Update

It's been a little while since I've posted so I thought I would update some things for you. The weather here has been absolutely great the last few days. The bluebonnets are starting to put some buds on and one of the peach trees has blooms on it. Spring is definitely right around the corner.

I finished the two bath cabinets. They turned out pretty good.

Like small file cabinets

I put several coats of amber shellac....

...followed by a glaze to darken and age it some.They also have some small castors as per the customers request. These will be delivered on Saturday. 

Also finished the 3 medicine cabinets and installed them. The stain is a custom color and then shot with a dull-rubbed lacquer. 

I drilled lots of holes so they could put the shelves exactly right.

This is a linen cabinet we re-did last year with knotty alder doors.

Downstairs bath

Last year we enclosed a carport at this same customers house making a huge master closet. They had a closet as part of the bathroom with 4' bi-fold doors. I suggested we remove the doors and make it a cased opening and add some shelves for storage. When it was done the customer asked if I could add drawers and doors. So here is a particle board and knotty alder storage unit. There is another bank of drawers to the right of this unit. She loves it!

And here's the next item. Actually 2 items. This is kind of a mission style chest of drawers. The second chest will be the same size and configuration with couple of design and finish changes. I'm building this one first. It is alder with poplar as the secondary wood. All mortise and tenon case with dovetailed drawers.

One of the many mortises laid out.

The legs have slight tapers on the inside below the skirt.

Working on one end.

I cut this dovetail on the top stretcher to really tie the case together.

Checking the fit of the center stile on the end

This is a dry fit to check panel dimensions and interior stretcher lengths. Lots of parts! Hopefully I'll get something glued together tomorrow.

Bench final and something new

Here it is: stained with Minwax red mahagony and one coat of oil. Over the next 5 or 6 days it will get 5 or 6 coats of my homemade wiping varnish. Should be ready to deliver by next weekend. I'll have to check Peggy's schedule to find out the best day to go.

Pretty sweet looking, huh?

This is the next project. Actually 2 of them. They are small drawer units for bathroom in Fredricksburg. One of the cases will have 2 equal drawers. The boxes are pretty simple but there are some details in these.

I have to match or compliment an existing antique the customer already has. It will be out of some knotty pine.

The drawers have these rabbeted drawer fronts with some half-blind dovetails.

There is molding to duplicate on the bottom as well as some rollers that will go on the bottom of the case.

Molding on the top also. These units will replace the plastic drawers you see in the background. Tomorrow I'll get started by glueing some panels together.  I also have 3 medicine chests that will be out of knotty alder. I have to draw those up tomorrow. Stick with me! Lots of stuff to build!

It's cold!!

Texas is not supposed to get this cold. I got up this morning and it was 23! I guess I'll have to turn the heat on in the shop in a few minutes. Today the dust collection system arrives! I hope to have it all installed by the weekend. I ordered from Onieda Air. They will provide a detailed layout of all the duct and fittings for free when you order a 3hp system or larger. If it's smaller they have a $200 charge. Not bad. I ordered the 5hp Pro 2000. I have to run a new circuit for the system. No problem.  I spent the day yesterday designing a new bed for us using Google Sketchup. This a really good 3d design program that is free. Free is good! Takes awhile to get to know it but the more you use it the easier it gets. I designed the latest project,a  kitchen and bath cabinet job, with it, and it came out nice. The ability to see your design in 3d is great. I finally finished the second dining chair. It's in the shop waiting to get more coats of finish on it. I also spent the weekend getting the shop cleaned out. Sometimes you hoard too many scraps and with the burn ban finally lifted I got the lumber storage pared down to a workable amount. Still have to build a sheet goods storage rack and some additional tool storage cabinets but I'm getting there.

This is the bed I designed with Sketchup yesterday. I was inspired by furniture maker named Mark Love. His studio is in Wimberly, Texas. He builds beautiful Asian and art-deco inspired furniture.