Barn bench...

Wifey asked me to build a bench for the barn. After a couple of years, I finally got around to it. I did the angled cuts by hand using bow-saws just for the practice. the It took a half a day, and that includes the time to paint it. If I had used power tools for everything the build would've only take a couple of hours. You can find the plans on the Knockoff Wood site. Here's some pics of the bench waiting for someone to sit on it.

Shaker Table completed

With the 3rd coat of polyurethane here's the completed shaker table. I used Minwax Satin Finish Polyurethane. The 3rd coat really made the table smooth to the touch. If the pictures look a little odd, it's because I used some Paint.Net magic to remove the background and only show the table.

I've not been slacking...

I promise.  The past few weeks I've not posted about my woodworking.  That doesn't mean I've not been working. I've been installing fans in my wife's barn.  I was tasked with creating an arm that would support 4 fans around a 6"x6" post. There were very specific requirements that it be "neat". So, I crafted something I thought would work in Sketchup. It's an 8" arm that's secured with four 3" deck screws.  The top of the fan is held at an angle with hay string, which can be found in abundance in a barn. Once the foreman approved the design I created a test piece to verify the design. I worried some about the arm not having a brace under it, but after testing it could almost hold my weight which is much more than a 5 lb fan.

Below is a pic of the Sketchup model, and then a pic of the finished product. Because of my efforts, roughly 30+ horses will stay cool this summer.

It's been a busy few weeks...

I've not updated in a while, but that doesn't mean I've not been busy.  I've just not been busy in the garage. This weekend, however, I did get to put one coat of poly on my shaker table.  Just 3 or 4 more to go!

Why yes...

that is a Lie-Nielson #4 Smooth Plane on my workbench.  And I am happy to see it.  My dad and I took a 3.5 hour (one way) road trip to Highland Hardware today to see the Wood Whisperer and meet other guildies. We were both blown away by how many tools Highland has on hand.  Not only that, they were all knowledgeable and very helpful. I wish I had this to clean up the stock for the shaker table. Well, now I do have it, and can't wait to put it to use. 

About that craftsmanship...

Finishing a piece of furniture is an art form.  An art form, of which, I do not have a complete grasp. I stained the ash shaker table with Olympic Pecan stain.  It went on easy with a cheap styrofoam brush.  I used the blue Scott shop towels for wiping off the excess, a tip I learned from a Wood Whisperer interview with Michael Dresdner.  What I didn't expect was it to dry so fast.  Getting the excess stain off took some extra wiping. Overall, I'm happy with the result.  You'll notice I didn't take much care staining the inside.  There's a lot of glue spots & splotches. The legs are great, but...

Here is where my craftsmanship failed.  As you can see there's tool marks from the planer.  Hidden from the eye, that is until stain was applied.  Notice the undulating pattern is somewhat spread out, which is probably why I didn't feel it with my bare hand.  Next time, though, I know to do some extra hand planing before applying my stain.

Testing stain...

Just a quick update.  I hand sanded the shaker table and took a leftover piece of ash and did some test staining.  I drew a line down the middle of the board and shellaced one side.  After the shellac dried I sanded with 400 grit and applied a cherry stain to both sides.  On the back, I applied pecan stain to half, and golden maple to the other half.  I plan on checking it tomorrow to see how it all looks.  One of those stains will go on the table I'm sure.