I try and stay busy in the shop

[BrokenOlMarine]

I have started a new box.  This one is going to be Walnut, Mahogany, and a Book Matched Spalted Maple Insert in the top.
I have tried to use hand tools as much as possible, and the hand planes and antique molding planes I got from Lee Valley have gotten a workout so far.

At this point, I have gotten the top to the glue up stage, have shaped the Walnut Sides and formed the Bottom Trim.... 
So far so good.

Here is the top, a combination of Mahogany and the Spalted Maple.  The maple comes from a tree we planted more than 20 years ago when we first acquired our little farm, and which we had to take down a few years ago due to infestation.   I cut the trunk into 2' sections, the crotch pieces into blocks, and left it all to dry for about 18 months.  Then I cut THOSE pieces into 1" thick slices and dried them another 12 months, minimum.  Many of them have been drying for another 24 months... and are still drying.  They are all in the climate controlled workshop now. 


The Mahogany came from tables at the 19th hole bar at the Golf Course where my 79 year old retired dad works a few hours each week to get free play.  
  They were restoring the golf course under new ownership, and throwing out the tables.  Dad saved the tops for me.  I kept the Mahogany trim and tossed the felt centers.

   

Here is the molding plane used to form the rolled edges on the bottom trim, in which the sides and the bottom of the box will sit. 
  As you can see, they still need scraping and sanding, I have just made the passes with the planes... but it was a lot of fun to use them.  I first sharpened both irons, the one for this plane, and the one to cut the beading on the top.  Also, just as I did with the top, I rolled the bottom pieces prior to cutting.  The 45 degree angles you see are left over from their time as table trim.  They will be cut to length after choosing the best sections to use.

   

Gee, it's lot's quieter in the shop without a router running.  Lot's less dust and no sinus headache at night from the walnut. 
 
The hand plane took care of shaping that....

   
These walnut pieces will be used to make the sides.

I work on this project an hour or so here, and an hour or so there... then I have to take a break.  Usually that involves a couple episodes of NCIS on DVD, a snack, and my heated recliner... 
  Really helps the aches and pains and gets me back in the shop for another spurt of work...

[Strokes77]

Thats awesome, thanks for sharing. Very cool story on the wood.
Heated recliner?  Wow, I'm jealous.

[wood-chips]

Looks like you're already off to a good start.
All the various wood parts will make for a good story when you get it finished.

[BrokenOlMarine]

Thats awesome, thanks for sharing. Very cool story on the wood.
Heated recliner?  Wow, I'm jealous.

Thanks for the compliment Strokes.

Jealous of the Heated Recliner? Don't be.. it's a blessing and a curse.  
  It's one of those old fart recliners... the ones that's heated, vibrates, and powered.  It takes two minutes to recline, and two minutes to sit back up again, and another minute to Power Lift you up to help you OUT of the chair. 
   You don't want to be in a sudden rush to get out of it. 


When I fell a year or so ago and shattered my femur, Miss T bought one of the power lift chairs before I came home so I could sleep in it, and get in and out easier, transfer to the wheel chair and the like.  This year, we added a second chair with heat and vibration, which I took to help with the arthritis and the increasing pain levels, and SHE took my old chair, which is still really comfortable. 
  

Okay, it's a great chair, but I'm still sleeping in it. 


As far as the wood... The Maple was a great score, and I have about eighteen black walnut logs drying for more than 24 months that I need to get cut up.  After the fall, I gave away my chain saw, as the doc told me that using it could cause my leg to snap.  (A twisting motion on the bone, could re-fracture the femur... )  I'll be at risk for another spiral fracture for the rest of my life as far as he can tell.  Miss Tina may have found someone who can do it... but she forgot to get his card.  She ran into him at one of her craft events, she'll see him again.  
  No rush.   I still have a good supply of both the maple and the mahogany... 

[BrokenOlMarine]

I'm hoping the finished project will look as good as some of the others.... I auctioned off a couple here on woodnet for the Christmas Auction a couple years ago... They turned out very nice. 

[BrokenOlMarine]

Oops.... 


The insert in that top isn't from the Spalted Maple, but comes from the leftovers from a couple bark on white oak pieces I processed for a Charity Piece I just completed.  I had been saving those piecesfor a few years, waiting for the right project, and used them for a Raffle Ticket Tumbler for the Kayak Fishing Tournament's new tumbler.  

Miss T and I have been involved with the charity since the very beginning, and it outgrew the old one the wife threw together ten years ago. That was back when the tournament hosted forty people or so and raised just a couple thousand dollars.  This past year there were more than two hundred and fifty in attendance, and that was only because the ticket sales were capped at 175.. (and sold out in 48 hours).. and we raised 18k dollars for the two military charities.  (Heroes on the Water, a kayak fishing charity; and Healing Waters, the fly fishing group.)  The tournament owner capped attendance because he wants to keep the tournament family friendly, and about the sportsmanship and charity and not about "winning" and the prizes.  So far, they have managed to do so.  Miss Tina was tournament director for five or six years and instrumental in the rapid growth of the tournament, we have stayed involved, in the background. 


This past year, the raffle ticket sale volume overflowed the old tumbler and they had to put the tickets in a rubbermaid tub.  Miss Tina volunteered ME to make a new tumbler.  After a week or so of planning, I tripled the size of the tumbler, and made one I think they can be proud of... I'm just not able to throw something together... I'm not wired that way... 


The tumbler is made from maple cabinet ply, white oak, plexiglass windows, magnetic door closures, and walnut and cedar accents.  The logo was cut on the scrollsaw in walnut, then shaped with sandpaper.  Watco Oils make the grain pop.

   

The kayaker and bass were my first attempt at carving. They are not exactly art, but they get the point across... they were carved in cedar, and also finished in Watco Oils.

   

I used the leftover whiteoak panels that had defects making them too short for THIS project, to make the inserts for the top in the box project.  I thought they were too attractive to go to waste. 
   Sorry  for the confusion.  I have had five surgeries in the last few years where I was under for more than four hours.... the anesthesia affected my memory..

ah... what were we talking about again?  Oh yeah, spalted maple boxes.
Here's one....

   
spalted maple and mahogany... 
   got that one right.

[Steve N]

You nailed that box Jim, really nice. So do you still have time to shoot with all this woodworking going on?

[BrokenOlMarine]

I don't shoot as much as I did before the accident. I will go down to my range and test ammo, test a carry gun before I switch for change of seasons or if I have dine some maintenance. (I recently completed trigger jobs on two snubbies... lol ... I also put big dot night sights on a model 26 Glock.) When I get the bug, I'll shoot a box or two just for fun, but nothing like I used to. I bought a polaris ranger to allow me to get to the range, or run down the drive and check the mail. Tina uses it too, it has a dump bed and is very handy around the farm.

[BrokenOlMarine]

Back at it a bit today.  Working more on the top, fine tuning? LOL.
As you can see, the back of the top is a bit rough where I planned off the thick shellac from the old days of service as trim for the tables at the golf course.

   

Time to smooth it out.... and the duty falls to the Card Scraper.
It did a great job.

   

The scraper, when I get the hook rolled correctly, produces an amazing amount of shavings in a short period of time.

   

As you can see from the mess on the floor, I have been busy.. 

   

Next step was to dress up the top of the top, cleaning up the beading with a sharp file.  Taking my time, and not rushing.  A slip could mean a repair, or ... 
 ... starting over. 
  

   

Finished out the day by working on the top with the scraper, smoothing out the four edges so they mated with the insert.  I also filled the small hole in the insert that passed all the way through.  It's visible unfilled to the left of the chisel in the pic above, and filled at the right in the pic below at 3 o'clock.

   

[Steve N]

That's some wild crotch... Embrace the imperfections