Weather is warming up, time to drag out the saw

[jzmtl]

So last year I bought a cheap $160 table saw to install hardwood stair treads, and it pretty much paid for itself. I figured since I have it, I might as well put it to use. Some of you may remember my thread on trying to resaw 2x4 into 1x4, then glue into board for a bed footboard, and how much pain in the butt that turned out to be.



Well this year I thought I'd start smaller, and steal a few ideas from youtube. The first was a hose hanger. While the metal one I made a few years back was somewhat artsy (hey give me a break, all I had to work with was pliers and a few bricks as anvil), it doesn't work too well since I made the front hook too far and hose would drop in the gap.



So I went and got a piece of 2x6 and glued that into a board and cut some smaller strips, and made this. Was going to leave it natural colored, but stood out too much so I painted it with some leftover deck stain.



It works a lot better I have to say, hose stays where they suppose to be. In retrospect the 2x6 is thicker than necessary, and made it wider/heavier.

Then my Mom picked up the habit of using laptop on bed, so I made her a laptop stand. I used slats instead of a board thinking it would improve air circulation, and it probably does. Except I wish I had 4 more pairs of hands (and whole bunch more clamps) when I was putting it together. Trying to keep everything aligned before glue sets was an impossible task, so my meticulously calculated sizing all went down the toilet and all the slats came out crooked.





I guess it isn't too bad for a newbie, consider they are still in one piece (so far), and not a single nail/screw was used to put them together.

Next in line is an adirondack chair, we'll see how that turns out.

[ducttapetech]

Nice work!

live from Nate's mobile

[MadPlumbarian]

Nice job, I really like that table! JR

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Nice job there mate

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[enki_ck]

Those look great.

I think I might make that hose hanger thingie myself.

Looking forward to seeing your future projects.

Watch your fingers.

[Aloha]

Yeah so long as you came away with all fingers in tact then I call it all a great success.  Kidding aside great work 

[jzmtl]

Hehe, thanks, I guess they look better on photo since you see fewer defects! 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Looks good to me!

My fathet taught me that if I was going to build anything I should overbuild it so it'll never fail.  If I'd made that it would be 150 pounds and held together with carriage bolts.

Sometimes overkill isn't a good thing.  I'm glad you have more sense than I do!

Def 

Sent from a digital multitool

[jzmtl]

Hah, if I made it last year there would be a pound of screw/nail in it. Of course using a power saw vs hand saw means that the surfaces actually meets. 

It's kinda fun to be able to put wood pieces together without using any metal parts. When I made the footboard last year I made a 3/8" dowel maker to join the boards, so that came in handy for the pivot pin for the legs.

[Grant Lamontagne]

My father was a Combat Engineer in the military and worked on the railroads before that.  If you can't run a couple of dozen tonnes of machinery over it, it isn't any good!

That having been said, that is a great job.  I really like how you got it all to fit together with no real visible seams or anything.  You really did a great job.

Def

[jzmtl]

I have one of those super cheap crappy IKEA bare wood small table, and top is water stained from flower pots. I thought I might as well make it nicer looking. So I took it apart, sanded everything down, glued it back together, then stained and varnished it. Kinda screwed up the varnishing part, the water based stuff dries super fast and any brushing beyond the first few seconds leaves lots of brush marks.

I wanted to route some decorative edge on the top and legs, but lacking a router table it's just too much pain in the butt to do it clamped to a sawhorse.

Doesn't look like cheap IKEA stuff now at least. I have a couple others from the same line that I may give the same treatment.

[Grant Lamontagne]

To see that now I'd never guess it was IKEA.

If you think brush strokes are bad then go to your local Wicker Emporium and see what their stuff is going for and how badly it appears to be finished.  Brush strokes are trendy and add character- and big $$!

Def

[jerseydevil]

Brush strokes are trendy and add character eh?  I'm going to try that line on a few customers.  I'll let you know how it goes over.

Yes water-based polyurethanes and varnishes can set up very quickly. A little bit of distilled water or a retarder like Floetrol can increase your open time.  Just a very little bit though, or it can effect the finish and durability.

Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk

[Grant Lamontagne]

http://wickeremporium.ca/

Check it out.  You'd be amazed at how much a bad paint job is worth!

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

[jerseydevil]

http://wickeremporium.ca/

Check it out.  You'd be amazed at how much a bad paint job is worth!

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

I already know how much a bad paint job is worth to me.  It's worth the same as a good one in terms of revenue.  I guarantee all the products I sell for as long as you're still in the parking lot.... 

Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk

[sawman]

http://wickeremporium.ca/

Check it out.  You'd be amazed at how much a bad paint job is worth!

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

I already know how much a bad paint job is worth to me.  It's worth the same as a good one in terms of revenue.  I guarantee all the products I sell for as long as you're still in the parking lot.... 

Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk

So long as you get their money, I suppose
 

[jzmtl]

Yeah, some of the "art" today, is really beyond my understanding.

I'm thinking of using a foam brush next time, since there's no bristle it would be easier to get a flat finish.

[jzmtl]

Well the summer plan of making patio table and adirondack chairs turned out to be a bust, always something else to do.   

The only accomplishment was a folding laptop stand in front of the treadmill. I could've just bought a dollar store bracket and a piece of plywood, but why take the easy way when there's a hard one?  It's off center to fit wall studs and clear the window, although probably overkill screwing it into studs.

I'm not happy with the stop block design and how it's poking out when folded up, but can't think of a way without using store bought hinges or making it way too complicated.

[enki_ck]

I like it.


Might steal that idea and adapt it a bit to make a bench outside of my garage. With supporting legs fold out legs of course.

[MadPlumbarian]

  nice job, I like! JR

[derekmac]

That's cool! I like it.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1020 using Tapatalk

[jzmtl]

Thanks, now if only I'd actually put it to use. 

[derekmac]

If you need more motivation, then you could always use it as a beer tray, that way you'll have a nice cool refreshment while on the treadmill.           Oh, don't forget the bowl of chips too!! 

[jzmtl]

Last one for the year. I want to make a magnetic knife block to keep things more organized, since now things are all over the place with smaller knives in a block, and bigger ones that don't fit hiding under the dish drying rack.

Wood is Birch, even though it's sold as cherry. The internet sez they have similar grain and are interchangeable, but I still thought it's pretty shady for the store to do this.

The block is finished with Danish oil, but I don't I like the unfinished look, and am thinking if I should add a polyurethane top coat, but nicks from knife edge would be hard to fix. Or wax/oil like a cutting block, but it's still pretty dull, not sure.

Material/hardware is cheap, except the magnets... 1" neodymium magnets are friggin expensive, looked on ebay but couldn't find any cheap ones from China, so I ended up buying from Lee Valley, think I paid over $30 for them.



Yes the spacing of the magnet holes are different. I originally calculated the wider ones but testing after two holes showed it didn't hold the larger knives strong enough.



I'm not too happy with Bosch right now. The palm router I bought didn't have the shaft perfectly perpendicular to the base, and I found that out after it messed up the edge with two slightly different profiles, had to sand it by hand to blend where the two meet. Checked another router in a different store, exactly the same problem. You'd think with the premium associated with the brand I wouldn't have to worry about problem like this.



Waiting for the danish oil to cure now, more to come after I figure out what sort of finish to put on it.

[JBW1]

Awesome work

[captain spaulding]

Excellent magnetic knife block. I have been wanting one for a while now and thought about making one myself. 

[jzmtl]

Final installment to the thread. 

Decided to be lazy and just wiped on some polyurethane, so far the combination seems to work (danish oil/water based poly). The magnets are just hot glued into the holes with steel washer backer. 1" magnets seems to hold strong enough but not hard to take off.

Installed with brass screws to avoid any rust issues, although I don't know if the finish will stand up to water, but worst come I'll just sand and refinish.

[MadPlumbarian]

Nice job!
JR

[ducttapetech]

Very! Good work right there.

[zoidberg]

Looking good mate.    You've got more knives right?