An evening of bits & bobs

This evening I tackled a couple of jobs I’ve been putting off for a while, then had some fun.

The first job was to fix some battens to the wall, slide in a shelf, then fit the oven that’s been sat on a brick in the same hole ever since I bought this place (the oven was here, I knew it would come in handy sometime)…

The stuff inside the oven cooking gently is some driftwood, more on that later.

The second job was to build something that I can store my sanding discs in, as at the moment they were all over the place. I just used some spare MDF that was hanging around the place, and whilst now I need to find somewhere for this one to go at least I can now put my hands on a disc when I want one!

Now back to the driftwood. We stayed in a gorgeous cottage near Bude a couple of weeks back and as I was picking up some tools (which can be seen in the background, a large pillar drill and a bandsaw) I took the opportunity to fill the trailer up with whatever I could, and so a bagfull of driftwood came back home with us. My wife wants to make some things for her business, and this evening I dried out some of the wood in my oven and then set to making some tea light holders…

The first above was just 5 small pieces, the second used some chunkier parts…

I need to use a little less glue next time but other than that I’m quite happy with them.

Wood!

I have wood – a load of it…

It’s a load of Iroko from my dad’s shed – some of it nearly 2 feet wide. The boards were originally about 23’ long, I had to cut them down to about 6’ to get into my trailer, which felt like a travesty but in all honesty I’m very unlikely to need long lengths, and I’d rather have them at this length than sat in a shed 300 miles away for another 5 years.

Now I need to plan what I’ll be making with these – I have some earmarked for a new desk for my office, and another Adirondack chair is on the cards too. As for the rest, we’ll see!

FInished drawers

This evening I finished off the drawer fronts for the cabinet that’ll go under the bench. It’s a bit on the heavy side now so I need a hand to lift it down.

I made a set of handles from Iroko on my router table. These were much, much cheaper (well, free really) and look the business too.

They were made with two cutters on the router table. The first, a 1” radius cutter from Axminster provided the ledge for my fingers underneath the handle. I then rounded over the top with a Porter Cable bit I purchased when we were on holiday in Florida a few years back.

The whole lot was sanded (80,120,180 & 240) and then given a couple of coats of teak oil. I’m very pleased with these drawers, now I just need to decide what’s going in them!

Finished Adirondack Chair

This evening I’ve finished the chair, with just 4 days to go until it’ll be given to my lovely wife. Here’s the chair in all it’s glory…

It’s rather comfortable – I don’t think I’ll be able to get her out of it during the summertime!

Let the finishing begin…

The Sikkens stain I purchased turned up today, along with 100 pairs of rather fetching purple gloves, so armed with these I’m ready to start finishing…

I find it helps to have everything to hand before starting, and with this many pieces to do (35 at last count) it’ll take a while. I’ve already put a sealer coat on, and am planning on 3 coats of the Sikkens product before final assembly.

Here’s a closer look at the parts – I’d forgotten to remove the brass feet I added to the front legs here so had to remove these before I got going. I thought this would add a nice extra touch to the chair, and also keep the moisture a little bit further away from the chair too.

After some while I have all pieces covered with one coat…

The Cetol finish I’ve put on should last a good few years and was easy to apply with just a rag. I bought mine from Decorating Direct who delivered it superbly wrapped – it took me quite a while to extricate the tin from its wrapping.

Now I just have a few more hours of finishing to do over the coming evenings.

Sanding done

This evening I spent all my time in the workshop sanding with a random orbital sander, and progressing from 80 through 120, 180 and 240 grits. It’s now ready for finishing!

Every piece has been across the bench from left to right (being sanded on the way) then back again (with a different grit). It took a while but will be worth it. Now I’m waiting for the finish to turn up that I ordered.

A new project

My wife has been asking for an Adirondack chair for years (probably 15 or so), and now that I have a suitable place to build one in I could put it off no longer.

It’ll be the 21st anniversary of when we first met in February, so I’ve made a good start and aim to get this done by then. If it’s a few days late it can always be a Valentines day present instead.

Here’s the armrests after a good sand…

I’ve also test fitted the base and back tonight too…

Like most workshops it’s always a battle with space. Now I have a *load* of sanding to do!