Advice for small, "In the House" projects, please!

[nicguthrie]

Hello Forum!

I've been away for several months (from the forum, no exotic holiday or anything like that) and want to get back into some small projects. It's lovely and frustrating both at the same time, to see the progress that so many that were around my "level" in beginner/intermediate woodwork have made in thoroughly overtaking me over the last year or so.

My own health has been awkward, my wife came down very suddenly and shockingly with breast cancer, and the local council shut down my place at the local woodworking club. The woodworking thing was pushed to minimal importance while dealing with the emergency of my wife's health, and basically fizzled to nothing but a frustrating itch over time.

Things are improving a bit with the missus, her chances went up exponentially with a recent reversal in the prognosis (an "Oops" in our favour from some of the scans) and, although I want to minimize how many hours I spend in my workshop, or the use of power tools, I'm looking for advice on what projects I could do in the house, while making the minimum of dust and mess, and being easily put away in between sessions. I have cats, so leaving anything out will lead to it being lost or scattered around the whole house, and the lady suffers dust allergies etc. I have a portable dust extractor that'll handle minor sanding etc (Microclene 760), and a kitchen table in our spare room (very small kitchen!)

I'm thinking maybe chisels, razor saws, hand drill, etc I can use, I can nip out to the workshop for a half hour at some point to cut sections on my bandsaw or router an edge etc. But I'm not an arty fella, I can't draw convincing stick men, let alone carve pretty shapes, so the usual chip carving and such isn't possible without enormous frustration, sort of the opposite of my intent. So simple geometric designs and such would be perfect.

However... I'm not sure what that leaves me with... I'm drawing a blank. Does anyone have any ideas on some small, satisfying projects that I could do that fit these requirements? All I can think of is making small boxes, I enjoy precise chisel work (Thanks to David Charlesworth!) but I don't want to spend my whole day banging with a mallet!

Any ideas, concepts or insights would be welcome!

Thanks in advance.

Nic.

 

[Mar_mite]

Toys? Stuff for the garden, like planters or birdhouses/feeders?

 

[DiscoStu]

My daughter made this for a school project this weekend. (She is 10 so I helped a bit!)

It's a Jelly Bean dispenser. Although much to my daughters frustration there are no jelly beans in it yet!

 

[DiscoStu]

Have a look on Pinterest for ideas. I think we are going to make a recipe book stand next or maybe a desk organiser.

 

[Yetty]

Coat Rack with either metal or wood hooks, attached to wooden back-board, then fixed to wall.

 

[Ed Bray]

Could you stretch to getting a scroll saw, not too much dust, the better ones are less noisy.

 

[Racers]

How about spoon making this one was roughly shaped on the bang saw then lots of spokeshave and gouge work, no sanding at all.
I tend to make lots of chips and shavings no dust so safe for indoors.

Spoon! by maddpete, on Flickr

I hope you and you wife get well soon.

Pete

 

[Benchwayze]

How about a 'salt-box'.

https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt ... t-903&fp=1

They have a myriad of uses.

HTH

John

 

[marcros]

You could look at marquetry and inlay to decorate a whole host of things, including things like coasters. You can find plenty of shapes and patterns online so don't need to be able to draw.

 

[GLFaria]

Toys. This is a field of endless possibilities, and kids up to 4 or 5 are happy with even the most simple of things.

For exemple, I am now making a small garage for my 3 year old grandson's cars (1/43 and 1/32 scale), complete with LED lighting (3V, batteries only, not easy to get at for safety reasons) and a retractable ramp . The only power tool I will be using is my drill press, and I could even do without that - it's basically handsaws, chisels and handplanes, a carpet knife, and the ocasional bit of sandpaper. Main raw material: plywood, 5mm and 10mm thick.

 

[bugbear]

I can't draw convincing stick men, let alone carve pretty shapes, so the usual chip carving and such isn't possible without enormous frustration, sort of the opposite of my intent. So simple geometric designs and such would be perfect.

I slightly confused - chip carving IS all geometric shapes (which is why some people don't like it).

e.g.

http://www.lsirish.com/2014/01/20/chip- ... are-chips/

but google images has MORE.

And carving is about chips and shavings, not dust, so ideal for indoors.

BugBear

 

[StevieB]

I would vote for a scroll saw or how about changing track slightly and looking at wooden ships or similar? Plank on frame construction, kits come with pretty much all you need (Billings is the name that springs to mind but I am sure there are others) but require considerable investment of time, patience and skill to make a good looking model.

Steve

 

[Ian down london way]

Maybe wooden boat kits - e.g. https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/produc ... s-america/

But you'd have to have a box to keep bits in - lots of bits.

 

[nicguthrie]

Wow.
That's a lot more responses than I expected!

Thanks folks. The garden stuff might be a bit on the large side, for the space available in the spare room, but I might get away with some small feeders.

I LOVE the jellybean dispenser! I also have a love for the quality jelly beans that you get, jelly belly - named as a sort of self fulfilling prophecy! That's very tempting indeed. Hadn't thought of pintrest or instructibles for a long time, so I might have a browse and bookmark a few small projects.

I couldn't fit a scroll saw, and when things get back to "normal" one day, there'd be no space for it in my workshop either, but I appreciate the suggestion.

I've absolutely no idea whatsoever about using spoke shaves and gouges to carve! Could be a fascinating thing to approach at a later date, but with the current stress, I'm looking more for distraction than learning new skills. - I'll bookmark that idea for a later date, as I'm sure I can fit it into my turning for decoration at a later date too.

The salt box looks like a forerunner... Looked up a few and they appeal to my aesthetics as well as my slight obsessiveness for neat work! Thanks for that idea.

Marquetry is actually something I've considered in the past, but been worried about the cats with all the delicate lightweight cuts of veneer. Terribly hard to keep out in the open at all!

Toys is another great idea. I don't have kids due to a horribly depressing back story, but if I could think of a design and a target to gift it too, I might give that a try, if I'm confident that I can approach it without setting off my depressive side.

Bugbear, you're right, I'd not considered the simple geometric designs that are possible, the last carving book I had my hands on was about hand carving green men of the forest, flowers and birds etc. Scared me off a bit, I should consider learning a bit of chip carving to decorate small items like maybe chopping board handles etc... Have you any ideas for a source for a beginner instruction?

Finally (so far) ships... Wow. I'd never even thought about it, nor have I ever seen a beginner's guide or anything. Not sure how it'll go with cats and being able to put it away between sessions etc. But it could be worth a look. Is it normally done in the match stick modelling style? As I said, I don't think I've ever seen one outside of TV programs etc.

Thanks to all of you that responded. I'm much encouraged by the support. Anyone else wants to add, I'm more than happy for ideas. The chemo and recovery will take a min of a year, so I'll need lots of ideas!

Once again, thanks. If anyone has an idea for a training resource on any of these, most are techniques that I've never tried... Another reason I might try the salt boxes first!

Cheers to you all as thanks for the support and kind thoughts to my wife, I'll be sure to pass them along

(Edited for formatting errors from posting by my phone)

 

[hammer n nails]

Perhaps stick making would be good for you you can buy all the bits on line no noise or dust

 

[RogerM]

Finally (so far) ships... Wow. I'd never even thought about it, nor have I ever seen a beginner's guide or anything. Not sure how it'll go with cats and being able to put it away between sessions etc. But it could be worth a look. Is it normally done in the match stick modelling style? As I said, I don't think I've ever seen one outside of TV programs etc.

How about a ship in a bottle? Here's one I made when I was aged 14 in 1967.

It's in a Haig Dimple Bottle, and of course you do have to empty the bottle first which is a bonus!

The book I used was "Secrets of Ships in Bottles" by Peter Thorne and all these years later it is still available. I ended up making the 12 gun brig of war shown above as my first model, which was followed by 3 models of the Cutty Sark, 2 of which I sold, the Victory and the Sirius which was the first sailing steamship to cross the Atlantic. All you need are simple hand tools and some patience. You can easily overcome the cat problem by keeping it in a box (the ship - not the cat) during construction - all covered in the book which still graces my bookshelf!

 

[xy mosian]

For fun, have a look at " Sharon My Art ", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41JmTFjCLPM.

Here Sharon shows how to carve a little person with a carving knife. Something that can be managed sitting down and cleaned up with household vacuum cleaner. Limited space, limited tooling required.
xy

 

[StevieB]

Finally (so far) ships... Wow. I'd never even thought about it, nor have I ever seen a beginner's guide or anything. Not sure how it'll go with cats and being able to put it away between sessions etc. But it could be worth a look. Is it normally done in the match stick modelling style? As I said, I don't think I've ever seen one outside of TV programs etc.

Erm, not quite - some of the models can be museum quality and are certainly not matchstick made Take a look at:

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/brands/billings/

These are either plastic hulls - like big airfix kits - for the more modern tugs etc, but I presume you are more interested in the sailing ship type which use traditional plank and frame construction, hand stitched sails and hand made rigging. There are even models of cross sections through a ship to show the decks etc. It can be quite a geeky area of crafting, involving considerable skills, but not what one would traditionally call carpentry or woodwork. Certainly very detailed however - fancy a 1:75 model of HMS Victory?!

Steve