Susanna and I are visiting my mom and Ron in Florida for our Christmas vacation. Here are some pictures from the trip so far:
Merry Christmas from Florida
Sankta Lucia (Church of Sweden – New York)
Maybe the third time is the charm. Or maybe we just planned it better this year (or maybe we actually planned it this year). Yesterday was the third time we have attended a Lucia concert. Two years ago we traveled to New York to watch the show. Last year we chose a closer venue, watching a show put on in a church in Hartford.
This year, Susanna joined the choir. I rearranged the schedule with the boys, and we all made the trip down to the city yesterday. We planned this one differently. It wasn’t just a quick trip down to watch the concert, it was a full weekend adventure. And we all had a great time. A little planning goes a long way…
The boys arrived home yesterday morning and we turned around and drove to the Embassy Suites in Secaucus, NJ. We drove into the snow storm heading up the coast, driving as fast as could safely be done to beat the worst of the storm. We arrived at the hotel around noon, and were able to check in early. Susanna didn’t wait for us to check in. She had to be at the church at 1pm, and we weren’t sure how long the bus/subway journey would take. The bus stop was right across the street from the hotel (take the #320 bus from Harmony to Port Authority in NYC).
The boys and I checked in, parked the car, and dragged the bags up to our fifth floor room. Will and Ben had agreed that Ben would get the floor (not the ground as Will put in his blog), and Will got the sofa-bed. The next time they will reverse the sleeping arrangements. Neither wanted to share a bed with the other. There was no fighting about it; they had arranged it between them without me having to solve the problem. At least Ben got the sofa cushions to sleep on. And he slept without a problem until about 5:30 in the morning. But, I am getting ahead of myself…
After checking in, we headed out into the blizzard to find food. We started walking to McDonald’s which was only a couple of blocks away (according to Google). We walked right by an Outback Steakhouse. We walked another half a block and decided it was too cold to walk to McDonald’s. So lunch was at Outback.
Then it was back to the hotel to get a short swim in before we had to head to the city. The boys loved the hotel. An indoor swimming pool and hot tub, happy hour, and free breakfast are a perfect combination. The pool was bathtub warm. The hot tub was hot.
We took the #320 bus through the Lincoln Tunnel and to the city. It was a short enough ride that the boys were happy to look out the window. Not like the trips when we take the train into the city from New Haven. They can’t even make it past East Haven without begging to turn on the electronics.
From Port Authority we could either take a cab, the subway, or walk the 26 blocks to the church. Ben voted for a cab. Will for the subway. Eventually we decided to walk. Okay, I decided we should walk. It was a long walk in the snow. And cold. I think maybe the subway would have been a good call. But the boys had fun pretending that giant monsters were climbing the buildings. We did stop and get hot chocolate to warm up. The boys’ shoes were wet and cold by the time we got to the church; we were early enough to get good seats. Ben promptly removed his wet shoes and socks when we sat down. I know, it was inside the church, not the best place to take your shoes and socks off. I made him put his socks back on and put a hat on until he warmed his feet up. He said that his head wasn’t cold….
Having Susanna in the choir made the concert much more interesting for the boys. Surprisingly, Will was able to sit still better than Ben. Sometimes things are backwards. The show was wonderful. The music was beautiful, though I didn’t understand any of the elvish words. Or were they singing in Swedish?
After the concert we decided to take the subway back to the bus terminal. According to Will, it saved us 20 minutes. I think it was closer to 10 minutes. But either way, it was a lot warmer and drier. Ben had still been pushing for a cab. A quick hop on the bus and we were dropped off in front of our hotel. We stopped by the lobby for happy hour. Only the cheap beer is free. But it is free. One can only wish for free Sam Adams. The boys got water. However, water is free even outside of happy hour, but I didn’t tell them that. So they still think happy hour is pretty cool.
We braved the snow to head to Chili’s for dinner. I had to convince Will that there was no way in h%** I was going to let him have fried mozzarella sticks at the hotel as his dinner. After dinner we visited the pool a while, and I tried to get the boys to bed before it was too late. I mostly succeeded. Ben crashed shortly after we got back to our room. Will was out by 9. Susanna made it back by 11; she would have been earlier if she got off at the right bus stop – but that is another story – and not my story to tell.
The next morning the boys woke up at 5:30. Or maybe before, but they didn’t get loud enough to wake me until 5:30. So, I’m pretty tired tonight. We headed downstairs (not at 5:30, more like 7:30) for free breakfast. Will ate two bowls of fruit loops, two donuts, and some sliced melon. He may have eaten more, but after that amount, who was keeping track? We again went to the pool after breakfast. Who cares about the city, as long as we get a hotel with a pool, the boys could care less where we go, and if they can play on their iPods, they don’t care how long it takes to get there. I’m thinking if you give them wi-fi, iPod charging cables, and the promise of a pool at the end, they would volunteer for the first trip to Mars.
We finished the morning up with Christmas shopping (no surprise, the boys bought each other nearly the same gifts – though independently without one knowing what the other bought) and lunch at the Olive Garden. Traffic was light (well, as light as it gets) on I-95, and we were home by 3:45.
Thanks to Susanna for paying for all the food (except for breakfast). We ate like kings.
Game Room Renovation
Susanna and I decided that one of the Christmas gifts for the boys will be to renovate their play room/game room. It is a large room over two bays of the garage and had become a collection of broken and dirty toys. We are turning it from a play room to a game room/rec room – a place for them to hang out as they get older and want space with their friends.
With Christmas approaching, and not too many weekends free when the boys aren’t here, I had to make some progress over Thanksgiving on the project.
The first step was to clean out everything, toys, furniture, etc. I vacuumed and shampooed the carpet. Early last week I found a couch and loveseat free on Craigslist. The first project was moving them to the loft. That took removing some barn boards on the stairs to get room to get them up the narrow stairs. I shampooed the couch and washed the cushions. I moved the old TV and stand up into a corner – a place for them to watch movies or maybe set up a Xbox or Wii if we let them get one. The couch and loveseat are ugly, but pretty well built – perfect for them to jump on and destroy (without me caring).
On Friday afternoon, I drove up past Providence to pick up some old restaurant booths that were offered for sale on Craigslist. I was able to get the two booths and tables for $45 – a pretty good deal. I spent yesterday morning and this morning moving the booths upstairs and installing the tables.
Susanna and I will move the soda machine up to the loft one evening when the boys aren’t here, and we will need to wash the booths and tables as well as vacuum the floor again. But I think the room is pretty close right now.
I still need to add more lights to the room, and an electric heater on a timer. The space isn’t insulated, but it isn’t that large, and will only need to be heated when the boys are using it.
I think there is room for a pool table still, as long as the table isn’t too big. We will need to get rid of the futon (which I stuffed into a corner) if we add a pool table. I may also add two more window son the south-facing wall to bring in more natural light. I’ll see what the boys want to do with the space.
Now off to watch Ben play soccer and then back to the workshop to finish the second nightstand.
The $1 chisel
I took today easy. It was warm enough to work in the shop, but sometimes it is nice to take it easy.
This morning I headed to the Griswold Flea Market. I had time between the boys leaving to go to their mother’s house and when I had to be at Ben’s soccer game (which they lost 5-0, so they are getting better).
I found a 3/8″ socket chisel for $1. It was in good shape, just missing a handle. I also picked up another 1/2″ socket chisel (with handle) for $5.
This afternoon I broke out the waterstones and had a sharpening session. It took no more than 10-minutes to flatten the back and sharpen the new chisels. I also took the opportunity to grind one of my previous flea market finds (a 1/2″ chisel) into a dovetail chisel. I ground a bevel on the sides of the chisel to allow me to clean out dovetails.
This evening I turned a handle for the socket chisel. I cut a small piece of red oak, and turned it on the lathe. I need to take a class on turning. I suck. However, sandpaper can correct a lot of things. I applied paste wax and hammered the handle into the socket. A perfect fit.
First nightstand constructed (ready for finish)
I finished the first nightstand this week. Okay, I completed everything except the finish. I’m planning on building the second table and then applying finish to both.
Overall, the table turned out okay. It isn’t perfect, but looks nice. The drawer is still a touch tight, so I may plane the sides a touch thinner before applying the finish.
This is a pretty basic piece of furniture. The four legs are square, with a slight taper starting 6-inches from the top. The aprons and stretchers are connected using mortises and tenons. The top was constructed from thee pieces of oak, and attached using screws.
The drawer is made from solid oak. The box is constructed with dovetails. They are hand-cut dovetails, and it was my first attempt at making a drawer, so the dovetails aren’t perfect. The bottom is made from two pieces of oak that I resawed (by hand – they were too wide for the bandsaw) to 3/8″ thick.
What am I happy with on this build:
- The wood is clear and the case looks nice. It is built from quartersawn red oak that I had cut from a tree that was taken down in Ledyard two years ago. I have an entire section of the tree cut into boards, so I have enough wood to make a full matching bedroom set.
- The solid drawer bottoms – I debated using plywood, but I like the feel of the solid bottom. The panel is aligned so that the wood will expand and contract from front to back (and shouldn’t bind the drawer in the summer)
- Most of the joinery is pretty clean. Not perfect, but it is getting better.
- The drawer front is a good fit. I’m hoping that there is enough gap that the drawer won’t bind in the summer, but it is quartersawn and shouldn’t move too much.
What will I do differently on the next build:
- I messed up the mortise for the bottom rail. It isn’t inset enough (the front of the mortise is lined up with the front of the rail). There is a slight gap and no front shoulder on the corresponding tenon. I’ll need to set the mortise back 1/8″ on the next build
- I will try routing the mortises on the router table. I don’t have the best mortise chisel for 1/4″ mortises. I think the router table may be quicker to get all the mortises finished. But I am not sure if I can get the full depth of mortise on the router table. The current mortises are 1″ deep.
- I’ll be more careful on the thickness of the spacers to guide the drawer. On this project they were a little too thick which requires me to plane the sides of the drawers a little thinner (and leaves a little larger gap around the drawers than I wanted).
- I need to be more careful making sure that the drawer front and sides are flush on the bottom.
- I would like to have the dovetails be cleaner right off the saw. I know that just comes with practice.
- The half-blind dovetails were tough to get clean.
- I need a better bench to cut joinery on.
- I need a better way to hold the piece down when I’m cleaning out the dovetails.
- I never properly sharpened my skew chisels. That (and the previous comment) made for a bigger pain cleaning out the half-blind dovetails than they should have been. A dovetail chisel would be a nice addition to the toolbox.
More Nightstand Progress
We are having a nice lazy Sunday morning. It is brisk and overcast outside – a perfect day to do inside things. The boys are enjoying a rare morning just taking it easy playing on their electronics. Susanna is hanging out with them.
I headed out to the workshop.
I cleaned up the drawer runners and top cleats. I then placed the nightstand top down on the router table (it is a good flat assembly surface) and centered the base on the top. I attached the top to the base with 4 screws through the cleats. I pre-drilled the holes in the cleats a little large, to give the top some room to move as the wood changes sizes as the moisture in the air changes seasonally.
Yesterday I said I would probably build the second table before building the drawer. Today I changed my mind. I started milling the lumber for the drawer. I milled a piece for the drawer front, but the wood had a crack in it, so I had to mill a second piece. I carefully fitted the drawer front to the opening, leaving about 1/32″ gap on the top to allow for wood expansion.
I milled stock for the drawer sides. However, the rough lumber I have is very thick (almost 1 1/2″ thick). Instead of planing down the thick lumber to thin drawer sides, I decided to try to resaw the sides from a single piece of lumber. My bandsaw isn’t the best, but the blade is sharp so I decided to give it a try. It turned out perfect. I have to resaw the wood for the drawer bottom as well, but the stock is wider than the 4″ resaw capacity on my bandsaw. I’ll try to resaw the drawer bottom by hand.
Three Years of Blogging
Three years ago today I started this blog. The fist post was a short “I am trying to start a new blog…. We will see how it goes.” Well, here it is three years later.
I have over 300 posts. Most of them are longer than the first one. Hopefully some of them are more interesting than the first post. I have added over 500 pictures to the blog as well as written almost 90,000 words over three years.
Here is to the next three years. I hope they are as much fun as the past three years have been.
Glue-up Complete (Nightstand Update)
I’m making progress on the night stand. I took some vacation time yesterday afternoon to meet the boys off the bus. I was able to get the first table glued before I took Ben to basketball camp. It isn’t perfect, but I feel pretty good about the construction.
Today I applied shellac to the base and top. I wound up making the top a little narrower (I had planned 20″ wide and wound up with 18″ wide). When I put the top on the base, it seemed a bit wide. Susanna agreed with me, and it took 30 seconds to run the top across the table saw and remove the 2-inches.
Tonight I glued in the cleats to attach the top as well as the runner for the drawer. Tomorrow I will attach the top and make sure the project is cleaned up and ready for the drawer to be built.
I’ll probably build the second table before building the drawers, but that is always open for change.
I also haven’t decided on a final finish for the tables. I may get some more water-based finish to spray on, or I may just use a wiping varnish. I’m leaning towards the spray finish – it will offer a little more protection than just the wipe on varnish. I have wiping varnish on hand, but I would have to go purchase more water-based finish to spray. Luckily, I don’t have to decide right away. The shellac will offer a little protection until I put a real finish on it, and they don’t need to be ready until Christmas anyway.
Random House Projects (Painting the Chicken Coop)
The weather last weekend was beautiful. Sunday was perfect for painting the chicken coop. The plan had been to let the wood dry for a while, and then paint to match the house colors. Now all I need to do is paint the garage behind it to match the house.
Nightstand Update
This week I found some time to work on the nightstands. I have material milled for both stands, but focused on putting together the first stand. Will came over for dinner on Tuesday night, and for the night on Wednesday, so I had a little less time than I had planned – but it is worth taking time from the workshop to spend with him. But I also did get workshop time both nights (a big thank you to Susanna for encouraging me to get out of the house and work on my projects).
I was able to get the carcase of the first table assembled. I still have to adjust one tenon and clean up two of the aprons prior to gluing up, but I should be able to glue up the carcase the next time I’m in the workshop.
The tables are made from red oak. I cut the mortises by drilling out the waste on the drill press and using a chisel to clean them out. I could use a good 1/4″ mortise chisel – that will be on my Christmas list (I’d love a 1/4″ English Mortise Chisel by Ray Ilse from toolsforworkingwood.com). The tenons were cut by hand. I did the first several using my dovetail saw – but the saw is for detail work and took forever to cut the tenons. The last two I cut using my carcase saw (an old backsaw sharpened by Matt Cianci – “The SawWright”). If you have any old handsaws that you need sharpened, I would highly recommend him. He is backlogged, and it takes 10-12 weeks, but a professionally sharpened handsaw is amazing to use.
The next step is to glue up the table and add the cleats/runners. Then I have to finish milling, glue up and add the top. Finally, I will have to mill the lumber for the drawer and build the drawer. I’m still a little nervous about cutting the dovetails for the drawers.
I plan on trying to route out the mortises on the next table using a 1/4″ upcut spiral router bit I just purchased. I’ll let you know how that works out. I am not sure I can get the full 1″ depth of mortise on the router table. I may have to clean out the tenons with a chisel – so it may not save me much time on construction.