Build a cheap coffee table

Gooday,

I have owned an entertainment unit which was given to me by my brother several years ago.
He made it in woodworking class in high school. I have used it to store our old TV, after that it was a bookshelf.

Instead of giving it away, I thought the unit would make a good coffee table. All the material was there - solid pine panels and the screws. I decided to disassemble the piece of furniture and start cutting out the pieces.


The "before picture" of the entertainment unit.











 

I laid out the curves on the legs with my spare router base and cut them out on my Delta 16" band saw. The edges were sanded using a sanding drum chucked up in my drill press.

Pieces are shaped and ready for fitting.
 



Table top cut shorter and glued up.

The top and bottom of the entertainment unit now serve as the coffee table top. Next step is to take my Stanley 112 scraper plane and scrape the surfaces smooth.  Stay tuned for more pictures !


Salvaged lumber to the rescue

Gooday,

A few weeks ago I volunteered to fix one of the oak benches(pews) in my church. When I finished that job I noticed the adjacent bench was not secured properly. When I looked under the bench I found the supports that the bench sits on were split from top to bottom. Having deliberated on a repair scheme for the pieces I decided to use the existing supports as templates( after gluing them together)
and trace them on to thicker stock.

Tucked away in the workshop was several large slabs of clear western hemlock. The hemlock was salvaged from the pews that were removed from my Baptist church back home. My Opa built these benches over thirty years ago. Definitely not by coincidence part of the  church pews from Salmon Arm B.C. ended up in Brentview Baptist church in Calgary, Alberta.

The old pew material needed to have a couple of holes filled with beech dowel I had in the shop and the front and back edges needed a pass with the router and a round over bit. The original varnish finish was touched up and the bench was assembled once again.

Using salvaged lumber for this project was a natural decision for me based on the other projects on this blog that also utilize salvaged wood.

Drive belt for Delta 3 wheel band saw

Gooday,

Today, on a snowy day in May, I installed my drive belt on my 16" Delta band saw. This model band saw seems to be the oddball in the world of vintage band saws, apparently not many three wheel band saws were manufactured. The guts of this power tool show a heavy duty cast iron frame which holds everything together in a very robust manner.

 So far I have been able to find replacement parts for the tires that go over the two wheels(Carter's Products) and the drive belt P\N 419961330005 (ereplacementparts.com).
A stabilizer band saw guide for 1\4" wide blades are available through Carter's.

The old belt was cracked and loose. The new belt needed to be stretched and soaked in boiling water before it would fit over the drive wheel and the blade wheel. I also loosened the motor mounting bolts to make it easier to stretch the belt over the wheels.

 

Roubo book stand

Last night I went down to the workshop and made this copy of Andre Roubo's book stand.
I watched Roy Underhill on the PBS website to have a refresher course. I also watched a video by theinternetwoodworker.com . He made a stand and made the hinges at 45 degrees instead of the round hinges.

 

So I laid out my hinges and started the chisel way the waste. My first ever attempt to rip a board on edge , length was successful ( to my surprise ). I followed my lines from the marking gauge and sliced through the wood grain using my Japanese saw.

The real fun part was splitting the wood after ensuring the hinges were cut down enough.
With each tap of the wedges the hinge broke free and the sounds of wood cracking
were alarming. If the cuts were not done properly the book stand could break in the wrong place , ruining the previous evening's work.

Taking little baby steps the wood was successfully split along the hinge where I had cut to the layout lines.

Magnifique !

 

This year Christmas comes early...

As some of you guys have noticed, I am going gun ho on my toboggan project here at canuckwoodchuck. Today marks the completion of my third toboggan !

 Don't miss this, I have never made more than one of any particular project. I thought I was doomed to a life of making serial, one of, wood items. Usually my lack of planning and over zealous imagination would commandeer my brain and I would be on to the next big idea.  But not this time.

I made a goal this year to distribute 3 toboggans to my nieces and nephews respectively for Christmas. I've just had enough of buying some plastic toy from China and wrapping it up for a loved one. This Christmas the presents I give will be made in Canada. And really, anybody who builds something with their hands can make this claim. You may have heard of the saying "Buy Locally", why not take that one step further with "Made Locally"?

 Let us, as a community of woodworkers, change the way presents(for any occasion) are given. Gifts made in your " home and native land" are truly spectacular ways to revolutionize the gift giving tradition.

For some of you this is not new, homemade gifts have always been carefully crafted in your basement or shop, and for others this will start a new tradition of planning now to finish some wooden presents in time for 25 Dec.

Happy Woodworking !

 - Christopher Thiessen

How to make a wood toboggan Part 2

We'll start off this post with a video. If a picture is worth a thousand words than maybe a video is worth two thousand words.

                                                 Part one : steam bending the maple slats

 

 

After bending the required number of slats for the toboggan I found that the width of the pieces had increased because of the expansion in the steam box. I used a little trim block plane to return the slats

to their original width



Trimming the width with a trim block plane.

                                                Part two : assembling the toboggan

Assembling the toboggan was easiest using this method. Start by placing one slat flat on the bench so the curved portion faces up. Dry fit the "bread board" part that will capture the free ends of the curved pieces. Apply a little downwards pressure to the curved portion of the slat to simulate the finished product. While holding that pressure place a square next to the hole in the "bread board" ( the rope hole, (I choose 1/4" rope.)) Follow the square down to the flat portion of the slat and make a mark.

This mark will be the middle of the cross piece that the slats are screwed to.

 

I used the end vise on my workbench to hold the cross pieces(pre drilled and chamfered on the top and sides).  The toboggan gets assembled upside down on the bench.

One word of caution here : make sure you offset the the two screw holes at either end  of the cross pieces so that you don't drill through the rope holes in the cross piece.

The "bread board" end in the picture is dry fitted only with no fasteners.(It will be the last part to be installed on the toboggan) I had a laser device kicking around , so I used it to line up the screws on the center of the cross pieces. A chalk line will work as well , although the laser was easy to adjust when it was bumped.

If you have three drills the assembly goes a little quicker. One drill is dedicated for
 drilling 1/8" pilot holes.  One drill is dedicated to countersinking and the third drill
 has the #2 Robertson bit installed.


 

 

This is the finished project. One toboggan done and two more to go. The last two just require varnish.

 

 

 

How to make a wood toboggan Part 1

So, it has been a while since anything new was posted, but tonight I submit a post for your discriminating taste in wood working blogs.  First off is my newest brain child, actually the thought came to me 3 years ago but has since taken a hiatus. Steam bending for the purpose of building a toboggan. When we had our first snow fall here in Cowtown the inspiration hit me like a hard packed snow ball.  Both kids needed to get outside this winter and enjoy tobogganing like I did.

Making jigs has never been a real passion of mine but I did make three of them for this project.
While I am waiting for my Earlex Steam Generator to come by dog sled, I set myself to making the bending form.  Spruce plywood(the cheapest grade you can buy) was purchased and cut to make a 10" diameter bend. The width of the slats will be 2 1/4" wide so three pieces of 3/4" plywood were sandwiched together.  Now the dilemma was how to cut a curve the full width of the form. I do not own a band saw, however I have a router with one straight cut bit and one flush trim bit. I removed the plastic base plate that the router came with and attached the base plate to a scrap of laminate hardwood using good old double sided tape.

Drill the holes to match the spacing on the base plate and counter sink the holes. Attach the laminate to the bottom of the router and mark back from the straight router bit the radius you require. Secure the one end of the router and base plate to the form. Ensure the router is free to rotate around a pivot screw. You can change the position of the pivot screw to accommodate your desired curve.  Make sure you install stop screws in the form to contact the laminate in order to provide stops at both ends of the arc.  Make several passes through the arc increasing the depth each time. When you have hit your maximum depth, detach the router and flip the form over. Insert the flush trim bit and use the existing curve to guide your router as you cut the other half of the form.

Cutting the support brackets is easy just drill a hole through a pair of plywood blocks. When you straddle them across the form, insert a matching dowel to go through both pieces. Insert a scrap of wood that is the same thickness as the wood that you will be bending plus a wedge under the dowel and secure the support brackets. Next post regarding this toboggan will be on the steam bending.
Stay tuned...



Steam bending jig for a toboggan.  Mk I

 





The modified wood bending form Mk.II
Note : the latest version of this form does away with the two FA clamps at the bottom of the picture.



 

 

This update on the steam bending project reflects the modified wood bending form as seen in the above picture. Some observations on this process : Always leave the wood in the steam box longer than the minimum. The rule of thumb floating around is one hour for every inch of thickness.

I am now using 25 min. for 1/4" thick wood. The extra steaming time in this instance may reflect the kiln dried state of the wood at rest(before steaming).  The wood feels a lot more plastic when its bent around the form. The extra time in the steamer does not hurt the wood. The wood needs to be supported by a couple of cauls especially at the start of the bend and mid point through the form's circumference. See above picture for placement of the cauls.

 

 The drawback to using the form as I had originally built it is that the wood will expand along the width quite significantly will being heated and saturated with water.  If the form brackets are spaced out to accommodate the wood in an at rest state, they wood will be too wide to fit after steaming. This creates pinch points in the wood as it is bent around the form and the wood will crack.

One way to reduce the amount of spring back after you bend the wood , is to leave the piece in the form for as long as you can.  Essentially the bent wood MC should be as close as possible to the MC of the wood before it was steamed. I leave my wood in the form until the wood is cool to the touch and then remove it and use painters masking tape to retain roughly a 10.5" diameter in the end of the curved slat.

One note on the clamps in the form : this video explains how to make a speedy clamp.



 



Salvaging a gynasuim bench part I

Gooday ! Today's post begins the series on a bench that I am working on. When I was in school there were several of these benches used in the gym. The benches are made from oak and and 12' long by 9 1/2" wide. Four plywood legs were secured to the seat and with a single piece of 3" wide oak tying the legs together on the floor. A small crack in the seat rendered this particular bench scrap.

My guide line for using this hardwood is to leave the holes and dadoes in the wood that were left from screws, bolts and legs. I want the new bench to look like it was made using salvaged wood, but not like I just slapped the boards together.

I am using all the oak to make a new bench based on the White Water Shaker Bench that was featured in the Winter 2009 issue of Woodworking Magazine( before it became Popular Woodworking)

Jointing the apron board

• Step one: scrape off all the gum wads on the boards. In this picture the boards that will become the aprons are edge jointed using hand planes. Repair cracks in seat board with glue.

You might notice the blue holdfast in the foreground, click here for an explanation.


Salvaging a gymnasium bench  part 2

After milling the boards to the correct thickness and size , I assembled the bench with square nails.
This is my first project with square nails and it was a good lesson for me. Square nails probably work
better in wood that is "greener".  All wood hardens over time and maybe more so with oak.

The wood did split in a couple places and part of that was incorrect installation of nails and part old wood.  I found that countersinking the pilot hole was very good to seat the nail flush and minimize splitting.  Take a 1/8" mortise chisel and relieve the hole edges in line with the grain.

Beware of old glue lines in salvaged wood. Sometimes the glue lines will give up when fastening the boards together.

The next step is sanding and finishing.
 

Making a raised Diamond panel

Here is my first kick at the can on making a diamond panel. This video explains my thoughts on this project and new theory for diamond panel part deux. 

UPDATE : I think this pattern would work for a diamond panel that had equal sized diamonds on it.
The layout here would have panned out if the diamonds were smaller.

More hand saw sharpening......



One antique Canadian rip saw

This post is the second in a series I am publishing on hand saw sharpening. Now I know what what you are thinking, "why is the saw post on this blog and on not Arm Strong Tools?".  I don't have a good reason for that suffice it say the saw posts will remain here. Okay, enough jibber jabber - here is the meat and potatoes of what transpired tonight.

My new favourite rip saw , a 25 " saw manufactured in Canada by Shurly-Dietrich-Atkins. identified as having 5 1/2 ppi at the factory and Shurly-Dietrich-Atkins named this saw the Maple Leaf No. 152.  I don't know how to date this saw so if someone has some info I would love to hear about it.

Sharpening this saw proved to be a little easier because the teeth were very coarse and in pretty good shape to begin with. I followed along with Tom Law once again and took this cutting tool through the steps of jointing,shaping,setting,filing, and side dressing.

Eager to see this saw in action, I cut a 1" piece of fir and watched as the saw dust spilled off the saw teeth. Saw dust is a bit of a misnomer in this particular job. The "saw dust" should not be dust at all, rather very tiny chips of wood that you can see with your naked eye. If there is real dust left after a cutting operation the saw teeth are dull.

This is now a good sharp saw that will cut in a straight line.

Cutting my teeth with Tom Law

Gooday !   Happy Canada Day !  Or if you are old enough to remember... Happy Dominion Day

So this past Friday night found me in my workshop, I had finally bought two saw files and was ready to get to work sharpening an old rip saw.  My saw vise had been ready for working action for some time and now I was going to take it for a test drive.  Earlier in the year I bought a 26" D-8 Henry Disston and Sons rip saw - now I was going to learn how to tune it up.

 The instructional video I purchased was hosted by Tom Law. This is a good DVD. The video contains good instructional content with demonstrations of an automatic saw sharpening machine and a dedicated machine for punching out new teeth. I wished I had him in the workshop in person so I could ask some questions.

As the night was getting later I was having some mixed results with my saw teeth. I need a lot of practice. I was literally cutting my teeth by shaping the teeth of ol' reliable(my saw). Overall, I had fun eating the best landjaeger and listening to Mr. Law and pushing my new file across some really old tool steel.

 My work is not done on this 8 point saw by any means ,(notice I did not include a close up picture the the teeth!) I will be going back and finishing the job. My saw vise will be modified to accommodate a saw from either end.

Stay tuned....

Dining room arm chair

This chair took a very long time to repair - mostly because I lost interest in it from time to time.However it is finished now!  The chair was disassembled, scraped clean, and repaired or made new parts as required.

Dining room chair is restored.

Most of the original wood is butter nut, and it had a plywood decorative piece in the back. The back of the chair has the same shape except I bought a piece of ash to make a new one. Ash is remarkably similar to oak in texture,colour and workability.  The front and rear pieces that connect the legs were reproduced using rock maple that I had in the shop.

The stain that I used was Varathane Wood Stain - Dark Walnut no.269 with a wax top coat.
As you can see in the picture the different woods reacted differently to the stain. The butternut wood accepted the stain with ease but the rock maple didn't care for it too much. The overall effect is pleasing to me even though irregularities are present with staining.

Rocking Horse

My Opa built several of these rocking horses during his lifetime.  I have some of the pieces from this plan already made by him. He also made fiber board templates of all the pieces. The legs which in my opinion are the hardest parts to make are completed for me.  I bought the plan and now am in the process of finishing this rocking horse.

More clamping options

I made this tool to clamp long boards to the edge of my bench top. The face vise holds the other end of the board.

Rocking chair repair

This rocking chair was in our family for a few decades now. It was made in Japan and now was in need of some repair. The wood was cracked in several places and two spindles on the back were broken.

I used my friend's wood lathe to turn the replacement spindles. Removing the old finish took a lot of time because I used a set of scrapers. This was my introduction to scrapers and I really like using them. Finish was wipe off Puritan pine Varathane and paste wax top coat. We use this rocking chair to rock our children to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.   

New Workshop !

On New Years Day 2011 I moved into my new workshop in the basement of our house. I did have a shop in our garden shed in the backyard but it was very small and cold for half of the year.

 I pulled up the old carpet that was in the basement room and put down Dri Core sub floor. I sealed the sub floor with polyurethane. 

I am currently repairing a rocking chair that we got as a hand me down. The lighting in the room is not great but it will suffice for now. It feels great to have a heated workshop and some space to move around in.

Kid's sled

This sled is a project that I started just before Helen was born. I originally wanted to use bent wood for the hand rails but I chose a simpler style instead. Helen is old enough now to sit up in the sled and we will try it out this winter.

End grain cutting board

This is my first stab at a cutting board - an end grain one at that. My inspiration for the project came from The Wood Whisperer - Marc S. He had a video on his website that highlighted the steps for making an end grain cutting board.

With the exception of the purple heart, the rest of the pieces were scraps of wood I had in my shop already. I did not have the pieces I did what I could with the table saw.

60 grit sand paper on my orbital sander did a good job of doing a final cleaning over the end grain.

This project was fun to do. The end product (after finishing with a food safe oil) was very rewarding.

The cutting board was a gift for my mother in law for her birthday.

Eye of the Tiger

This toy took the form of a tiger. I wanted to highlight the stripes on the tiger , so I used different types of wood for the colours. I picked yellowheart and walnut to glue up the tiger.

I was surprised at how soft yellowheart is. It is comparable to pine in grain and density.

The tiger is going to our friends overseas, they just had their second son a few weeks ago.

I used an old Marples 12 " bow saw to cut the profile of the animal. The saw performed nicely

with the original 8ish tpi blade. The saw was a bargain on ebay. I paid around $70 shipping included for the saw. Nearly identical saws can fetch $160 before shipping.

Kids Sled...part one - bentwood

The week before our daughter Helen was born I started working on a kids sled.

I got as far roughing out two runners and braces. Recently I was able to get some more work done on the project.

I am experimenting with bending wood. I will use bentwood for the sides of the sled.

After researching bentwood in a reference book I have (Canadian Woods- their properties and uses pg 93 - published 1951 by Forestry Branch(Canadian Government)) I found that hardwoods are recommended over softwoods for bending.

As a rule of thumb, the book suggests a ratio of 1/40 for the thickness-to-bend radius ratio.

I selected a 6.25" radius for the side pieces. For the purposes of this calculation lets use 6" for an example 6/40 = 0.15 " My individual strips are approx. about 3/32" or .09" This should work.

I did not actually measure the strips.Instead I, put my stock on the table saw(not running)

between the blade and the fence. I brought the fence up to the stock. Engaged the fence lock, removed the stock. Then I moved the fence 3/16" closer to the blade, engaged the fence lock again and cut my strip of wood. A zero clearance plate is highly recommended for the procedure.

I use a Freud rip blade.

The ultimate test of how thick or thin your strips are is to dry bend them over your radius template. If you can hold all strips over the intended curve without breaking them you are good to go. I used maple and walnut in alternating positions to make my test piece. Yellow glue(Elmers Pro Bond) glued the pieces together. The test piece turned out very well. I was impressed with the results.

Stay tuned for the completion of this sled:)