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That stash of Ash has sat long enough..brought home in the van a few weeks ago... I think there was 40bf in this mess? That fancy grained one...used to be 11' or so long...may look good as raised panels? So, I did a rough sketch of what I wanted to build...to keep measurements from getting lost There will be a "hutch" on top....waiting to see how the rest turns out... Need to build 3 panels, to form the sides... "RP" is for raised panels. Frame is 3/4' x 2" x how ever long I need. Raised panels will sit in 3/8" grooves. Set up so the "rails" are where the runners for each drawer will be. The place where my knees go? Figured a 28" wide drawer was a bit much...split the drawer into 2 drawers. Drawer fronts are 2" by about 14" (closer to 12" with the center divider) means I need to build 2 frames, with the center divider... need to get the shop "cleared for action" and then decided where to start cutting....and shaping...and gluing up....Top is a 5 board glue-up! 3/4" x 26" x 50"! Stay tuned....

had a bunch of scraps of Ash stashed away....from before all the medical stuff went on....decided to see what I could cobble together from it.... found 4 pieces that almost matched each other...almost. Cut them for length...at least to remove a couple bad knots...and clamped them all together Goal was to get 2 pairs close enough for a couple glue ups.. First pair needed a caul in the middle, to keep things flat... Which left these two.... About 3/8" thick, maybe? which left a stack of shorties to sort through... May glue up the best of these for ends of a box? There was a few thicker pieces.. That I could make corner posts out of.....even had a few to make a lid with.. Might be enough there? may need to use a few toys... Grandson is using one of these, remodeling a passage door to his room.... letting the glue-ups sit a while....and see how things shape up.... Stay tuned

Road trip to buy a stash of Ash, today....five 1 x 6 x 6', and a 2 x 4 x 8'.....$17. Was looking around for something to build out of it.... The Woodwright's Shop....Peter Follansee building a Carved Oak Desk Box.... Hmmmm... Except..my last name isn't Follansee Except ...I do not carve... Except...I have a stash of Ash...instead of the Oak.... And...I don't have a measured drawing of the dang thing..... Not that ever stopped me before... Will let the Infamous Single Brain Cell Sketch Up work out the details.... Stay tuned

Grandson wants a Coffee Table for his home....and I need it done by Christmas...Hmmmm...doable? First, need a few boards....back to the usual supplier...$10 for a stack of Ash One board for a top...2 x 4 for legs..and a vise rehab... Even a few scraps were tossed into the van.. Not too sure about the spalted one....middle one was needed... 10' of 1 x 6 Ash....will make a 3/4 x 16 x 36 top....got these three jointed, and glued up.. Let this sit overnight.... Clamps came off...cauls can wait awhile...Hauled that 2 x 4 x 8' board to the shop...needed two blanks cut from it....without including too many knots.. Set up the rip fence.. Roughly all the same size, and square? Marked a few lines...bandsaw to make a few cuts, junior jack to clean up.. Couple cuts weren't working out...reset the rip fence, run the fat ends through...about a blade's width... Brought the better of the two 3/4 x 6 x 6' planks to the shop...was trying to get all four aprons out of it...Laid out the legs on the table top...to get the lengths needed...was coming up a tad short....that short scrap then became the short apron... But..there needs to be a drawer? Ok, simple enough to do.. Make 2 rip cuts...followed by.. The "missing" middle section is now the drawer's front...glue this mess back together.. IF you watch the grain..it will look like a solid apron..until you open the drawer... While that glue up dries...the other 6 tenons got milled...and.. Bread board blanks....have since installed these...sliding dovetails. Have laid out a few cuts in what is left of the 2 x 4....looks to be plenty for the vise rebuild. Should be able to toss that knot into the fire pit...later... Stay tuned...I have the mortise jig all set up..for tomorrow.

Thought I would share a fun project I did several years back. Hope you enjoy. Step One: Cut walnut and ash stock into small squares, 12 walnut, 20 ash. Step Two: Drill holes using jigs to insure accuracy - different jig for walnut and ash pieces. Step Three: Set up table saw to cut at proper angle and cut all walnut pieces into pentagon shape. Step Four: Reset table saw to cut hexagons at proper angle and cut all ash pieces. Step Five: Make several extra pieces in case you mess one up later. Step Six: Make sure you have a friend to drink beer and watch while you're working. Step Seven: Glue and tape. Step Eight: Relax, watch the glue dry. Step Nine: Remove tape, light sanding, wax your ball and close up shop for the night. Step Ten: Do it again the following day using tape to minimize tearout. Step Eleven: Give the best of the two to your soccer star daughter for her 13th birthday and keep the other for yourself.

The Boss wants a new end table.....brought home 12' of 1 x 6 Ash...and 10' of 2 x 4 Ash....might just be enough? 1 x 6 s went to the shop, this afternoon...needed three planks at 30" long....was able to get 4.... Here is 3 out of the 4....the 4th? Has "issues"..... Has enough waves, to make you seasick....set this aside, before the others get any ideas... Straight edge showed I had a bit of work to do... Marked a line, bandsaw the worst off....set up the fence on the saw...ripped a new straight edge on both edges...laid out to see what kind of panel I had.. Close...we can do better..Clamped one into the leg vise....after I had marked a big "V" across to keep things lined up Joint an edge, then check it...both the #62 and this big guy... No. 7c worked on each edge...I also checked for gaps.. Worked until I had three planks I could glue together into a table top...spread a bead, moosh a bead, repeat... Just glue holding this together....time to apply a few clamps... First clamp was in the middle. Then the ends, then the cauls. Will let this sit overnight....Trying for a 4/4 x 16 x 30" table top.... Boss does want a shelf....might be tricky to do...with tapered legs...we'll see. Just a simple table, tapered square legs (no lathe) 3" aprons...rather plain, actually.. Has a hint of grain to it...will see if it shows up later.... It's a start....stay tuned

One of the bowls we did last week with Glenn Lucas was a milk paint bowl. The technique works best with an open grain wood like ash or oak. The bowl is turned close to finish and then wire brushed to open the grain. After brushing it gets painted with milk paint. After painting the final details are cut, in this case, the rim and the bead. It's a neat effect I think but probably not for everyone. We also talked about form and balancing the grain in a bowl. Form is not perfect on this one, I can see a little flat spot in it. A guy like Glenn considers nuances and details most of us never would. Anyway, I wanted to do something on the bottom so I didn't finish mine until I got home. It is finished with mineral oil and beeswax. Steve

Well...yard was mowed last night, just before it got too dark to see....came into the house...and not a single cold beer to be found... This morning...had a road trip to do with the Boss. Dropped her off at where she wanted to go....motored on down the highway...left turn at the old family graveyard.... Did a little wheel & deal......24 bf of Ash, with the Boss having to clean the fellow's house ( his "Boss" is away for a while) Stopped at Wall E World on the way home...Boss needed a couple things, I needed to correct the "No Beer" part. Got home..took a while to unload everything... Nice hat, just doesn't protect the ears, much. These boards are from the Wapak Shindig...finally got them in the house...the Ash? having issues with the right hand shaking....boards were 1 x 6 x 11'6"...cut in half to fit IN the van... Clamped together, and let it sit a few days....couple boards were bowed a bit ( will get a couple better views, when I get the tripod back upstairs) Grain isn't too bad...there are a couple knots in some of the planks. Some will need a straight edge sawn on them. Good news is, I barely made a dent in his supply... Boss saw a thing @ BigLots....that holds a fireplace insert, and can have a tv on the top. Door on each side of the insert. Need to sneak in with a camera, tape measure and notepad....and do a little measuring... By that time, the Ash should be about ready to mill... Stay tuned..( flooring stuff may get used as "accents")

Last one of these for a while, or maybe not. They're fun to do. Maple with ash end caps. Five letter code. The pattern on the border rings was drawn in Delta Cad and Inkscape, I call it "star chain". The pointer is a generic Celtic pattern I cabbaged off the web. It's crazy how some projects get almost addictive. I have other things I need to be doing but these are just so much fun! Steve

Per orders of the Boss. There is to be a skinny "pantry cupboard" made. It has to fit in a corner of the Dinning Room next to the chimney. Kind of a dead space, not much seems to fit in there. Picked up a few boards the other day... Flat sawn, 4/4 by 6" by 5'-6' long. Thinking I can take the four longest slabs, and do a glue up into the two side panels. Size of the space I need to fill? 26" in width, 12-13" in depth.....between 60-67" in height. Thinking a single raised panel door..... The Infamous Single Brain Cell Sketch Up is now hard at work......Have enough 3/4" plywood for the shelves......May need one more plank for the face frames and door frames.....May go back out to Southern Logan County, OH....and buy a couple more planks.....we'll see. Still in the plan(??? What IS a plan)stage.....stay tuned

I couldn't find any hinges then misplaced the lid when I started putting the 100 % Tung oil on. And it has sat there looking heart broken and dejected ever since. I still can't figure out what or why I had started building it! I finally asked the one who knows everything and she said she had requested a tape dispenser like the one I built for me...

Checked McFeeley's to see if their 1/1/4" ash dowels were still the most reasonable priced dowels on the market and hey, McFeeleys has changed ownership and don't ever list lots of things they used to sell..including dowels Their 3 foot ash dowels uses to sell for 3.35 each in lots of 50 and were super straight. I have a few more of the 100 I bought from them but now need more. They told me at the time they didn't stock the large sizes for they would be straighter leaving it up to the supplier to keep and send only the straight ones to McFeeley's customers... Shucks!!