So just a couple days ago I posted about Tommy's new Grand Slam site; well today I get an update that the main T-Chisel.com site has now been changed as well. Tommy has moved to http://www.mlwwoodworking.com/
It's not completely done, but the forum is up at http://www.mlwwoodworking.com/forum so be sure to drop in and check that out.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Grand Slam Tools!
I dropped over to T-Chisel's website today and stopped in the forum and noticed some talk about Grand Slam Tools; it appears to be a set of layout tools that Tommy has been making and selling either as a pack or individually. Check them out here: http://www.grandslamtools.com/
If you know Tommy, you know he is from the Boston area and is a huge Red Sox fan (too bad for him actually), but one look at these tools and you understand where his inspiration for tools came from. I really dig the Major League inspired logo! You've got to love the t-shirts as well "Major League Woodworking; way cool. Tommy, if you read this, you need a t-shirt that says "who's better than me?"!! That would be a huge seller for you!
So, check out Grand Slam Tools and then jump over to the forum and let him know what you think!
If you know Tommy, you know he is from the Boston area and is a huge Red Sox fan (too bad for him actually), but one look at these tools and you understand where his inspiration for tools came from. I really dig the Major League inspired logo! You've got to love the t-shirts as well "Major League Woodworking; way cool. Tommy, if you read this, you need a t-shirt that says "who's better than me?"!! That would be a huge seller for you!
So, check out Grand Slam Tools and then jump over to the forum and let him know what you think!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
What comes next?
Well, with my latest project complete, and the shop all cleaned up...sort of, I'm trying to decide what to do next. Of course my wife has a few ideas; she always does. I'm thinking that a couple things that I really need to build are some shop cabinets. I really need some storage under my bench for hand tools, sandpaper, etc. Something basic and functional, nothing fancy. I'm thinking I may do something similar to what Marc Spagnuolo, aka The Wood Whisperer, did here: http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-19-assembly-table-stand/ Although I may reverse this a bit and do two sets of drawers and open cabinets/doors in the middle. Below is a shot of my bench as it currently is
You can see some drawers just laying there; those are from the drawer "system" I had before which was crappy, very crappy. So, I think I'm going to take some measurements, watch Marc's video a couple more times and start to build me some storage ;)
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| From ShopPics |
You can see some drawers just laying there; those are from the drawer "system" I had before which was crappy, very crappy. So, I think I'm going to take some measurements, watch Marc's video a couple more times and start to build me some storage ;)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Coffee Table....DONE!!
Well, I put the finishing touches on the coffee table yesterday so this project is officially DONE! Overall, this project did not take terribly long, considering I have a day job and all. After I did all the final sanding and everything, I wet sanded with 400 grit paper and some Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO). After I let that dry a bit, I then used Watco Danish Oil, Dark Walnut, and went over the whole piece, again wet sanding it in. I did two coats of that and let it dry for about a week. Then, I applied 3 coats of a satin wipe on polyurethane. After the third coat, I lightly sanded with 400 grit paper and applied two more coats. Lastly, I put a light coat of paste wax on it and buffed it out. Below are a couple pictures.
In this first picture you can see the legs from all angles as well as the double beed detail on the top.
This pictures shows the crazy grain in the top; this was NO FUN to plane, but I just took my time and made very, very light passes. I really like the look of this particular piece of mahogany. You can also see the scalloped edges in this shot.
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I tried several new things to test my skills; first time using mahogany, first cabriole leg, first shaped aprons, first scalloped top, first double beed. Even with all of these "new" things, it was one of the easiest projects I've ever done. I probably did my most thorough job of planning and thinking through each step with a focuse on the next step. I definately increased my abilities and concured the fear of trying new things in woodoworking, as well as better planning. Lot's to build off of as a result of this project!
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| From Coffee Table |
In this first picture you can see the legs from all angles as well as the double beed detail on the top.
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| From Coffee Table |
This pictures shows the crazy grain in the top; this was NO FUN to plane, but I just took my time and made very, very light passes. I really like the look of this particular piece of mahogany. You can also see the scalloped edges in this shot.
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I tried several new things to test my skills; first time using mahogany, first cabriole leg, first shaped aprons, first scalloped top, first double beed. Even with all of these "new" things, it was one of the easiest projects I've ever done. I probably did my most thorough job of planning and thinking through each step with a focuse on the next step. I definately increased my abilities and concured the fear of trying new things in woodoworking, as well as better planning. Lot's to build off of as a result of this project!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Coffee Table Project - Topping it off
Ok, so I resawed the piece for the top, planed it down and glued it together. Planing this thing down was a real treat! This particular piece is going to be great as a top, but it has a lot of switch back grain pattern which is a nightmare to work with. I had to take very, very light passes and try to scew the board at an angle as it went through the planer to avoid major tearout. So far it has come out good.
Next, I wanted to do something with the corners of the table, I didn't want it to be just square or just round the corners so I went with what is called a clam shell corner. it just so happens that my dining room table is like this so I took a quarter inch piece of plywood and traced it out to make a template. I modified it just a little, traced it onto my table top and cut it out on the band saw and used my spindle sander to sand to the line. Here is a view of it roughed out.
You can see the pattern, especially in the upper right. You can also make out the book match effect a little with the dark grain pattern in the middle of the board. So, normally I would just round over the top of the edges and be done with it, but I really wanted to test my skills on this project so I decided to do a double bead. I had seen this somewhere else and really liked it. Because of the grain on the top, I didn't want to risk using a router and have it take a chunk out of the edges. So what I did was approach it in two steps. First, I use a rabbet bit in the router and routed a 1/8" groove, centered, around the edge of the board. Next, I took a piece of metal and made a scratch stock. This allows me to control the cut by adjusting the angle and pressure to make sure I'm not doing too much at one time. From there, it was just pure putting my back into it and taking my time. Here's a shot of the scratch stock and the edge I'm putting on the top.
Here you can really see the groove that I cut and the double bead I'm talking about; this is really turning out nice in my opinion and just adds another nice little touch. It was a lot easier to do than I though. Now I need to do some finish sanding and start thinking of how I want to finish it. Ideas/suggestions welcome on the finish!
Next, I wanted to do something with the corners of the table, I didn't want it to be just square or just round the corners so I went with what is called a clam shell corner. it just so happens that my dining room table is like this so I took a quarter inch piece of plywood and traced it out to make a template. I modified it just a little, traced it onto my table top and cut it out on the band saw and used my spindle sander to sand to the line. Here is a view of it roughed out.
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| From Coffee Table |
You can see the pattern, especially in the upper right. You can also make out the book match effect a little with the dark grain pattern in the middle of the board. So, normally I would just round over the top of the edges and be done with it, but I really wanted to test my skills on this project so I decided to do a double bead. I had seen this somewhere else and really liked it. Because of the grain on the top, I didn't want to risk using a router and have it take a chunk out of the edges. So what I did was approach it in two steps. First, I use a rabbet bit in the router and routed a 1/8" groove, centered, around the edge of the board. Next, I took a piece of metal and made a scratch stock. This allows me to control the cut by adjusting the angle and pressure to make sure I'm not doing too much at one time. From there, it was just pure putting my back into it and taking my time. Here's a shot of the scratch stock and the edge I'm putting on the top.
 |
| From Coffee Table |
Here you can really see the groove that I cut and the double bead I'm talking about; this is really turning out nice in my opinion and just adds another nice little touch. It was a lot easier to do than I though. Now I need to do some finish sanding and start thinking of how I want to finish it. Ideas/suggestions welcome on the finish!
Coffee Table Build Cont'd
lot's of progress since my last post. After I got the rails dry fit to the legs, I began to glue it all together. I started by gluing two sections together at a time. I used a strap clamp to pull the legs in just a little and then a clamp at the post to bring it all together.
Once this was done, I followed the same principle for gluing the whole thing together. One thing I did before I glued it together though was to cut a grove about a half inch from the top of the rails on the inside; this will be used for the buttons I made to attach the top to the bottom. I need to now focus some attention on the top. My first order of business is to resaw the board I have for the top in half to book match it.
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| From Coffee Table |
Once this was done, I followed the same principle for gluing the whole thing together. One thing I did before I glued it together though was to cut a grove about a half inch from the top of the rails on the inside; this will be used for the buttons I made to attach the top to the bottom. I need to now focus some attention on the top. My first order of business is to resaw the board I have for the top in half to book match it.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Coffee Table Project - Cont'd
I've managed to make a lot of progress on this coffee table project over the last weekend. Once I got through the design and shaping of the legs, I was pretty straight forward. What I had to do next was mill and cut the rails to their rough size. Once that was done, I used the router table to cut the tenons to match the mortises in the legs. I just used a 3/4" bit set to a 1/4" height; I only cut one side of the tenon, the front, since the back will be be visible and this allows me to use a larger tenon than normal. At this point, the tenon is really just a rabbet along the front side, I simply take each tenon and lay it next to the mortise to mark the points that I need to cut off.
Once I had all the tenons cut and fit, I put the whole thing together for a dry fit.
I still have some finish sanding to do, as well as round all the edges on rails, but that should not take long. I am still trying to decide if I want to add a bead detail to the rails and legs or not; I cannot decide.
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| From Coffee Table |
Once I had all the tenons cut and fit, I put the whole thing together for a dry fit.
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| From Coffee Table |
I still have some finish sanding to do, as well as round all the edges on rails, but that should not take long. I am still trying to decide if I want to add a bead detail to the rails and legs or not; I cannot decide.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Coffee Table - Continued - Cabriole Legs
Ok, so in my post a while back, I created a second blank and decided on a template that I would use for production. So I went to work milling out my leg stock from 12/4 mahogany (that's why it's take me so long to post). Once I had everything dimensioned, I then traced the profile and went to cutting on the bandsaw just like before. Here are all the legs roughed out.
The next thing I needed to do before cutting the posts or rounding the feet on the lathe was to cut the mortises for the table rails, so here is a shot of those all done. My Delta Mortiser made quick work of it.
I'm going to be spending my next bit on forming the feet and shaping the legs, so that will take some time to do them all. I would also like to get my rails all cut and dimensioned; that should not take as long.
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| From Coffee Table |
The next thing I needed to do before cutting the posts or rounding the feet on the lathe was to cut the mortises for the table rails, so here is a shot of those all done. My Delta Mortiser made quick work of it.
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| From Coffee Table |
I'm going to be spending my next bit on forming the feet and shaping the legs, so that will take some time to do them all. I would also like to get my rails all cut and dimensioned; that should not take as long.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Grizzly T10010 Wet Grinder Review - Follow Up
A while back, I posted an initial review of the Grizzly T10010 Wet Grinder; you can read the review here. Well, after having used the machine for a while, I thought I would post a follow up and give some more thoughts. First, I still love this machine for sharpening and honing; it is SUPER fast and easy. Second, you will need some "3rd party" accessories. I've read that the best, most economical setup for this machine, as compared to a Tormek, is to buy this machine, but use the Tormek accessories since they will fit. I have to say that I TOTALLY agree! Out of the box, I was fighting the Grizzly straight edge jig that comes with the tool; it's just not very good. So, the first thing I bought was the Tormek Square Edge Jig from Highland Hardware. That was a huge impovement, but I still wasn't getting a completely square edge and had the feeling that my wheel was not completely trued up. So, my next purchase, from Highland Hardware, was Tormek Truing and Dressing Kit. This was perfect! I found that my wheel was about a 32nd of an inch off from end to end, but also was not perfectly round. So, after a couple of passes with the truing tool, and I had a nice level, perfectly round, surface. I then went to town on my hand plane blades and got them nice and flat for a change; so much better.
So, bottom line is, if you don't want to fork out the money for the Tormek system, can recommend the Grizzly T10010 Wet Grinder, but I would save some money to also buy the Tormek accessories; it makes a big difference!
So, bottom line is, if you don't want to fork out the money for the Tormek system, can recommend the Grizzly T10010 Wet Grinder, but I would save some money to also buy the Tormek accessories; it makes a big difference!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Cabriole Legs - Take Two
Ok, so I was not really pleased with my first cabriole leg design, so I decided to have another go at it. Using the template from my previous post I prepared another pine blank from a couple 2x4".
After it was dry I took it down to the final dimensions of 20" long by 2.75" square. I then traced the pattern onto the two adjacent sides.
Then it was over to the bandsaw to cut it out. I made the first cut, saving the piece and taped it back on to provide support while cutting the second piece; simple blue tape works fine.
Finally, I had my ruffed out leg. You will notice in the picture below that the post is still the 2.75" square blank size; this is so I can put it on the lathe to turn the foot.
Before I turn the foot though, I need to relieve some material on the heel so I will not hit it while on the lathe. Here I have marked out the area I need to relieve; I will do that with a spokeshave.
Now to the lathe to turn the foot. All I want to do here is round out the bottom of the foot and define the pad. You can see in the picture below that I have drawn a line to where I want the pad to be, it's a little big on this one and will be refined on the final version.
Finally, after some turning and some work with a combination of the spokeshave and rasp, I have a more "finished" product. Also note that after I was done with turning the foot that I cut the posts back on the bandsaw.
I posted this over on T-Chisel's forum and received some good feedback about rounding the edges a little more and making it with a little more "sweep" instead of being so straight so I need to look into that.
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| From Coffee Table |
After it was dry I took it down to the final dimensions of 20" long by 2.75" square. I then traced the pattern onto the two adjacent sides.
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| From Coffee Table |
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| From Coffee Table |
Then it was over to the bandsaw to cut it out. I made the first cut, saving the piece and taped it back on to provide support while cutting the second piece; simple blue tape works fine.
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| From Coffee Table |
Finally, I had my ruffed out leg. You will notice in the picture below that the post is still the 2.75" square blank size; this is so I can put it on the lathe to turn the foot.
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| From Coffee Table |
Before I turn the foot though, I need to relieve some material on the heel so I will not hit it while on the lathe. Here I have marked out the area I need to relieve; I will do that with a spokeshave.
 |
| From Coffee Table |
Now to the lathe to turn the foot. All I want to do here is round out the bottom of the foot and define the pad. You can see in the picture below that I have drawn a line to where I want the pad to be, it's a little big on this one and will be refined on the final version.
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| From Coffee Table |
Finally, after some turning and some work with a combination of the spokeshave and rasp, I have a more "finished" product. Also note that after I was done with turning the foot that I cut the posts back on the bandsaw.
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| From Coffee Table |
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| From Coffee Table |
I posted this over on T-Chisel's forum and received some good feedback about rounding the edges a little more and making it with a little more "sweep" instead of being so straight so I need to look into that.
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