Steamer Trunk - DONE!

David’s walnut steamer trunk is complete and ready to go.  I hope you enjoy these shots.

The photos above were shot using the flash on the camera instead of setting up floodlights

so the color came out a bit light, but the detail is good.  The actual color of the trunk

is more that of the shot below - taken without flash.  The color is right but

the detail is all muddled up and hard to see.

What We’re Building:

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress, sort of

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red oak for Donna

4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack cherry & maple for David K.

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P.

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Walnut Trunk – Lacquering

Today I lacquered David’s trunk, in between…

Fixing Mom’s computer

Trying to fix Mom’s car.

Fixing Tim’s sled

Repairing the log splitter

Using the newly repaired

log splitter to split firewood.

As well as all the usual writing and business stuff I’m doing these days.

Sheese, what a day!  But it's over now.  Heading home for supper.

What We’re Building:

Walnut Steamer Trunk for David B. – Almost Done

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress, sort of

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red oak for Donna

4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack cherry & maple for David K.

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P.

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Walnut Trunk – Hinges & Latches

I spent my woodworking time today installing the rest of the hardware; hinges, latches, the lock and the strap handle bales.  This involved laying out the locations, punching for the screw holes, drilling pilot holes and installing the screws to hold the hardware in place.

Then testing to be sure everything works as it should.  It does.  Now that all the hardware is attached, the next step is to strip it all off again.

But I’ll stop here for today, Marie is due home any moment with a load of groceries to be carted inside, see you next time!

What We’re Building:

Walnut Steamer Trunk for David B. – In Progress

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress, sort of

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red oak for Donna

4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack cherry & maple for David K.

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P.

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Walnut Trunk – Knuckles

The first step for this afternoon is to sand the grid work of both the box and the lid with 100 an 120 grit papers. I use a random orbit sander for this because we have grain running in two directions and trying to do this with a sanding block will leave cross-grain scratches where I try to get up close to the joints.

Before I can mount the corner knuckles I need to glue in some square filler pieces on the bottom of the trunk. Nothing fancy here, just a pad that will help support the leaf of the knuckle and share the weight of the trunk.

The knuckles are make for a square cornered trunk, mounting them as they are would leave large gaps. I’ve seen plenty of trunks done this way and always figured that the points sticking out were a snag hazard, I want to do a little neater job.

So I use a wood faced vice to hold one leaf the knuckle while I “stretch” it out a little to match the slope on the lid of the trunk.

Then I press the knuckles in place, mark screw hole locations with a punch, drill pilot holes for the screws and attach the knuckles with screws.

The knuckles for the box need no stretching so they go on more quickly.

I’ll stop there for today, see you next time!

What We’re Building:

Walnut Steamer Trunk for David B. – In Progress
Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress, sort of
4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly
3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red oak for Donna
4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack cherry & maple for David K.
3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.
Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design
4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P.
Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.
Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Walnut Trunk – Banding

Today I Installed the banding pieces in the trunk.  These are short, decorative pieces that fit between the long rails to form a gridwork.  Before I do that I sand the recessed panels with sanding blocks.  I go through all but the final finish grade of sandpaper.  It’s much easier to sand these now while they are open full length than they will be when the banding breaks them up into a grid.

I previously milled out several long strips and surfaced them down to the proper thickness to match the height of the rails above the flat panels.  I very carefully square up one end of a strip, lay it in place and carefully mark where it needs to be cut, taking this dimension directly from the trunk rather than trying to measure.

I’ll cut it just a hair long on the miter saw, then sneak up on a perfect fit.  The goal here is to get a fit that is snug, but not so tight that it must be forced in.  If I force it, the pieces will deflect the outer rails and could make fitting the lid difficult.

I sand the edges of the strips before installing them, but not the faces.

I fit all the pieces for one side at a time.  When all are ready I glue the banding pieces to the panel.  If the fit is not quite tight enough to hold the banding down against the panel with friction, I can apply a little extra pressure with a clamp until the glue sets up.

I’ll let the glue set up before I work with these again.- just to make sure I don’t cause any to pop off because the glue wasn’t hard enough to stand power sanding. 

That’s it for today, I’ll see you next time!

What We’re Building:

Walnut Steamer Trunk for David B. – In Progress

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress, sort of

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red oak for Donna

4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack cherry & maple for David K.

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P.

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Walnut Trunk – Tray Completion

After removing the clamps and inspecting my glue-up job I take the tray back out to the tool room and do the construction sanding on the outside of the tray’s surfaces.  The insides were completely sanded prior to assembly.  Construction sanding means I use 100 grit and 120 grit papers to remove and glue ridges, even  up any discrepancies at the corners and complete the shaping where the rounded over upper edges of the ends meet the side pieces.  Then I sand away any pencil marks or milling marks (the tiny ripples that can be left by the surface planer and jointer) to produce smooth even surfaces.  When that’s done I move on to finish sanding the entire exterior with 150 grit and 180 grit papers.

When the sanding is completed, I brush the loose sanding dust out, vacuum it, then use a tack rag to get what dust was left behind.  Now it’s ready for lacquering.  Into the finishing room I go, assemble and set up the HVLP sprayer and fill it with semi-gloss lacquer.  I’ll shoot two complete coats, allowing them to dry between, then scuff sand the entire tray to smooth the surface and shoot one final coat.

This tray gets no hardware mounted to it, so it is done and will be set aside while I complete the rest of the trunk.  That won’t be long now!

Thanks for looking in, I’ll see you next time!

What We’re Building:

Walnut Steamer Trunk for David B. – In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress, sort of

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red oak for Donna

4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack cherry & maple for David K.

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P.

Walnut Trunk – Tray Construction

My first task today was to rip the tray blank to width on the table saw, then install the big cut-off sled and cut the panel to length. One end was even and squared up as well as I could, but this end had all the random lengths sticking out. The cut-off will make good firewood this evening while we watch a movie together.

The second task was to put away the sled and install my tall fence on the table saw. This will help me cut the little rabbets on the underside of the tray panel. I use a piece of that cut-off scrap to set it up and tune in the cut for a perfect fit, then run all four edges of the tray panel through.

Care must be taken to keep the panel edge sitting on the table saw top; if it lifts a lump will result that will mean that the side or end piece will not fit. I also use feather boards to help insure that the panel stays pushed back against the tall fence. If it creeps out a little, the panel edge will be too thin and gaps will result.
When this is all done I finish sand the panel and shoot the edges with lacquer so raw wood will not be exposed when the tray panel shrinks up from low humidity. It’s humid today, has been for weeks. Then I sand the insides only of the tray sides and ends.

When the sanding is all done I test fit the parts. The tray panel is a little less than 1/8” too wide and the sides will not draw up against the end pieces like they should, so I take the assembly apart, shave off the needed amount of wood from one edge and run that edge through the table saw again to widen the rabbet. Now it fits perfectly.

My final task for the day is to apply glue to the corners and draw them together snuggly with clamps. I’ll leave the clamps on until tomorrow.

Thanks for looking in, I’ll see you next time!






Still to Build:

Walnut Steamer Trunk for David B. – In Progress
Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design
Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress, sort of
4 Tray Tables, All Walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly
3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red Oak for Donna
4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack Cherry & Maple for David K.
3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.
Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.
Printer Cabinet for Marie B.
4 TV Tray Tables and Stand in maple for Jeffrey P.

Walnut Trunk – Tray Panel; Smoothing

I opened the day by pulling the covers off the walnut lumber stack and carrying in more than enough lumber to build Shelly’s set of tray tables.  This lumber will need to sit a while to acclimate to the shop conditions or the lumber will tend to do all manner of ugly things as I cut the boards into smaller pieces.  The lumber is dry – it’s been air drying for several years, but it has been quite humid and cold outside and not so much inside.  Besides, I still have to complete David’s trunk before I can move on to the next project.

I removed the clamps from the tray panel blank I glued up last time, scraped the glue ridges off of the joints and sanded the panel smooth on the wide drum sander.  This is a slow process so that took a while.  Near the end of that process Tim came in to pick up an old tank-like rear time roto-tiller to take I down to his shop for restoration.

This thing has been loving on my loading dock for a while, weighs as much as Tim and I put together and getting it down into Tim’s trailer was just more fun than humans should be allowed!

It's Advil Time!

Thanks for looking in, I’ll see you next time!

Production List:

2 Walnut Tray Tables with Stand for Jacklyn & Mark - In Transit

Walnut Steamer Trunk for David B. – In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Awaiting Details

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress but Stalled

4 Tray Tables, All Walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red Oak for Donna

4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack Cherry & Maple for David K.

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

4 TV Tray Tables and Stand in maple for Jeffrey P.

Walnut Steamer - Assessing the Situation

Our pile of walnut still has lots of snow on top of it this morning, but we will get up into the mid 50 degrees today and it’s raining this morning, so this will go away quickly.  Then I can get the bricks and tin sheets that protect the lumber off and pull the boards needed to make Shelly’s tray table set.  In the mean time I will work on completing the walnut trunk for David. For more on this snow storm of ours see White Christmas at The Simple Life Prattle.

Earlier this year I made 4 steamer trunks in various woods for an interior designer in Chicago.  While I was cutting out the parts for those, I cut out parts for another two trunks.  One was a standard oak trunk with walnut trim that has since been completed and is for sale.  The other was a walnut trunk which has been mostly completed.  The lid is done except for some sanding.

The base is mostly complete, just lacking the banding.  The sides and ends of the removable tray are made (photo above) and need only the final shaping.  The one part I need to make yet is the wide panel for the floor of the tray.

So I select some lumber from what is left inside the shop, cut it to rough length, joint one face and one edge and use the surface planer (shown here) to surface the other wide face and bring the boards to the 7/16” thickness I need.

Using a fine toothed blade in the table saw I rip the final edge straight and parallel to the other edge.  Then I lay the boards out on the saw and flip-flop them around until I find the arrangement I like best.  That done, I mark them with a large ‘V’ to be sure I get them back in the same arrangement and take them into the assembly room to be glued and clamped.  I’ll let these sit in the clamps overnight to be sure the glue sets up hard before I do any more machining on them.

I'll be taking the day off tomorrow to pull down the custom woodworking area of our web site.

Thanks for looking in, I’ll see you next time, and Happy New Year!

Production List:

2 Walnut Tray Tables with Stand for Jacklyn & Mark - In Transit

Walnut Steamer Trunk for David B. – In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Awaiting Details

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress but Stalled

4 Tray Tables, All Walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red Oak for Donna

4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack Cherry & Maple for David K.

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Reassembly and Crating

Now that the lacquer is good and hard it’s time to put all the hardware back on the trunks. That goes much more quickly this time because the screw holes are already there so it is a simple matter of getting the right piece of hardware back in the right spot and installing the screws.

The next step is to open up the trunks and pack the tray so that it does not bounce around inside during transit. I do this with Styrofoam and bubble wrap. Then lock the lock and wire the keys to the lock bail for easy access when they get “home”.

Then I take some careful measurements and build a base for the crate, move the trunks onto it and strap them together with cellophane with Styrofoam between them. Then I begin sheathing the pair with sheets of foam.

That done, I cut the panels of crate board to make the container, and finally apply the wooden banding.

All that remains is to run the bill of lading and shipping labels and load it into our truck for the trip to White Pine and Old Dominions truck dock.

They’re on their way Lynn… hope they meet with your client’s approval.

Doug

Staining - Cherry

The plan was for me to be elsewhere today, but God had a different idea and so I’m here and working. I got the maple trunk stained antique cherry and it is sitting in the finishing room to cure out. Tomorrow I will shoot the lacquer on both trunks, then they will be ready for reassembly.

See you tomorrow!

Doug

Staining - black

I started out the day bright and early by stripping off the hardware Marie and I worked so hard last night to install and do the final round of finish sanding on the oak trunk. At least all that hardware will be easier to re-install now that the screw holes are in place.

Then it’s into the finishing room with it, one piece at a time. The oak trunk gets a treatment where I apply flat black paint, let it set for a few minutes, then wipe it back off so the grain shows through the remaining paint. Much like applying a stain, except that it is more difficult to work because it wasn’t made to be used this way. There are tons of nooks and crannies to work the stain into (and get it back out of) so this is a time consuming process and I have to work on smallish areas at a time or the paint sets up too much and I can't get it back off properly. When I finish the top of the lid I set it aside and put the box on the table to start working the outside.

I wasn't sure if Lynn wants the inside of this one black as well or just the outside, so I called her. The cherry one I would assume would be inside and outside, but I like this one with the rustic black outside and the fresh oak inside.

Once the outside is done I give the paint a chance to get dry to the touch so I can start to roll the box around and stain the inside. Since that was Lynn's decision. Then I can set the box aside and work on the tray. While the tray is drying, I put the maple trunk up on the table and strip the hardware off of that one.

If you look close you will see that I’ve tagged each piece of hardware for location and orientation and I keep all the hardware for each trunk in separate trays. This way I can be reasonably assured that it will all go back on just as it was.

When the black paint is all dry, and I’ve finish sanded the maple trunk I bring the parts in for a coat of sealer as preparation for the antique cherry stain.

But that will have to wait until next time for I’m being told that the shop is closing at 7:00 tonight so we can prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!.

Doug

Finish Sanding & Techno Frustration

I spent most of today sanding and inspecting the two trunks. Not exciting. Not photogenic. Tiring. I spent the morning working on this; complacently bored.

At lunch time, things got exciting again. Yes, my lunch was good, but that wasn’t it. I got a call from a customer saying that he had sent me an e-mail and it had bounced saying my mail box was full. Wanted to know why I’m not checking my e-mail. I assured him that I check my e-mail several time each day, but I had not gotten any new e-mails since yesterday… I’d investigate.

It got messy from there. You don’t want to know the details, I’m sure. Technological spaghetti. One thing leading to another. I expected to find that an e-mail server had gone down, but it was much worse than that and much harder to pinpoint. Fixing the problem(s) involved an IM conversation with a programmer, a few phone calls to tech support personnel, and eventually, moving the entire website, database and e-mail system to a new host server. This used up a big chunk of the afternoon. Time I really couldn’t afford to spend because of the deadlines we’re under… but necessary if we’re to keep Smoky Mountain Woodworks up and running. And *that*, we have to do.

That’s done now, everything should be OK in a couple of hours when the new location propagates through out the Internet, so I’m going back to sanding. Boring, blessed, peaceful sanding!

Looks like a late evening again as I try to get back the lost time. I’ll post this now so I don’t forget to do it later.

See you tomorrow.

Doug

Final Assembly

I didn’t have much time to take pictures today, had to keep my nose to the grindstone, these HAD to be assembled before I can go home. Marie helped out and we got all the construction done.

Tomorrow we begin finish sanding.

See you then.

Doug

Assembling Lids

The question has been asked why sometimes I talk about building four trunks and why sometime just two. The reason is that when Lynn – who is a consultant working with a furniture store in Chicago – first approached us about making some trunks she wanted four of them, and she needed a discount. By making parts for four trunks at one time, we can create a time savings over having to make four trunks individually. That is because it takes time to set up and tune each tool we use for each process. If we make all the parts needed while the tool is set up, that goes more quickly thus we can offer a discount on multiple items ordered at once. Not a tremendous discount mind you… but something.

Well, we quoted her a price based on four trunks but when she actually placed the order she only wanted two. To get the price point we were aiming for we need to make four trunks, so I’m milling out parts for four trunks, but when I get to the assembly stages I’m only building the two Lynn wants because she’s in a rush to get them. I’ll assemble the other two as I have spare time.

Huh… yeah… spare time… that’s a good one!

So, today I assembled (with glue and screws this time) the lid assemblies and squared them up. Doesn’t sound like much, does it… but it was a task and a half wrapping that top plate onto the support ribs and getting everything just where it needed to be. Then, once it was all in place and clamped, the clamps had to stay in place until the glue was completely dry or it would all pop loose again. The screws are installed after the lid is assembled as insurance.

I also made the parts for the trays that sit in the top part of the trunks.

Fortunately, Marie had an early meeting in Knoxville this morning so she was on the road and I was in the shop by 6:30. That extra couple of hours will help me get out of here on time this evening since it’s Friday and Marie and I have a standing date on Fridays. Don’t want to be late!

See you Monday,

Doug

Lid Parts

Before I get started on today’s posting, let me remind folks who are peeking in here to see if their order has been started yet that our production schedule is available on the In The Shop page of our web site, Click Here to go there.

The dates shown as projected completion dates are estimated by our software based on the orders that have been placed the number of ManHours required to build each and the number of hours in our work week. The software that runs behind the web site is terribly complicated and is somewhat limited in what it can do. For instance, the production hours for a project don’t change as we perform the work on a project. A project that takes 30 hours will show 30 hours until we complete it and its status changes from Construction to In Transit, then all 30 hours come off the schedule in one lump sum.

It also doesn’t keep the orders in the proper numeric order, so it looks like someone may have jumped in line ahead of you. I have a programmer working on that issue now.

‘Nuff of that.

Today after removing the clamps from the complete oak trunk carcass I went back to making lid supports, and immediately twisted off a screw – oak does that if I don’t wax the screws first. I forgot – getting in a hurry because the deadline for this project is looming and Lynn is anxious.
Today I completed making the lid support rails, made the lid end pieces and rounded over the undersides of the lid rails so they fit into the radiused notches in the lid supports.

Then it was time to test fit all these parts together. Here I have the framework and end caps fitted together.

This is with the filler panels in place but the end capes moved aside. Fitting is good, now I take it all apart again and put it together again with glue and clamps. That will take the rest of this evening and most of tomorrow.

I’ll check in with you again then.

It's been another long day, time for some rest. G’nite!

Doug