Over Complicating a Simple Project: Friday Update
I had planned to keep this week simple. Clean the shop, re-organize, tool maintenance, sharpening, you know, the basics. Then I would pick up some previously bought wood from storage, my in-laws garage, and get started on a client project. But I was reminded of a project I promised my wife when the weather improves. It still hasn’t, but it will soon.
Our shed sits in the corner of our yard with roughly 18 inches between it’s siding and the fence. My daughter has a habit of walking back in that small space, which is dangerous as there are some large rocks and 4x4s on the ground in an attempt to keep the opossums and skunks out. Enter the ask, two small fences to keep the kids out.
I didn’t document these, just took two terrible photos in the dark, but my words can describe what I did. I took a scrap piece of 2x2 and cut it to length, the exact length of each opening. Then I cut some leftover pickets to height, 28 inches I believe. I took those cut down pickets and ripped them in half on the table saw. Next I put the 2x2s on my bench parallel to each other, took a picket and lined it up on one end, flush with the ends of the 2x2s and took a square to make sure everything was straight. Then in went screws, one at the top and one at the bottom. Repeat for the opposite side to make a frame and then fill in the pickets with a pleasing, fairly even spacing. Slap some screws in and one is done, just repeat for gate two and these were ready for install.
Install I kept simple. I toenailed with screws (toescrewed?), which means drove the screws in at a 45 degree angle, through the 2x2 into the fence and shed. Yep, straight into the fence pickets and shed siding. Not the proper way to do it, but these are temporary and I figured I’ll throw some caulk in the holes after I remove them in a couple of years.
Don’t mind the angled look, it’s the angle I’m standing causing it. Bonus use for this fence, it will hold the kiddie pool back when the wind blows.
On the left is different siding, that’s a play house connected to the front of my shed. I positioned this gate behind the window so it is still accessible.
With that done taking all of 45 minutes I decided I was done cleaning since I just made another mess and moved on to a new project. This one is for me, client work will have to wait another week. I intended to put together a basic end table for the living room. The current plant stand we are using looks out of place, especially with the rest of the wood being walnut. I had three criteria for this table.
Keep it simple, get it done fast
Use what I have
Make it fit in this small space
So I designed a small table with straight legs and stretchers to keep it all stable with simple dowel construction. I measured the extras from the cabinet and figured I had just enough. So I cut up some stuff and realized if I used the wood I used for the legs of the cabinet this small table would look really chunky and out of proportion.
Leg tapers. I’m still not happy with this and am going to remove more from the lower inside edges.
Since I already cut the wood I decided tapers were my fix. By cutting away wood I could thin the legs without changing materials or the design. But I needed a way to cut said tapers, enter a tapering jig to cut a very specific angle on the back of the legs.
Now this is where things began to spiral. I realized if I cut the one taper it wouldn’t be enough. I needed to cut corresponding tapers on the sides too, but the front would look unfinished if I did that, so I resolved to round over the front, matching the rounded corners on the top. And wouldn’t it look cool if the rounded corners all lined up, so get rid of the under bevel and bring the legs all the way to the edges. Oh, and those tapers now made for a complicated connection point between the legs with the stretchers as the taper will throw off the jig, it needs two straight sides to clamp on to, so I need to come up with a different joinery method, still to be determined.
I gave a pig a pancake and this project went from simple, straight lines to complicated angles and joinery, but I’m not one to shy away from a challenge and I completely threw requirement one out the window.
Cabinet Video and Retrospective
Oh, and I finished up my video on the cabinet, to be released this weekend. I usually send out blogs on Wednesday’s and Friday’s, but I’m going to launch a special edition along with the video for you readers to enjoy along with the video. The video shows you how I made the cabinet, and the blog will talk about why. Why I made it, why I did things a certain way, and a little what I would do different next time. If you haven’t seen it, here’s a link to last week’s Friday Update with some pictures of the cabinet. Friday Update 4/14/2023
As with all of my furniture, I am open for commissions (custom, client work) so if you like what you see please, do not hesitate to reach out and we can discuss your furniture project. I like to add a warning, I am not fast (IKEA is a factory, I am one person), I am not cheap (IKEA uses particle board and Allen wrench joinery, I use wood and long-lasting, traditional joinery), but my work is high quality. If you care more about having an heirloom quality piece and supporting a craftsman then I’m your guy and I would love to have the opportunity to work with you.
Guild of Oregon Woodworkers
Before I let you go, I went to my very first Guild training, Getting Started, where I met a wonderful woodworker, Jeff Hilber. He ran a great class targeted at newcomers. Not newcomers to the guild, but newcomers to woodworking, where he shared what you should know if you have only ever seen wood on lumber racks in Home Depot. He covered things like grain direction, how a tree grows, how boards are sawn to create different types of lumber and the properties of those sawn boards. I learned a few things and had the opportunity to chat with him after class. I have a lot more to say on the topic, but I’ll leave that for another day and will end with my excitement to be a part of this organization and I can’t wait to spend more time with it and meet more amazing, local craftsmen and women.