dp dezigns

Shutters

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:38:00 -0700

Well it's been a long time since I've posted any updates here. That's mainly due to being a first-time dad and spending time watching him grow. It was also one of the hottest summers on record here in Dallas, so there was no chance to get in the unconditioned garage and do any building. Recently things have cooled down outside, so I was able to find some time to build new shutters for the house.

I went to work on a Google SketchUp model of some different styles and settled on shutter #2. The benefit of creating a scaled drawing is that I can then create a cutlist of all the pieces I need and develop a shopping list for my trip to the lumber store.

Once I had the lumber I began to cut all my pieces and start assembly. I used clamps to hold the shutter together and then nailed the two horizontal rails on. I was then ready to stain them in preparation for installing them.

Overall I was very happy with how the shutters turned out. I just wish I had some air conditioning in the garage for the hot summer months! My hope is to keep up with posting details on the various projects I have coming up. I have plans for an entry way table and some new chairs for the patio.

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A new media center

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 08:40:00 -0700

I've recently been working a new media center for the living room. The reason for this is simple...Stephanie and I decided to take our current media center and convert it into a changing table for use in the new nursery! The little guy should be arriving near Thanksgiving time this fall. It will be just what we needed and won't require us buying something new when we can just re-purpose it.

I'll be posting on the changing table later, but for now I want to focus on the new media center.

I had decided I wanted somewhat of a simple design so that I could build it fairly quick and try out some new techniques for joining things, like pocket hole joinery and a biscuit joiner. I've also been learning how to use Google's Sketchup drawing software, so I decided it was a good time to use it exclusively on this project. In past projects I've always hand drawn my design, not necessarily to scale and then starting the construction on the project and "eye-balling" dimensions to get the right look I wanted. Well this always causes a lot of headaches and the projects took twice as long as I would like. The answer is Sketchup! Take a look at what I've created for the media center.

Before I get too far ahead here, I can't take complete credit for the design, because it originates at Pottery Barn and has been reconstructed at Ana White's - Knock Off Wood blog. I like the look of Pottery Barn and Ana does a great job of recreating them. I am not using her exact design because I had some leftover lumber I wanted to use, so I worked up my own model.

So after much tinkering, I created three views of the media center and printed them so that I could have them in the shop while I went about cutting out each piece. I like to stick them on my dry erase board so I they in clear sight and this allows me to make notes as I go.

I have already started construction and can really appreciate the time spent on the design and cut list I created. I'll post soon on the progress soon as well as give some thoughts on using a Kreg Pocket Hole Jig.

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Garage upgrade part 2

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:39:00 -0700

I've been hard at work in my garage adding some new shelving and expanding my workbench. I've completed the much needed shelving project at the back end of the garage to handle all the wood I have been collecting. I also wanted to add a permanent place for my miter saw, so I incorporated a place for that as well. I've still got some organization of miscellaneous materials, but this picture should give you a good idea of what I've done.

I also decided it was time for some more work surface area where I keep my main workbench. I came across a great article at www.finewoodworking.com and it fit my needs perfectly. My funds are limited at the moment, so I am using some 2x12's for the work surface, but I hope to replace those with a solid core door to provide a much more flat work surface. I also intend to build some more tool storage cabinets with wheels. These will provide needed storage and double as infeed and outfeed tables for my table saw or planer.

Here's a general idea of what I'm trying to accomplish over the next several months. You can see that the idea is to create rolling store underneath the work bench surface. I hope to build a base for my table saw, router and as I mentioned already a tool storage cart.

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Garage upgrade

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:53:52 -0700

I am currently in the process of cleaning out and upgrading my garage with new shelving and more workspace. I've found two great articles that I'm using as a guide and wanted to share them.

Garage Shelves - This is a great design from Matthias Wandel! You must browse around his website to see just how genius his woodworking is.

Roll-away Workshop - This article comes from Fine Wood Working and is perfect for my needs and garage setup.

I'll be posting photos soon of my progress!

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The table is done!

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:37:02 -0700

There was much excitement at my home this past weekend because I finally finished the dining room table. It was a long time coming, but the time spent was well worth it because the table turned out better than I had expected. It's great having a place to eat at and a multitude of other things that a large flat surface can accommodate. Stephanie and I look forward to entertaining lots of people now that we can comfortably seat 8 people!

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Table construction is complete

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:56:00 -0800

The process to complete this table has been long. Because of the cold weather I have been limited in my ability to work in my shop since it is not heated. Regardless, I have finished construction and would like to share some photos.

In order to attach the legs I clamped on a square to make sure everything was lined up before I drilled the holes. I had originally planned to bolt the legs on and then changed my mind once I realized that the legs were not supported enough.

I mounted the legs with dowels and added a table length brace, but it did not provide enough lateral support, so the table still moved side to side.

I decided I would need to add more lateral bracing between the legs and that did the trick. Here you can see that I've got the table right side up. I began working on sanding all the surfaces in preparation for staining.

I'll be using two coats of water based dye stain in an amber color and then two coats of a dark gel stain. The water based gel stain drys in about 2-4hrs and the gell stain requires a full 24hrs between coats. Once those layers are done then I'll finish with around 4-6 coats of urethane to finish things off.

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Table - building the legs

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:59:13 -0800

While I'm home on vacation for the Christmas holiday, I've been able to spend some time on my dining room table project.

I'm planning to use a square leg design for the table. I am gluing up the legs in the above photo. Once they are dry I will run them through the planer and get them to the proper dimension. More photos to come on that process.

Here I am gluing up some boards that will be used to mount the legs to. They will attach to the bottom of the table top and them the legs will be bolted to them to provide a secure and removable option if the table needed to be moved. My goal is to use as much of the salvaged lumber that I can. I was little short on these pieces, so I cut a half-lap joint where I glued and also put in two dowel pins for strong joint.

Next up in the building process is to cut a trough in the top of each leg so that it can mount to the the cross braces I built in the above photo.

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Gluing up the table top

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:14:06 -0800

My dining room table project is underway and I've begun gluing up the table top boards. The lumber was salvaged from my great grandfather's general store by my father who passed it onto me. I'll be gluing two halves and then glue those together. Stay tuned for details on the base of the table...

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Dining Room Table - design

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:39:00 -0800

My creative juices have been flowing and my taste buds are swelling in anticipation of eating a meal on a dinning room new table. Stephanie and I have been in serious need of a normal table to eat at ever since we got married. Our current table only seats two and it’s a bar height table, which really isn’t all that comfortable.

Once I finalize the design I’ll get started on preparing the wood for the table top. I’m really excited about the wood I’ll be using because it’s about 100yrs old. My grandfather salvaged the old counter tops from his father-in-laws general store and put them in storage long go, then my father had them in hope that he would build a table with them some day and now he has passed them on to me.

I’ll be posting some finalized plans soon along with my progress on getting the boards ready for gluing up. Stay tuned…

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