Some small projects around the house

I have been swamped with work and travel for the last couple of months, so my shop time has been very limited. I have mostly been puttering around with my workbench, getting the last bits and bobbles done before calling it done and I have spent the off hour here and there on the lathe and doing stuff around the house:

  1. I had to fix a dishwasher leak and do some painting in the kitchen – still hate plumbing
  2. We did some re-arranging, so I had to fill some nail holes and then make new ones.
  3. Glued a cutting board back together after it split – craptastic glue didn’t hold, so it is back in the to-fix pile and will get some dowels this time
  4. Made a pot lid handle out of some scrap cherry.
  5. Tackled the jungle that was once my yard – twice
  6. Sharpened the lawnmower blade
  7. Turned the compost
  8. I bought a sheet of plywood and built a DVD shelf and a 8′ bookshelf for the lending library we run.
  9. There was been an oak log in my shop for months so I cut it in half and made a couple of stools for my office.
  10. Our puppies play a game called “run away from Mommy” when she takes them out, so I built two small fences to keep them in the back yard and away from the front gate.

I have do a few things in the shop just for organization and am working on a couple of little projects:

  1. We got a huge free wardrobe that I put in the GROP to organize non-tool/shop related items like climbing gear and life jackets
  2. My battery operated tools need a home, so I put together an organization center for them that mounts on the French cleat board
  3. I hung up my 6 heavy panel clamps to get them out of the way
  4. Made a Lathe chuck and tail-stock tool organizer for the French cleat organizer
  5. With a bonus from my J-O-B, I bought a few more molding planes, but they arrived in sad shape. I spent 6+ hours one Saturday cleaning, sharpening and fixing them.
  6. Started work on a blanket chest rebuild: cut here, snip there, new runners and new feet. Will get new milk paint finish when complete.
  7. Working on a copyist lectern rebuild. I made the base, pillar and other bits from some scrap beech left over from the bench build.
  8. Built a wooded top for the puppy Kennel so it blends better with the furniture in the Living Room.
  9. Putting together a 6-board chest for molding plane storage.  Will get re-purposed forged hardware and a Barn Red milk paint finish.

Matt Talley - Projects 2015_06 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_11 IMG_3410 Oak stool 23-2015 (2) Matt Talley - Projects 2015_24 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_22 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_23 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_25 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_17 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_18 Matt Talley _ Drill Organizer _ 2015

Used my workbench today!

Today was the official first use of my workbench. I used it as a work table to lay out the shape of the leg vise, I cut the dados for the tail vise, cleaned them with a chisel, and after spreading plastic used the bench top as a glue-up table for the vice pieces. I had enough room at the other end of the bench to put together a French-cleat mounted battery drill organizer that I cut the parts out for yesterday afternoon. I have trouble staying with one project and do 3-5 at a time. It makes my wife crazy.

The bench top height is perfect and I am super stoked to have a real workbench here in France. I can finally get down to serious business and make some moldings and a small linen-fold panel chest.

Happy!

Small parts holder for French Cleat wall

What happens when you are 99.98% done turning a bowl, there is a millisecond of inattention and BAM! And the bowl explodes off the chuck?? After you check your britches and finish saying dirty words, you pick up the pieces and make lemonade from lemons.

I thought about tossing it all in a fire, but decided to use the largest intact piece to make a small parts holder that mounts on a French Cleat. I am forever looking for a jar or a can to put small parts in while I am voiding a warranty or rebuilding something small and complicated.

Bowl to French Cleat 2014 (1)

Bowl to French Cleat 2014 (3)

Bowl to French Cleat 2014 (2)

GROP update – French Cleats

Since I live in France, it only makes sense for me to have a shop organization wall that using French Cleats. I have wanted to do it for years, but just never found the time between house and furniture projects when we were in Seattle.

I ripped down some pine sub-flooring that came from the local French Big Box (Leroy Merlin), cut the edges at a 45, ripped the board in half, and glued/screwed them to a section of 1/2-ish (13mm) plywood. Exterior water-based poly was added to both the back and front before it went up on my clay-block garage shop wall with 8 large anchors. For my first French Cleat accessory: I had three small cut-off sections left from a picture shelf wall I did in my home office that I tacked to section of scrap ply to hold my #5 1/4 Jack, #4 smoother, and a couple of block planes. I keep the rest of my planes in a chest, but I use these constantly and wanted to have them in reach. I was so happy with how it all tuned out that I started building all sort of other holders and organizers: ones for squares, chisel rolls, Mallets, cords, apron hooks, saw horses, clamps, Japanese saws, etc… I ringed the garage with a single cleat about 6′ up for all sorts of diabolical organization plans, then hung two more above the lathe so that I would have a place to suspend my lathe chisel rack that is currently in progress and for a spot light that shines down on projects as they are turning.

I will update and post as I add new stuff.

French Cleat 2014 (2)

French Cleat 2014 (3)

French Cleat 2014 (4)

French Cleat 2014 (5)

French Cleat 2014 (6)

Talley - French Cleat attachments 2014 (1)

Talley - French Cleat attachments 2014 (2)

Talley - French Cleat attachments 2014 (3)

Talley - French Cleat attachments 2014 (4)

Talley - French Cleat attachments 2014 (5)

Talley - French Cleat attachments 2014 (6)

Talley - French Cleat attachments 2014 (7)

Talley - French Cleat attachments 2014 (8)