Best selling wood projects - On Any Sunday

Best selling wood projects

Across the country, Sundays are market days in villages, towns and regional centres. Our local area has several markets - spread between Saturdays and Sundays, but it is the Sunday markets that I most enjoy.

Country cooking, preserves, fresh fruit and vegetables, plants and seedlings, bric-a-brac, and all importantly - old tools, are the temptations that keep me coming back most weeks.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of any community market, is the community that it represents and serves.  We often run into our friends here, or organise to meet, and have come to know the vendors very well over the years.

Theres Will, the banana and avocado man - here every Sunday come rain or shine.  One really wet weekend that washed out everyone else, Wills van was the only stall - surrounded by water - and his regular customers all turned up as usual.

Jack is an amateur woodworker who spends his week constructing, and Sunday selling.  A bit of everything on Jacks stall.

The military men have everything from militaria to old coins and collectors cards.

What would a market be without the purveyors of fine junk.  Treasures are there to be found - you sometimes have to dig for them though.

Then theres my old mate Ross, who started these markets 25 years ago and hasnt missed one yet.  The tools here are well priced, and it is sometimes hard to find a bargain - but not always.  However ..... if you want a particular tool, there is no one more likely to have it.  If he hasnt got one, hell have one for you next week.
He never writes it down - and he never forgets.

Markets folk are the salt of the earth, with a little bit of pepper - just to make things interesting.  People, whose word is their bond, are more common here than almost anywhere else.  The world is a better place because of them.
Sunday mornings - markets, a coffee with loved ones and friends, a spot of shopping, and if lucky - catch up with family and grandkids............
Does it get any better than this!
 Happy days ..............
Best selling wood projects

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Best selling wood projects - An Elegant Jelly Cabinet Construction Part 1 Layout

Best selling wood projects

Traditionally, this style of cupboard would have been made with pine, as it was designed to be useful, and not necessarily beautiful.  Id like mine to be a little bit special, so I have chosen to build it from New Guinea Rosewood - with a feature door panel made from Australian Rosewood - sometimes called Australian Rose Mahogany.

I am lucky enough to know where each of these originated.  The New Guinea Rosewood came from the Solomon Islands, and the Australian Rosewood from around Killarney in Queensland.

It is important to lay out the timber so that grain direction can be studied, and any defects noted.

I use sidewalk chalk for my initial layout, as it is easy to see, is easily removed if I change my mind, and it doesnt leave permanent marks or indentations in the timber.

None of these boards is quite wide enough for a panel without gluing an extra strip of timber, so that has to be planned for.   Trying to match the grain in the glued pieces can be an exercise in concentration and frustration.

The Australian Rosewood door panel is the only one that will be able to be done in one piece.

These boards are quite long - between 2.4 and 3 metres, so will need to be cut down to a manageable length before jointing.  Ideally, the longer the better in jointing the edges, but I will be too cramped for space if I leave them as is.  So a little surgery is called for.

A panel saw is the usual tool for this procedure.  Mine is a Disston number 7 with 6-1/2 TPI filed cross cut.  It is an oldie - still has its front nib on the upside of the toe.  Cuts like a dream.

Once the boards have been roughly dimensioned, it is time to create the reference edge and face.  These boards have already been surfaced but the edges are a bit how-ya-goin.
I usually joint any concave edges first, and use these as the reference edge on each board for dimensioning.  This edge needs labelling - as in the following picture.

 The edge jointing can be done with a jointer plane.  This one is a Union X-8 - thick blade and fixed frog make this ideal for quick wood removal.

When hand jointing, the edge needs to be checked for square.  Once square, the edge becomes the reference edge - and is so marked.

Of course, hand planing all those edges can be time consuming.  If you have access to a powered jointer, it will make short work of the task.  The reference edge still needs to be marked.  All work on each board will now take place from these reference edges.

In Part 2, Ill use these reference edges in cutting the parts to length and ensuring that the edges are not only square but parallel.

Cant wait.






















Happy woodworking to all............





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