How long would it take you to.....?

Re: How long would it take you to.....?

Robert R Clough - Thorncraft

>Seems about right to me. I mean, are you in a hurry? Obviously you want to get it right. If you re doing this for the first time - a new piece, project, method - then time has little meaning. I do not mean this flippently, but don't worry about it!!

Very, very good

Mark Goodall - ATL - tooljunkie

>I would say that is very very good.

If it were me making this legs, it would take me about 7-8 months. Seriously.

If I were you and was able to.... I would look at it as 3.5 hours of enjoyable fun (like watching two movies back-to-back, or a nice long evening with your spouse) instead of a 45 minutes per leg productivity.

If I could get 3-1/3 hours to do woodworking, wow.... I don't care if I cut 12 toothpicks for a 2x4..... I would enjoy it ;) ;)

Happy Woodworking!

Re: How long would it take you to.....?

James Dillon in MD

>Barry,

While I don't have a lot of experience, that seems actually quite good, especially when you consider you have to set up your equipment etc. I'm guessing it would take me 8 hours or so, especially the first time and not wanting to screw up.

But, having said that, rather than trying to outdo Norm, take your time and enjoy the process of using your mind and hands to do something you enjoy. Of course, I say this as a hobbyist and not someone working under different constraints. Have fun.

Jim

Re: How long would it take you to.....?

Ernie Miller

>Geez I don't know? is this a production job or are you just kickin around the shop enjoying yourself? I have been known to spend more time that that just cleaning the bench top off and have a rockin Good time doing it. You need to stop and take a look at your prioities in life. I think this is a hobby enjoy the ride.

Thanks Guys, and I learned something....

Barry Irby

>I have had the beams that this wood came out of for over 30 years. They were heart pine beams used in timber frame construction I worked on in the middle 70's. The were reclaimed then so they came form buildings built for the industrial revolution and were in use for over a hundred years before that.

I have saved them all this time and let them intimidate me. They were big and heavy and the task of resawing them seemed daunting. When I finally did it, it took about two or three hours and was fairly simple.

What I learned cutting the mortises was that you have to be careful cutting mortise that are at right angle to each other. I was using a hollow chisel mortise attachment on my drill press and was punching 3/8" mortises 1 3/8 deep that intercepted each other. On my practice leg I found that if I set the bit at full depth and cut one side and then the other. the inside corner failed and crumpled or tore off, leaving the mortise ragged. It was much better to cut one side first and make it shallow by at least 3/8" and then rotate the stock ninety degrees and set the chisel deeper. That left the wood in the bottom to support that inner sidewall and it did not crumble.

Another thing I learned is that I spend a lot of time staring the wood into submission. Just thinking it through and rethinking it to make sure I am not making a mistake. This might be good, but I think thirty years might be a tad long.

And you are right, this is not really about productivity, it about enjoying the shop time and making something I will be proud of.

Re: Thanks Guys, and I learned something....

Bill White

>Barry, just remember that Norm could have done it in 30 min.

Don't keep track of the time, track the project and the results.

Bill

Re: Thanks Guys, and I learned something....

Ernie Miller

>Barry I might have been hard on you this morning but that was my mood at the time. Starring wood into submission been there I finaly walked off a beaten man. Making legs for a table can be a donting job and you got the mortices cut also. so now all you have to do is cut the streachers and tennons and you are all but finished. looks like good progress to me. It sounds like the wood is special in some way. so making a mistake in not an option. 30 years 3 1/2 hours sounds like good progress to me.