Woodworking Projects and Plans: update

?The hall tree has been stained! Saturday morning I sanded down the back piece that goes under the top shelf and then glued and screwed it in place. I had to drive out of town for my nephews birthday party and by the time we got home and got everybody in bed and I got out to the garage it was 11:15 pm. I turned on the radio and the fan and got started. I wore latex gloves and used 1 lint free cloth to rub in the stain and another to wipe it smooth. When I was finished and looked up at the clock it was 1:00 am. I guess I was just in the zone. Next time I think I will use a small foam brush to get the inside corners and edges where 2 boards meet. I am also going to buy some heavier duty gloves. I tore out the end of the index finger on my right had 3 times. I plan on putting the 1st coat of polyurethane on tonight and have no idea how I am going to do it. Wish me luck!

Selasa, 29 Maret 2016

New Yankee Workshop Workbench update cutting the plywood benchtop

The plans called for making the benchtop out of 3/4" plywood. Ive had this sheet of 1/2" plywood in my garage forever. I planned out all my cuts and I was able to make the bench top and bottom shelf with 2 layers of the 1/2" plywood. I made the tray bottom out of 1 piece.

I set up the 4x8 sheet on my 2 sawhorses with 2x4s running the length for support. I also set up a straight edge to run my cordless saw along. This end will be cut off here and then cut into two matching pieces to make the bottom shelf.

I also set up two scrap pieces of 2x4 to support the wood when I cross cut it.

I checked the far corner and it is pretty square so I clamped a 1x3 down to use to cut the piece for the tray bottom. I gave it a couple of extra inches and will cut it down to size on the table saw. This will make sure that the side cut with the 1x3 ends up being square.

My table saw came with a 28 tooth blade. I bought a 40 tooth blade a couple of weeks back and I am finally getting a chance to try it out.

Here is the tray bottom and shelf top cut to size.

The 2 pieces for the benchtop have been cut to size.

I cut the hardboard to width using the same settings that I used on the plywood.

I didnt want to have to deal with the leftovers of a full sheet of hardboard so I bought 2 smaller pieces that fit in my car. I bought 2 because they were not long enough to cover the length of the benchtop.

All cut to size.

I cut the hardboard so that the seem would be located where I need to cut the top out for the moving dog block.

Heres the first dry fit.

Senin, 28 Maret 2016

New Yankee Workshop Workbench update cutting the inserts out of the top

I cut the slot out of the benchtop for the dogs and tailstock. What a giant pain in the rear? Norm does it in the video in like 30 seconds and it took me nearly an hour.

I attached the 2 pieces of plywood together with 1" drywall screws and some of them ended up poking through so I had to cut off all the tips with my dremel before running the piece through the tablesaw.

I marked the two ends of the slot and then cut them on the tablesaw.

I got them close and then finished them with a jigsaw.

I also used the jigsaw to cut the ends.

All cut and ready for the next step.

I marked the corners and then clamped a framing square down to use as a cut guide for my small cordless saw.

I cut it close and then used the jigsaw to finish it.

I made sure that all my cuts were square to the material.

Here it is all cut out.

Ice Chest Cooler box update

Well, Ive been under the weather for the last few days and havent done much with the cooler box build. I got all the pieces cut to length and then ripped to width last Friday. While I was ripping them I noticed that they were still very wet so I clamped them together and left them on my workbench to dry. I tried to go out once a day and rotate the middle boards to the outside. 2 days ago I went ahead and took them all out of the clamps and spread them across the bench to finish drying. I went out last night and glued up the legs so that I could start sanding all the pieces today. While I was laying out all the pieces for the legs I noticed that they were really rocking up and down on the bench but they didnt seem that warped. I took a closer look and discovered that the hardboard top of my bench seemed to have sucked up a bunch of that extra moisture and warped between all the screws holding it down! This was totally unexpected! I live in Southern California so Im hoping that it will dry out in the next few days on its own. If not then I will just go down and buy another $5 piece of hardboard and replace it.
You can also watch my VLOGS about the project here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StK3Y8h38Kk&list=PLZxRiOuIAKbu6ZNDU0TkYm5WXTd4b3XdU

Here are all the pieces cut down to size but still very very wet

We sawdust went everywhere

I clamped them all together to try and avoid some of the warping and twisting

I unclamped them to let them finish drying out

The hardboard top on my workbench found some of that moisture!

Its hard to see in this pictures but it is pretty much warped between all the screws.

Minggu, 27 Maret 2016

Quick update on the Lego travel case

I was gone most of last week on vacation so I didnt get to work on the case much but I got a lot done the last couple of days. I stopped by Rockler and picked up 2 hinges, 2 clasps, and a handle for it. I go them all in bronze because that was the only color that I could find all the pieces in. I would have preferred the aged nickel but oh well. The outside of the case has 3 coats of Danish oil and now 2 coats of Polyurethane. The inside tray has 2 coats of Danish oil that needs 1 more day of drying time. It will then get 2 coats of poly as well. I trimmed the Lego plates down to fit the inside of the case and have some self adhesive sheets of felt for the insides of the case and the bottom of the tray. Everything should be ready for my sons party on Saturday. If all goes according to plan I should have a video out on Monday for the project.

Sabtu, 26 Maret 2016

New Yankee workbench update

I got the benchtop all cut down to size and screwed together. I also cut the dados and grooves for the rear tray. All I have left now is to cut the pieces out of the top for the dogs and tailstock. My bench vise screw should be in any time now. When it comes in I will build and install the tailstock.

Im not very good at estimating distances so I marked the placement of all the

2x4s on the tabletop so that I would know where to place the screws.