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LATEST NEWS -- Update -- 04/22/12

These are a stair set and a ramp to permit Angel to get on beds in a relatives home. The stair is for the parents. Later the son wanted one for his room, so I made a ramp. It is covered with carpet from our living room as we had our carpet replaced with laminate. I rarely make two of anything, and the ramp was much easier. The dog likes them both!

This is a new lamp I made last week. Betty liked it a bunch, and wanted 4 more. The vertical body is made from slow growth pine and the top and base are from cherry(2 lamps). The others are made from ash and cherry. By the time you buy the hardware and shades, they are not cheap.

This is a magazine rack I saw in a popular woodworking magazine. It holds 3 tiers of magazines with about 10 or so per tier. Naturally, we will let it get so full it will pull the wall down. Then we will start over. The rack is made from clear ash. I stained the central parts with red mahogany stain, but left the sides clear. I like the contrast.

Miss Betty found a picture of this shelf system in a home fixer upper magazine. Thought she might want one. It is a fairly straight forward construction job. The back board is 45" high and 36" wide. It is 3/4"birch veneered plywood.

The shelf was designed to hold only very light objects. However, we needed a place to put a few books. Mostly ones we had checked out of the library. So, I modified the bottom shelf to be 7" deep. I then made the supports so they could carry the weight of a number of books. I think it will work out ok.

A while back Bill Hinson & I were discussing a Box Joint jig that was available from several wood working tool outfits. They cost about $90. The other day, I decided to make one and see how it worked. This is the resulting jig. It is mounted on the router table. I had to extend the length of the jig to allow clamping it to the table top. Not shown in the picture is the dust collection pipe. you can see the work piece in place on the jig.

The key on the left is the guide that spaces the the work piece after each cut. This approach makes certain that each cut is exactly the same distance from it's neighbor. It also assures the the sides of the box will fit together.

This view shows a finished box corner. The pieces fit together easily, and the top & bottom are even. After the box is assembled the sides are sanded to remove any overlap of the fingers. This type of assembly for boxes is very popular for small fancy boxes and jewelry boxes. The corners can be assembled with glue and with out any nails or screws. It makes a very strong joint. The Kleenex box shown later uses this type of construction.

This is my latest woodworking project. It is an ironing board holder that mounts on the wall. We needed more room in the bed room so this keeps the ironing board out of the way when not in use.

This view shows the ironing board nested inside the cabinet. The original ironing board was one that was suspended from a door. I cut the suspension pieces off and used some of them in the cabinet.

And this view shows the ironing board ready for use. The cabinet is made from yellow pine I got from a lumber mill near Huntsville, AR. It is real clear fine wood. The finish is colonial maple to sorta match the bed room furniture. The panels are birch veneered plywood.

I recently finished the shelf assembly for the living room. It is made from clear ash. The horizontal strips mount directly on the wall. I need to add 3 or 4 more of the shelf inserts. The wall strips are 45" long and the strip assembly is about 36" tall. It really changes the appearance of the living room, although you can't see it with just picture.

This picture shows how the individual shelves fit into the strip assembly. They can be inserted anywhere along the assembly and scooted along it to get just the right position.

** Well, I guess everyone knows Alphonse by now. New Alphonse adventures - He has had several new adventures, including; the Election Committeee, The Lobbyist, The Slippery Guitar and Puzzled. Also, I have set up a directory for Al's adventures, the link groups just got too big. You can go to the Directory for a list (with links) of his adventures.

**This is my new router table. I made it from scrap wood I got from Chris Goins - Betty's boss. I don't know what kind of wood the body is made from. It is very soft and machines like basswood. The top is a sink cutout from a sink installation somewhere. I installed a piano hinge on the back edge of the top. That way, I can raise the top to adjust the router.

**I suppose everyone has several pet peeves - I do. One is dealing with a box of Kleenex. When you first open a box, every time you reach for a Kleenex you get the box with it. Then, when the box is down to about 25% the same thing happens. I know you can purchase plastic covers for Kleenex boxes that will help this problem, but they don't go with anything. So, I decided to make a Kleenex box from the scraps I had left from the table construction. Then I would have a box that matched the table. The first picture is of the box before sanding and finishing. I used the typical box joint construction.

This picture is after sanding and applying the finish. I used oil based polyurethane for the finish. You will notice the polyurethane adds a yellow/gold color to the wood. I happen to like the color. Some don't. The color of the following tables is due to the finish. Water based polyurethane doesn't add any color, and many furniture builders prefer it.

This is a table for the living room. It fits between our recliners that are situated to point toward the TV. The table is tapered so it will not leave a gap along the arms of the recliners. It was supposed to be cypress, but the wood we selected turned out to be ash of some variety. I like the colors in the wood.

The front view shows the drawers a bit better and the color of the wood. I will build a matching end table soon. That is, right after I finish an entertainment center. The entertainment center will be made from sassafras. It is very interesting wood, but not as much character as the ash.

This is the entertainment center I made specifically for my audio/video equipment. This is made of sassafras as opposed to calico ash for the table above. It finished out nearly the same color with just polyurethane. The grain stands out good.
The center includes a receiver/audio amplifier, a CD player, a digital (DAT) tape player, a DVD player, and the Disk Network receiver. All wiring is done inside the case, so very little mess outside the center. What appears to be something black sitting on the top of the center, is actually the reflection of the TV!

This close-up of the top shows the grain structure and how it stands out. Of course, the wood is cut into strips about 3 1/2" wide and glued together. This tends to eliminate warping.

This is the new end table I built from more of the calico ash. It is supposed to look like the first one except that it has a rectangular top.

As in the picture of the other table top, the grain of the wood shows the character of the wood. Most cabinet shops will not use any wood that has character.

** In response to questions about what type of woodcarving I do, I have returned Paul's Carvings to the website. I will add other newer carvings from time to time.

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