Wednesday 11 October 2017

Another Summer is Over

Man, time flies by. While I'm still waiting that Summer is coming, it is already over.
That was a crazy one. No longer period of having nice weather conditions. Rain every second day.
And personally, I didn't spent much time with woodworking.




To be honest I'm asking myself with what I have spent my time.
I think I have a serious motivation problem. On one hand there are so many things on my mind. On the other hand I can not pull myself up.
Maybe writing about it will help. 

As our late summer vacation has been cold and rainy I had some time to think about some new projects. The one or the other box was on my bucket list, but this too was not motivating.
But the times they are a changing. Hopefully it is not too early to write about, but we will move most probably by the beginning of next year into a new apartment.
This means a few things. First of all more shop space. In the future I will have 2,5 times more space than now. The second thing is new projects with a serious need. I will come back to that in a second. Finally I have to pack my shop and to think about some serious issues like humidity in the new shop location.

All that being said, now coming to the new projects.
There are three which have to be done and are in relation to the new apartment:
  • A replica of a Mid-Century coat rack/hat rack.
  • A Mid-Century style phone bench.
  • A farmer/harvest kitchen table.

So, enough to do. Interesting projects as I find. All of them having their challenges.

Starting with the coat rack. We have found such a piece on the flea market a while ago. Unfortunately it has it issues, so I decided to build a replica of it. It is nothing more than a frame made with bridle joints fixed on a backboard. And then screwing some hardware onto it.
The specialty is that the coat rack has got some Viennese braid (hope that is the right term for it).


Coat rack

The phone bench is something my wife would like to have. To got an idea what I'm talking about have a look here: Phone Bench.
That seems not difficult to build too. The leg and frame joinery is the tricky part if one won't like to use dowels.

Finally the table. We are planning to have a modern country style kitchen and we will need a fitting table. Due to available space we were searching for a table in specific dimensions and couldn't find one. Man, I'm a woodworker. It would be an easy thing to make a table (will be my fourth then).
But you know, the devil is a squirrel. The legs will be challenging because it will receive some decorative details (beveled notch) which I'm not sure about how to make them.



Kitchen table scribbles


You know what? Writing it down seems to help.
That's a lot of stuff to be done and it sounds like interesting projects. What do you think?
I just need to get my butt up.

Stay motivated!
Stefan

17 comments:

  1. It's called caning on this side of the pond. That looks like a good Xmas present. And I've never used cane before. Good luck on the move and getting the new shop set up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ralph,
      thanks for the wishes. Before I can set up the new shop I have to manage to get the actual one packed. No idea how I will manage that.
      Cheers,
      Stefan

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  2. Unsolicited advice- keep that decorative notch much lower and well away from any pins. When you see pins used in table legs, they're always favoured away from the end of the leg, to avoid starting a split. With the chamfer just below the pins, I think it might make that short length of wood liable to split off...and good luck with the move.

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    Replies
    1. Hello Paul,
      thanks for the advise. I will keep that in mind.
      Nevertheless let me emphasize that the scribble reflects in no way the real proportions. I was just scribbling an idea I've seen.
      Cheers,
      Stefan

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  3. Changes is always good for your motivation...
    Goods luck with the upcomming move, use the occasionb to re-invent your shop

    Bob, the motivational poster child :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Bob,
      thanks for the wishes. Yeah, I will somehow restructure it.
      But before I can do that there will be a lot of other work be done. Painting, wallpapering, packing, moving and maybe then....
      Cheers,
      Stefan

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  4. I think you're going to have to get an old rotary dial telephone to put on the phone bench - for authenticity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Matt,
      guess what my wife has got in mind. ;-)
      I think we will find one, but I fear that she is expecting that it will work.
      Cheers,
      Stefan

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    2. A few years ago I found a company which was making table telephones which would work with a SIM card as if it was a mobile. Don't know if it is still available.
      Sylvain

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    3. The "table GSM" are generally with keys.
      If you want a rotary dial and like electronics:
      http://www.instructables.com/id/TOWA-Phone/
      Sylvain

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    4. Hi Sylvain,
      thx for the link. That's an interesting one.
      I think the compromise for us will be to have such a phone just for decorative purposes.

      Delete
  5. Hi Stefan

    I don't know where the summer went this year, but it wasn't in Denmark for sure. We had similar weather conditions, rain and wind and in between a single day without rain, but not a nice hot summer where you felt like going swimming.

    Congratulations on moving to a new apartment. Getting a new shop sounds like a really nice thing.

    I think that you can buy the braided part finished in some specialty stores. Then it is just a matter of making a rabbet and attaching it with a narrow strip of wood.

    Good luck with the moving and the building projects.
    Brgds
    Jonas

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jonas,
      thanks for the wishes. We are really excite about the new apartment. And I'm looking forward to have just a bit more space to move in the shop and not always have to got things out of the way.
      Your are right. The braided stuff can be readily bought. And that I will do. It is used for chairs, folding screens, etc.
      I will let you know in the next posts how I will solve it.
      Cheers,
      Stefan

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    2. rabbet + strip of wood would be OK for a few hats. Otherwise, you cut the braided stuff a little larger then the opening and you push the excess cane in little holes in which you then put little dowels to secure it by friction.
      Sylvain

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    3. Stefan,

      Add my congrats for the new apt. and larger shop space. I'd loan you my truck for the move but it doesn't swim well :-).

      ken

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    4. Hi Ken,
      thanks for the offer. :-)
      Cheers,
      Stefan

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    5. Sylvain, thx for the hint.
      I will have a look at this and I think the original one is fixed like you have described with small dowels.
      Cheers,
      Stefan

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