Christmas projects 2011

tdubnik · Post by **tdubnik** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:04 am

I haven't spent much time on the forum for the past month or so because I was trying to get all of my Christmas projects finished. I finally finished the last one last Friday, the day before Christmas Eve.

Over the next few days I'll try to get caught up, get all of my projects posted, and hopefully spend some time posting some jigs I made to help me complete these projects.

I'll start with a simple project I built for my wife. I gave it to her early as she had a LOT of Christmas prep to do and I built this to assist her. One of the treats my wife makes is something called a cheese wafer. Our families on both sides love these things and my wife wound up making about 30 dozen this year.

Once she makes the dough, she tolls them into little balls and then has to press them flat before baking. She has always done this with a fork in the past but I knew there had to be a better way.

My inspiration for this project was a tortilla press I have seen on various forums. I decided a smaller version of a tortilla press would be just the thing. I made mine out of maple. All of the joints are woodworking joints and glue, no mechanical fasteners or hinges. I installed a gauge block so that all of the wafers would be the same thickness.

Although I made most of the saw cuts with my Ridgid tablesaw, my Shopsmith played a big role in the horizontal boring department. The uprights are are glued and pinned to the base with dowels. The Shopsmith made this a piece of cake. I used a butcher block oil for the finish.

My wife was very pleased and turned out the wafers in record time this year.

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mgdesigns · Post by **mgdesigns** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:28 am

With a circular depression in the base, that could also be a hamburger press. My mom had one made out of aluminum and she'd press many dozen hamburger patties, and the freeze them and pull them out as needed to grill or fry in a pan. Thanks for the pictures. More projects to make for sure.

john · Post by **john** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:33 pm

Neat Idea!

John

tdubnik · Post by **tdubnik** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:08 am

I built this at the request of my daughter in law who knew nothing about the other things I was building. She requested that it have a play surface and a finished surface. When flipped to the finished side it will be a coffee table in their family room. When flipped to the play side it can be a train table, a frontier log table or a Lego table.

She asked that I finish it to match some of their other furniture. This turned out to be quite a task. I must have tried 10 to 15 finish combinations before I hit on the right one. Their other furniture is finished in something called "espresso" which is an almost black finish with some brown highlights. My problem was I could not get it to stain dark enough. I finally got a match when I used a black analine dye to first dye the wood and then used a stain comprised of 3 parts of General Finishes java gel stain and 1 part candlelight. This created a nearly perfect match.

The table is built from red oak with a birch plywood top. One side of the top is finished to match the frame and drawers and the other side is surfaced with cork. The front and rear aprons were cut from one board and then put back together. This allowed a continuous grain flow from end to end including the drawer fronts.

The aprons have mitered (beveled?) corners that I cut on the Shopsmith. I built a bevel sled to assist me in getting tight fitting corners. I'll post some pictures and a thread on the bevel sled later.

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mrhart · Post by **mrhart** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:14 am

Very nice sir!

I like the cork idea. How easy is it to flip around?

tdubnik · Post by **tdubnik** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:31 am

mrhart wrote:Very nice sir! I like the cork idea. How easy is it to flip around?

Actually, very easy. The top only weighs between 12 and 15 pounds. I used 1/2" plywood to minimize the weight. The top measures about 32" by 42" and is supported by a center cross member that the drawer sides are also attached to. There are supports around the inside edges of the aprons to stop any flexing of the top.

To flip the top, just open any drawer and lift up the top from underneath. Flip and drop it back down.

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 1:45 pm

Great job, Your daughter must be tougher than mine. She asked for cabinets that h=would raise her washer and dryer to a better height. She wanted the front open to hold baskets and white paint. I was about to add drawers when she called and said leave it open. Again you can be very proud of your work. Jim

tdubnik · Post by **tdubnik** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:51 am

These are the toys I built to go along with the Frontier Logs and the play table. These toys and the truck was pretty simple as they are mostly wood blocks and dowels assembled and painted. Due to their simplicity they are perfect for a two year old grandson.

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mrhart · Post by **mrhart** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 9:09 am

tdubnik, I believe you hit the nail on the head for his age! The color, thought and imagination for your project is highly commendable in my opinion and the playtime that will recieve is invaluable! Makes me want to go home and start something for the grandkids.

holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 9:36 am

Love the finish on the table. Espresso, I believe that is a term used by pottery barn for their finishes. India ink also gets you that black base coat. Great job.

Shopsmith Forums

Christmas projects 2011

Christmas projects 2011

Part 2 - Play Table

Part 3 - The toys