Any of you guys do any woodworking?

WickedLou9 · 12-04-2007, 04:58 PM

Yeah I know I'm old. I'm just curious if I'm the only one. I'm really just getting into it I guess, but I have been exposed to it pretty much since birth. My grandfather was always doing something with wood and my Father even more so. I actually have a coffee table in my house that my Father built 25 years ago. Aside from some wiggly legs it's still in good shape.

Anyway... So my first project that I would consider a real wood working project was a couple of trivets. Pretty simple.. a wooden frame with a tile in the center. It was more difficult to make than it sounds. Well no so much difficult as time consuming. I should take some pictures.
yeah.

I'm a dork huh.

Ardentfrost · 12-04-2007, 05:15 PM

I love making stuff like that, but lack the tools and place to do it currently. I built some speakers recently, but that was just a matter of building a box (to VERY specific internal measurements) and veneering it. The coolest part was routing the driver sink holes in the baffle.

Anyhow, I fully intend to do a lot of wood projects once I get a house (hopefully in March)

nbiggershaft · 12-04-2007, 05:36 PM

Hoping to get into if when I get older and can have a workshop. My bedroom furniture is almost entirely handmade, bookshelf made by me, dresser and bed made by my great grandfather.

WickedLou9 · 12-04-2007, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

I love making stuff like that, but lack the tools and place to do it currently. I built some speakers recently, but that was just a matter of building a box (to VERY specific internal measurements) and veneering it. The coolest part was routing the driver sink holes in the baffle.

Anyhow, I fully intend to do a lot of wood projects once I get a house (hopefully in March)

Yeah it gets expensive real quick

My dad was nice enough to get me started with a nice sliding compound miter saw. Very useful. From there I sorta bought tools as I needed them and anytime anyone gave me a Home Depot gift card.

But yeah I don't have much room either. I use our basement. I have a small workbench covered in random bits and pieces and tools, and I have an old desk which serves as a stand for the miter saw. everything is sandwiched between the furnace , water hearter, and the washer/dryer

But I make do I guess. One day it would be nice to have a real workshop.

So far I think I have the major tools that I need to do most things. I mean really you need the basic hand tools. ( hammer, screw drivers, chisels etc ) , then you need some sort of miter saw, a router, a drill and a table saw.
Don't forget clamps. You can never have too many clamps. corner clamps, C clamps, big clamps, little clamps, long clamps, etc.

7960 · 12-04-2007, 05:54 PM

I've built shelves and bookcases but mostly I do outside stuff. I built our deck and a gardening bench for my wife. I re-did a big section of the farmer's porch not long ago. I'm not really a finish work kind of guy...no patience for it.

80% of the power tools I use now are battery. 18v skill saw, sawz-all, drill/screw gun, impact wrench, router... I go out of my way to find things that need routing

. I love that tool.

Linzyhop · 12-05-2007, 08:46 AM

i'm gonna be building a computer stand for my mom's monitor (that doesn't have an expandable neck) for xmas soon. that reminds me, i need to go to home depot and buy the wood.

I'll probably stain it when it's all done too. I'm cool like that.

put a cork board on the front and maybe a little erasable board to her to write notes to herself... maybe a place to file papers on the side.....

i'm getting CRAZY now!

WickedLou9 · 12-05-2007, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by Linzyhop

i'm gonna be building a computer stand for my mom's monitor (that doesn't have an expandable neck) for xmas soon. that reminds me, i need to go to home depot and buy the wood.

I'll probably stain it when it's all done too. I'm cool like that.

put a cork board on the front and maybe a little erasable board to her to write notes to herself... maybe a place to file papers on the side.....

i'm getting CRAZY now!

Home Depot has really terrible wood from what I have seen. The boards are all crooked and bowed. If you are using plywood you can probably go to a local lumber mill and get some plywood that has a nice oak face on it or maybe cherry. Cherry finishes up really nicely. The mills are usually cheaper too.
I went with my father to one that is around the corner from where I live. They had all sorts of great stuff. Strange wood I have never heard of like "Bocote" and "bloodwood". There aren't any in NJ, but a good store to check out is called "Rockler". There are two in MA in your area.
Retail Store - Massachusetts

Linzyhop · 12-05-2007, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

Home Depot has really terrible wood from what I have seen. The boards are all crooked and bowed. If you are using plywood you can probably go to a local lumber mill and get some plywood that has a nice oak face on it or maybe cherry. Cherry finishes up really nicely. The mills are usually cheaper too.
I went with my father to one that is around the corner from where I live. They had all sorts of great stuff. Strange wood I have never heard of like "Bocote" and "bloodwood". There aren't any in NJ, but a good store to check out is called "Rockler". There are two in MA in your area.
Retail Store - Massachusetts

well there is one in cambridge. maybe i can run by there and check it out. thanks dude.

Linzyhop · 12-05-2007, 09:00 AM

Crap Lou. they're not open late enough. I don't get home until 6pm and Cambridge at that time has too much traffic for me to make it there and have time to look around before they close at 7.

7960 · 12-05-2007, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

Home Depot has really terrible wood from what I have seen. The boards are all crooked and bowed. If you are using plywood you can probably go to a local lumber mill and get some plywood that has a nice oak face on it or maybe cherry. Cherry finishes up really nicely. The mills are usually cheaper too.
I went with my father to one that is around the corner from where I live. They had all sorts of great stuff. Strange wood I have never heard of like "Bocote" and "bloodwood". There aren't any in NJ, but a good store to check out is called "Rockler". There are two in MA in your area.
Retail Store - Massachusetts

it's getting stained so she'd be just as happy with birch-faced plywood.

WickedLou9 · 12-05-2007, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by 7960

it's getting stained so she'd be just as happy with birch-faced plywood.

yeah but cherry finishes so nicely. I mean if it's not going to be a focal point in the room I suppose it doesn't matter that much. But cherry just comes out so nice. You can really sand it down to a glassy smooth finish, you don't even have to stain it, you can just put a few coats of varnish on it and it will look good.

Linzyhop · 12-05-2007, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

yeah but cherry finishes so nicely. I mean if it's not going to be a focal point in the room I suppose it doesn't matter that much. But cherry just comes out so nice. You can really sand it down to a glassy smooth finish, you don't even have to stain it, you can just put a few coats of varnish on it and it will look good.

i'll keep that in mind when i'm looking for what to get.....

6SpeedTA95 · 12-05-2007, 01:41 PM

I've done some woodworking...but since I got married I dont have to nearly as often

WickedLou9 · 12-08-2007, 10:24 PM

I figured I would post some pics.
So here are the first two trivets that I made.
The one on the right is my first try, and the one on the left is my 2nd try. Both are made from Red Oak, stained and varnished with a clear gloss finish.

I am working on another one that should come out much nicer.
I am taking some pics as the project comes along.

So here is what I started with. A single piece of walnut that I got from a local lumber mill.

Next I cut a strip about 1.5" wide and started making my angle cuts.

I cut out 4 identical pieces to make the basic frame. Then I had to make several passes with the router table to make the lip for the tile to fit into. I also put a nice edge on there with a roman ogee bit.

Next I test fit them to make sure they all go together OK.
Looks good so far.

That's as far as I got today. Next steps are to sand each piece down nice and smooth. After that I'll glue the joints, clamp it together and let it set up. Then I get to make the backing for the tile, slap in some grout, put the tile in and then varnish.

I'll take more pics when I do the rest.

7960 · 12-09-2007, 01:23 AM

do you biscuit the corners or just glue and nails?

WickedLou9 · 12-09-2007, 05:50 AM

Originally Posted by 7960

do you biscuit the corners or just glue and nails?

you know i'm not sure what i'm going to do. just glue might be enough because a thin piece of plywood goes in the middle and that gets glued down and then the tile and grout sort of holds it together as well. but i dunno. that doesn't seem like enough to me. On the other ones I used small brass screws.

thomez · 12-09-2007, 08:46 AM

what's a trivet?

WickedLou9 · 12-09-2007, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by thomez

what's a trivet?

Somthing you put hot pots and stuff on so you don't burn your table or tablecloth or whatever.

thomez · 12-09-2007, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

Somthing you put hot pots and stuff on so you don't burn your table or tablecloth or whatever.

ok

that's what it looked like but I wasn't sure

looks nice! I'd love to do woodworking like that but I've really never had the opportunity or the tools... I didn't even have shop class in school.

I wish I had the stuff... making things is very enjoyable for me. I'm a wanna-be

WickedLou9 · 12-11-2007, 08:00 PM

Almost done.

Glueing the joints together. You can never have enough clamps.

All set up, backer board glued in, ready for the tile and grout

Oh look at how nice

Tile and grout are done

After this step I cleaned it up and sanded it down once more then I started varnishing. one coat of varnish, then sand it again, then another coat, sand again, another coat.. sand again, and finally a 4th coat.
The 4th coat is drying now.

If you are going to be varnishing something and it is not going outdoors, use Ploycrylic. It's a product from Minwax. The stuff is water soluble and it dries within 30 minutes. Beaing able to clean a brush with just water and put on another coat every 30 minutes is so much better!