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.
Some time ago I began planning a mobile work centre for my shop, which is also my garage. It needed to accommodate my small table saw, a router table, a generous work surface and plenty of storage. By the second week of September the design drawings were sufficiently complete for construction to begin. The unit is now completed, running and mobile.
With the holiday season rapidly approaching I will defer completing the unit in favour of putting it to use as is. Gifts and toys are priority now.
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
Tim Dayton Toys & Gifts projectHeinz 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
Jonathan Weintraub and his husband David Weintraub landed on the Coast on August 18, 2020. They migrated from the United States to be closer to family in East Vancouver. Jonathan, a recently retired engineer, is the woodworker in the family. David is an artist, writer, gardener, stone mason, web designer, architectural designer, and a few other things. David designed and produced the construction drawings for the remodeling of their current house.
Jonathan imported a load of rough hardwood boards and a few shop tools. He's setting up a small shop in his garage. He's dabbled in spoon carving, small boxes, cabinets and furniture. He's going to produce furniture for his new home; bed frame, farm table, bar stools and standing desk. He hopes to build a hefty woodworking bench and learn to turn. He's excited to have found a woodworking community on the Coast and looks forward to meeting SWG members.
If you are interested in the woodworking school in Bellingham, WA where Jonathan made the chair check out the link press on it http://www.terrafirmadesignnw.com/
Helen Clarkes Bio
I am very much a beginner at wood turning. I have taken some seminars at Lee Valley and a couple of private sessions with the instructor.
My father taught himself when his brother-in-law gave him a lathe (long story!) and would happily spend hours in his workshop producing items. When he died it was said that every house in his village had at least one thing he had made. Most of these were gifts or sold for a small sum. Sadly, though he could turn his hand to most things he could only teach if you already knew the basics. I always wanted to try except that I wanted to make small things - a common theme across my other interests. I was also put off by the size of a normal lathe.
Work always took up too much of my time for hobbies until a serious car crash put an end to that. I had the time at last but of course other challenges limited my ability to learn. I moved to the Coast at the end of 2019 and now want to make the most of more space to get my Taig lathe up and running and learn to make miniatures. I also want to do some micro turning using techniques from another Lee Valley seminar. These should help me to finally get my Dad’s model railway up and running for the first time in at least 30 years.
I still haven’t found my micro turnings since the move. I am including photos that I took to show my sisters in the UK hence the 50 pence piece that I used as a reference. Most of the pens I made during seminars have been given away though I do still have the other items. Very basic but I enjoyed making them!
