Warming Up.

Thanksgiving 2009: The Rundown.

Robbery, Cops, Turkey, Football, Head Injury, Concussion, Table, Turkey, Vicodin.

But otherwise... not much happened.

So there have been some bumps over the last two weeks,,,, but things are back on track. Over Thanksgiving, my brother in-law asked me to help build a table base to support a desk top for his daughter/ my niece. I was excited for the chance to A: Hang out with Brian in the shop B: Escape the madness of crazy children running, shouting, stabbing (my own included). This was quick. When I say quick, I mean from rough lumber to finish ready in 4 hours. Brian got to mill all the lumber, make all the cuts, and glue it all up himself. Most of which he had never done,,, and I'd say he did quite well.

Fun time B.

Next post: I was lucky enough to take a trip to master craftsman, furniture maker, artist Bob Kopf's studio. Bob is literally the reason I became curious about building furniture. I sat a walnut desk of his every day at SECCA and from there,,, was inspired. Gonna talk about that humbling experience next time.

Close to a finish ready Stanley Table. Below are some shots of the gluing process for the legs. I built some clamping jigs from 3/4" plywood in order to prevent slipping and also keep it all square. The joinery is mortise and tenon. Good stuff.

Clamping jig

CLAMP IT!!!

Taping joints = less work

Clean.

My bird.

Happy Holidays.

Spread Out!

Life in the shop is humming, even in the shadow of holidays, family, and sick boys. At the close of the Stanley Table project the shop is going to get upgrades. Some big upgrades. Some little upgrades. (can't say upgrade without thinking about that horrific Beyonce commercial,,, scarred for life.)

First, the shop will be experiencing a 250 square ft expansion. Walls are coming down, others are getting painted. Floors are getting a new surface and a complete rearrange of tools, equipment, power, and dust collection is in order. New cabinets and work surfaces along with a new bench. Big project... but I am excited. Should be fun to document.

Second:

For many years I have been on the hunt for a bigger, more powerful band saw for re-sawing stock/ veneers/ laminating, so finally the shop will be getting a new one. I don't want the massive 24" Andre the Giant saw. 18" is where I want to live. I've been looking at used saws for a while but have finally narrowed it down to 3 new models in my price range. Decided on new because right now I just don't want to fuss with some of the baggage that accompanies older equipment plus I want to know I can order parts, get a warranty, etc... Help me out here if you are a woodworker and have had any experience with these models. I based a lot of my research on Fine Woodworking reviews and input from local natives. Here are my 3 choices: All have similar basics but there are across the board differences.

General 18"

- most expensive of the 3

- most horse power (3)

- no blade drift adjustment

- still totally badass and looks the coolest.

Rikon 18" 10-345

- middle on cost

- Top Tool Popular WoodWorking

Fine Woodworking Best Value for 18" band saws

- When it was reviewed for Fine Woodworking the guy loved it. I believe it would have gotten "Best Overall" had it had a bigger motor. At the time it was 2hp but Rikon has since upgraded to 2.5 HP for more re-saw power. A definite plus. This is the saw I am leaning towards.

Grizzly 513x 17"

- lowest cost

- reviewed well in Fine Woodworking

- lowest Horsepower (2hp)

- No blade drift adjustment

- Owned a few Grizzly machines and have been somewhat pleased however a few were machined poorly.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Out.

O.G.

What's better than the original? Not much.

well,,, there is Phil Collins' version of "You Can't Hurry Love" Maybe the best cover in the history of music??? not joking.

Work continues on the Stanley table. From the onset, The Stanley's wanted a simple, clean, modern table with a little rustic character. Modern Farm table (yeah,,, I said that last post). But simple, clean, modern is anything but simple. If it's simple... it has to be perfect because you'll notice if it isn't.

So... this leads me to Phil

I've been agonizing over the legs for the last few days. The original drawings (refer to 1st Stanley Table post) show a very simple design. Maybe too simple. While trying to figure out the leg placement, I angled them out very slightly. It looked good. Gave the legs just enough umpf?

but not too much. We'll see. The original is still talking to me. Thanks Sussudio.

Legs aside. Here are some shots of the base. Since there will be a horizontal board in the middle of the legs, I decided to have the rails on the flat vs a more traditional style on edge. Half lap joints. The ends are awaiting approval to stay square or get a bevel. You can definitely see some Mission in it. Which... Is fine. Mission is simple but I want to stay away from any particular "style." So, keeping the ends square would probably look less mission. Even so,,, this will be upside down so you will only ever see 6" of the boards. OK... Photos. I threw some fancy edge blur in there for you all. enjoy.

8/4" leg stock. (8/4 is 2" in lumber yard talk. these were milled to 1 3/4")

Laying out the base rails.

Finishing up the half laps. Cut most of the waste out using the dado.

Fit almost there. About 1/32" proud.

Everybody together. Nice fits. I am going to peg these with some white oak dowels for a little added strength.

The now mandatory Milo shot. Was taking some shots of different leg orientations on a mocked up base. When I was downloading theses I noticed my boy relieving himself on his water table. My son for sure!!!

Elbow Grease.

Work on the Stanley table is rolling. Glued up the table top this week. I have done a few larger tables in the past and always used biscuits to join the individual boards for a little added strength and alignment. I decided to try the Domino in lieu of the biscuit joiner for this top.

2 reasons:

First- the top is 1 1/8" quarter-sawn white oak. Super heavy. The Domino adds a little more strength. Maybe its overkill you say??? Well.... maybe. But this table is going to be sturdy. I'm thinking of it as the modern farm table so I want the Stanley's kids, kids, kids to eat at it. (if we still even have to eat in the future. Alex P. Keaton could operate a time machine on banana peels)

Second: just wanted to use the Domino. It worked well. Instantly aligned and no slipping like biscuits tend to do. Also, individual boards remained virtually flush with few exceptions. I was pleased.

Getting a large top flat is always a good time. Lot's of elbow grease. My friend Scott knows all about it.... well... he will. Love you Scotty!

Here are some progress shots: Have I said how good white oak smells? Still loving it.

Trying to get the layout right. A few of the boards had some sapwood on the edges. I wanted to use it to break up the monotony of a large table top but it had to flow. Wound up with two symmetrical "stripes." Super cool. (I say super a ton).

SQUEEZE OUT!!!!!

Filling little cracks/checks/wormholes with epoxy colored with wood dust.

Knocking down any higher spots with the belt sander

Scraping the entire surface with a... well... scraper. I also draw lines with chalk so I know where I have been. I also periodically shoot a straight edge across to make sure everything is getting flat. This part is labor intensive. Would probably be easier with a Stanley #81... but alas... I haven't one.... my thumbs are sore to say the least. Still have to do the underside... ugh...

Top scraped and cut to size. I like the sapwood... a lot. And last but not least........

My glue scraper... isn't that a Fugazi song? wait... Glue Man... my bad.

Lift it.

Took a trip recently to The Hardwood Store in Gibsonville, NC. Right in between Greensboro and Chapel Thrill. Normally I patronize Steve Wall Lumber but the last time I was there I made a note to check on their 5/4 quarter-sawn white oak (lots of quarters in this post) supply since the upcoming Stanley Table would require quite a bit. They only had about 100 board feet at the time. When I called to check their supplies again... it was still the same. Called The Hardwood store, they had about 2000. Their supply of exotic stock is not what Steve Wall's is, but I stick to domestic hardwoods grown sustainably anyway. They had some beautiful white oak that had been roughly surfaced in order to see the grain clearly. I spent about 2 hours going through every board and picked their best. I was looking for very straight grain with some ray flecking typical in quarter-sawn oak, but not so much that it is overwhelming. I guess I really wanted rift sawn. But when the flecks come up, they will stand out and give some serious character to the table.

I have been to The Hardwood Store a few times and the people there have always been super friendly and helpful. Prices were similar to Wall Lumber and in the case of Q-sawn white oak... cheaper. I will make my visits more frequent.

Oh yeah... white oak is heavy... ridiculously. I was tired. But the shop has smelled sooooooo good since its arrival. May be the best smell on earth. Seriously. Like Christmas and Thanksgiving wrapped in new baby smell. Love it. I want to make an air freshener. Call it Quarter-sawn White Oak. Yes.

Just enough flecks to give some character but not over power. Beautiful.

nice straight grain.

going nowhere.

Here's the "time out" chair at the lumber yard. In his defense... we were there for 2 hours... but sometimes you just gotta drop the hammer.

New Stuff

Started a new project last week that I am super excited about. A dining table for the Stanley family who live in that dreamiest of towns... Chapel Hill, NC. So the Stanley's are my kind of family. 3 super cool kids, the hippest, play-set building mom ever, and lets just say... a dad that is building quite a collection of jeans. The Stanley's have been renovating a house for the last year or so and their knack for design is crazy good. We have been kicking ideas around for a year or so about beds and such when Chrissy (cool mom) shifted gears towards a dining table for the family. She wanted something clean, and modern, but durable, and a tad rustic. We looked at some examples of things she liked and came up with this design. Its going to be white oak, quarter and rift sawn,,, which for some reason I am obsessed with right now (never thought I would be crazy about white oak but I am.) Some changes have been made since this drawing was done, but when finished, I think we will have something that will not only last for decades, but adapt with any changing styles. The table is also gonna have two accompanying benches for full on family style dinners and Chrissy is gonna find some badass mid century chairs for the ends. Can't wait to see the finished table.