I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted & I trust me I have not abandoned this blog. I’ve just been a bit busy this summer learning new things.

I’ll be posting again soon. Honest!

Popularity: 7% [?]

The other day I was thumbing through a copy of a woodworking magazine at the newsstand and an article on installing a ball catch caught my eye.

While I was looking at the photos & reading the supporting text for them I kept coming to the conclusion that it seemed to be a bit over thought or complicated to me.

It also brought me back to an email I received awhile back from Orion where a customer wrote him to show off a jig he made to do the same thing.

The reason for Orion sending it to me was that he was a bit confused on how it exactly worked & he was wondering if I could walk him through this.

So a few days passed & one day while on my way home, while stuck in traffic, I started thinking about both of the examples (which I do realize both work) and that there had to be a simpler way.

Click here to read the rest of the article that is posted at Horton Brasses.

Popularity: 12% [?]

How do you make distressed furniture?

That is one of most asked questions I get after I’ve made a painted piece of furniture.  So I thought I’d share how I do that.

First off let me say the projects I make are typically not beat up. I really do not believe that after going through all the time & effort to build the thing that I should then be beating the hell out of it!

Now if in the building process I find I mistakenly cut a piece too short or did something stupid that can’t be fixed… well then its game on! (But at this stage I’m taking no survivors. I’m making firewood!)

Anyway, back to my method…

Once I have completed the woodworking part of the piece I go ahead & stain the entire piece. Let that dry & then spray a few coats of shellac to seal it.

From here, I tape off or take off the part that isn’t getting painted & go through the finishing of it how I normally would.

Once I have that part completed I turn my attention to the paint.

While I’m mixing the acrylic paint (I use Olde Century Colors paint) I map out in my mind how I’m going to paint the piece in sections.

For example in the bench project I just did I painted it in this order:

• the support rails
• one end
• then the other end

Once I’ve completed a section & it’s almost dry I take a soaking wet (but not dripping) wash cloth & wipe the paint away where I think it might wear & tear. Then I wipe away a few spots just to give it a little more effect.

From here I rinse out the wash cloth & I move on to the next section & repeat the process until the entire piece is completed.

After completely drying I look at where I’ve exposed the stained parts & see if I might have gone overboard. If I have I simply repaint that part of that section.

When I’m satisfied with what I see I reassemble the project & put it to use.

And that’s how I go about making a distressed painted project. I know there are a lot of other ways to do this but let’s face it I’m lazy & this method is simple.

I mean it did take me 7 years to build the piece!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Recently I was told that on May 24th of 2004 that I finished building the following Shaker inspired table.

Now I didn’t believe that but I was also told how I quickly took photos of the table & sent them to Woodcentral.com to be posted.

So I told my wife how she was surely nuts! There was no way I build this table that long ago. I mean come on! After all I was the one who build the table! (BTW, after searching I found out that I was of course WRONG!)

The next question that came up was when I thought I might get around to building anything that resembles a seat for it.

Now in my defense that hasn’t been 100% my fault. We could never answer questions on do we buy or build or what style would chairs would look good and this time was no different. We couldn’t even agree to disagree.

So one day while I was out I got a phone call pleading with me to at least build two benches so we could at least use the table.

Once I got home I mocked up a shaker style bench. We went through the design making changes & talking about how to finish it.

I then told her how I could have them done in start to finish within the week. (That was 2 months ago!)

Well never to be one they could call slow, I finally got started on building them. Here’s the progress so far.

Now my question is this: “Can I pawn this off as a anniversary present?” Now I’m joking I assure you! (But hypothetically, what if I wasn’t?!?)

Popularity: 9% [?]

Today while at lunch I was busy trying to sketch a project that I was designing as a tall laundry room cupboard for my house when a fellow co-worker/woodworker stopped to take a look.

While we were talking about the piece, why I was designing it and what it would be used for, he made a comment that my project had a flush mounted door. He then went on to tell me how he hated flush mounted doors because you have to chisel out the wood while installing the hinges. He finished by telling me that the time wasn’t worth the effort in his eyes.

At that point I just kind of smiled and said I don’t do any of that.

At first he gave a quizitive look of “huh?” and then after a few seconds of letting what I said sink in, he said “please don’t tell me you just flush mount the butt hinges?”

That’s when I opened up my web browser and introduced him to “H” hinges.

Part of a Thomas Jefferson reproduction

Click here to read the rest of the article at Horton Brasses.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Recently I received my December issue of Popular Woodworking magazine. While looking at it during lunch, one of my woodworking co-workers stopped to look at Glen Huey’s Line & Berry Chest of Drawers that graced the cover.

Photo provided by PopularWoodworking.com

After thumbing through the article he smiled & said it must be nice! Puzzled I took the bait & asked, “What do you mean?”

That sparked a discussion about why one should use/buy quality lumber & hardware on projects & then suddenly his point finally surfaced. “Did you see the price of that hardware?” he blurted out.

Click here to read the rest from Horton Brasses

Popularity: 14% [?]

Recently I was talking projects with a couple of my woodworking buddies. One was working on a chest of drawers & was complaining about having to measure, mark & drill each pull for every drawer. I kind of smiled & told him I have a simple solution shortcut for that. Below is a step by step procedure on how I install drawer pulls on all of my projects.

After I have built & finished my project I get the smallest drawer & lay out the hardware I’ve selected.

Click here to read the rest of the article at Horton Brasses.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Welcome to CreatingSawdust.com’s The Week In Wood Ep. 35 – “The Last One!”

The Week In Wood has been fun but while it was always a test run for something much larger & that test has come to an end. This podcast was used to test bandwidth, equipment & software for a bigger upcoming project. I hope you will understand.

Now on to this weeks stories:

Popular Woodworking:

• Glen Huey gave us a video tour of his cover piece in the December issue of the magazine & a behind the scenes look at “Reading the Binder.”
• Chris Schwarz shows us an unusual shaped wooden nail & how to re-handle a chisel.

Fine Woodworking:

• Fine gives us a video series on building a cherry bookcase.
• We also get more in their marketing series while also learning to mine a customer base.

Woodsmith Tips:

• The video tip give us a “Simple Guide for Drilling Shelf Pins.”
• And the text tip shows us how to use our drill press when “Driving Threading Inserts.”

In The World Of SketchUp:

• Fine Woodworking gives us an updated plan for a Shaker Lap Desk.
• Tim Killen talks about “Making/Copying Chamfers in SketchUp.”

Ending:
And that’s “The Week In Wood” for November 21st 2010. Be sure to check out CreatingSawdust.com for all the links related to this week’s stories. It’s been fun!

Popularity: 47% [?]

Welcome to CreatingSawdust.com’s The Week In Wood Ep. 34 – “Are You Going To Italy?”

This is where we try to recap this weeks stories in under a minute.

And here’s this weeks stories:

Wood Magazine:

• In conjunction with Freud, Wood announced “Build a project win a trip to Italy”

Popular Woodworking:

• Pop announced an upcoming dovetail workshop with Glen Huey.
• Chris Schwarz talks about an upcoming project in the magazine.
• Megan Fitzpatrick informs us that we can get a free PDF copy of the updated “Wood Handbook”

Fine Woodworking:

• Fine asks “Can Brian Boggs change the world for pro furniture makers?”
• Also Fine unveils “ReadyNow”

Woodsmith Tips:

• This weeks video gives us time saving tips when doing glue ups.
• And the text tip shows us how to build a brad driver in the shop.

In The World Of SketchUp:

• Bob Lang goes over “Changing & Stretching”
• While David Richards gives us a look at the camera tools.
• And Tim Killen explains the chamfered post table in his latest book.

Around The Web:

• Lonnie Bird talks about sawing a crotchwood log.

Ending:

• And that’s “The Week In Wood” for November 14th 2010. Be sure to check out CreatingSawdust.com for all the links related to this week’s stories and we’ll see you next week!

Popularity: 17% [?]

Awhile ago I had asked Dave if he could help me design and build an attractive solid wood piece of furniture that could hold my many LPs.

I have been a collector most of my life and felt it was time to design something that looked good, provided lots of storage and would take up much less space than my previous collection of twelve crates on two different stands. The crates had served well for many years yet I felt as though I was running out of space and needed to find a solution at hand.

From the beginning of the process to the end, Dave was intuned to my ideas for the piece and every little detail associated with its design and construction. I had never done anything like this before and found comfort in Dave’s expertise and experience in wood working. He is a master of his craft.

As the piece began taking shape, certain ideas and design elements changed. Some at Dave’s request and others from myself. He kept me in touch with the construction details every inch of the way. He questioned my desire to use White Oak, yet did not try to persude me to choose another wood. He is a skilled and professional craftsman who keeps the client in mind at all times.

As the piece was nearing completion, he mentioned how nice it was looking and that some friends in the field who questioned the use of White Oak for an indoor piece of furniture began turning thier heads at how nice it was turning out to be.

I knew what I wanted in the end and with Dave’s knowledge and expertise in the field it came to be. The piece uses less than a quarter of the space than was previously required for the same items. My choices of wood, stain, hardware etc turned out perfect. The piece is functional, very pleaseing to the eye and solid as a rock.

I could not be more pleased and would recommend Dave Griessmann to anyone out there looking to create that perfect piece for your space and needs.

I Thank You,
Chris S.

Popularity: 19% [?]