The Woodshop Shed

Cedar Tatami bed

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


I'm brand new to woodworking (I'd only made one thing, a picture frame, prior to this project) so this was definitely a case of biting off more than I could chew. Not only in terms of skills required, but also in terms of overall time to complete. I worked on this thing every spare minute I had for around 5 weeks. I estimate roughly 60 hours of effort. At times it really felt like it would never end. Not what I expected with my I was putting together this “simple” design! I had long term plans to build a fancier bed, but the arrival (or probably more accurately, the first sighting) of some brown recluse spiders in my house suddenly motivated me to stop sleeping on the floor :) The concept was to make a bed with cedar lumber that I could get at the local big box the same day (because you know, this should be a 4-5 hour project tops so I can't possibly wait a few days to get lumber from out of town). I also wanted to avoid using any fasteners or glue. At this point I'm not even sure why I wanted to avoid fasteners, as it should have been obvious to me that this contradicted my “quick and easy” goals.Anyway, in the end it was a great learning opportunity. I enjoyed using a marking knife and gauge for the first time, the precision is really appeals to my OCD. Unfortunately, the 2×8's cupped on me halfway through the project so all my early attempts and producing zero-gap joints ended up with me doing hours of chiseling and sanding to allow things to actually fit together. In the end, everything fits very snugly and requires some gentle mallet nudges, but there are still visible gaps. Kind of weird, but I'm 16” above the spiders now and that's what really counts ;)I also really enjoyed using a Japanese saw for the first time. My table saw couldn't cut deep enough for notching the 6×6 timbers, but it produced a great guide to allow the saw to track the remainder of the line nicely. And the Dewalt planer really impressed me with how quickly it turned those fuzzy 6×6s into smooth-as-glass 5.75×5.75s. Can't imagine trying to do that by hand!I finished it with Watco Danish oil and let it cure for about 5 days before moving it into my room. Still kind of stinks but hopefully it's past the toxic off-gassing stage at this point. Feels really good to have it done and surprisingly I'm ok with its flaws (I'm sure in the future I'll be less tolerant of such things, but for now it's easy to justify as necessary to learning).Thanks for looking!

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Inspired

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


While cruising around on Sunday, I came across this plain, but really nice, 1955 Chevy 210 model. I was “driven” to make something.Woods: Western Red Cedar, White Oak and Cherry.Backer: Luaun plywood.Frame: Poplar.Finish: Natural Danish Oil.

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Views in the new shop

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Finally getting it together; it only took a year, but there were other priorities.Got the cabinets finished and installed, clamps hung, everything out of the boxes. Still need to get the lathe assembled and a stand built for it.Great environment; AC and heat which were missing in the previous shop. Have a sink (!!) that supports a coffee pot. Epoxy floor. 2 closets.Plenty of light with 12 4000 lumen fixtures – 48,000 lumens !! Its bright!Ready to make sawdust!

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