Shopsmith Forums

I need to build a gardening bench for my wife. We had one at our old house but it was old and falling apart. Did you use plans or just build it by hand and a picture in your head?
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Stan - Looking for some San Francisco contractors for a remodel.

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cousinwill wrote:Here are 3 bowls I have made in the past 2 weeks. All 3 are segmented bowls. Two are made with Purpleheart and Maple and the solid colored bowl is Paduk.

I like the looks of your bowls, great choice for wood!

judaspre1982 wrote:Project with two coats of Watco Danish Oil.[ATTACH]9438[/ATTACH]

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I just love this! Great job!

Hi...,
Really great idea....
Thanks for sharing this information.Hopefully you will successful in it because my dear i think you deeply interested in this project,this is the strong point.But sorry to say i have no pictures related to it.
Best of luck....

nuhobby wrote:Here's my latest....

It started with some jig-experiments on the OPR station:
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?p=95376#post95376

After some fits and starts, including a new bandsaw blade for resawing, I got a box assembled. The original board-grain orientations weren't optimal for the sturdiest "fingers" on the box joints, but once it was glued together then *all* the joints were long-grain-exposed, so it was a breeze to level them with a block plane. Now it's all of a piece and pretty neat (you never know until the end!).

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Hi Chris! had intended to comment on your nifty tissue box several weeks ago, but.....

I found the method you used to make the box joints very innovative. It's a little different challenge with an overhead router.

Making box joints with that grain orientation is also a little different, but with very good results. Most of the glue holding power will be face grain to edge grain, as the end grain (top and bottom of the fingers) will add only little strength. - - So what! It is a nice looking box that has the same glue holding power as rabbeted joints - plus glued end grain and the physical holding of the fingers. That's pretty strong!

Nice piece!!!! I'll keep it in mind to try similar grain orientation on some box joints.

charlese wrote:Hi Chris! had intended to comment on your nifty tissue box several weeks ago, but.....

I found the method you used to make the box joints very innovative. It's a little different challenge with an overhead router.

Making box joints with that grain orientation is also a little different, but with very good results. Most of the glue holding power will be face grain to edge grain, as the end grain (top and bottom of the fingers) will add only little strength. - - So what! It is a nice looking box that has the same glue holding power as rabbeted joints - plus glued end grain and the physical holding of the fingers. That's pretty strong!

Nice piece!!!! I'll keep it in mind to try similar grain orientation on some box joints.

Thanks Chuck! Nice to hear from you, our foremost box-joint guy ! By the way, on mine, I want to go back and check my 1/2" router-bit someday for actual dimensions. I'm suspecting it's a few thousandths off, since my joints were a tad misregistered (had to adjust them with my chisel).

nuhobby wrote:Thanks Chuck! Nice to hear from you, our foremost box-joint guy ! By the way, on mine, I want to go back and check my 1/2" router-bit someday for actual dimensions. I'm suspecting it's a few thousandths off, since my joints were a tad misregistered (had to adjust them with my chisel).

Thanks for the foremost assignment! - (I think):eek:

I Think the easiest way to check the cutting diameter of your 1/2" bit is to use a caliper and measure the actual gap cut between fingers. That way you get the actual width your bit cuts. This could be different than a measured diameter of the bit. Thats why I prefer a jig that will let you adjust that last thousandth.

Here's the completion of the project I mentioned in my other thread:
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=6276

The finishing is applied, and the stand has its new home:
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For construction it began with an MDF top rectangle fitting into mortises in the 4 legs. Then decorative rails were added around the top. Next, the secondary shelf system was built up from the several pieces doweled together and doweled into the 4 legs.

I like dowel construction for my own furnishings. It's especially easy to do with the Shopsmith and horizontal boring. And, I read that James Krenov used dowel joinery a lot. If I ever build for other people, I might go for a bit more professional appeal with true mortise and tenon.

My finish is just 2 layers on this stand. The first layer is a thin Formby's rub-on / rub-off varnish, which I've found gives walnut a nice look, even on end-grain. After that nice look is established, I added a thicker water-based polyurethane for durability. (I found out some time back that the water-based poly directly on walnut doesn't look as nice, especially at the end-grain areas which can get cloudy-looking.)

here's the latest mailbox project from reused lumber.