More design work for mom and dad's bedroom

I've got a couple cool projects in the works, but here's a sketch of the bedroom remodel and furniture update I conceptualized for mom and dad's bedroom:

It's only a preliminary sketch I made from memory, without any measurements. I haven't fully 3-D'd it yet. To bring this sketch to life, we need to make an existing window (on the left) a bit wider, knock a hole in the wall for the matching window on the right, build an updated bedframe/headboard, then whip up some matching nightstands. And pick out some art! Down the road, there may be a new base for mom's dresser (stage right).

And in living color:

 I couldn't go outside to work , since its pretty drizzly, so I drew this up while listening to my favorite show, Fresh Air. Great interviews with country singers Merle Haggard, George Jones, and others, made the time go by pretty fast. Oh, and this one's pretty close to scale. 1 grid square is roughly 6 inches.

Veteran Signs

My good friend "Doc" Whatley approached me with the idea of making some signs for a couple families that really go out of their way to host an annual Memorial Day party in southern Oregon. I didn't really have time to do it, but I said yes anyway, because I thought it would be a cool idea. Here's the final product of one of the signs. I actually added several coats of exterior grade finish after this. 

Because of time constraints, I had to take them with me to work and apply finish on a break! I did another coat at 10pm, one at 12am, then one at 4am. (I slept through my alarm, otherwise I would have got an extra at 2 am.)

A couple construction pics:

As with a lot of my projects, I get in a bind and don't take time for photos, or just plain forget. With my new sign kit, I fired up the router and went to work. This is the FIRST letter I did- catastrophic blowout! The router turned the corner and cut right on through the "J". 

The plastic guide bushing that rides in the lettering jig heated up, melting from the friction of the router bit not being completely centered. With this critical piece distorted, the router no longer sat correctly in the letter, and just kept on going. AAUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Here was my solution: I routed out a rectangle right up into the "J", then cut a scrap of pine to fit and glued 'er in. 

Here's a closeup of the fixed and finished area. I played with the stain a bit to make the different grain blend in a little better. The result is you have to look pretty close to see the patchwork. Pretty happy with myself on the fix!

I can't remember if it was Doc or me that came up with the idea for insetting the "Challenge Coins" in the sign, but it really turned out to be a nice touch. Since the James' are a multi-service family, the coin on the left is Army, on the right Marines. 

In the end, I made 2 signs. Somehow, I don't have any pictures of the other one. It's essentially the same though, just a different name. For something i thought would only take a few hours, it sure took a lot of work to get these done. Whew!

Engagement Rings!

Just a couple of engagement rings I made for some super cool people. Made from reclaimed maple from an old elementary school that was being torn down, and a bit of scrap purple heart I had in the shop. I actually made 3 different pairs of rings, all from different materials just in case, since it was a sight unseen over the phone-type order. Congrats Dusty and Colt!

How it looked after I started playing around with different techniques on the stationary sander. It is WAY easier when you've got this much to hold onto. Kinda looks like some wooden version of brass knuckles...

A pile of ring blanks. Man, I can't believe I still all my fingers...

(see next post)

You might think that wearing gloves when working with tiny parts is a no-brainer. But let me assure 

you, you feel like you have less of a brain when you learn the hard way to wear gloves. Sanded 

one of my fingertips right off. (Don't worry, it grew back!)

This one didn't make it. I think it got wedged between the sander and the guide I was using. That's the 

only thing I can think of that would cause it to break across the 3 grain lines like that.

Handful of rings.

Here's the final selection I sent up to Dusty. On the left: purple heart/ maple sandwich. 

Center: all maple. On the right: solid rosewood. If you're doing the math, then congratulations my friend: you have keen powers of observation. I have a decent pile of ring blanks left over after this project, just in case I need to make some replacements.

Antique Desk Rebuild

I found this cool old desk made with quartersawn oak down at the local antique shop. Eddie, the owner of the shop, wanted to make room for some dining room tables he had coming in, so I got it for a pretty good deal. (If you're in the Bend area, I highly recommend you check it out- Iron Horse Antiques.) When I bought it, it had a black rubber inset top, which at some point a previous owner had covered with cheap ungodly red carpet. In order to widen the desk's leg area for comfort, and to get rid of the carpet, the top needed to be redone.

 Step one: removing the old plywood base from the top.

 Back in the study, here I'm building back up the top in layers. The plywood is not yet attached.

Cold but sunny. milling up the quartersawn oak edging.

 I swear this corner lined up before I applied the glue!

 Johnny Utah doesn't get it. I think he wants me to feed him or throw the frisbee or something.

After one coat of dye, to bring out the quartersawn "ray" pattern.

 Applying stain to the dyed oak. Or was it the other way around?

 Board too short? not anymore! Since I widened the desk, this footrest board that sits on the bottom of the cabinet was several inches too short. It only has to hold my feet up, so I came up with this idea to make it long enough to reach all the way across the bottom again. A minor detail that you'll never see, but added a ton of time...

Mixing hyde glue and watered down Titebond created a gooey mess. I don't recommend it, unless you like to turn your woodwork into chemistry experiments- that you subsequently have to scrape off by hand. Stick to one or the other.

My roll-top converted into a finishing station, mid project. What a mess!

After scraping off the gooey mess and resanding, we're finally getting around to gluing the top in preparation for LEATHER! Yeeee-haw!

 The leather on, stretched, rolled and in process of trimming.

Knowledge is POWER. All those woodworking books being used to hold down the leather while the glue dries under it.

Pocket door at Mom and Dad's place

Hello out there in internet land! As usual, it's been WAY to long between posts. Actually, I've been pretty busy with school, so the blog has been idle for quite some time. I have a few projects I've done since then, but nothing too crazy. Here's what mom and dad's living room lookes like this week:

 Pepa helping buff the new wax finish. She's one hard working chicken, especially with all the international travel she's done lately!  It turned out way cheaper to order a door from Jerry's than to build it myself, plus, I didn't really have a whole lot of time. It came unfinished, so I decided to use one of the oldest finishes around: oil, shellac, and wax. The linseed oil goes on pretty easy with just a rag, then excess wiped off with a dry rag to achieve an even application. Normally, you should let the oil cure before moving on, but following instructions from Fine Woodworking's Finishing Guide ($9.99 well spent) the shellac is applied immediately after the oil in this circumstance, giving it a bit of surface lube.

 After several coats of amber shellac, I then finished with a clear wax finish applied with #0000 steel wool. The steel wool helps to even the shellac out as it applies the wax, giving a kind of wetsanding effect as the wax goes on. It was a real bugger to get into the corners. Using a new clean rag, it's buffing time. Just like you'd buff shoe polish, it takes a lot of elbow grease to make the wax really shine. When I go back in a few days, I'll take a special rotary brush that fits into a cordless drill, and do a high speed final buffing.

More to follow!

I hope to have pictures of my antique desk upgrade, more of the chicken coop, some pictures of mom and dad's kitchen remodel, and some other tinkering I've done since June. So stay tuned!