SW Guild Member Cecil Asheley works in the 2020 Lockdown Mode.
Seeing as how we are still in lockdown mode I have completed another project. This one is a planter box at the end of our 200' long driveway with our house numbers on it. It is 25" x 25" square and 34 " high. I used Western Red Cedar. The legs are 3.5" square with 40 degree bevels on the edges. The cross bracing is 1.5" x 3.5" also with 40 degree bevel. I assembled it using my new Kreg pocket hole jig ( love it, this is my 2nd one). The top is 1.75" x 5.5" cut with 45 degress corners and 40 degree bevels. Finished off with a Pecan stain for the top and legs and 2 clear coats of Varathane for the rest of the wood. My next project to be completed by June 28 (my wife's birthday) is a Cedar potting stand, more photos to come
Brian Lucas has been busy with his wood working during this Pandemic period. Brian said "The bowls are from the Greencourt cherry that was offered last summer. It spent the last 9 months in half rounds on my shop floor and was still quite wet when I rough turned it using a Oneway coring system. The piston on the car works too."
Rick Crook is a real craftsman. Rick was quoted saying " I've completed two projects under the lock down. First, a matched pair of prospector canoes which were in trade for a lifetime supply of cedar boards. The wood is unbelievable, mostly flat sawn 1 inch wood lengths 16 to 23 feet and widths up to 18 inches! All select, clear old growth the second picture was a sliding seat boat, delivered to Sydney BC. I used my van and did it in one day with social distancing adherence. I am on to another sliding seat boat started last week. Rolling along hiding in the shop."
Project for a friend. This is a beautiful box made by Bruce O'Regan.
Bruce said," This small box I made for April for her birthday. She is a kind caregiver to my neighbor and had seen a box I made some time ago. It is 4 1/2" square and 2 1/2" high made of Alaskan yellow cedar and walnut finished with clear polyurethane.
One of my COVID lockdown projects. I’ve long been annoyed that my music stand will only accept 2 sheets of paper, and I also thought it would be fun to build a music stand to my liking. So here’s my “art-deco-ish” music stand, with room for four sheets of music.
I titled the the project ‘scraps’ because that is literally what the stand is made of … odds and ends of hardwood left over from other projects. It’s made of maple, bird’s eye maple, walnut, cherry and a short piece of oak dowelling (not visible as it is the pivot between the top and the base). What went where was mostly based on what was available and what size it was. I had to be careful because for some parts there was only enough wood for one attempt.
The project also let me try out two things I had never done before : steam bending (the legs) and using hide glue. Both were interesting experiences that I will revisit on future projects.
Peter Borgmann
yHeinz expressed that ," this is what I have done with my time during shut down. It is a 14 foot sailboat that I will probably call "COVID 19" . I am currently working on, the mast."
Cecil Ashley
I too have been somewhat busy in my ‘garage’ workshop. Not the most ideal working conditions but still managed to complete a few projects.
The major one was building an original design coffee table out of 8/4 cherry from PJ WHITE. The design was to complement the lines of the wood frame of our sofa. Still needs to be stained but that’s a story for another day.
Then some handyman projects - dividers for the large compartment over the microwave and oven. Now we can properly store broiler and baking pans and other miscellaneous items.
Then came a hose box, built around a metal hose reel. It matches the siding of our house.
Next, I made a king size headboard for a good friend using some left over tongue and groove pine that was used in the ceiling of their house.
Next, was a router project to cut 2 round discs out of 1” Baltic birch plywood to fit under our scan design chairs. Purpose was two fold - to raise the chairs slightly higher and to broaden the base so the narrow swivel on the chairs did not cut into our carpet. They too, also need some sanding and staining to be completed.
And finally, a small garden tool holder for rakes, shovels, etc. to fit into a small space in another friend’s shed.
Woodworking - a wonderful stress reliever in these COVID time
Hi Everyone - Here are some photos of a First Aid Cabinet that I made for my church. The car-case is left-over vertical grain plywood with edge banding. I assembled it with biscuits. The top crown moulding, bottom base piece and door frame are reclaimed old growth fir from a guy in Roberts Creek. The door frame was joined with dowels. Glazing is plexiglass. The handle is Peruvian walnut. I secured it to the wall with a French cleat with some security screws put through into a stud so it could not be easy lifted off french cleat.
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I have been planning on making a crosscut sled for years. I finally decided to build it to facilitate the making of the first aid cabinet I made for my church. I dug through a big stack of plans I had pulled out of magazines or printed off the web. I had 7 of them. The design really comes down to what works for you. I took ideas from a couple of them.
The base is MDF (I would have preferred Baltic birch ply, but I was determined not to buy anything to make this). The runners are Red Oak. The rest of the wood is 7/8" Big Leaf Maple sourced from Marcia & Bob Cooley. The plan I used allows adjustment using playing cards or calling cards. I got it to 0.009" within square which was good enough for me. I tested it using the '5 cut method' and digital callipers. I added two cork-backed stops that slide in a routed t-track and t-track bolts. The one with a vertical slot is a hold down for small parts and also has cork on the bottom as well as the back. The biggest change I made from the plans was adding the dowel rods to make sure I kept my hands on the safe side of the fence.
Don't make the mistake of cutting all the way through the base like I did!!! Argh! That convinced me to attach a stop block to the bottom of the sled and the side of my table saw table.
I also have attached a photo of GRK screws I used (available at GBS). In my book, they are the best thing invented since cordless drills - no pilot hole (for most work), self tapping and self-countersinking. They leave a nice finished look in my opinion. For utility work they can't be beat.
Dan Horner