Eng Gdn Bench Day 06

Work day begins: 6:30 AM It’s chilly this morning, but will warm up quickly, so there’s no point in building a fire. I’ll just take care of some office work during the early morning. Lunch Time I’ve got the blanks for the 6 long rails roughed out and surface planed to thickness. Workshop closes: 4:30 PM Spent the afternoon trimming the long rail blanks to finished size and cutting the tenons on each end. Man Hours Billed: 5 Materials Billed: 36 b.f of 8/4 white oak. To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.

Eng Gdn Bench Day 05

NOTE: Blogger wouldn't let me in to post this last night, so it's a day late. Work day begins: 6:30 AM I’ve got someone coming to look at and possibly buy our old Blazer today, so I’m going out early to fetch some gasoline, charge the battery and make sure it starts up. Now we’re going to continue making back legs for these Garden Benches. Lunch Time I got one leg blank cut, drilled, glued together and clamped. Then had to go chasing after Zadie, who climbed over a fence and took off. Workshop closes: 3:30 PM This afternoon I got the last back leg blank built. Just in time too – I’m out of the special screws, and the waterproof glue that I’m using on these. Both are on order, just haven’t arrived yet. I’ve also been tinkering with the Blazer – it doesn’t want to start. No need to go into all that here. But that fellow didn’t show up either. This evening I’ll be working on the web site; sweeping out the dust bunnies and getting things set up to install the new shopping cart system. Man Hours Billed: 2 Materials Billed: 8 bf white oak, 22 #8x1.75” assembly screws. To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.

Eng Gdn Bench Day 04

Work day begins: 5:30 AM I have some e-mail to handle, a bid to get started on and several days worth of project notes to get caught up on. I’ve been remiss in keeping up with this blog and the project article, so I have to get things caught up this morning while the workshop warms up. It looks like the rain and snow that has plagued us for the past week will not be a problem today: blue skies and a predicted high in the 50s. It’s chilly this morning though. Catching up a little, I’ve gotten the 4 arms glued up, cut to shape and sanded and 3 of the four front leg blanks glued up. I’ll glue the 4th this morning once the shops’ interior temperature gets above 50 degrees so the glue will work properly. Too cold and it will not set up hard enough. Then I’ll get started on the back legs. But now I need to get busy formatting photos and writing. Lunch Time The power went out for most of the morning, so I got precious little done. It was out long enough that even the battery back-ups on the computers wore out. I was *forced* to take the dogs for a walk on this beautiful day. Workshop closes: 5:15 PM I got the boards for all four rear legs surface planed, and one cut into billets for the rear legs. These are a little trickier than the other parts so far because in order to get all 3 pieces from the same board (thus attain better color matching) they have to overlap so I can’t just cross cut the board on the table saw. I lay them out on the board, then use a saber saw to cut between the parts to “chunk” up the board into manageable pieces. I got the first leg blank drilled, glued and clamped. Man Hours Billed: 4:15 Materials Billed: 16 bf white oak. To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.

Eng Gdn Bench Day 04

Work day begins: 5:30 AM I have some e-mail to handle, a bid to get started on and several days worth of project notes to get caught up on. I’ve been remiss in keeping up with this blog and the project article, so I have to get things caught up this morning while the workshop warms up. It looks like the rain and snow that has plagued us for the past week will not be a problem today: blue skies and a predicted high in the 50s. It’s chilly this morning though. Catching up a little, I’ve gotten the 4 arms glued up, cut to shape and sanded and 3 of the four front leg blanks glued up. I’ll glue the 4th this morning once the shops’ interior temperature gets above 50 degrees so the glue will work properly. Too cold and it will not set up hard enough. Then I’ll get started on the back legs. But now I need to get busy formatting photos and writing. Lunch Time The power went out for most of the morning, so I got precious little done. It was out long enough that even the battery back-ups on the computers wore out. I was *forced* to take the dogs for a walk on this beautiful day. Workshop closes: 5:15 PM I got the boards for all four rear legs surface planed, and one cut into billets for the rear legs. These are a little trickier than the other parts so far because in order to get all 3 pieces from the same board (thus attain better color matching) they have to overlap so I can’t just cross cut the board on the table saw. I lay them out on the board, then use a saber saw to cut between the parts to “chunk” up the board into manageable pieces. I got the first leg blank drilled, glued and clamped. Man Hours Billed: 4:15 Materials Billed: 16 bf white oak. To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.

Eng Gdn Bench Day 02

Work day begins: 7:00 AM This morning I’m arguing with the new wireless network I installed yesterday afternoon to replace the Ethernet cable network we had in place before. This will allow much more flexibility as we expand my domain, for the notebook computer can now be taken anywhere in the facility and have access to the main file server and the internet without having to run cables first. Yesterday the thing was working flawlessly. This morning none of the computers will admit to being part of a network. After considerable counseling, however, I’ve got them all talking to one another again, and it’s time to go out to the shop and get started. Today we’ll be making patterns for this bench. Lunch Time Making progress. Because I’m working from what’s called “A Set of Measured Drawings”, there are no full size patterns, only scale drawings on a gridwork to help lay out curves. It’s up to me to translate the little drawings into full scale patterns. I use thin plywood, usually scraps of BBP left over from past projects, to make my patterns. I draw each part on the plywood, then cut them out – very carefully – and sand them smooth. I usually apply one coat of lacquer to the pattern, then draw in the lay-out details like mortise locations, tenons, screw hole locations, etc with an ink pen and label each part with a felt tip marker. If I did this with ink on bare wood, the grain in the wood would suck the ink into it and cause “fuzzy” lines. Sealing the wood with lacquer prevents this spreading. When the ink has had time to dry thoroughly, I give each part a couple of spritz coats of lacquer. Because lacquer thinner will dissolve most inks, a heavy coat would cause the ink to spread and bleed into a splotchy mess. But a couple of spritz coats, with a few minutes between to dry will fix the ink in place and avoid the mess. It just takes practice to get it right. Workshop closes: PM Because this item will be added to our standard offerings, we hope to be using this pattern set again and again. Therefore we will not be billing this customer for the time and materials used in making the patterns. Man Hours Billed: 0 Materials Billed: None To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.

6 Dwr CD Chest Day 11

Work day begins: 6:15 AM Performing scheduled computer maintenance this morning, then back to web site maintenance before heading out to do the final inspection on Jon’s CD Chest and packaging it up for shipping. Lunch Time The chest is packaged and the label run, just waitin on the payment to schedule a pick-up. Back to web site maintenance. To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.

6 Drwr CD Chest Day 10

Work day begins: 7:00 AM. The weekend turned out to be quite busy, and I didn’t get into the workshop at all – other than to pull and store the white oak we’ll need for the next project. So, we’ll be doing the staining on this chest today. If the weather is dry and warm(er) today, we may be able to shoot the lacquer this evening. Lunch Time. I spent most of the morning staining the chest. First I had to remove the drawer fronts from the drawer boxes because the boxes don’t get stained. Because it’s cooler and damper than what is ideal for staining (the weather dude is predicting snow showers for this evening) it took longer than normal for the stain to take hold. Where I would usually allow it to set for 5 minutes, took around 15 minutes before I could wipe the excess off and get the right color. But it’s done. I’ll have to check it occasionally to see that we don’t have little droplets bleeding back out of the grain, but otherwise the workshop is closed down until the stain cures and I can shoot the lacquer. This afternoon I have plenty of web site maintenance to keep me busy, so it won’t be wasted time. The stain is dry to the touch, so I’ll go ahead and shoot the lacquer this evening, that way it will be ready to package up in the morning. I can’t ship until I get confirmation that the e-check used to pay the balance has cleared the bank, but at least it will be ready to go as soon as that happens. Workshop closes: 6:30 PM. A quick clean-up of the gun and brushes and I’m outta here until the air is more breathable. Back to the web site maintenance. To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.

6 Drwr CD Chest...Holding...

Work day begins: 4:00 AM I have a lot of Web site work to do this morning, so I’m getting an early start. The shop is all cleaned up and the tools put away. The drop cloths are in place to protect the equipment, and the finishing supplies are at hand. We’re ready to go as soon as the balance due is received. Why don’t I just go ahead and stain the chest? After all, we know Jon is still out there: he has been following along through the illustrated article and has told us how much he’s enjoying watching the process. Because it’s a rule. There is a policy that was written up by our legal beagle, approved and enacted by the head honcho, and posted to the web site for all to see that says we don’t stain an order until it’s paid for. And there is a reason for the rule: we’ve been taken in before. There is a 9 drawer CD End Table sitting in our gallery that was built for a gal who was in constant communication with us. She wanted it stained a rather unusual color, but because she was so gregarious, I didn’t think anything about it and went ahead to complete the project. But when it came time to settle up, it all fell apart. Now we have this piece that -- had it been finished natural or some color other people are fond of – would have been sold by now. But because it’s pink, it sits there. People comment on the lovely style and the quality of the workmanship, but it just sits there. Unfortunately there have been other times where I felt someone was trustworthy and it ended up costing us money. I’m just a soft-hearted sucker I guess. So, I’ve been admonished to follow the rules. They are there for a reason. Since I can’t be out in the shop making sawdust (because we’re in “Finishing Mode” and have to keep it clean) I’ll spend my time working on the web site and other assorted chores this morning. This is Friday. I like it when it works out that we’re ready to finish on a Friday. That way if payment comes through quickly, we can get the staining done Friday, let it set over the weekend to cure thoroughly, and shoot the lacquer Monday morning. Usually we can still package up the piece and have it ready to go out Monday afternoon. But if payment doesn’t come through right away (sometimes people are just too busy or need to transfer things around a little) the weekend gives them a couple of days to get their ducks in a row without costing us production time. When finishing day comes on, say… a Tuesday, then we can give up one day to waiting but if that doesn’t work out then we have to set that project aside and get started on the next. We’ll come back to the one to be finished when we get to a convenient stopping point to set up for finishing again. Eventually we will enlarge the workshop to about 3 times what it is now, and the expansion will include a “clean room” devoted exclusively to finishing. Then we can put a completed project in there, get started on the next right away and still be able to do the finishing whenever the conditions are met. Well, I’d better stop yammering and get to work. Since no work was done on the chest today, this will not count as a “Day” on the roster. I did get word from the money folks that the payment I’ve been looking for has been initiated, but has not cleared the bank yet. But if I get any time this weekend I believe I’ll go ahead and get the staining done anyway. We have a pretty heavy schedule already, but I’ll see if I can’t eek out a few hours. Time to wrap it up for tonight… I’m tired. To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.

6 Dwr. CD Chest Day 09

Work day begins: 7:00 AM We won’t be needing to fire up the heat stove this morning, it’s already 62 degrees outside, and another beautiful day is in the making. Yesterday I spent the day at our gallery, Treasures Of Appalachia, in Cosby where several of us got the place cleaned up, and opened for the 2006 season. This morning it’s back to woodworking as usual, and we’ll be completing the drawer installation. Lunch Time This morning we got the drawer boxes routed, sanded and installed. Everything fits quite well, nothing but minor adjustments were needed. Workshop closes: 5:30 PM This afternoon we got the drawer fronts made, routed and sanded, installed the knobs and mounted the fronts to the drawers. That pretty well completes construction. That means it’s time to ask for money – which is what we do when we’re ready to begin the finishing stage, especially in a piece that‘s to be stained. We’re coming down the home stretch now. This evening I will be writing up the daily article episode and posting that and the pictures, then doing some work on our new web site. To view the detailed construction article on this piece, click this entry’s title above. If you enjoy this Daily Shop Notes blog, you will also want to look at our Doug Bob blog, .which is available from my profile page.