Best selling wood projects - I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

Best selling wood projects

The ladies have arrived and are settling into their new home.  All are quite young and none of them seems to know how to perch for the night as yet. Maybe perching kicks in as they get older and start to lay.
They also dont seem to know what to do with fresh greens - laying pellets ... yum!  - fresh greens .... what the?  Its the same everywhere - how to get kids to eat their veggies ......!
And - yes - that is where I dump my sawdust and wood shavings. The girls seem to love it.

 Meanwhile back in the shed, work proceeds apace on the planes cupboard.

There were a few details to attend to before the carcass was ready to assemble.  Since the sides and middle would be resting on the benchtop, they needed some "feet" to give them stability.  Normally there would be a base, but I wanted the benchtop to be level all the way to the back, so feet would suffice.

These were made from old 2x1 radiata pine.  It needed to be reduced in size to fit the existing dadoes.  It was quicker to do this with my jack plane. It has a generous mouth and a radiused blade that takes nice thick shavings. Done in no time.

These were then glued to the sides to create the feet of the cupboard.

Next, the shelves needed attention.  Much easier to do this before assembly than afterwards.

Assembly comes next. If everything is prepared well beforehand, then assembly is quick and easy.

Like I said - I love it when a plan comes together.

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Best selling wood projects - Wet wet wet!

Best selling wood projects

Hard to believe we are in the same season of the year as we were a few days ago.  Wet and cool!
Lovely weather for getting things done, but PVA doesnt like it and refuses to dry or cure.  Activities in the shed have slowed down a bit as a result.
Nonetheless I did make some progress on the bench.
The front rail was attached and supports for the top installed.  Particleboard has a nasty tendency to sag if not supported, making these supports essential.
A nosing was attached to the front of the bottom shelf for added stiffness and to protect the edge.
And that is as far as I was able to go until the glue dries.
Whats that clamp on the top I hear you ask - the worlds oldest pipe clamp - Noah lost the other one during the great flood.

In the meantime here are some pix of a couple from our our back yard menagerie.  Since the covers went over the veggie gardens, this jill will have to teach her joey to eat grass like all the other kids instead of lettuce, beetroot, peas ..........................................

Just how joe fits inside jills pouch is one of lifes wonderful mysteries.  And she thought pregnancy was uncomfortable -sheesh!

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Best selling wood projects - Officially Summer

Best selling wood projects

One of the beautiful things about the Australian landscape is the way the native vegetation changes its moods.  We have just transitioned from late spring to early summer, and some of the eucalypts are flexing their re-invigorated trunks and sloughing off their old bark.  The bush is bursting with vitality. I find myself energized by it.

This tree is on the way to my shed - It is a passing acquaintance.

It was shelf preparation time in the shed today, and I cut the particleboard to size before adding the facings.  These act as cosmetic covers to the laminated board end grain - if it can be called that.
The shelves are deep, and the facings are around 50mm wide.

The facings need jointing to ensure they are completely straight and square.  On short pieces like these, a number 6 sized bench plane is just about perfect. This is a Millers Falls 18C - look at those lovely shavings.

There are several methods for attaching these, but I decided to use biscuits.  Dowels would work fine, and perhaps even a tongue and groove joint.  Biscuits are easy and quick.  The facings and the shelf are marked together so that the slots line up after cutting.

Give the assembled edge a dummy run before adding the glue and clamping up.
Then - glue, clamp, clean up and set to dry.
Carcass assembly comes next, but that might have to wait.
Tomorrow is the big day when the grandkids and I pick up the chookies - Doris, Florence, Edith, Esther and Sarah (the chooks - not the grandkids)
Family time - yippee.
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Best selling wood projects - Wet Weather Shed Time

Best selling wood projects

Its wet, its cool, and its just the weather for spending time in the shed.
The bench and tool cupboard project is coming together nicely.  Today, the rear rail was mortised and tenoned, the top was prepared with a nosing piece, and the carcass took its first steps towards assembly.

First step was to cut the mortises in the legs with the trusty Makita. Unlike a traditional mortise, these will be open at the top because the brittle old hardwood disintegrated at that point when the router approached it.  No matter, the particleboard top will be screwed in place and covers this quite well.

Next step was to cut the tenons in the rail. This is a very old Blakeley Tenon Saw that still cuts like a dream. Check out that kerf.

 

 The roughed out tenons were then finished with a Stanley shoulder plane. This is an English made 93, and even though some poo-poo the quality of the English blades, I have found them to be fine in practice, and a joy to use.

With the rail glued in place and firmly clamped, it was time to add the shelf.  This will be an open cabinet bench, where the shelf will keep things off the floor and out of the way.  The front and rear have had a second thickness of particleboard added as stiffeners.  These were offcuts anyway, and better used than discarded. Glued and clamped with spring clips, they will dry overnight.

The particleboard top needs a nosing piece across the front to both protect the edge and to stiffen it.  I have cut a rebate in a length of matching hardwood, and glued this to the front edge.  Since this has glue faces at the front and underneath, it needs clamping pressure in both directions.  Tighten the clamps gradually, a little at at time, working along the row of clamps in sequence to pull it in snug in both directions.

An end view shot shows the rebate, and the directions that the clamping pressure needs to move in, to snug this up good and tight.   Good old PVA - what a great adhesive.

I can hear the rain tumbling down outside, and I am looking forward to tomorrow afternoon when Ill be ready to continue assembly.

Life is good!

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