Post a photo of the last thing you made
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Trainee neophyte
Established Member
NickM":25kzmaw0 said:
Is it the camera angle, or is that a compound angle on the sides? Horribly tricky if all four sides slope - it's on my list of unachievable future projects, but I am baffled by it currently. It ought to be so easy, and yet...
grumpycorn
Established Member
Hi
I'm a long time lurker and dabbler in woodworking. Since discovering this forum a year or so ago, I've been inspired to try and push myself to increase my ability and try out new stuff thanks in particular to this thread.
Inspired by a bathroom cabinet that Mrs Grumps liked at a Bathroom place (which was £400 and made of MDF), I decided to have a go at making it myself.
It's white oak from Duffield Timber, my first experience of going and buying good quality timber for the project I have planned. The oak I've used in the past has been most offcuts of flooring etc. so it was a bit of an eye opener to see what they had on offer.
It's pretty much all hand tools - I've got a little Axi bandsaw and a lunchbox thicknesser for dimensioning. I tend to not use too many power tools as I do most of my work of an evening when the kids are in bed. It lets me build up a decent process of planing the face and edge true of components during the week then putting them through the thicknesser on the weekend. I always give pieces a quick once over with a plane before doing any joinery if it's needed, and it gives the wood plenty of time to settle.
Construction is a dovetailed carcass with integrated hanging rail, housing joints for the shelves, M&T Face Frame glued on and then the mouldings were done using a couple of hollow & rounds I got off ebay. The door has a little Ovolo moulding (done with a moulding plane) and is jack mitred (think that's the right term) in the corners.
I had to do the door twice as the first one developed a twist. Obviously I blamed my cheap clamps, but then I was much more careful about my M&T's on the second one (still plenty of room for improvement) and it came out nicely. Only issue I had on the door is I didn't think through how I was going to retain the mirror in it without it looking like the back of a picture frame, so ended up cutting a second rebate using a router later on (you might/ will definitely be able to make out a small patch where the router went to far on a corner... it turns out I did actually have time for stop blocks given it definitely took longer to fix it).
The panel for the door (not installed yet as the mirror has been delayed due to lockdown) is ply with a homemade oak veneer on it cut from the same timber for a good match. It was right at the limit of what my bandsaw could do but having put a tuffsaw blade (another forum recommendation) on it, it coped really well with a slow cut.
I didn't really want to paint it, but it was the look that Mrs Grump was after. I do regret using milk paint though. I found it quite fussy to work with and to get smooth - to be fair I think it isn't designed to do what I wanted it to. The finish looks a bit 'upcycled' to me, but live and learn. I've got my eye on a HVLP now having seen some threads on the forum. Painted furniture is definitely 'the look' in our house so I might as well take the plunge.
This is the first thing I've done that has been granted a 'pride of place' where people will see it every day and has earned me some other commissions around the home, so I'm taking that as a good sign. I'm also quite pleased that it hasn't fallen off the wall yet, given it's above a limestone counter and the sink... drilling the porcelain tiles for the screws was a bit of an adventure in itself and probably the most nervous I've been in a while, I think I quadruple checked that I'd marked the wall up right.
So, thank you fellow forumites for inspiring me to stretch myself, to try new techniques and trying to make existing ones better (these were the best dovetails I've done - honest guv!), and for the wealth of information that everyone shares.
All the best
Grumpycorn
I'm a long time lurker and dabbler in woodworking. Since discovering this forum a year or so ago, I've been inspired to try and push myself to increase my ability and try out new stuff thanks in particular to this thread.
Inspired by a bathroom cabinet that Mrs Grumps liked at a Bathroom place (which was £400 and made of MDF), I decided to have a go at making it myself.
It's white oak from Duffield Timber, my first experience of going and buying good quality timber for the project I have planned. The oak I've used in the past has been most offcuts of flooring etc. so it was a bit of an eye opener to see what they had on offer.
It's pretty much all hand tools - I've got a little Axi bandsaw and a lunchbox thicknesser for dimensioning. I tend to not use too many power tools as I do most of my work of an evening when the kids are in bed. It lets me build up a decent process of planing the face and edge true of components during the week then putting them through the thicknesser on the weekend. I always give pieces a quick once over with a plane before doing any joinery if it's needed, and it gives the wood plenty of time to settle.
Construction is a dovetailed carcass with integrated hanging rail, housing joints for the shelves, M&T Face Frame glued on and then the mouldings were done using a couple of hollow & rounds I got off ebay. The door has a little Ovolo moulding (done with a moulding plane) and is jack mitred (think that's the right term) in the corners.
I had to do the door twice as the first one developed a twist. Obviously I blamed my cheap clamps, but then I was much more careful about my M&T's on the second one (still plenty of room for improvement) and it came out nicely. Only issue I had on the door is I didn't think through how I was going to retain the mirror in it without it looking like the back of a picture frame, so ended up cutting a second rebate using a router later on (you might/ will definitely be able to make out a small patch where the router went to far on a corner... it turns out I did actually have time for stop blocks given it definitely took longer to fix it).
The panel for the door (not installed yet as the mirror has been delayed due to lockdown) is ply with a homemade oak veneer on it cut from the same timber for a good match. It was right at the limit of what my bandsaw could do but having put a tuffsaw blade (another forum recommendation) on it, it coped really well with a slow cut.
I didn't really want to paint it, but it was the look that Mrs Grump was after. I do regret using milk paint though. I found it quite fussy to work with and to get smooth - to be fair I think it isn't designed to do what I wanted it to. The finish looks a bit 'upcycled' to me, but live and learn. I've got my eye on a HVLP now having seen some threads on the forum. Painted furniture is definitely 'the look' in our house so I might as well take the plunge.
This is the first thing I've done that has been granted a 'pride of place' where people will see it every day and has earned me some other commissions around the home, so I'm taking that as a good sign. I'm also quite pleased that it hasn't fallen off the wall yet, given it's above a limestone counter and the sink... drilling the porcelain tiles for the screws was a bit of an adventure in itself and probably the most nervous I've been in a while, I think I quadruple checked that I'd marked the wall up right.
So, thank you fellow forumites for inspiring me to stretch myself, to try new techniques and trying to make existing ones better (these were the best dovetails I've done - honest guv!), and for the wealth of information that everyone shares.
All the best
Grumpycorn
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thetyreman
Established Member
I don't normally like painted oak but it looks nice seeing the natural wood on the inside, good contrast.
grumpycorn
Established Member
Thanks Tyreman - I was actually tempted to leave the door unpainted on the outside as well for the contrast, but that wasn't the look we were going for apparently!
grumpycorn
Established Member
Thanks Andy... it does make a real difference, as someone who has just learnt as I’ve been going along, to see what others are doing and get different perspectives. I’ll try and remember to take photos as I go along next time!
Orraloon
Established Member
A nice cabinet. I think you have just learned one of woodwork's main lessons. Starting with good materials makes a big difference.
The painted look is actually not that bad compared to some of the trendy looks of the past. My one and only bathroom cabinet build was back in the 70tes when the look was dyed wood with clear finish over it so bright blue woodgrain. We did think it was rather cool at the time. So glad it was never photographed. Just wondering how long it lasted after we sold that house.
Regards
John
The painted look is actually not that bad compared to some of the trendy looks of the past. My one and only bathroom cabinet build was back in the 70tes when the look was dyed wood with clear finish over it so bright blue woodgrain. We did think it was rather cool at the time. So glad it was never photographed. Just wondering how long it lasted after we sold that house.
Regards
John
transatlantic
Boom!
Pepper mill made from Beech. Its a bit boring I know, but it took me a while to bore out the center so I played it safe.
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Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk
grumpycorn
Established Member
Orraloon":31ioekey said:
Hah - I just hope that my joints are good enough that it lasts long enough for painted to go out of fashion again... I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is scraping all that paint off in thirty years time and reaching for the wood dye...
No I think it looks great. What mechanism did you use?transatlantic":4ki2w43f said:Pepper mill made from Beech. Its a bit boring I know, but it took me a while to bore out the center so I played it safe.
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transatlantic
Boom!
MusicMan":1jt2mhfp said:
The crush grind one
https://www.turners-retreat.co.uk/crush ... isms/p1422
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thetyreman
Established Member
made myself a kumiko style drinks mat out of real ebony offcuts, might make a few more, finished with chestnut foodsafe oil, half lap joinery.
Ebony Kumiko Drinks Mat by Ben Tyreman, on Flickr
Ebony Kumiko Drinks Mat with mug by Ben Tyreman, on Flickr
Ebony Kumiko Drinks Mat by Ben Tyreman, on Flickr
Ebony Kumiko Drinks Mat with mug by Ben Tyreman, on FlickrAttachments
Buckeye
Established Member
Made a bed for my middle boy. Fed up repairing some cheap junk.
Beech and sapele for the slats. I have about £100 in the beech, the sapele I had as left overs and the slats. Glue, screws, finish, bed connectors etc maybe another £30 so happy enough and should last.
Beech and sapele for the slats. I have about £100 in the beech, the sapele I had as left overs and the slats. Glue, screws, finish, bed connectors etc maybe another £30 so happy enough and should last.
rafezetter
Troll Hunter
transatlantic":7zw4ec8j said:Pepper mill made from Beech. Its a bit boring I know, but it took me a while to bore out the center so I played it safe.
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hmmm suspicious, looks like a well concealed bludgeon to me - lest some nefarious types come foraging for toilet paper at your house.
transatlantic
Boom!
rafezetter":2vza6gcr said:
:lol: :lol:
MarkDennehy
Established Member
Lockdown in Ireland allows you to travel up to 2km from home for exercise, which means I can get up to a park near here called Fernhill:
Obviously we go there
They do the Fae folk doors-in-the-trees thing for the kids, but there's an absence of toadstools by those doors, and before the lockdown they had the tree surgeon in and haven't removed the logs yet, so.... I nicked one.
(excuse the mess, it's been a bit busy here the last few days)
Hacked off a chunk, put it on the lathe, turned a toadstool.
We'll drop back up to Fernhill when I've done a few more and stash them by the doors for the other kids to find. Hopefully that'll keep me from being arrested for looting during a pandemic
Obviously we go there
They do the Fae folk doors-in-the-trees thing for the kids, but there's an absence of toadstools by those doors, and before the lockdown they had the tree surgeon in and haven't removed the logs yet, so.... I nicked one.
(excuse the mess, it's been a bit busy here the last few days)
Hacked off a chunk, put it on the lathe, turned a toadstool.
We'll drop back up to Fernhill when I've done a few more and stash them by the doors for the other kids to find. Hopefully that'll keep me from being arrested for looting during a pandemic
