Wow it seems like I have been gone forever. Thanks to Ron Dudelston for putting up the Friday post for me last week. Beth and I had a great road. Visited Historic Savannah, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Mount Vernon. Then we slipped through Lew's state of Pennsylvania during the night and early the next morning we got in and out of Ohio before Steve knew we were even there.

 

 

Got to Ron and Dorothy's house on Saturday evening and rested up for our trip and day at the Indy 500. Wow, those cars are fast.

 

 

All in all we had an awesome trip but now it is back to the shop and get busy to catch up on projects.

 

Last night we got the pieces to one of five more Green Egg Tables we have to build ready. Got the frame together and should finish this one up tonight. Then it is on to more and knock them out as fast as possible.

 

 

 

 

We have also been covered up with rain. Forget the rain gauge, I have a #2 Wash Tub on the deck and it is full from the past week.

 

 

 

So that is what's on the agenda in my shop, what is happening in your Patriot Woodworker shop? We here at TPW love to see all of the wonderful projects you are making and love to see the pictures. So share your weekend with us, who knows you might just inspire someone else to give it a try.

 

Have a great weekend as we begin the summer months and be safe in the woodshop.

 

 

Would you believe I'm still designing/redesigning and working on the humidor-

 

Latest Sketchup modification

 

I have been working on a work bench for a friend of mine who is a hat maker. He needed a bench to go outside on his patio for working on felt hats as he "Pounces" them (shaping and smoothing the felt) as it sheds quite a bit and gets all over the place if he does it inside his shop. So he gave me some parameters to work with as the top has to be unfinished wood as any type of finish can contaminate the felt. It also needed to have end pieces so the block will not roll off the table while he rolls it back and forth with the felt on it. It also needs to have wheels so that he can move it around on his patio.

 

The bench top is 2'x4' and is 34 1/4" high. The framing is 2x4's with the frame assembled using pocket hole joinery as it will hold up better outside. All the screws are exterior deck screws so no worries about rust. The end pieces are Birch that were planed down to 1/2" and are attached using knobs and embedded nuts so that they can be turned so that they are either up above the table or down so that he can work with things that are longer. I will have to add on another cross rail on the end opposite of the wheels as a handle to lift the bench up to roll it. So it is not a very flashy project but it is very sturdy and practical for a specific use. He is short on cash right now as he has other work in process, so I will be holding onto it for a few more weeks before I deliver it to him once he gets paid. If he doesn't come up with the money then I can use it in my shop as I was in need of another assembly table or another flat space to pile up more scrap wood and tools.   

Looks like you had a great time John!

Finally I am shipping out some Wenge boxes to a customer today. I need to start posting the build images, I'll try to get them up tonight.

Packing and shipping as I type.

Looks like the better part of my weekend will be spent trying to balance my pool. Initially, the cyanuric acid level was too high and the only cure was to drain about 1/3 or the water. When I re-filled, the cyanuric levels dropped but now the alkalinity levels are too high. I'll shock it, retest and may have to add a bit of muratic acid. Oh the joys of owning a pool.

Now that I have a scroll saw, my first practical appiication will be to make a shop-built (Oneway wolverine vari-grind grinding jig wooden clone) grinding jig for fingernail grind chisels.  I called Wolverine and made sure I was correct: the metal one Oneway Wolverine makes is too wide from  back to front.  My midi turning chisels don't have enough metal ahead of the wooden handle to give the 2" clearance for the metal chisel itself and go through the metal (Official) Wolverine Vari-Grind with the handle by the ferrule jammed right up against the back vertical member.   so I found a pattern on the web for a wooden shop-made one that is designed precisely for this purpose.  I was planning to do this by hand with a coping saw because there is a 1 1/8" hole  through two upright members for the chisel to pass through and then there is a an arc slot to adjust the arm to different angles. NOW I can do that with the scroll saw. http://www.eberhardt.bz/shop_notes/turning/sharpening/jigs/sharpening_jig.pdf

I'm making the little one on the last page.

 

 I also downloaded a couple of easy scroll saw patterns to try to cut out (accurately one would fervently hope) to gain skill in scrolling.

 

 I also have a couple of pen blanks to cut to size (with my scroll saw now instead of  by hand) and then drill for the tubes and then Sunday (after they cool off and are drilled again - just to make sure) I'll glue in the pen tubes and on Monday, I'll use the blank trimmer on them and then  I can start turning one of them.  Meanwhile for the weekend, Ive got a pen blank mounted on the mandrel -ready to turn.

 

 NO Veteran Funerals this weekend scheduled for TAPS  anywhere in Michigan as of this Minute.. Thank God for that. It's not that I don't want to sound TAPS but it is that it means that Veterans famillies in my area will not be grieving over their lost loved one.

Would you believe I'm still designing/redesigning and working on the humidor-

 

Latest Sketchup modification

 

3 drawers Picture .jpg

 

 

 

That's going to  be awesome. Love the contrasting woods!  That will sure store a  lot of cigars.  How will you maintain the proper humidity?

Looks like the better part of my weekend will be spent trying to balance my pool. Initially, the cyanuric acid level was too high and the only cure was to drain about 1/3 or the water. When I re-filled, the cyanuric levels dropped but now the alkalinity levels are too high. I'll shock it, retest and may have to add a bit of muratic acid. Oh the joys of owning a pool.

That's the nice thing about living in a community with a very large community pool with a pool lift to get my crippled corpus in and out  of the pool..  Don't have to worry about pool chemistry or bacterial count.  Just put on my suit, drive down there, get over to the pool lift, transfer from my wheelchair and voila - I'm in the pool and swimming.

Courtland -

 

How do you like working with Wenge?  I turned a couple of pens with it and really didn't like the way it worked.  

I have been working on a work bench for a friend of mine who is a hat maker. He needed a bench to go outside on his patio for working on felt hats as he "Pounces" them (shaping and smoothing the felt) as it sheds quite a bit and gets all over the place if he does it inside his shop. So he gave me some parameters to work with as the top has to be unfinished wood as any type of finish can contaminate the felt. It also needed to have end pieces so the block will not roll off the table while he rolls it back and forth with the felt on it. It also needs to have wheels so that he can move it around on his patio.

 

The bench top is 2'x4' and is 34 1/4" high. The framing is 2x4's with the frame assembled using pocket hole joinery as it will hold up better outside. All the screws are exterior deck screws so no worries about rust. The end pieces are Birch that were planed down to 1/2" and are attached using knobs and embedded nuts so that they can be turned so that they are either up above the table or down so that he can work with things that are longer. I will have to add on another cross rail on the end opposite of the wheels as a handle to lift the bench up to roll it. So it is not a very flashy project but it is very sturdy and practical for a specific use. He is short on cash right now as he has other work in process, so I will be holding onto it for a few more weeks before I deliver it to him once he gets paid. If he doesn't come up with the money then I can use it in my shop as I was in need of another assembly table or another flat space to pile up more scrap wood and tools.   

Hatmaker Bench.jpg

 

Interesting.  I never knew how hats are made.  Years ago, there was a hatter in downtown Detroit that's I took my hats to to be cleaned and re-blocked.  He worked  in his store window and I'd stand there and watch him re-block a hat and that was interesting but I think it would be realliy interesting to watch a hat being made and pounced.  In looking at the caster placement it looks as though the bench sort of has to be upended to use them.  Is that correct?

I'm still buried in semi wood working things. 

Still working the giant   living room.  The building is 250 years old.  Trying to work with the things they did 250 years ago can be a challenge.

Still on the TS fence.

 

Near done with the fence.

 

 

 

Yes, the wheels on one end are so that it can be lifted like a wheel barrow as it will only have to be moved occasionally. If I put on locking casters on all 4  wheels there would be some movement as he manipulates the felt. I also considered putting it on a mobile base like I use for the machines in my shop, but being outside there is consideration of rust as well as additional cost for him. So this was the cheapest and easiest way to do it. After I shot the photos I tried moving it around and found that I needed to angle the wheels downward so that they would contact the ground sooner giving a lower angle to move the bench. So I made up some wedges which made it much easier to lift and move. I also added in a cross piece on the opposite side to act as a handle for lifting and moving. It works much better now.