Sunday, November 22, 2009
Halloween and Christmas Decorating
Last time Alex got a time-out, she got back at me by hiding in her toy chest.
This is her sulking when I discovered her:
Alex as Snow White for Halloween:
Later, as sassy Snow White:
Alex and I decorated the outside of the house for Christmas over the weekend. It was very important for her to "hold" the ladder.
It is kind of hard to see, but alls we did was put up wreaths and candles in the windows. I usually try to stay clear of the Christmas lights.
Here is Alex in front of the stockings we hung on the inside.
Kinda awesome.
This is her sulking when I discovered her:
Alex as Snow White for Halloween:
Later, as sassy Snow White:
Alex and I decorated the outside of the house for Christmas over the weekend. It was very important for her to "hold" the ladder.
It is kind of hard to see, but alls we did was put up wreaths and candles in the windows. I usually try to stay clear of the Christmas lights.
Here is Alex in front of the stockings we hung on the inside.
Kinda awesome.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Baby Sam is here!
Baby Samuel Paul.
Born Oct. 23 at 10:57 am.
6 lbs, 6 oz, 20 inches
Born Oct. 23 at 10:57 am.
6 lbs, 6 oz, 20 inches
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Just a few minutes old here:
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day 2:
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day 3:
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Here is big sister Alex reading Sam a book while he warms up in the sun and with a heater:
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Dressing Room
Hello.
I work near a furniture factory. They make commercial and consumer-grade furniture such as end-tables, buffets, entertainment-centers, and large desks.
Twice a year, they have a factory sale, where they sell remnant wood assemblies, and heavily scratched and dented furniture, or simply furniture they couldn't sell.
I go mostly for the remnant wood assemblies. I usually walk out with a truckload of wood for about $30. Unlike years past, I went early, before the professional woodworkers and tradesmen got there, and scored some pretty big finds. FOR CHEAP.
This included more than $1500.00 of hardware such as drawer-slides, cabinet knobs, puck-lights, door catches, and other sundry components that a amateur furniture maker dreams about. I bought all that stuff for probably $60. Booya!
I spend maybe another $40.00 on some wood: I scored fourteen 35" wide drawers and probably ten or so 78"x 15" slabs of press-board with a birch (or poplar?) veneer. I also got a fetching cabinet door.
I really had no clue what to use all this crap for.
After a few weeks, I decided to use the drawers and the aforementioned slabs to redo the closet system in our master closet. I bought some additional poplar trim, some brushed nickle hanging-polls, some matching pulls, a mirror, and dark walnut stain, and spent the next few weekends building up the cabinets.
Over labor day weekend, the wife and I took out the cheap-o wire shelving, but in some light-colored bamboo flooring my sister gave me, painted the walls light green (doesn't show up in pictures), and installed the cabinets and finished it all up. They total bill was probably around $300 or so.
Here are some before/after pictures.
BEFORE is on left.
AFTER is on right.
If you are using Mozilla, click on these and adjust zoom via crtl-mouse wheel for best results.
view into the closet towards the LEFT
View into the closet toward the RIGHT
View into the closet toward the CENTER. The mirrored door covers up a "shoe tower" that has eleven movable shelves for the 100 or so boots, sandals, slippers,moccasins, clogs, sneakers, heels, stilettos, flip-flops, and mukluks that belong to my wife. I get one shelf. The door is being held up by clamps while i wait for hinges.
Here is a blurry picture of the left side "tower", which has four drawers in the bottom and hanging space on top. Notice the full-extension drawer slides. Booya.
The great part is, I got maximum effect for very little work and money. Most of the difficult parts, like building the drawers, or assembling, planing, and sanding the side panels was done! I just assembled everything, brought it up stairs, and put the hardware and face-frame on.
We have been using this system for a week and it is flippin' awesome.
This will be my last project for at least 6 months, as we await baby #2. I am glad to have it done so I can focus on my family.
But I also still have a lot left to do in the basement. {sigh}
//////////// UPDATE/////////////////////////////
A picture of the shoe tower sans door. kind blurry too. the top and bottom shelves are fixed to add strength to the tower. 9 shelves are shown will 2 that are unused and stowed on the top shelf. there is a run of that adjustable-shelving stuff on both sides of the tower, which allows you to adjust shelved in about 1" graduations. i also ran it above the highest top fixed shelf, and below the lowest fixed shelf, so we could put some in those large spaces you see, if we wanted. but we didn't b/c those are good spaces for boots.
I work near a furniture factory. They make commercial and consumer-grade furniture such as end-tables, buffets, entertainment-centers, and large desks.
Twice a year, they have a factory sale, where they sell remnant wood assemblies, and heavily scratched and dented furniture, or simply furniture they couldn't sell.
I go mostly for the remnant wood assemblies. I usually walk out with a truckload of wood for about $30. Unlike years past, I went early, before the professional woodworkers and tradesmen got there, and scored some pretty big finds. FOR CHEAP.
This included more than $1500.00 of hardware such as drawer-slides, cabinet knobs, puck-lights, door catches, and other sundry components that a amateur furniture maker dreams about. I bought all that stuff for probably $60. Booya!
I spend maybe another $40.00 on some wood: I scored fourteen 35" wide drawers and probably ten or so 78"x 15" slabs of press-board with a birch (or poplar?) veneer. I also got a fetching cabinet door.
I really had no clue what to use all this crap for.
After a few weeks, I decided to use the drawers and the aforementioned slabs to redo the closet system in our master closet. I bought some additional poplar trim, some brushed nickle hanging-polls, some matching pulls, a mirror, and dark walnut stain, and spent the next few weekends building up the cabinets.
Over labor day weekend, the wife and I took out the cheap-o wire shelving, but in some light-colored bamboo flooring my sister gave me, painted the walls light green (doesn't show up in pictures), and installed the cabinets and finished it all up. They total bill was probably around $300 or so.
Here are some before/after pictures.
BEFORE is on left.
AFTER is on right.
If you are using Mozilla, click on these and adjust zoom via crtl-mouse wheel for best results.
view into the closet towards the LEFT
View into the closet toward the RIGHT
View into the closet toward the CENTER. The mirrored door covers up a "shoe tower" that has eleven movable shelves for the 100 or so boots, sandals, slippers,moccasins, clogs, sneakers, heels, stilettos, flip-flops, and mukluks that belong to my wife. I get one shelf. The door is being held up by clamps while i wait for hinges.
Here is a blurry picture of the left side "tower", which has four drawers in the bottom and hanging space on top. Notice the full-extension drawer slides. Booya.
The great part is, I got maximum effect for very little work and money. Most of the difficult parts, like building the drawers, or assembling, planing, and sanding the side panels was done! I just assembled everything, brought it up stairs, and put the hardware and face-frame on.
We have been using this system for a week and it is flippin' awesome.
This will be my last project for at least 6 months, as we await baby #2. I am glad to have it done so I can focus on my family.
But I also still have a lot left to do in the basement. {sigh}
//////////// UPDATE/////////////////////////////
A picture of the shoe tower sans door. kind blurry too. the top and bottom shelves are fixed to add strength to the tower. 9 shelves are shown will 2 that are unused and stowed on the top shelf. there is a run of that adjustable-shelving stuff on both sides of the tower, which allows you to adjust shelved in about 1" graduations. i also ran it above the highest top fixed shelf, and below the lowest fixed shelf, so we could put some in those large spaces you see, if we wanted. but we didn't b/c those are good spaces for boots.
Labels: Furniture
Thursday, July 30, 2009
I'd like to show some support to myself
In the last few minutes, I decided I'd like to be the kind of person who puts bumper stickers on my car.
Up until now, I have been very bumper sticker adverse on my new car. I think that the reason is that I have mostly viewed bumper stickers strictly as a way to express something to other people. The people immediately behind you, I guess. Plus, they are kinda fugly.
Anyway, who cares? I am soundly indifferent about the strangers in front of me and their views on religion, evolution, abortion, politics, or witty slogans.* Or the mother ship of bad bumper stickers, a Calvin peeing on Ford or Chevy symbol. Awwwwww man, don't get me started on that pointless redneck contest.
Also, all of these non-military magnetic ribbons. Yuck. I think Bean said it best in this blog that people should "stop showing their support"**.
So, you can see I feel pretty strongly about not using my car's aft as a means to advertise pointless blather***.
HOWEVER!
I have came to the conclusion, again, about 5 minutes ago, that I could use bumper stickers as a means to communicate with myself. Sounds crazy, I know. Hear me out here, folks.
Let me let you in on a little secret. At many times in my life I purposely send signals to myself to serve as a reminder for something important that I'd rather not do.
For instance, for the semester-long final stretch for my thesis defense, I grew out my beard. The idea was that I would see myself in the mirror and it would remind me to stop procrastinating and finish my manuscript! Plus it kinda got unruly and nasty and kept people from bothering me at Panera.
Another example is putting a reading nook in my bedroom. I rarely use it to read now, and I knew I wouldn't, but it reminds me daily about the importance of books.
The bumper stickers are a similar idea.
The reminder I need is about my health. You see, I am a believer that there are 3 themes in life that are in direct conflict with one another: health, family, and career. The maxim goes: You are only allowed to pick two. Some people pick none. But the most you can do well, are two. As I look at everyone around me, this is pretty true.
In my quest for balance these three themes, I think these reminders will urge me to improve my fitness. Again, this came at me like a revelation from God, and almost knocked me out of my chair, a mere five-to-ten minutes ago.
Yes, it will do nicely. So, I am thinking some choice pro-fitness decals and stickers should work. This way, when I walk to my car after work, I will be reminded to go to the gym, or take a bikeride or run before going home to eat pizza, drink beer, and fart into the couch. This will really prove my committment to myself, since it is at odds with the part of me that dislikes bumperstickers and the like.
I hope this doesn't sound too crazy. I really would hate it if we weren't friends anymore.
This means I will probably finally put up my imba and Cannondale decals, but not necessarily my ChildFund or Ill Mitch ones.
So, are we on the same page here people? I know this is a difficult concept, but I swear I just can't make this post any longer.
* I commented to my wife last night that I am going to make an effort to use the word slogan more. I think we can all agree that it is a great word.
** Like Bean, I condone the use of said ribbons for showing support for our soldiers.
*** blather is another good one.
Up until now, I have been very bumper sticker adverse on my new car. I think that the reason is that I have mostly viewed bumper stickers strictly as a way to express something to other people. The people immediately behind you, I guess. Plus, they are kinda fugly.
Anyway, who cares? I am soundly indifferent about the strangers in front of me and their views on religion, evolution, abortion, politics, or witty slogans.* Or the mother ship of bad bumper stickers, a Calvin peeing on Ford or Chevy symbol. Awwwwww man, don't get me started on that pointless redneck contest.
Also, all of these non-military magnetic ribbons. Yuck. I think Bean said it best in this blog that people should "stop showing their support"**.
So, you can see I feel pretty strongly about not using my car's aft as a means to advertise pointless blather***.
HOWEVER!
I have came to the conclusion, again, about 5 minutes ago, that I could use bumper stickers as a means to communicate with myself. Sounds crazy, I know. Hear me out here, folks.
Let me let you in on a little secret. At many times in my life I purposely send signals to myself to serve as a reminder for something important that I'd rather not do.
For instance, for the semester-long final stretch for my thesis defense, I grew out my beard. The idea was that I would see myself in the mirror and it would remind me to stop procrastinating and finish my manuscript! Plus it kinda got unruly and nasty and kept people from bothering me at Panera.
Another example is putting a reading nook in my bedroom. I rarely use it to read now, and I knew I wouldn't, but it reminds me daily about the importance of books.
The bumper stickers are a similar idea.
The reminder I need is about my health. You see, I am a believer that there are 3 themes in life that are in direct conflict with one another: health, family, and career. The maxim goes: You are only allowed to pick two. Some people pick none. But the most you can do well, are two. As I look at everyone around me, this is pretty true.
In my quest for balance these three themes, I think these reminders will urge me to improve my fitness. Again, this came at me like a revelation from God, and almost knocked me out of my chair, a mere five-to-ten minutes ago.
Yes, it will do nicely. So, I am thinking some choice pro-fitness decals and stickers should work. This way, when I walk to my car after work, I will be reminded to go to the gym, or take a bikeride or run before going home to eat pizza, drink beer, and fart into the couch. This will really prove my committment to myself, since it is at odds with the part of me that dislikes bumperstickers and the like.
I hope this doesn't sound too crazy. I really would hate it if we weren't friends anymore.
This means I will probably finally put up my imba and Cannondale decals, but not necessarily my ChildFund or Ill Mitch ones.
So, are we on the same page here people? I know this is a difficult concept, but I swear I just can't make this post any longer.
* I commented to my wife last night that I am going to make an effort to use the word slogan more. I think we can all agree that it is a great word.
** Like Bean, I condone the use of said ribbons for showing support for our soldiers.
*** blather is another good one.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Another Picture Dump
Hello.
To those of you that aren't privy to the reoccuring theme here at mindsquirt, I have a habit of snapping pictures with my camaraphone, and then dumping them on this blog for all to enjoy.
Here goes:
Here is an assortment of the stuff we put on our lips in the our household. I kept on buying more because I thought we were out. Really what was happening is that my wife was putting it all in a drawer and not telling me about it. (aka"hiding it from me")
anyway I found it one day and I was pretty surprised.
there are 16 kinds of chapstick there:
We saw this boat-themed minivan at a Truck stop in Seymore, Indiana.
Here is a picture of my daughter about 1 year ago intentionally trying to hurt me by pressing on my eardrums. It hurt, and you can see me grimacing in pain. If you pretend i am smiling, it just looks like we really love each other.
Here is Alex laying down to admire this bug. I thought it was a nice picture.
Here is a picture of a sweet entertainment center I bought from the seconds at the furniture factory close to my work. I got a sweet deal on this baby. It doesn't look impressive but it is frickin' awesome. I got it for probably 10% of retail.
Here is a man dressed like papa smurf at the backside at Churchill Downs on Derby Day.
Here is a lead-horse from the backside at CD.
Here is a coloring-book page that Alex entered in a contest at the local pizza resturant. She colored it while we were waiting for our food. The whole time she colored it, she would brag about how she was going to win the contest, and she would recieve her prize shortly. The entire time, we had to bring her back to reality by telling her that she may not win, and there are many kids in the contest, etc...
Here is her recieving her prize a week later after winning the contest. The gigantic easter basket is on the left.
Here is a Golf cart turning left onto the highway where the speedlimit is 55 mph.
Here is some marketing mumbo-jumbo by the checkout line in the pharmacy I go to. I think the drug was a cholesterol-lowering drug. I was amused how this poster dumbed-down the concept that fatty foods change your cholesterol by actually putting the fatty food in your bloodstream. I am hoping that some people will walk away from that poster and actually think that tiny versions of food are running through our veins.
Here is Alex playing Doctor with classmate. I thought this was pretty cute as well.
This ends my latest picture dump.
Thank you for your time.
To those of you that aren't privy to the reoccuring theme here at mindsquirt, I have a habit of snapping pictures with my camaraphone, and then dumping them on this blog for all to enjoy.
Here goes:
Here is an assortment of the stuff we put on our lips in the our household. I kept on buying more because I thought we were out. Really what was happening is that my wife was putting it all in a drawer and not telling me about it. (aka"hiding it from me")
anyway I found it one day and I was pretty surprised.
there are 16 kinds of chapstick there:
We saw this boat-themed minivan at a Truck stop in Seymore, Indiana.
Here is a picture of my daughter about 1 year ago intentionally trying to hurt me by pressing on my eardrums. It hurt, and you can see me grimacing in pain. If you pretend i am smiling, it just looks like we really love each other.
Here is Alex laying down to admire this bug. I thought it was a nice picture.
Here is a picture of a sweet entertainment center I bought from the seconds at the furniture factory close to my work. I got a sweet deal on this baby. It doesn't look impressive but it is frickin' awesome. I got it for probably 10% of retail.
Here is a man dressed like papa smurf at the backside at Churchill Downs on Derby Day.
Here is a lead-horse from the backside at CD.
Here is a coloring-book page that Alex entered in a contest at the local pizza resturant. She colored it while we were waiting for our food. The whole time she colored it, she would brag about how she was going to win the contest, and she would recieve her prize shortly. The entire time, we had to bring her back to reality by telling her that she may not win, and there are many kids in the contest, etc...
Here is her recieving her prize a week later after winning the contest. The gigantic easter basket is on the left.
Here is a Golf cart turning left onto the highway where the speedlimit is 55 mph.
Here is some marketing mumbo-jumbo by the checkout line in the pharmacy I go to. I think the drug was a cholesterol-lowering drug. I was amused how this poster dumbed-down the concept that fatty foods change your cholesterol by actually putting the fatty food in your bloodstream. I am hoping that some people will walk away from that poster and actually think that tiny versions of food are running through our veins.
Here is Alex playing Doctor with classmate. I thought this was pretty cute as well.
This ends my latest picture dump.
Thank you for your time.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
June Stuff
I thought I'd go ahead and get you peeps updated with what June has been like.
As you know from the post below, in early June I finished my Nightstands. I'd say that my audience's reactions to that post ranged from mildly aware to vaguely interested. No seriously, thanks for all of the comments.
That weekend I also spent alot of time fixing up my house. With the help of my wife and daughter, I installed a powered roof vent on the top of my 2 story house. Our upstairs gets hot, and it should cut down our electrical bill due to running the AC. My roof has a very steep roof and I thought I was doomed for sure multiple times. But it is up there now, and I am sure it has turned on at least once in the past month.
Cha-ching!
Also this month, Alex and I went to the "Daddy-Daughter Ball" at the local YMCA. The time leading up to this event was a big deal in our house. Alex kept talking about how we were "getting married" (me the prince, and her the princess), and I envisioned us doing some dancing and just spending some time together. We generally have good times. All-in-all, expectations were met. There were plenty of photo-ops, cookies, dancing, fanfare, and her favorite, Princesses!
Cinderella in blue, Alex in pink/white, Snow White on right
Yes, some local teens dressed up as some of Alex's favorite Disney Princesses (her latest obsession), and she was in hog-heaven. At first, I was stoked that she could hang out with her idols, but then she really got out of control, and wouldn't leave them alone for 5 minutes. I tried to pull her away from them, so we could dance, talk, or do an activity, but during these times she just plotted on how to ditch me and return to them.
To give you an idea, here is a video. This went on for 1.5 hours virtually non-stop (I managed to get one slow dance, one fast dance, a hokie-pokie, and a chicken dance).
I kept trying to get her to dance/play with me, but at some point I just gave up and stood against the wall. I also talked to some of the other dads, who kind of depressed me. At the end she was really getting grumpy, and we were lucky to leave without a tantrum. Too much excitement for one night. Again, it had some downsides, but was a fun night for us both.
I have been working on various small projects as well. My bike, Cars, etc. I recently wanted to make some corn-hole boards.
I decided to paint the likeness of Chuck Norris on them. For those of you not in the know, google "chuck Norris facts".
corn hole boards*
I think they turned out pretty well, but they could probably be mistaken for the Marlboro Man, or some random hat-wearing man with a handsome beard. I think they are flippin' awesome.
Sunday was also father's day, which I got to spend with my dad and also my daughter and wife. I got some cool gifts, including a Rubik Cube, which I would like to try to solve unaided. I was inspired to become an expert on one ever since last saturday when I saw Will Smith solve one in a cab ride in "The Pursuit of Happiness".
* For some reason Blogger rotated this image when I uploaded it. It may have been due to the awesome power of Chuck Norris's image.
As you know from the post below, in early June I finished my Nightstands. I'd say that my audience's reactions to that post ranged from mildly aware to vaguely interested. No seriously, thanks for all of the comments.
That weekend I also spent alot of time fixing up my house. With the help of my wife and daughter, I installed a powered roof vent on the top of my 2 story house. Our upstairs gets hot, and it should cut down our electrical bill due to running the AC. My roof has a very steep roof and I thought I was doomed for sure multiple times. But it is up there now, and I am sure it has turned on at least once in the past month.
Cha-ching!
Also this month, Alex and I went to the "Daddy-Daughter Ball" at the local YMCA. The time leading up to this event was a big deal in our house. Alex kept talking about how we were "getting married" (me the prince, and her the princess), and I envisioned us doing some dancing and just spending some time together. We generally have good times. All-in-all, expectations were met. There were plenty of photo-ops, cookies, dancing, fanfare, and her favorite, Princesses!
Cinderella in blue, Alex in pink/white, Snow White on right
Yes, some local teens dressed up as some of Alex's favorite Disney Princesses (her latest obsession), and she was in hog-heaven. At first, I was stoked that she could hang out with her idols, but then she really got out of control, and wouldn't leave them alone for 5 minutes. I tried to pull her away from them, so we could dance, talk, or do an activity, but during these times she just plotted on how to ditch me and return to them.
To give you an idea, here is a video. This went on for 1.5 hours virtually non-stop (I managed to get one slow dance, one fast dance, a hokie-pokie, and a chicken dance).
I kept trying to get her to dance/play with me, but at some point I just gave up and stood against the wall. I also talked to some of the other dads, who kind of depressed me. At the end she was really getting grumpy, and we were lucky to leave without a tantrum. Too much excitement for one night. Again, it had some downsides, but was a fun night for us both.
I have been working on various small projects as well. My bike, Cars, etc. I recently wanted to make some corn-hole boards.
I decided to paint the likeness of Chuck Norris on them. For those of you not in the know, google "chuck Norris facts".
corn hole boards*
I think they turned out pretty well, but they could probably be mistaken for the Marlboro Man, or some random hat-wearing man with a handsome beard. I think they are flippin' awesome.
Sunday was also father's day, which I got to spend with my dad and also my daughter and wife. I got some cool gifts, including a Rubik Cube, which I would like to try to solve unaided. I was inspired to become an expert on one ever since last saturday when I saw Will Smith solve one in a cab ride in "The Pursuit of Happiness".
* For some reason Blogger rotated this image when I uploaded it. It may have been due to the awesome power of Chuck Norris's image.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Completed Furniture Page
Updated on 6/7/09 in red.
Project: Matching Walnut Nightstands
Date Completed: July 2009
Time to Build: 100-120 hours
Discussion: If you include planning, this was my longest project yet! This started with the planning in November here (including some solid models and also voting by YOU on design) and some intial posts about my progress here.
> I recently went to a furniture factory by where I work and they were selling lots of reminant wood (for next project)and hardware. The plywood back (which is not seen) and the drawer pulls were bought there for pennies on the dollar, making an already cheap project even cheaper! sweet!
> there are three drawers on each nightstand. That is a grand total of six drawers!
Discussion: 
Discussion: As you might be able to tell, this is cherry. (the drawer sides are birch plywood). Since we don't have a house for this to go in I mostly made this for fun and because it geve me something to do for 2 weeks when I was off work around Christmas. It is a traditional design that is modified from a picture of a similar craftsman design on the internet somewhere. The large "X" can be folded and taken out so it can be used for china or other curios. It also is about the size of a buffet, so I was thinking it would look good in a dining room or foyer area. Right next to the grand piano.
;************************************************************************
Discussion:
This is easily my favorite piece. The idea behind a lingerie dresser is that there is a drawer for your lingerie for each day of the week. I didn't really build it with that in mind, I mostly just liked the way it looked. In fact, my brother made a fetching one before me and gave me the idea. I made it for my wife when she was just my girlfriend in 2002. You can see a plaque on the top where I dedicated it to her. I also chopped off some of my finger building this.
I made it to fit a standard king-size bed frame, in case we buy a new bed. Some day, I may build runners for the sides and a footboard, but probably not.
Discussion:
My intent with this post is to display some of the furniture I have made in the past few years. I plan to add to it as projects are completed and when I get some of the furniture that I have built out of a storage garage.
Format:
An outline of the cost, time, difficulty, type of finish, and some discussion are included.
I also make guesses about how much it would cost to buy something similar to what I built. This is always hard because 1) this would be considered "custom" work and 2) I refer to catalogs like pottery barn for comparison, and 3) the quality of construction and wood tends to make this kind of thing vary a lot. Please feel free to offer constuctive criticism. Any other form of criticism will be deleted before others can see it.
The difficulty is on a scale of 1-5.
1- kit assembly. Assembly of some pre-cut plywood or fiberboard with a screwdriver.
5- Professional woodworker. Requires elegant joinery, inlays, and/or carvings.
Format:
An outline of the cost, time, difficulty, type of finish, and some discussion are included.
I also make guesses about how much it would cost to buy something similar to what I built. This is always hard because 1) this would be considered "custom" work and 2) I refer to catalogs like pottery barn for comparison, and 3) the quality of construction and wood tends to make this kind of thing vary a lot. Please feel free to offer constuctive criticism. Any other form of criticism will be deleted before others can see it.
The difficulty is on a scale of 1-5.
1- kit assembly. Assembly of some pre-cut plywood or fiberboard with a screwdriver.
5- Professional woodworker. Requires elegant joinery, inlays, and/or carvings.
;************************************************************************
;************************************************************************
Project: Matching Walnut Nightstands
Date Completed: July 2009
Time to Build: 100-120 hours
cost: $100 (walnut plywood, stain, and finish only)
Guess cost in stores: $800-$2000 for both
difficulty: 4/5
finish: minwax walnut gel stain with 2 coats lacuqer
wood: black walnut everything. drawer bottoms and side panels are walnut plywood as well.
in place with neutral-stained walnut headboard.
both together
now not.
Discussion: If you include planning, this was my longest project yet! This started with the planning in November here (including some solid models and also voting by YOU on design) and some intial posts about my progress here.
Around Christmas, I took lots of time off work to get started on these nightstands. I did the bulk of the construction then, and left some of the light-lifting for the next times that I was visiting my folks, and ultimatly took them to my house for finishing. Anyway, due to not living close to my dad's shop anymore, this project moved slowly.
The idea was to make some more furniture for my master suite, which already has a white walnut lingerie dresser and headboard, which are also detailed on this page. The nightstands replaced some mis-matched painted endtables that didn't look very good and also were not very functional.
For this project, we were out of white walnut, so I used black walnut, which did not match at all in color, but did in grain and whatnot. I was hopeful that the contrast would act as an "accent". I think they look pretty good together. However, I am torn b/c I typically don't like to stain these things that dark, b/c it covers up the beauty of the wood.
The building was pretty uneventful and slowgoing. I didn't make any mistakes which made me have to re-cut or throw away any jointed boards or assemblies, which is probably a first. However, due to the inconsistant thickness of the wood and my (lack of)skill at dovetail jiggery, the dovetail joints ranged from tight(good!) to loose (bad!), which made them not look good at all and were probably bad and unreliable joints. To bolster the joints, I tacked the side board to the front of the drawer box, and i knew the nail-holes would be covered by the false-fronts.
here are some other factoids:
>I also used 7/8" walnut to make the entire drawers, including walnut ply for the bottoms. While this arguably a waste of costly and beautiful walnut, especially considering there are 6 drawers between them, it made them look really good and was much easier to work with when using a dovetail jig than plywood! Now when I open the drawer, I gasp in overwhelming satisfaction!
> I recently went to a furniture factory by where I work and they were selling lots of reminant wood (for next project)and hardware. The plywood back (which is not seen) and the drawer pulls were bought there for pennies on the dollar, making an already cheap project even cheaper! sweet!
> At said factory sale, I bought two cases of self-closing drawer guides that had invoices for $350 on each on them. I bought these boxes for a mere $15.00 !! ( this has nothing to do with this project, but I had to share it on this blog.)
> there are three drawers on each nightstand. That is a grand total of six drawers!
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Project: Toy Chest
Date completed: March 2007
Time to build: 7 hours
Cost: $60
Guess cost in stores: $120 ($200 according to this custom toy-box builder)
Difficulty: 2/5
Finish: paint
Difficulty: 2/5
Finish: paint
Wood: Birch Plywood
Discussion: I built this out of scrap cherry, birch plywood, and iron-on veneers. It is intended to be a toybox/bench for small kiddies. It can support my weight in case Alex has some fat friends over. The thing that looks like a picture frame is some scrap cherry from my last project, and the rest is plywood. It is held on with glue and brads. the plywood "box" is screwed together and pluged with hard wood plugs. There is a piano hinge holding the top on, and a dampener to keep the lid from slamming on Alex's fingers (this is on the left but hard to see due to shadows). There is some space behind the lid when it is opened in case we find or make a cushion to go on top. I painted it that green color, and my wife did the beautiful artwork. I was very happy with it. The artwork turned it from a simple and bland look that you could buy anywhere to something very distinctive (and cute?)!
I am pretty sure you could sell this kind of thing at a craftsy tourist trap like Nashville, IN for a pretty penny. Names could be quickly painted on in an hour or less while the patron has an ice cream. Anyone want to go in business?
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Project: Cherry wine cabinet/curio cabinet/buffet
Date completed: January 2007
Time to build: 100 hours
Cost:~$700
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Project: Cherry wine cabinet/curio cabinet/buffet
Date completed: January 2007
Time to build: 100 hours
Cost:~$700
Cost in stores: $2000-3000
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Finish: pre-stain wash, cherry stain, 2-3 coats of lacquer
Wood: American Cherry
Discussion: As you might be able to tell, this is cherry. (the drawer sides are birch plywood). Since we don't have a house for this to go in I mostly made this for fun and because it geve me something to do for 2 weeks when I was off work around Christmas. It is a traditional design that is modified from a picture of a similar craftsman design on the internet somewhere. The large "X" can be folded and taken out so it can be used for china or other curios. It also is about the size of a buffet, so I was thinking it would look good in a dining room or foyer area. Right next to the grand piano.Here is a updated picture of the wine cabinet, in our house, complete with some bric-a-brac and old timey pictures.
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Project: Lingerie Dresser
Date completed: July 2002
Time to build: 180 hours
Cost: ~$100 (hardware and finish only)
Cost in stores: $2000-3500
Difficulty: 4/5
Difficulty: 4/5
Finish: no stain, water-based polyurathane
Wood: White walnut aka: Butternut
Discussion:
This is easily my favorite piece. The idea behind a lingerie dresser is that there is a drawer for your lingerie for each day of the week. I didn't really build it with that in mind, I mostly just liked the way it looked. In fact, my brother made a fetching one before me and gave me the idea. I made it for my wife when she was just my girlfriend in 2002. You can see a plaque on the top where I dedicated it to her. I also chopped off some of my finger building this.
It started out as wood paneling in a dentist's office and my dad payed someone to pull off the wood. That means the wood had to be reconditioned from 7/8 tongue-and-groove planks into 5/8 dimensional furniture-grade wood. This alone probably took 40-50 hours. It was also very dry and splintery and I took great pains to avoid using wood that had blemishes, knots, and nail-holes. This also added to the difficulty.
The wood is very beautiful. Please notice the swirling grain on the top drawers. The "outside"
is white walnut. Some of the "guts", the recessed panels, and the drawer sides are birch plywood. According to my dad white walnut is in very short supply these days and is basically unobtainable for furniture building. But he also makes up all kinds of shit.
is white walnut. Some of the "guts", the recessed panels, and the drawer sides are birch plywood. According to my dad white walnut is in very short supply these days and is basically unobtainable for furniture building. But he also makes up all kinds of shit.
It was pretty difficult to build due to the low tolerances involved when building a piece this small with numerous drawers. I was also extremely anal retentive about it and wanted to make sure that EVERY joint was perfect (like my wife) . I am happy to say that only one joint was more than 0.5 mm!
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Project: Headboard
Date completed: May 2004
Time to build: 40 hours
Cost: ~$30 (finish only)
Date completed: May 2004
Time to build: 40 hours
Cost: ~$30 (finish only)
Cost in stores: $800-1500 ??
Difficulty: 2.75/5
finish: no stain, water-based polyurathane
finish: no stain, water-based polyurathane
Wood: White walnut aka: Butternut
Discussion: The pictures above are of this bad boy in place, in our new house in South East Indiana. Sorry about the pictures. They look a little yellow because I took these pictures at dusk and had to use incandescent lights.
anyhoo, it is made of the same White Walnut as the lingerie dresser above. When I made this, I was much less obsessive about knots, nail holes, and joints then the peice above. This means it went much faster. I also did a pretty poor job at finishing it because I was rushed. It has a dead mosquito in it, and i didn't do a great job at getting polyurathane on the sides of the slats (in between them). there is some exposed wood there. I guess that is okay, because most of the "bad" joints are hidden by the mattress and it is hard to see the wood in between the slats that is exposed.
I think this would probably fall in the mission- style catagory. We don't have any other mission furniture to match it, but I saw a picture of a similar one in a magazine that I really liked (and the wife), so I built it! Cooper doesn't like the idea of clashing furniture, but he is not the boss of me!
The only notable thing is that I used 5/8" wood for everything. So the posts on the sides were made of five 5/8" peices glued together and the 3 horizontals (the bottom is not shown) are made of three 5/8" peices. Where the vertical slats engage the two horizontal pieces, I simply used small peices to fill in where the slats didn't lap the horizontals, giving the illusion that the horizontals were made of one peice. fooled you!
I made it to fit a standard king-size bed frame, in case we buy a new bed. Some day, I may build runners for the sides and a footboard, but probably not.
I don't think I eradicated any fingers on this one.
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Project: Bookcase
Date completed: Sometime in 2003?
Time to build: 5 hours Cost: ~$80
Cost in stores: $200-300 ??
Difficulty: 2/5
finish: Provicial colored Minwax Stain with probably a matte water-based polyurathane
Wood: Oak plywood and solid oak for the top and bottom trim
Project: Bookcase
Date completed: Sometime in 2003?
Time to build: 5 hours Cost: ~$80
Cost in stores: $200-300 ??
Difficulty: 2/5
finish: Provicial colored Minwax Stain with probably a matte water-based polyurathane
Wood: Oak plywood and solid oak for the top and bottom trim
Discussion:
Cheap and simple bookcase. The plan was to make several matching bookcases and distribute them throughout my living quarters. That never happened as of now.
I like books!
Plywood is very simple to use, and is very strong! It isn't the best looking stuff, but most people would not guess it is plywood. Fools!
The plys are hidden with a thin oak veneer that is ironed on with a clothes iron. I made the skirt and top moulding out of solid oak to dress it up a tad. Believe it or not, there isn't a drop of glue on this badboy (except the veneer). Screws only, with plugs to cover them up. Naw, just kiddin'. It is made of glue that is poured into a mold.
As you can see, it could use more gingerbread. If I had it do over again, I'd probably make a solid face frame for it so that the skinnyness of the plywood was not so obvious.
The stain I picked out really makes the oak stand out, but I am also not a real big fan of oak. I sure am hard on myself.
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Project: Desk
Date completed: Sometime in 2000, whilst in College
Time to build: 40 hours (I was a rookie)
Cost: ~ probably $200 or so
Cost in stores: hard to say ??
Difficulty: 3/5
finish: No stain, probably a matte water-based polyurathane
Wood: Birch plywood with white walnut trim
This desk is dope. It is so dope it is difficult for anyone to understand who hasn't used it. I would love to let you use it. Inquire!
Once upon a time, in 1999, I was a physics major, and while I fought off the lady physics-students with a stick, I had a tiny desk that I hated. Multiple textbooks, and a computer were needed at once, and a tiny desk meant stacking of said books, and general disorder, chaos, and then punching the air in rage. Unknown to me at the time, the trend of sitting on my ass for extended periods of time at the end of the day and obliterating my brain cells with the laws of the universe was just beginning, and would only end 7 years later. I am sure glad that I was prescient enough to build this hum-dinger of a sum-birch!:
As a senior, I had one credit I needed to burn on a general humanity course, so I picked some kind of "art" class that allowed me to use the wood workshop. It was awesome (I can get credit for doing a hobbie!?). I picked a desk as my project, and I designed a desk that was purely functional!
These were my desk requirements:
1) It should have an enormous top so i could lay out all my stuff to work on, plus my computer monitor
2) It should have a dedicated place for my (at the time large) computer tower,
3) It should have shelves to hold a bunch of books, notebooks, and a printer
4) It should have a stow-away keyboard so i could quickly change from writing, reading, etcetra, to using the computer.
5) It should be cheap.
6) It should be able to be moved
7) It should have a secret compartment
The result was flippin' awesome. I forgot how much i love this desk. All the joinery was butts into datos. pretty simple and straight-forward. As usual, I used glue hand-over-fist.
It can be disassembled by taking off the top, and it leaves the left and right "towers", which is spanned by a drawer in the middle that has my keyboard on it. Those, too, can be taken apart, and taken out of a room one-by-one. Which is good, because the tabletop alone is 3'x7'. The left tower should have a computer in it, but lately I have been working on my computer so it is under the scoot-in part. Please try not to give me hard time about it.
This desk has put in some serious time while I was a undergrad, teacher, and grad student and served me well. Nowdays I really only use it for bills, bloggin', and showing off to the ladies. If you are related to me I may give it to you when I die.
Labels: Furniture
