# Another Alternative Method Jewelry Chest build



## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

So the new Grizzly G0555P arrived and I have it set up and working,









I put the mobile base under it yesterday and even I can move this 200 pound machine around the shed with one hand.:thumbsup: 









This thing has a huge DC port on the back, but a little Irish Engineering and it connects to the shop vac just fine.









I still need to get the riser kit installed, (not a job I can handle alone) but I'm in a bit of a hurry to build two Jewelry chests in time to get them shipped to my Grand Daughters up in Fort Campbell KY.

Since I'll be making both of the chests alike and building the same one as Kenbo and Longknife already did (the tall one not the slanted one), and because I got myself a new camera, I figured it do a write up on it. Just stop me if you've had enough of these and I'll quit....

So I went to a local supplier and picked out a couple of 8/4 sticks of Walnut.









Those boards with the blue ends are them. $150.00 worth of wood seems very expensive just to cut into pieces...I may have bought too much, but then again this is my first time buying rough lumber as I'll be resawing these on the band saw. Also the selection of S4S at Lowes and HD is very limited. If I have any left over, I still have some things I need to get done for presents.

So tomorrow I'll get started cleaning up the shed and cutting some wood.









The piece on the work top cut from the white wood is the final candle holder I'm making this year and the first curved cut off the new saw. Its extremely rough on the cut edge. Maybe I'll try those timble wolf blades and see if I can get a smoother finish cut. But that won't be until I get the riser installed on the BS.

Remember, if you have had enough of this, just tell me to stop and I'll quit.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*compare this price on ebay*

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Woodworking...636613582?pt=Clamps_Vises&hash=item43ab4ac7ce

Good? :blink: bill


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Woodworking...636613582?pt=Clamps_Vises&hash=item43ab4ac7ce
> 
> Good? :blink: bill


Considering Grizzly doesn't have that blade listed and they are the only ones that I've looked it, that is a very good price. :yes:

The seller is away until the 3rd, so I couldn't get them here until the middle of next week . I will be ordering at least one to try it. That will give me time to finish up that last candle holder before starting a new project.

Thanks bill.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Saw looks nice-"$150. seems too nice to cut into pieces" I know-cutting up that nice wood seems almost a sin-but I doubt if they would like getting a board for christmas and they would be kind of spendy to ship. :no:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

mike1950 said:


> Saw looks nice-"$150. seems too nice to cut into pieces" I know-cutting up that nice wood seems almost a sin-but I doubt if they would like getting a board for christmas and they would be kind of spendy to ship. :no:


I know what you mean Mike. The daughter who will be getting the last candle holder was here when the saw arrived. Her husband helped to get the big box into the shed and she saw the piece when it was nothing more than two boards glued together and clamped to cure. Her comment when I told her it was her present was "Dad, that's just two boards!" :laughing:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

For starters Johnnie, I'm not tired of these builds and I am looking forward to seeing you pictures and following along with your project. Secondly, I know that $150 seems like a lot when it comes to boards, but look at it this way........I bought my bandsaw years ago and I paid attention to how many boards I resawed and what the big box stores were charging per board foot. Let me tell you this. Those $150 boards would cost you 4-5 times that at one of the big box stores. My saw practically paid for itself in no time. Looking forward to the project man. Gonna be a good one.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Nice saw, Johnnie. I wish mine was that nice. I, for one, am NOT tired of build threads. In fact, I really enjoy them. Bring it on.



mike1950 said:


> ... but I doubt if they would like getting a board for christmas and they would be kind of spendy to ship. :no:


Well, *I* _would_ like getting boards for Christmas. Just saying. Let me know if you need my shipping address.


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## tcleve4911 (Dec 16, 2006)

I never get tired of these types of posts.
Great tutorials and reminders that we all face the same issues.

Thanks for taking the time for us, Johnnie


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Kenbo, not only would the lumber cost $23.00 a foot in the big boxes instead of $10.50 a BF at the supplier, I could have gotten Oak, Poplar, Aspen or Pine... period! They don't carry Walnut, which is what I'm using for these builds.

Speaking of builds, today started out terribly. They delivered the wife's new dryer yesterday and were supposed to fully instal it for us. We discovered that they only plugged it in and half way connected the vent. So I found myself at HD getting a new vent pipe because the delivery person made a terrible mess of things. Came home and fixed the vent, leveled the machine so it doesn't try to walk around the room and ran a circulation test. All this was done in accordance with the machine's manual. The test came back showing a blocked vent, which I know to be false as I replaced everything from the outside hood to the back of the dryer.

I spent the next hour on the phone with the tech support guy pushing buttons and telling him nothing had changed. What ever happened to the good old days ... plug it in, push the go button and forget about it... This thing has more buttons than the space shuttle and it makes all sorts of beeping sounds... Sheesh! They are sending a tech to look at it next week...

Anyhow, at about 2:30 PM I finally got out to the shop. Pulled my pretty new Porter Cable 6" jointer onto the outside deck, 










Hooked up the vacuum hoses to the shop vac,










Checked the Fence to be sure it was set to 90 degrees,










and began shoving Walnut through the spinning blades.

What started out looking like this...










quickly became a very nice smooth edge,










and it is even square!










So far so good. It only took about five passes at the shallowest cut setting to get to this point.

Now I moved to the car port and set up for some cuts at the Table Saw.

First I checked that my thin kerf rip blade was properly installed to the saw, verified a 90 degree angle to the table and set the blade height to take a high cut. The blade was set higher than I'm showing. It was actually high enough to have the teeth coming down onto the board instead of going into it at a low angle.










I then set my rip fence to six inches and verified that at the blade manually using my favorite folding rule. Once I was happy with all my settings, I ran the board though cutting it down to six inches from the seven and an eight that it was from the supplier.

I gotta tell you guys, this Freud Diablo 24 tooth thin kerf blade cuts like a hot knife through warm butter! 

My plan was to make a couple of cuts through the 8/4 board and then finish the resaw at the band saw... but... as it turned out, I was able to completely resaw the six inch thickness at the table saw! This left me with two boards, 59 inches long by 5/8" thick and a third board that was 59 inches long by 29/64's thick.










Always remember to wear those ear protectors!

This is all that is left of that single 8/4 piece after jointing an edge, and ripping to a six inch width, then resawing to 5/8 thickness.










You can see that I have a strange shaped piece that came from the unjointed edge. I won't waste it as I have plans for that piece in these builds.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

As long as I was at the table saw, I decided to cut the plywood panel for the back, the ring holder and the drawer bottoms. I changed to my 200 tooth plywood blade, Got my panel sled off its wall hooks, verified a 90 degree blade angle, and double checked that the sled was square to the blade. Its been about a year since I last used the sled and its been hanging on the carport wall all that time.










To my delight, the sled was perfect! So I marked my 24x48x1/4 Oak plywood sheet for a 24 inch cutoff,










Then, using the sled to carry the sheet of plywood, I cut the sheet into two 24x24 pieces. I then repeated the process to cut one of the 24x24 pieces down to 12x24. 

Three benefits of using the sled are:'
1. It is much easier and safer to push a sheet of plywood through the saw.
2. I only need to make a small mark where I want the cut rather than trying to draw a straight line the entire length of the sheet!
3. I always end up with nice square corners!










And that plywood blade leaves a near perfect cut with no tear out. The tear out in the photo above came from Lowes! They can't make as clean of a cut as I can!










So, with all the cuts made for today on the carport, its back out to the shed I go. I rearrange the machines, moving my jointer out of the way and rolling my thickness planner out. At this point I decided that a full 1/2 inch seemed just a little too thick for this project. So I planned things down to a uniform thickness just over 7/16". I ended up somewhere in between 1/2 and 7/16 inches.










So, as the sun began to set in the Florida skies, I moved the machines back into the shed, carefully stickered my freshly cut pieces,










Cleaned up and shut down for the day. Tomorrow I plan to work on the last candle holder so I can move that off of the shop bench and onto the carport for finishing. That should give me room to assemble the chests.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Wow Johnnie, I'm just catching up - you are tearing through this! Awesome start and you've got yourself one heck of a nice mobile shop there! I'm planning to build one of these for my daughter (hopefully for her February birthday) so I'm looking forward to some learnin'! :smile:


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

I love these threads. Keep it coming, please. Isn't it great when you smooth a piece of rough cut and see what's underneath?

Sorry to hear about the dryer. What did happen the a knob with three settings, a timer and a start button? They seemed to work.


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Nice start! I'll be following this closely. As you are making two of them, are you making the pieces for both or do you finish one and then start on the other?


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Longknife,

The plan is to make them both together so they can be shipped in time for Christmas along with the candle holder I've already made for their mother and a toy monster truck for their 2 year old brother. I'll be happy if they are finished by the end of this week. Right now my biggest dilemma is how to make the different enough so the girls don't have any issues about which one belongs to which girl. Pre-teen girls can drive a person nutz! :wacko:


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

johnnie52 said:


> Right now my biggest dilemma is how to make the different enough so the girls don't have any issues about which one belongs to which girl. Pre-teen girls can drive a person nutz! :wacko:


You might do that with an inlay like Frank is doing on his? Perhaps there is something that each of them likes or an initial? Could use some other decorative inlay to distinguish them.


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## lawrence (Nov 14, 2009)

Great job !!! keep it posting and Ill keep it read...lol. btw...did I miss something?...what lottery did you hit?
new BS and joiner(the two things I need most) the jealousy is almost overwhelming..........


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Two things, Johnnie. First of all I like your planer stand. 

Secondly, I feel the urge to comment about how impressed I am with the fact that you are able to do so much with the rather limited amount of space you have to work with. Granted, you're able to pull things out and work outside of your shed. But I'm impressed none the less. You really make the most of what room you do have. And your work is every bit as good as it would be if you _did_ have room to swing a dead cat by its tail and not hit anything.

Keep up the great work.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Two things, Johnnie. First of all I like your planer stand.
> 
> Secondly, I feel the urge to comment about how impressed I am with the fact that you are able to do so much with the rather limited amount of space you have to work with. Granted, you're able to pull things out and work outside of your shed. But I'm impressed none the less. You really make the most of what room you do have. And your work is every bit as good as it would be if you did have room to swing a dead cat by its tail and not hit anything.
> 
> Keep up the great work.


+1 here


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Shop Dad said:


> You might do that with an inlay like Frank is doing on his? Perhaps there is something that each of them likes or an initial? Could use some other decorative inlay to distinguish them.


My wife suggested the same thing! I've never tried to do any serious inlay though, and really am afraid that I'll mess things up if I try.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

lawrence said:


> Great job !!! keep it posting and Ill keep it read...lol. btw...did I miss something?...what lottery did you hit?
> new BS and joiner(the two things I need most) the jealousy is almost overwhelming..........


You don't want to hit the same lottery, trust me. The VA finally paid me a bunch of back pay for service connected disabilities on a claim I filed a few years back. I was able to get the tools I've been wanting for years (you haven't seen the oscillating spindle sander yet), and got the wife a bunch of nice things also. I still have a claim pending with them, perhaps if they pay on that one as well, I'll be able to build a real shop!

Just so you guys don't feel left out, or think I've been slacking.... After getting the shop semi-cleaned up and the work top cleared for some glue ups on the jewelry chest later, I spent the rest of the day working on the final candle holder that will be given away this year at Christmas.

Here it is at a dry fitting.










It still needs lots of sanding and some stain to give the Aspen some character. Then its on to final assembly and finishing. Followed by boxing and wrapping before #3 daughter sees the finished product. As long as she thinks she's getting a couple of blocks of wood that are glued together the better....

Tomorrow's plans call for cutting the sides, tops and bottoms for the chest and getting those machined and glued. Maybe I'll get the frames for the doors cut also. We'll see how it goes.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Johnnie, don't stain the Aspen, that looks great as it is. I used to use a lot of stain and in the last few years have really come to appreciate the woods for their natural colors, especially with contrast like your candle holder. JMHO.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Sawdust, the plan was to use a gun stock stain. Not sure if I will now.

On to today's efforts to build a pair of jewelry chests...

First I cut off the rough, uneven edge of two of the boards which I'd machined from my 8/4 chunk using my radial arm saw.










This gave me a nice clean, square edge to work from. I began by measuring 8 1/2" and marking the board to make the first cut. I prefer to use a white pencil when working with dark woods. It makes things easier on my tired old eyes... I usually buy a box of 20 at a local art supply store.










With the reference line drawn, I turn on the saw and use the laser guide to align the blade and carefully pull the saw across the board.










From here is basically a cut, rinse, repeat process to mark out two 8-1/2 and two 16 inch pieces from the boards until all eight pieces have been cut. That is, it would be if I had not made a near fatal mistake when I resawed the boards from the 8/4. 










Seems I forgot to turn the board properly when I started to make one of the cuts. This has to be fixed! Sure I have enough material to just make a new side piece, but I can't seem to bring myself to scraping expensive lumber (yet).

I brought out my tall aux fence and after careful alignment of the blade, the fence and the work piece, I proceed to cut a groove along the entire board.










I ended up with a step in the piece,










After carefully measuring the amount needed to make the patch, I set up again with a fresh piece to make a filler using the tall aux fence and my home made depth gauge.










Then using a fancy feather board, I separate the patch from the piece.










Now it simply a mater of gluing the patch onto the work piece and allowing it to dry over night. If I ever make this mistake again I'll try to patch a short piece instead of a long one. While the patch is drying, its over to the router table where I set up a 3/4 straight bit to make the rabits on the top and bottom ends of the side panels.

Remember, I decided to make the carcass thinner than the 1/2" called for in the plans. So from this point forward, the plan dimensions for the shelves and the rabits do not apply!

Again, using a fancy feather board at the router, and a backer board the same thickness as the side panel, I make the rabits on three of the four long sides.










I like these Feather Guards. They are three things at once, a feather board, and hold down, and a safety bit guard. I had only limited use of them on my old router table, but this new one has a "T" track and lets me use the guard for almost every cut.

With as many rabits finished as possible at this point, I changed to a 1/4" straight bit in the router and adjusted the fence to make the dados for the plywood back panel. I ran all of the carcass pieces through the router at once.










This provided all the carcass milling possible for the time being.










I then installed my plywood blade in the table saw, checked it for square with my panel sled and 90 degrees to the table and after a few careful measurements of the dados on the dry assembled carcass, I cut one of my plywood panels to make the back.










After a few adjustments for fit, I dry fitted the first of the two chests and was pleasantly surprised at the fine fit.










As you may be able to tell, I was forced to turn on the carport lights at this point to cut the plywood and test the fit. I don't like working under the lights as they cast a lot of shadow which makes it hard to tell if you are doing things correctly.

So it is time to put the toys away and call it quits until tomorrow.

I did do one more job tonight. The riser kit arrived for the band saw, and my son-in-law came over and helped me get that installed. I'll get a picture in the day light. It certainly makes a difference in how the band saw looks.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Now that was cool man. Don't know if Id've thought to make a patch. Lolling good on the boxes.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Loving it johnnie. Keep up the great work man.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Tonight's installment will be a short one. The wife wanted to go shopping, and that always turns into an all day ordeal...

To begin, I cut down the remaining piece of 8/4 walnut so that the section I'll be taking from to make the remaining parts will be easier for me to manage. 









I still need to make the door frames, the ring holders, and the door panels. They will be cut from the longer piece of 8/4, leaving me the shorter piece for some other projects I need to get done before Christmas.
I remembered that I'd promised you guys a look at the new band saw in its final form. So here it is as it was with a 6" resaw capacity.










Now here it is with the riser kit installed..



















There is a full 12 inch resaw capacity now where before there was only 6 inches. Its not like I'm planning to go into the lumber mill business or anything. I just got real tired of needing a 9 inch board for something and planing away 3/4's of it to get the right thickness. A perfect example is this project. My 8/4 came in two pieces, one was 8 and 1/2 and the other is 9. Neither of them would fit the saw as it came from the box. Now I can resaw the remaining stock the right way!

I've ordered Timber Wolf blades for it in 105 inch 3/4 and 1/4 sizes. They are due in here later this week. So I won't be using the saw until the new blades arrive. I hope these timber wolf blades are all people say they are. Speaking of band saw blades, does anyone have any links on how to get them into a nice neat coil? I tried earlier today and nearly cut my stupid head off when it suddenly recoiled... not just once, but several times! :furious::furious:

Oh well...

Remember the screw up and the patch? 










Worth waiting over night for, ya think? Of course you're seeing it after some sanding and cutting the rabits and dado. Given patience and some imagination, pretty much anything can be fixed. Now, where is that Humpty, Dumpty character...

I wanted to show you how I determine the size for panels. 

First I dry fit the carcass into its final form. Then I use a combination square to measure the depth of the dado,










Then I transfer the measurement to the top of the work piece on all sides.










Then I measure the distance from the top and bottom mark, and from side to side. Being old and forgetful, I record the measurements 










Then at the table saw, I subtract 1/16 inch from each measurement, make a mark and run the panel through the saw on the panel sled.










Sometimes it is necessary to fine tune the panel. I do this by making cuts taking 1/2 of the blade thickness at a time. If more than one cut is needed, I cut from the side opposite from the last side I cut. Usually it doesn't take more than one or two passes until everything fits like a glove!










All that is left to be done to the carcasses is to rout the dados for the dividers and they will be ready for glue up. That will be tomorrow's task.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

The way I fold a bandsaw blade: Hold the blade in front of you with the teeth facing away from you. Stand on the blade with one foot. Start the fold by moving both hands forward and in, almost turning your wrists as you go. It should just fold up nice and easy.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

I can't believe I missed this thread, Johnnie! Looks great so far and I'm glad to see that you're immediately putting your new toys to work! 



sawdustfactory said:


> The way I fold a bandsaw blade: Hold the blade in front of you with the teeth facing away from you. Stand on the blade with one foot. Start the fold by moving both hands forward and in, almost turning your wrists as you go. It should just fold up nice and easy.


Right, it's like the old fold up sunscreens that you had for your car windshield in the 90s.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Taylormade said:


> Right, it's like the old fold up sunscreens that you had for your car windshield in the 90s.


What do you mean had? I still got one, but it doesn't twist. Its like a map, it folds.... :laughing:


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

johnnie52 said:


> Tonight's installment will be a short one. The wife wanted to go shopping, and that always turns into an all day ordeal...
> 
> 
> Speaking of band saw blades, does anyone have any links on how to get them into a nice neat coil? I tried earlier today and nearly cut my stupid head off when it suddenly recoiled... not just once, but several times! :furious::furious:
> ...


Tell her there is no time for shopping now :no:. Only 18 days to Christmas....

I asked the same question about folding BS blades a while ago. I keep forgetting how to.. In the replies there is this video.

Nice fix with the patch :thumbsup:


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Ack! I can't see any of the pictures and I forgot to look at this last night at home. I'm looking forward to seeing these pieces from you Johnnie.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Looks great Johnnie and nice fix. You already did such great work I can't wait to see how it goes with the new tools! I bet the frustration factor goes down greatly. That bandsaw is beautiful. Enjoy the resaw.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

:laughing:


> Tell her there is no time for shopping now :no:. Only 18 days to Christmas....


Not that kind of shopping Longknife. This was for food! The tools need electricity to work, I need meat and potatoes! 



> I bet the frustration factor goes down greatly.


It sure makes it easier to do things and opens up an entirely new world of possibilities! Before the new blades, the jointer, the bandsaw and a couple of other things I never would have taken on a project like this. I might have built the chests, but I would have used a different set of Alternative methods...:laughing:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Today started out just fine. I headed out to the car port around noon and got started laying out and cutting the dados in the side pieces.










This was mostly a matter of raising the radial arm saw to match the rabits and chewing away at the waste until the dado was cut.

Here we are at the first dry fit of all the carcass components.

Box #1









Box #2









and just so you all know that I really am building two of these at the same time...










Everything fits... oh happy day!

time to start sanding.... oh crap!










Maybe tomorrow... :furious:

Its time to start thinking about finishes for these guys. The gears are turning and I'm thinking Watco Natural Danish Oil (as opposed to a colored oil) with a top coat of either clear shellac or gloss poly. Not real sure yet and am open to suggestions from all of youse.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Nice Johnnie. You're certainly making faster work of those than I am of the machinist chest. I'm definitely not going to finish before my sister gets here and I'll be pushing it to finish by the Christmas deadline.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Thanks Frank.

Not to hurt your feelings or anything, but I've also made 5 candle holders, a rocking horse and have another candle holder in the works since I finished my assigned project.... just saying.

Given the way the weather works here at this time of year, I'll probably be wearing a coat and gloves tomorrow. It went from a balmy 73 degrees down to 56 in just a few hours. While I know that's no where near the 20's and 30's some of youse are dealing with, it's a pretty quick drop and darn cold when you're only wearing jeans and a Tee shirt!


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Everybody enjoy the break?

Back to work!

Today I spent about 1 1/2 hours installing the new 3/4"x105" - 3 TPI Timber Wolf blade on the band saw. It would have been done sooner had I known you are supposed to completely release all the tension from the wheels before trying to get the blade on the (now taller) machine. I was about to call Grizzly when I remembered that this blade came from E-Bay.... Then I figured I'd give the tensioning screw a few turns and see if I could get the blade on that way. It worked and I was very happy, except it takes forever to adjust the bearings..... 

Anyhow, The next hour was spent sanding all my pieces and spreading glue. I applied a thin coat of glue to the top and bottom pieces and the rabits and put three sides together, then side the plywood back panel into the place in the groove and lastly added the top and checked that all four corners where square.

Once I had the "box" assembled, I first test fit the two divider pieces and made the necessary adjustments before adding glue to the slots and sliding the dividers into place.










I worked one box at a time, however the same procedure was used for both. Glue up three sides, slide in back panel, glue on remaining side, check for square, clamp, check dividers, adjust as needed, add glue and insert dividers.










With both carcasses glued, I set them in the shed to dry.










Remember that extra, strangely shaped piece that was left when I did the table saw resaw for the carcass pieces? Remember I told you I was going to use it in this build? Well today I made good on that by ripping it to the 1 1/2 thickness needed










and then cutting the sides at 15 7/8 and the top/bottom to 8 1/4" at the Radial Arm saw.










I figure that it is best to work on one door at a time as I have deviated from the plans dimensions and want to end up with two doors that actually fit the chests....

SO, after all that work getting the blade installed on the bandsaw, it seemed like a good time to try my hand at resawing (the main reason for buying the saw and riser in the first place.










I learned several things.... My table still isn't square with the blade, I have no idea how to cure blade drift even when making the cut by hand... It was worth the time and money to get the Timber Wolf 3/4" 3 TPI resaw blade. While the cut is still ragged, it is much cleaner than what I was getting from the stock blade....

Anyhow, with the resawing finished, I edge glued the panel together for the door, clamped it up using cawls and set it aside to dry.










Here is where I put away the toys and went inside to eat. After supper, we went to Lowes where I picked up Danish oil in both the natural and medium Walnut flavors. I'll run some tests on some scrap tomorrow and try to decide what I like best as a finish.

Weather permitting, I'll get the door panel out of the clamps and planed smooth, cut down to fit, and finish the first door.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I've been busy the last couple of days getting other presents made. Just so you all know that I haven't forgotten this one, here is a picture of where I stopped tonight. 










The door pieces are cut but not routed and the panels are out of the clamps ready to be machined. Ring holders are just sitting in place dry, I still need to route the chamfers but had to run out and get a bit. I could not believe that I did not already own a 45 degree chamfer bit.. I have photos and will write up a full step by step soon.

I still need to cut the top and bottom plates. I may not have bought as much walnut as I first thought. So I may end up making the drawers by gluing up the fronts and sides.... We shall see when the time comes.

Ran a color test today on the 3 flavors of walnut Danish oil to be found at Lowes. I hope there is some color change by morning because right now all three look exactly alike as far as depth of color is concerned.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Johnnie, this looking great. Glad to see that bandsaw, and the weather are all cooperating.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Looking great so far. I love that fence on your bandsaw.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Looking great so far. I love that fence on your bandsaw.


The fence is the aluminum tubing thingie. It came with the saw which was one of the reasons why I bought the grizz instead of a similar Porter Cable saw available locally. Mine came with the fence and the miter gauge, and a 4" dust port, other saws in the same price range didn't.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

It occurred to me that you guys might be getting tired of seeing my carport and shed. So I took less pictures yesterday and today than I usually do on a build thread. Besides, all the bigger pieces are cut and glued up now anyway. The rest of the build will high light some of the smaller pieces and the final assembly of the wood. I'll take more photos when I get to laying the velvet and hanging the hardware.

So, yesterday I got a late start due to crummy weather in the morning and then later in the afternoon, the rain hit again. I was lucky to get the ring holder pieces cut and dry fit.

I started out by planing a thicker piece of Walnut down to match the 1/2+/-" that the rest of the carcass is.










I then ripped the board to the proper width for the top section and reset to rip for the side pieces,










Then using my home made rip gauge, I ripped the lower piece of the ring holder,










I then cut the pieces to length over at the radial arm saw.










Choosing the best pieces, I set up to make the 45 degree cuts at my compound miter saw.










I use a piece for aluminum that came from an old electronics assembly machine that the company where I was employed was using for parts to keep other machines running. The angle on the aluminum is exactly 45 degrees, so I use it whenever I need to set one of my saws to make a 45 degree miter cut.

With the saw set, I carefully measured and marked one of the side parts and made the cut.










Using this piece as a "golden" part, I set clamped a stop block in place on the miter saw and made the remaining cuts to end up with 4 pieces all alike.










Here is where the weather turned on me and I had to rush to get tools inside out at the shed.

As I already showed you, the end of the day's work looked like this. To remind you, only the carcasses are glued at this point.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Now on to today's work.

I began by running the door panel through the thickness planner to remove the saw marks left by the band saw and to clean up any glue squeeze out that I didn't get yesterday.

The panel will be slightly less than 1/2" thick, so in order to have them come out even with the front edges of the doors I'll need to adjust the dado position. Someone remind me to remember that before I start in the morning... :laughing:

I decided to spend the day doing the mill work on the ring holders and getting at least one set of drawers ready for sanding and assembly. So...

I measured the openings and carefully cut pieces to fit at the table saw.










I then cut them to length at the radial arm saw before raising the blade to make the rabbit cuts in the ends of the front and rear pieces.

It took much attention to detail to produce the parts for 2 drawers, including the plywood bottoms. However, dry fitting shows everything to be square and it will fit the draw openings with enough free area to prevent the draws from binding when the wood moves due to changes in temperature and humidity.










When making rabbit cuts in the ends of small pieces, I mark the position of the end of the cut and then nibble away at the remaining wood until I have cut the rabbit. I then carefully slide to work piece across the spinning blade to clean the cut. Its the easiest way I know to do it.

I did not want to start on another set of drawers today because I prefer to finish that kind of task on the same day as I start it.

Therefore I moved over to the router and began routing the rabits for the drawer set and the chamfers on the ring holders.

This was pretty straight forward, set the router up with a 5/8 straight bit, adjust the height to match the rabits already cut at the radial arm saw and run the pieces through one at a time until each piece has been cut.

I thought I might show you one of the many reasons why I like the Feather Guard system.










That small piece is one of the drawer side pieces. Its 2 inches tall and 5 3/8" long. The router is running and the cut is not yet finished. I have not pulled the workpiece away from the spinning bit in any way, yet the guard is holding the piece safely and securely. After I took the picture, I resumed using the push board to finish making the rabbit and the finished product fit perfectly! Tell me what other feather board system will do all that while preventing fingers from getting close to the bit?

With the drawers finished, I change over to my brand new 45 degree chamfer bit in the router and machined both the front edges for both ring holders and did another dry fit to make sure that the ring holder bar I purchased would fit. Now all I have to do it figure out haw to cut an 8 inch section from the holder without making a mess of the already installed foam and velvet. Maybe I'll put in a call to Rockler's tech support and ask them.

Well all, with a final shot for the day, we see my shop ash tray needs emptying.... err.. we see the drawer pieces and the ring holder awaiting final sanding and glue up.










BTW, that tray hasn't been emptied in at least two weeks...


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## Michael A. (Dec 9, 2011)

Hi Johnnie: you work pretty fast for having such a small space, those boxes are looking pretty nice! does that feather board have a wheel on the bottom or just a friction surface?


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Nice progress :thumbsup:. I hope the weather stays favourable so you will have them ready in time. I can understand the problem with cutting the ring holder. Will be interesting to see how you solve that, I'm sure you'll come up with something.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Michael A. said:


> Hi Johnnie: you work pretty fast for having such a small space, those boxes are looking pretty nice! does that feather board have a wheel on the bottom or just a friction surface?


Its just friction. The slots in it act like a spring. All you do is place it over the bit and put you hand on it while you tighten the knobs. Do not push on it because it will get too tight and not allow the wood to move. I have two of them. One stays on the router and the other I use at the table saw when I need a feather board.

I'll take some better pictures of the guard and how to use it next time.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Longknife said:


> Nice progress :thumbsup:. I hope the weather stays favourable so you will have them ready in time. I can understand the problem with cutting the ring holder. Will be interesting to see how you solve that, I'm sure you'll come up with something.


The weather liars are saying we should have good weather until 2012. We shall see...

Right now I'm thinking of using a razor blade to cut the holder. One thing is for sure, I'll have plenty of extra to practice on. I need about 8" (203mm) and they come in 24" (609mm) lengths. I actually bought two of them (red and blue) so the chests will be different on the inside. I'll have enough ring holders to last for some time...


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## Ken Johnson (Nov 8, 2007)

That's a great bandsaw. I have one myself. I recommend getting the 6" riser block kit and a good resawing blade.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Ken Johnson said:


> That's a great bandsaw. I have one myself. I recommend getting the 6" riser block kit and a good resawing blade.


Ken, I got the riser when I ordered the saw, installed it the day it arrived and right now its wearing a Timber Wolf 3/4" 3 TPI blade. I have to learn how to use it properly though. Seems I can't cut a straight line in either the horizontal or vertical directions. Vertical is most likely the table not being at 90 to the blade. I can't imagine a 3/4" blade traveling on a slant between the bearings through a piece of 8/4 lumber. As for the horizontal, I'm finding it hard to compensate for the blade drift. I'm going to try making a pivot fence and see if that helps.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Did not get a lot done today. I have no excuse except my entire person wasn't feeling "right". Sugar levels kept jumping between high and low, head was constantly spinning, balance just did not exist, legs felt extremely weak (more so than normal).... I gave up and took a nap and felt better, but it was too late to go out and play...


I did get one of the ring holders sanded and glued together, cut the panel I'll be using for the doors into two equal pieces, and started to mill the piece for the top and bottom plates.

I also got a couple of shots of the Feather Guard in action. MichaelA asked about it and I promised to get some better pictures.

(disclaimer... I do not work for the manufacturers of the feather guard nor its subsidiaries. Nor do I receive any compensation for displaying their product in my write up... I just happen to really like the thing!)

The Feather Guard is a combination bit guard and feather board designed to replace the standard bit guard on a router table. It provides the advantages of both in a single unit that eliminates the need for a feather board at the router table. It can also be used at the Table saw, however it will not act as a blade guard. So you still need to be careful of injury if you use your saw minus the guard.

It is designed with an open area into which a router bit can be raised to make a cut without hitting the guard.










I have one that mounts to my router table and is on there at all times whenever I'm routing a profile, dados, or rabbits.

I have another that I've added a runner to so it can be locked to the table saw miter slot and used as a feather board to help hold the work piece against the fence during ripping operations. The spring action of the feather guard is strong enough that with very little pressure it can be relied on to hold the work piece securely...










That is a chunk of 5/4 walnut, 6 inches wide and 4 feet long... Its being held in place only by the feather guard but is still loose enough that I can easily push it through the saw to rip.

At the router table, all it takes is the weight of my hand to give enough pressure to hold even the smallest pieces securely for milling, and at the saw, just a slight amount of side pressure gives the above results..










Sorry guys, that is all I have for tonight. Perhaps tomorrow will see me have a better day and I'll be able to get something done.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

That feather guard is an incredible idea. That's next on my list.

Hope your feeling better ASAP. Take care of yourself, first. Don't push. Let the projects sit if needed.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Hope you get better soon man! I know how sugar problems feel. Take care!


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

rayking49 said:


> Hope you get better soon man! I know how sugar problems feel. Take care!


+1. Sugar issues can be nasty for sure. Hope you're feeling better real soon.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude to those who voiced concern for my health. I spoke with my Doctor who reduced the amount of insulin I've been taking. It seemed to help things today.

Which started out with resawing and gluing up the board(s) that will become the top and bottom plates.










With that set aside to dry, I next located the mid-points on the drawer fronts by drawing a diagonal from upper right to lower left and upper left to lower right on the pieces. With an "X" marked I moved to my drill press and drilled a hole through each of the pieces.










With the holes drilled, I commenced sanding all the drawer pieces. Each piece was sanded front and back from 100 to 220 grit.










I then cleaned up the rabbits using a chisel to remove the high spots left by the saw when I cut the waste away from the edges.










With all four rabbits cleaned, I glued and clamped the drawers together and checked them for square before gluing in the plywood bottoms.










After fitting the bottoms I tightened the clamps to ensure a good tight joint in all the drawer corners and set both drawers aside to dry with the aid of a little weight on each one.










So now we wait..... Naw.. the heck with that. While the glue set up, I worked on another Christmas present project.

After three hours in the clamps under the bricks, I removed the clamps and test fit the drawers.










With drawers that fit flush with the front of the carcass, I use tape as a drawer pull while fitting the drawers.

With the assembly of the drawers, all that is left on the first of the two chests is the door, the top and bottom plates, feet and the brass supports and bars. Then comes finishing, and finally adding the velvet.

I'll wait until tomorrow or the next day before doing the final sanding on the drawers. While I wait I'll make the drawers for the other chest and maybe get started on the doors.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

These are really coming together nicely Johnnie. These gifts are going to be a huge hit for sure. Great work buddy.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

You are on fire man! Looks so great. The girls are going to appreciate those for many, many years. (Might have a problem though. How the heck are you going to top that next year! :laughing


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Shop Dad said:


> You are on fire man! Looks so great. The girls are going to appreciate those for many, many years. (Might have a problem though. How the heck are you going to top that next year! :laughing


Top it next year? Jewelry chests get filled with?....

Johnnie, doin' good there.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Brink said:


> Top it next year? Jewelry chests get filled with?....
> 
> Johnnie, doin' good there.



Thanks Brink. They are both pre-teen, so they are young enough that next year I'll get away with sending them each a bag of those chocolate candies that look like gold coins wrapped in foil... :laughing:

After these I have all year to figure something out... One thing is certain, I'll get started much earlier. Its been a bit of a push getting these done along with the other stuff I'm making and getting new machines set up and working properly...


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Really looking good man!


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## Texas Sawduster (Apr 27, 2009)

*Nice Work !!!*

Looking Great. !!!!!!!!!!

I know how it feels having to work on a patio or carport.

Keep up the great work.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I have only one photo for youse guys tonight. I may also have a short video if all goes well at Utube.

The weather liar said that there would not be rain today, but the sky sure looked nasty and it "felt" like it wanted to rain. So I didn't want to get involved in something I could not clean up in a hurry.

Basically all I got done today was the glue up on the second ring holder and I got the second set of drawers cut, sanded and assembled. Not counting the assembly of still another present...










This set has a much better fit than the first pair. I"ll be doing a lot more sanding to get the first drawers to work as easily as the second.

If the video works, (Its only my second attempt and I'm using a different camera) I'll demonstrate how I use my RAS to make short rabbits like on the drawer ends and clean the surface to a glue-able state without using a dado set.

In case the embedded links don't work, you can watch me saw here:

http://youtu.be/U5KDZa8znHU

[iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/U5KDZa8znHU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen][/iframe]

Basically it involves making the first cut to a defined line, then making several more cuts to remove the waste material. Finally the freshly cut piece is slid under the spinning blade from side to side to remove any material that wasn't cut flush to the surface by the saw during the material removal stage.

I've only done this on rabbits and tenons less than 6 inches wide. For wider ones I'll either use a rabbiting bit at the router, or a dado set at the table saw.

The only major assembly left to these are the doors. All the remaining parts are at least rough cut to size and ready for sanding. However, I got the final shipment from Rockler today which means I have a new safety switch to instal on my table saw and one of those new newfangled INCA miter Gauges... the V120 model. I'll be getting those ready to use first thing before getting back on the jewelry chests.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Another day another batch of fresh sawdust....

Like I told you yesterday, the final shipment from Rockler arrived and I now have a new on-off switch and an Inca V-120 miter gauge for my table saw. So first thing out of the gate was getting those items ready for use.










The only thing I did not like about adding the Delta fence to my saw was where I had to mount the factory switch for the saw. It was hard to reach and sometimes I could not find it without looking away from the blade. That is never something I enjoy especially when I'm trying to shut down part way through a cut. I think I can find the switch now... 

I have too many things building up on my saw with miter gauges, push sticks and jigs that I use alot. I think my next project after Christmas will be some storage for all the stuff that has built up at the saw...

Today is the day I start on the doors. As I gather the pieces that I have already cut to rough size I find this...










One of my door panels has cracked due to this crappy Florida weather! Hot, cold, humid, dry, raining... all in the span of 3 days! Oh how I want a real shop for Christmas! 

The only thing to do is mix up some 2 part epoxy and fill the crack hoping I can hide the fault during final prep and assembly.

Luckily I have another panel to work with so I started with that one.

I've been putting off making the doors. To be completely honest, making these doors has scared me more than any other woodworking project I've ever done. The entire project literally hinges (pun not intended) on how they look once the chests are assembled. Considering that I choose to work with material thinner than 1/2" and none of the materials I purchased allowed me to cut them at the same time as I cut the rest of the carcass, they have to be matched up as best as possible from fresh cuts with mismatched grains.

Anyhow, I began by marking and cutting the rabbits at the Radial Arm Saw and the dados at the router. Then dry assembling the frame in a band clamp.










Taking careful measurements for the panel, I measured several times to be sure I had the right dimensions and carefully set the fence at the table saw to rip an equal amount from each side. The idea being to keep the mating line of the book matched panel in the center of the frame. 










Looks pretty good, -----------


NOT!!!!!










Now I have only two choices. Figure out some way to fix this without making a total piece of crap out of the project, or make a new panel. Frustrated and angered by my own stupidity, I closed down for the day.

Lucky for me I bought enough materials to make a new panel and use this one for something else. Also it seems I have gained some extra time to get the chests finished because my son is taking his family to his wife's parents for Christmas and won't be home until after New Years.

While I may not make the Christmas deadline for the challenge, I won't let the Grand Daughters down either because they know that Grandda's present will not be delivered until they get home from the other grand parents.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

The Incra V-120 is a nice miter gauge. I still want to get the one Kenbo has. Hopefully some day I will. I've been drooling over it for awhile now. If only it wasn't so expensive. But oh well, is costs money to buy quality tools.

Sucks about that cracked panel. I know about Florida weather. It's rather uncooperative when you most count on it.

Personally, I don't see the problem with the book-matched panel. Other than it not looking "book matched" it looks quite passable. Is there something wrong that I'm not seeing in the photo?


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I missed the marks and cut the panel too small on all sides. I fits inside the frame perfect, it just has no "extra" to fit into the grooves. It literally falls completely through the frame!

I had marked the frame and the extra for the groove and cut to the frame line instead of the groove lines.... :furious::furious::furious:

I think I'll make some slats and mount the panel to those with screws and glue the slats into the grooves. Sortta like how you would mount a table top to its frame.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

johnnie52 said:


> I missed the marks and cut the panel too small on all sides. I fits inside the frame perfect, it just has no "extra" to fit into the grooves. It literally falls completely through the frame!
> 
> I had marked the frame and the extra for the groove and cut to the frame line instead of the groove lines.... :furious::furious::furious:
> 
> I think I'll make some slats and mount the panel to those with screws and glue the slats into the grooves. Sortta like how you would mount a table top to its frame.


Ohhhhh, ok I got'cha. Ouch. Sorry. Yeah I'm sure we've all done that a time or two.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*so...*

the panel has no support around the perimeter? it just falls into the frame to the bottom? :thumbdown:

Like you said you can make some slats to run around the inside perimeter. I've done that to support a compartment in a keepsake box.

 

Or you could separate you panel down the joint line and add a darker contrasting piece down the middle, as a design element.. It will look "intended" if you do it correctly. :thumbsup: bill


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Back up on the horse again, Johnnie! These things happens to all of us now and then. Some people says that you learn from your mistakes but I seriously doubt that. At least I keep doing the same stupid mistakes over and over again. And that "measure twice cut once"-thing doesn't help much either when that one cut is in the wrong place.
For a fix up you can make the cleats you mentioned or you can glue the missing parts back on the panel. The glueline will probably not be visible once the panel sits in the grooves.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

We've all had days like that Johnnie and I feel for ya man. You did the right thing by shutting it down and leaving the shop. If I'm not 100% into the work, I stop. Half heartedly working on something without your full attention can cost you a finger or worse. Glad to see you knew when to call it quits. Tomorrow is another day and things work out better with a fresh new start and a fresh new day. Regaurdless man, it's looking great and I know you'll overcome the panel issue. Still glued to this one and still loving it.
Greet work man.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Really is looking great Johnnie. You were so ingenious with the fixes on your slant sided box project I know you will turn misfortune into advantage here too. Look forward to seeing what you come up with! :thumbsup:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

*Engineering Change Order ECO-1462*

*ECO-1462

*Engineering Change Order
Distribution: All Departments
Effects: Current Jewelry Chest Production Run
Reason: Quality Control Failure in Manufacturing

I must have written thousands of ECO's in my years as an Electro/Mechanical Engineer. I never figured I'd be writing one for myself. :laughing:

I took a couple of days to rethink how I would handle the door panels after cutting the first one too small. Some of you offered suggestions and I considered each of them. I even went out and looked at my supply of contrasting woods thinking I might add pieces to form a cross in the panel.

My final pick was to follow my first thought and make some pieces to fit in the dados and form a type of shelf for the panel to rest on.

I had several pieces that were oddly shaped after squaring the rough stock. By oddly shaped I mean that they had one end that was much thinner than the other.










They had come from the rough sides of the original 8/4 material and I was worried about trying to make parts from what is essentially side grain material. However after reviewing how trees are milled into boards I realized any given piece of wood could be "side grain". So I cut out pieces at 16 1/8" and at 8 1/2", knowing that I would resaw and rip them in half to form the final parts and so have enough to do both panels. Remember, these are going to my two Grand Daughters, who also happen to be sisters. The chests have to be as close as possible to being exactly alike, or poor old Grand da will never hear the end of it...

After cutting the pieces down, I set up my bandsaw to take 5/16" cuts and sliced each piece so that I ended up with 4 pieces. This allowed me an extra 1/16" of material to "burn through" while removing the saw marks and still have a tight fit in the 1/4" dados cut in the frame parts.










Then I ripped each piece in half at the table saw. This gave me 4 of each size piece.










Using my disk sander, I worked the saw marks from each part and carefully worked 4 of the pieces to fit into the dados I have already cut in the frame.

Using the end pieces for the frame as measuring sticks, I set the stop block on my radial arm saw and sized the two parts that would form the upper and lower cleats.










I assembled the frame and installed the two cleats in my band clamp and then measured between the cleats to find the length for the side cleats.










I marked the cleats in the dados so I can quickly set up my drill press to drill through holes for some #4-1/2 brass screws which I will drill later.

And just like that, I have a whole new look to the chest.










I even have enough above the frame to add a chamfer around the perimeter of the front panel which should add some additional interest.

Somebody please notify the designer that the plans need to be revised to reflect this ECO.


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Now, that's a great fix :thumbsup: I would say this very well qualifies as an "Alternative Method" to make the door. No need to mention it origins from a mistake, right Frank?
BTW, change that ECO to "Reason: Improvement of design."


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Yay, I'm glad you solved the problem. Nice job.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Are we ready for some more?

I put the finish on other projects that I've built for Christmas yesterday. I also drilled and countersunk hole in the slats I made to hold the front panel last night. I have decided to concentrate on getting one chest built before returning to the second chest. Even though I don't have to get these done before New Years to give to my grand daughters, with any luck, I'll have one finished by the Christmas deadline for the forum's challenge.


Today I headed out around noonish and got set up on the carport.










Today I'll be making heavy use of the router table to get as many pieces as possible ready for sanding and final assembly. To that end I took careful measurements of the front panel in relation to the frame and set up with a 45 degree chamfer in the router.



















Then I ran a test piece through 










and checked to be sure I had the right dept of cut










Satisfied with the results, I ran the front panel using a backer block and the miter gauge on the end grain sides and just the fence along the grain.










Even with the Feather Guard, I do not like trying to pass long narrow parts through the router on the edge grain sides without the miter gauge and a backer block.

Once I finished running all four sides of the panel, I dropped it into the frame just to see how it would look when assembled.










not too shabby...

I next milled both the top and bottom panels and the feet using the same 45 degree chamfer bit.

I forgot to get a picture, but for the feet, I used one piece each for the front and back set of feet and once I had the 45 on three sides, I cut the pieces in half at the Radial Arm Saw to end up with four feet.

I figured it was time to have a look at all the pieces in place, so using my best balancing skills, I set all of the main parts on my table saw to get an idea of how I was doing.










Despite the terrible lighting, it is looking fairly good.

As long as I had the router set up, I took the time to run all the feet and the top and bottom of the other chest at this time. I could not run the front panel yet as it is still not cut down to its final size.

I also made two extra pieces (one for each chest) that are not on the plans and chamfered the long sides on them.










I'll explain these in another post.

With all the 45's milled, I changed to a 3/8 cove bit and milled the curved side of all eight feet, again using my Feather Guard and the miter gauge with backer on the end grains. Here is another place where the Feather Guard repays every penny paid.










Yes, that is a piece that is less than 2 inches square and it is totally safe to mill without any nasty kick back from the router!

With the coves milled, I switched to my box core bit, added a couple of stops to the router fence,










Set the height and depth of cut, measured and marked the piece for location 










and milled the finger relief into the side of the frame.










By this time the sun was starting to go down and I was getting tired, but there was still a couple of things I wanted to finish before calling it a day.

Out at the work table I clamped the hinge side of the frame to the hinge side of the carcass and marked both for the hinges.










Then I used my trim router with a 1/8" straight bit and adjusted the depth of cut by laying the hinge against the router base and comparing the bit height to the thickness of the hinge.

Staying inside my marks, I trimmed away most of the material in the hinge area.










This is the first time I've cut hinge mortise this way, so I left a little to be hand cut with a chisel tomorrow. 

Finally, I measured down 2" from the top and in 1 1/2 inches in from each side and drilled two holes through the back of the carcass, following up by countersinking each hole.

(there was supposed to be a picture here but the forum said I had too many. Imagine a picture of two holds and a drill inserted here)

Bet some of you have figured out what the extra piece is for by now... 

Tomorrow will see a lot of sanding and the glue up of the door. Maybe I'll even get started putting on the finish.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Looking better and better!


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

This will be a short post. After this one I'll be working to get the other chest to the same point as this one is. Once I have that I'll post the finale with both chests finished. If I make the Christmas deadline for the forum challenge it will be a miracle. But then this is the season for miracles...

I spent most of the day sanding all the parts from 100 grit through to 220 grit and checking the fit on everything. I also chiseled out the remainder of the hinge mortise before gluing up the door frame and adding the cleats and panel.










In order to allow room for movement, I glued the top and bottom cleats into their grooves, Then I glued the middle 2 or 3 inches of the door panel in place. The corners of the panel and the side cleats and panel sides are held in place only by the #4x1/2 brass screws you see in the photo. The way it works is the panel is screwed to the cleats and the cleats float loosely in the grooves, yet they are tight enough to be solid and not allow the panel to rattle around in the frame.

Once the glue had dried, I removed the clamps and brought the entire chest inside where I set up to cut the velvet linings and ring holder.










Taking careful measurements, I used a framing square to aid in making the cuts in the material.










This made relatively quick work out of what can be a very drawn out process. All I did was to mark the back of the peel off paper for the dimensions I needed, lined up the arms of the square and used a single edged razor to cut the material.

I found that a single edged razor blade gets dull far too quickly! After just two cuts it was time for a new blade! So, I switched to a utility knife to cut the thick ring holder.

After measuring, I used the framing square as a guide for the knife and made several cuts along the edge until I had cut through and it fit perfectly.










If you look closely, you can see the exposed end of the leftover ring holder. It is just a velvet covering over foam rubber glued to cardboard. However, this manufactured model is far superior to the one I tried to make and finally gave up on for the slant sided box.

I also cut the velvet for the drawer bottoms and the back of the case.

That's all there is for tonight. My next post will be when both chests are assembled and finished. I'll be using the same process as I have already described, so you won't be missing out on anything.

I promise to get pictures of the final assembly to show you as well.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Johnnie, you really are pushing this through, and your doing a great job.

I bet you can have them done by christmas

...GEAUX KNICKS...


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

A Christmas finish is not going to happen as I have no plans to go near the shop on Christmas Eve day, but I'm far enough along to post an up date, so here goes.

With the second door, I paid more attention to what line I was cutting on and got the panel sized correctly. So I installed my raised panel bit in the router table, and using my home made height gauge, I set the bit to leave a 1/4" tongue around the perimeter of the panel.










Dry fitting the door pieces revealed and striking door...










No need for extra parts and extra assembly on this one.

So, with the door parts milled and fit together, I faced another day dedicated to sanding this second chest through the grits from 100 to 220.

With the sanding finished and plenty of daylight left, it was time to start fitting the hinges.










I first mounted the hinges to the carcass using #4-1/2 steel screws. The hinges will need to be removed to apply the danish oil that I'm planning to use for the finish. Steel screws will tolerate being put in and taken out several times. The brass screws that will be used for final assembly will not.

With the hinges mounted to the carcass, I applied some double sided tape to each hinge.










Doing this allowed me to set the door in place and get it aligned with both sides before actually drilling for the screws.

Satisfied with everything, I mounted the hinges.










I've learned an important lesson about using a router to cut hinge mortise. Sand first, then cut! The sanding has made the hinges stand proud of the carcass edge and so the mortise will need to be made deeper.

Of course, once the door was aligned and screwed in place (again using steel screws) I glued the small piece to the upper right corner that holds the magnetic latch.










With both chests finished to the same point, I glued the top and bottom plates in place. (the feet are still to be glued and screwed to the bottom plate).










What is left to do is some more sanding to clean up some "dings", mount the brackets that will hold the brass bars in the door, attach the feet, apply the danish oil finish and finally the velvet needs to be put on along with the drawer pulls.

I probably have another three days before they will be totally finished and ready to be packed and shipped to the girls. Plenty of time to meet my deadline to get them delivered, but I'm afraid I failed to make the forum deadline for the Alternative Methods Challenge. 

I'll post one more photo when they are done so you all can see them with the finish and all the fancy stuff done. Right now the plan is for 2 or 3 coats of danish oil followed by 2 coats of clear spray shellac.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Can't wait to see finished boxes. I'd love to see their faces light up when they receive them.


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

They look absolutely great. Two identical pieces and still each one is unique. The recipients will love them. Don't worry about the challange, I'm sure Frank will take into consideration that you have made two of these.
Merry Christmas to you, too!


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Great work Johnnie. They are both awesome. It looks like you learned a few things on this project and got some awesome gifts as well. Great work buddy. By the way, how close was my guess on the bf needed for the project? I can't even remember what I told you. :blink:


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Hey johnnie those are beautiful. I know you wanted to do a finish on them and be done by x-mas. So don't feel bad. 
Merry x-mas


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Fantastic, Johnnie. I didn't make my Christmas deadline but I'm going to continue my build thread this week, since I'll have a couple days to get some work done.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Kenbo said:


> Great work Johnnie. They are both awesome. It looks like you learned a few things on this project and got some awesome gifts as well. Great work buddy. By the way, how close was my guess on the bf needed for the project? I can't even remember what I told you. :blink:


You guessed 5 BF for one. I went through close to 12 BF for both and I have a bunch of small scraps left over. Figure around 6 BF each, so you were pretty close. I'll need to find a project to use up 20 or 30 2x2x7/16 pieces. Maybe a checker board .....


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Really impressive Johnnie. They look great and you've got some extra time to deliver. You have been a machine though cranking out all kinds of gifts. Gone a long way to making that workshop pay for itself in heirloom gifts for the family! I'm inspired that some day I might be able to do the same (or at least half!) :thumbsup:

A Very Merry Christmas to you and yours. Thanks for sharing all this great work.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

frankp said:


> Fantastic, Johnnie. I didn't make my Christmas deadline but I'm going to continue my build thread this week, since I'll have a couple days to get some work done.


I should finish out the thread also as there are a few things I did not cover, but that will be next week for sure. I may be down to the little details, but its those details that really make or break the project.

I'm looking forward to seeing you finish your tool chest. I've got that one on the list to build for myself...


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Today I brought both chests up to the point where they are ready to start applying the Danish oil, but the weather liar says we are going to get rain tomorrow. So it will be after the rain has passed before I can show off the chests wearing their finish.

I first used a chisel and a utility knife with a new blade to resize the hinge mortise on both chests. The doors hang nicely and the fit at closure is much better now.

You all remember when I cut the angles for the ring holders, 










well not being one to throw away perfectly good wood, despite it having a strange shape, I used the 45 degree cut off pieces for the latches. I drilled the correct sized holes at the drill press and cut them down at the band saw.

Then using the angle cut offs from the band saw, I applied some glue and clamped the corner pieces in place.



















I also glued on the feet. 










The brackets are made and positioned in the door frames to hold the brass bars, which are also cut and drilled. These will be added after finishing.

This brings the projects as far along as is possible until the oil has been applied and cured. I'm still trying to decide on the color of oil to use. The natural will not "hide the sap wood as well as either the medium or the dark oils will (I think) and so I guess I'll flip a coin or something.... Anyhow we'll find out together when I next post to this thread...


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Can't wait to see it with oil. Outstanding job man.

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

rayking49 said:


> Can't wait to see it with oil. Outstanding job man.


Your wish is my command... or as the Cylons where known to say...

By your command...


Despite the cold morning temperatures (forgive me but in Florida the low 50's are considered cold)... I set up on the carport to apply the first coat of Danish oil to the chests.










Still unable to decided which color depth I wanted, I decided to use both the dark and medium walnut oils. One chest would get the dark and the other the medium.

Shaking the can well for several minutes, I poured some of the dark walnut oil into a plastic tub and using a brush specifically for oil based stains I applied a liberal amount of oil to all the pieces of the first chest.










I then used the medium on the second chest after cleaning the brush and the tub and then set both chests out in the direct sunlight.










Later in the day, I attached the doors and brought the chests inside for the night where they could stay and dry without being exposed to the damp cold weather we will be having for the next three mornings.

For those who have been waiting to see them with the oil, here they are...










Despite using two different degrees of tone, they sure look the same to me....

In a day or two I will sand each one by hand with a 320 grit paper and apply either shellac or water based satin poly as a top coat. Once that has dried, I will add the velvet and the remaining hardware. I will also make the final post so everyone can see them in all their glory...


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Danish oil is one of my fav's. Looking at these chests reinforces that thought.

...GEAUX KNICKS...


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

They looked great before, but now with the finish - fantastic!
Great job, Johnnie :thumbsup:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

The finish isn't finished... yet Longknife. The directions say to wait 72 hours after applying the oil before adding a top coat. I want to give them one final sanding with 320 (which has magically disappeared from my shed) before hitting them with clear shellac but I may change that for the amber shellac, not yet decided. Then will come the velvet linings and brass bars. That means that I have another two days to wait before getting them done.

I hope to have them shipped by early next week when my grand daughters come home from the other grand parents house.

Meanwhile, I've been helping my youngest with his first wood working project.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Hello again.

Its time to get this project wrapped up and ready to be shipped off the the Grand daughters.

So I disassembled the chests and set up my work table on the carport where I sanded everything by hand with 320 grit paper and a sanding block.










Once the sanding was complete, I used compressed air to blow off the heavy dust and some tack cloth to get all the parts prepared. Then I ran my 50 foot air hose from the shed to the carport (this was taken after one of the chests had been given its first coat and the pieces set out in the sun to bake)










The legs in the picture belong to my youngest son who is over at my house working on his first real project. A wall mounted rack for his girlfriend's Karate belts.

With the hose stretched out, I set the pressure regulator to 45 pounds, and fired up the compressor. It would normally not be a good idea to run such a long line for spraying, but I happen to have an industrial air dryer that I was given when the company where I used to work replaced it with a larger model. I have run over 100' of air hose from my regulator to my driveway and never had a single drop of water come from the hose.










With everything in place and ready, I connected my smallest HVLP sprayer and filled it with amber shellac mixed in a 50/50 blend with denatured alcohol 










and applied the first coat to all the pieces of both chests.










When they dried, I gave each piece a careful rub down with 0000 steel wool and applied a second coat, and likewise a third and final coat.

The slight tint of the amber shellac produced exactly the final appearance on the chests that I wanted to achieve.

Here they are with just the danish oil.









and now, with the final coats of amber shellac









The shellac really brings out the grains and the details of each piece. It also adds a warm glow that the oil alone did not have.

With the finish dry, I was ready for the last and final assembly. This left only the placement of the self adhesive velvet in the drawers and on the cases, the ring bars, and the hooks for the backs and doors.

Remember that I used material that was thinner than the 1/2" called out in the plans? I have always believed that thinner wood gives a more pleasing and delicate appearance to a project like this. Maybe I'm wrong, but if you look at the chests offered at the stores you will find that they are all made from thin material. I've never seen a jewelry chest made from thick materials.

The use of thinner materials caused a situation that did not allow me to simply drill into the doors to mount the hooks. So I made little bars from some of the cut off walnut, mounted the hooks and screwed the bars in place after sticking the velvet in place.

I also screwed the brass bars in place on the doors. I used #4-1/2 brass screws through out this project.

The following pictures show how the chests look on the inside once everything has been assembled. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. I was a little shaky and the lighting is terrible in my back room.









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This project has been a challenge. It was my first attempt at resawing and milling rough lumber, the pieces involved required some design and lots of thought on my part and get right, and the final finishing was an exercise in patience.

Over all I am pleased with the finished chests. I only hope the girls will like them.

The tools used on this project were,

-14" G0055P Grizzly band saw with the 6" riser kit and 3/4-3TPI Timber Wolf resaw blade. 
-Porter Cable 6" jointer
-Delta 12' thickness planer
-Delta 1/2" Drill press
-11/64's drill bit
-1/2" Forstner bit
-Craftsman 10" "Flex" Drive table saw w/ Delta T2 Fence.
-Dewalt 10" Radial Arm saw
-Delta 10" Compound miter saw
-Craftsman 1.5HP table mounted router
-1/4" straight cutting bit
-3/8" Cove bit
-45 degree bit
-raised panel bit
-Harbor Freight trim router
-1/4 up cutting bit
-Craftsman 18volt cordless drill motor
-1/16" drill bit
-1/4" countersink
-Dewalt Random Orbital sander 
-various grit levels of sand paper
-Air compressor, air dryer, pressure regulator, air hose, HVLP sprayer
-#1 Phillips screw driver
-Utility knife with new blades
-24" framing square
-Tape measure
-Folding rule
-home made height gauge
- 6 and 12 inch tri-squares

That my friends is the end of this project. My apologies for having this run for so long. As you can see from the photos, I am at the mercy of the weather in every project I make. Add to that my current physical limitations and I think you can understand why it took this long to finish.

To those of you who faithfully followed along, you have my deep felt thanks. I hope I gave you some ideas and some interesting reading.

Happy New Year everyone!


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Great Job Johnnie!*

Walnut is so cool and the way it came out was so fine!. We all dig a guy who inspite of the weather and space and health issues who can stick in there and create something beautiful and useful and then give it away as a gift. You are some kinda GUY !:yes: Thanks for the thread. :thumbsup: bill


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Looks very nice johnnie. Looks like you had a good time doing it. And I think you learned a lot from this. Great choice of wood. Great design. 
Thanks for sharing.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Very nice jewelry boxes. I'm glad you were able to get them done, despite the weather and other obstacles. The wood is beautiful and the different colored velvets are a nice touch to distinguish the two. They will be loved for sure.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Johnnie, you just plane done good!

Nope, that's an understatement. You did a fantastic job on two brand new family heirlooms. I'm sure your grand-girls will love and cherish their jewelry chests for ever.

...GEAUX KNICKS...


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Beautiful Johnnie! Finish looks excellent and those girls are going to love those for many many years. Well done and congratulations! :yes:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Absolutely stunning. Great work my friend.
:thumbsup:


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Awesome! They came out great. I'm sure the grandkids will cherish them forever.


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

woodnthings said:


> Walnut is so cool and the way it came out was so fine!. We all dig a guy who inspite of the weather and space and health issues who can stick in there and create something beautiful and useful and then give it away as a gift. You are some kinda GUY !:yes: Thanks for the thread. :thumbsup: bill


+1 on that. It has been very inspiring to follow your build.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

:thumbsup:totally awesome job. The girls wil absolutely love 
them. I learned alot "watching" you throughout this build. Thanks
so much for sharing.


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