Plate Shelf, early american country

I just finished my latest project. It is an early American plate rack. If has two grooved shelves for plates. A top shelf and under the rack are pegs. I made this from clear pine. Most of the detail was cut on the band saw. I used an oak stain first, then painted it barn red using latex paint.

I sanded and roughed up that a bit before finishing using a black latex paint. Letting some red show through. I then applied a coat of wax.

My wife had me hang it in our kitchen. This is an easy weekend project. Looks good an can be finished in colors as well as natuaral.
Please visit my website for more information http://nokeswoodworks.com

Pen Making as a craft business

One of my hobbies which I have turned into a sell-able craft is my pen making. Pens are made using a mini lathe to turn a block of wood or plastic to shape to hold the pen workings, which I buy as a kit. I will use this as an example of my costing process. Pen Kits can vary from $2.95 a kit to 59.95 a kit depending on what kind of pen you want to make. The pictures below are of cigar pens. The cost for this kit is $ 5.95. The wood blank will cost from $1.00 to 6.95 depending on type of wood or plastic. I will use $ 3.00 in this example. The pen kit is $5.95 plus $3.00 for the pen blank will total materials of $8.95. It will take me 1/2 hour to make this pen at $15.00 per hour labor. Now my labor and material total $16.45. I them add overhead and profit. I figure my overhead and profit to be the same as material and labor which is $16.45. This give me a total selling price of $32.90. I i always throw in a case and sell them for $34.95. I have pens which sell for more and I have pens which sell for less.
Please visit my website for more woodworking and craft information
http://nokeswoodworks.com

Bandsaw

The Bandsaw is the most overlooked tool in the shop. My bandsaw has become a do everything machine. I use it many times instead of my tablesaw. Especially for smaller projects. Its the tool of choice anytime I am cutting curves. I use it to make some cuts on dovetails. I use it to trim pen blanks to size. I also use it for Bandsaw boxes. It can resaw thick wood to give me the thin wood I need for small projects. Its great when making pen boxes or candle boxes. I have even used it to cut table legs.
My bandsaw is the Jet 12" floor model. Most people go for the 14" model but to date the 12" model has done a great job.
Any time I want to prepare wood for the lathe for bowl making my first stop is the bandsaw.
For me the bandsaw is a must have tool in the shop.
Please visit my web site for more information http://nokeswoodworks.com

Mini Lathes projects

I have a Jet Mini lathe. When I first bought it, I was sure I would not use it that much.
It has become a very useful tool in my shop. I use it for pen making. I have made hundreds of pens using my lathe. I have made them from wood and plastic and horns.
I mostly give them away but I have sold a few.
I have made bottle stoppers,game calls,knobs, and letter openers. I have made mini birds house to hang on the Christmas tree, as well as wood christmas decorations. I have made several shaker candlestick tables. See picture above. I have even made a custom walking cane. I have made a number of small bowls.
Turning is fun and can be additive. Once you buy the lathe, the next big purchases are the tools with which to turn. Chucks or mandrels will also be needed. Please email me if you would like more information on lathe tools. I have made a lot of projects using my mini lathe.

Google Sketchup

Today I woke up and it's 9 degrees outside, so there is no woodworking today. Today I will be trying out google sketch up. I have heard it is great for woodworking projects. Best of all it is free. Just go to google sketchup and down load your free copy. It says it is easy to learn, and after what little I have played with it, I think it will be easy, but will still take several hours if not a full day to be able to really create anything usefull with it. It can do 3D modeling, it has video tutorials and an on line users guide. as well as a quick reference guide.
As I said I have played with it a little and it is very easy to start drawing. It has presective guideline which will help with the 3d aspect. It will work in inches or cm.
One of the really cool things about sketchup is the tape measure. It has a little tape measuse use to measure any line or any point on the drawing. It really looks like a little tape measure. It will measure to 1/16 th of an inch.
Overall I cant wait to get started. i have a few projects that i want to create working drawings, so that when it does warm up , I can get back to the shop and start building.
If you have every wanted to get into computer adided drafting or drawing. This is the easiest way I know. It free, its easy, its great.
By the way it has now been 8 weeks since my knee replacement and everything is going great. I have not had a pain pill in two weeks. I am really getting around good now.

Pen Making Pictures

Here is a picture of some of my pens.
These are all Cigar pens.

Time for a new Project

Well I'm looking for a new project to start. I have not been in the shop for two months. This was due to the fact, I just had a total knee replacement on my right knee. I had the surgery the week before thanks giving. It has been eight weeks now and I am getting around pretty good now. I'm also itching to get back into the shop.
I think I need to start with a few small projects since I still can't lift much. I also can,t do alot of standing.
I think maybe a scroll saw project or two might just be the thing. I got a Dewalt scroll last fall and really have not done much with it other than cut out a couple of name plates. I used 1" cherry and scrolled the name with a base, so it would set on a desk.
I have a good comfortable stool to sit at the scroll saw. The biggest problem I have with scroll saw projects is that everything seems to be copyrighted. Either you have to make your patterns, pay some one to use there pattern or break a law. Even the books I buy with patterns say, I can make 3 or for copies for personal use only. Does that mean if I wanta make something and sell it for profit from a book that I am not allowed. Even the scroll magazines have a copyright to there pages. Seems if I buy a book with pattern or a magazine, I should be able to make and as many as I want and sell them if I want. As long as I'm not coping the patterns and selling them.
I belong to a yahoo group on scroll sawing and alot of the members as for patterns but I'm afraid to sent them one, because I might break a law.
The whole pattern issue is very complicated. Sure if I make a pattern , I don't want someone stealing it either. But a the same time is I write book with patterns or have a magazine article with a pattern. I can not expect people who have bought the book to make projects and give them or dell them to other people. This woodworking not rocket science.
Any way back to my knee. as I said I'm getting around pretty got now. I do still have some minor pain but I'm off the pain pills, so now I can operate machines. If any one has comments on copy right or on knee surgery please leave a comment with email address.
OK, I'm off to look for pattens. That I can use.
I will spent the day looking for projects.

Inspiration in wodworking projects

Inspiration ....where do you get inspiration to make your projects.. What caused you to make that new side table, or that coin box or that wood toy.

Inspiration comes from several places for me.

I have an 8 year son. He sometimes has given inspiration to me. I made a ride on tractor when he was smaller, I have made banks and a treasure chest for him to keep him good stuff. I have made trophy cases for his baseballs and trophies.

Of course my wife has her way of giving me idea's and inspiration. Such as showing me pictures of this great dinning room furniture set. Which in turn caused me to build a Mission dinning table, chair, sideboard and china cabinet.

I have also seen what others have done and that makes me want to produce something equally as great. I love to visit antique stores and see what was made in yesteryear. there were some truly great woodworkers in our past.

Sometimes the wood will give me inspiration. Such as the time I got some 100 year old reclaimed chestnut wood. It had nail holes and had turned color. I used this to produce a smaller shaker style sewing table. It came out fantastic.

When I produce something that turns out really great it just makes me want to make more. And gives me the knowledge not to make the mistakes I have made in the past.
And yes I make mistakes, I think we have all cut a board short, or drilled a hole in the wrong location.

I love to look at every woodworking book, every woodworking magazine, so I can to gleam new projects. I also look at almost any magazine that has wood furniture or projects to get that one project that I just have to make.

I now have a large collection of books and magazines. I'd love to see pictures of stuff you have made. Maybe you can give me inspiration too!

Pen Making

PEN MAKING

One of my favorite woodworking projects is Pen Making.
The Tools required to make Pens are as follows:

1. Lathe .... I have a Jet Mini Lathe and it is perfect for pen making.
2. Lathe Tools You will need a 1/2 Gouge for rough cutting, a skew chisel for fine details and Parting tool for making tendons.
3. Pen mandrel This holds the pen blacks between centers while turning
4. Pen Bushings These are used to hold blanks but more for sizing the blanks. You will turn the wood down to the size of these bushings. There are different size bushing for different size or kinds of pens.
5.Barrel trimmer used to square up the ends of the wood before putting on the mandrel. A disk sander can be used instead of a barrel trimmer.
6. CA glue (super glue) or epoxy used to glue the brass barrel into the wood body.
7. You can buy blanks already pre drilled but if you cut your on, you will need the following:
Drill press, Vise to hold blank while drilling, drill bit (7mm for slim line kit), ans saw for cutting blanks to size.
8. Sanding paper 150-1000 grit
9. wax finish like HUT or Shellwax
10. Pen Kits, there are alot of pen kits out there most people start with a slim line kit.
these kits contain all the pen parts you need except for the wood.

Once you have everything.. you follow these easy steps:

Cut blanks to size for slim line 5/8" square and cut to the length of the brass tube plus an 1/8 inch used to square up blank later.
Drill Hole in the blanks 7mm for slimline kits. this hole must be drilled down the center of the blanks.
Apply glue to the brass blank and insert it into the freshly drilled blanks. You may want to sand the brass tube lightly to get better adhesion of the glue.
Once dry, square up the blanks using a barrel trimmer or disk sander.
Now put the mandrel on the lathe, put one bushing on then one pen blank, a bushing, the second pen blank and another bushing. Now move up an tighten tail stock with live center.
Begin turning the stock until you have the size and look you want. the ends should be turned to the size of the bushing. Well almost leave a tiny amount for the sanding process.
Sand while lathe is running fro 150 to 1000 grit paper.
You are now ready to apply wax for a finish.
Once this is done take the completed wood blanks and using a vise or pen press. Press the pen parts on to the wood blanks.
You now have a completed pen.

Favorite Wood

I would like to talk about my favorite wood types. Actually of course it depends on the project so here is how it goods.....

Cherry is my favorite... I use it on almost any shaker type furniture I build. I have also used in bedroom furniture and in making boxes and treasure chest. It my favorite because I love the beauty of the wood. It is easy to work with the exception that it burns easily when routing or cutting on the table saw. It is fairly easy to get but not cheap. You must be careful when using cherry as it will darken and change color especially when exposed to sun light.

Next in line is chestnut.... to be exact 100 year old chestnut that has been reclaimed. It is easy to work and has such wonderful charm. I have only used in on a couple of projects, as it is not that easy to get. Most of what I have gotten has been from Ebay.

I use alot of Oak, since mission furniture is what of my favorite types of furniture to build. When I build in oak, I always stain the wood to get the honey color that I like. Oak is a very hard wood and very heavy. It is also good for outdoor projects, since it is somewhat rot resistant and insect resistant. White oak also works for steam bending. When making mission furniture I always select quarter sawn white, the flakes in the wood grain really pop and look great.

I have used some maple, but usually in smaller projects and I can get a nice pieces of Birds-eye.

I have used some walnut mostly on smaller projects such as boxes, clocks or pens.

I love to use maple or walnut burls when doing lathe turnings. They make nice pens and small bowls or plates.

I will use pine when making country furniture. Most of my projects in pine get painted with milk paint. Pine is very east to work and is somewhat cheaper than the other woods but it is very difficult to stain. So I almost always paint it.

I do use popular but mostly for drawer sides or frame parts. When I do an entire project from popular , again it gets a milk paint finish.

My workshop

My workshop is my two car garage. I no longer park cars for there is no room.
1. My table saw is a Ridgid TS3650 from Home depot and works very well... I have added an Inca Mitre 1000SE attachment.
2. My Band saw is a JET 12" floor model.
3. My jointer is a Craftmans 6 1/8" professional floor model.
4. My Drill press is a 15"Ridgid floor model from Home Depot.
5. I also Have a Jet Mini lathe.
6. I have a delta Mortising machine.
7. A delta sander and a Delta grinder.
8. My crosscut saw is a Dewalt 8" sliding compound mitre.
9. I just recently got a Dewalt scroll saw model DW788.
10. I have Ryboi planner.
11. Preformax 10-20 plus belt sander.
12. I use a Ridgid shop vacuum to keep it all clean.
I also have several hand held power tools, like routers, drills and sanders.
I will go into hand tools, projects and wood in future blogs.

New woodworking project book for Christmas

I just received a new woodworking book for Christmas.

It's called Early American Country Furniture, written by Dennis Hambucken and published by Countryman Press.

This is mainly a book of Projects, See below for a list of projects. There are 22 projects in all.

The book starts with some history of each project and shows pictures of how it would fit in a natural setting. I enjoyed reading about each project and the associated photos are great.

There is also a discussion of metal hardware, knobs, pegs and turned buttons.

There is also a chapter on Finishing. The chapter includes a section on milk paint application, which is very detailed and very good.

There is a section on lumber selection which is very basic but very good for beginners.

There are instruction on jigs for both panel cutting and tenoning. There is instruction on Dovetail joints, breadboard panels and panel doors.

The remaining part of the book consist of construction diagrams, which are well illustrated but only offer suggested dimensions.

Overall the book is well written and is well illustrated with over 600 step by step illustrations, which make any project much easier to complete. I will build several of these projects and post the pictures in the future.

Here is a list of projects: Candle box, Tavern pipe box, Saltboxes, Wall boxes, Nantucket candle box, Seaman's chest, Fireplace bellows, Hanging cupboard, Chimney cupboard, washstand, blanket chest, storage boxes, Hanging corner cupboard, Shaker bank of drawers, chest of drawers and wide cupboard.

Overall a great book.