Month: June 2014

Window Seat Bookcase: Building the Sides and Dividers, Part 1

Published by

I am finally making good progress on my daughter’s window seat bookcase. I am still working longer hours at my new job which means forcing myself into the workshop in the evenings; longer periods of workshop time during the weekend. I see this project being built this way: the sides and interior dividers first, then add the cross members which will give the bookcase its overall shape. Then add the horizontal surfaces. I will wait to begin glue-up of the various parts until later in the construction process. Also, shaping the crest rail will come later. In my last post on this project, I had the legs cut to final size. The next task is to create the bookcase sides and interior dividers (shown in blue above). I began forming the upper and lower side rails. The legs will connect to these components and the sides will quickly begin to take shape.

New Workbench: Option Two

Published by

arlier this year, I began contemplating the design for a new workbench. The first blog post in what will be a series on my new workbench design, explored the Nicholson workbench (see an example Nicholson here). Since then, the Nicholson bench has become more commonplace on the internet. It appears to be the next trendy workbench design. Something that will likely advance the popularity of the Nicholson workbench is the forthcoming DVD from Lost Art Press which will document the construction of a Nicholson bench using a basic tool set and common lumber. The idea is to build a quality bench based on a historic design and do it on a budget. Mike Siemsen will procure the tools and lumber, then build the bench. I can’t wait to buy the DVD. So, I still have an interest in the Nicholson design; historic, relatively easy to build and can be created using common home center material. What’s not to like? For one, I don’t like the large aprons attached to each side of the top. And, …

Something Odd Has Happened

Published by

For the past few weeks, I have almost lost all interest in woodworking – almost. I realized after focusing a lot of attention on my new job, I need to snap out of this situation. I am getting plenty of satisfaction from my new job. There has been a mountain of work to do, but I am really liking the work. I am enjoying the job so much, that woodworking has slowed to a snail’s pace. But, you can see in the photo above I have several of the components for the sides of the bookcase completed. So I have the legs formed and am working on the sides. I’ll have a more detailed update next weekend.