clair064

Using my Sketchup model as a reference I drew the shape of the corbels onto the prepared stock, and cut it out roughly on the bandsaw.  Then with sandpaper and a card scraper I smoothed them out to their final shape. I forgot to take a photo of the setup for drawing the arc, but basically I bowed a piece of plywood to the correct vertical distance at the center point of the arc and traced

The top and bottom rail both get rabbets for the mirror and backer board to fit into.  The bottom rail gets a groove in its face to receive the tongue of the shelf.  The left and right stiles get a stopped groove to receive the tongued corbels.  I chiseled a small mortise at the end of the groove, used my plow plane to clear out most of the wood, and finished up with the router

Marking the Tenons I chose to start with the top rail.  I used my precision double square to set my marking gauge to the correct distance, and scored the shoulders of the tenons, then the cheek cuts.  This particular part is going to have an arc cut into the rabbet in which the mirror and backer board will live, so there's a little extra meat below the tenon.  Ordinarily a tenon wouldn't be cut

"FEWTEL" is an acronym woodworkers use to remind themselves of the order in which they process wood from rough sawn lumber to finished parts.  Following this particular order will result in you handling the wood in the most efficient way, reducing tool setups, and minimizing the amount of time you spend shuffling lumber around the shop. F: Flatten one FACE of a board. A power jointer makes

I decided it was too confusing trying to build the bench and the mirror at the same time, so I'm making the mirror first, because it's simpler.  I'll have less to think about if I get it out of the way. So... Step 0: Stop.  Go re-sharpen all your tools.   This took about a day or so.  Longer than normal because I was trying to grind a camber on most of the irons and I'm not very swift at it

I think this was over a year ago, I forget.  Mom asked me to make new doors and drawers for her bathroom cabinet.  It's my first raised panel project.  I like how they came out.  I decided to use a single board for the top row of drawer faces.  I like this kind of detail.  Mom gets credit for all the sanding and finishing.  Great job, Mom.

I figured out where my math went wrong (at the very beginning). I thought I needed the following: 6.66 board feet of 4/4 Poplar 10 board feet of 5/4 Quartersawn White Oak 20 board feet of 4/4 Quartersawn White Oak After doing the math again, here is what I actually needed: 5bf 4/4 Poplar 20bf 5/4 QSWO (twice as much!) 24bf 4/4 QSWO (20% more) Here is what I ordered (adding 50% to each): 10bf 4

This is my first real attempt at considering wood grain for every element of a project.  Everything I've read about "designing with the grain" suggests that putting this effort in before you begin the project will really help bring the end result to that "fine furniture level." Enough with the quotes.  This was a royal pain in the ass.  I thought I ordered 50% extra wood because I'm new at this

I’ve been really dissatisfied with the service at the lumber mill I’ve been going to since 2009. I’ve never really had a great experience there. Adequate at best. I think, perhaps, a lot of my feelings stem from the owner not being a woodworker, and it seems like he doesn’t really understand what I’m looking for in lumber for a furniture project. I’m willing to chalk it up to a personality

The next project on the list is a Stickley-inspired storage bench with accompanying Stickley-inspired mirror for the entry to our home.  Currently we have a piece of junk, pre-made, dowel-assembled shelf unit painted with some sort of leather-effect spray paint my wife found and thought might be a good idea.  We hate it, but it's where the mail goes, and until we have an alternate solution in