Yep. I just whipped something up quickly with scraps. There are some pretty sophisticated designs out there for sure. This isn't one of them.
Working with cedar does smell amazing. I built some planters last weekend and my garage still smells awesome. I just need to put one one more coat of stain, install the membrane, and put in the irrigation system.
Progress on the patio table. Finally have the legs all rough cut and dry fit. Next will be to sand and glue the pieces together then start finishing everything with Tung oil and some Spar Varnish.
Yep. Right now each joint has 2 dominos just dry fit to ensure everything fits as expected. Checking seating spacing as well as chair heights, etc, to ensure 6 people can fit comfortably without banging knees or jamming toes.
I should also mention that it took less than 10 minutes to mark and cut 32 mortises for those legs. Just set up one marker piece and then registered all the cuts off of it and then made the cuts. As much as it was fucking painful to buy that thing, it has time and again more than paid for itself in quality and time saved. I could not imagine trying to do those joints with stupid dowel jigs or actual hand cut mortise and tenons. My next door neighbour heard me banging away and came over with his mortising set for the drill press (he remembered me saying I was doing all the joints with mortise and tenons, aka Dominos). I said, "no thanks, don't need it", then showed him how the Domino worked, and he was blown away. It really is next level joinery for getting shit done. Not as pretty or artistic as Japanese joinery or something similar, but it sure gets shit done in a hurry.
Just finished putting 2 coats of tung oil on the table base. Really brings out that rustic cedar look. Now comes the 4-5 coats of spar varnish. That will take a bit of time.
This is the fence the SO has been replacing (it was a 5ft picket fence with a lame ass half broken gate) in preparation for the puppy. He had the metal delivered is two 16ft sections which he then cut down, attached and framed into the posts he had already set. All that's left is the (solid) gate itself which he said he's going to buy a package for. I like it a lot. I was a sceptic but now I'm sold.
I don't think I've ever seen that style of fence before. It's a pretty good look, especially if you want to maintain sight lines but just want to contain the puppy. Nice job.
More progress pics. The table base and underside of the table top are done. 2 coats of Tung oil and 4 coats of Spar Varnish. Didn't bother sanding it mirror smooth or anything because it's an outdoor table and the underside and legs won't be noticeable. That being said, the top will be as close to a perfect finish as I can get it to. I also sealed the bottom feet ends with thick marine epoxy so the ends are heavily protected against abraison and moisture penetration.
Did you over size the holes in the table top to allow for wood movement or are you not concerned about that?
The holes in the table are 1/8" larger than the dowels. Between that and the fact that the table isn't actually attached/glued to the legs (it's fucking heavy so it just sits on the base using the dowels for registration), I think that it will be fine. I'm kind of guessing here, but I'm optimistic.
The hole filling dried to the point where I could sand the top to 220 grit... so I did. Three thirsty soakings of Tung oil, lots of buffing, and now to let it dry for a day or two. Really happy with the progress so far... time for drinks.
Minor setback with the table. The plan has always been to have the top be a satin finish, and to get there, 3 coats of glossy finish spar varnish would be applied, and only the finishing coat would be in the satin. This is supposed to work, and was done because I could get gallons of the clear for cheaper than the satin (of the same brand). Well, this afternoon I applied what was supposed to be the final coat of the finish which was the satin layer, and it had some weird chemical reaction. I think I rushed it and didn't let the previous coat totally cure first, and in some soft/uncured spots, it reacted badly with the satin coating. It blistered and scarred and it looked like I sprayed the thing with mineral spirits or something. For all I know, I've got a bad pint of the satin. Regardless, I'm going with the "you didn't wait long enough and rushed it, you asshat" version and am now waiting for the thing to totally dry and cure so that I can then re-sand the top down a bit (not to bare wood, but only enough to smooth it out and get rid of the chemical peeling spots), and then re-apply only the satin finish for 2 coats. I was kind of hoping to have it done and installed on the deck for this weekend which is supposed to be crazy hot, but no such luck. Oh well... such is the learning curves of woodworking.
In the meantime I've come up with a bit of a hanging flower box design to attach to my pergola as an herb garden. Picked up the rough cedar and some 1/4" tubing and accessories and will be plumbing in some 3/4" pex to 1/4" drip hose and building out the boxes and frame. Got a jump on it tonight and got the boxes done. They're at a 20 degree angle to give them a bit of style, and will be dropped down into a side frame with some french cleat kinds of thing on a three step tier. Imagine three, three step stair stringers, with two of these at each "step" between the stringers. It's kind of hard to explain, but you'll see what I mean when I'm done. Anyway, that way they can be individually removed and taken somewhere in case of re-potting, frost, etc.
Table is now done and in place on the deck. Beers and steak are being enjoyed off it right now. Mom's first instinct was to put a tablecloth on it. I pointed out my offense to that notion. No tablecloth.
Looks really good. I cant wait for my shop, but it will have to. Just go the rough in permit for the electrical, so now I can turn on all my power. Once I get the final inspection done, I am going to move upstairs and start the bathrooms that have been gutted for a long time. Here is my new tool. 2hp. Plugs into a 240 15amp plug. I knew they were loud but was not prepared for it when I turned it on. Going to have to figure out some sort of enclosure or something so it doesn't make so much noise.
Very nice! The hard canister filters make a ton of difference... I have one on mine, and it rocks. The only thing I'd recommend is getting a cyclone to put in line before it, if you can... it will cut out the vast majority of fine shit that will plug up the filter. It means way less clearing of the filter... even if it involves only turning that handle. When you're sanding is the most noticeable... every 10-15 minutes of random orbital sanding and it'll plug up the filter. I just put a small cyclone on a 5 gallon bucket between the sander and the extractor and it works like a charm. The bucket fills up with sawdust that looks like flour... it was a time saver, for sure. Also, be careful about an enclosure... you need the airflow for it to work. I've seen people put them in closets or similar enclosures, but then the extractor is fighting the compression (outlet side) not escaping the enclosure as fast as it needs to, so the vacuum on the host end suffers. Personally, I put mine in a different room (the garage that is attached to the shop), and just ran a vent line between the two that will equalize the pressure. If you don't have the hose end and the vacuum in the same room, performance will suffer unless you can get that airflow between the two rooms.