www.joesworkbench.com
Diary of a Woodworking addict
Bit and Pieces
Feb 10th
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The Moxon vice is used to lift the work to a more usuable height, perfect for cutting dovetails. I was lucky enough to score a cheap Benchcrafted vice in a group buy with some friends (http://benchcrafted.com/).
While working on the table I also decided to make a matching corner unit, to replace a recently broken vase Luckly I had just enough leftover Durian to build this: I didnt have any plans for this, I just match the main design elements of the console table and made sure I had enough Durian to complete the unit. |
Console Table cont…
Dec 4th
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Got to spend a little more time tweaking and refining the console table.
The ends of the legs were marked on the inside faces with a 6mm taper and ran 150mm up the leg.
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$24 Moxon Style Vice
Nov 29th
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With 9 handcut dovetailed drawers on the cards, I thought I should invest in a moxon style vice to aid my dovetailing. After googling around for some idea’s I remembered some cheap “Press Clamps” I had seen at McJings tools and thought they might work well in a vice: www.mcjing.com.au Press Clamps @ $12 each
The Press Clamps look pretty good for $12!
This is then held in place by a second slightly wider piece of f17 that is also used for clamping the press to the benchtop.
When I tried to move a clamped board I moved the whole bench, which probably weighs in at 200kgs!
There is about a 45mm range available for clamping tapered objects.
Overall I am very happy with the way it turned out, I am sure I’ll be using more of these presses for other jigs in the future. Even if you had to buy the hardwood and not raid your scrap pile, the whole vice would only cost $50-60 to make. |
Console Table – Dry fit.
Nov 22nd
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Managed to peice together the console table this weekend. The legs have not been tapered, and the top/bottom shelf are not assembled yet but you get the idea.
The press parts have arrived for the Moxon Vice so I’ll need to sort that out before attempting the drawers…
The Legs have only been screwed in place, so I can remove them to tweak the taper and the height of the bottom shelf etc. This worked out well, because the location of the bottom shelf would have been too high based on my guesstimate. |
Console Table
Nov 9th
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Time for a new project, I have been looking for something to replace a little table we have in our main living area. Spotted this via google images and I really like the style. I was only able to find this picture, the company selling the table no longer carried them and the link was dead.
With not much to go by in regards to dimensions out comes sketchup to the rescue, I quickly roughed out the dimensions and proportions:
In order to match the other furniture in the room, i’ll be using some left over Vic ash I have from a previous project.
I have put aside some 35mm stock for the top and bottom shelf, but I am starting think it will be too thick for the bottom shelf. |
Router Table
Nov 3rd
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I managed to obtain a nice benchtop offcut through work, so I decided to build a new router table. The benchtop is from a server room so its a heavy duty 35mm thick benchtop and weighs a ton.
My original router table was never fully completed. It was based a router table made on an episode of New Yankee Workshop. The new table uses the router, handles, router insert and drawerslides from the original table.
Larger table The increased port sizes on the dust collection made a huge difference, so much so I had to increase the vents on the main door to cope with the increased air flow. The router table is also now mobile with a set of levelling casters from Woodcraft. They are fairly expensive, and I havent been able to find them locally. But the locking action is much better than regular castors and with the added bonus of being able to level the table and account for uneven workshop floors. I’ll grab some more in the future and add them to my workbench. Lastly I upgraded from a home made fence to a Kreg router table fence, still not 100% sure whether I like the lower profile. But unit is very rigid and locks well in position. Overall I am very happy with this cabinet, only time will tell if I will need to refine it further. |
LowLine TV Cabinet
Jun 26th
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I have a few projects on the go at the moment, one of them is a TV Cabinet for a friend. The Cabinet is made out of Solid Durian. Durian is very similar to Victorian Ash, if anything slightly better, I find it sands better, doesnt have gum veins and is less prone to chipping. The unit will be 150cm Wide, 60cm High and 45cm Deep, finished in a Walnut stain and semi-gloss Pre-Cat Lacquer. Since there were no plans or designs, I drew up some sample pictures this is the one that was chosen, here’s a render of the sample drawing.
Next Step was to select a final color, I used a walnut stain and shot some samples, using a varying number of coats. In this case the color chosen was a touch lighter than the four coat sample.
Now onto the fun stuff, the Durian was cleaned up, all panels were glued and rough sanded to 80 grit. The majority of the cabinet was made using 20x185mm boards, the top was made using 42x150mm boards.
Here is a picture of the cabinet, without the drawers and door, I will disassemble the cabinet before finishing.
I screw all panels that require finishing on both sides to feet. This allows me to spray all round easily, this saves a lot of time and another bonus is the feet allow you to handle the peices safely before the finish has fully cured.
I really enjoyed building this cabinet, and was very impressed with Durian. |
Auriou Rasps Review
Jun 4th
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With a Birthday on the way and some cabriole legs on the cards for a future project, I lashed out and invested in some new Auriou Rasps. If you not familiar with Auriou, there is a great clip on youtube showing the manufacturing process. I ordered, 3 rasps all 12inch in length, a 3 grain, 8 grain and 12 grain. 3 grain being the roughest and the 12 grain the finest.
I did a quick test cut, on some scrap Melunak and was very pleased with the speed and quality of cut. This photos show a comparison between the various grains and the result after 10 strokes.
I was surprised and how similar they were in speed of cut, the main difference was with the size of the tooth marks left behind.
I found the 12 grain did the job perfectly, the rougher grains simply took too much off and would have been ok if I started the process with them instead of the spokeshave.
The finish of the 12 grain is very good, but I am seriously considered adding the 6 inch 15 grain to my arsenal to reduce the sanding stage as much as possible… VALUE Rating: BUILD QUALITY Rating: OVERALL Rating: |
Piano Stool
Apr 7th
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Finally got around to finishing the upholstery, thought I’d throw up a quick pic….
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Piano Stools finished…
Mar 7th
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The Stools are finally finished. Finishing consisted of a coat of linseed oil followed about about 6 sprayed coats of pre-cat lacquer (75% gloss). I added a little walnut stain to the initial coats and only applied those coats to the lighter pieces (legs). I am happy the way they turned out, especially considering I had no plans to base them on. |
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Piano Stool with insert padded seat. Still might add some bracing to the lid to support the center section of the lid. Really like the way this turned out. This ones going into our bedroom to provide some much needed storage. |
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Piano Stool with full padded seat. This stool is a touch bigger, but honestly until the upholstery is completed it doesn’t look like much at all. Hopefully my better half will tackle this soon so we can put them into use and out of the garage (actually the kitchen lol). |
