Introduction
I published my second VLOG on Friday which you can see below. The response has been generally positive though I did have one commenter say that he felt like he was in a board meeting. 😮 I don’t think it was meant as a compliment. 😁
What Has Happened
Two Videos
I have published two videos since my last VLOG. The first was about the EXACT-90 Miter Gauge from Woodpeckers. The first part of the video was about assembling the tool. I then spent some time describing the process I went through using the five-cut test method to calibrate the miter gauge. There is also a blog article to go along with this.
The second video was about my downdraft table. I made this video in response to a comment on my shop tour video.
Lithophane Boxes
Since my last VLOG, I have been busy working on several things. One particularly interesting thing that occurred was that I built two lithophane boxes. I may need to speak to a professional photographer to see if I can find a way to capture these in a way that does them justice. They are quite striking to see in person but I have not been able to translate that into a photo or video in a satisfactory way.
I published a two-part video series on building the first of these boxes. The first box was built as a gift for my son’s girlfriend. I then sold another one to a group of doctors to be given as a retirement gift for a doctor in their group. I hope to sell more of these boxes in the future.
Corner Hutch Client Project
I also got all of the details nailed down on the next large client project that I will be building. This is a corner hutch. You can see a render of the design from Fusion 360 to the right. I am really excited to see this project come together. I also plan to have a multi-part video series of the build.
Right now I am thinking that it will be a five-part series: 1- Design Overview, 2 – Base Cabinet, 3 – Upper Cabinet, 4 – Doors, 5 – Finishing and Final Assembly. This should be a good breakdown with the possible exception of part 5 which may need to be split into two parts.
All of the materials have been purchased and I will be starting on the build as soon as today. The only detail that is still to be decided is the finish. The client knows that she wants a deep brick or barn red. We have discussed latex paint and stain options. I also plan to bring up the idea of using milk paint from General Finishes which comes in a couple of nice red colors that I think would be a really nice option.
Front Door – The Unplanned Time Sink
Another large item that arose that I had not previously accounted for was refinishing our front door. It was originally stained brown. Then several years ago a contractor who was doing some other work on our back deck refinished it with gel stain from Minwax. That finish did not stand up well to the sun and rain at all. The entire thing was peeling badly, especially the lower half that received the most exposure to the elements.
I decided to sand the whole thing down and paint it using the best quality exterior paint I could get. I naively thought that the sanding would not be that hard. Boy was I wrong. It took several days of hand sanding, scraping, peeling, and power sanding with three different sanders to get the door and sidelights back to bare wood. I then recaulked everything and applied two coats of primer and three coats of paint. I was a little sloppy in parts but I am happy with how it came out. Now, we will see how long it lasts.
What Is Coming
Client Projects
I have a list of two or three clients waiting for me to get to them. The first on the list is a good friend who wants me to turn some reclaimed beams into some occasional furniture pieces for his lake cabin. After that is a returning client from last year who needs a storage base built for a California King bed to match their existing storage headboard.
Shop Stuff
There are always things that I want to do to improve my shop. First on my list is replacing my workbench. Ideally, I would like to get a Split Top Roubo bench from Benchcrafted. It is a bit pricey but clearly very well made and I believe that it would serve me well for many years.
Another pressing need is a better solution for storing router bits. As I acquire more bits, I think about this one more and more.
Video List
Of course, I also have a growing list of videos to make. In addition to the series on building the corner hutch that I mentioned above, I have three videos to make in response to comments on other videos I have already published. These are a video on my miter saw dust hood, my folding outfeed table, and a video of tips I have come up with over the years.