Corner Cab - work in progress

[Swingman]

Working on a personal project until it's time to install the next kitchen (fast approaching, so get ready Leon!)

Pictured on apbw is the basic corner cabinet casework I've been working on, when I get a chance, the last three weeks ... complete with base and crown, and finally standing on its on.

The trim piece on the middle rail and the four doors and shelves remain to be fabricated, but the 76" tall case, which has been taking up space in the shop and making it difficult to move about, is finally out of the way and work can now commence on those parts.

For the "rest of the story":

last year, and since I finished the shop made Christmas gifts BEFORE Halloween this year ... there's no hurry on this one.

Canasta anyone? :)

[tom]

Looks nice. Beautiful rays in that oak. Tom

[Swingman]

"tom" wrote

Thanks, Tom ... found those two boards at the very bottom (naturally) of a

3' high x 4' wide stack of 14' long rough, skip planed timber while hanging on with one hand and all ten toes to the "second floor" of a lumber dealer's rack.

Was glad to get my feet back on the ground, but it turned out to be worth the risk to life and limb for that "wrap around" ray fleck on both sides of the face frame.

[Leon]

Cool! however I do have to complete $4000 worth of jewlry boxes "before" Christmas. ;~)

Wish I could say the same.

My card fingers are getting itchy.

[Greg G]

Really nice medullary rays in that oak. You are one busy dude. I'm impressed at the large format stuff you build in the space available - IIR the dimensions of your shop space correctly. You should see the mess I generate constructing a woodturning. :-o Nice job, as usual.

Greg G.

[Swingman]

"Greg G." wrote

Thanks, Greg ... good to see you back posting again.

[Frank Boettcher]

particularly considering the size of the shop. Mine is slightly larger, and I sure have trouble tackling any large pieces. Takes great deal of organization and planning to do that. Please tell me you do a major clean up before the pictures. :~)

I am not there.

Pass on the cards, but have finally seen the light. Post Thanksgiving after spending 30 minutes over the cast iron pot and then burning a batch of roux when the phone rings, think I'm going to try your method when I turn the the post Christmas smoked turkey carcass into gumbo.

Frank

[Swingman]

"Frank Boettcher" wrote

Thanks for the kind words. Like Boudreaux sez: "What you lose on the shrimp, you make on the crawfish; and what you lack in talent, you make up with 'organization and planning' ... sometimes!" :)

For some inexplicable reason I've been having a real good time lately, particularly after getting that chore out of the way. Being suspicious of that feeling however, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's alway's something!

Back in my 'yoot of living large, it took a minimum of a six pack, a dash of good company, a pack of Luckies, and half a day of constant stirring to make a roux for a big gumbo.

When that ceased being fun, mainly for lack of the dash, I switched to making it in the oven, in a big cast iron Dutch Oven. Then Mom convinced me to try the microwave method.

If you can't trust your mother, she being one of the best Cajun cooks in S. Louisiana, with a number of recipes published down through the years, and not subject to heresy ....

It didn't take more than the first spoonful of her chicken/sausage/okra gumbo to be convinced.

Let us know how goes it.

[Greg G]

Thanks, KC. Wondered if anyone would notice... ;-) I snuck in the back way...

Warm weather has me busy working on a house, so I don't get to do much in the way of "woodworking" except in winter. This is the first project for this winter:

should have an appreciation for this more than many:

Replacement windows, doors, siding, building wrap and insulation:

or less finished for the year: material lift: ton of building materials humped by me, alone, including uncountable tons of Hardiplank, 58 bundles of shingles, door units with sidelights, 3 (48"x62") double paned tempered glass picture windows, and several truckloads of replacement framing and sheathing to replace the termite eaten originals.

All that work, and it's still a McMansion in a dirty corporate owned southern city. Tired and feeling way too old for this sort of thing...

My life is totally backwards - had it good in my teens and 20s. Now I'm resorting to this due to the jobs sucking wind these days. Slave Laborors, Lawyers, and Technology, Bah!

Greg G.

[Swingman]

Great work, Greg!! That is something to be proud of!!

BTW, looks similar to some of what I've been building the past few years:

... although I subcontract most all of the work out due to too many years under the bridge for that much humping (but I did the kitchens on the first two by myself, and Leon and I have done the kitchens on the last three).

Yeah, I remember those trials and tribulations ... keep your chin up buddy! You're doing better than you think.

[Greg G]

Thanks. I'm not sure how profitable, considering the hours involved versus the fact that I don't have a machine or a crew of slave laborers to pump them out. Keeps me out of trouble, FWIW.

Thanks again. I feel a little like I'm gold plating a Vega, however. The framing and materials faux pas' leave something to be desired.

They look a tad bigger than this abortion, I'd say. They sure look good from the street views. Of course the proof of the pudding is a closer inspection - something that isn't done very often around here.

I understand completely and emphatically. I'm no spring chicken. Plumbing and electrical are considerably less taxing. And I really hate sanding sheet rock and painting.

Incidentally, what brand/type of windows do you use? I wasn't really impressed with these special orders, but they weren't the most expensive either.

I does get pretty old being poked at like a specimen in a petri dish. That's why the woodturnings - they keep me away from the locals. :-/

At least I'm not selling used cars to poor single mothers at the buy now, repo later lot.

Good to see you're still around, along with a few other familiars. I still read a few messages every month or so. And if I don't see you before then, have a merry Christmas.

Greg G.

[Swingman]

"Greg G." wrote

I'm a fan of quality vinyl windows in this climate for the low maintenance. The higher grade Jeld-Wens is not bad, but I've noticed their quality seems to be slipping lately ... the same grade they sold as "builder grade" five or six years ago was a very good window, that grade now sucks.

As in all things, you get what you pay for.

[Greg G]

I used the Carradco's by JeldWen. Seemed the best bang for the buck in wooden windows. The locally stocked standard sized units I bought at the outset were OK, but the drooping, fake bow windows required custom order units which were poorer quality. On a couple of the units, the sashes barely seal against the top/bottom jambs. You have to manually insure they seal when closing. It appears they use stock sized, pre-assembled sashes and the frames are built per customer order. Tolerance stack up leaves excessive top/bottom clearances on some. Not exactly what I was looking for when replacing for "energy conservation." On top of that, when I got around to painting/staining, the preinstalled sash latch screw holes were stripped and fell out when loosened 45 degrees. Nice...

The best part was removing the originals, which were rotten (no head flashing) and held in by two to four concrete nails driven through the brickmold. Single pane, no insulation or caulk, no shims, trapezoidal openings, and not even leveled. A couple nearly fell out when the siding and interior trim were removed. I would have used pocket window replacements if not for these factors.

A prime example of modern slap 'er up, profit driven homebuilding. These were built in 1987. And it's has gotten much worse around here since. And I cannot fathom why we still employ code enforcement people who inspect nothing but the contents of the pay-off envelopes and their new boat.

I hope I have one more single story house left in me, 'cause I'm building my next home myself - in the woods, far away from any city. Unplugged, as it were. Cisterns, geothermal and solar, etc. Even a huge surplus single cylinder (multi-fuel) diesel and alternator for "emergency power" if I can't locate property with a dam-able creek for hydro. Escalating energy costs have me leaning heavily towards a woodburning stove for shop heat. I'm tired of giving money to these oily bastards - I'll burn used cooking oil if I have to.

If you are REALLY lucky... Thus I would add, "and what you are persistent enough to demand."

Oy Vey.

Greg G.

[Robatoy]

Looks great!. How are you planning to mount the glass in the doors?

r

[Swingman]

"Robatoy" wrote

The usual dado'ed face frame ... they're pretty small, glass will be roughly

7 7/8 x 28.

Still haven't decided upon muntins, or no. Made the wood panel doors yesterday, and will probably start cogitating/consulting on the glass ones today.

But ... after Saturday, there are now further, humbling, complications ... dammit!

Spent the afternoon at an 'open house' in the beautiful home one of Leon's woodworking clients, a house that turns out to be a veritable museum for his work, one or two pieces in _every_ room, including the bath.

Man, there is some gorgeous work there and plenty of it, including two corner cabinets, count'em TWO, that make me think I should just start over.

To say that Leon's furniture work is impressive is the mother of understatements ... makes you want to go serve an apprenticeship somewhere and learn how to really do this stuff. Upshot is that I've now going to be asking myself, "Hmmm ... what would Leon do here?" for the next decade or two.

Folks, you don't really appreciate the amount of woodworking, and design, talent on the wRec until you've seen some of it in person!

[Greg G]

The pictures are bad enough. ;-) I'm certain that if I saw the better pieces in person, I'd just give it up. It makes one's own humble attempts look the trash they are in reality. Probably why Norm is so popular. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort and talent to best his public works. Besides, it doesn't have to be "perfect" to be functional. Of course, as a relative newbie, I'm speaking for myself here...

But if all that's not bad enough, witness some of the hand carved pieces they produce in Asia - where they make their own tools from old scrap metal and motorcycle spokes, and carve barefooted and freehand.

'm going to go flush my head now.

Greg G.

[Swingman]

"Greg G." wrote

Go BAREFOOT!!

... wrap your toes around that. :)

[J. Clarke]

My mother had a chest similar to the coffee table that the carver was sitting on. Don't know what happened to it--when she died it wasn't there in her apartment. Probably just as well, it really needed to be knocked down and reglued (dovetails at all the corners by the way) and I just know I'd have managed to bust the crap out of it knocking it down. She bought it in Shanghai IIRC.

[Tanus]

I doubt that you mean that, but let me say something here.

I'm sure Leon's work is top grade. And maybe he's got a few tricks up his sleeve that you've yet to learn. I suspect you've got a few on him as well. It normally works that way with guys at your level.

I haven't seen his stuff, but I've spent many an hour ogling your site, Swingman, and you've got not a damned thing to be ashamed of. Your work, methods, and attitude are what I aspire to. At my age, and profession, I'll never get there, but you're an inspiration nonetheless.

Sure, you make something and then take a critical eye at it, and it doesn't quite measure to what you'd hoped. But from this eye, it's all lovely.

Ramblings from an amateur....

[Leon]

Well, sitting here with a red face, Thank you Swingman, but as usual your talent for eloquently describing things to sound magnificent has caused a problem with my head, as it has swollen such that I cannot get though the door way. I give all credit to our great long time friends that hosted the party and the excellent choice of music playing in the back ground by the great Linda Lowe.

With that in mind, Swingman being a very good friend is no slouch himself at being able to turn wood into beauty as proven by the many pieces that he has posted on his web site. There are numerous pieces in his home that beg to be touched every time I visit. Furniture can easily look nice but how often dies it call out to be touched? In particular a small walnut entryway table that IIRC resides under a picture of himself dressed up in his "Horse Riding Costume" riding his pony 15 or 20 years ago. ;~) The piece is simply elegant. From there you move further inside his home to the much larger desks, tables, hutches, cabinets, and those 7 chairs which are eye candy to any woodworkers eyes. I would be proud and honored to have any piece of his work in my home. EXCEPT for a copy of a piece that I made which apparently was a bit too complicated for him to duplicate. Sometimes card holders with kick stands can be complicated with confusing angles. ;~) Please ask Swingman to repost the picture of THAT one. LOL