Odds and Ends

I have been focussing on clearing the table of a few small projects before I dive into the Hammond Glider resto.

First up I was able to get the 12" Rockwell bandsaw project finished. The saw was in pretty good shape for its age, other than a bit of surface rust and a missing part, and the motor needed mounting. Here is the saw before:

A big push one full day got most of the resto work done. I took the bandsaw table and guide assemblies apart, cleaned everything, and put it all back together. I didn't bother replacing the bearings or the tires on it. I had to get a new upper thrust bearing assembly made at a local machine shop.

I cleaned the rust off the table by first scraping it off with a razor blade, brushing it with a brass wheel chucked in an electric drill, spraying it with wd40 and sanding it with 400 grit in an ROS, then cleaning and waxing with carnuba wax. Came up pretty nice I think.

The stand is of elm that I harvested, the mobile base is of purpleheart that I originally thought I would use on a cabinet, that didn't happen so now it's a mobile base. I made these up some months ago, they were not part of the one day resto!

Still need to fashion some kind of cover for the exposed end of the motor shaft, and to add a dust collection port to it. Someday.

Meanwhile I also went to a friend of a friend's place up the coast with my chainsaw mill, he had a 4 foot diameter yellow cedar butt that was 6' long. It was originally from Haida Gwaii, and had been quartered so it was easier to manage. We got about 25 nice slabs out of it, mostly quarter sawn with beautiful tight old growth grain. I brought home five gorgeous pieces about 2" thick.

Bookcase Done!

Finally completed the 13 month long bookcase project.

Moved it upstairs into position in the living room. Something I had not anticipated was that it came up the basement stairs with only about an inch of clearance. Could have been a real disaster!

It was intended from the start to fit into a corner of our living room. Even though several of the panels had some sapwood on them, sapwood is quite invisible from most locations in the living room. I am pleased with the way I was able to hide it from view. I also made up half a dozen spare consoles, they are stored on a strip under the bottom shelf.

I made it as gift for my (very patient) wife, using elm I had harvested myself with my chainsaw mill. So I was prepared to accept the flaws in the wood as it had more significance to us.

The following shot shows more of the consoles in place. The only significant error I made in this project was when I drilled the holes for the consoles in the central frame piece on the back. I failed to drill them in the centre, they were offset by accident, so to compensate I had to drill matching holes equally offset in the other direction. That it why there are two consoles on the middle frame piece rather than one. 

And here it is in place with the shelves in, ready for books, family photos, and other treasures.

What is next? Well four people have contacted me with logs to mill on private property, so looks like the season is not quite over for that activity yet. Also I do have a small shelf project I started as a 'thank you' for a neighbour who gave me some walnut. I want to finish that one.

Then stand by for a major machine restoration, my Hammond Glider sliding table saw.

After that I will probably start another cabinet, I've been inspired for a long time by one I saw by Zivko Radenkov, a student of James Krenov's and a College of the Redwoods graduate. It's elm veneer with an inlay of dogwood flowers, called the Dogwood Cabinet. (Search for it on that page, it's near the bottom.) A beautiful piece, but one that may still be beyond my skills. Radenkov has a couple other cabinets on this same page that are even more stunning.

So I will continue to dream about that one, but probably go for something intermediate to that, a curved glass front cabinet comes to mind, I need to get away from doing rectangualr stuff!