Well the entire soon-to-be-spare-room has now been framed ready for plastering and I've done a built in wardrobe for good measure too. The wife was quite appreciative, if you know what I mean.
"But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it
any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no
savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love." - Bill Hicks
Tackling my RED of getting better at DIY continues. Got a bargain new workbench for £10/$12 so I put it to good use by using the jigsaw to make a wall bracket for my daughter's scooter. Bent a hook to accommodate the handlebar better too. Again, all baby-step level of DIY, but it all helps build my confidence levels.
Here's the start of the table I'm making. The guy gave me a shitload of hard maple but wanted the table made out of birch with a lot of heartwood running through it. This is what he's getting.
I tried to get the tabletop flat with the belt sander but it was waayyy to dusty and too slow. Needless to say I'm getting a very good cardio arm workout doing it old school. I'm actually enjoying using hand tools to work on a project. As long as I keep my cutting edges sharp enough to shave the hair on my arm, work progresses pretty fast.
I'm hoping to get the bottom of the tabletop flat tonight so I can attach the skirt boards to hold it while I finish off the top side.
@nubby that looks awesome. How do you get the wood flat exactly? Is it done by eye or do you have a reference of some sort?
I like your man cave too BTW.
"But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it
any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no
savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love." - Bill Hicks
@Adam_S I'm using a 6' level as a straight edge. And taking measurements on the edges. I go cross grain to flatten then I'll go with the grain to smooth and then a cabinet scraper to get a nice smooth finish.
My friend wants a light stain which when working with birch is tricky if using traditional wipe on oil based stains so I'll finish it with a spray dye and several coats of a 2 part varnish.
My shop is small but is my sanctuary. Hopefully the gas radiant heater will be up and running real soon. It's starting to get pretty cool out at night.
The bottom of the tabletop is now flat to within about 1/16". Seeing as it's the bottom, I'll only make sure that 6" all around the perimeter are finished smooth enough for staining and varnishing. I screwed a cleat across one end past where the top will be cut down to stabilize while sanding. I will attach one on the other end then flip the top over and scrape and sand the top. Its been a great arm workout and I'm more than happy with the results so far.
"But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it
any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no
savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love." - Bill Hicks
@Adam_S the boards are cut to width then run through the thickness planer to get them all the same size. I then pick the two boards I want together and hand plane the edges until I get a tight joint. Then it's just glue and clamps. Once dry I plane and glue two more and so on. Then they are all glued into the final top.
It's a lot more work than using the power tools for everything but I'm starting to really enjoy it.
My wife already mentioned making one for us to replace the trestle/harvest table I made almost 20 years ago. I might consider it.
But, but you've got a bloody great table saw, right there!
Seriously though that's a lovely piece of work.
"But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it
any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no
savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love." - Bill Hicks
@Adam_S The saw serves its purpose. It is 54 years old and still running strong. Makes me happy I'm not the oldest thing in the shop.
When I picked up the wood I wasn't overly happy about the project. But once I glued up the top, I changed my mind and now am kind of excited to see the finished product.
I doubt I'll get any +1's for it but I did get $8k worth of hard maple out of it.
@nubby I'll be starting a wood-project related thread tonight and I'll be hoping you won't mind keeping an eye on it as it'll be the kid's Christmas present this year.
I pulled the steering rack out of my wife's truck and the hose fitting was completely corroded in. I heated the rack around the pipe and no go. My wife was ready to lay down $400-500 for a new rack so I decided to try one more idea. I tapped threads into the pipe, place a big socket over the broken pipe, put in threaded rod, put a washer on top of the socket and threaded a nut on.
Two turns of the wrench and the broken part popped out. Re-installed the rack with the new hose, filled the fluid and it's good as new.
It was nice being called awesome, amazing and special for about 4 hours today.
I'm starting to almost see the end of the tunnel on my basement renovation. Finished sanding our son's bedroom and got it primed this weekend. I've got a couple outside corners to do; and then I can finish sanding the office and the family room prior to the last touchup pass.
This is my second basement job. I wasn't totally happy with the one at our first house . Dark blue semi-gloss walls in the office (don't ask why I chose semi-gloss) showed the terrible mud job (I was impatient and skipped doing the proper steps). I'm very pleased with how this one is turning out.
My wife bought her and my DD some rollerskates to use together. So I built a brace (for the first pair) to hang them off so they're off the floor , but still easy to access. I'll do the same for my wife's rollerboots tomorrow night.
The blocks there are porous (and a bit crumbly), so I decided to use some wood and screws instead of trying to put the hooks directly into the block. Shouldn't have to worry about how often they're lifted in and out of the hooks now.
I also got to try out my new set of wood clamps as well
Trimmed vines that I haven't been able to trim since back injury/ surgery.
But I overdid it and aggravated my back. So bad I was and still am in no condition to initiate. So I have been ramping up the drives byes, flirting shamelessly, acting irrationally cocky and then going to bed early.
Comments
"But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love." - Bill Hicks
I'll post more pics as I progress on this.
Needless to say I'm getting a very good cardio arm workout doing it old school. I'm actually enjoying using hand tools to work on a project.
As long as I keep my cutting edges sharp enough to shave the hair on my arm, work progresses pretty fast.
I'm hoping to get the bottom of the tabletop flat tonight so I can attach the skirt boards to hold it while I finish off the top side.
@nubby that looks awesome. How do you get the wood flat exactly? Is it done by eye or do you have a reference of some sort?
I like your man cave too BTW.
"But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love." - Bill Hicks
My friend wants a light stain which when working with birch is tricky if using traditional wipe on oil based stains so I'll finish it with a spray dye and several coats of a 2 part varnish.
My shop is small but is my sanctuary. Hopefully the gas radiant heater will be up and running real soon. It's starting to get pretty cool out at night.
I screwed a cleat across one end past where the top will be cut down to stabilize while sanding. I will attach one on the other end then flip the top over and scrape and sand the top.
Its been a great arm workout and I'm more than happy with the results so far.
How do you join the boards together?
"But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love." - Bill Hicks
Then they are all glued into the final top.
It's a lot more work than using the power tools for everything but I'm starting to really enjoy it.
My wife already mentioned making one for us to replace the trestle/harvest table I made almost 20 years ago. I might consider it.
But, but you've got a bloody great table saw, right there!
Seriously though that's a lovely piece of work.
"But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love." - Bill Hicks
When I picked up the wood I wasn't overly happy about the project. But once I glued up the top, I changed my mind and now am kind of excited to see the finished product.
I doubt I'll get any +1's for it but I did get $8k worth of hard maple out of it.
My wife was ready to lay down $400-500 for a new rack so I decided to try one more idea. I tapped threads into the pipe, place a big socket over the broken pipe, put in threaded rod, put a washer on top of the socket and threaded a nut on.
Two turns of the wrench and the broken part popped out. Re-installed the rack with the new hose, filled the fluid and it's good as new.
It was nice being called awesome, amazing and special for about 4 hours today.
I'm just glad We saved some $$$
This is my second basement job. I wasn't totally happy with the one at our first house . Dark blue semi-gloss walls in the office (don't ask why I chose semi-gloss) showed the terrible mud job (I was impatient and skipped doing the proper steps). I'm very pleased with how this one is turning out.
Just don't ask how long this is taking
The blocks there are porous (and a bit crumbly), so I decided to use some wood and screws instead of trying to put the hooks directly into the block. Shouldn't have to worry about how often they're lifted in and out of the hooks now.
I also got to try out my new set of wood clamps as well
But I overdid it and aggravated my back. So bad I was and still am in no condition to initiate. So I have been ramping up the drives byes, flirting shamelessly, acting irrationally cocky and then going to bed early.
Wife is perplexed.