The Woodshop Shed

Table Lamp

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


This started when my wife bought this copper lam shade at the Gem show in Tucson two years ago. I was to make a fitting lamp for it and I had to wait until I could cut a big tapered round piece off a mesquite log. Well I was given that log last winter and brought home this piece of green mesquite. I dried it in the microwave for a day and had a few cracks but then it was dry.I turned off the natural edge because I wanted it to be symmetrical. I also wanted to experiment with a few things so I put in a touch control that is triggered by the little brass button in the front and I also wired the trigger to the harp so you can touch the shade and trigger the 3 levels of light with that.I wanted to experiment with glow-in- the- dark powder in epoxy resin ,so this lamp has a small pool of blue resin just below the shade that glows when the light is turned off ( last shot).For a finishing touch, I made a mesquite knob for the top of the shade and I found out that a lamp harp does not have a standard thread…it is 1/4” -27 so I had to buy that special tap to thread the hole in the knob.It is one piece of mesquite 6 1/2” x 10” x 18” High and finished with satin Polyurethane.I added some process shots below:cheers, Jim
Starting it on the lathe
Milling the pocket in the bottom for the touch control box

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Artemis Art Box

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Box number 27 in my recent box series. This is number 12 in my Adventures into Shape.This is the second pentagonal box I've built. The first has dovetails and the shaping is much more subtle. This one is built from poplar with pine, cedar, hickory and mesquite for some of the accent pieces and splines. It has more extreme shaping that the cedar band around the middle allowed.I used a table saw, jointer and planer to mill the wood and to cut the angles and dimensions. Much of the shaping was accomplished with rasps and I used a Saburr bit to do some of the dished out areas. I spent a day doing hand sanding along with use of turners foam backed sanding discs on inch mandrels. Much of the dished out concave areas were finished with curved cabinet scrapers, a new favorite tool of mine. I tried to take the sanded finish to a finer grit than I've used before. I now get that sandpaper is a legitimate tool and shouldn't be skimped on when buying. Also, I've learned the hard way to not skip too many grits when sanding. The fine paper just makes a very fine dust that fills all the scratches from the larger grit paper. A steady progression through the right grits REALLY saves time and gave me favorable results. I also cut some old cloth backed sanding belts into different width and length strips for sanding some of the convex features. I wish I had done this a few projects ago.I enjoyed creating the feet and pull and made little improvements to the techniques I am using. The splines and inlays on the lid are also an area that I keep playing with and developing. I used the same technique from the previous build to create a large glue area between the pull and the round cap on the bottom. That serves to sandwich the ends of the triangular panels of the lid.The jewelry box has two removable trays. One has no bottom but reveals the felt lining on the actual box. The second rests on top of the first and has a bottom. They are finger/box jointed together.This box also has a compartment on the bottom side. This is accessed by emptying the box of its trays and flipping it over. There is a cap that has a catch and it aligns with magnets in the bottom compartment wall.Dimensions are as follows…
Outside dimensions of the Artemis Art Box are 9 inch across at the widest point by 9 inches tall but with the legs it stands at 11 inches tall. With the lid the total height is 16 inches tall. The legs are about 4 inches tall and the lid and pull are about 5 inches tall. The two jewelry trays are 2 inches and 2 inches deep. The interior of the box is 5 inches deep.Finish is a wipe on mixture of oil based poly and mineral spirits with around 10% of a fruitwood oil based stain. I really wanted to bring out some the grain without too much stain so that the legs and pull would be showcased. That was followed by “sanding” out the finish with crumpled brown paper. I used Trewax brand paste wax for the matte sheen that it can be buffed out to reveal.These inclusions are dowels within dowels and also dowels play into the joinery a lot on this piece. Most are hidden.
Comments and criticisms are welcome.
Jon

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Camphor Bowl.

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


I acquired a lot of beautiful bowl blanks so I've been interested in seeing what they look like. It's been awhile since I posted a bowl but I have a few I would to share. This Camphor bowl is 6-1/2×3''. My first time with Camphor and what a surprise after starting to take off some shavings. It has a strong scent of Vicks vapor rub and I guess they use the extract to make other medical products. My eyes lit up like the moon . It's pleasant but after awhile it starts getting to me.
In pic 4 I rubbed on the first coat and it popped the grain nicely.
Finished with a mixture of Danish oil and lacquer thinner, 2 to 1 parts. You get a oil finish that dries quickly that way. 5 coats total and the last 2 were just the Danish.
It went through a 3 step buffing process and the results were very satisfying.
P.S. I threw the shavings in my garden, they say it will help keep away bugs and critters. LOL. We'll see.

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