Blanket Chest - Finished!! (Photo's on page 8)

[TrimTheKing]

What did I miss, Paul? I can't see any tenons, or shoulders.....are you saying that the plane is only a little narrow thing....an inch or so? I can't find my glasses...!

Mike

Yep, if you look again Mike you can see that the plane is sitting on the top of the tenon (you can see the gap between the back of the plane and the floor of the shooting board.

Cheers

Mark

 

[MikeG.]

Yep, you're right........I should have gone to Specsavers!!!!!!!!

 

[OPJ]

Mike, I'm glad you got it in the end! I'll take some responsibility in admitting that the photo' may not be that clear; the plane is obscuring most of the tenon. I don't think there was anything wrong with the description though! :wink:

I could've done this on an ordinary bench hook but, my shooting board is larger and therefore more comfortable to use.

George, I look forward to seeing what you're up to!

 

[Ironballs]

Blimey Olly, that's a lot of wood and joints, glad you seem to know what you're doing though. How have you found the Tornado cutter, I have a template one that's been routing through maple, ash and mahogany with ease. Seems pretty good

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, Damien. I've been building up a collection of the Tornado router cut sets over the past four years; I think they're excellent for the money. Only time I've been let down with them is when I forced a ¼" cutter too deep in one pass. Not that I think a narrow cutter on a ½" shank is ideal anyway... Which is why I've just replaced it with one from Wealden on an 8mm shank. :wink:

Wealden also do an excellent range of cutters, if you didn't already know. I've just bought one of their 50mm Tenon Cutters, which is a frightening piece of router tooling to look at, almost like a spindle moulder block!! :shock: This one has an upward and downward-shear blades, which should leave a much cleaner edge on the tenon shoulders than what I've been getting from my straight cutters. Don't worry about the cost, they gave me a 20% disscount are cocking up my last order!! 8) :wink:

 

[OPJ]

I started off with a couple of stains from the Chestnut range, which I bought several weeks ago. One on the left is 'Golden Oak'. On the right we have 'Mid Oak'. Before applying the stain, I wiped on a thinned-coat of shellac sanding sealer.

I tried applying one full coat and one thinned of each stain... And, to be honest, there isn't much of a difference! :roll: Diluting with the thinners did give a slightly 'washed' effect (just as they said it would on the label! :wink but, after a coat of Liberon Beeswax, you can barely notice it between the two.

Chestnut don't have a 'Light Oak' stain in their range, so I ran out to Toolstation this morning and bought this one.

At the end of it all, we have three very different colours! :shock: I hope one of them closely matches Pete's bed... :? (I'll pop them in the post for you tomorrow, Pete).

I'll try and get most of the tedious sanding done in the next couple of days, if I can. That should leave me with some time to stain what I need to over the weekend, before gluing the frames up. I might start working on the top early, so that I can weigh it and order the correct hardware from Rockler, first time. I know that could take a god ten days to arrive...

Hopefully then, this will all be done within a fortnight! :wink:

 

[Chems]

Those colours look very nice on that pine. Is the Chestnut stuff sprayable, I suppose it is if you can thin it?

 

[big soft moose]

hi olly

the middle one looks pretty close to me - but best to see them in the flesh i agree

 

[OPJ]

Hi Chems. According to the labels on the bottle, you can spray it on. It probably is a good idea to thin it slightly though. I reckon you'd have to be pretty good at spraying though, otherwise you might end up going over areas you've already covered - I've found this stuff works best when you brush it on, leave it alone and wipe off the excess. I'm really pleased with how these samples have turned out (although I did rush them... :shock. I hope it goes this well when it comes to the real job! :wink:

Pete, these samples are now on their way to you. Looking at the photo' on Ikea's site, I'm a little surprised you think the Golden Oak finish looks like the closest match... I'd have said it was Mid Oak but, I guess that's the thing about staring at a photograph through a monitor! I look forward to hearing what you think.

 

[shim20]

looking good, nice little project, dont u love the smell of pine :lol: , keep up the good work.

 

[OPJ]

Hi Shim. The smell is nice - particularly when you have four large bags of shavings in the workshop and a big stack of timber to freshen up the house indoors!!

I was hoping to make some good progress today; getting all the boards sanded up nicely with a coat of sealer applied, ready for staining at the weekend once Pete has decided which stain to go for.

I bought this Bosch palm sander last week as my random orbital is too large for these narrow components. I quite like it, although the paper I cut has a tendency to vibrate loose (at the front) during use. I spent most of this morning swearing at the damn thing and carefully re-fitting the sheets via. the instructions - thank God I had my mask on or the neighbours would've heard!! :shock: :wink: Anyway. I tried to pack it out with some masking tape in hope that the front cramp might hold on a bit better... Well, it did. But, after ten minutes of sanding, I realised something had gone horribly wrong - the cramp itself had broken free and rendered itself pretty much useless!!

Actually, the cramp itself is fine - it's the "casting" (dare I call it that...) inside which has given way. This close-up shot may give you a better idea...

First thing I did was to come online and register the sander for an extended three-year warranty! :wink: It is still usable, I just need to get hold of some velcro-backed sheets (sigh, more money spent at Axminster! :roll. Once I've got the blanket chest sorted, I'll see what Bosch can do in the way of repairs/after sales service.

I do not believe this is something I have done. The paper has been slipping ever since I first used it; today, it just happened to give way. I used it to knock together an MDF cupboard for someone last week. One of my former employers had this same tool but, didn't suffer with it in the same way that I have.

Anyone else have any experience with this sander?

I should be able to pick up from where I've left off over the weekend (I don't have much of a social life!! :roll: :wink. Back to college for the next two days.

 

[big soft moose]

Pete, these samples are now on their way to you. Looking at the photo' on Ikea's site, I'm a little surprised you think the Golden Oak finish looks like the closest match... I'd have said it was Mid Oak but, I guess that's the thing about staring at a photograph through a monitor! I look forward to hearing what you think.

they arrived today - in the flesh you are right the mid oak looks a lot closer - to me anyway - swimbo is at the gym tonight but i will wait for her to get home and make the final decision (under the thumb , who , me ... I'll have you know i make the decisions in this house........... its just that ive wisely decided to let swimbo have final say )

bad luck on the sander - you can borrow my axminster R.O.S if you need to - its bigger than that palm sander but still fairly small as they go

 

[seanybaby]

Olly, I think I'd send the sander back for a full refund and maybe get the makita version. I witnessed one fly across the workshop at college and hit the floor :lol: It was fine and college had had them for years. I bought one a couple of years ago and use it all the time at home. Had really good experience with these, also use them in the job i'm in at the moment and they have been there for years.

Nice work BTW

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, guys.

Sean, I've just looked at the Makita on Axminster's site and the clamping mechanism looks similar to the Bosch one... :? As I said, I can still use this tool but it means I'm restricted to buying velcro-backed sheets. I really like the microfilter box on this one as well, where the Makita only seems to have a cloth bag. I'm gonna put an order in for some of the preforated Hermes sheets, which I'm hoping will cope better with the gummy softwood than standard aluminium oxide.

Have you got any close up photo's of the clamps?

I've got to ask you though... How on Earth does an orbital ¼ sheet palm sander manage to fly across the workshop??? I could understand if you were talking about a belt sander!

Pete, thanks for the offer on the ROS. I do own a 6" Metabo, which is great for larger surfaces. I think even a 5" ROS would be a bit of a challenge on narrow stock as the disc would be overhanging both edges and trying to run all over the place.... :?

 

[seanybaby]

Have you got any close up photo's of the clamps?

I've got to ask you though... How on Earth does an orbital ¼ sheet palm sander manage to fly across the workshop??? I could understand if you were talking about a belt sander!

I'll take a pic later if i get time.

:lol: Someone lobbed it!

 

[MikeG.]

Olly, Pete.....

with regard to the colour, don't forget that it will change over time. If you are trying to match to an existing piece of furniture, you have to ask how old the existing piece is.........

If it is relatively new (a few weeks or months), then go for a colour that is quite close, but if the existing piece is a year or two old it will be darker and more orange than when it was new. You have to try and get your new piece of furniture to the colour that the existing one was when it was new......in other words, allow for the darkening process. It is a really difficult job!

Towards the end of my time working in pine I got into the habit of writing exact details of the finish down on the back of the piece of furniture so that repairs or matching were made easier.

Mike

 

[big soft moose]

olly - swimbo agrees mid oak

mike - the ikea bed is about a year old , but hasnt changed much over time so far - and we dont mind if it isnt an exact match (nothing else in the room is) so long as its relatively close

 

[OPJ]

Okay, thanks for that, Pete; Mid Oak it is then.

I still have to order these sanding sheets from Axminster so, I'll add another can of this stain and hope that it arrives Saturday morning (it should small enough for Royal Mail, though I've still managed to build it up to £70-worth of stuff!! :shock: :roll: ) :wink:

 

[motownmartin]

(it should small enough for Royal Mail, though I've still managed to build it up to £70-worth of stuff!! :shock: :roll: ) :wink:

Tis a long and slippery slope Olly :lol:

 

[MikeG.]

Martin,

as a matter of interest, and hijacking the thread completely, what is the white wood in the box in your avatar? Was there a thread covering the construction?

Mike