The Problem: episode 1, part 14 (The Fumed Finished)

After stuffing myself silly over the Thanksgiving holiday I managed to get back to work.

Working on the final touches with putting the leg and rail together.  Here is the wedge that holds everything together.

It turned out more sturdy than I had hoped.  The thing is as sturdy as a rock.  If I wasn't using it as a computer desk I could easily use it as a workbench.

I went old school with the finish on this one.  Fuming the white oak with ammonia.  This technique gives the oak a nice deep burnt umber color. 

To do this I had to build an air tight box to fit all of the pieces of my leg and rail in.  I made this one out of cheap 1"x 2"s and 2mil plastic.

All of the pieces are held apart by screwing them into some scrap wood.  Then I poured the ammonia into a bowl.

And then covered the top and taped down all of the edges in order to make it as air tight as possible.

Then I waited about 24 hours.

It's hard to tell how much the color of the wood changed in this lighting.  It's my porch light because I took all of these pics at night.  Since it's winter time here in Colorado that means I took the pics after 5:00PM.

Before the fuming the aluminum rod was not that noticeable.  So you can see the wood has darkened quite a bit.  The color will pop as soon as I put some oil on it.  I can't wait but if I bring it in the apartment right now I will have the whole place smelling of ammonia and that's not good.  I have to keep the wife and dog happy so I will wait until tomorrow.

The Problem: episode 1, part 13 (The Big Glue Up)

Really busy week this week.  I got a lot done, just not a lot done with this leg and rail assembly.  What I did do was a major step in getting the thing done.  I have got it ready for the finish.

Had to cut a pile of shims for the tenons and lay out where they go.

And then I did some cutting.

Hey look it fits!  wow.

These are the blind (go into a hole that has a bottom) tenons that I am putting the shims in.  As the shims bottom out in the mortise they are forced back up into the tenon making everything nice and tight.

First is the glue.

Lining it up.

And applying the force.

More force.

And a little more force.  I would like to take a second to thank Mr Greg Burns for taking these action shots of me.  Good Job, thank you.

The upper tenons are through tenons so I could put the shims in after I fit the two pieces together.

And here they are almost ready to be finished.

Procrastinating The Study of Chemistry Via TED.

Emily Pilloton: Teaching design for change | Video on TED.com

Christien Meindertsma: How pig parts make the world turn

The Problem: episode 1, part 12 (The Last Mortise And Securing The Tenons)

I opted for doing the mortises the old fashioned way this time.
By drilling some round holes.

Then making the round holes square with a hammer and chisel.

I enjoy doing things by hand sometimes.  Working with good old hand tools keeps my hands honest.

To strengthen the rail tenon I drilled a 1/4" hole just past the mortise I just made.

Then I cut some 1/4" round aluminium just a little larger than the height of the tenon.

And pounded it through the tenon with a hammer.

All I have to do now is file the aluminium flush and do some finish sanding to get things ready for the finish.

First Animated .gif!

Harvesting some lumber the old fashioned way.

Hands Down Best Thrift Store Find Ever!

That's right is't a vintage vibrator.  This is like most of my interests all rolled up into one little package.  I got old school graphic design, product design, "sex toy" design (massager yeah right) and I found it at the thrift store for less than $5.00. 

MODEL E
CHIC
HAND-E
VIBRATOR
Patented
1,818287   1,637,437
10 WATTS
MORRIS STRUHL, INC
NEW YORK, NY

It's missing a couple of the attachments but it still works.  I'll be making a frame to display this on the wall.

The Problem: episode 1, part 11 (The Shaping of things)

Setting up an auxiliary fence in order to do a 160 degree cut with the miter saw.  I just added a longer edge to the box I made for making the tenons earlier.  Worked great.

This is the piece I am about to cut.

Lined up the laser with my line and I am ready to do some cutting.  Lasers are great for lining up angles like this.  Cuts the set up time in half.


Here is me making the cut.  Exciting I know.  When I'm rich I plan on hiring a professional photographer to shoot me while I'm working.  Until then I'm saving for a tripod to set up some more interesting camera angles.

The cut pieces with green and red.

I did the last curved cut with the band saw.

Finishing the curve with the osculating spindle sander.

Everything is ready to prep for finishing.

Chamfered the edges with the router and then I sanded.

Looking Back I Forgot To Post A Step . . .

I did draw everything out in CAD (SolidWorks) to start.  This was the first time I have ever done it this way and I liked it.  I got to think through a lot of the problems before having to deal with them during the build.  This has saved me time and material.  As you know; material is expensive and my time is priceless.  

The Problem: episode 1, part 10 (Holy Crap It's Starting To Look Like Something!)

I got all of the mortise and tenon joints to fit nicely.  It was a lot of work but worth it.

Because now I have something to show for all of the work I've been doing.

Still have a lot of work left, but it's all shaping and finishing.  The hard part is done.

Thrift Store Find 001

So I found this shear at the local thrift store the other day.  I'm still trying to figure out what it was originally used for (and what I can use it for).  It was tagged $4.99 and was 50% off of that; how couild I go wrong?  It's made of heavy cast aluminum and has a rotating shear to cut "stuff".  I have found it takes 1/32" off of the edge of a piece of poster board at a time.  Yeah, I'm going to have to file this one under "shit my wife wants me to get rid of".

Marvel "Tatum" Shear
Wilson Jones Co.
Made in U.S.A.

Sold and installed by
Coppress Heating & Refrigeration
Arlington, Virginia

It's well made and I will find a use for it.