Below 265 SQ/FT Legenddc's Shop

[jar944]

Decided to do a test cut on a panel for the fixed shelf. Proud of myself for being smart enough to move the test piece to the workbench from the cast iron too. Maybe next time I’ll be smart enough to adjust the depth.

Today I went to buy a vacuum attachment for the dust collector and also picked up a taper jig.

At least it wasn't into the cast iron.

 

[legenddc]

Yes, I’m glad it wasn’t on the cast iron as well.

This weekend I went to our community woodshop to mill up some wide boards for the bookshelf. I need the shelves to be just over 11”. Of course the woodshop jointer is only 10.5” wide. I did what I could before I had to run home to get ready and drive an hour to celebrate my father in laws 70th.

I have the whole week off of work and planned to spend most of it in the shop. Yesterday here it was in upper 50s so I blew all the leaves and put up most of the Christmas lights. Still need to do the inflatables and figure out what I’m doing with the extra lights I bought last year.

Back in the shop I got all the legs tapered for the bookshelf.

Here you can see where I added the extra wood.

This morning I’ve been working on milling up the wood for the shelves.

Now I need to get some glued up and get some mortises cut for the fixed shelf. Then sanding forever.

 

[legenddc]

All the shelves are milled up. Two are in clamps. Three more waiting to be glued up.

While I wait for glue to dry, I installed some towel hooks in the kids bathroom and persuaded the door latch strike plate to allow the door to fully shut.

 

[legenddc]

I finished glueing up all the shelves on Tuesday. This morning I got the fixed shelf installed but forgot to take a picture of the test fit.



Ready to load the car to go use the drum sander on all the shelves.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[legenddc]

Whew, been a busy couple of weeks and not many pictures to show for it. The bookshelf progresses. The legs and side panels have been sanded and glued together. I've already spent some time cleaning up the inside corners from the glue up. More to go with that.

Last two week's have had us running around at dance and sports 4-5 times a week. My daughter had her first ballet recital this weekend for The Nutcracker.

I'm off this week from work once I get one thing done. Have an incredibly long list of things to do which hopefully includes a of time on the bookshelf. I'd like to be able to start putting some finish on some of it next week in-between work and family gatherings.

 

[legenddc]

Yesterday I made some progress. Got the shelf rails sanded and rounded where needed. Assembled the case with the intention of drilling the shelf pins. I realized I don’t like pipe clamps because you have to move both sides to tighten them. Glad I picked up a second pair of 50” Besseys.



Apparently my new Rockler shelf pin jig can’t be flipped over or it doesn’t line up. Thankfully I checked before anything was drilled. I have a Kreg one I can use but it’s half the height so a lot more adjusting. I have the old one so I can’t go buy another and connect them.

Oldest is home sick today so my plans have changed. Will get done what I can but will have more time than expected on the couch. Apparently I need to make some cupcakes for her class on Thursday as she agreed to make cake pops but that’s too much work.

 

[legenddc]

I went to Home Depotthis morning for mouse traps and set them out when I got home. Spray painted some 3D printed wall mounts for a PlayStation 4, ran up a massive bill at BJs, got gas there, watched TV and drill the shelf pin holes.

Looks like my daughter will be home tomorrow too. Hopefully I can get my wife’s car inspected and get some work done on the shelves.

 

[legenddc]

Kids been home sick all week so nothing on the bookshelf has been accomplished. Both of our cars needed to be inspected and they passed without any issues.

I installed some 3D printed mounts to hold a PlayStation 4 behind our TV. Found the design online and had it printed at our library.


Realized I was going to get around to turning some coffee scoops and my wife wanted something to give to some family. Unfortunately I can’t get a lathe chuck here in time so I whipped up some oven rack pullers based on a design I found online.


Will sand them and start to finish them tomorrow. Not sure if I’ll do Arm R Seal or danish oil yet.

Made pizza again from scratch tonight. Posting a picture as this could very well be the last time we make it in the oven.

 

[nicholam77]

Pizza and the bookshelf project look great!

 

[jar944]

Made pizza again from scratch tonight. Posting a picture as this could very well be the last time we make it in the oven.

Nice.. Is santa bringing a pizza oven?

 

[kitdoctor]

Wow, that is restoration on a grand scale at the Udvar Hazy air and space museum.

Nice pieces of furniture you made there.

 

[legenddc]

Nice.. Is santa bringing a pizza oven?

Santa didn’t bring it but we did buy an Ooni Koda 16” for Christmas. Can’t wait to try it out!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[loganb]

Merry Christmas!

 

[legenddc]

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I didn’t get many tool related gifts this year but I did get a Hudson shop apron. Looking forward to trying it out.

Just before Christmas I managed to get the shelves cut to width and length. I also got the 4 adjustable ones sanded and rounded over.
As seems to be par for the course, I haven’t had a lot of time in the shop as we’ve been running around seeing family. Yesterday it hit 60 here so while my wife worked in the morning I got down all the Christmas decorations. Fired up the new Ooin pizza oven and let it run for 30 minutes. Hoping to make pizza this weekend.

Now to finish cleaning the house before our New Years party.

Happy New Years everyone!

 

[legenddc]

Finally have all 7 shelves sanded and ready for finish. Doesn't seem like a lot but it was 35 square feet of shelves to sand. Really wish I had a 6" sander but that will come eventually.

Just need to re-sand the inside of the panels and finish sanding any glue from the inside corners of the outside side panels. Hopefully get the case glued up soon so I can finally get some finish on it.

 

[legenddc]

First time cooking with the pizza oven was a success. It was only 30* out and my infrared thermometer tops out at 732*. I’m not sure what I was cooking at but we were all pleased with the results.

 

[jar944]

First time cooking with the pizza oven was a success. It was only 30* out and my infrared thermometer tops out at 732*. I’m not sure what I was cooking at but we were all pleased with the results.

Looks

 

[legenddc]

Finished the sanding yesterday. This morning I glued it up with the help of my wife and daughter. Used epoxy since it’s slower to set. Assembled it flat on the ground and then lifted it up. Everything seems square or close enough to it. Just hoping I used enough epoxy. Didn’t want it running out all over the case but also need enough so it holds together.

 

[legenddc]

Friday after work I cleared out the shop and cut the back. a 4x8 sheet of plywood just barely fits on the floor of my shop. I really need to finally make some holders for all the table saw sleds to keep them off the ground and use up some scrap. It's amazing how much different the bookshelf looks with a back temporarily attached.



Finished sanding everything and cleaned the shop up as best I could. Wiped down the case, back and bottom/top shelf with mineral spirits. Last night I started applying finish to it. The 4 adjustable shelves will get done later.


Last week I ordered an outdoor cabinet from Ikea and picked it up yesterday. It just barely fits the Ooni Koda 16 and will give us a good surface to cook on.

 

[nicholam77]

Looking great! What finish are you using?

 

[legenddc]

Looking great! What finish are you using?

I'm using General Finishes Arm-R-Seal and using the process below from Matt Cremona. I'd like to try out a hard wax oil at some point in time but I've found Arm-R-Seal holds up well to my wife and kids abuse.

 

[nicholam77]

I'm using General Finishes Arm-R-Seal and using the process below from Matt Cremona. I'd like to try out a hard wax oil at some point in time but I've found Arm-R-Seal holds up well to my wife and kids abuse.

Ah, cool, I knew that video instantly haha. That's what I use, too. Well... GF High Performance water-based top coat for blonde woods I don't want to yellow, and Arm-R-Seal for everything else. I haven't branched out too much, so I'm always interested in hearing what others like to use. Arm-R-Seal looks great on cherry!

 

[legenddc]

Ah, cool, I knew that video instantly haha. That's what I use, too. Well... GF High Performance water-based top coat for blonde woods I don't want to yellow, and Arm-R-Seal for everything else. I haven't branched out too much, so I'm always interested in hearing what others like to use. Arm-R-Seal looks great on cherry!

I haven't tried GF High Performance water-based top coat yet. Have you used it on a darker wood like cherry or walnut? I'd like to find something I could apply outside of the shop without stinking up the house and allow me to keep working in the shop.

 

[nicholam77]

I haven't tried GF High Performance water-based top coat yet. Have you used it on a darker wood like cherry or walnut? I'd like to find something I could apply outside of the shop without stinking up the house and allow me to keep working in the shop.

I've tested it on cherry and walnut, but not used on a finished piece. I would probably not recommend for darker woods as much... it doesn't give much depth and looks too dull and milky. I think it does the same on light woods, too, but it's less noticeable. The positives are it's SUPER durable and water repellent and perfectly maintains natural tones for maple, birch, etc. And it's fairly easy to apply with a foam brush. And it doesn't smell... I've used it inside the house many times. So it's still a go-to finish for me because I like that light wood Scandinavian look, and is great for high traffic items, resistant to sunlight fade and water.

If you do try it, I would do at least semi-gloss, the satin is too milky.

You can put the water-based top coat on top of Arm-R-Seal if you give it enough dry time. But I would say that would be more for extra durability than for the look.

A few years ago I made a large built-in pantry for my parents' house and the doors and face frames were cherry. My dad finished the cherry bits with Arm-R-Seal, and the birch cabinet interiors with High Performance.

As far as hard wax oils I tested some Rubio Monocoat on a white oak veneer once, and it had a nice feel but I didn't like the way it popped the grain compared to some other things I tried. Maybe that's more of an oak thing or my specific veneer I was using, I don't know. Easy enough to apply though and I don't recall it stinking up the house.

 

[legenddc]

Happy to say the bookshelf is finally done. This was the first time I had some issues applying Arm-R-Seal. I believe it was the extreme cold here that lasted for a while and caused the humidity in our house to plummet. A couple of the shelves have some streaks but they’re not super noticeable and it will be covered by books anyway.



And of course I threw an LED strip on the back because it’s for an almost 10 year old. She said the lights were going to be a big hit at her birthday party.

 

[loganb]

That looks great, and I must admit that the led's are awesome!

 

[loganb]

And my 3 yr (who just got a new to him bookcase in his room) saw this while I was browsing and has now asked 3x when we were buying lights for his bookcase!

 

[legenddc]

And my 3 yr (who just got a new to him bookcase in his room) saw this while I was browsing and has now asked 3x when we were buying lights for his bookcase!

I've spent $20 on far worse items in my life. They had these at Home Depot and I thought why not. I'm hoping the lights will avoid me having to paint an accent wall in my daughter's room. They were supposed to be a surprise but she saw them while we carried up the bookshelf.

 

[legenddc]

I’m blaming @jar944 for one of these two purchases.



The miter saw is on sale at Home Depot and I had a lot of gift cards. I got the Ridgid narrow crown staple gun on ebay, supposedly never used for $25.

Sacrificed some pizza dough last night to make some pita bread In the pizza oven. Might have to start making more dough every week now.

 

[jar944]

I’m blaming @jar944 for one of these two purchases.



The miter saw is on sale at Home Depot and I had a lot of gift cards. I got the Ridgid narrow crown staple gun on ebay, supposedly never used for $25.

Sacrificed some pizza dough last night to make some pita bread In the pizza oven. Might have to start making more dough every week now.

Solid choice. The 716 is my favorite miter saw.

 

[nicholam77]

The bookcase turned out beautiful, nice job!

 

[legenddc]

I’m going to be slightly out of chronological order here but I think it will make more sense to go by project for those of you not living inside the squirrel invested amusement park that I call my head.

Shortly after getting my new miter saw I sold the old one and decided to work on some planter boxes. I bought these plans that use fence posts but have way too many angles and pocket holes. I’ve quickly come to realize that I don’t enjoy working on the cheap wood projects that the internet is crawling with.

I do have one done and I’m hoping to get these off my bench this weekend.


This morning my wife wanted to go get some paint chips at Home Depot so I convinced the family we should swing by a tool yard sale just past the store that I heard about. I left them in the car and knew I was in trouble when I walked into the former garage converted to a worked and the lady introduced herself to me. Her husband was there and unfortunately no longer able to woodwork.

I guess I was taking too long because my wife showed up as someone was walking out. She heard the owner said he was really sad to see his tools go and she told me to buy whatever I wanted. I’m quite happy with this haul for $100. There were a lot of turning blanks, pen kits, etc that I didn’t buy as I really don’t want more projects sitting around that I’m not working on but I may drive by tomorrow or next weekend and see what’s left.

 

[legenddc]

On Sunday I was able to finish up all 4 planters and moved them outside. Still not sure what we're going to do with them but I can mark them off as done.


In my haste to get them done, I neglected to check where the miter saw fence when I was cutting a 7* bevel at a 45* miter. Managed to hit the wing extension which shot off the saw with a BANG. Thankfully, besides the part, the only thing damaged was my ego. A new piece is on the way.



I somehow ended up with a massive pile of tools on my bench. Fortunately they were quick to put away as most things now have homes.



Finally, I've got to find a place for this drill holder. I was thinking right under my bench but that would interfere with using the top to clamp things to.


No, I didn't buy a 3d printer but my dad did. So I now have access to a nice Bambu Lab P1 printer. I've already had to swing by my parents house once to help my dad figure out what was wrong with the extruder. Somehow a tiny piece of filament had broken off and was blocking the filament from going through. My dad had taken it apart and couldn't see anything wrong with it. Frankly I got lucky when I found the piece that was blocking the path.

I just picked up a couple of boards from local cabinet shop who sell lumber over my lunch break. Will hopefully get some time over the next week to work on a bench for our entryway. After that my list just keeps getting longer and longer.

 

[captain14]

Sounds like your wife and family are repeat customers.

 

[Xti04]

On Sunday I was able to finish up all 4 planters and moved them outside. Still not sure what we're going to do with them but I can mark them off as done.


In my haste to get them done, I neglected to check where the miter saw fence when I was cutting a 7* bevel at a 45* miter. Managed to hit the wing extension which shot off the saw with a BANG. Thankfully, besides the part, the only thing damaged was my ego. A new piece is on the way.



I somehow ended up with a massive pile of tools on my bench. Fortunately they were quick to put away as most things now have homes.



Finally, I've got to find a place for this drill holder. I was thinking right under my bench but that would interfere with using the top to clamp things to.


No, I didn't buy a 3d printer but my dad did. So I now have access to a nice Bambu Lab P1 printer. I've already had to swing by my parents house once to help my dad figure out what was wrong with the extruder. Somehow a tiny piece of filament had broken off and was blocking the filament from going through. My dad had taken it apart and couldn't see anything wrong with it. Frankly I got lucky when I found the piece that was blocking the path.

I just picked up a couple of boards from local cabinet shop who sell lumber over my lunch break. Will hopefully get some time over the next week to work on a bench for our entryway. After that my list just keeps getting longer and longer.

My P1 has done that several times. I heat up a sharpened pick tool and shove the pick into the filament. Let it cool and then pull the broken filament out.

 

[legenddc]

A couple of weeks ago I started on an entryway bench with shoe storage underneath for our front door. Starting with an S3S board of poplar really sped things up without having to mill it. The walnut board was 9"ish wide and was a challenge to get flat on my 6" jointer and balancing it on the planer sled. Turned out great after running it through my dad's drum sander. Used roughly a half sheet of scrap plywood I had purchased from a Habitat for Humanity Restore a while ago and some scrap 1/2" plywood that's been sitting in my shop for 4 years. Glad to get some floor space back.



Here it sits as of last night. I still have to cut the back to size, drill holes for the adjustable shelf and sand the top. Sadly it will probably sit like this until next weekend as work is crazy and we're taking a long weekend for a quick vacation. Hopefully I can find time to get a coat of primer on the bottom part.

 

[legenddc]

As predicted, the last few weeks have been quite hectic. Did manage to get the bench completely finished and sitting right at our entryway. Here's what we had there before:


And with the finished bench:


We decided to switch from the shoe cabinet to the bench so our kids would have a place for their backpacks instead of being dropped randomly on the floor. The kids also only wear the same pair of shoes 99% of the time so there's no reason to keep a bunch of options right at the front door.

This also served as a test for painting a project (Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel) and as a test for the durability of Rubio Monocoat. It has already had keys dropped on it and a beat up Yeti water bottle dragged over the top before I even screwed the top to the bench. The paint came out pretty well but not as well as I would have hoped. It was painted with a brush, not sprayed, and both kids and my wife helped paint it so I don't know if it's the paint or a 7/10 year old's help causing less than perfect results.

 

[nicholam77]

Looks good from here! Practical and opens up the space a bit.

 

[legenddc]

This next project is going to take a while. Right next our front door is our office. It's a room we've struggled with since we've moved in. We've always had a desk in it but the rest seems like wasted space or ends up with stuff everywhere. We've had a desk on 3 different walls and even in the middle of the room for a brief period. We walk through it to get from our kitchen to the front door.



Here you can see the wall with the desk, just behind it is the front door.



After visiting a friend a couple of years ago we were struck with some inspiration that we needed to find a way to make this room multi-purpose but weren't quite sure what to do with it until recently. The original idea was to make the whole wall a built-in cabinet with a bench in the middle. Rough plans were drawn, discussions over Ikea "hacks" vs building from scratch happened, etc.

And then I had a different idea. Let's make another kitchen table area where the kids can do homework, play games, draw, read, or whatever that will allow us to not have to clear off the real kitchen table to eat.

Here is the wall now that's opposite the desk.



We found a L-shaped banquette and picked up a used Ikea tulip pedestal table because we weren't sure what size table to get. The top will eventually be replaced with a walnut top finished in Rubio if the bench holds up. The design isn't finalized yet but it will fill the gap between the wall and bench (roughly 64") and should be drawers roughly to countertop height, a small setback and then cabinets with doors on top. We're thinking now that the top will have doors as well. That cabinet might have to be a bit shallower to allow us to hide the air return vent behind it. It will be painted along with the wall next to it in the same color.

 

[Boosted1]

Nice woodworking.