Is anyone building anything?

Re: Is anyone building anything?

Denny

A few weeks ago I was asking about convex shaves or planes that I could use to add texture to a project (a small cabinet). I was trying to avoid a lot of tedious hand tool work, but after a few experiments I decided that the appropriate texture for the project really needed to come from carving tools for an appropriate scale. I spent the day texturing the outside edge of these legs with a gouge. It won't be obvious from the front of the cabinet, but it will probably be the first place people place their hands. I'm hoping it will be a pleasant surprise. The edges were knocked down with a flap wheel, it feels really nice.

Re: Is anyone building anything?

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

Neat. Looks geological, somehow. Let's see it on the cabinet, when that's done.

Re: Is anyone building anything?

joe in a Cleveland suburb

I'm still building my clock. Just haven't had time the last couple of weeks (weekends) to work on it.

Joe

Re: Is anyone building anything?

Bruce Mack

I like that. May appropriate it for the curved top of a box. The top will be white oak dyed as deep black as I can get.

Re: Is anyone building anything?

Brian Holcombe

I'm about 75 frames through 150~ I need to build, and I have a cabinet in progress.

Re: I wish it was something more exciting...

david weaver

...but, slowly wrapping up the cabinets. Tough to get any time working on them when the mrs. is in your ear if you work while the kids are awake, and they sleep directly overhead when they're not.

glued up this oddball narrow base cabinet last night.

Re: I wish it was something more exciting...

Steve Voigt

David, those are going to be the nicest, most solid kitchen cabinets ever!

I'm making some planes, some cap irons, and a pseudo-birdcage windsor. The chair is excruciating because I can only seem to spend about 30 minutes a week on it, which is enough to finish like one spindle (I've never made a chair before). But I'll get there…

Re: you know a project is taking too long

david weaver

...when some of the wood on it looks fresh, and others looks like it's got a couple of years of sunlight exposure. (not that I know what kind of wood you're using for your chairs - just supposing that might happen!! ).

However solid the kitchen cabinets might turn out, the next owner's wife will throw them out over the color

Re: Is anyone building anything?

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

In the process of milling the boards for the lingerie chest I posted the design of a few months back.

Nothing to report at this stage other than shavings and dust.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Is anyone building anything?

Hank Knight

Derek is one step ahead of me. I just took delivery of some pretty curly maple I'm going to use to build a chest of drawers and an overhead cabinet for my daughter. I've drawn up plans but haven't started to build just yet.

Re: Is anyone building anything? PIC

Brian Holcombe

[URL=http://s27.photobucket.com/user/SpeedyGoomba/media/E250D7B6-F52C-46DF-BF44-5490D53DB095_zpswieeta0z.jpg.html][/URL]

Case work in progress.

I've been dovetailing in the webframes, I have one of those done....and 6 more to fallow....

Home improvements

Ellis Walentine

I've been working on closet doors for our guest room. Poplar, paint-grade, but still a challenge on occasion.

Ellis

Re: Is anyone building anything? PIC

david weaver

Looks nice, Brian. You've always got such nice neat joinery!

Re: Is anyone building anything? PIC

Brian Holcombe

Thanks David!

I like your kitchen cabinets, any chance we can see a pic of the whole kitchen?

If I ever sell my place I want to be able stipulate that any renovations which remove my work are required to call me to collect all the wood first.

Re: Is anyone building anything? PIC

david weaver

I can put one up when I'm done, whenever that is. Cost is the main consideration, though, be forewarned!! So the cabinets are fairly plain, just cherry with raised panel doors and raised panel end caps.

My neighborhood doesn't really support $50k+ kitchens. That doesn't stop people from putting them in their houses, but I pretend I have more money sense than that sometimes.

Re: Is anyone building anything?

JDK

I just purchased the lumber for a cherry chest of drawers in the shaker style. I'll be using ash for the drawer sides, stretchers and runners.

Re: Is anyone building anything? PIC

Brian Holcombe

Handmade cherry cabinets have a lot more appeal to me than 99% of what I see in people's houses, so I look forward to seeing your work.

People are always a bit crazy with spending on kitchens. I'm working on my bar at the moment (glorified pony wall at the front end of my kitchen). I've been doing it out of walnut off cuts to make a frame and panel.

Re: Is anyone building anything?

Paul M

I'm building some walnut cabinets to hold CDs and DVDs. I didn't think it post worthy since it is using plywood and power tools for the most part.

I used a half-blind dovetail jig to make the 6 drawers out of 1/2" plywood, and disassembled the entire router setup before assembly. I removed the bottom plywood retaining channel on 5 of the drawer backs, and then accidentally removed it from one of the sides on one drawer. I didn't want to get the screaming router out and set it all up again so I remade the damaged side using saws and chisels. So I've successfully created a hand-made dovetail drawer that looks just like a machined dovetail drawer. Sigh.

Re: Is anyone building anything?

John in NM

I'm working on the ever present backlog of the grips I sell. Trying to wrap up all the custom work I take before I find out if I'm changing jobs - if so, the custom business gets jettisoned.

I'm also doing some leather work while I'm at work this week - less mess in the control room if I'm cutting and stitching leather than sanding grips (computers, you know). Got a 24" zipper sewn into what will be a duffle bag once I get the ends stitched on. Makes kind of a nice change from woodworking, and it smells really good!

Re: you know a project is taking too long

Bruce, a MN Galoot

A woman I know (definitely NOT a friend) installed $40K worth of solid cherry kitchen cabinets and ripped them out (totally trashed) and put in much more than that in solid walnut because of the color.

Re: you know a project is taking too long

david weaver

A place where I used to work before was filled with people like that. It was a contest to see who could spend the most money, but we all work on retirement plans, so you figure that most of us aren't going to retire doing the same thing!!

I opt for cheap, it's just the PA german roots - I can't spend money and see it go to nothing, (at least not all at once - I'm sure I've lost money on playing with sharpening stones, but nothing like a custom kitchen), and that's what I think of when I consider (my kitchen is small) $30K of kitchen that adds $15k to the house value in my neighborhood - and adds no functionality.

Anyway, there was all kinds of foolishness where I worked before - people in their 50s taking loans from their 401ks to put in $65k kitchens in their houses and all kinds of stuff. Coming from central PA where Warren is from, and was baffled when I came to the other end of the state and see people who make 6 figures and who have for a long time, and who wait for their tax refund to pay their credit card bills every year.

IIRC, too, my woodworking buddy decided not to make his cabinets but he redid his kitchen on his own - changed the layout, etc, and got cherry cabinets (cherry ply cases, like mine, but the fronts were just slabs of glue ups and the drawer sides are all finger jointed trash white wood - something you'd see on a budget paint grade door), and the cost to him (albeit with twice as many cabinets) was a little over $15K. Most people on this board would look at the cabinets he got and say "wow, they couldn't have cheapened the process any more than that and called them cherry". All of the "panels" were tiny little boards glued together I would assume by a machine. They look like glued together flooring strapped on to face frames.

I suppose all of that is why kitchen cabinets are one of the last places you can do custom work (in a good area) and make a decent rate.

It's all strange to me coming from the land of "it's not broken, so I'm not going to replace it just because it looks old". People are literally putting themselves into a position where they won't be able to retire when they want to. It'd be interesting if you could put a ticker up "every time you impress someone with your new kitchen before it's not new, it will cost you $456" or something like that.

Same thing with cars (I've suggested this to my wife), the option that costs $2000 that you use 100 times in the life of the car costs $20 each time you use it. If you were given the discretion each time to spend the $20, nobody would. They're too busy trying to find $3 off some article of clothing.

Re: you know a project is taking too long

Dan Rode

I'm from Ohio, not central PA, but I'm frugal as well.

I remodeled my kitchen 10 or 12 years ago, shortly after we bought the place. It was poorly designed with dark oak cabinets and butcher-block Formica tops from the late 70s. I tore it out back to the studs, moved walls, windows and plumbing. We wanted to remove the ugly and get a better lay-out but had little money to work with.

I used common builder type cases and mass produced but nice, maple fronts. I combined arched raised panel and divided glass fronts. I spent $3600 in cabinets and another $1000 for the counter tops. The entire job, including flooring, cost me a little over $5k for a 120 sq foot kitchen. Every cabinet was a common size, mass-produced. Cheap cases with nice fronts.

It still looks like custom work.

Re: Is anyone building anything?

Dan Rode

I'm wrapping up a small Shaker style table made from curly cherry. While I'm somewhat familiar with Shaker furniture, this is the first time I've built anything in the style. It's also the most hand-tool-centric build I've attempted.

Cherry + Shaker + hand tools is a nice combo.

Re: you know a project is taking too long

david weaver

If I was smart, i would've done that. But sometimes I'm not so smart!! I'm assuming that corner diagonal wall cabinets are available in various sizes? There are a couple of weirdos in my arrangement that I was afraid it would be hard to find. And I just want to strip surfaces and not do much to the walls other than put tile on the wall between the base and wall cabinets (right now, it's brick veneer).