Update

I am not sure if anybody is still actually looking at this blog, so I will troll for comments to see.

For those of you who do not know, I am currently living in Williston North Dakota. I am here temporarily for work. I will be here at least for another 5 months, and possibly will be moving out here permanently.

Here is a link to my other blog I started just for my trip to ND.+

The Chronicles of Stobber

Things in the shop obviously have ended, and may never happen again(makes me very sad to think about that), right now the shop is full of Ruth and my possessions. Stay tuned though, you never know what could happen!

Progress Report

This weekend we got lots of things done in the shop. We started the weekend with the dollhouse pieces roughly cut out, and finished with the main skeleton completed. It went together so nicely, no headaches...thanks to google sketchup!

The windows, doors, shutters, and shingles showed up in the mail this week, this is what they look like. Pretty detailed little stuff!

Here is one of the cutting boards soaking up some oil. We have two more of these to finish this week so we can deliver them to Ruth's parents this weekend.

Here is Ruth making sure every piece is nice and square.

Here it is...the main skeleton. It is super sturdy, and should last many generations. The next step in the process is to make the stairs. Then from there we install windows, doors and start with the details like carpet, wallpaper paint and siding!

Projects are started!

We have been working in the shop quite a bit lately. I even had the day off today, so after breakfast and a few chores, Ruth and I spent the rest of they day in the shop.

We have one cutting board almost complete, and we have all of the pieces for the dollhouse rough cut to size.

Here is a picture of the dollhouse plan we drew up on Google Sketchup. If you ever need to design a project, do yourself a favor and download Sketchup!

The dollhouse parts, roughly cut out of the plywood. Tomorrow they start to take shape and soon assembly begins.

Ruth is setting the cutting board pieces, preparing for the final glue-up.

My pictures uploaded out of order...this is me cutting the pieces Ruth was laying out in the previous picture.

Safety is serious!!! Look how serious I am.

Shop Cleaned...Lumber Moved in.

This weekend was a busy weekend in the shop. We did not cut any wood, or build anything, but we did get the shop cleaned out, and purchased all of the lumber and supplies to get started tomorrow.

I am super exited to get started on that dollhouse, and those cutting boards. It will be fun to get out there again and start making some sawdust.

Here is the "entertainment center" this continues to be the life-force of my shop. I have the i-pod plugged into the big stereo, as well as the T.V. which is great for watching the world series. These may be the most important tools in the shop. I loves me my tunes.

Here is a piece of Paduk...an African wood that we are going to try in our next round of cutting boards, it has great colors, and great grain patters. I have never used this wood before, so it should be fun trying out another wood species.

This is a closeup of the Baltic Birch Plywood we will be using to make the DollHouse. This is great plywood that is super stable, as you can see it has 7 separate layers that make it so strong and stable.

Here is the other wood to be used in the cutting boards. The old stand bye...hard maple. It was love at first sight when I layed my eyes on this beautiful piece of lumber at the lumber yard. It is 7' long, 11" wide, and a full 2 inches thick. There is not a blemish, or knot of any kind in this board, it really is perfect. I will almost feel bad cutting it into pieces.

Here is Ruth cleaning out the scrap wood area. This always fills up fast and needs to be re-organized. Although I hate it so...I had to burn some of this wood, because as much as you want too, you cannot keep it all. I had to part with some of it just to make room for more of it!!

Check back, I should be starting a few of these projects in the next two nights.

Is this thing on??

For those of you who have not totally given up on me.....I am back! It has been so so so so long since I have posted, well because I have not been in the shop for a long time. It was a busy summer with many things going on and I never had the itch to work in the shop. Now that the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler I am getting the urge to work in the shop again. I have many things to start on, and many things to finish in a short amount of time. With Christmas approaching, I have some gifts to make.

I will be making three cutting boars as gifts. I am also making a full size Barbie doll house for my niece. It is a lofty project, but it should turn out great. I am looking forward to that one.

Stay tuned as I should be posting some pictures of projects while in progress.

Time is flying.

Wow, I cannot believe how fast time is moving. I have had very little activity in the shop since my last post. I did make two more cutting boards for family, and another large cribbage board for a friend. Now that I am unemployed once again and the Christmas rush has passed I should be able to make some progress again. Please stick around and check in, I am hoping to spend at least a few hours in the shop each day.

Table Done! On to the next project

Well, we completed the dining room table for Ruth's parents Saturday morning. Good thing, because we were heading there in the afternoon for her dad's (Bob) 60th birthday party. We had the top, legs and skirting stained and finished by Friday night, and did all of the assembly Saturday morning. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Here the skirting is on, and the new slides are ready to be put on.

Here we have the slides installed and lined up, also one of the leaves are in place and the aligners are screwed in...one more leaf to go.

The last step to assembly is to attach the refinished legs that were on their old table.

All put together!

Here it is...all ready to go. This tabletop was made out of 5/4 quartersawn red oak. Quartersawn lumber is much more stable because the grain runs perpendicular to the face instead of parallel such as flat, or rift sawn lumber. This means that as humidity changes with the season, the wood will expand horizontally instead of vertically, meaning no warping or cupping along the width of the table. Instead of the table getting warped or crooked, it will simply just get slightly narrower, or wider with humidity changes.

Using quartersawn wood adds great stability to any project, but the best part, is that the grain patterns usually posses a great "fleck" pattern, almost like tiger stripes, as seen here. The whole table had great amounts of fleck...I loved it!

The finishing technique was a five part process that we had never done before.

Step 1-Minwax Early American Stain
Step 2-Heavy coat of Minwax Tung Oil
Step-3-another heavy coat of Tung Oil
Step4-Heavy coat of Minwax Glossy Polyurethane
Step 5-Heavy coat of Minwax Paste Wax

The stain is well..for color. The tung oil is a very easy wipe on finish that cures to a very hard glossy layer that is very durable and soaks into the wood pores. Two coats of tung oil ensure that anything spilled will not get into the wood and damage it. The polyurethane above that seals the pores of the wood to ensure that any hot or cold item placed on the surface will not pull the moisture to the surface and leave a nasty hazy ring on the tabletop. The paste wax is wiped on the top really heavy, allowed to dry, then vigorously wiped off to leave a shiny hand rubbed look(just like a car wax). The paste wax is an extra barrier for moisture, and offers extra scratch resistance. The paste wax can be re-applied at anytime to restore the nice luster to the table.


Moving on from here:
Today I started building the doors for the wardrobe I need to update. Tomorrow I head to Hartford to have them planed down and to pick up the sheet of plywood I need to make the shelves. I am hoping to have this done by the end of the week, but we will see how that goes.