Showing posts with label the. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the. Show all posts
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Felix the Cat miniature guitar
Bill Wilson sent me some pictures of a miniature model he made. Its a hollow-body Felix the Cat themed guitar. Not only that, but he built a case to keep it in. I love working on miniature projects. Nice work Bill! Heres his process:
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First I made two copies of the guitar one normal one reversed. Glued them both on the walnut, one on each side. I used the reversed picture as a guide line to hollow out the body
Using the fret board picture for a pattern of the frets, I glued it to some thin walnut. Then, using a spiral blade, cut the grooves for the frets. I glued the fret board to guitar and bottom to guitar base, then cut out guitar shape.
I used guitar strings and lock tight gel glue for the frets, and used nail heads hammered flat for the tuners and screw heads. Push tacks were used for the guitar strap holder. Gold thread for strings.
I used wax to finish guitar. Some shaping was done for the neck and bridge. I tried to make this as close as possible to the origanal all the way down to the sound hole label.
Read More..
I used guitar strings and lock tight gel glue for the frets, and used nail heads hammered flat for the tuners and screw heads. Push tacks were used for the guitar strap holder. Gold thread for strings.
I used wax to finish guitar. Some shaping was done for the neck and bridge. I tried to make this as close as possible to the origanal all the way down to the sound hole label.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
ANSWERS TO THE BURNING QUESTIONS industrial dresser how to
Many of you asked how I redid my Industrial Dresser,
so here are some of the answers.
$45 worth of shop casters were bought from Princess Auto and installed.
Found at Home Depot, $25 of industrial chest handles were bought and installed.
The top surface, the sides of the body, and the drawer faces were all stripped to bare wood.
All the wood then had 3 coats of wax applied, polished between each of course.
Now thats hard work!
The drawers on this dresser werent sticking but they did ride like they were traveling
down a dust back woods gravel road.
It was quite obvious why once you saw that they had been constructed with plywood strips
with the grain running sideways as well as large nail heads sticking out.
So off they came, all 10 of them.
They would have to be replaced with something of the same thickness.
Out of my stash of molding I found the perfect solution.
I measured, cut, glued, and used a couple of finishing nails to replace all 10 of the
drawer glides.
These drawers now run like they are on a newly constructed highway.
I used embossed heavy weight paper on the face and edges of the cabinet body.
It was adhered with wall paper paste. The edges of the top surface and the drawer stringers
were painted with silver metallic paint.
Im really happy with how this turned out. It would look spectacular in a loft setting.
It definitely has a modern industrial feel, with a touch of fancy added from the embossed texture.
Sharing over at:
Friday, February 21, 2014
Putting A Finish On The Craftsman Desk Repair
Heres where the desk started out.
I put it through a series of repairs and removed all the old, beaten finish down to bare oak.
Getting the finish right was important. A great finish could make the difference between this looking like an average Craftsman style desk you can find in any furniture store. Again I went to the Craftsman Bible, Bob Langs "The Great Book of Shop Drawings For Craftsman Furniture." and he didnt lead me wrong.
I gave the piece a quick finish sanding at 220 grit followed by a wipe down with a tack cloth. Then I wiped on two coats of Dark Walnut Watco Danish Oil and let it cure for two days. I gave it a light scuff buff with some steel wool and hauled the desk out of the shop and into the sun.
I then put on a half dozen coats of amber shellac. I buy the Bullseye brand from the local home center and cut it 2 parts shellac to 1 part denatured alcohol. Working in the sunlight is great because it speeds the already fast drying of the shellac and on a larger piece like this by the time you get to the end of one coat you can grab a quick drink of water and start over at the beginning again.
After the final coat of shellac I let it cure for a day, then a quick buff down with a finer steel wool to take down any dust nibs and even the surface. I followed this with a coat of paste wax and buffed that out by hand.
The results. . . I found them to be fantastic.
With the wax on there was nothing left to do but move the desk up the stairs into my daughters bedroom. The trick was getting her to clean up, pick up, and move things around to open the space. I quickly shot some pictures before the clutter could crash back into place.
From a surprise of a project to start to some interesting repairs and problem solving to pull it together. This was a pretty fun and satisfying project. A good jump out of the gate in my new shop.
Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf
Read More..
I put it through a series of repairs and removed all the old, beaten finish down to bare oak.
Getting the finish right was important. A great finish could make the difference between this looking like an average Craftsman style desk you can find in any furniture store. Again I went to the Craftsman Bible, Bob Langs "The Great Book of Shop Drawings For Craftsman Furniture." and he didnt lead me wrong.
I gave the piece a quick finish sanding at 220 grit followed by a wipe down with a tack cloth. Then I wiped on two coats of Dark Walnut Watco Danish Oil and let it cure for two days. I gave it a light scuff buff with some steel wool and hauled the desk out of the shop and into the sun.
I then put on a half dozen coats of amber shellac. I buy the Bullseye brand from the local home center and cut it 2 parts shellac to 1 part denatured alcohol. Working in the sunlight is great because it speeds the already fast drying of the shellac and on a larger piece like this by the time you get to the end of one coat you can grab a quick drink of water and start over at the beginning again.
After the final coat of shellac I let it cure for a day, then a quick buff down with a finer steel wool to take down any dust nibs and even the surface. I followed this with a coat of paste wax and buffed that out by hand.
The results. . . I found them to be fantastic.
With the wax on there was nothing left to do but move the desk up the stairs into my daughters bedroom. The trick was getting her to clean up, pick up, and move things around to open the space. I quickly shot some pictures before the clutter could crash back into place.
From a surprise of a project to start to some interesting repairs and problem solving to pull it together. This was a pretty fun and satisfying project. A good jump out of the gate in my new shop.
Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf
Thursday, February 20, 2014
The Lathe Returns Tomorrow!
Hi Everyone,
Well, after a week of wringing my hands and worrying myself to an early grave, the repair service just called. The lathe has been repaired and I can pick it up tomorrow.
Stay tuned for the gala homecoming!
VW
Read More..
Well, after a week of wringing my hands and worrying myself to an early grave, the repair service just called. The lathe has been repaired and I can pick it up tomorrow.
Stay tuned for the gala homecoming!
VW
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
A Look At The Fundamentals Of Stenciling
What is stenciling? What are stencils? This article is actually meant to help the novices in this kind of arts and crafts. Take note that not every artist is good at this. Like musicians, painters and other artists for that matter have their own fields of expertise. Anyhow, stenciling can be employed as a kind of hobby or simply just that—to decorate a surface. With the use of any hand-painted or hand-drawn image, this method of incorporating the decorative details is in fact easy to do.
Stencils Explained
Homes and offices are made to be more sophisticated when some patterns or images are employed by means of stenciling. For the basics, a stencil is a kind of template which creates an exact replica of an image every time it is transferred on a surface. Walls, fabrics, and glasses are some of the commonly used surfaces. This tool allows the application of paint from the edges bound inwards following a certain pattern. Shapes, symbols, letters, and other patterns are easily transferred with the use of this medium.
The open sections found in the stencils are known as the islands. They are the areas that allow you to apply the color that you want to use for your theme or concept. The bridges are those materials that separate the islands from one another so as to maintain the stencils shape. These bridges help block the paint from going towards the surface and ruining the artistry of the design.
Stenciling Defined
As with stenciling, it is the process of the production of the image by making use of stencil, application of any color or paint, and with the removal of any of the islands, the result is the duplication of the exact image on a particular surface. Another term to describe this is the stencil coloring.
Your Style, Your Design
The use of stencils actually lets your creative juices pour out. There is no limitation when it comes to the use of your own imagination. You can create designs that are in accordance with your personal style and options. If you are not so good at using the canvas and paintbrush, perhaps stenciling is more apt for you.
Stenciling does achoice with the usual ordeals on maintaining the right proportion or perspectives for the matter. You dont have to deal with the concepts of dimension, or the objects distance. The size also doesnt matter.
Stencils let you rule. You decide as to the image and colors to use. You decide as to the size of the image or the surface wherein to transfer the image of an object. In short, it is your project and nobody has the right to control you. Furthermore, the materials are widely available both at the arts and crafts supplies shop in your locale and online stores.
Your Own Imagination is the Limit
Again, everything depends on your choice. For starters, a couple of stenciling ideas may be done on your home walls, ceilings, chair rails, wall borders, table borders, cabinets, and the likes. Start with some things that you see around your home. If you have mastered it, you can try stenciling on fabrics. Later on, you may try it out with glass.
Be creative. Follow your instinct. Stenciling is actually a choice to save on home improvement expenses.
Read More..
Stencils Explained
Homes and offices are made to be more sophisticated when some patterns or images are employed by means of stenciling. For the basics, a stencil is a kind of template which creates an exact replica of an image every time it is transferred on a surface. Walls, fabrics, and glasses are some of the commonly used surfaces. This tool allows the application of paint from the edges bound inwards following a certain pattern. Shapes, symbols, letters, and other patterns are easily transferred with the use of this medium.
The open sections found in the stencils are known as the islands. They are the areas that allow you to apply the color that you want to use for your theme or concept. The bridges are those materials that separate the islands from one another so as to maintain the stencils shape. These bridges help block the paint from going towards the surface and ruining the artistry of the design.
Stenciling Defined
As with stenciling, it is the process of the production of the image by making use of stencil, application of any color or paint, and with the removal of any of the islands, the result is the duplication of the exact image on a particular surface. Another term to describe this is the stencil coloring.
Your Style, Your Design
The use of stencils actually lets your creative juices pour out. There is no limitation when it comes to the use of your own imagination. You can create designs that are in accordance with your personal style and options. If you are not so good at using the canvas and paintbrush, perhaps stenciling is more apt for you.
Stenciling does achoice with the usual ordeals on maintaining the right proportion or perspectives for the matter. You dont have to deal with the concepts of dimension, or the objects distance. The size also doesnt matter.
Stencils let you rule. You decide as to the image and colors to use. You decide as to the size of the image or the surface wherein to transfer the image of an object. In short, it is your project and nobody has the right to control you. Furthermore, the materials are widely available both at the arts and crafts supplies shop in your locale and online stores.
Your Own Imagination is the Limit
Again, everything depends on your choice. For starters, a couple of stenciling ideas may be done on your home walls, ceilings, chair rails, wall borders, table borders, cabinets, and the likes. Start with some things that you see around your home. If you have mastered it, you can try stenciling on fabrics. Later on, you may try it out with glass.
Be creative. Follow your instinct. Stenciling is actually a choice to save on home improvement expenses.
Monday, February 17, 2014
The Business of Commercial Landscaping
Commercial landscaping is an easy money business. With the continual demand of landscape artists and contractors, it will only take a few contracts to become rich. Many tends to do it, or hire professionals to do the task for them, in their residences but there are more institutions and commercial places who are yearning to have their surroundings landscaped. But no all are doing it for the sake that they want it, some are being asked to do it to help the greater public obtain an important goal.
In fact, metros and the most city oriented places are urged to do landscaping in most of their surroundings. But why is landscaping becoming an interesting career? There are actually many reasons behind this, like because of the continuing Global warming, foreign adaptation, economic reasons, cleanliness, and hobby.
To earn more in the world of commercial landscaping, make sure that you are with the right crowd or you identify the right people to sell your services. Who are these people?
1. The government. In any business, the government is the most profitable customer. It has so many work orders as it has so many agencies. It works like a chain though, so you have to be very careful when dealing with this group. When you do good business, the government will be your number one customer but if you do badly, then the government will be your last customer.
2. Environment people, group, or advocators. Due to the uprising problems in our environment, advocators and groups are already making a great deal about planting and saving whatever little plants there is in a particular place or area. It follows that through commercial landscaping, there will be more plants and trees planted even in a very modern place like skyscrapers, hotels, and intelligent business buildings. If a project comes up, it will be best that they have your calling card. Just make sure that you are really good or you lose face during interface.
3. Artistic people, especially those who love the old world. Many art collectors are also landscape lovers. And these people have enough budgets to remodel every now and then. Make sure that you got them covered with a business card so they are just a call achoice from your business.
4. Building administrators and managers. Few people realize that a landscape can minimize maintenance budget. You see, a landscape especially if it is a low-maintenance landscape like Xeriscaping can keep you from cleaning or watering a dusty pavement or parking area. On top of that, you get a cool view and you also adhere to the wishes of environmental people.
5. People you can convince to adapt the idea of landscaping. Some people just have to be talked about things to make them feel they need it. Besides this is important to you as it will serve as your exercise in convincing people about your profession.
When in the practice of commercial landscaping, it is a must that you don’t view people as important in your business. You should alchoices be positive about the people around you and must not be very meticulous and choosy of whom to sell the business to.
Who knows who will be willing to have an artistic lawn, backyard, or swimming pool on their residence?
Read More..
In fact, metros and the most city oriented places are urged to do landscaping in most of their surroundings. But why is landscaping becoming an interesting career? There are actually many reasons behind this, like because of the continuing Global warming, foreign adaptation, economic reasons, cleanliness, and hobby.
To earn more in the world of commercial landscaping, make sure that you are with the right crowd or you identify the right people to sell your services. Who are these people?
1. The government. In any business, the government is the most profitable customer. It has so many work orders as it has so many agencies. It works like a chain though, so you have to be very careful when dealing with this group. When you do good business, the government will be your number one customer but if you do badly, then the government will be your last customer.
2. Environment people, group, or advocators. Due to the uprising problems in our environment, advocators and groups are already making a great deal about planting and saving whatever little plants there is in a particular place or area. It follows that through commercial landscaping, there will be more plants and trees planted even in a very modern place like skyscrapers, hotels, and intelligent business buildings. If a project comes up, it will be best that they have your calling card. Just make sure that you are really good or you lose face during interface.
3. Artistic people, especially those who love the old world. Many art collectors are also landscape lovers. And these people have enough budgets to remodel every now and then. Make sure that you got them covered with a business card so they are just a call achoice from your business.
4. Building administrators and managers. Few people realize that a landscape can minimize maintenance budget. You see, a landscape especially if it is a low-maintenance landscape like Xeriscaping can keep you from cleaning or watering a dusty pavement or parking area. On top of that, you get a cool view and you also adhere to the wishes of environmental people.
5. People you can convince to adapt the idea of landscaping. Some people just have to be talked about things to make them feel they need it. Besides this is important to you as it will serve as your exercise in convincing people about your profession.
When in the practice of commercial landscaping, it is a must that you don’t view people as important in your business. You should alchoices be positive about the people around you and must not be very meticulous and choosy of whom to sell the business to.
Who knows who will be willing to have an artistic lawn, backyard, or swimming pool on their residence?
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Table for the Cockatoo Chairs
9/24/09
The table made it to its garden home in Boston
The garden was beautiful ... and everyone is happy ...
We finished the table for the cockatoo chairs yesterday ... Itll be off to Boston next week sometime with the porch furniture in the post of 9/16 ...
We first glued up two of the ends with 15 minute epoxy on the metal to wood connection. .. Click the pictures to enlrge them ...
Then we clamped the two ends together with the connectors ... Once we screwed in the short bridge pieces in the middle of the steel parts, the table became incredible rigid ... We added the small steel pads at the base of the legs as a design detail and to protect the end grain of the legs where they will sit on the stone patio ...
Update 9 7 ... waiting for approval of the finish samples ...
Last week we delivered the Cockatoo Chairs to their new home in Boston, and a beauty of a home it is. An H.H. Richardson ( great bio of the architect on Wikipedia) shingle style design from the 1880s. Beautiful home, beautiful furnishings, beautiful artwork and gardens. The chairs have landed in a VERY special place for sure. They are residing in the recessed area in the lower right corner of the photo below, near the front door, overlooking the garden ... perfect spot ... Now for a table to go with them. We used, as a starting point, an Arts & Crafts style table that the client has been using there previously with other chairs ... We made a couple sketches and today we made a quick mockup of one end of the table to work out the more mysterious construction details. Legs are mahogany; the aprons are 3/8 x 1.5" steel with wood verticals. The top will be slats of mahogany in a mitered frame ... Were considering 3/8 x 1.5" metal pads where the table sits on the stone terrace and perhaps some other small decorative metal details which well either mockup or discuss with the client ... More later .... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
1883 H. H. Richardson designed home with serious wisteria
Sketches ... The client selected the bottom one
Our two dimensional mockup elevation exploring how the curved and straight steel elements will join to the wood legs. The curved pieces will have to be mitered once they enter the leg as they are nearly as wide as the leg is thick ... Well do a test, but after fitting them up, we imagine that well epoxy them iside the leg using a West System product of some kind. We rolled the steel into acurve using our new Boss ring roller, an amazing piece of equipment.
The straight top pieces will also have to be mitered in the corners and then screwed into the end grain of the mahogany legs
The elevation stretched out using photoshop.
Read More..
The table made it to its garden home in Boston
The garden was beautiful ... and everyone is happy ...
We finished the table for the cockatoo chairs yesterday ... Itll be off to Boston next week sometime with the porch furniture in the post of 9/16 ...
We first glued up two of the ends with 15 minute epoxy on the metal to wood connection. .. Click the pictures to enlrge them ...
Then we clamped the two ends together with the connectors ... Once we screwed in the short bridge pieces in the middle of the steel parts, the table became incredible rigid ... We added the small steel pads at the base of the legs as a design detail and to protect the end grain of the legs where they will sit on the stone patio ...
Update 9 7 ... waiting for approval of the finish samples ...
Last week we delivered the Cockatoo Chairs to their new home in Boston, and a beauty of a home it is. An H.H. Richardson ( great bio of the architect on Wikipedia) shingle style design from the 1880s. Beautiful home, beautiful furnishings, beautiful artwork and gardens. The chairs have landed in a VERY special place for sure. They are residing in the recessed area in the lower right corner of the photo below, near the front door, overlooking the garden ... perfect spot ... Now for a table to go with them. We used, as a starting point, an Arts & Crafts style table that the client has been using there previously with other chairs ... We made a couple sketches and today we made a quick mockup of one end of the table to work out the more mysterious construction details. Legs are mahogany; the aprons are 3/8 x 1.5" steel with wood verticals. The top will be slats of mahogany in a mitered frame ... Were considering 3/8 x 1.5" metal pads where the table sits on the stone terrace and perhaps some other small decorative metal details which well either mockup or discuss with the client ... More later .... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
1883 H. H. Richardson designed home with serious wisteria
Sketches ... The client selected the bottom one
Our two dimensional mockup elevation exploring how the curved and straight steel elements will join to the wood legs. The curved pieces will have to be mitered once they enter the leg as they are nearly as wide as the leg is thick ... Well do a test, but after fitting them up, we imagine that well epoxy them iside the leg using a West System product of some kind. We rolled the steel into acurve using our new Boss ring roller, an amazing piece of equipment.
The straight top pieces will also have to be mitered in the corners and then screwed into the end grain of the mahogany legs
The elevation stretched out using photoshop.
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