Woodworkers Club of Houston

 February 2021 Projects test

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Bob Chenoweth - Arts & Crafts Coffee table - “Fine Woodworking” intermediate level plan (Taunton Product #011219) by Kevin Rodel, Pownal, Maine. Fumed white oak and satin polyurethane finish with beveled through tenons, grid work stretcher, half lap joints and breadboard ends with ebony inserts. Gary Rowen - I crafted another blanket rack for the daughter of friends of ours but redesigned it so that all the slats could be cut from one 1x6x8 except for the CNC engraved name plate.  It was stained then finished with brushed on lacquer.

Tim Shaunty - This is a patio vertical herb garden I made for a friend.  It is made from cedar fence pickets and is painted with FlexSeal to stop leaks.  Of course, after stopping the leaks, I drilled holes to allow for drainage.  It has L brackets to attach to their fence so wind shouldn't be a problem.  

Bob Wink - Another Wink production-”Muffler Man” made from wood and tailpipe extensions.

(Note: He looks exhausted, doesn't he?

Jack Bailie - My wife requested a stand to hold her new iPad.  This is what I came up with after four prototypes.  We finally settled on 25 degree angles. It is a little difficult to pick up, so I made grooves in the ends to make it easier.  It is made from some left over mahogany and finished with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. Now she wants one made from Oak!

Sonny Lawson - Made a couple of chairs for my nephew as a wedding present from some pictures and measurements of a mid-century original.  Used templates with a router table to dimension the shaped parts.  Chairs were finished with an aniline dye and Arm R Seal.  Cushions were purchased online.  Never realized chairs had so many angles!

Norm Nichols - I gave my scroll saw a few days off and turned on the band saw. Both boxes are aromatic cedar with 5-6 coats of lacquer. Drawers are lined with navy blue Flockit.  Back to the scroll saw. 

Tom Paulley - Item #1 Dice Tower made from rift-sawn white oak, finished with Watco Danish Oil Natural, and flocked with black velvet.  Plans from Marc Sagnuolo.

 Item #2: T-Rex toy made from mahogany and maple, unfinished. T-Rex waddles and mouth opens as you roll him along.  Plans from David Wakefield's "Animated Animal Toys in Wood".

Rick Spacek - This is a Space Force plaque I cut.  The letters are raised. The inner and outer rings are raised. There is black velour paper in center and the center emblem, Roman numbers, are raised.

Painted with acrylic paints.

Andy Tofuri/Dave VanDewerker - Dave VanDewerker and I have spent some time trying to come up with some new toys as requested by some of the organizations.  The pattern matching toy showed up in a random search for wood toys.  Dave made a template on his scroll saw for Andy to router the slot.  Andy built the frames.  The plate and bottom are 1/4" Winkwood1 pre-treated drawer bottoms that Bob brought to the January tool/wood swap. The round puzzle pieces are 1" wheels with the flat side out.  The pattern cards were created in Excel, printed on card stock, and cut (which was the most time consuming part of the project). So far we have 16 completed.  Andy has the template and plans for anyone interested in building some of these.

The Animal Puzzle was cut by Dave on the scroll saw.  Andy built the box.  All of the wood is from our favorite moulding mill's scraps with the exception of the Winkwood1 box bottom.  Puzzle parts are unfinished poplar, the frames are soft maple or alder.

Keith Van Tassel - Three views of a jewelry box I made for my brand new daughter-in-law for Christmas.  The box is made from repurposed mahogany from my neighbor's old bedstead that he was going to just throw in the trash.  The lid features what I believe is called flame wood. The small trays that fit inside the box are made from curly maple and walnut.  The box also features a hidden compartment in the base.  I got the idea for the hidden compartment from an old Wood magazine project.

Dave VanDewerker – Some random turnings that I made over the weekend, still learning. A Pecan bowl, Hackberry plate (was a bowl), two Alder lidded boxes, a goblet and lidded box made from glued up scraps.  Also was making a platter that turned into a frisbee and a lidded box that turned into a tube.

Chris Farquhar - This is a cell phone holder I made so my wife could have her phone set up next to the computer while she works from home. Very handy when she needs to have a "Facetime" during working hours; it's all adjustable. I got the idea from seeing a picture on Pinterest. I do not know the type of wood; just some scraps I had in the shop. The finish is Danish Oil then a paste wax.

Mike Hardy - Cherry and Pecan Stacking Box. Total 6"x6"x8", finished with shellac on the inside and Liberon on the lids and the outside. I did have to fill some cracks in the lower lid with epoxy.

Lon Kelley - This bowl is made from poplar and padauk. The method was to cut the bowl in half and put in the angled stripe. (What you cut a perfectly good bowl in half?) Finished with poly and wax.

David Janowitz - This is a church lectern in the shape of their logo.  Just under 5’ tall, 40" wide, and 18" deep.  My biggest challenge was figuring out construction so that it could be assembled and very sturdy.  People will certainly lean heavily on the top shelf, so the top and bottom panels go right through the vertical, as do the lower shelves.  A maple internal framework supports 3/4" Walnut veneer plywood, with the curved panels being 3 layers of 1/4" ply, glued together, and the front and back surfaces double thick.  (Only the outside is walnut, to save cost.)  The rear of the shelves are open for storage, not visible to the audience.  The base is 3" thick solid Water Oak, and has a 6"x18" mortise accommodating the vertical cross, which is lag-screwed into place.  Given the curves, all the parts attach at different crazy angles, including the 71 degree base mortise.  They wanted the cross stained dark, and I believe it was Denis' suggestion to use a gel stain on the oak base, which worked nicely.  I had to pre-finish everything with stain and water borne urethane before assembly given the tight spaces, and top, side, and bottom surfaces.  It took longer than it should have, but I learned new skills on this, and had to dust off my high school geometry for the angles.  

In last month's Show and Tell, I had a lift top coffee table.  The buyer only wanted straight grain, so I cut off the ends of two boards, and saved them for these two small matching lift top tables.  This crotch grain was too special to want to waste any, so I used the trapezoidal boards shape to meet in the middle.  Sort of an odd book match.  The legs and aprons are all mortise and tenon joints.  All Water Oak except for the plywood bottoms, with water borne urethane glossy finish.

I answered that request to build a wooden practice polo horse, and made this.  It is all white oak, except the legs, which are just pressure treated wood.  No joinery, just lots of countersunk exterior screws, and a few galvanized bolts.  I treated it with Olympic Maximum Clear Waterproofing Sealant, top rated by Consumer Reports, and rated for 3 years on decks, and 4 on fencing. (Why it is called Clear is beyond me, as it is quite orange.)   All the edges are 1/4" roundover, the head I cut out on a band saw, and that piece passes through the front and attaches in the center piece. 

All photos and descriptions submitted by individual members.
1Wink Wood: Bob Wink lives near a commercial woodworking facility that gives away what they consider to be scrap pieces of commercial grade plywood and misc hard woods.  Bob rescues this wood before a Grinch comes and takes the scrap for firewood.  Many woodworkers in WWCH have made good use of these excess pieces by making jigs, toys, and incorporating them into their projects as you’ve seen in many Show n Tell projects. This source of wood is what has become known as “Wink” wood.

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