Shaker Inspired Bench - Part 2

With the basic plan in place I was ready to start cutting my joinery.  I started by cutting the dado on the bottom of the top the same width as the legs.  I then used the drill press to drill out the mortises in the top to accept the tenons on the legs.  Then squared up the mortises with a chisel.  I used my table-saw and dado blade to cut the tenons, slowly creeping up on the perfect fit.  

For Christmas I got a new 1/2" up-cut spiral bit, which is perfect for cutting the mortises on the legs.  Using my Festool OF1400 and the edge guide I was able to cut a perfect mortise very quickly.  This is my first spiral router bit, and I love it!

After all the mortises were squared up and multiple times dry-fitting everything I was ready for the final glue up, which went very smoothly.

 View of the through mortises with the split for the wedge.

Bench dry fit (no stretcher yet).

Cutting the mortises in the legs with my new 1/2" up-cut spiral bit, this thing is awesome!

Nice, clean mortise. 

Squared up the mortise with a chisel. 

Final glue up (can't have too many clamps).

Shaker-Inspired Bench - Part 1

Every-time I walk into our house I want a place to sit down and take my shoes off without having to walk on the carpet.  Our entry-way has tile floors and I wanted to build a bench.

At first, I was going to build this grand bench that included a coat-rack and storage, but determined that it would be too big.  I settled on a "Shaker-Inspired" bench that would be simple, yet sturdy to endure years of abuse.

After some research I came up with a very simple design, that I new would help me to learn some new woodworking techniques. The last few projects (including the magazine rack) I have been designing in my head, and then just building it.  This has been much tougher than I originally thought as I have been used to building from already designed plans, typically from someone else.

 I knew what I wanted the dimensions to be, and that there would be a top, two legs and a stretcher.  After buying the wood (Poplar since it would be painted), I milled everything up and continued the design process by setting it up on my workbench and visualizing how it would all come together.

Magazine Rack

This magazine rack was a small project that I completed in November 2013.  The rack is made out of some scrap Walnut that I had, with a beautiful knot in one of the boards.  This project used mortise and tenon joinery, and was finished with a few coats of General Finishes Polyacrylic and a coat of paste-wax.

Past Projects - Rocking Horse

Every year there is a "build-off" for Woodworkers Fighting Cancer where for every completed project a group of sponsors donate money to cancer research.  In 2011 I participated and built the rocking horse below for my daughters.  The horse is built out of pre-laminated pine from the big-box store and is finished in a few coats of shellac (and pink  paint for the saddle).  This was a fun project, and my daughters loved it!

Past Project - Blanket Chest

This is a blanket chest that I built in November-December 2011.  The blanket chest was built out of Birch and is painted with General Finishes in "Lamp Black" and a top-coat of General Finishes Polyacrylic.  The plan for this project is based upon plans found at woodonline.com, which I modified slightly to fit our needs. 

 

All the parts ready for assembly.

The solid-wood top glued up.

Dry-fit.

All done (in time for Christmas).

Intro

Welcome to my blog, which will be an online portfolio of my woodworking journey.  By no means would I consider myself to be a fine craftsman, but with each project I hope to expand my knowledge and skills.  I am a hobbyist woodworker, but I am very passionate about creating very high-quality pieces.

Thank you for visiting!

-Josh