Thread: Humble photography challenge. "How's your current wood working project going?"

A timely challenge. This just came off the bench this morning!

new1.jpg

Sorry there is no art in the photography here. Humble it is!

The story is, we have a well liked German cutlery set that has been well used over 45 years and survived until now in its original cardboard box. Eventually even good German manufactured cardboard boxes show their age and start to fall apart.

old1.jpgold2.jpg

The time had come for a new home for the flatware so I put together this quickie lightweight timber canteen. Sides are Jacaranda, the top is a thin slice of Maple Silkwood left over from making the dining table a few years ago. I also glued a piece of the paper from inside the original lid to the inside of the new top as narrative.

new2.jpgnew3.jpg

As per the challenge, I might get a few roast dinner brownie points for this one.

Really nice work. What did you use to make the dividers? MDF? Ply?

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Hi Fuzzy,

Thanks for dropping by this little-used branch of the forum.

I'm glad your photos aren't like your nick name here (fuzzy). Humble photography for my humble challenge seems appropriate to me. ) I don't need scantily clad models in makeup/wood filler, slathered on with what appears to be a cement trowel, draped over your cardboard box. Hehehe.

I like the "before shot", (high quality German-made cardboard box having seen better days) and the "after" shot with your DIY replacement. That covers the story nicely. Nice use of box joints, by the way.

Are you happy with the new box/case/beyond German-made cardboard container? Anything you've learned along the way?

Well done on getting the project finished. I have little doubt that it'll last longer than the cardboard.

Hamish.

Thanks for the kind words, but I really wasn't intending to hijack the thread with a WIP!

Originally Posted by harmo

Nice use of box joints, by the way. Are you happy with the new box/case/beyond German-made cardboard container? Anything you've learned along the way?

I don't often make the same things time and time again so every project tends to be a experience in learning exercises.

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

Really nice work. What did you use to make the dividers? MDF? Ply?

The joinery was all done with a standard 3mm combo blade. My principal aim was to build a lightweight box quickly so I made the box joints with 3mm fingers and the dividers are 3mm ply. The joints don't stand up for too critical an inspection since it wasn't (and I don't have) a flat top toothed blade to cut them. I did spend some effort aligning the grain for the side pieces and thankfully got them out of the offcuts I started with and didn't have to waste too much good wood getting there. I also took the effort to make the fingers where the top would be cutoff double thickness so the comb still runs properly on the finished sides. Lining the interior with felt became much more difficult than I had theorized and I made a few mistakes there as I became increasingly frustrated but thankfully recovered well enough that the Fuzzette won't notice. (Note to self: STOP WHEN YOU ARE TIRED OR FRUSTRATED and come back tomorrow!) The only outstanding defect is the hinging of the top has a very slight misalignment and has pushed the RH front corner slightly off 1 or 2mm. I can't fiddle too much with it since there isn't much meat in the 10mm thick side to play with and I even had to cut down the tiny hinge screws so they wouldn't break through on the top edge.

If this box outlasts the original cardboard one I'll be happy and 110 years old, but I probably won't notice then or care anymore anyway.....

Hi Fuzzie/Franklin, and everyone else reading the thread )

While I hope to see more pics on this thread, there's no harm in chatting to the first brave soul to answer. )

Nice to see something being built with your 110th birthday or the next generation in mind. If only more people thought that far ahead.

Getting "kind of thinky" here:

Truthfully, I was bewildered by the "kind words" comment. I'm not known for it. My "rep" as the cool kids of a middle-aged persuasion call it... is definitely more blunt/unfiltered-but-hopefully-constructive commentary. Yet, before this is seen as some false modesty on my part, or compliment fishing without a permit... I guess I'm just trying to treat folks like actual human beings, and encourage participation. Kindness on the other hand... is sometimes seen as an extraordinary gift, and often implies an undeserved one.

That association irritates me to no end. I just try to have (and live by) some standards... but I'm no pushover... I won't reward shoddy behaviour either, not that I've experienced any on this forum so far.

Kindness is irrelevant if someone appreciates your work, misaligned hinges and all, you earned it through effort. As fellow wood workers, we understand the effort it takes to make something. I know I certainly make many mistakes in wood working and in life. We're all WIPs, and I'm saddened that my efforts to meet a lowish standard are considered somehow extraordinarily kind on one hand (when it really shouldn't be) or disingenuous, or even undeserved by anyone on the other.

I'm left to wonder, how did simple kindness get so darn skewed?

Sorry to get all soap-boxy... or even cutlery boxy in this case.

Let me see if I can add some pics to this thread that might bring it back around to photography...

stay tuned for another post.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Thanks for the kind words, but I really wasn't intending to hijack the thread with a WIP!


I don't often make the same things time and time again so every project tends to be a experience in learning exercises.



The joinery was all done with a standard 3mm combo blade. My principal aim was to build a lightweight box quickly so I made the box joints with 3mm fingers and the dividers are 3mm ply. The joints don't stand up for too critical an inspection since it wasn't (and I don't have) a flat top toothed blade to cut them. I did spend some effort aligning the grain for the side pieces and thankfully got them out of the offcuts I started with and didn't have to waste too much good wood getting there. I also took the effort to make the fingers where the top would be cutoff double thickness so the comb still runs properly on the finished sides. Lining the interior with felt became much more difficult than I had theorized and I made a few mistakes there as I became increasingly frustrated but thankfully recovered well enough that the Fuzzette won't notice. (Note to self: STOP WHEN YOU ARE TIRED OR FRUSTRATED and come back tomorrow!) The only outstanding defect is the hinging of the top has a very slight misalignment and has pushed the RH front corner slightly off 1 or 2mm. I can't fiddle too much with it since there isn't much meat in the 10mm thick side to play with and I even had to cut down the tiny hinge screws so they wouldn't break through on the top edge.

If this box outlasts the original cardboard one I'll be happy and 110 years old, but I probably won't notice then or care anymore anyway.....

Hi all,

Unfortunately, our house is chaos due to some wildly delayed renovations to the main bathroom & WC, and store room. Of course, this is right on the heels the (thankfully finished) en suite and laundry ...So my DIY/Wood working is feeling a bit strapped for time at present.

Here is my image:

ShieldOnBBQTable.jpg
I call it: "The appearance of stability"

Ok so this is my incomplete soon-to-be barbecue trolley made out of sleeper off-cuts I've planed down from my raised garden bed project. I'm completely out of bench space due to renovations and the resulting storage of household items, so I literally piled the wood into a trolley-like stack, then used that (largely unattached) as a light-duty work bench to assemble my 3D printed sensor shield for my DIY weather station. Yes that lower shelf is screwed together.. but that's it. Those legs, aren't attached to anything, and the apron of the table top, is just sitting on those legs.. and then I simply added the chunky planks on top to use gravity, friction, and inertia to hold it all together.

When I spend so much time working with MDF and ply, using actual hardwood for a "scrap wood challenge" was a joy.

I hope this inspires, but does not imply that this is how best to do such activities.

A lady I work with was talking about buying a flower press and was surprised at how much they were selling for. $50 for a couple of bits of MDF and bolts.
I said " don't worry, I can make one for $49.99" I've got plenty of bits of ply/mdf or melamine laying around, i'll knock something together.

But then I got thinking, I could just cut 2 squares of melamine or ply, drill some holes and put some bolts through. But why do something easy when you can add complication and hopefully make it a bit nicer.

Ok, you convinced me. Marquetry inlay it is.IMG_3171.jpgIMG_3172.jpg

Only fitting that a flower press should have a flower on it. Been a long time since I tried anything like this and actually a long time since I've done anything in the shop, so although was a bit rushed and does have some flaws, was good out there and make something.

cheers.

Hey Shane,

Glad you're easily "convinced". Hehehe.

Got a simple project? Check.
Could it be done very easily? Check.
Dissatisfied with the "easy route? Check.
Insane enough to go to unnecessary lengths? Check!
Don't worry, you're in good company!

Always nice to see work with a "bit extra". Never done marquetry myself, but I'm sure the lass you're making it for will appreciate it. )

If you're surprised by how much flower presses sell for, have a look at cheese presses! Not sure the best way to do cheese marquetry though.

Anyway, thanks for sharing.
Harmo.

Originally Posted by shanesmith80

A lady I work with was talking about buying a flower press and was surprised at how much they were selling for. $50 for a couple of bits of MDF and bolts.
I said " don't worry, I can make one for $49.99" I've got plenty of bits of ply/mdf or melamine laying around, i'll knock something together.

But then I got thinking, I could just cut 2 squares of melamine or ply, drill some holes and put some bolts through. But why do something easy when you can add complication and hopefully make it a bit nicer.

Ok, you convinced me. Marquetry inlay it is.IMG_3171.jpgIMG_3172.jpg

Only fitting that a flower press should have a flower on it. Been a long time since I tried anything like this and actually a long time since I've done anything in the shop, so although was a bit rushed and does have some flaws, was good out there and make something.

cheers.

Howdy all,

Now, I realise that this thread is aimed at wood working photography, but can I show you a pic that we've worked way harder than anticipated for?

To understand it, I'd have to give you a bit of back story. Is that ok? I highly recommend a beverage and snack to get you through... it'll take a few mins to read. I could upload photos of the whole tale, but that would be an art gallery unto itself, and I'd rather this be a single post.

So let me regale you with a tale....

Early last year, in our 20 year old town house, we had a waterproofing failure in the upstairs en suite. We hired a tradie to fix it up in February, and he didn't show up for a while. By a "while" I mean, we gave up waiting for what we started calling "the prodigal tradie" in September. Ultimately, we did it ourselves (with the help of some in-laws and a professional plumber) in late October & early November. However, in the intervening months, I had not been idle. Due to the purchase of a new clothes dryer (well... it was new because we'd never had one before) and to fit it into the worst-designed and most-cramped room of the entire home...I'd largely renovated and completely redone the laundry alone. (Well, sans plumbing which we left for the pros to handle). My efforts included removing, repairing, and painting walls, welding up a frame for the bench/washer/dryer/sink combo, building some custom cabinetry... and installed some lighting and a new electrical outlet (which was signed off by my licensed sparky friend, apparently my electrical engineering courses weren't entirely useless). All was good over the Christmas and New Years period. <cue sense of accomplishment here>

Imagine that January this year rolls around, and we notice the main bathroom has a leak. Sigh. The wall has swollen, tiles are cracking, this is not good. So we hire a completely different tradie with the explicit start date "dead line" that is in no way negotiable. Interestingly, the same company from before reached out, but obviously thought better of it with the incomplete first (and only) sentence in my inbox. We get a better guy in (translation: more expensive) and he starts on the day he said he would.

They of course, start dismantling the bathroom, and discover (to paraphrase the original Ghostbusters movie):

"There is no waterproofing, there is only poooooool" (Of water).

Now please note: We hadn't used that shower, for over 4 months, and it was still wet. With no waterproofing at all, the water had seeped into the corridor, the separate WC, and the linen press. So we decided to fix everything by starting again from the concrete slab up. Since I'm the only guy who uses that shower, and I'm from a farm where beyond-5-minute showers are considered a "waste of water" I was thankful for my water-saving ways. My better half, who largely uses the upstairs en suite, is far more... luxurious with her shower durations. (Don't tell her I said that).

Great... we need a new bathroom, and we had prepared for that.... Except this is where the wheels "fell of the wagon".

So to redo the bathroom, the tradies had to jack-hammer up the slab to move some pipes. Less than 3 hours from the start time, the tradie packs up, and leaves.... possibly never to be seen again. Because the jack hammering had shifted our (duplex-attached) neighbours gyprock walls... and cracks had opened up, dust was falling out, and when faced with an irate neighbour... the tradie didn't think he should be blamed for it.. so he ran away. I had to remind him that he needed to at least duct tape the bare electrical wiring before leaving. Which he did.

Did I mention that he dismantled the entire bathroom and WC? We're left with a demolition site, where we'd at least had a working toilet and vanity only hours before. Now the neighbour was threatening legal action, and we had no idea what on Earth we could do. Many phone calls later to the tradie, the neighbour, lawyer friends/family, and even in-laws asking if they'd be free for another renovation (should we be stuck in limbo).

A lot of stuff happened, that would fill a book and be perhaps more riveting than many "popular" books these days... but the end result was that we convinced the tradie to come back on the provision that he couldn't use any impact hammers, jack hammers, and such devices. So in the end, my partner and I were the ones slowly hammering, chipping, and cleaning the floors and walls back to the bare slab and frame work. There was no waterproofing, but there was a LOT of grout, adhesive to get rid of. The legal business of this situation is still entirely "up in the air", but progress is finally being made.

I've learned a lot in our ongoing renovation projects... I've learned that grout needs help to actually dry in Canberra winter... I suppose it shouldn't surprise me because we stopped using the shower in February when we noticed the leak... but it was still damp under the tiles as we lifted them up a few weeks back. So now that the tiles have been laid, I'm trying to dry the new grout work done on our bathroom with our central heating. Clearly more cleaning is needed. See below:

WebBathroomGroutDone.jpg


Got the plumber coming tomorrow (hopefully) to install the bath, taps, vanity, and shower. Silicone/sealing the corners will be done later this afternoon...

It doesn't look like much, but we've earned this image.

I sincerely hope that your project, whatever it is, is less stressful than this one. I just want this to be over.

All the best!
Hamish.