Keepsake Box: Making the Lid

Welcome back my little woodworking buddies!  I'm sorry to have been away for a few days, I have been working but not getting around to posting that work here.  So, I'll get you caught up.

To make the lid for the box I start by cutting carefully selected rough-sawn lumber into pieces on the chop saw (compound miter saw).  Then I follow the same procedues I did on the otehr part of the box; jointing one wide face and one edge of all three blanks.  EXCEPT; on the piece that goes in the middle I joint both edges.  And I do NOT surface plane the other face or rip the rough edges off the two outside pieces.  Yet.

Then I apply Type III polyurethane glue to the joints and clamp the three pieces together into the blank from which I will make the top.  Almost everywhere I will use regular old yellow (aliphatic) wood glue for joinery.  Most furniture joinery will, in 75 or 100 years, need to be cleaned and reglued. Using a glue that can be taken apart through steaming makes that eventual task easier on the repair technician.  But for making up plates like this, I do not expect them to ever need to be taken apart for repairs, so I use a polyurethane glue.

Would it not be better to use the strongest glue you can find for all your joinery so it never needs repairs?  No.  Because wood moves.  Even though long dead, the wood continues to expand and contract with humidity changes; expand and contract, expand and contract, over and over and over.  Pretty much forever.  Anywhere the grain in the wood meets in different directions; like in the joinery, those pieces will expand and contract in different directions.  A well made and properly glued joint will last for a lomg time, but eventually the glue will fail and the joint will become wobbly. Super-duper-extra-strength glue will make getting the joint apart for repairs that much more difficult because rarely does a joint experience *total* failure. Those parts that remain bonded together will break the wood, making the repair just that much more difficult.  Using a repairable wood glue will make someones job much easier when that day comes.

Where was I?  Oh yes...

Now that the glue is set up I take the top blank and surface plane off the rough face of the blank.  When that is smooth, I flip it over and plane off just enough from the other face to even up any discrepency in the two glue joints.

When I'm done I have an attractive piece of wide wood.  If I've done my job well, the colors in the three pieces of wood blend so well as they cross the wood that you can not see the glue joints at all.  This looks good.

Now I rip the long edges to width on the table saw and install my cross-cut sled to trim the ends straight, square to the long edges and to finished length.  When done, I measure across both diagonals; if both measurements are the same, the blank is perfectly square and we should not have any problems fitting it to our perfectly square box.

To make a more elegant shape on the lid of the box, I set the table saw blade to 80° and install a tall rip-fence attachment. I use this set-up to support the lid as I trim off thin, wedge shaped pieces from each edge of the top surface. This yelds a hip-roof shape that is far more elegant than just a flat top.

To make it even nicer I use the table saw to cut out a rabbet on all edges of the under side - 1/4" deep and 1" wide. This allows the center part of the lid to slip down inside the sides of the box bottom; no need for stays or hinges or latches.  A simple solution for a simple box; the lid just lifts off for easy access to the treasures within, but when placed back on the box it sits securely and will not slide off.

Next up: SANDING.  This is going to take a while so you may as well go into the office, grab a cup of coffee and keep Zadie and Dolly company for a bit.  Sanding takes attention to detail and lots of patience, but it is *really* boring to watch.  It can not be rushed, even though it is not our favorite part of woodworking.  A piece that is poorly sanded will be poorly finished no matter how much attention to detail give to he finishing process.

Oh, you're back, good!  The sanding is done, and I've vacuumed and tack ragged all the dust away and I'm ready to shoot the first coats of lacquer.  We'll do two full coats, allowing each to dry in between, then scuff sand to smooth the surface before the final coat goes on.

Once all three coats are on I'll let the lacquer dry overnight.  Tomorrow we'll finish it up, inspect it and once I'm satisfied all is well, deliver it.

See you then!

Keepsake Box - Box Construction

Welcome back woodworking fans!

Today I’m going to be completing construction of the box part of Brian’s Keepsake Box.  I’ll start by setting up to miter the ends of the box parts.

There are quite a few ways to make corners of boxes.  Some, like dovetails or finger joints, are quite elaborate and decorative as well as strong.  Some, like a rabbeted butt joint are fairly quick and simple, but not so pretty.  Because I’ve chosen the wood for this box because of its dramatic graining, I will use splined miter joints on this box.  The miters allow the grain to flow around the outside in a nearly uninterrupted pattern, the splines reinforce the joints by locking them together.

I start by zeroing my digital angle meter to the bed of the chop saw, then attaching it to the saw’s blade (it has magnets in the base) and setting the saw to 45°.

Rather than testing the set-up on the box parts, I cut a piece of scrap wood with this set-up, flip one piece over and hold them tightly together while I check the angle with an engineer’s square.  This looks good.  If this single joint does not come out to exactly 90° then when I build the box, some or all of the joints will have gaps.  Gaps are not our friends.

Then I set up a stop block on the chop saw to set the length of the cut.  I’ll make the first cut, flip the piece end for end and make the second cut, place the other short end piece on the saw and repeat.  Reset the stop block for the longer pieces and cut the front and back pieces.

Viewed from the back side of the table saw.

Next I set up the table saw to cut the spline slots.  To do this I set the table saw blade at 45°, place the rip fence on the “wrong” side of the blade and use it to serve as an end stop.  This determines where the cut will be made along the face of the mitered end.  Blade height determines the depth of cut.  Again I use my scrap pieces to test the set-up before cutting into my box parts.

When all four box parts have a spline slot cut on each end I cut the spline stock to width.  These splines were cut off yesterday when I was trimming the blanks to width.  They are just a hair thinner than the saw blade, so they slip snugly into the saw kerfs.  I need to have just a smidge of play between spline and box parts because the glue will cause the splines to swell up a bit.  If they are too tight they will bind and getting the box to come together while gluing will be an exercise in frustration.  Too loose and there will be gaps in the spline joints. Gaps are ugly; we don’t want gaps.

Now I  reset the saw blade to 90° and set up to cut a slot ¼” up from the bottom of the box sides and 3/16” deep (to avoid interfering with the spline slots).  I’ll use 1/8” Baltic Birch plywood for the box bottom.  The BBP will slide right into the slots I just cut.  Once the slots are cut, I take careful measurements from the slots and cut a piece of BBP to fit.  I want a snug fit between edges of panel and bottoms of the slots as the panel will strengthen the box and prevent racking.

Lunch time!  Don’t you just love a sandwich with fresh from the garden lettuce?  Yes, I’m still picking lettuce from our garden and it is mid-November.  Gotta love that!  Today I’m having Peppered Turkey and Muenster Cheese on whole grain bread with a touch of brown mustard and low-fat mayo.

During my lunch break I lay in a bundle firewood at the house, walk down to the hard road and the mail boxes, then drop in on Mom with her mail to see how she’s getting along today.  Dolly and Zadie go with me, but get indignant when I just drop the firewood in the box on the porch and head on down to the road; they wanted to go inside.  Their snuggle beds in the house are more comfy than the blanked on the floor of my office at work.

OK, back to work.  I sand the inside surfaces of the box sides.  Just the inside faces because the outside faces will get dimpled up a bit by the clamps and I’ll have to sand those out anyway, might as well do all the outside sanding after the glue dries.  Sanding the inside faces will be difficult once the box is assembled; it’s much easier to do a good job of it now.

Before the glue goes in I do a test fit and check to be sure all the joints will draw up tight and the edges will line up flush.  Once I’m satisfied all is well, I set the box up on one side, take the top side off, apply glue, insert the spline and slip the side back in place.  Flip the box over and repeat.  I have to do a good job, not so much glue that it gooshes out all over: especially not inside, but not so little that the grain of the wood will suck the glue out of the joint and leave it starved and brittle.

Then I work quickly to apply clamps.  Lots of clamps.  Enough clamps to be sure all four corners are pulled snugly together from bottom to top.  I’ll leave these clamps in place overnight.

The rest of the afternoon will be spent prepping lumber to make the top of the box and writing and posting this article.  I also have about 6 articles I need to write, but they are not about woodworking, so I won’t go into that here.

Please drop in again on Monday and we’ll make the top for this box.  One more thing: if you were among those considering purchasing the half-completed walnut steamer trunk - that has been sold and is no longer available.  I'll be detailing the completion of that trunk on this blog in a few weeks.  The completed oak steamer trunk is still available.  Thanks for reading!

Keepsake Box - Roughing Parts

Yesterday I brought in enough walnut, cherry and red oak to build the two tray table sets that have been ordered.  Then spend the afternoon trying to straighten up the shop some.  We've been moving things around and I have a few half-completed projects sitting around getting in the way.

The poplar I pulled for Brian's keepsake box has been indoors long enough to be acclimated, so I select a couple of boards with good character.  Let me explain that; I don't mean that they have a mild temper and never lie to their friends, I mean that the grain patterns are interesting, yet stable enough for use in a fairly sizable box.

The board I selected for the sides of the box is much wider than the sides need to be, so my first step is to rip (cut lengthwise) the board 1/2" wider than the finished width is to be.  Then I lay-out the sections of the sides; long - short - long - short so the grain will flow around 3 of the corners perfectly.  The 4th corner will not match up so perfectly and I will place that corner in the back.  There is a technique whereby all four corners can match, but it requires resawing (splitting the thickness in half) a thick board and "un-winding" it to achieve the grain match.  The budget on this box does not allow for the extra work, and resawing this stock would result in sides that are too thin for a box this large.  The sides would tend to bow with humidity changes.

Once the board is laid out, I use our chop saw (slang term for a compound miter saw) to cut the board into the lengths I laid out.  I mark the sections as A, B, C and D to make sure I keep the corners properly identified.

This completes roughing out the box sides.  The first step in finishing them is to use the jointer to flatten and smooth one face and one edge of each piece.  The jointer has a cutter-head in the bed of the tool and uses the perfectly flat, smooth beds on either side to guide the wood so the cutters take of a small amount of wood.  Using the tool properly take a little skill in the way the wood is fed into the cutter, where the pressure is applied when, and so in.  When one face is smooth, I run that face along the fence to smooth and square one edge to the jointed face.

The surface planer is then used to flatten and smooth the rough face.  In this machine the cutter is in the top of the machine.  I run the jointed face along the cast iron bed and the cutters remove a little wood with each pass.  In addition to smoothing the planed surface, it is also made perfectly parallel to the jointed face, helping to produce a nicely squared up part blank.  That makes three surfaces squared to one another; three to go.

My final step for today will be to go back to the table saw and trim the remaining long edge to finished with.  This squares that edge to the two faces and makes it parallel to the opposite edge.  I'll square up the two ends when I trim them to length and miter them tomorrow.

See you then!

Quick update



Strangeness Abounds

 No, I haven't fallen off the planet, been abducted by aliens or run over by stampeding gnu's.  I know it's been a while since I posted here, and I apologize.  Things have been a little strange.  Most of that has nothing to do with our woodworking projects so it isn't appropriate for posting here.  Some of it is at The Simple Life Prattle, should you be even slightly interested.
We have had a flurry of interest in custom ordered furniture.  Just when we thought that part of our business was a dessicated corpse laying in a depression in the woods and were contemplating shoving some dirt over it, it's fingers twitch.  Resurrection from the dead or Zombie we're not sure yet.

I'll be back to working the wood again tomorrow and hope to have some photos and details to post for you then.  Thank you for continuing to subscribe - especially to all the new subscribers; our list has almost doubled in the past week.

We are adding to the list of projects.  Now in addition to David's trailer that is underway, and Brian's Keepsake Box, we now have a set of 4 tray tables with stand in Cherry and a two table Classic set with stand.  Several other orders were discussed but fell through or were abandoned, we're not sure; those folks just disappeared.

Trailer: Test Fitting the Racks

This morning I am back at work on David B’s storage trailer.

My first task of the day is to sand the racks smooth.  Here I come up against my first quandary; how much sanding should I do?  The furniture-maker in me wants to hunker in and sand until it is all satiny smooth and a pleasure to touch.  But that means investing a lot of time and effort; and time is money.  I don’t want to gouge my customer by investing more time than is needed and running up the bill.  This is, after all, not a piece of furniture but a storage trailer.  Although I have seen many articles about woodworkers who built a workbench or cabinet for their shop and employed all the finest furniture making techniques in building it – yielding a very classy, show-piece, piece of shop furniture and an immense source of pride – no one was paying them an hourly rate to do so.  Perhaps here “utility” is the key phrase.  So, I sand away all the fuzzy bits and knock sharp edges off to help prevent splinters, but don’t go crazy with it.

Next I drill pocket holes in the uprights of the racks.  The blue jig clamps to the wood and guides the drill bit, chucked into a portable drill,  at the proper angle and to the right depth.  The special bit is stepped, the wider part drills the main pocket allowing the screw head to be sunk below the surface of the wood.  The smaller stub on the end of the bit drills the pilot hole for the screw shank.  The flat end of the larger hole provides a shoulder where the washer headed screw seats.  Because it is flat, not V shaped like a normal flat-head wood screw, there is no tendency for it to split the wood when tightened. 

I drill two pockets at each attachment point, one from each side of the rack.  This will prevent any tendency at all for the screws to twist the rack around to the side.  This is not normally a problem with pocket hole screws, but in this case a little overkill won’t hurt anything.  And since I’m not gluing the rack in place (David may want to move them some day) I want these connections to be as sturdy as possible.  A little touch-up sanding and I’m ready for a test fit.

Using yard tools I have on hand, I determine how far in from the ends each rack needs to be, check to be sure I won’t hit any steel ribs inside the plywood wall covering, and mount the racks.  I am pleased with the rigidity that this system gives the racks.  I install some tools to check the fit.  Wide headed tools, like a leaf rake, could cause problems by encroaching on the space for other tools, but that can be gotten around by simply flipping the tool above and below around so the handle end is adjacent to the rake head.  (I actually planned it that way) Vertical spacing seems to have worked out properly as well.  Each implement can be lifted clear of the hook without running into the tool above it, yet little space is consumed as excess clearance.  I believe the hooks are deep enough to contain the tools even as the trailer bounces along a rough road.  Within reason anyway!

I’d say this is going to work.  Therefore I need to make four more racks just like these, then I will turn my attention to the swing wall they will mount on.

One last note: D-handle tools (grain scoop, short spade, etc) do not go in this rack, only long, straight handled tools.  The D-handle tools will go elsewhere.

Beginning the Finish

I spent the morning getting hooked up with another publisher: Triond.  They provide content to a couple of dozen E-Zines and Elana, a fellow writer on Hub Pages says they pay pretty well.  To set p an account, they required an original, publishable article, so I had to write one.  This was important because as woodworking has slowed to a crawl, I've been going back to my writer's roots.  And I've done pretty well  considering.  It just takes time to research and write good stuff, then more time for Google to find it and start sending readers my way.  The number of readers determines my pay rate.  Occasionally I get a magazine gig like Going Pro As a Woodworker for Wood News Magazine; a ten part series - that was fairly lucrative.  Most everything else is a little here and little there - write enough and it starts to add up.

This afternoon I'm applying lacquer to David P's bottle stopper rack.  It will take two coats, allowed to dry between than scuff sanded followed by a third and final coat.  When he final coat is dry I will attach the loop hangers and get it ready for packaging and shipment.

If all goes well, I'll get all of that done before I go home tonight so I can schedule a pick-up for tomorrow.

Stopper Rack Assembly

I start off today with mounting the router bit I’ll need for rounding over edges on the shelves.  Since it is a ¼” shank bit I need to install an adaptor into the chuck – the chuck is made to accept ½” shank bits – then install the bit and set the height.

I round-over the front upper edge and the upper edges of each hole on each shelf, then set he shelves aside for sanding in a little while.

But first I mount a 5/16” wide dado head on the table saw and tune it in for width and depth of cut on scrap wood.  Then I use the special jig to cut the dadoes in both side pieces.  This jig insures that not only are the shelves equally spaced, but the dadoes are square to the long edges (no twisted shelves) and that they are perfectly placed vertically to prevent slanted shelves.

The final piece to make is the stiffener apron under the bottom shelf.  I assemble the rack and take the width for the apron directly from the rack, then cut that part to length and finished width.

I slip the apron into a template jig and use a band saw to cut away most of the waste of the arch, then use the jig with a piloted straight bit in the router table to take the arch to finished size and shape.

Now comes the *really* fun part: sanding.

All the parts are hand sanded starting with 100 grit paper and working up to 220 grit paper.  This takes a while.

When all the sanding and inspecting is done, I break out the glue pot, a small artist brush and some clamps.  Carefully applying glue inside the joints, I assemble the rack, making sure all the parts line up along the back, and apply clamps.

I’ll let this assembly set overnight to be sure the glue sets up well.  I’ll spend the rest of the afternoon working on David B’s  trailer.

Rolling On

I dug out the template set for the wall hung stopper rack, enough walnut to make the project and reviewed David P.’s specifications.  His is a custom rack not only in the sense of it being all walnut, but also the number of shelves, the hole sizes and the height of the top “ears” are all to be made custom.  We can do all that with little fuss.  The only thing that gets messy (thus expensive) is if we are to change the spacing between the shelves.  The complicated looking device in the upper right of the photo is the jug that holds the side pieces as I cut the slots for the shelves into them.  It took me about a day to design and build that.  Changing the shelf spacing means building another jig set up for the different spacing, thus investing several hours at the shop rate.  Unless the new jig is expected to be used for other racks this cost gets billed back to the customer.

In searching out the parts I have on hand for Donald’s TV Tray Table, I found that the parts I have made up are for an all cherry table, not a classic.  “Oh, Rats!” thought I.  Then it occurred to me that when I  built our first pair of classic tables -- for photographic purposes -- one of them ended up in service in our living room as an end table.  Where did the other go?  I found it tucked away safe and snug in storage.  I’ll crawl up into the loft of the lumber shed this afternoon and get out one of the custom boxes we had made up for shipping these tray table sets.  Of course, Don only wants one table, so I’ll cut the box down some to reduce the unneeded bulk (and lower shipping costs a little).

I’ll go ahead and package Donald’s table – just to insure it doesn’t get banged up lounging around in the workshop – but will wait to ship until both pieces are ready – FedEx charges us a fee every time they must come up the mountain to our shop for a pick-up.  That should be before week’s end.

Then I will turn to the 12” x 18” x 4” memory box that Brian O needs and of course, back to David B’s trailer.

By Day's End

I have the table securely packaged and ready to ship.  I have not run the label yet because the software expects the package to be picked up by the next day and when it's not it starts popping shipping exception reports.  Besides, it will send Donald a notice that his order has been shipped - and it hasn't.  Not really.

I also got the parts for the stopper rack roughed out.  I was a little concerned about being able to use a router bit to round over the upper edges of the holes - my usual bit for that has a 3/4" diameter guide bearing and the smaller holes are only 1/2" diameter.  That won't work.  But I scrounged around in a drawer of old 1/4" shank bits and found a bit with a 1/2" diameter bearing and about the right radius of round-over.  I'll use that and everything will be just hunky-dory.

Time to clean up and head for home.

Christmas Rush

The Christmas rush is upon us!

I am speaking facetiously; for in years past at this time of year we would have many orders piled up and more coming in every week.  I'd be watching the schedule to determine when I reach the point that we can not hope to have everything built and shipped for arrival before Christmas and start refusing orders that absolutely MUST be delivered before then.

In 2008 it slowed down.  I still had work to do, but it was not necessary that I work 12 and 14 hours days 6 days a week to keep up.

In 2009 I got to stay home and help my wife cook for Thanksgiving and decorate the house for Christmas.  I rather enjoyed that.  It looks like I will get to enjoy that privilege again this year.

However, just when we were planning to close the doors and begin dismantling the web site, things started to perk; just a little.

David B. asked me to do the trailer project that is underway.  Marie wants a computer desk.  In just the past few days, David P. ordered a bottle stopper rack, Don S. ordered a tray table and Brian O. ordered a keepsake box.

We keep saying to one another that we will discontinue the custom made items because the tremendous amount of time that goes into a one-off piece makes them discouragingly expensive.  This was not a problem before the economy tanked because there were still people willing to spend large sums on something they really wanted that was well made.  But since then, demand has dropped sharply.

If the past couple of weeks are any indication, maybe we should not mothball the equipment just yet.  Maybe the economy will pull out of it's tailspin sometime soon.  I don't expect it to soar again for a long time, but just getting it's nose pulled up away from the dirt would be an improvement.

So, I'm going to spend the afternoon culling my on-hand lumber supply and parts stash to find the materials I need to make the bottle stopper rack and tray table - I think I have most of the parts I need for the table made, just need to complete them and assemble the thing.  If I have time, I'll mount the first two tool racks in David B's trailer and see how that works out before I make more.  If re-designing is needed, it's best to find out now rather than after I've made all six racks.

Trailer – Getting Started.

Today I formally start work on fitting out a trailer with storage devices so that David, a landscaper will be able to better organize the trailer and have improved access to his tools and equipment.

I’ve had possession of the trailer for a while to take measurements, work up a plan of attack and order the supplies and hardware I’ll need. As you can see the interior is now quite empty. Equipment storage was just a matter of tossing everything inside and digging out what he needed when he needed it.

I also have a list of landscaping tools and equipment he will be wanting to store in the trailer to help me design appropriate storage. The problem with custom designing storage for a set of tools is that if you don’t allow for expansion or some flexibility, the whole thing becomes obsolete as soon as a new tool is purchased. Also, if I rig it so that it is a system of “this tool has to go here and no where else” then that can be frustrating when a number of tools have been taken out and have to go back exactly where they came from or they won’t fit.

I start by designing the “rack” that I’ll use to hold the tools and making a template out of thin plywood. After it’s laid out I cut away the waste with a jig saw and sand the cuts smooth so my pencil will run along the edges without snagging. I leave the bottom of the hooks as solid circles with a hole in the center that will be used to punch the center of the circle so I can use a Forstner bit to make a nice smooth, round bottom of each hook.

Then I cut some four foot blanks from a piece of ¾” cabinet grade birch plywood. This plywood is solid birch (quite hard), has many thin layers and is solid all the way through, unlike construction grade plywood which is made of fir or pine (quite soft) does not hold together well when cut up and has many voids inside. The birch plywood is very expensive, but will do the best job of these hook racks which need to be dimensionally stable and lot susceptible to snapping off if banged with a tool as solid lumber hooks might be.

I use the template to lay out the shape and mark the center of each hole, then use a Forstner bit to bore the holes. This bit bakes very clean, smooth holes with little or no tear-out.

Then I take the blank to the work bench and cut out the hook shapes with a jig saw. It is slow going in this ¾” thick birch plywood. I spent the afternoon making just two racks.

  

But that is enough to test them out and make sure they’ll work as predicted. Looks good. By alternating tools so that the “head” on alternate levels are pointing in opposite directions, there should be little difficulty on storing tools of various sizes in these racks. The arms of the hooks are tall enough to keep the tools from jumping off the hooks while the trailer is being towed over rough roads or off road.

Time to call it quits for today, two more sets to make tomorrow. See you then!

TV Tray Tables - Feedback

One of the things that makes this work enjoyable is knowing that the people who purchase our furniture enjoy it.  In this world where so many people focus on negativity, I have adopted the attitude of "If they don't complain, they're happy." because most people WILL be on the phone to me immediately if they are in any way dissatisfied, but many will not take the time to compliment us.  It was therefore with great pleasure that I received the following e-mail from Dianna:

"We received our tv tray tables yesterday. We are very pleased with them. The craftmanship is outstanding!

It is very obvious the time and care you took with even the smallest details. They look and feel great.

We are very excited to use them!

Thanks!"
 
Thank you Dianna, for the kind words and for taking the time to say them.  We appreciate that very much.

TV Tables - Final Inspection

I've done the final inspection and am ready to apply the skim coat of polyurethane to the tray table tops.  The weather is getting quite humid, so I want to allow as much time as possible for the poly to harden before I box up the set; if the poly is still soft at all (it may feel dry to the touch but not be cured out hard) the Stryrofoam packing pieces can stick to it and blemish the finish during shipment.  By getting that done early this morning the poly can set up all day and all night and I should be able to safely box the set for shipment tomorrow morning.

Now is the time to request final payment, since I can not schedule the pick-up until payment is received.  So I'll go do that, then get to the poly, then go out and pull a box and packaging materials out of the loft above the lumber shed (we had special boxes made up just for shipping these tray tables) then I'll start cleaning up the mess I've made in here.

Thanks for watching!

Tray Tables: Finishing Tables

I’ve spent most of yesterday and today sanding and finishing tables. This evening I built the stand, sanded that and applied the first coat of lacquer. That has to set up fairly hard before I can apply the second coat, so while I wait I’ll post today’s notes.

Finishing the tables means contorting them like a Houdini mannequin to get lacquer in all the places it must go. This can not be done in a single pass because once this portion is done I can not handle the table to flip it over, so this must dry first, then I flip it over and do the top of the tray. After he second coat is on I let them set overnight to harden well, then scuff sand them and shoot the final coat.

Lacquer does not require sanding between coats for adhesion, but I like to sand after the second coat with a very fine sanding sponge to smooth the finish so I end up with a waxy-smooth feel to the finish. It is wonderful!

It is almost 10:30 PM as I write this. I’ll shoot one more coat on the stand and let it set up overnight. Sand and shoot for the third time in the morning. I’ll also apply a skim coat of poly to the table tops to help them resist water rings. That will require at least 8 hours to cure before I can package them up for shipping. I’ll do that Saturday and schedule a FedEx pick-up for Monday morning. At least that is my plan.

Oh, I didn’t tell you that our dust collector blew up. It turned out to not be an actual dust explosion – which CAN happen and can be very dangerous; fine dust particles are highly flammable – but the top of the dust collector blowing off. Now that I think about it it COULD have been a dust explosion that blew the things top off, but I found no evidence of fire, so I dismissed that thought right away.

I was running the surface planer on Tuesday, making parts for the stand I believe, when I head , “BOOM” and the whole area was flooded with a cloud of dust so thick I couldn’t see across the room. I managed to get the equipment shut off and escape to cleaner air for a while to let the dust settle a bit. Even the short time I was in there gave me such a snootfull that my sinus cavities, right ear and right side of my throat are all inflamed and sore. Cherry dust is especially irritating to respiratory systems.

I got the top put back in place with little difficulty; saw no sign of fireballs having been involved, so I went back to work. But there is a thick layer of fine cherry dust all over EVERYTHING. I’ll be spending an entire day cleaning up the mess when this job is done!

Such is life when you’re a woodworker!

TV Tray Tables: Finish Sanding

First thing this morning I had to go over to a neighbors house and help out with something.  It's just the neighborly thing to do.  This was supposed to take plce yesterday evening after I finished up my day here, but something came up thet kept him out late so we rescheduled for this morning.

Since this will be a long day for me I'm going to post todays notes now.  By the end of the day I may be getting too tired to get this to make sense.

Todays tasks are to finish sand the tray tables and fussy-fit the snap latch mechanisms.  After sanding each table I'll shoot it with the first coat of lacquer.  Normally I would do that tomorrow morning, but I won't be here tomorrow morning.  Mom has a dental appointment, and these appointments are so hard to schedule that we dare not miss it.

I also need to mill out the lumber for the stand, make the parts and assemble the stand.

Like I said, it will be a long day.  My goal is to get this table set completed and finished by Friday afternoon so the finish can harden over the weekend and be ready to safely ship out Monday morning.

So... I'd better get to that finish sanding, all done my hand - it takes some time.