New Mailbox Post

Recently I decided I was fed up with the mailbox post I bought from the Home Depot when we moved into this house in 2004. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but I wanted something just as rugged but with a bit more style.

The post we had was made out of 4x4 material, and I suppose it was pressure treated, but it weathered fast and it was always subject to twisting in the heavy winds we get here in North Texas. Violent twisting at times. My version was likewise constructed of 4x4 pressure treated lumber, with the addition of some 2x pressure treated stock for bracing.

Of course, as soon as I was done with my new mailbox post my neighbor saw it and asked me to build one for her as well. Since her house is almost directly across the street from mine I elected to change the design slightly just so they didn't look exactly alike. And in this post (and a couple to follow) I'll explain how I built them both.

Starting with an 8 foot section of pressure treated 4x4 inch lumber, I then cut off a 31" section for the crosspiece. This is a bit oversized from the final dimensions, and it also leaves the upright portion oversized.

I'm not too terribly concerned with minor defects in the wood I'm using because our neighborhood lends itself to a rustic look. Also, the interior of our home has a slightly rustic look to it, and will become more rustic as we begin redoing all the rooms, one-at-a-time.

Step two is to simply run both pieces through the table saw with the blade tilted at 45º to bevel the edges. I set the fence at 3 1/8" so the blade takes off a thin strip from each corner of the 4x4 material, which actually measures 3 1/2" on each side. I do this now instead of before step one because it's easier to handle the shorter pieces of wood in my small shop, but you could do this first if you have room. It really makes no difference.

The next step is to create the joinery for the crosspiece to mount on the upright. In this case I'm creating a half-lap joint by removing half of the material on each piece where they will meet the other piece. If I were building fine furniture I would use a different technique for this joint, but this will be sitting outside and, as I said earlier, rustic is fine.

So, my procedure is to simply define the shoulders of the joint, then make spaced cuts between the shoulders leaving about 1/8" to 3/16" between each cut. Afterward I can simply break the waste pieces out of the joint by hand and then clean it up with a sharp chisel.

This method saves a lot of time and results in a perfectly fine joint.

The original post I'm replacing with this new one had a similar joint, but the dados were more than an inch wider than the post, so the only strength in the joint came from two 1/4" lag screws. That's not the best configuration. I'm making sure the joint I'm cutting is just tight enough to stay put after sliding it together.

Following are the photos depicting this procedure. In my next entry I'll bevel the ends of each piece and join the pieces together.

Be sure to check out my Etsy shop, where I have lots of items available to accent your décor. And I have just listed (you guessed it) a Mailbox Post you can buy and put together yourself in a matter of minutes.

You, Too, Can Be Self-Employed, version 2010

Another year has passed by, so it's time for my annual pilgrimage to the local 7th grade Reading classroom for another "You, Too, Can Be Self-Employed" talk.

Each year I go to the Alvarado Junior High School in Alvarado, Texas, to the Reading classroom of my beautiful wife, Debra. I first gave this little talk in 2004, when I told the kids all about being a graphic artist and how important reading is in that job. Since I began doing this I have stopped being a graphic artist and started being a woodworker. So, a couple of years ago, I changed the talk, splitting the time between one job and the other. And this year I spent far more time talking about woodworking than graphic design. Obviously it's important to be able to read as a woodworker, right? If I can't read the operating instructions for my power tools I could do something wrong and lose a finger. Or a hand. As a drummer for the past 41 years I have to say I'm not in love with that idea. And I'm not a Def Leppard fan, either.

There were lots of intelligent, thoughtful questions during the day, and the usual goofy 7th grade questions as well. It was fun, and I may have inspired one or two kids to think about woodworking, at least as a hobby and possibly as a career. Only time will tell.

I brought props, some candle holders I've built, along with some unfinished wood so they could see the difference. Finished wood looks and feels so different than unfinished wood, so I felt it was important to see both so the finished product could be appreciated.

It was interesting to see how many kids had no idea what my tools were called or what they were used for. Several kids told my the router was a sander. That would make for some interesting sanding jobs.

Some kids knew the tools and understood their uses. Some had relatives who worked with similar tools. My goal with this presentation is to get all the kids talking about what I show them and then the cross-pollenization begins; Questions are asked of me, or of each other or of their teachers; Curiosity breeds learning. This is a great way to teach. It's a great way to learn.

Just like last year, I finished off the talk with a look at a Design Style Guide slide show. I'm an administrator of this group of artisans and I put this little tour together to promote what other members are creating. I wanted to show them that there are lots of other things they can do at home besides woodworking, lots of other Arts and Crafts self-employment opportunities out there. I think this little video makes the point in a hurry.

If more professionals in our communities took the time to go into our schools and pass on a little knowledge, or at least a little inspiration and wander, our children would be in better shape to make career choices and be encouraged to get better grades. If this opportunity is available in your community I urge you to take it. These kids will be taking care of us some day. I think it's pretty good idea to help them along the path, don't you?

April, 2010: jn3 Current Projects, part 2

The newly designed candle holders are being prepped for some "mass" production. I need some variety to test whether the design is viable so I'm building 13 more of them with different woods. I'll be using red oak, black walnut, yellow heart, curly maple and spalted pecan in various combinations, and then the buying public will determine which ones are best. Here are the blanks for this project. Once all of them are glued up and trimmed to size I can run them all across the router table one after another.

Also, I finished the stand for the small television et al that will be placed in my mother's kitchen. It is made of red oak, finished with three coats of tung oil and three coats of satin polyurethane. It has only one shelf. The television will sit on top on one end. There will be a phone and a DirecTV box either on it or under it, and there's room for her cat, Lucy to sit on top and look out the window. The back was built in two overlapping parts with a space between so all the cords can snake out the back and not be seen.

Router Table: Part 4

Alrighty! Here's the melamine top still attached to the jig, but the opening has been routed out. Perfectly, I might add. It was absolutely dead solid perfect, exactly on the lines where I laid out the job a few days earlier.

There is one mistake on this piece, but it was caused by my crappy jigsaw. near one corner of the opening in the top you can see a small nick in the white surface. The saw just had a mind of it's own, turned right and got about 1/32" outside the line. And yes, I yelled.

This is just the top removed from the jig. The mistake is just visible on the upper left of the opening.

The next task was to lay out the rest of the attachment points on the top and the substrate. The good news is that I already had the two points you can see here transferred to the substrate, so all I had to do was screw the top down, lay out the pattern, countersink the points, and sink the screws.

I prefer to use coated decking screws for almost all the work I do that requires screws. Those zinc coated screws you can buy at the big box stores are soft and very prone to cam-outs and/or breakage. I stopped using them a while ago and have had far fewer temper tantrums in my shop since.

Here's the top attached to the substrate. The sides have been squared up and the whole thing is now at it's finished dimensions.

The pattern for attaching the screws is designed to hold the top flat and to ensure that it can only be attached one way. And this isn't all the attachment points. There will be a photo of all of them in the next installment.

The top of the table and the router plate weren't exactly the same. The plate stood just a hair proud of the surface of the top. I had some packaging in the house, some of those boxes they over-package DVDs in, the ones that look exactly like the plastic DVD case. I was going to throw them away until I noticed they were just about the right thickness for this job. I cut them into pieces, distributed them evenly around the underside of the melamine top and screwed everything into place. Perfect fit. Seriously. On the first attempt, too.

Here's the whole thing turned upside down. Three of the four red oak edging pieces have been applied, and you can see the fourth one. I was going to attach these with glue and screws, but I decided not to use the glue in case I want to take it apart sometime in the future for some as yet unknown reason. You never know.

Next Time: The edging is chamfered, a finish is applied, and work begins on the underside of the router table.

Distressed Pine Candle Holder, Honey Brown

This Distressed Pine Candle Holder is a beautiful addition to any home. It's made of pine, scuffed, stained and gorgeous. It holds 4 candles and looks wonderful on a coffee table, dining table, or in your master suite.

I have a second unit for sale just like this one, so it will be easy to get a pair of them for your home.

Scented candles to fit these, and most of my other candle holders, are available from Candles by Laura, another fine Etsy seller.

•••••

I am participating in the I Made It Blog Party at Everything Etsy. Go check it out!

• • • • •

If you make Handmade Home Decor Items, come and join our team by clicking on the image below. Not only will you be able to network with us, but also you will have the ability to post your listing on our team website.

Clamp Rack

I installed this small project today. I had some time to kill, and I needed a place for my large clamps. I used to hang them from a rafter near the back of the building, but since I installed the assembly table my head will be occupying some of that space whenever I use my drill press. I was hanging them on my lumber rack for the past week or so, but that can't continue forever.

So I built this. It took about 20 minutes to put it together. I built it out of 2x4s and 3/4 plywood, with 2 inch deck screws holding it all together. It's not very big, but it doesn't have to be. I don't own that many large clamps because most of my projects are small. This holds all of my current collection and gives me plenty of room to grow.

My smaller clamps now hang from the afore mentioned rafter. I'm not tall enough to bump into those. Now I just need a lot more clamps.

Cleaned Up the Woodshop

Alrighty!!! I have pretty much put everything in it's place in the woodshop. And for the first time in months my bench is clear of all clutter and ready for me to start a brand-spankin'-new project.

That new project will be a big five pointed star for my son's school. 6 feet tall. Plywood. And I should have already started it but I need a couple of bits of information first, so I'll begin building it later this week. I still don't really know what it will be used for, but they need it, he wants me to build it, and that's enough for me.

And then I'll build my router table! I've been waiting for this for about a year! I just can't wait to get moving on it.

You can see in these photos how the new assembly table is the same height as the bench. It's also the same height as the table saw. This allows me to use both the bench and the assembly table as out-feed support for long pieces or sheet goods. In many cases I'll still need a roller stand or two between the table saw and the tables, but the added support the tables can provide is a nearly priceless addition to my shop.

I've had a great time putting all these pieces in place, and I'm going to enjoy the building process on the router table as well. After that, it's time to put all this equipment to good use. My Design Style Guide teammates are probably thinking I have given up building new candle holders and wine rests. In reality I'm just gearing up to add some major twists to my designs.

Workshop Upgrades

I have added a set of cubby-holes to store my screws, nuts, bolts, earplugs, etc. And I added some dowels to hold small clamps and a strip along the bottom to hold spring clamps.

This, along with the shelves under the new assembly table, clears up vast amounts of space for storage. I've been cramped into this building for close to two years, but I always knew I could make more room by building the new table. Ironic, really, since the assembly table is the largest single item in my shop.

As shown before, the arm that holds the vacuum hose for my drill press has been moved. And I upgraded it with two new handles to make adjusting it easier. I thought about putting on the side of the press opposite the work light, but when I had it that way before I had obstacles on both sides of my work piece. This way I can simply place the flexible tube around the light so I can see clearly, and the right side of my work piece is open. Problem solved! And the arm can lift out of the way if needed.

Assembly Table Continues

I now have a top on the table. I used 3/4 birch plywood for the top.

The shelves are 11/64 inch plywood. The lower shelves are reenforced with 2x4 material spanning the space underneath, while the upper shelves are reenforced with 3/4 birch ply under the front and back, and from above on the sides, where the supports also serve as low sidewalls to keep things where they are intended to be kept.

I finally have a permanent home for my drill press. I'll move the support arm for the vacuum attachment in a day or two, and I'll be done with that. I'll also be routing a slight chamfer onto the edge of the table this week. The table sits at the same height as my table saw, so the chamfer will be of some benefit when I'm ripping long stock and need to use the table as outfeed support.

The first thing I'll be doing tomorrow is cleaning up and moving a few things out of my shop... like the display unit that looks like a ladder. Those weathered boards standing up on the table top are the shelves that bridge the rungs of the ladder. These pieces will have a very nice, comfortable home right next door in our cozy little storage building.

Next I'll build the drawers in the center section, but I'll have to wait a while to get started because I have a couple of other projects which must be completed first.

Assembly Table Progress, part one

I'm building an assembly table against the back wall of my shop. The building is VERY overcrowded at the moment. I'm stepping around stuff and moving things every day so I can reach the walls and floor and build this table. It's not much fun doing things this way, and the photos are difficult as well, but this is what I have, and it will be fine in the end.

This unit will consist of the table top (natch), a bottom shelf on both ends and the two sections beside the ends, and a middle shelf in the two sections beside the ends. The center two sections will eventually hold some drawers. The bottom shelf will hold an air compressor on one end, with no middle shelf over it to allow easy access. And I'm building the other end of the table the same way in case I have need of easy access to some other tool I haven't considered yet. And I have no idea whatsoever if any of that description was clear. There will be more photos, though, so that should take care of it.

Right now I have most of the framework built. I would have been further along, but the weather has been so cold lately it's been very difficult to work. It was 8º F here in North Texas a few nights ago. It's hard to pick up a drill driver or use a hammer when you can't feel your fingers, and my heater just doesn't have enough power to overcome that sort of arctic blast.

There will be more photos later, and I will update you at that point.