Thursday, July 31, 2014
Now We're Getting Somewhere
Well, after a couple of years of backwards progress, Chloe is finally riding like we know she can! 2 blues at Indy in her first walk/trot/canter show...and more on the way!
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Too Many Mooviez
So our DVD/BluRay collection has grown to exceed our available storage capacity...
Instead of buying more overpriced junk shelves, we decide to build our own. Moby agrees to supervise...in between naps, of course.
I measure the space we have to work with, load up SketchUp, and draw out a set of shelves. We elect to go with a self-supporting design instead of mounting them to the walls. Now it's off to Home Depot to buy a pile of maple boards.
I built a cross-cut jig for the table saw to guarantee square cuts.
And turn that pile of lumber into a bunch of shelf-sized boards, uprights, and rear supports. As an added bonus, no fingers were lost in the production of this furniture.
The shelves and rear supports will attach to the uprights with dowels. This means holes, and lots of them.
After sleeping on it for a couple of nights, I came up with this contraption, which allows holes to be drilled square to the boards quickly and consistently in the same location and to the same depth every time.
It still took a couple of days to drill all of these holes.
The hand drill worked ok for the ends of the boards, but it would not work for the uprights. For that, I needed a drill press. Because I had no place to put a drill press, I built a cabinet to hold it.
I drew up plans from a picture I found on the Intertoobz in SketchUp and went to work.
Now it's time to go to work on the uprights with the drill press. I use a 1/4" Forstner bit, which makes very clean holes without damaging the wood.
More holes...
Now that we have all the boards to the right length with holes in all the right places, it's time to make the wood smooth. I started off using saw horses...until a couple of the uprights vibrated off and fell on the asphalt driveway. Then I bought a Black & Decker Workmate to hold each board as I worked on them. Best $40 I ever spent.
I started with 100 grit on my small hand-held orbital sander and went through all 36 boards. Then did it again with 120 grit, 150, 180, and finally 220. This took three weekends working about 4 hours a day. The results were excellent, though.
Next was assembly, which only took a couple of hours for both sets. Only three shelves are secured with screws, which are covered with hardwood plugs.
I also made feet with rounded corners to be barefoot-friendly.
For a finish, I went with boiled linseed oil. Just apply with a rag, then wipe off the excess after 20 minutes. This will take 6-7 coats applied over the course of a week. The smell brings back memories of oil painting with Nana.
Here they are after two coats. The feet are being finished separately and will be glued on once all of the coats have been applied.
Instead of buying more overpriced junk shelves, we decide to build our own. Moby agrees to supervise...in between naps, of course.
I measure the space we have to work with, load up SketchUp, and draw out a set of shelves. We elect to go with a self-supporting design instead of mounting them to the walls. Now it's off to Home Depot to buy a pile of maple boards.
I built a cross-cut jig for the table saw to guarantee square cuts.
And turn that pile of lumber into a bunch of shelf-sized boards, uprights, and rear supports. As an added bonus, no fingers were lost in the production of this furniture.
The shelves and rear supports will attach to the uprights with dowels. This means holes, and lots of them.
After sleeping on it for a couple of nights, I came up with this contraption, which allows holes to be drilled square to the boards quickly and consistently in the same location and to the same depth every time.
It still took a couple of days to drill all of these holes.
The hand drill worked ok for the ends of the boards, but it would not work for the uprights. For that, I needed a drill press. Because I had no place to put a drill press, I built a cabinet to hold it.
I drew up plans from a picture I found on the Intertoobz in SketchUp and went to work.
Now it's time to go to work on the uprights with the drill press. I use a 1/4" Forstner bit, which makes very clean holes without damaging the wood.
More holes...
Now that we have all the boards to the right length with holes in all the right places, it's time to make the wood smooth. I started off using saw horses...until a couple of the uprights vibrated off and fell on the asphalt driveway. Then I bought a Black & Decker Workmate to hold each board as I worked on them. Best $40 I ever spent.
I started with 100 grit on my small hand-held orbital sander and went through all 36 boards. Then did it again with 120 grit, 150, 180, and finally 220. This took three weekends working about 4 hours a day. The results were excellent, though.
Next was assembly, which only took a couple of hours for both sets. Only three shelves are secured with screws, which are covered with hardwood plugs.
For a finish, I went with boiled linseed oil. Just apply with a rag, then wipe off the excess after 20 minutes. This will take 6-7 coats applied over the course of a week. The smell brings back memories of oil painting with Nana.
Here they are after two coats. The feet are being finished separately and will be glued on once all of the coats have been applied.
Gratuitous Dog Pimpage
Moby in the waning days as Master of His Domain.
My nose is cold.
What the hell is that thing doing in my house?!?
I think I'm safe back here.
Zzzzzzzz...
Can we come out and play?
Tug of war
Let's cut out the middle man and chew on each other.
I have no idea what all this white stuff is or where it came from, but it sure is fun!
I'm so happy I could just pee all over myself!
Yes, I really do sleep this way!
Bestest friends ever
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