I've been building a corner bookcase out of cheap cedar fencing board. I'm now at the stage where I'm glueing up the final pieces for assembly, and it's a hell of a lesson. That is 1 of 2 of the actual shelve units, and each one has a back board (you can see it in the top right of the pic). They fit in a corner on top of another piece I've already made. The "fun" has been in the details of things like straight and parallel lines, exact measurements, etc... I'm going for the "rustic" look, but there have been more than a few gaps here and there that had to be attended to. I've been spending most of my time learning and practising by working on cheap, soft wood, and I'm paying the price for it. It's taking time to get it all done (an hour after work here and there, so weeks in the making so far). Nothing seems to stay flat, grains are constantly popping out, boards warping, etc. For that matter, the graining in cedar makes it a bitch if you get a thin layer near an edge... before you know it you're picking away at things like you're going at an ingrown finger nail. Tomorrow night should be the interesting night, as it's the final glue and screw. I'm optimistic that I can force it all to fit and hold it with screws until the glue finally cures, but who knows.
Random redneck question, and this appears to be the best thread to put it in since it does require woodworking experience.... Anyone have any clue how the hell to build a duck house? I've looked online and there's more opinions out there than there are assholes on here. Early July I'll start raising somewhere around 8-12 ducks. I have experience in that regard, as I used to raise them when I was a kid, but we used to raise mallards which would just fly away when they were old enough. These will be the egg laying type that can't fly and I'm raising for their eggs and their tasty meat.
More progress on my corner bookshelf project. One of the issues I had to figure out was how to get it into the house when it was done. If I attached the two pieces together permanently, it'd never fit through any of the doors. My initial idea was to have a vertical piece that would slide onto the front, inner corner that would hold the shelves together and provide some vertical structural support, but after trying a couple different ideas, it didn't work out as I was hoping. Also, the shelves were strong enough so that there was no vertical sag in the middle. I went to my old friend Lee Valley and found some knock-down fittings and put them to use. Went to work this afternoon trying them out only to find that the plastic insert for the post was too thick for my shelves, as the hole required left very, very thin walls and it was just going to blow out. Figured I'd try it anyway, and yep, the first one cracked the face of the shelf. So, no plugs. I then wondered what I was going to do, and figured... well, I have a tap-and-die set, I wonder if you can tap wood? So I then figured out the diameter and pitch of the threaded base of the post, drilled a small hole, and then proceeded to tap that wood. I'll be damned if it didn't work perfectly. Ended up tapping the 10 post holes and used some CA glue to help seat the posts in place, and I'm a happy camper. And there ya go... today I learned you can tap wood, even soft wood. FYI, those dominos are basically going to be dry-fit in the final assembly so that the shelves are aligned with each other, and those knock-down fittings will keep the shelves tightly pulled together.
Major progress today as I got everything put together and the final sanding pretty well done. Taking waaaay longer to sand and prep before the finishing than I thought it would. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it's coming along. Now I'm into the gin and tonics and just thought I'd share. Piecing it together, with the shop cat overseeing things from his chair. And yes, that's a weed. I'm hoping I can get it up to the roof. Here it is all pieced together and on its side (the left side is the top). Only one small fuck-up as one of the knock-back fasteners blew through the surface of one of the shelves so I had to do some patch work (that's the piece in the middle that looks out of place... it's wood filler drying, and I'll sand it down tomorrow after it's cured. The stuff sands and takes stain really, really well, so I'm not too worried about it. All in all it's becoming more and more substantial.
Brainstorming needed. I have a platform bed (brand: Eztia), that was very complex to disassemble then reassemble when I moved. The instructions were lost and I wound up with leftover bolts. Anywho, a year or so later and the slats have started to squeak really loudly in one area when you get in or out of the bed. Short of taking the whole fucking monstrosity apart and putting it back together, does anyone have a cheat for wood squeaking? Bearing in mind that actually accessing the ends of the slats is impossible,since they're sandwiched in between the shadow box of the platform and the frame.
Is it squeaking because it's being stressed/compressed, or because it's two surfaces rubbing together ? If it's rubbing, try using something like a furniture wax to lube it up.
Spent most of the afternoon applying the Danish Oil to the corner unit I'm making... and I have to say it's coming out really, really well. I chose a Black Walnut Danish oil so that it would match the fireplace surround/mantle, and the colour is almost bang on. The interesting thing is that cedar is a very, very thirsty wood, so I've never really applied enough of the oil to really get a smooth surface on it... I've generally done cedar work and left it looking a bit rough, maybe coating it with some finishing paste/wax to get rid of the top layer crystallization effect. This time I kept going... and going... and going.. .applying it until the surfaces were like glass... and I'm really, really impressed with how it turned out. It's looking like those really old antique tables that have that killer, long-time finish. Hard to believe those were $2 cedar fencing planks.
I ran across this YouTube channel two nights ago, and I think I've watched just about every one of the videos on the channel since then. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClPa3pmqKwApysaYi7B7Nlg It's a master shipwright that has amassed a respectable number of very, very well produced videos, and the guy is an amazing teacher and sharer of knowledge. I know I probably fell down that rabbit hole for 3-4 hours. Especially the "In The Boathouse" section... tons of amazing tips that taught me a lot.
So my corner bookcase is done and I've started to fill it full of stuff. It's nice to get some old boxes emptied for the first time in a long time. Learned a lot on this project, and I'm quite happy with how it all turned out.
This weekend I've embarked on a new woodworking adventure, and that is to build out a better shop. I've taken some time and thought about the work flow and the real pain points in my small shop (a small, single-car garage). I then started doing up some rough sketches where I turn one long wall of the garage into one big, integrated chop-saw table with shelving, that the router table and contractor saw all roll into. It all starts with everything being the same work height. I just built a new mobile workbench last weekend that is the same height as my router table. Today I started work building up the wall cabinet for the mitre saw so I can pull it off the contractor stand... at the same height as the work bench. It includes an enclosed box for the saw with really, really good dust extraction, and about 12' of stock feed space. Next I'll be building up a rolling cabinet for the contractor saw that will slide into the new wall-bench at the same height. It will also double as a planer table at the same work height. I'm also looking at integrating my jointer as well, but I'm not sure I have the room for it. It'll be so nice to be able to use any of the rolling cabinets or workbench or wall cabinet as an infeed or outfeed platform that is all the same height. All in all I think I dropped $300 in building materials at the Depot, and have progressed a long way with the framing. Crazily enough this is the most math-centric of any project I've ever done, as figuring out how to get everything at a 35 1/2" height requires a ton of 1/8th math. I hate 1/8th math. I also think I've finally figured out this whole marking/cutting/kerf thing to actually get things the exact length you want. You all might laugh, but that's a major epiphany and milestone for me.
I made my permanent bench tall enough to roll my mobile bench under it and when everything is put away my wife can still pull her car in the garage. I have high ceilings so I made three 4x8 shelves and suspended them about 30 inches from the ceiling, getting stuff up off the floor really helps with usable space. Look forward to some photos when you get done.
The only thing that will suck about moving is that I've just gotten my shop to be how I want it. I built up the wall of the garage to be a big infeed/outfeed for the miter saw (which, for once, no longer throws any dust thanks to it being in its own enclosed box with 1500 CFM keeping it clear), and have all sorts of funky built-in vacuum and dust extraction all remotely controlled. It makes it nice because I can work so much better and more efficiently and just get stuff done faster and better. Case in point: a couple of nights ago something went "crash" in the living room, and upon investigation it turned out that the temporary table I had the TV and XBox on broke under the weight. A new entertainment piece that matches the corner bookcase I did was the next major project, but seeing as I'm here for a couple months at least, I figured, "why not just build something quick and easy?". So I did. 5 hours later and I'm waiting for the Tung oil to dry so I can move it into the living room... all done with cheap 4x4" cedar posts that I had sitting in the garage. Except the shelf, which was just some cedar fence board that I glued up into a shelf. Over all I'm pretty happy with how it came out, and it feels really good to be able to whip that kind of thing off in an afternoon.
What a night... had some time to kill while my computer was re-installing and rebuilding all sorts of shit, so I hit the shop and built myself a new dining room table. I'm moving in a couple of months so won't take it with me (it's too heavy and bulky to drag across the country... if I need a new one, I'll build it). I'm amazed at how much I actually got done... the top is a bunch of 4"x4" cedar posts glued together, and it's all done... glued, sanded, and finished. The legs are also 4x4 post construction in like a trestle, and they're ugly but functional... all in I think I spent about 5 hours working on it. It should be dry enough and ready to move into the dining room tomorrow. It's definitely got that "rough" look to it, with a bunch of knots and imperfections, but it was fast, and it'll work. Just in time for mom coming out to visit for Thanksgiving. Here's a pic of the table top drying... 3 coats of Tung oil and 2 of wipe-on poly... quick and dirty. I'm just kind of amazed at how quickly it all is coming together.
As was mentioned in the other thread, I do have a Festool Domino, and that's what I seem to do the vast majority of my joints with now. No screws or other hardware, just dominos and glue. For that particular joint I doubled up on the dominos, and then just clamped it for 24 hrs using Titebond 3. The dominos I used for that one are the biggest available for the Domino 500, so they are 10x50mm, which are fairly beefy. It seems strong enough, and it really is only a temporary thing as I'll give the table away when I move in a couple of months. If I wanted to do something more structural then I'd do some short 45° supports on each side of the bottom and top of those vertical posts. As it is right now the dominos and size of the glue joints on the ends of those vertical posts seem to be good enough to hold it in place with very little movement when sitting on the edge of the table top. This is a rough idea of what that looks like, except mine were done in the end of the post.
Yeah, again, the whole goal of this project was to use up some wood I had stored up and to add some ambiance to Thanksgiving Dinner while my mom's visiting. (She flies out tomorrow). Up until now I've been in 100% bachelor mode, and been quite happy with having cheap, temporary pieces of furniture until I replace them with custom built stuff; book cases, coffee tables, tv stands, etc. My desk that I use daily is a monster and quite nice, but the dining room table was a cheap folding plastic thing from Home Depot, because I hadn't gotten to it yet. Not the right kind of "ambiance". I thought it would be fun to just get something done as quickly as I could, just to see how it turned out. Usually I'd prep the wood by jointing and planing it all so that everything would be exactly the same size and at nice right angles, etc. Not in this case. I just took raw 4x4 cedar posts, slathered them up in glue (Titebond 3, which seems to be their strongest stuff), clamped them together loosely, hammered them into some sense of flat, then tightened an army of clamps as tight as I could and let it sit and cure for 24 hours. When I undid the clamps, I had a pretty good slab that was rough and would require a ton of surface work, but I just used the router sled I made and did both sides. All in, that took me 90 minutes of work to glue them up and then flatten both sides with the router. The table legs were stupidly easy with the mitre saw and the Domino. The table is too thick for any saw I have to cut the ends off (other than a reciprocating saw, which is too uncontrollable), so I dug out the chainsaw and took the ends off at right angles. Then I spent a couple hours of sanding the pieces that needed sanding, and then an hour to do a quick coat of Danish Oil over everything. The table top itself I did with 4 quick coats of Tung Oil, and then finished it off with about 4 quick coats of a wipe-on poly. I did all of that in about an hour, as it was drying really, really quickly, and honestly didn't give a shit if the surface came out screwy due to rushing it. I left it overnight, and then did a quick wet-sand at 600 grit on the top, moved it inside and set it up. After that I put a couple of quick coats of a finishing wax on it, buffed it out, and it's got a really nice, smooth top now. So yeah, went into full on "I need it Wednesday, not perfect" mode, and it came out way, way better than I had thought it was going to.
I should also add that I added those four small blocks on each bottom corner of the stand so that it's easier to level out. If you try and use a big, flat piece along the floor, it will tend to rock if it's not exactly flat, or if there are any imperfections in the floor. Having the four, small, specific corner points means you can put felt pads on them (which I did), and it'll level out and be nice and solid.
A board member sent me a PM earlier asking about some woodworking advice: I thought I'd share my reply here, in case anyone else had something they wanted to add... Hey... glad you enjoy the posts... I enjoy making them. As to woodworking, the biggest thing you come to realize (in my opinion) is that it's about precision. Taking measurements, or cutting a board taking the kerf into account, on the line or beside the line, it all adds up. If you're imprecise a little bit in a lot of places, it all kind of adds up. So along that line, probably the most important thing you can do is ensure that your wood is prepared properly. By that I mean exactly the right thickness, square edges 90° to each other, etc. Depending on the projects you want to do this can be key. If you're laying up a few boards to make a shelf or a table top, then you want all the boards to have edges that are 90° to the surface, straight down their entire length, and exactly the same width their entire length. Doesn't matter if you use a hand plane or a jointer, the end result is the same. A good table saw with a feather board will help get the pieces the same width along their entire length. And a thickness planer will get everything the same thickness. As long as all of the pieces are square to themselves, they will be square to each other when assembled. For that table I just did I didn't worry about any of that... I just brute forced everything together with tons of clamps and used strong glue, and then milled a square block out of the result using a router sled I'd built. That resulted in a few gaps between the boards here and there, and a number of other imperfections that really suited the project... it was meant to be a big, rustic piece that had purposefully chosen knots on the surface for character. A few gaps I ended up filling with some CA glue after the router sled, but that's because they were really bad. Wood choice also goes a long way to that precision. Soft woods, like the cedar I like to use, really REALLY warps and changes shape after being "processed". I can take a board and joint/plane it, leave it a couple of days, and it'll bend and twist due to the moisture change and the porosity of the wood. That means that you have to use that wood right after you prep it, or you won't get the gains out of it. Nice hardwoods, like maple, you can process and then come back to in a month and they'll still be almost perfect. So yeah... getting into it. I'd start by just building simple things that don't require much precision. That's why most of my stuff has been "rustic" and beefy.... it's easier to work with, and imperfections aren't really noticeable. The starter kit, for me, would be this: some sort of table saw with good feather boards (I use a Ridgid contractor's saw... nothing fancy) clamps. good ones. a good, strong, high-pressure clamping is required for good glue-ups. cheap hand-squeeze clamps aren't worth shit and will cause problems because they can't apply enough force. something to joint an edge... hand plane or power tool, doesn't matter. you need a good edge to glue up boards. good mitre saw... power or hand, doesn't matter. Again, I use a Ridgid contractor's saw. router... with table, if possible. orbital sander. I've found that starting with a good one makes sense, as it's the tool I end up using most, and have burned out 2 of them so far before going high-end. a respirator of some sort, or you'll be hacking up lung-steaks for a few days after a bit of routing or sanding. That's it. The next stuff is kind of an upgrade path... Dust extraction system... it really, really helps. Joinery of some sort. Some people use pocket screws, some dowels, some biscuit joiners, some Festool Dominos... personally, I opted to go all-in and break the bank and go for the Domino. It's a means of attaching two pieces of wood using glue and wood pieces so that the joints are strong and aligned. Here's a good picture that outlines the different types: When taking a bunch of pieces and making one, alignment is key. This pic does a good job of showing that: You can see that the top surfaces of the two boards will be flush. I've found that Dominos are hands down the best at that, as well as other joints. I paid almost $1200 for my Domino, and think it was worth every penny. Watch this video and you'll see what I mean: Really, I think that's all you need, tool wise, to start with. Personally, I just wing everything... no plans, no exact measurements... and I find this really helps because when I screw up (not if, but when), and cut something too short or measure incorrectly, I then just adjust everything else accordingly. Just camp out on YouTube and watch other people doing it. Do it a lot yourself, learn from your mistakes. Accept the fact that when you start you will make things that look like shit, but you'll learn from each one, and the next project will look a little less shitty, and you'll advance in your technique. You'll learn how to join things without hardware, and (if you're like me) judge people's projects who use a whack of screws or nails rather than glue and wood joinery. A good place to start is The Wood Whisperer... the dude makes his living doing woodworking online, and he's really done a great job setting up his shop as a production studio. Very, very high quality, and does a great job teaching. You can learn a shitload just watching him for hours. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheWoodWhisperer Another channel I'm addicted to is Tips From A Shipwright... amazingly informative from a great, old-time boat builder. https://www.youtube.com/user/TipsfromaShipWright If you have any questions, feel free to ask any time. Have fun!