Wine Rack

This is a project that I know nothing about.  I was asked to build a wine rack.  Before this project I knew that wine had alcohol and came in glass bottles.  I know now that the cork needs to remain moist which is why wine is not stored upright.  I combined two different ideas and this is the design that came out.

The ideas came from these two websites.  I hope it works.  It held a bottle of Martinelli's and a cordless drill.  It will not hold my son's cup of milk.

This is what it would be used for at our house.

Interesting little project.  It took a weekend to build and is made of pine.  Toughest part was getting the profile on the sides of the boards.  The wood liked to chip out no matter how light the cut was.  I ended up back cutting the profile on the router first.  This is the run the board with the direction of the cutter.  This is risky because the router will like to grab pull and throw the piece.  I am please how it turned out.  Probably will not make another unless I am asked.  I will post my sketches of this when I scan them in.  This is my design you will be free to use it however you would like. My only request is that you do not sell the plans.  They will be offered free here.

 Yes this is a hand sketch.  I do do some of my designs on the computer.

The Bulldozer

This is the third in the construction series.  I know I just finished it and there are three more still to do and another coming out in March.  This was a little bit of a challenge to make.  There are a lot of small parts.  Some of which I was scared to machine because they were so small.  Double stick tape was my friend in this project.  The bulldozer is symmetrical so there was a lot of duplicate parts.  Stick them together and do two parts in one pass.  The blade does lift and will scrape cheerios off the floor with out crushing them.  It is also very heavy.

From this project I learned to make sure I keep the plans close.  I was almost complete with it.  I needed to make one more part and dry fit it all together.  I could not find the plans anywhere.  I ended up having to buy the plans even though I already had them.  I still don't know where the original set is. 

On another side.  I still have one more bucket of blocks to give away.  If you would like them you need to be able to pick them up.  Email me, they are currently not at my residence.

I would like to also build a bed for my son.  So if any one would like me to make one for them please contact me for pricing.  It will be a twin with functioning drawers underneath.  If you wonder how I price my projects it is simple.  I double the cost of the lumber.  I make one for my family and one for someone else.  It is not a good business model but I am not in this to make money.

One more side note.  If anyone has an oscillating drum sander they are looking to sell, I am interested.  My drill press works but I am not a fan of the set up.

Going Postal

My life for the past few months have not been what you would call low stress.  I have a lot of people worried about me and there was a comment at work saying "remember I was nice to you when you go postal." I really do not plan on going postal and I do not think I will.  I have a couple of stress relievers for me.  One being a family who loves me, a wife who supports me.  The second is a hobby that I enjoy that brings smiles to others.  From these two bring challenges, adventures and joys that outweigh the stresses of life.
However if I was going to go postal I would have fun with it.  This is my latest project.  I made five and I am not allowed to keep any in the house.  So I really don't know where they are going.  Maybe one will end up at work just in case.  In case you were wondering.  They are trebuchets, or medieval catapults. 

These are all made out of scrap wood.  In fact, there is no two made out of the same wood.  There is pine and birch in all, some have walnut, or poplar, or oak, or beech

The fun part of this challenge is making them work.  I have been trying to launch caramel squares and they have been going about 4 feet.  This is clearly unacceptable.  So now the fun is what works and what doesn't.  I have tried adding weight and removing weight.  Adjusting the pin angle and removing the brad head on the pin nail.  There is also changing the length of the string.  I have manage to throw a Sees chocolate ball 10 feet.  That is better but not yet good enough.  I am running out of ammunition, candy has it downfalls, so I hope I figure out soon.
The other fun part of this project is that I do not care about finish or how they look in the end.  There are pencil marks and rough edges.  I do not believe they looked like works of art back in the time they were used so why should they now?
One note, Hersey kisses tend to fly backwards.  I do not recommend using them.
Here are the safety rules from Wood Magazine where I got the plans (Katie stop reading here):
Where eye protection - "You'll shoot your eye out." I did while constructing them, does that count? Check out the video.
Never aim at a person or animal - Tell that to the demo video!
Do not launch metallic or sharp objects - It says nothing about Greek fire (flaming marshmallows).

As soon as I figure the optimal way to launch objects, I will be ready to lay siege.

By the way I do consider this a toy but not for the kids.

Back from the dead

Update on the belt sander: It works!!!  The switch was dirty and thankfully wood dust does not conduct electricity.  Unfortunately I ripped it all apart to check the capacitor also.  It is not as tuned as it used to be but we will get there.  Just glad I do not have to replace it.

Fire Starters

I tend to make a lot of sawdust when working with wood.  Most of it goes in the trash. I found an article in a recent wood magazine on what to do with the saw dust.  One of the ideas is to make fire starters.  They suggested using muffin paper liners I had a couple of egg cartons so that is what I used.  I had just done a lot of planing so I used those shavings because they were bigger and they were pine (hard wood would burn hotter and slower though). I melted a box of paraffin wax.  This is done by putting it in a can and then putting the can in boiling water.  Poured about 2/3 of the wax over about 8 cups of shavings and mixed.  Then packed the egg cartons while the wax was still warm.  Then evenly dumped the rest of the wax over the top of the packed shavings.  It yielded about 2 dozen and they work fantastic for starting charcoal in a chimney.  If you would like some, I need a box of paraffin wax and two egg cartons.

Year End

Another year comes to a close and looking back at it all, I accomplished nothing that I set out to do this year.  I was sidetracked.  All very good projects.  My goal was to finish the alien nativity.  It is not quite complete.  Last piece is minor but still I want to complete the project.  I also wanted to do the entire book of Marvelous Transforming Toys.  I didn't even start it except for buying a piece of wood.  However this year was very good to me.  I purchased some new plans and was able to complete some of them.  I made a really nice heirloom doll cradle.  I still have two to complete. I have a couple more construction toys to make form the construction series.  I am also excited that I was able to pick up some business this past year and it is carrying on into this year.  Now my only problem is that My belt sander decided to die on me today.  I hope it is only a switch and can be replaced.

Alien Nativity and First Maypole

As the year comes to an end I was able to finish two nativities.  The first and probably the most simple of the two was the maypole.  I am not quite sure what a maypole is but it came out nice.  The pattern came form Meisel hardware.  It was a lot of scroll saw work.  My mother painted the figures.  I cannot paint so it was nice of her to paint them for me.  They may have looked nice unpainted but I think they would be a little hard to tell which figure was which.

This is the front and back sides.  Below is the reason I fell in love with this project:

It really spins.  I think I would be sick after this ride.  The scroll saw work was relatively straight forward.  The circles are easy to cut out if you know how to do them.  Two basic ways.  One is on a band saw with a fixture and a pivot point.  The other, which I used, is a circle template and a router.  There are off the shelf circle templates that you can buy; save your money and make one.  all you need is a grooving bit, a scrap piece of wood and a bushing guide set.  There are all sorts of plans on the internet to make these.  It is a good jig to have in the garage. 
I did modify the plan slightly.  All the figures are doweled into place.  Dowels are glued into the base and not glued into the figurine,  This makes it so kids can play with it, switch things around or make it completely lopsided.

On to the Alien Nativity.  If you look at this nativity straight on they look like aliens.

 However if they are turned sideways they look fantastic.

This nativity was the reason I purchased my scroll saw.  I purchased the patterns so I had to purchase the power tool.  I started making this set four years ago.  I completely screwed it up.  My table was not square, I was pushing the material through the blade at an angle so the blade was bowing and breaking.  I ended up burning the parts I had cut out.  This is when I started cutting puzzles for practice.  Two years ago I started this set.  If I do say so myself, it is pretty good looking.  It is made out of maple and walnut.  There are some things that I would do better next time but I don't think there will be a next time on this project. 
Interesting little tidbit.  I reduced the patterns on this by 25%.  The wise men were suppose to be three inches taller, they are 12 inches now.  Believe it or not this is not quite done.  I still have another piece to cut out.