that way, and yes, I'm going to stain the contrasting squares
again, just because I'm almost out of time on this project.
The frame and box are both made from this indescribably beautiful chocolate
brown wood. I can't wait to glue it up so I can finish it, and see how
glorious this is going to look with whatever on it. I'd like to do
shellac, but the bank is busted. I may have to use poly this time, but it
will be the last time I put poly on walnut, you can be damn sure of that.
Anyway, this has been a glorious day. I can make a couple of boxes out of a
$12 board. I can do this without a jointer. I can do this without a
planer. I can do this with only a #4. Add some maple, and I have the
makings of a real chess board. Add the JET mini lathe I'm getting for
Christmas, all these walnut turning blanks I'm generating, and I have the
makings of an exquisite chess table in the not too distant future.
There's a lot of room for improvement all around, but I think my days of
limiting myself to nothing but scraps are numbered, and I expect to be
turning out some beautiful projects soon. I can't afford a lot of this,
but the advantage of doing it all the hard way is that I can't turn out
projects very fast anyway.
I guess I should be keeping bandsaws in mind now. I can live without a
jointer and planer for a good while yet, but it pains me to turn so much of
this incredible wood into shavings. If I sawed these boards in half, I
could do lots of stuff with the thinner material, but my table saw is
really bad for thin work. Hmmm...
Anyway, I'll shut up now. I just had to babble for awhile. I've been
babbling all day. I don't think SWMBO or Mom or Dad or my kids really have
any idea why I'm so excited, but this has been one of the happiest days
I've ever had. This one will go down in history.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I guess it turned out OK that I married the chick from Latin class who
> didn't go on to become Miss Virginia. ;)
This is the lesson we Dads are to impart to our sons.
Please do continue to babble, it is fun to see the light in someone
else. i also remember my first trip to the hardwood store about 1 hour
away. I had the shop, now I needed some "real wood". being frugal and
a newbie i bought Wormy maple at $2 BF and then proceeded to make
everything out of wormy maple. Shop stool, shop first aid cabinet,
laminated some so i could turn it... EVERYTHING was wormy maple! I still
like its look and it is still less expensive than a lot of other wood
but I have gradiated to a variety.
there is a natural high that comes with a job done to best of your
ability, it may not be perfect but is is the best you can do today. You
can soar with eagles (or turkeys is you prefer) when the job is done.
BRuce
Silvan wrote:
> There was someone bitching about someone else sharing every piddly little
> accomplishment with the group, and I'm in danger of being added to the
> bitcher's bitch list for this, but.....
>
> I just bought my first real hardwood today.
>
> I'm working on a nice checker set similar to my chess box, intended as a
> gift for my grandfather. I made the board out of the last of that old
> table, and that was about the end of my stock of wood. I was going to
> build the box out of some knotty green poplar I got by arduously resawing a
> 4x4 piece of dunnage on my table saw, and surfaced by hand. I decided to
> get fancy, to try to liven up the boring wood, and I tried to do dovetails
> for the corners. I'm not good enough to pull that off yet (not where
> they're obviously visible and screaming at you if they look bad), and I
> ruined it. That was it for wood except some cupped 1/4" red oak boards,
> some 1x3s and a waterbed frame. Nothing left that would really be
> suitable. That 4x4 was the bottom of the barrel.
>
> So I headed to Lowe's to buy more poplar, doing what I've always done.
> Buying the cheapest wood I could afford at the only place I knew where to
> buy wood. Right as I pulled into the parking space, I remembered about
> Reed's Lumber Co. right here in town, which I learned about, oddly enough,
> here on the Wreck some time back.
>
> I decided to go check them out, figuring at least I could get poplar at a
> more reasonable price. I only had $12 in my pocket, and that was scraping
> bottom bigtime.
>
> Wow! They have red oak, soft maple, poplar, birch, basswood, walnut,
> cherry, mahogany, and various pines in stock in random lengths. Mostly 5/4
> I think. I don't quite remember what that means, actually, though I know
> which page of which book to turn to to look it up. (Just not where the
> book is at the moment. :) I've never seen most of that stuff except as
> furniture, or as trees (some of it not even as trees.)
>
> Over the years I've built a select few things out of Lowe's red oak, but
> mostly I've used poplar for the sake of economy. Nearly every poplar
> project I've ever done has been stained the same color. Walnut. I've
> always loved that look. I like dark.
>
> So today, for the first time in my life, I not only touched real walnut
> lumber, but I *bought* some!! WUHOO!!!!!!!!! Maybe some of you can
> understand what that means to me. I never knew any wood could be this
> beautiful unfinished. Every board I've ever worked has been some shade of
> pale, and I always tried to make up for it with stain, because I don't
> really *like* pale. Oak was always my "fancy" wood, but the truth is I'd
> rather use walnut, or maybe cherry for almost anything. I just never had
> the chance before.
>
> My $12 got me a board about 6' long and about 5" wide. S2S, but only
> barely. The edges are raw, and the faces have enormous milling marks. I'm
> not sure if that's par for the course or not.
>
> It cost $4.75 a bf, I think. I have no idea how that compares, but I don't
> really care at the moment. It's WALNUT!!!! And I bought it one block away
> from where my kids go to school. I can't believe I had never been to that
> place before, but it's this sort of sprawling complex that takes up a
> street all to itself, yet which has no real frontage on the main drag. If
> you don't know what's back there, you might never go down that street.
>
> So all my sharpening and planing skills paid dividends today. I made a
> jointer fence for my plane using angle iron. It's not as fancy as the Lee
> Valley model, but it damn sure works. I turned an extremely rough edge
> smooth as glass, and close enough to 90 that I'd need some really thin
> feeler gauges to figure out how far off it is.
>
> Doing all of this work with nothing but a #4 really sucks, but I CAN do it.
> I've never cut anything this well before. My jointed boards stayed
> absolutely flush against the fence, and everything came out as close to
> perfect as I've ever accomplished.
>
> The checker board is pine, another of those cheater kerf deals, and I'm
> leaving it that way, and yes, I'm going to stain the contrasting squares
> again, just because I'm almost out of time on this project.
>
> The frame and box are both made from this indescribably beautiful chocolate
> brown wood. I can't wait to glue it up so I can finish it, and see how
> glorious this is going to look with whatever on it. I'd like to do
> shellac, but the bank is busted. I may have to use poly this time, but it
> will be the last time I put poly on walnut, you can be damn sure of that.
>
> Anyway, this has been a glorious day. I can make a couple of boxes out of a
> $12 board. I can do this without a jointer. I can do this without a
> planer. I can do this with only a #4. Add some maple, and I have the
> makings of a real chess board. Add the JET mini lathe I'm getting for
> Christmas, all these walnut turning blanks I'm generating, and I have the
> makings of an exquisite chess table in the not too distant future.
>
> There's a lot of room for improvement all around, but I think my days of
> limiting myself to nothing but scraps are numbered, and I expect to be
> turning out some beautiful projects soon. I can't afford a lot of this,
> but the advantage of doing it all the hard way is that I can't turn out
> projects very fast anyway.
>
> I guess I should be keeping bandsaws in mind now. I can live without a
> jointer and planer for a good while yet, but it pains me to turn so much of
> this incredible wood into shavings. If I sawed these boards in half, I
> could do lots of stuff with the thinner material, but my table saw is
> really bad for thin work. Hmmm...
>
> Anyway, I'll shut up now. I just had to babble for awhile. I've been
> babbling all day. I don't think SWMBO or Mom or Dad or my kids really have
> any idea why I'm so excited, but this has been one of the happiest days
> I've ever had. This one will go down in history.
>
--
---
BRuce
yep, I still fight with miters and although I do understand the concept
of "perfect miters on edge banding don't work if the base isn't square"
I don't seem to follow what I know. Not enough attention to detail on
the big piece and then fight the little stuff. Clients don't seem to
know but it reduces my hourly rate to about $0.75 :-( Makes me happy to
have a full time job.
BRuce
Silvan wrote:
> BRuce <BRuce> wrote:
>
>
>>there is a natural high that comes with a job done to best of your
>>ability, it may not be perfect but is is the best you can do today. You
>>can soar with eagles (or turkeys is you prefer) when the job is done.
>
>
> Probably turkeys on this one. :) It hasn't been going so well.
>
> I had just made a frame for the board, which fit perfectly. I decided I had
> to re-do it in walnut, so I used the old pieces to cut new pieces, instead
> of just fitting it all out again from the beginning. The 32nds got me. A
> 32nd off here, a 32nd off there. It didn't fit at all. You know as well
> as I do how hard it is to drill a second hole in a situation like that.
> (The frame is held on with dowels, for the simplicity of it, and the look.)
> Things got ugly. I faked it as best I could, but the miters are pretty
> screwy. I had to chisel off the points on all four corners. I haven't
> done miters this bad since the days when I was using a Wal-Mart back saw
> and miter box.
>
> Oh well. It was still a good day. As soon as I get some more dowels and
> figure out how to make those grooves, I should be ready to glue it up.
> Nothing fancy at all, really, as far as the box goes, but considering what
> I started out with, and how I got it there, I'm pretty pleased.
>
> I like surfacing it by hand, but I definitely need more planes before I
> tackle anything remotely like a large project!!
>
--
---
BRuce
George M. Kazaka wrote:
> Mike walnut indeed is in a class by itself.
> I tryed to send you an e-mail but every variation keep bouncing.
> Whats the secret.
Not supposed to be any secret (I always post with a real address), but it's
an alias. Maybe SourceForge's mail redirector thingie was busted.
I don't give this one out, to try and keep it spam free, but you can get me
at
m m c i n t y r (at) s w v a . n e t
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Dave Balderstone wrote:
> That's it then...
>
> You're doomed.
>
> ;-)
I know.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Wed, Oct 22, 2003, 8:34pm [email protected] (Silvan)
babbles:
There was someone bitching <snip>
There's always someone bitching. Usually one of the too tight
people.
I just had to babble for awhile. I've been babbling all day. <snip>
I just hope I'm not around the day you find a $20 bill, and buy
some exotic wood.
JOAT
Make my shorts. Eat my day.
Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 21 Oct 2003.
Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/SOMETUNESILIKE/
In article <[email protected]>, "mttt" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> I guess it turned out OK that I married the chick from Latin class who
>> didn't go on to become Miss Virginia. ;)
>
>This is the lesson we Dads are to impart to our sons.
>
http://64.87.34.99/music/524/ifyouwannabehappyjimmysoul.wav
Mike walnut indeed is in a class by itself.
I tryed to send you an e-mail but every variation keep bouncing.
Whats the secret.
George
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> There was someone bitching about someone else sharing every piddly little
> accomplishment with the group, and I'm in danger of being added to the
> bitcher's bitch list for this, but.....
>
> I just bought my first real hardwood today.
>
> I'm working on a nice checker set similar to my chess box, intended as a
> gift for my grandfather. I made the board out of the last of that old
> table, and that was about the end of my stock of wood. I was going to
> build the box out of some knotty green poplar I got by arduously resawing
a
> 4x4 piece of dunnage on my table saw, and surfaced by hand. I decided to
> get fancy, to try to liven up the boring wood, and I tried to do dovetails
> for the corners. I'm not good enough to pull that off yet (not where
> they're obviously visible and screaming at you if they look bad), and I
> ruined it. That was it for wood except some cupped 1/4" red oak boards,
> some 1x3s and a waterbed frame. Nothing left that would really be
> suitable. That 4x4 was the bottom of the barrel.
>
> So I headed to Lowe's to buy more poplar, doing what I've always done.
> Buying the cheapest wood I could afford at the only place I knew where to
> buy wood. Right as I pulled into the parking space, I remembered about
> Reed's Lumber Co. right here in town, which I learned about, oddly enough,
> here on the Wreck some time back.
>
> I decided to go check them out, figuring at least I could get poplar at a
> more reasonable price. I only had $12 in my pocket, and that was scraping
> bottom bigtime.
>
> Wow! They have red oak, soft maple, poplar, birch, basswood, walnut,
> cherry, mahogany, and various pines in stock in random lengths. Mostly
5/4
> I think. I don't quite remember what that means, actually, though I know
> which page of which book to turn to to look it up. (Just not where the
> book is at the moment. :) I've never seen most of that stuff except as
> furniture, or as trees (some of it not even as trees.)
>
> Over the years I've built a select few things out of Lowe's red oak, but
> mostly I've used poplar for the sake of economy. Nearly every poplar
> project I've ever done has been stained the same color. Walnut. I've
> always loved that look. I like dark.
>
> So today, for the first time in my life, I not only touched real walnut
> lumber, but I *bought* some!! WUHOO!!!!!!!!! Maybe some of you can
> understand what that means to me. I never knew any wood could be this
> beautiful unfinished. Every board I've ever worked has been some shade of
> pale, and I always tried to make up for it with stain, because I don't
> really *like* pale. Oak was always my "fancy" wood, but the truth is I'd
> rather use walnut, or maybe cherry for almost anything. I just never had
> the chance before.
>
> My $12 got me a board about 6' long and about 5" wide. S2S, but only
> barely. The edges are raw, and the faces have enormous milling marks.
I'm
> not sure if that's par for the course or not.
>
> It cost $4.75 a bf, I think. I have no idea how that compares, but I
don't
> really care at the moment. It's WALNUT!!!! And I bought it one block
away
> from where my kids go to school. I can't believe I had never been to that
> place before, but it's this sort of sprawling complex that takes up a
> street all to itself, yet which has no real frontage on the main drag. If
> you don't know what's back there, you might never go down that street.
>
> So all my sharpening and planing skills paid dividends today. I made a
> jointer fence for my plane using angle iron. It's not as fancy as the Lee
> Valley model, but it damn sure works. I turned an extremely rough edge
> smooth as glass, and close enough to 90 that I'd need some really thin
> feeler gauges to figure out how far off it is.
>
> Doing all of this work with nothing but a #4 really sucks, but I CAN do
it.
> I've never cut anything this well before. My jointed boards stayed
> absolutely flush against the fence, and everything came out as close to
> perfect as I've ever accomplished.
>
> The checker board is pine, another of those cheater kerf deals, and I'm
> leaving it that way, and yes, I'm going to stain the contrasting squares
> again, just because I'm almost out of time on this project.
>
> The frame and box are both made from this indescribably beautiful
chocolate
> brown wood. I can't wait to glue it up so I can finish it, and see how
> glorious this is going to look with whatever on it. I'd like to do
> shellac, but the bank is busted. I may have to use poly this time, but it
> will be the last time I put poly on walnut, you can be damn sure of that.
>
> Anyway, this has been a glorious day. I can make a couple of boxes out of
a
> $12 board. I can do this without a jointer. I can do this without a
> planer. I can do this with only a #4. Add some maple, and I have the
> makings of a real chess board. Add the JET mini lathe I'm getting for
> Christmas, all these walnut turning blanks I'm generating, and I have the
> makings of an exquisite chess table in the not too distant future.
>
> There's a lot of room for improvement all around, but I think my days of
> limiting myself to nothing but scraps are numbered, and I expect to be
> turning out some beautiful projects soon. I can't afford a lot of this,
> but the advantage of doing it all the hard way is that I can't turn out
> projects very fast anyway.
>
> I guess I should be keeping bandsaws in mind now. I can live without a
> jointer and planer for a good while yet, but it pains me to turn so much
of
> this incredible wood into shavings. If I sawed these boards in half, I
> could do lots of stuff with the thinner material, but my table saw is
> really bad for thin work. Hmmm...
>
> Anyway, I'll shut up now. I just had to babble for awhile. I've been
> babbling all day. I don't think SWMBO or Mom or Dad or my kids really
have
> any idea why I'm so excited, but this has been one of the happiest days
> I've ever had. This one will go down in history.
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
>
"Silvan" <[email protected]>
> I just bought my first real hardwood today.
From your stores of bed rails, I suspeceted you've had plenty of hard wood.
>
> I decided to go check them out, figuring at least I could get poplar at a
> more reasonable price. I only had $12 in my pocket, and that was scraping
> bottom bigtime.
> My $12 got me a board about 6' long and about 5" wide. S2S, but only
> barely. The edges are raw, and the faces have enormous milling marks.
I'm
> not sure if that's par for the course or not.
Yes, planed just enough to see what you are getting. Some places will plane
to thickness for you at no or little charge. CT Hardwoods does it for me,
plus they joint one edge.
>
> Doing all of this work with nothing but a #4 really sucks, but I CAN do
it.
> I've never cut anything this well before. My jointed boards stayed
> absolutely flush against the fence, and everything came out as close to
> perfect as I've ever accomplished.
Sure is fun when that happens.
>
> The frame and box are both made from this indescribably beautiful
chocolate
> brown wood. I can't wait to glue it up so I can finish it, and see how
> glorious this is going to look with whatever on it. I'd like to do
> shellac, but the bank is busted. I may have to use poly this time, but it
> will be the last time I put poly on walnut, you can be damn sure of that.
Save some and get a can of BLO or DanishOil. Gives a very nice finish and
you will never want to use poly again.
>
> Add the JET mini lathe I'm getting for
> Christmas, all these walnut turning blanks I'm generating, and I have the
> makings of an exquisite chess table in the not too distant future.
Next Christmas everyone will be getting pens as a gift. Good deal.
> I guess I should be keeping bandsaws in mind now. I can live without a
> jointer and planer for a good while yet, but it pains me to turn so much
of
> this incredible wood into shavings. If I sawed these boards in half, I
> could do lots of stuff with the thinner material, but my table saw is
> really bad for thin work. Hmmm...
That was one of the things that convinced me to get a bandsaw. You'd be
amazed at what you can do with 5/4 wood that is sawed in half.
>
> Anyway, I'll shut up now. I just had to babble for awhile. I've been
> babbling all day. I don't think SWMBO or Mom or Dad or my kids really
have
> any idea why I'm so excited, but this has been one of the happiest days
> I've ever had. This one will go down in history.
Yeah, "outsiders" have no clue do they? Glad you are having such a good
time.
Ed
T. wrote:
> I just hope I'm not around the day you find a $20 bill, and buy
> some exotic wood.
You mean walnut's not exotic? :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Leon wrote:
> Silvan, feel free to show us any excitement that you have for woodworking
> at
> any time. I bought my first real hard wood about 23 years ago and it
> seems like yesterday.
I really am glad I made that trip. :)
I'm glad about a whole bunch of things, really. This has all been the
culmination of a journey that had some pretty unlikely stops along the way.
I suppose the distilled moral of the story is that I've finally learned how
to take pleasure in what I can accomplish, or afford, rather than fretting
about what I can't. It's all about making do, about personal bests, and
about not letting it get me down that most of the people in my life just
don't understand what motivates me, or appreciate the fruits of my labor.
The only one who comes close is my wife. The more I ponder on this, the
more I'm coming to realize that while she doesn't really appreciate the
process, or the details, she understands the drive to create. Her hobbies,
while all radically different from mine, also involve creating something.
She rolls her eyes, but she doesn't give me a hard time when I tell her we
need to save up and buy a blurfl. She doesn't bitch about my shop time
either.
I guess it turned out OK that I married the chick from Latin class who
didn't go on to become Miss Virginia. ;)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>> I just bought my first real hardwood today.
>
> From your stores of bed rails, I suspeceted you've had plenty of hard
> wood.
In my younger days... The wood's still plenty hard, but I don't get to stow
it anywhere interesting very often. ;)
> Yes, planed just enough to see what you are getting. Some places will
> plane
> to thickness for you at no or little charge. CT Hardwoods does it for me,
> plus they joint one edge.
I should inquire about such services. I don't know if they'll do it, or if
I'd want them to, but I can see where I might occasionally want to cheat a
little.
Or maybe not. It's a lot of hard work, and it's time-consuming, but it
feels right. Plus it's exercise. A little combat for my assal-fattalitis.
I don't mind working, but I can't stand exercising for the sake of
exercising.
>> perfect as I've ever accomplished.
>
> Sure is fun when that happens.
Yeah buddy, it sure is. I thought I had had straight boards before, but I
never had. Proves what a waste that S4S stuff from the Borgs really is.
> Save some and get a can of BLO or DanishOil. Gives a very nice finish and
> you will never want to use poly again.
Time is the problem more than money. I need to get it done, and I don't
want to choose this most important project to experiment with a new finish.
It's for my grandfather, and time is starting to kick him in the ass. No,
I'll do what I know this time, but I'll be experimenting very soon.
>> Add the JET mini lathe I'm getting for
> Next Christmas everyone will be getting pens as a gift. Good deal.
Yup. These little 1" square off-cuts will be ideal blanks I think.
> That was one of the things that convinced me to get a bandsaw. You'd be
> amazed at what you can do with 5/4 wood that is sawed in half.
That's what I'm thinking. Or divide it into thirds and split it 1/3 2/3...
looks like it would be just about right for boxes. 2/3 for the sides and
1/3 for trays and whatnot.
Probably be awhile on a bandsaw though. No use getting something crappy and
then having to turn around eventually and replace it. I'm about done with
that. I'll never be able to have the finest of everything, but I'll hold
out for something solidly respectable. From now on, I want to get
something and have it and use it without always looking over the hill to
the day when I can afford to replace it with a real one.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
BRuce <BRuce> wrote:
> yep, I still fight with miters and although I do understand the concept
> of "perfect miters on edge banding don't work if the base isn't square"
Yeah, but it's *square* dammit! :) It's not the base in this case. Just
where I was trying to get away with using some of the original holes. I
should have plugged all the holes in the base, then let the plugs dry, then
started over again. Then I could have drilled new holes 1/32" away from
the old ones without a tendency for the bit to do the wrong thing.
Hindsight is a bitch sometimes, but OTOH my grandfather will *never* notice
what I'm whining about, so the best thing to do is just get on with my life
from here. :)
> I don't seem to follow what I know. Not enough attention to detail on
> the big piece and then fight the little stuff. Clients don't seem to
> know but it reduces my hourly rate to about $0.75 :-( Makes me happy to
> have a full time job.
Yeah, me too. I could never get paid for my time at the rate it takes me to
do anything.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
mttt wrote:
>
> "Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I guess it turned out OK that I married the chick from Latin class who
>> didn't go on to become Miss Virginia. ;)
>
> This is the lesson we Dads are to impart to our sons.
The other chick really did go on to be Miss Virginia though. At least I
knew her. Maybe even touched her. Though I never really touched her quite
the way I wanted to. ;)
(You want to make SWMBO madder than a nest of hornets? Just mention that
name one good time, and then run like hell. :)
(I can't even remember the name, to tell you the truth. SWMBO has me
trained. I think there was a V in it somewhere. Boy, that's helpful.)
(Monica? So much for the V...)
(Oh, nevermind.)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
BRuce <BRuce> wrote:
> there is a natural high that comes with a job done to best of your
> ability, it may not be perfect but is is the best you can do today. You
> can soar with eagles (or turkeys is you prefer) when the job is done.
Probably turkeys on this one. :) It hasn't been going so well.
I had just made a frame for the board, which fit perfectly. I decided I had
to re-do it in walnut, so I used the old pieces to cut new pieces, instead
of just fitting it all out again from the beginning. The 32nds got me. A
32nd off here, a 32nd off there. It didn't fit at all. You know as well
as I do how hard it is to drill a second hole in a situation like that.
(The frame is held on with dowels, for the simplicity of it, and the look.)
Things got ugly. I faked it as best I could, but the miters are pretty
screwy. I had to chisel off the points on all four corners. I haven't
done miters this bad since the days when I was using a Wal-Mart back saw
and miter box.
Oh well. It was still a good day. As soon as I get some more dowels and
figure out how to make those grooves, I should be ready to glue it up.
Nothing fancy at all, really, as far as the box goes, but considering what
I started out with, and how I got it there, I'm pretty pleased.
I like surfacing it by hand, but I definitely need more planes before I
tackle anything remotely like a large project!!
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/