Jamie

Nope I go to work every day! Could use a vacation tho!

That is the only thing that I miss from my old basement shop. I did get an ac unit from my neighbor tonight. Lil old but it will take the edge off. It’s something how this table top is teaching me a lot about wood movement. It has moved about 1/16” in the last week. Going from 66% humidity in the shop now down to around 50%. So if my math is correct this table should shrink around another 1/8” in the winter when our house gets pretty dry. With using lp heat it will drop to around 35%. We do run a humidifier to help it out.

Thanks! The ac issue will be solved by the end of August. Perfect timing. A guy who works for me I gave a good sized window unit a couple years back. His wife and him are moving to a place with central air so he is going to give it back.

Got the table base all sanded and glued up. Put a 1/8 round over on most of the edges. Took quite a bit of time to get the parts all sanded. Maybe it just felt that was as it has been very hot and humid around here. Had to get a dehumidifier running in the shop as it was about 68% humidity. The problem with running the dehumidifier is that it acted as a heater. The shop is pretty unpleasant to be in with it like that, hopefully the weather pattern will break in a week or so. Did add a old furnace fan that I got for free from a buddy. Amazing how much air those things move. When I built the shop I had some outlets put in higher up and the bottom half of them runs on a switch. Makes it nice for this fan to just hit a switch to turn it on and off. Did get the wedges cut and have a little fine tuning to do to them yet.

I’d check with Ziegler equipment rental. They are mostly construction equipment but I’d bet they would have one. They are nation wide I believe. Maybe as a group we should buy one. Just ship it around the country. Doubt the use it will see that it would ever be needed by more than one at a time?(just being a smart guy of course)

Wow! Bench turned out amazing! You are really going to enjoy working off of it!

Good for you Chet! She will learn so much during this project, way more than she could from a class at school. Plus when she is older it will be a constant reminder of time spent with grandpa!

Sorry am a little late on sharing, life has been busy with softball games and practice. Worked on the stretchers the other night. Was a little concerned on how I was going to cut the mortises for the wedges, tried it on the hcm. Worked out well. The problem that I had was the mortise was 3” deep and the hcm chisel could cut about 2 1/2”, ended up just flipping the stretchers over and cutting from the backside. The hcm I have has quite a bit of slop in the head, this might be a tool on the upgrade list. Never really used one much and can see it being a tool that could be really handy. Cleaned up the mortise with some files and a chisel. Made a small shooting block to aid with the 5 degree angle on the mortise. I made a template for the shape on the tusk and cut it off with a jigsaw. Turned my attention to the top as I wanted to get it prepared to go back through the wide belt. Cut the ends and used your guys trick on the ca glue to fill the gap. Really happy how that worked! Had to try a little stain on it to see the results. Did end up leaving work a little early yesterday and got all the parts run through the wide belt. The shop that I took it to was the same that had the cnc and sander as before. The cost for them doing that for me came to a total of around $100. I think it was well worth it! Thinking I might set the unfinished top in my house for a couple of weeks before I finish sand, just to let it acclimate and to see if I can get some of the movement out. With it being super humid here the top is probably as wide as it will ever get.

Got the stretcher tenons cut and fit. Cut the shoulder on the table saw with the miter gauge and fence. Left them long as there will be a few curves cut in the tusk. Didn’t quite have that shape layer out before the tenons were dust so gave myself around 1 inch of play with the length on both ends. Cut the rest of tenon out on the bandsaw. Could not believe that I got as clean and true of cut off a bandsaw. They did take a little fine tuning with a block plane and chisels. Did have them fit a little loose as they will have to come apart and be put back together after finishing. Had to put it all together and set it on the table. I also set it on the floor and sat at it. Wanted to get a feel for how the tusks would be. Thought that they would be sticking out to far and would bang the knee on them. After looking at it did make a slight change to the tusk to buy some more room.

Happy Father’s Day all! Hopefully you all got treated like a king!

Cut the mortises for the stretchers tonight. Did use kevs idea with the hcm and router. Did work pretty darn well I must say! Thanks you guys for all your feedback. I will admit that I am way more comfortable and confident using power tools. Did do a practice run with the drill bit and chisel method, with it being oak and being 1 1/2 thick I didn’t have very good results. Just to impatient I think. did cut in on the backside about a 1/8-1/4 to prevent blowout. Nice thing with the Bosch guide is the micro adjustment. Made getting it all lined up pretty easy. With the mortises being centered just had to run it on each side.

Exactly! It took a while to hear back from them. Almost long enough that I forgot about it. Was $50 worth the time and frustration? To me it wasn’t. Would’ve been happier if the first saw preformed as well as this one. But I will move on from it. Did buy a couple blades when I got the saw, I’m leaning more towards some sharpening stones, or anything! Hard decisions lay ahead!

Update from Grizzly They Called me back after some time and offered me up a $50 gift card for my troubles. See that it shipped off to me today.

That is a proud parent! Around her they did a graduate parade. The school district that I live in is made up of 5 small towns, actually the same high school that I went to. Since the kids didn’t have anyone able to attend commencements they did a drive through of all the five towns with the fire department leading the way. Each kid was in a car with their parents, as they drove through citizens lined the streets and had signs and cheered. Was actually pretty neat deal. Lot of people said they should do it every year. Think COVID has started a new tradition in our community.

Very nicely done! Will be a tool that will be very handy! This might have motivated me to getting a nice sled made. Has been on the things to do list for a while. Sometimes jealousy pays off!

Great idea! Going to do a practice round on that method. Wedged......I think we are thinking differently. The wedge I’m thinking will be a loose tenon drove through the stretcher to wedge it tight. Will be removable to take the table apart. I was thinking that tonight on the show side. Need to reassemble the legs to determine a side. Good advice. Thanks!

I’m thinking there is going to have to be a practice cut made. Thanks!

Yes they will be wedged.

I’m torn on how to cut the through mortise. How would you guys approach it? It’s 1”x3” x 1 1/2 deep. I messed around with my hcm tonight, will have to make some auxiliary fences to make it work. Don’t think it will give me the cleanest cut. Plan b would be to use a forstner bit and clean it up with a chisel. Plan c is to make a template for the the plunge router with a guide bushing, clean up the corners with a chisel. Would probably stop short from going through and come back with a flush trim bit from opposite side. I’m nervous about doing the chisel work for some reason. I do have a new set if marples that I have gone through and sharpened. Is there an approach that I am missing or should be considering?

Ive dont that trick a few times in the past with good old yellow glue and it does a nice job. I have some ca glue showing up this week as I was out of it. Will do a test run like you mentioned. Good advice!

Our county has only one active case right now. Neighboring counties are 0-5 cases. The state of Iowa recently just opened back up where everything is about normal. Restaurants can be at full capacity, some public pools are going to open and the kids little league games are going to resume. Will be curious how it will effect every thing over the next few weeks. Hope you all stay safe!

Did get some work in on the table but not what I was intending on doing. Either way it’s progress. Wasn’t able to get to the cabinet shop with the wide belt sander this weekend so focused my attention on the legs. Cut all the curves on the bandsaw. Used a 1/2 3tpi blade to make the cuts, was like a hot knife through butter. The more I use the bandsaw the more I like it. Then went to work on the tenons. Cut the shoulder on the table saw and all the cheeks on the bandsaw. Was a pretty simple process. Each mortise was just a hair different so numbered each tenon and custom fit each one using a chisel to clean up the walls and a block plane on the tenon. Was a fun process for me, in all the years of cabinet making I very seldom reached for a block plane. had to set them on the table to get a feel for how they will look. They aren’t glued at this point yet as I have to cut a through tenon for the stretchers yet. Trying to decide on how I’m going to tackle it, might try the hcm, the Drill and chisel method, or going with a jig saw and file.

Thanks! The ends will be cut flush. They overhang in the picture about 1 1/2 inches. Planning on cutting them close with a circular saw and cleaning up with a belt sander. Holding the sander vertically and using it like you would scribe cut a piece.

I’m a little nervous about doing that on the breadboard end joint to the table. Wouldn’t that lock the expansion in place?

Would you use a thicker ca glue in this situation?