Weekly Blog - March 3rd

[john]

The Harvest Bin is Finished - Well almost!

As indicated above, it's finally finished. The only thing left is to paint the side panels. I thought I would leave the colour to be decided by my daughter if she wants it. Of course this was not entirely my decision as the plans call for the sides to be painted satin black, but powers higher than me said "no way!" Personally I think the black would have set off the natural wood frame and drawers, and top quite nicely, but...

I tried to attach a couple of pictures of the finished bin, and one of an older one. but the news ones supposedly are too large. This is the second time this happens when I have rotated the pictures. I guess I will have to read the posts on how to resize and try again later.

You can see the drawers are still a little off in alignment. The suggested handles were more round/oval at the ends and would have looked better, but these were about 1/2 the price. The plans also called for 1/2" screen to be used in the windows but I only had 1/4" on hand so I used it. The 1/2" in the plan picture did make it look a little more classy. Though it dosen't really show in the pictures, the screen is painted black and that adds to the look. All in all it came out not bad considering some of the issues I had to deal with.

One change I did make that dosen't show was to route a shallow 1/4" rabbet behind the windows to receive the wire screen as I don't like leaving any potential sharp points. In previous bins I just added a small piece of trim over the dges of the wire but I thought a rabbet was a better method on this model.

I guess it is now time to clean-up before tackling something new. My wife will especially be pleased to get the playroom back to normal before our daughter and grandchildren arrive later this week. I set-up a table there to do a lot of the assembly as there is more room and better lighting than in the workshop.

On another subject, it is nice to see all the activity on the forum these days. I remember when I first joined there were very few new threads each day but that has sure changed.

Have a Fun and Safe week!

John

[a1gutterman]

Hi John,
I am looking forward to seeing pictures of the finished project. I haven't been able to get very much shop time lately, and my shop is in a bad disarray. This weekend I attempted to clean it up/out. Between other projects, visitors and activities, I did not get very far. I have to spend some time finishing though, as in the not-so-distant future, I am expecting a group of Cub Scouts over to work on their Pinewood Derby cars. That should prove to be interesting.

[paulmcohen]

Hi John,
I am expecting a group of Cub Scouts over to work on their Pinewood Derby cars. That should prove to be interesting.

That is why I have a big gouge in my 520 table:o We decided to allow the scouts (with parent supervision) to use the bandsaw and horizontal drill press to make their cars. Someone got too close to the table with the chuck, at least the kids had fun. The kids also found the bandsaw very useful for making cardboard costume parts.

What I forgot is most of the parents had never used these tools.

[a1gutterman]

........What I forgot is most of the parents had never used these tools.

That is a good point Paul. I think that the first thing on the agenda will be a safety orientation.

[charlese]

Blog? How do you blog with nothing going on in the shop? I waited too long before shelling out for the rest of the wood for the tables which are my present project. Thought the oak down at the local molding maker's shop had cured in his racks. That's what I get for thinking:(

Thought for the week - - Procrastination never gets me anywhere!:p Now I am waiting for wood's moisture contents to stabilize and get down to same as the finished legs. Hope the relative humidity stays low and lumber moisture gets down pretty soon. The alternative is to start taking apart machines and re-assembling. Not a thing I really want to do. Others have had strange experiences ding this.

At least I had time to sharpen chisels and router bits.

Yeah John, I have noticed the increase in posting on the forum. Ain't it great!:)

[john]

I took some new pictures instead of trying to figure out how to resize the others. The discriptive post wasn't much good with out them.

These aren't quite as good as I had put a dark background behind the originals to help highlight the wood and detail at the bottom. I note I also forgot to take a view with the side showing this time which again helped show the detail.

Still can't understand the others not being accepted. They are the same size, 640 x 480 except I had them rotated to get more hight.

John

[nuhobby]

Thanks John,

Superb project! Really easy on the eyes.

BTW: I have had times when a rotated photo would not post. So I've not rotated any photos for the forums since that time, myself.

Best Regards,

[a1gutterman]

I like those bins, John. Looks like something that you could take orders for and sell.

[charlese]

John - That is one very impressive looking bin! The colors of the natural wood look super! If Daughter wants a color, for decoration, OK it's her bin!!

The pulls you selected look GREAT on the bin!! In fact, probably better than the recommended ones!

The fitting of the drawers looks great! One of the most difficult jobs is to make drawers. It is a big challenge to manufacture a box (drawer) to fit into a predetermined rectangle, while leaving proper space for sliding while not binding or rattling - and all the time getting the fronts to close with a small, but even spacing. This process would have been a mite easier if those manufactured ball bearing slides were used, along with an extra front, applied later. But you weren't offered this option and used the "good old fashioned method". Congratulations! Excellent Job!:D

It also was a very good decision to make the rabbets for the screens. Who would want the rough pointed edges exposed inside the bins?

Great Job, John! Especially with the drawers! You overcame all the issues of the warped plywood to the eye of the beholder.

[alancooke]

Great job John ! An inspiration to us all!!!!!!!!!!!!