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IsaacNewton
Jun 18, 2005

ChaoticSeven posted:

Not too much, both sides are exposed to open air and its pretty low in moisture content, so it shouldn't do too much crazy twisting or warping. If it does swell slightly in thickness my workpiece would bump into it before even reaching the blade. I put the leveling screws in and made it thinner than it needed to be in case that happens.

I'm so trying this then. Not only does my cheapish table saw doesn't have zero clearance inserts, but the stock insert have an awfully large.. like they all do, I guess.

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grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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ChaoticSeven posted:

Thats a cool little end table. Perfect for a plant or something like that. Did you make it up or did you find a plan somewhere?

Anyway, finished flat work box number 2. Couple more coats of wipe on poly and I'll call it good.


Looks great! I made three boxes exactly like that (well, out of leopardwood and wenge) and posted some photos of them in another thread last year... I can't help but ask- did I inspire you, or did we just see the same plans in some late 90s woodworking magazine? :)

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

Same source different format :) Wood Magazine put together a book which consisted mainly of techniques and projects from the magazine over the years. I bought that book. I keep meaning to get a sub to several woodworking publications but I just never seem to do it. I'm thinking of doing two more, one walnut/maple and another walnut/padauk.

Did you have the same problem I had with the handle bracket shaping? I kept applying uneven pressure and sanding the angles at a skew.

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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My problems were more basic- I have a cheap table saw that can't accept a zero-clearance insert, so I kept losing pieces into the slot and ruining them :( Since I made 3, I just picked the closest pairs for each box (same with the legs), so even though I was a bit inconsistent, you can't tell!

I did make velvet linings for all the boxes, too, that turned out awesome :)

A friend of my Dad's was huge into woodworking and had subscriptions to ALL the woodworking magazines, and would give me his back-issues, grocery-bags full, every time I saw him. Whenever he upgraded, he'd give me his old tools- he also gave me a lathe (with all the tools), a router and his old 4" joiner/planer (including his thumb, which as I understand, is still inside it...) which was just awesome of him. When he died, his family signed over all his woodworking magazine subscriptions to me. That was 2 years ago, and I'm still getting new issues.

A bunch of tool collectors and resellers converged on his estate sale, so I didn't get much at the auction. I'd have loved to get his table saw, man it was a nice one... Oh well, back to my deathtrap of a Delta :(

grover fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Nov 14, 2008

cucumbrrr
Apr 19, 2004
robot
This thread is great.

I'm just getting into woodworking, after wanting to be into it for as long as I can remember. My family owned a sawmill in Mass. for a very long time, and almost all of my uncles were carpenters. There is a great shop here in Seattle called Ballard Woodworks that offers classes, as well as lease-able work spaces, and communal tools.

I recently finished a small table made of Ash. I learned how to make mortis and tenon joins, and kept the live edge on the wood as well. I'll try to post pics soon. RIght now I'm working on a shelf system to hold all of my vinyl records. It's all mahogany, and I'm pretty stoked.

toomanyninjas
Feb 10, 2005

DOGOLD, I WANT YOU TO CALL AN AM-BOO-LANCE AND WHEN THEY GET HUR I WANT YOU TO TELL THEM TO
KEEP SMILING!
Loving that this thread exists.

I live in Richmond, Va. and, for the life of me, I can't find any woodworking/carpentry classes other than at the WoodCraft store a few miles away. I was really hoping for something a little more comprehensive than a weekend thing on how to make a shaker table.

Oh well. On the bright side, it looks like I've just bought a house with a nice sized garage and workshop, so I'll have a place to put all the saws and tools my said I could have. I guess I'll be learning by doing.

Golden War
Jan 18, 2004

So I'm going to try inlaying some strips of walnut and birch into a piece of hickory for a project and I'd like to stain the hickory but not the birch so it has a nice contrast. Is there a good way to mask the inlaid wood so that it doesn't take any stain? I assume I could cover the exposed top part with tape or something but I'm concerned with stain soaking into the birch from the sides. What do I need to know here?

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

Stain before inlay.

Slugworth
Feb 18, 2001

If two grown men can't make a pervert happy for a few minutes in order to watch a film about zombies, then maybe we should all just move to Iran!
So a few months back I made a coffee table out of some brazilian cherry flooring that I had laying around. Everything was fine, until I stored it in a basement that got *very* humid due to a little bit of flooding. Now the top is all bowed and hosed up.

The construction of the whole thing is essentially a piece of plywood onto which I screwed the leg/shelf assembly, and then glued the top boards on. Basically the plywood bowed down the middle, lengthwise. Would screwing some sort of brace into the bottom of the plywood suck it back down, or should I just let it stay bowed, and sand/plane the top flat?

(Edit: I can't work imageshack, 'cause I'm dumb, so picture attached below. Excuse the dust.)

Slugworth fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Nov 17, 2008

Slugworth
Feb 18, 2001

If two grown men can't make a pervert happy for a few minutes in order to watch a film about zombies, then maybe we should all just move to Iran!
Ta-da?

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Boogeyman
Sep 29, 2004

Boo, motherfucker.

Golden War posted:

So I'm going to try inlaying some strips of walnut and birch into a piece of hickory for a project and I'd like to stain the hickory but not the birch so it has a nice contrast. Is there a good way to mask the inlaid wood so that it doesn't take any stain? I assume I could cover the exposed top part with tape or something but I'm concerned with stain soaking into the birch from the sides. What do I need to know here?

There was an episode of The New Yankee Workshop where Norm built a set of nesting tables with some inlays (maple in mahogany if I remember correctly, along with a little medallion in the middle). He put a couple of coats of shellac on the medallion and maple first to seal them, then stained the rest of the surface the way he normally would with a water based stain. When he wiped the stain off, it came right off of the inlays since they were already sealed.

Golden War
Jan 18, 2004

ChaoticSeven posted:

Stain before inlay.

Well I'll need to do a lot of sanding to get the inlays to be flush so that would mess up the stain job wouldn't it?

Boogeyman posted:

There was an episode of The New Yankee Workshop where Norm built a set of nesting tables with some inlays (maple in mahogany if I remember correctly, along with a little medallion in the middle). He put a couple of coats of shellac on the medallion and maple first to seal them, then stained the rest of the surface the way he normally would with a water based stain. When he wiped the stain off, it came right off of the inlays since they were already sealed.

Actually I remember seeing this but I just totally forgot what he did. I was hoping someone else had seen it, thanks. Is there any reason polyurethane wouldnt work? I have lots of that but no shellac.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

Slugworth posted:

The construction of the whole thing is essentially a piece of plywood onto which I screwed the leg/shelf assembly, and then glued the top boards on. Basically the plywood bowed down the middle, lengthwise. Would screwing some sort of brace into the bottom of the plywood suck it back down, or should I just let it stay bowed, and sand/plane the top flat?

Well your big mistake was gluing the cherry flooring to the plywood. Plywood is a manufactured product built up from veneers with the grain of each running cross directional to increase stability. The cherry will expand and contract across the grain but not longitudinally. When designing furniture you have to allow for the wood movement or it will literally tear itself apart. In your case, the cherry is trying to expand and contract but the plywood won't let it so it forms weird shapes. Irresistible force meets immovable object. Keep it in a dry environment and it should return close to it's original shape. You can try a brace across the bottom but it will eventually find another way to relieve the stresses of expansion and contraction. If you sand it down, once it dries out you have a table with a dip in it.

mcrandello
Mar 30, 2001

Golden War posted:

Well I'll need to do a lot of sanding to get the inlays to be flush so that would mess up the stain job wouldn't it?


Actually I remember seeing this but I just totally forgot what he did. I was hoping someone else had seen it, thanks. Is there any reason polyurethane wouldnt work? I have lots of that but no shellac.

I'd recommend a small, *sharp* plane followed cabinet scraper if you have/could get one, you'd get better control over what area and how much of the wood is getting removed, and no grit marks whatsoever after you're done.

One of the advantages of shellac, if you wind up also using it to finish the whole project is that the coats of finish will amalgamate into one another where most other finishes wind up separated. What this means is no line where there's an extra layer over your inlay. Also if you thin it a little with rubbing alcohol/everclear it should soak straight down into the wood a ways, sealing it. You can get a can of bullseye shellac at the big box store which is sufficient for most woodworking. Look up "french polishing" for how to use it to get a deep, glasslike finish on flat surfaces.

If you do use shellac/urethane, then simply blue tape the area off if it's strips, thin it a little and lightly brush it on so that it doesn't seep under the tape (also with shellac it could tint it if left on.) Also don't leave the stain soak like the directions may say. it could work in under whatever sealer you have sideways and make a mess. Get some neoprene gloves and a rag, and use that to rub the stain in one coat at a time until you get the right color. As always practice on scraps first.

mcrandello fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Nov 18, 2008

PMan_
Dec 23, 2002
OKay, if I am finishing some red oak, I can use something like Danish Oil and then put a clear poly topcoat on, right?

mcrandello
Mar 30, 2001

I've never used Danish oil before but this guy here appears to have done it:
http://www.epinions.com/content_140061281924
And recommended it for open pored woods...

cucumbrrr
Apr 19, 2004
robot
Watco Danish oil is what I used to recently finish my Ash table, pictured below. It's super easy to use, and does a good job. I didn't to a poly topcoat, but there's no reason you couldn't.

cucumbrrr
Apr 19, 2004
robot
And here are the images...



sky shark
Jun 9, 2004

CHILD RAPE IS FINE WHEN I LIKE THE RAPIST

cucumbrrr posted:

And here are the images...





I like the unfinished look on the edge there... have you thought about intentionally distressing the top by whacking it with some chain and maybe scorching then sanding and refinishing for dark depressions to make it look more worn?

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

PMan_ posted:

OKay, if I am finishing some red oak, I can use something like Danish Oil and then put a clear poly topcoat on, right?

You can but there is no point to it. Danish oil is a mixture of oil based polyurethane and oil (tung or linseed). The only reason to use oil under poly is to darken the wood over time (accelerate patina), which linseed will do. But IIRC, most poly has UV inhibitors which will slow the darkening. It won't hurt anything but you're not really gaining much either.

(and by linseed I mean boiled linseed which is not actually boiled but has metallic dryers added)

PMan_
Dec 23, 2002
Excellent, thanks for the responses. And that is a pretty nice looking table, BTW. This project I'm working on is a kid's rocking chair, so I didn't know if the oil and the topcoat of poly would make it more durable in the long run.

Golden War
Jan 18, 2004

Here's a cribbage board I just finished with the inlays that I was asking about. I just did like was suggested and put a thin coat of poly on before staining. Seemed to work pretty well.

Here's what I came up with for peg storage. It's okay but the two pieces dont fit as flush as I'd like : /

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

PMan_ posted:

Excellent, thanks for the responses. And that is a pretty nice looking table, BTW. This project I'm working on is a kid's rocking chair, so I didn't know if the oil and the topcoat of poly would make it more durable in the long run.

I would recommend orange shellac. It will give you the richness of an oil but will be much easier to apply and it is non-toxic.

Well from least durable to most goes something like this:
wax
oil
danish oil
------------------------
shellac (alcohol soluble)
consumer lacquer
varnish
polyurethane
commercial lacquer

All finishes benefit from a topcoat of wax for abrasion resistance. Oil gives a particular visual appeal to certain woods like oak, walnut & cherry. An oil/wax finish is the easiest to apply, easiest to repair, and many believe is the most visually appealing, although it requires occasional reapplication. Danish oil is a good choice when you need minimal resistance to humidity and abrasion. Too often people count out shellac which is a fairly tough finish, very easy to apply, very easy to repair and non-toxic (commonly used on food and children's toys). We gave our wood floors a topcoat of shellac to tide us over until we refinish them properly and it has held up very well. Shellac comes premixed in both blond and amber (other colors are available as flake). Varnish generally gives an amber (warm) tint as does oil based poly. Water based poly tends to give a blue (cool) tint although you won't actually see any blue. Lacquer is always clear I believe, unless tinted.

Poly & varnish are the most difficult to apply and achieve good results, IMO. Mostly because new layers do not melt into previous layers and the finish nearly always requires multiple sandings to smooth and polish which is made more difficult because the finish is so hard. Lacquer is usually sprayed but can be brushed with good results. Shellac can be brushed on and no sanding is required to smooth and polish the finish. Danish oil and oil are just rubbed on.

PMan_
Dec 23, 2002

wormil posted:

Good stuff.

Fantastic, looks like it was a good thing that I decided to delay my trip to Rockler until today. Will definitely have to try out some shellac.

Kat the Irish
Feb 2, 2006

everybody hold on tight
Ah, woodworking thread. Thanks OP.

I now live in Egypt and my woodworking hobbies are no more, due to time constraints, tools being super expensive, and I have no space for it. This thread really makes me want to move back to actually do all the ideas I've had lately.

Nevertheless, I'll post the last stuff I did. So this box was made like three years ago. Covered in leather. And the two strips on the top I actually bent the old fashioned hot-water-and-dry-way

In progress


And the completed

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

Kat the Irish posted:

Ah, woodworking thread. Thanks OP.

I now live in Egypt and my woodworking hobbies are no more, due to time constraints, tools being super expensive, and I have no space for it. This thread really makes me want to move back to actually do all the ideas I've had lately.

Nevertheless, I'll post the last stuff I did. So this box was made like three years ago. Covered in leather. And the two strips on the top I actually bent the old fashioned hot-water-and-dry-way

In progress


And the completed


Nice. I've been seeing treasure chest type boxes here there the last couple weeks. Gives me the itch to make one.

Also, if anyone has some resource or guide or some such I'd be happy to add it to the OP, I'm about to remove those horrid cell phone pictures and stuff soon anyway.

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

Had some walnut scraps I needed to use due to "sentimental" reasons.

SnackinStarfish
Feb 27, 2007

I've decided I want to make my girlfriend a simple wardrobe for a Christmas present, and I need a few pointers before undertaking such a project.

First off, the specs: It should be 6'H X 3'W X 2'D, with a hanger bar (duh), and a shelf (maybe two) near the bottom for shoes. The width is the most important measurement here - it would go in a (slightly more than) 3'W space in her bedroom. For this reason, and for simplicity, I think I'll keep it free of side drawers. Also, I'm planning to sand it and paint it black.

The two most important things for me while building the wardrobe:
1. Price - It breaks my heart, but I can barely afford my own rent at the moment, let alone a girlfriend-level Christmas present. I need to keep this project from being a wallet-buster.

2. Sturdiness - wobbling is an absolute no-no. I want to build something that will not topple like a house in a silent movie or sway if you push on it.

Taking these factors into account, How should I structure it, what type of wood should I use, where should I look for the wood, and what tools will I need (I will rent any power tool(s))?

Infinite thanks in advance. I really don't want to screw this up.

SnackinStarfish fucked around with this message at 11:05 on Nov 25, 2008

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

SnackinStarfish posted:

I've decided I want to make my girlfriend a simple wardrobe for a Christmas present, and I need a few pointers before undertaking such a project.

What tools do you have, what is your experience level, and what is your budget ($300, 500, 1000)? I would estimate that you're probably looking at a few hundred dollars worth of hard wood plywood minimum, significantly more if you use real wood, then add in hardware and tool rental. If you're goal is to save money, it's often cheaper to buy than to build especially if you visit some antique auctions or lower end antique stores.

Wardrobes are built using fairly standard case construction.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Classic_Wardrobe/
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/articleabstract?aid=12861

mcrandello
Mar 30, 2001

You can use doorskin plywood as the back of pretty much any wardrobe. A possibly cheap method of construction might be to use tongue&groove cedar closet lining braced with cedar 1x2's held on with brads, and a 2x2 pine post in each corner, glued and screwed all around. Frame the outside with 1x2's or a nice floor/wall molding held in with brads/glue to hide the less sightly screwheads, and then cover the whole thing in shellac or polyurethane outside. Leave the inside bare obviously for bug killing properties. Top and bottom can be the plywood of your choice, at least 3/4" on the bottom and 1/2" on the top.

If you're painting it black you could possibly use thin birch or doorskin plywood for the front, just be sure to brace very well all the way around the door opening so that it doesn't flex and look all flimsy when using the door.

Your tools would include a few pipe clamps borrowed from someone, hammer, screwdriver/drill, carpenter's square, mitre box or mitre saw rented, a buzz saw and a sanding block or palm sander, maybe a handplane for levelling up the sides you cut with the buzz saw.

mcrandello fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Nov 25, 2008

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
^^^^^^
If I'm imagining your construction correctly I don't see any allowances for wood movement. Especially if the outside is finished and the inside isn't, the wardrobe will pull itself apart within six months. My father-in-law built some headboards using cedar tongue & groove with 2x2 cedar posts, finished only on one side and within months the things twisted and warped like crumpled paper.

mcrandello
Mar 30, 2001

Good point. I suppose don't glue the cross braces and don't shove the tongue and groove all the way tight. I didn't realize cedar moved so much. I have a similar wardrobe but it was factory made and they glued a bunch of dimensioned strips together to make the sides/front of it, and I think they did that trick of alternating grain direction to prevent massive warpage. One of the doors did crack but that had more to do with someone falling into it than moisture.

I've been reading some luthier boards and a lot of them have been baking their tops in the oven before gluing up to prevent excess wood movement and give the guitar a more aged sound (kind of similar with crossbracing and finished on one side) but I suppose you'd need a hell of a large oven, and he doesn't have all summer to set the boards in the attic.

valve
Sep 29, 2007
That's well Jackson
Just finished my latest instrument build:

Click here for the full 461x614 image.



Click here for the full 614x461 image.



Click here for the full 461x614 image.


It's an 8 string guitar, the body is Idigbo, and the neck is laminates of Padauk, Purpleheart and Maple, and the fretboard is Cocobolo.

dreg
Jun 1, 2000

Don't swear in front of your mother!

cucumbrrr posted:

And here are the images...






Awesome, I love the boards with the bark still attached. I made a spalted maple bench for my sister, all with drillholes & dowels, no metal. If it ever breaks while people sit on it, then it was supposed to be a table. ;)




wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

dreg posted:



Sexy. You're making me want to go build something. I think it's been two years since I built a piece of furniture.

PMan_
Dec 23, 2002
Okay, someone please educate me about brad nailers. I would like to get one for my Pops for Christmas, as he had mentioned wanting one to build a veranda in the spring. My question is, how much power and capacity does the compressor need?

Here in this Home Depot ad I see a Husky compressor that is 2 gallons and I believe 100 PSI for $59. Comes with 2 nailers, 1.25" brad and staples. Then they have a 6 gallon 150 PSI Porter-Cable that comes with a 1.25" brad nailer. Obviously the Porter-Cable is probably the one to get, but I am just wondering if one needs a certain PSI rating or capacity for certain tasks.

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
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:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
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80psi is fine for just about any nailer. It will be cycling on a lot if the tank is too small (especially if you're using larger nails, or an air tool that requires a lot of air), but that $60 kit is fine for brads, and really just impacts the duty cycle of heavier tools- you can still use them, you might just not be able to machine-gun slam 16D nails for very long without them starting to underdrive as the compressor tries to keep up pressure in the cylinder.

PMan_
Dec 23, 2002
Excellent, thank you. I doubt they'll actually have that $60 still in stock, but we shall see...

Bigos
Dec 30, 2006
A Succulent Polish Treat
I am thinking of getting into woodworking and would like some advice, especially about what table saw to buy. I want to make furniture and the occasional home reno project. As much as I really want something inexpensive, quality is more important. I would rather wait and buy an expensive, good saw.

I've been looking at this DeWalt and I like the price and the saw feels sturdy, but it has a smaller table and a 16 inch rip capacity. Are these things likely to be a serious disadvantage or a minor annoyance?

I don't know much about planes. Could I save money on a jointer by getting a hand plane? If so, what kind, and what brands should consider/avoid?

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PMan_
Dec 23, 2002
While I am by no means an authority, I can offer some advice. First of all, while that DeWalt is a good saw, I might at first go with something a bit cheaper. That is so that for one, if you decide that woodworking is not really for you, at least you're not out as much money. And two, should you get into it, you're going to want a better saw than the DeWalt, and you can put the money you saved by getting something cheaper at first towards the upgrade. Depending on what you want to make, a smaller rip capacity may not even be an issue, though it sure is annoying when it does become an issue. There are ways around it, like if you have a circular saw or a friend with a miter saw.

As far as planes, that is kind of a tricky subject. It'll take a good amount of time, patience, and practice just to get them sharpened and tuned properly. Things can also get pretty spendy in a hurry with hand planes, as here the quality really does correlate to the price. Lie-Nielsen and Lee Valley are generally considered to be the tops as far as planes go, and they have price tags to match. Craftsman is supposedly coming out with some high-end planes again soon, as well. The Craftsman planes you'll find in Home Depot, though, are usually not recommended.

Groz makes some mid-range planes that seem to get good marks. They have them at Woodcraft and Rockler. Of course, you could always do the garage sale/flea market thing looking for old Craftsman planes, but in those cases you usually have to spend more time restoring and tuning.

I was definitely in your position when I was first starting out. I was all about the hand planes, and I still am to some extent, but I can sure appreciate a power planer and jointer now, especially when I usually don't have huge amounts of time to spend in the shop.

Anyway, hope this provides at least a little bit of insight.

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