Posted by Jerry on December 28th, 2004 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
With the rush for Christmas projects over I went out to the shed to have a play on the lathe, when I was confronted with my own slack work practices! Just look at how cluttered this corner is!
So that was that. It is time for a major reorganisation and de-cluttering of my shed – I have ten days in which to transform the shed into a an efficient workspace.
After checking out the excellent Fine Woodworking site for some ideas on good workshops, I decided to build some more cupboards, saving money where possible by re-engineering some existing cupboards and building in some decent storage.
I figured that kitchens were equivalent workspaces and so I looked for plans for kitchen cupboards – especially corner cupboards which i figured would present the greatest challenge. There are plenty of cupboards to buy and assemble, but no plans!
So here it is folks:
How to build a corner cupboard.
First a detailed plan is needed to get the sizes right:
Then select some chipboard – you can use MDF – I had a piece 1800x600x19mm (6’x3’x¾”)
Measure and cut three squares of 600x600mm (3’x3′). This will form the top, bottom and middle shelf.
Then draw a diagonal and measure 300mm along two adjacent sides and draw a diagonal to join these marks – this is then cut leaving you with a diamond shape. Repeat for the other two pieces.
From the opposite right angle corner measure out about 100mm along the two adjacent sides and connect with a line and then cut along this line so you have a truncated diamond shape – repeat for the other two pieces. The top, bottom and shelf are now ready.
Now take another sheet of MDF and cut two rectangles 450mmx300mm (1’6″x1′) for the two sides and one piece 450x150mm (1’6″x6″) for the back
Using sturdy corner clamps connect the top and bottom with one of the sides and screw, dowel and glue the side to the top and bottom pieces. Repeat for the other side.
Before adding the back, slide in the shelf and clamp it in place leaving a gap of around 250mm between the shelf and the top, and 300mm between the shelf and the bottom. Screw it into place with the two sides.
Now add the back. The corner cupboard is now ready for mounting on the wall.
I’ll tackle the doors tomorrow. As you can see, I removed the existing cupboards, and decided to re-engineer them for better strength and fit. The taller one I cut down to 450mm by removing the door handles and sawing the the cupboard along the face and sides down to the first shelf. I then re-fitted the top hinge to the doors and after a clean-up, I re-hung the cupboards next to the new corner cupboard, making sure that the bottoms all lined up to give a clean eye line. By reducing the taller cupboard and raising it a little, I have also opened up the work-bench area in this corner. Here is the result at the end of the first day – total cost about AU$30 for the melamine chipboard and about $2.50 for about a dozen screws and glue:
Tomorrow I’ll do the cupboard doors and replace the bench top. If I have time I’ll build two more cupboards to provide added storage.
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on November 17th, 2004 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
Galvanised into action as it is only a week and a half before Majors Creek I have set about building a new fiddle case – a compact one – this one measures 70cm x 40cm x 15cm and will hold two fiddles. The length means the bows will sit diagonally in the lid – but it also means the case can be used on stage to put drinks on 🙂 as well as to be sat on during festival sessions – this will be one strong case. The sides and ends are from red cedar with full width dovetail joints. the top and bottom will be sheets of aluminium with a couple of wooden braces for the mid-top and bottom – it will be as strong as any flight case but hopefully will be fairly light too.
The inside will be lined with foamcore – a paper-covered polystyrene art board that is really strong and provides great cushioning. This will be covered in fabric – like a velvet or velveteen secured with spray adhesive.
I made the frame in about an hour tonight between other things – luckily the dovetail jig was finally set up right and the whole thing went together as though I had planned it! I had real trouble last week setting it up – then I downloaded the instructions to an Axminster dovetail jig of virtually identical design and suddenly it became much clearer – you have to picture the box or whatever inside-out when you lay out the pieces. And the offset between the pins and tails is exactly a half inch. The rest is in getting the right depth for the dovetail bit in the router – too high and the joint is loose, too low and the joint will need to be hammered together. After a load of test pieces using cheap pine offcuts I managed to get the height just right. So I’m pretty happy with the result so far.
With the frame built from Australian red cedar and the aluminium cut to size I need to assemble the box once the varnish on the timber frame has dried, and then put together the lining to provide a comfortable nest for the fiddles.
Method:
Here is the start of the process – I cut two sides and two ends in Australian red cedar, and using the dovetail jig dovetailed the pieces together and glued them on final assembly. Then I cut two cross braces and dovetailed those into the upper and lower sides. The lower brace has been shaped with a belt sander to accommodate the belly of the fiddle – the other part provides support for the neck join on the hardanger.
I then cut a sheet of aluminium (3mm thick) to fit the top and bottom, and aluminium angle stock for the edges, so it will look like this:
The cross braces will provide support in case the box is knocked on the top or bottom – I’m aiming to have it strong enough to stand on when it is finished! More on progress later – I’m hoping to have it completed in time for Majors creek Folk Festival – and then the China tour!
A quick tip on cutting the mitres in the aluminum angle stock – I used my mitre saw – but replaced the the saw blade with a metal cuttoff wheel – works a treat and keeps the angles neat 🙂
I then ran a bead of Tarzan’s Grip – general purpose building adhesive – around the frame and over the cross-braces and secured the aluminium sheet by holding it in place with the aluminium angle stock and drilling through the angle stock and sheet into the frame timber and screwing it down using bronzed chipboard screws. I then attached the corner protectors by drilling into the aluminium and pop-rivetting them to the aluminium.
With both sides clad in aluminium you have a closed box with no means of opening it, so I took it to the table saw and set the saw guide so that the blade would clear all aluminium bits plus the depth of the screws and neatly cut the box in half along its length – voila! a box with a lid 🙂
Now fit a couple of hinges and case catches – and of course a carry handle and the basic box is complete – ready to be fitted out for two fiddles (or photographic equipment etc as you choose). More on the fit-out in the next post. In the meantime, the case looks like this:
Cheers
Jerry
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on October 10th, 2004 — Posted in Journal, Woodwork
I have long had a fascination with looms – perhaps something about the combination of timber and machinery – but they’ve always been something of an expensive luxury for a hobby. Yes I have built a couple of simple box looms and made the usual scarves and place mats, but multiple shaft looms seemed always beyond my capacity as a woodworker. Others have known about this interest for some time – indeed it came up in dinner party conversation about a couple of months ago with a friend of ours from Art school. At the time I thought little of it, but there was passing reference to being careful about what I wished for…
Then the phone call – it has a couple of broken parts, but it is basically complete – and it is just taking up room in my shed… She wasn’t kidding! So this weekend saw a quick visit with the van.
A nice simple four shaft loom – although the castle has lost the dowels that hold it upright and one of the shaft lever stays is broken, and the reed is rusty… I don’t think I was quite able to hide the boyish grin creeping around the corner of my face. So a real table loom to play with!
The loom is a four-harness (or four shaft) Sheridon table loom, made in Melbourne – I guess about 20 years ago. It is basically complete. So as soon as I got it home I set it on the workbench. I could perhaps have glued the broken harness lever support back together, but decided it would be stronger if I fabricated a new part. I carefully unscrewed and removed the broken part, then wiped the screws with silicon polish to remove the rust and ensure an easier reassembly.
I laid the broken piece on some pine I had lying around, thinking to make a test piece before remaking it in a harder wood.
Then after drawing around the old part, I carefully cut the pine to length on the bandsaw, and then cut in to define the ‘feet’, chiseling out the void below the ‘ramp’. Then back to the bandsaw to cut the curve. Then using the other lever support as a template, marked out where the screw holes should go and drilled them. Finally I used a medium grit on the belt sander (mounted belt-side up in the vice to free both hands) and smoothed out the curved section, then a quick dressing all round. Time for a trial fit:
The fit is perfect and the action is smooth. Still a fair bit of work to do, but it will hold for now while I locate and cut some suitable dowels for the tower (I have found a couple of bolts that are the right size against which to measure the dowels). I still need to remove the rust from the reed comb (although the heddles are surprisingly rust free), replace the harness-raising strings and I suspect I will probably need to do some further disassembly for sanding and refinishing before rendering it fully serviceable again.
And then I may just want to build a boat shuttle – but that’s a future project! Here is the loom in its present state:
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on October 9th, 2004 — Posted in Journal, Woodwork
I promised earlier that i would provide a picture of the completed trellis I built for the carport – so here it is:
I think it adds a certain charm to the garden. The trellis itself is ready made in sheets 1200mmx2400mm and I framed them in pine channelling. The arches I have described before – the tops are made from recycled brick pallets salvaged from the post Canberra bushfires reconstruction.
Speaking of the garden – it is now Spring time with a vengeance! for those of you in the northern hemisphere just starting to feel as though Autumn is fast turning into Winter, here are a couple of photos of our tulips and gazinias in our garden:
Enjoy!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on October 3rd, 2004 — Posted in Journal, Motorcycling, Woodwork
Well, it looked fine this morning when Eve was trying to improve my circus skills – yes I can walk the tightwire, even walk on stilts – after a fashion – but the unicycle utterly defeats me for the present. Anyhow, we now have the loan of a pair of strap-on stilts from which I can take a pattern. I’ll let you know how our version turns out, both in the blog and on my site at http://www.lostbiro.com/ where I have the plans for my traditional stilts (as well as the tightrope).
After an exhausting morning doing circussy stuff we had a bite to eat and headed off to Bungendore for an excellent ride on my bike – I adjusted the chain yesterday, providing me with an excuse to do a little test run 😉 We followed the sunshine up to Bungendore and stopped at the wonderful woodwork gallery There were some great chairs and other works by Neil Scobie and there is a current exhibition of work by Terry Martin.
Eve and I had milkshakes in the cafe there and came out just in time to catch a heavy rain shower – luckily we had our wet weather gear and aside from some mild wind gusts, the trip home was quite pleasant – and we had the benefit of a truly fabulous rainbow as we came down the hill into Queanbeyan.
We made a nice curry and rather than watch Titanic yet again, I thought I might get out into the shed and finish off some trellis to complete the final side section of the carport – it looks great – even got the mitres on the corners right this time! I’ll throw up a photo here when Sharon returns with the digital camera.
And now I have the trellis stuff out of my shed at last, I have a bit more room to make the next round of bookcases – so that will be the next little project
cheers
Jerry
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