Side dots

I got these little guys drilled, installed, and leveled last week. They help a lot, I can attest after nine months without. By the way, it starts with a 1/16" black plastic rod. I also refined and polished the string nut before restringing to make some nice backyard jams with Nick. Two more tasks punched out! I can taste it now.

Progress update

My todo list is dwindling as shop time of late resulted in the completion of several tweaks, repairs, and steps to prepare for finishing.

Back on the bench, ready for all kinds of surgery (and a replacement tooth):

Clamped to the neck carving rail (complete with its now solid base) for a bit of wood removal and shaping.

A couple weeks ago I had my proudest builder moment other than the first notes when hours of calculating and working on the heel cut jig resulted in a perfectly aligned neck and perfect string action in one shot. Fists were pumped. Shouts of exhilaration were (m)uttered. As it happened, I took a conservative first cut, thinking I'd double check my thinking and setup before trying to take it all the way, but a mistake in the setup took it all the way unexpectedly and it came out great. When does anything work out that way?! The result was a better looking and more playable instrument. Check and check.

Finish tests continue in order to figure out how to blend the color of the neck and rim and to decide what pore filler and finish I want to use. After tonight there are only two more tasks standing ahead of finish application! Installing side dot position markers and leveling and polishing the frets.

Here is a fun little tool I made tonight to move the peghead through-holes.

None of the three remaining through-holes allowed a straight string path from the nut to the tuner post without rubbing a little. This needed correcting just in case it was hindering tuning at all. I started filing with the needle files, but that wasn't getting me anywhere. I needed a tiny chisel or gouge if I was ever going to finish. I rooted around in the tools to no avail. It was time to sacrifice a 75-cent file. First I bent the handle for a better angle. Then out came the Dremel with a cut-off wheel to remove the tapered end. After a little grinding on the disc sander and mild sandpaper sharpening, it was good to go. It worked. What would you call that, a mini bent-handle plow chisel?

Refinishing tables

We have various tables around the house whose tops are fading fast. The time came to do something about it. In order to do it in the house with the least amount of sanding, no stripping, and something easily repaired or stripped later, my weapon of choice is shellac. I got some buttonlac from shellac.net, which is supposedly the toughest form of shellac for a high wear, high water application. The bad thing about it is it has a ton of wax content, which I removed by trickling through two coffee filters. It takes all night to filter eight fluid ounces of solution that way, and then you end up with about 4 ounces.

The idea was to use padding lacquer, which is really shellac with lacquer thinner and some kind of oil for wiping lubrication in it. I would use that to burn into the existing lacquer finish (on the dining table) and then build shellac from there. Of course I had to mix my own to make sure it was fresh, and then I had to waste a bunch of money on additional resins to try to add durability.

Here's all the stuff. See all that wax in the bottom of the shellac jar?

Mixing up the buttonlac:

In the end I never really figured out the padding lacquer application technique, which is different than French polishing or just plain wiping, but still requires vigorous rubbing. I used 10% acetone to burn into the lacquer a little bit, but after failed experiments with the full concoction with mineral spirits lubrication on the end table, I backed off to straight shellac plus a small percentage of Paraloid B-67 for the dining table. The technique I used was just plain padding as described by Jeff Jewitt in his books. Basically you make a fist full of cotton, pour shellac on it, wipe in straight strokes, and repeat until it starts to stick. Then you wait half a day, sand, and do it again. Repeat until it looks like you want. It works for me.

First, a faded end table to practice on:

It came out pretty good after brushing one coat, wiping three more, wet sanding with 400 and 600, and rubbing out with steel wool and paste wax.

Then on to the dining table. First a good two-step cleaning:

Here's the bare state:

Here's all the gear for sanding and finishing:

 After the first wet coat was brushed on:

With all the finish on after building with the wiping pad:

And rubbed out with steel wool and paste wax:

I could have spent more time sanding, but it came out fairly smooth with all the patina intact and much improved color. Mission accomplished. We'll see how long it lasts.

EPILOGUE: About four days. That's how long until a hot dish (on a pad) burned through and melted a nice pattern in an 8" square area.

Stabilizing the ShopStand

I carved my banjo neck using the ShopStand I bought used from a guy who wanted out of lutherie. It worked great except I used it bolted to a piece of MDF the way I acquired it. That was a pretty terrible way to work, involving a lot of shims and instability, so I figured eventually I'd bolt it to the floor. Luckily I discovered StewMac's tip to bolt it to a patio block before I started busting up the basement floor. Never content with just following directions, I had the additional idea to attach wheels to the block for portability and add a hardboard subbase so the floor doesn't get scratched.

Here it is (I probably should have had help carrying the block downstairs, but I made it):

Drilling through concrete is pretty fun. I've got no beef with the Harbor Freight rotary hammer and masonry bit set.

Outcome: sort of. It basically works and is holding together for now (that's a phrase I know from parenting).

The first problem was attaching the hardboard to the bottom. I wanted to glue it. First I tried epoxy, but that didn't work at all. Then I loaded it up with 3M Super 77, which worked for a while. It stopped working after I blasted the snot out of the block with the rotary hammer and pounded five drop-in anchors down with the setting tool. (Yes, there are only four bolts visible; the information you're missing is there is one broken bolt/anchor pair hidden in there.)

The second problem (related to the hidden hardware mentioned in the previous paragraph) is that drop-in anchors (this kind) don't work very well in soft patio block concrete! Witness this bottom-facing crater caused by the worst installation:

Anyway, like I said it works and I didn't throw out my back. I'll try to vacuum up the crater and reglue the subbase now that everything is in its place.

Clamp rack

In researching shop organization, I found plans for a rolling clamp rack with shelves that looked simple enough. My clamps were all taking up shelf space under the bench. Why not?!

It started with a trip to Menards and pile of lumber in the back of the minivan. I downgraded to red cedar 1x2s and 1x3s for the legs and shelf edges and pine plywood to keep the cost of materials reasonable. I cut the 7 degree bevels with a circular saw. The individual shelves and legs are joined with glue and a Harbor Freight brad nailer that performed admirably. The finish is four coats of shellac sprayed with an HVLP compressor gun and one coat of wipe-on poly.

Assembly was significantly more painful than anything from Ikea. For that reason (and all the other work), if you're considering this, I would first recommend checking out this rolling shoe rack from The Container Store. I discovered it in the catalog after completing the job. Who knows if it's sturdy enough for clamps, but it is on sale for about the price of my materials.

Window a/c security and insulation

[Ed.: I promise one day these projects will "all" be "done" and we'll get back to the stringed instruments.]

I've been meaning for a long time to do something about the window a/c in my office. Forget about physical security, I didn't even have the side panels attached. I would stick weatherstripping around the gaps and end up with a sticky mess every fall. This year it was time to do something better.

I found this Flickr set, which gave me the idea for how to fasten side panels to a vinyl window and to use PVC pipe to secure the upper sash. Another DIY enthusiast fabricated a piece to make the bottom area more secure, which I considered for a while, but in the end my particular unit and window to fit together  well enough.

Additional requirements included improved insulation and a cleaner look.

Step one for peace of mind was moving away from the back mud room roof area, which is just a short hop off the deck, to a side window that hangs off into the mulberry tree abyss. This corner is now accessible thanks to the replacement of the old bookcase with the new streamlined corner stack.

Then for some woodworking. I forgot to photograph the one piece that involves actual woodworking. Since I'm not taking it apart anytime soon, here's a drawing. This piece sits in the channels on either side of the window frame and snug down against the top of the a/c. It is quite stiff once slid into place. It's hidden from view by the new front panel.

Here are my plans I worked from:

All told it probably took about the same time to make as I've spent cumulatively scrubbing weatherstripping goo over the years, plus the whole thing is safer and quieter and I got to play with my Safe-t-planer.

Ok, it looks cleaner than the accordion panels and a 2x4, but I'm not claiming it's pretty! Should I paint it, countersink flat-head screws, or what?

Installation detail:

Holiday Weekend+ Beer Tote

I got the idea from uncommongoods to make this simple looking beer tote for a friend. Nick challenged me to ever complete a woodworking project, so here it is, the first one over the line since eighth grade. Not so simple with my woodworking skills, but I got it done in only twice as many days as intended. All in all I learned a lot from my mistakes and I mostly like how it came out.

Materials:

• (1) 1/4" x 5.5" x 48" poplar, Lowes--I recommend thicker if you're like me
• (18) (plus a handful for the bent and messed up ones) #18 x 1" brass escutcheon pins (brass nails), local hardware
• (1) 4-3/4" brass utility pull, local hardware
• Minwax Wood Finish Cherry, Monica's finish/paint stash
• Minwax Wipe-On Poly, my finish stash

Tools:

• SketchUp, for reverse engineering the design proportions and making a cut plan (file available upon request)
• bandsaw
• jigsaw (didn't need it, but thought I'd try it with a finer toothed blade than the bandsaw)
• disc sander
• bench plane
• sanding block
• assorted sandpaper
• drill and tiny bit ground even tinier at the tip
• rags
• 3M synthetic steel wool pad, "between coats"
• hammer, oh yes, definitely a hammer

Here's the final schedule:

1. preliminary: butt time, figuring
2. Friday: cut, sand, apply first coat of stain
3. Saturday: second coat of stain, first two or so coats of finish
4. Sunday: more coats of finish throughout the day
5. Monday: final finish coat, partial assembly
6. Tuesday: more assembly, damage, cursing*
7. Wednesday: recovery, partial disassembly, repairs, reassembly

* I did not lie on the floor this time.