Mailbox post

Our mailbox got knocked over last Winter by snowplows...or more correctly, the snow that they pushed to the side of the road.  I was not about to attempt to install a new one in the middle of Winter, so I splinted up the broken one and limped on with it through this Summer and finally, over the past week or so...worked on a new one.  Now, I could have taken the easy route...the one that would have taken much less time to build and install.  But I am a woodworker.  I take pride in my work and love to show it off.  So, with that in mind...I decided to fabricate one that would highlight my woodworking skills and have it on display each and every day to all of the cars and drivers that zip past our home each and every day.  Came out beautifully if you ask me.

  I put together a short photo essay of the build to document the process.  If interested in taking a look...you can access that essay here:

https://imgur.com/a/6ej05xN

My Pride and Joy Project.....and More!!

My Pride and Joy Project!!!

For the longest time.....I had wanted to build a roll top desk.  When I began to dabble in woodworking...it represented a level of woodworking that seemed miles and light years away.  I would have accepted that I may never reach the level of craftsmanship that was needed to fabricate one of these popular old time pieces of furniture. 

  Well, over the years, I have acquired much knowledge and have done lots of reading and watching of woodworking videos.  It has helped me to gain knowledge and confidence in my abilities in the woodshop and within the last year or so...I began to notice that things that were once a big deal to accomplish are simply everyday or somewhat common practices.  It occurred to me that I was stepping up levels in my accomplishments.

The photo above was the style that I found that talked to me.  I love the color...the layout...everything about this roll top desk.  This is what I wanted mine to turn out to look like...or as close as possible.

  Well, my wife and I decided that we wanted to keep some of the dimensions of our old, store bought roll top...basically in the drawer inside widths.  I had mulled over the idea of making my own tambour, but the router bit set I wanted to build it with was to pricey.  Trouble was, the widest tambour that I could find was around five inches shorter in width than what I needed to match our old desk.  Well, the router bit set was never purchased, we kept the inside drawer diameters and it promoted a notable difference in the look of the new desk.  The knee well is much narrower in our new desk.  A result of the wanted drawer measurements and the tambour availability.

  The difference is noticeable, but not a problem for us.  We have never used the desk as a desk per se.  That is to mean that we have never used a chair with it.  We use it more for storage space for the things you would keep in a roll top desk....bills, property information...stamps....the usual stuff.  No chair.  So...really, this little difference is no bother to us.

  So here she is opened up and showing off the cubby assembly I fabricated for inside of the top section.  I love the way this turned out.  And you know...looking back at the project....I truly had nothing to worry about as far as making it.  It was a piece of cake.  Yes, there were methods of fabrication that I had never done before....but I knew what had to be done...so execution was simply a case of taking my time and paying attention to detail.  Like I said...piece of cake!  This project makes me realize that yes, I have obtained a nice level of craftsmanship in my work.  This project represents a milestone in my hobby of woodworking.

Pallet wood coffee table

  I had this thought that it might be a pretty cool idea to incorporate some rough textured and well aged pallet wood pieces into a piece of furniture.  I have seen various articles detailing using pallets to secure wood to make projects...however, I never saw it used to make a coffee table.   It intrigued me and I set about finding some pallets that met the criteria.  The slats needed to be flat and all relatively the same thickness.  They also had to have the right "coloring" due to exposure to the elements or just from age.  I found them only about a mile from my home at an old nursery that opens for seasonal sales, be it the summer for vegetables and fruits and in the fall for pumpkins, pies and the like.  Jointed one side of the pieces (once they were cut from the pallets) so that all of the pieces laid flat and I also jointed both side and cut them to the same width on the tablesaw.  I used some sugar maple I had laying around for the tapered legs and some other maple that came from New York state for the border of the tabletop.  The pallet wood was mounted on a 3/8th's sheet of plywood to obtain a reasonable thickness that was going to serve as a solid top in combination with the pallet wood.  Fairly simple project and it will reside in our living room across from the fireplace insert.