Lap Desk Divider

I've been slowly working on a shaker style pine lap desk.  Yesterday I cut and shaped the second divider.  The main center divider is removable.  This smaller divider is fixed.  The two pieces that make up the divider are joined together with through dovetails.  This  project is a great exercise in honing your hand tool skills.  The carcase of the desk is joined with dovetails, as are the dividers and the small drawer is joined with through and half blind dovetails.  

Lap Desk: The Saga Continues

I'm slowly working on the lap desk.  I've  cut and shaped the center divider

and finished the bread board ends on the lid.  Next I have to build  the small drawer.  The drawer will be assembled using through and half blind dovetails.

Bread Board Ends

Yesterday I cut 3/4 inch wide tenons on the lid of the lap desk.  The tenons are only 1/8 inch thick.

I used the table saw to cut the 1/8 inch mortises in the maple bread board ends.  The mortises are 3/4 inch deep.  I use stop blocks to help me cut the mortises on the table saw, plunging the piece onto the blade and then moving it along until it hits the other stop block. The maple end boards are over sized.  I'll cut them to size on the table saw.  The bread board ends are pegged with 1/8 inch dowel pegs.  I drilled three holes into each end and pegged the ends with the dowel pegs.  The bread board ends are glued only in the center of the tenon to allow for wood movement.  The holes in the tenons are elongated to allow for wood movement.

Shaker style lap top

Today I started working on a pine shaker style lap desk.  I started the main carcase of the desk quite a while ago.  The top and bottom of the desk is made out of quarter sawn pine.  The case sides are glued directly to the bottom.  The quarter sawn pine is very stable so a simple glue/butt joint is very sufficient.  The corners are joined with dovetails. The center divider is removable to accommodate a modern lap top computer

That's a wrap'

Today Jeff and I finished shooting the new episode of the show.  This episode's project is a planter box, like the ones I made for Lynch's package store only made to fit the rail of a backyard deck.

The project and the shoot went well.

Yesterday we went to a flea market.  The top floor of the old dutch barn has the beautiful arched beams.  My poor picture doesn't do it justice

' Castles in the air'

On Saturday I filled my son's sand box and moved it outdoors.  It was such a beautiful day that I couldn't wait to paint it.  As you can see it was a big hit with my son and Mom.  The best compliment is seeing a project you made being used.

New episode

On Friday Jeff and I starting shooting a new episode of the show.  The project for the show is a planter box like the ones I made for Lynch's package store only modified to fit on a deck.  It feels good to be shooting the show again, it's been a while since we put out a new episode.  The simple plywood box  is made up of four sides and a bottom that fits into grooves and dados in the side pieces.  The box is then framed  with pieces of 1" x 2" pine and then decorative molding is added.  A piece of corner round is added to soften the corners. 

My son Quinn asked me quite some time ago to build him sand box so he could play with his trucks and knights and dragons outside.  It's taken a while but this week I built his sand box for him.  He loves castles, dragons and knights so I built him a sand box in the shape of a castle.  The frame of the box is built using pressure treated 1" x 6" boards for the frame and fir 4" x 4" post.  I attached the frame to the legs using dados, glue and lag bolts.  All of the material I got from the cut off bin at Home Depot so it was very inexpensive.  I used some scraps of plywood to create the dentil molding.  I made a simple jig for my miter gauge on the table saw and cut out the notches using stack dado blades. I made faux windows by cutting the shapes out of some pine scraps.  First I ran the board over the table saw blade to create small grooves in the boards.

The bottom is a piece of 3/4" plywood housed in the sides by a 1/2 " x 3/4" dado.  I attached fence post caps to the post to give it a real medieval castle feel.

I'm going to paint the castle a terra cotta color.

I had a blast making this for Quinn.  I didn't even get a chance to move it off the bench before he was playing in it.  All that is left to do is to fill it up with sand and move it outdoors.

   

Imago

On Sunday I delivered some drawings I have to the Imago gallery in Warren, RI.

The group exhibition I'm involved in is about the process of drawing.  As a furniture maker my drawings are mostly thumbnail sketches about design ideas and then they proceed to more working drawings.  I have to go back to the gallery this week and deliver a couple of pieces I have that evolved out of the drawing process.  I'm excited to be part of this exhibition.  

The wood pile

 I've had a large selection of lumber stored at my Father-in-laws place. Two weeks ago he brought it over for me on a trailer and I spent some time organizing and storing the lumber.  Today I sold more than 600 board feet of it. I kept a small inventory for myself.  My work process has changed over the past few years and I haven't used as much rough hardwood lumber as I use to.  I'm happy to see it go to a good home of a fellow furniture maker who I know will turn it into beautiful objects.

Imago Gallery

I'm involved in an upcoming group exhibition at the Imago Gallery in Warren, RI.  The opening is Thursday July 25th.

The exhibition is about drawing.  Not finished works of art but the process of drawing.  I have a few pieces in the exhibition.  Some are works in progress, some working drawings and some gesture drawings and thumbnail sketches. Even if drawing isn't our medium we all use the process of drawing to generate ideas and designs.  I'm  really thrilled to have been invited to participate in this exhibition.

For more information please visit www.imagoartgallery.com

Sunset on the deck

I love chairs, especially Adirondack chairs.  Nothing speaks more about summer time and relaxing than these chairs.  I was sitting on my deck relaxing when the sun hit these chairs I made last year.  I had to take this picture.  These chairs are made out of an old pine bookcase I took apart.

Lynch's one more time

I was at Lynch's package store yesterday and saw the planter boxes I made filled with plants.  I had to take a picture.  I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

Lynch's Complete'

Today I installed the planter boxes at Lynch's.  I'm really happy with the color matching.  The folks at Koopman's Lumber helped me out  with matching the color to the pieces  I brought in.

There wasn't to many surprises when I took down the old boxes.  I had to paint some of the old window sill  but other than that the installation went smoothly.  

More Lynch's

The planter boxes for Lynch's Package store are coming along nicely.  The molding has been applied and painted a deep forest green.  I like how they are turning out.

Fine Woodworking Magazine

Please check out page 78 of the latest edition, August No# 234, of Fine Woodworking Magazine.  My chest of drawers is featured in the reader's gallery section. 

Lynch's - Almost there'

I've been working at the North Bennet Street School in Boston for the past couple of weeks.  I'm going in a few days a week for training and will be starting full time by the end of the month.  In the meantime I've been working slowly on the planter boxes for Lynch's package store.  The folks at Koopman's lumber  have done a great job on matching the color of the original boxes for me as well as the color of the molding.

The boxes are a barn red and the molding is a deep forest green. Hopefully I'll be installing them this weekend.

Lynch's - Continued

This evening I continued to work on the planter boxes for Lynch's.  The plywood box bottoms fit into a groove in the sides and then are glued and nailed together.  The cases are then covered with a two inch wide pine border  to add strength and character.  The corners of the boxes have a corner round edge attached to them to soften the boxes and to add strength.  The boxes will get a cove molding added to the case to match the molding of the exterior of the store.  I know that plywood and pine isn't that water proof but I have to work with a limited budget.  I'm also matching the old boxes that are there now, and this is what they're made out of.  If budget wasn't an issue I would use cedar.