one more intro

Just popping my head up from lurkerdom (well in this forum anyway).

I've been a member here for a while but been busy with my now-3yo for several years. With preschool on the horizon next year I have co-opted my father in law (and his fully-equipped workshop) to help me make her a "big bed". I've also enrolled in evening woodwork so I learn to use the tools and can make some other furniture for the house.

To date my projects have been either restoration/refinishing or small stuff I can do with hand tools and a home workshop that consists of as much of an an overcrowded garage I can clear plus two saw horses on the concrete outside :B.

Here are some pics:
1. Chiswell buffet bought from tip shop for $40 and refinished. We now have the matching dining table and chairs my parents bought new (and my brother has their buffet).
2. Kauri child's wardrobe made for my grandparents in 1942 when my mother was a 3yo. This had always been painted white and took lots of stripping and sanding due to undercoat penetration into the grain. My daughter is the 5th member of our family to use it.
3. Cupboard/telephone stand made up from a set of cheap and nasty crapiata shelves with door of even nastier cupped crapiata plank from Bunnings. Stained to match the buffet tho don't look inside because it's still raw pine :B.
4. Coat and hat rack for my daughter made from an old plywood skateboard deck my Other Half made when he was a teenager with hooks from Ikea. I found the deck in the garage and sanded it for ages before sanding in a coat of Danish Oil and it's smooth as :D.

Steph
Canberra

I muchly like pic 2.
Kauri child's wardrobe made for my grandparents in 1942 when my mother was a 3yo. This had always been painted white and took lots of stripping and sanding due to undercoat penetration into the grain. My daughter is the 5th member of our family to use it.

I looks like the maker was into the Golden mean or the Fibonacci sequence, as the drawers get bigger in size with each drawer.

Nice grain too.

Al :)

Hiya s_m :), hope you get time soon to do some more wood work, good luck with the classes.

Hey I didn't think of those mathematical sequences but I have been drawing up plans for two cabinets for the lounge room (one for TV and one for general toy/stuff storage) and was planning to make the dimensions fit the golden ratio :B.

Ok I guess I should add "science/maths nerd" to my profile :wink:...

Steph

I am so pleased to see your work.....think that you may be interested in the style of furniture that I make....I call it encasement.....extremely easy, very fast, very strong, very cheap, recycling & very beautiful.....I will give you a link to see some on the stuff I make, truly its simplistic...
I use only furniture, the malamine stuff is fabulous, usually find it on the verg of rubbish runs, of course I pick only the really good stuff.....first thing is to take the back off and put a really good 10 -15 mm chipboard back, then using construction pine put legs on that take the unit off the ground, using panel pine glue & brad pieces cut to fit between the legs you cannot now see any of the outside of the unit, put a new top on over the old one, then add pine over the front sliding draws, you cannot tell behind the whole lot is a malamine unit underneath, please look and see some of the pictures, and contact me, my email is [email protected] I will send step by set pictures and give you some detailed advise if you would like to try one of these.....Do you have a buscuit joiner & a brad gun, they are the best tools that I have, hope to hear from you soon, regards Kerry, alias KEKEMO

http://groups.msn.com/WOODWORKCountryCottage

click on PICTURES on the side bar menu, there are 5 albums that have my work in there, think there is one called Encasement in amongst them....cherrio

Ha Ha just push all that other stuff out of the garage and get into it, woodworking is great:D

Donna

Welcome SM. Nice restoration jobs, and looking forward to seeing more pics of your work.
The proportions on that wardrobe are cool. Whoever designed it had a real eye.

...and maths nerds are welcome here.

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The proportions on that wardrobe are cool. Whoever designed it had a real eye.

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Yes but short children tho - my daughter's winter dresses are nearly touching the floor of it :(. I will have to ask my Grandma who designed it - I vaguely recall it was built by a family friend who was a cabinet maker. It is dated inside behind the 2nd drawer 5-10-42.

Have been fiddling with Sketchup tonite and here's a basic model of my evening course project for this term - and maybe next too? The drawers will be plywood with metal runners and the whole unit will be on wheels. Am currently leaning towards recycled Blackbutt - tomorrow's project while daughter is at preschool is to sand the factory finish off the sample boards and refinish it.

My woodwork tools extend as far as a hammer, mitre saw, cordless drill, screwdrivers and random orbital sander.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Steph

Hi Steph,

Welcome to the Forums.

Lovely finishes on your family heirloom pieces. Great to hear the story behind the kauri wardrobe - beautiful piece of family history.

So sweet to see your daughter using her own hanging rack :)

Your set of tools is a great start! About the only suggestion I'd make is that you consider something to cut with, eg a jigsaw, or a handsaw, just to make life a little easier for you until you start to get more of a feel for what tools you'll make the most use of.

Hope your class goes well. Love to see the Blackbutt cabinet when it's finished.:2tsup:

Cheers
Wendy

Oh boy I did my first ever hands-on session in a proper workshop (class) last night and OMG power tools are COOOOOOOL :D!!

For the first time ever I also got to use a hand plane and some other hand tools. Even ones I didn't know existed - eg what is the name of the thingy you set up at a particular angle to mark up dovetails?

I used the bench saw and drop saw and made heaps of mess and noise with a router doing round-over edges on nearly everything :D. Need to BYO router bits if I want to do anything fancier than a round-over or dado tho...

I've just had lunch so now I'm off outside to finish sanding the new seats for my shed stools, new swing for my 3yo and timber backs for a coat/hat rack in our entry hall. All of the timber is salvaged from an old (?English) oak desk.

Steph

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Originally Posted by s_m

what is the name of the thingy you set up at a particular angle to mark up dovetails?

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I believe you are referring to a sliding bevel:

http://www.leevalley.com/images/item.../05n4401s1.jpg

You can also use dedicated dovetail markers:

http://www.leevalley.com/images/item.../05n1010s1.jpg

or

http://www.leevalley.com/images/item.../05n6103s4.jpg

I like your various recycled and heirloom furniture: they have a certain look about them what works well.

Science? Maths? See here (and surrounding thread) for a very nerdy discussion about circle-packing. And I don't think it's ever got nerdier than this.

Hi Steph

You've done a lovely job. :U

Cheers

Robynmau

Welcome to the Forum, Classes are great aren't they!!:U Always leave me wanting to know more.
:2tsup: BTW your projects are beautiful. I hope you enjoy yourself in the forum.

Cool lots of new faces beginning here
Toni