Update

It has been a very busy week, not only working on projects but preparing for projects. We will be starting 3 very large projects next week. The table top, a large bookcase, and finally the gun-cabinet for my brother. So this coming week will be spent planning, getting lumber, getting tools and supplies, and cleaning the shop! Here are a few pictures of things we did this last week.

I quickly made this little table for my mom to put her printer on at work.

Ruth's parents dropped of the table last Saturday, so we spent a few days stripping the finish off of the old legs. Here you can see how well it actually worked, I was impressed with the results.

The stipper had to be applied in two coats. The first coat would take the bulk of the finish off, and some of the color. The second coat would really get into the pores, and with a little light brushing with a brass brush we could really get it cleaned up nice...followed by a light sanding.

Here are the legs all ready to go.

On Friday we went to Pickett to pick up this awesome pile of lumber from my Dad's cousin. He had it cut, milled and kiln dried 8 years ago, and never found a use for the wood he did not use for trim in his house. There is about 180 b/f (board feet) of 4/4 (1"thick) & 5/4 (1-1/4" thick) white oak here. About $500 dollars worth of wood, and I just drove away with it!

Another view of the take!

Ruth and I have been playing allot of cribbage in the shop while waiting for stripper to work, and whenever we have a down momemnt. She has been whipping my butt by the way. We decided to make a dedicated shop cribbage board. Of course it cannot just be any old cribbage board, we have to turn it up a notch or two. This baby is 9" X 27" made out of a solid piece of oak. The drill press would not reach the center row of holes, so I had to do it will my centering block and hand held drill as seen above.

Here is Ruth burning in a line for every five points.

Tracing the perfect 29 hand so that can be burned in as well...she is the artistic one, I could never do this as well as she does.

Here is the finished board with a coat of poly on it. We used Brewers colors to paint the pegs, and the score-keeping area at the base of the board. We will have many years of playing on this board, and I might even win a few.

Stay updated, I plan on posting my progress a few times this week, like I said not much will be actually done this week, mostly planning and setup, but there is always something to work on.

Progress Report

Well, I broke my promise right away, I have not been posting every night. Oh well, at least I am busy in the shop. The cutting board is done for the animal shelter. The shadow box and diamond case should be all done by tomorrow morning. Ruth's parents are stopping by on Saturday with their kitchen table. I will be making them a whole new top, and will be stripping and re-finishing the base. Should prove to be a very challenging, but rewarding project. Stay tuned for progress on that. I have a few more cutting boards to make, should be starting those soon.
I know my brother is probably still wondering where the hell his gun cabinet is. I promise I have not forgotten, and after we get our taxes back I should be able to buy the tools I need to make it the right way, the way I want to do it.

Here is the cutting board I will be dropping off at the animal shelter, as soon as I am done with this post.

Stay tuned...many fun projects will be starting up soon.

Still Alive

Once again it has been a while since my last post. From here on out I am going to do my best to post every day.

All of a sudden I am busy again. I did finish that DVD case, and should have some pictures of it as soon as I get them from the customer. I wanted pictures of it filled up and in use for the website.

On the burner I have quite a few things. I have a large bookshelf, a solid oak table, a small step to be used by little ones at the sink to wash hands and brush teeth, and some small toy trucks for other little ones. I also have another diamond case, and another shadow box to do for Mary and Mike. I am also in the process of making three cutting boards. One of the cutting boards is for a customer, the other two are being donated to help some local causes. One is for the local animal shelter, they are hosting a Casino Night Fundraiser...the cutting board will be one of the raffle prizes. The other is being donated to help a long family friend who has come down with cancer, she has chemo every other week and it is super expensive. Once again the cutting board will be for the raffle at the benefit being held in May. I will post more about that as things progress.

Stay tuned as I should have some pictures of what is going down in the shop.

Killing Time

Once again it has been a long time since I have posted. Not up to a whole lot lately, just using my free time to catch up on the small things around the house and shop. I do have 4 diamond cases, and one shadow box in the works right now. I will be delivering 3 of the diamonds and the shadow box on Friday. I have gotten allot of my paperwork done, and my taxes are being done right now as well. I would rather be at work, but this free time is kind of nice once in a while...I am hoping to sneak the boat into the water in the next week or two.

Ruth and I are definitely looking for jobs, but are enjoying our time off. Keep in touch, and check in, as any changes will be posted. Hopefully a few jobs will be found, but we are not holding our breath, as we know how bad it really is out there.

Hopefully soon I can post Ruth and myself holding up some nice Wisconsin River Walleyes!

Back in the Shop

Finally the sickness is gone and I was able to get back into the shop. We were able to clean the whole shop before we put a coat of stain on that cabinet. Once again Matt showed up with another project for us to work on. He has some stair railing he needs us to stain for him. It felt great to get out of the house and back in the shop....it was not allot, but it was progress.

Snowing like crazy...then rain, then sleet, then rain, then snow...gotta love Wisconsin.

Oh...there is a concrete floor in the shop, I thought it was made of sawdust.

The stain is going on the cabinet.

Stain is drying...coat one of poly goes on tomorrow.

Here is Matts stair railing ready for some stain tomorrow morning.

More progress will be made tomorrow, lets see how much.

Under the Weather

Well, the cabinet is only one step away from being stained. Un-fortunately I have been very sick since Sunday night. I have had the worse stomach flu ever in my life. I have heard some other people I know have had it as well, so it is going around. I am feeling much better (80%) as I type this so I am hoping that tomorrow morning I will feel up to getting in the shop once again. I had not left the house till this afternoon since Sunday evening...if you know me, that's crazy. I am super stir crazy and need to get out. So hopefully tomorrow night I can post some progress on that cabinet, and I get get my sanity back.

Wow.....3 Weeks?

I cannot believe it has been three weeks since my last post. Not a whole lot has gone on in the shop since then. I did finish one more glass diamond case for Mike and Mary. I did also get started on that dvd cabinet. I had been working on it little by little in the past week. Today we finished the construction of it. All we have left is to add a little hardware, assemble it, and finish it. Here is what we did today.

These two pictures are of what I already had done as of this morning before we started. The main cabinet section, and the two swing out shelves pictured above.

The larger front and back pieces are made of 3/4" oak plywood. This is a picture of a piece of the iron on veneer we use to cover the edges of the plywood. This stuff is great, you just iron it on with a regular household iron. When it cools after 30 seconds you use a knife to trim it up. Looks great, and is super strong.

Here we have the two swing outs all set on, and hinges installed...starting to look like something.

Here is the top piece being clamped on...biscuits were used to hold this piece on.

This is were we ended the day of work...top glued on, and bottom all mitered up and screwed to the main cabinet body.

Tomorrow we install the handles, and the catches that keep it closed, then stain is applied and it is put together and delivered to the customer. It seems like a pretty simple project, which it is, but still very time consuming.

Check back tomorrow to hopefully see it with some stain on it.