Woodworking Projects and Plans: hall

?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!

Rabu, 30 Maret 2016

Hall Tree assembly part 1

I started assembly on the Hall Tree last night. I ran into some unexpected problems so I didnt get as much done as I had hoped to.

I started with the rear backsplash for the shelf at the top. This one went pretty well. I used my

Rockler Clampit and it did a good job.

This is the bottom with the apron in the front. Since the pocket holes are on the inside I put the Clampit on the outside. In hindsight I should have put the clamps all the choice to the inside of the Clampit. I had put them further out to allow me to get the drill to the pocket hole but I think putting the clamps all the choice inside would have worked better. The wood ended up drifting and one of the screws split the edge of the front corner.

I forced some glue into the split and clamped it and you can barely tell now. I just need to do some sanding and after I paint it you will never know.

I got the top shelf mounted, glued and screwed in and I was very happy with the result.

Only the top shelf, backsplash, and bottom front apron are actually attached. I dry fit the rest to see how it looks. I hope to get the rest of it assembled tonight.

Sabtu, 19 Maret 2016

The hall tree is done!

As you might have guessed by the title, I finished the Hall Tree today. It took 3 weeks instead of the projected 2 but the extra time was worth it. I learned a lot from this project and look forward to finishing the kid sized table.

My buddy Jason came over and helped me to rub out the finish with some 000 steel wool and some paste wax.

I had a 10% off coupon for Lowes so we picked up some double hangers for the front and single hangers for the sides. I wanted to put in hat/coat hangers but they didnt have them in the finish that I wanted and I didnt feel like waiting so I bought the doubles. We measured and taped a ruler to the back so we could get them all the same height. The opening is 22.5" so the center hook is at 11.25" and the sides are 5" in from the outside.

I put one hook on the right side for backpacks. We tested it in place and there was not enough room for the door to open with a backpack hanging on the left. We can alchoices add another hook later.

I dont want my youngest son to be able to easily knock the tree over so I made some cleats. I took a 1x2 and cut it down to 2 - 18" pieces.

I used a 1/2" straight cut bit in the router and made several passes by moving the fence back about 1/8" each time until I got the depth I wanted.

I made some test cuts first on scrap wood first to determine the height of the bit.

This is where the tree is going. We also put in some doors stops in the hinges.

I marked where the cleat was going and managed to find 1 stud. I used drywall hangers on the outsides. I pre drilled and screwed the cleat into the stud first and tested the fit. The tree was about 1/8" off the ground so I moved the cleat down 1/4" and then tested again. It had the fit I wanted so I drilled the 2 drywall hangers in.

I made sure everything was level before I drilled any holes.

I pre-drilled and screwed the top cleat into the rear of the shelf and used 1.25" drywall screws.

This was exactly the fit I was looking for, just a little bit loose.

I left the back open to acommodate the light switch. I also moved the picture frame higher.

Now that it is in place I wish I had mounted the hooks a little higher. There are 2 - 5" boards under the shelf and I mounted the hooks to the middle of the bottom board.

Now all the kids shoes are in the tree and not on the stairs for me to trip over in the dark.

Kamis, 03 Maret 2016

Hall Tree assembly part 2

I was able to work on the Hall Tree last night and assembly is almost complete!

I was straightening up before starting assembly and found these right angle clamps that I bought last week at Harbor Freight. I wish I would have remembered them on the first night of assembly. They are now hanging on the pegboard in plain sight.

Here it is with the seat and 2 shelves attached. It was a really tight fit so I wasnt able to put very much glue on the joints. Next time I think I will try building it 1 side at a time so I can properly glue everything together. The seat and shelves warped pretty badly after I cut the 1x10x6 into pieces so I am not sure I am going to be able to install the dividers to make the cubbys.

The back of the cubbies is warped all to hell but it looks fine from the front. Next time I am going to glue up smaller boards and remember to clamp eveything down before gluing and screwing.

Almost done. I just need to sand down down the 2 boards I edge glued and install them under the top shelf. That is where I am going to hang 3 or 4 hooks after some test fits. I brought the tree into the house for some test fits and my wife decided that she would rather have it stained than painted. That complicates matters. I have a car show all day on Saturday so I am hoping to get the back piece sanded down and installed on Sunday. Then I can give the completed piece a good sanding and hopefully stain and/or paint it during the week and have it ready for install on the following weekend.

Selasa, 01 Maret 2016

New WoodWorking for Mere Mortals video Make a 3 shelf corner stand

Sabtu, 27 Februari 2016

Another new project a Hall Tree!

My 2 year old son has learned the joys of opening the front door as wide as he can when he gets home. In the course of this learning experience he has demolished the cheap coat rack that I bought at Wal Mart about 10 years ago. It has been on a steady decline for the last year and he finally just finished it off.

As a consequence of this my wife challenged me to make a coat rack in 2 weeks to replace it. She invisioned a board with some dowels sticking out of it screwed to the wall. Where is the challenge in that? I did some looking around at some other projects on www.Lumberjocks.com and decided to make a Hall Tree. It is going to be 5 high by 2 wide and 9" deep. It will have a shelf on top with a 2"back and a 5" stretcher underneath for hooks to attach to. The seat will be about 13" high with 2 shelves divided into 5 cubbys for shoe storage. I also plan on putting hooks on the sides. 1 at the top of each side and 1 down lower for backpack storage.

I went to Home Depot and bought 3 - 1x10x6 and 3 - 1x6x10 common boards. I think they are knotty pine. I also bought a $5 bottle of wood glue and a $.61 dowel for my son and the total came out to $44.40. Initially I was thinking that I would make it out of all 1x6s but with the 2 week deadline I opted for the more expensive 1x10s.

The 1x10s were 9.25" wide which messed me up a little because I was expecting them to be 9.5". I ripped them to 9" wide and 5 long. I ripped the 1x6s down to 5" and then used the miter saw to cut them down to 22.5" wide. I also cut one of the 1x10s into 3 - 9x22.5 boards for the seat and cubbys.

I opted to just cut an angle for the sides to slope up. My jigsaw is not working very well right now and I am not that good with it when it is working correctly so the 2 equal really crappy cuts.

I will be attaching everything using pocket holes, glue, and my nail gun.

The seat and cubbys will also have some extra supports glued and tacked underneath just to play it safe.

Cubby dividers same length as supports and 5" tall. These will be glued and tacked into place.

The next step is assembly.

Minggu, 14 Februari 2016

Hall Tree update

Pocket holes, pocket holes, pocket holes..... I drilled like 40 pocket holes for the hall tree today. This is the first project that has required this many and boy do they get boring. Then I spent an hour sanding. All people in the videos that I watch alchoices comment on how most of my woodworking time will be spent sanding and I am starting to understand it now. If everything goes according to plan then assembly will start on Sunday. I sanded the heck out of the 3 boards that I glued poorly. I got rid of the ridge but now its kinda wavy and almost bowed looking. If it was going somewhere that it would be seen I would go buy some more wood and redo it. But seeing as how I am on an artificial time limit I am going to leave it as is.