Dad's Benchtop Bench: Part I

A few weeks ago, I wrote of how cool some Benchtop Benches are. After contemplating buying the Sjoberg Smart Vise for him, I instead opted to build a Jeff Miller style Benchtop Bench for my Dad for Father's day.

Jeff Miller's Benchtop Bench from FineWoodworking.com

As might be expected of me, I began by milling the legs out of Timerstrand. One of the nice things about Timberstrand is that they come almost perfectly flat. They’re also easy to mill. A few passes over the jointer and through the planer left them ready for joinery.

Benchtop Bench Photo Essay

I've spent the last few nights working on this bench into the wee hours in the morning. I'll write a proper post about it once I'm done.

A House In The Trees: Part XIV

A few weeks ago the Tree House suffered a major setback when one of the main support bolts broke. After some immediate triage consisting of temporary supports to hold up the unsupported corner and supplement the two (2) bolts which hadn't broken yet, I've finally managed to restore the sagging tree house deck to its original position.

Finally, a jack setup that works. The deck is going up.

Dylan's Clock Stand

Last Saturday my son displayed his art in a show with his art class at the Central Park Zoo. It was a well received show and outside of heat, it was a wonderful day. My frame was actually well received, sloppy corners an all. Luckily though, I was able to make a second piece to help display his art and this one came out much nicer.

Dylan's art show display

One of his three (3) dimensional projects was a clock. It’s a collage of clocks glued onto a box, with a round porthole cut out to reveal a clock face inside also.

MWA Podcast #30 - Mike Pekovich

This orginally posted at modernwoodworkersassociation.com over the weekend. If you missed it, please be sure to check it out. Mike was one of my favorite interviews.

MWA Podcast Episode #30 - Michael Pekovich

MWA Podcast Episode 30 - Michael Pekovich (60:03)

Download the MP3

Date: May 30, 2013

By: Chris Adkins, Dyami Plotke, Tom Iovino

Description: Join us for this episode as we speak with guest Michael Pekovich of Fine Woodworking magazine. For show note and more on the MWA visit: http://modernwoodworkersassociation.com

2013 June Shop Tour

June rolled in this weekend and with it, my June Shop Tour for 2013.

I braved the summer heat to document what a mess the shop is currently in and how very little I've managed to accomplish it in.

Dylan's Frame

On Saturday, my son is displaying in an art show at the Central Park Zoo. One of his pieces is a large painting on canvas. In order to display the painting I was assigned building him a frame.

Can you see the frame yet?

I’ve enjoyed using the rough sawn lumber I picked up from +Kari Hultman last summer on my last few projects, so I began the frame build by heading to the attic and selecting a large slab. I’m not sure what type of wood it is. Once milled, it’s a nice blond color with a mild grain pattern.

To make the frame, I broke the slab into three (3) pieces with my jigsaw and then joined and planed them flat. Though I only planed them until all three (3) were flat and parallel, they ended up being exactly 1” thick when I was done. Once I had ripped them to width, I used my Incra Miter 1000 SE to cut the miters. I call it out so specifically not to brag about it, but to complain. I find the flip stop annoying to use and the face of the fence is not plum, resulting in the leading edge of the work lifting when it is held or pushed against the fence. I had problems with my miters, and I believe this is why. Finally, I cut the rabbet for the picture with two (2) passed on the table saw.

The dreaded 1000 SE (the burning is because the blade desperately needs to be cleaned).

After everything was cut, I set a domino in each miter and glued up the frame. This was the first time I’d used the framing blocks for my parallel clamps. I was pleasantly surprised by how well they worked.

My sloppy miters.

To address the gaps in the miters, I used wood putty mixed with rasp shavings. I decided that rasps would be the quickest way to make the pile of dust I needed. Unfortunately, I decided that a coarse rasp would make the dust quicker, so I used the coarse side of my Shinto rasp. The Shinto rasps leave shavings closer to what you’d get off a jointer than to saw dust. These big shavings didn’t mix very well and some didn’t even fit in the gaps at the miters. Even after puttying the miters aren’t perfect. I’ll probably use a wax stick to fill in the remaining small gaps once I’m done with the finish.

I followed +Marc Spagnuolo’s Simple Varnish Finish instructions and finished the frame with 5 coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. The final coat still needs to be buffed out, but it looks good.

The frame - mid finishing - during a dry run of fitting the picture.

Once the finish is done, all that’s left is to mount the hanging hardware and set the picture inside. Then it’ll be off to Central Park for the Art Show. My Son’s painting will certainly be the star, but I wouldn’t mind if the frame gets a little affection too.