Motorcycle Rocking Horse You may have seen this project on my Connies blog if you follow her.Crafty home cottage @blogspot.com

 This is what I built my 1st granddaughter when she turned 2 years old. Following are photos that will take you from plans to finished project.

As you may guess,  this project took a lot of time and patience.

I made a base for my router that extended out about a foot to one side.  This choice to cut the wheels I was able to screw the router base directly to the wood, turning the router itself into a compass.  You cant get an any more perfect circle than that.To cut out the spokes I had to drill starter holes then insert the scroll saw blade through each hole, cut it, then unclasp the blade, moving to the next hole.  A little tedious but it was a labor of love.

This project was complicated enough that I had to break it down into many work sessions.

The rockers.

The biggest challenge was getting everything to fit together correctly.

The seat and gas tank are several pieces of wood glued up and then cut to shape.

In the original plans, the handle bars are supported only by the center post.  Not strong enough for these energetic girls, not to mention their play date friends.  So I decided to run the fork tubes clear up to the handle bars.

Notice anyone having fun here?

It was well worth the effort to build something that will be a family heirloom.Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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Because something is happening here But you dont know what it is Do you Mister Jones

youll note that in the last three weeks, i have written exactly ONE blog post, and that one i had been writing as we worked along on the project ... a record of blog inattention, even compared to my bloggavacation i took a year or so ago ... mr. dylan asks: what is going on here? i dont know, but, well, let me tell you, its all good. as you can see from the list above, we have (now) 12 committed projects, (13; one just came in by email) including two 54 x 85 x 26" deep recycled chestnut cabinets, a ten foot table, a 17 table, another dining table, six chairs and a coffee table ... lots of stuff. but, on the right, youll notice in the in process column 21 other proposals were working on, most of which, as of right now, are out in the ether, awaiting replies or commitments. the photo below was taken around 11:00 this morning, just before i started scanning and emailing ... just finished it all up a minute ago ... im going to write this and then go have a couple of tall cold ones ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
a few new models ... a 30 x 60 dining table with a steel base; a 60" dining table with two leaves and a stainless base; and a little mockup for a 98" table with a rebar and steel base ... with that project there is also a 42" x 17 table ....
an assortment of proposals, ready to go ...
next up, the two recycled chestnut cabinets mocked up with photoshop
along with those cabinets goes this 48 x 72" recycled chestnut pedestal dining table we finished last week ...
with 3 15" leaves ... better top color in this photo ... love, love, love my red walls, but they can really change the color of things ...
this 38 x 62 mahogany table with a steel shaker base left last week for california ...
bottom view with the actual mahogany color
and now were working on a version of this table we made in 2002,
the main difference in the new design is the shape of the pedestal, which the client took from our walnut and leather poker table ....
and will had to refigure out how to make the edge inlay blanks ... burl, bubinga and end grain peruvian walnut .. he wasnt here yet for the last time around and i couldnt exactly remember how to do it ...
heres how it looked at the end of the day today ... the edge inlay is all in and trevor will glue the burl center inlays in tomorrow in the vacuum bag ... a little clean up, some aprons and the runners and well wrap this one up ... i am planning a post on the whole table process, but certainly, not now ...
close up of the center inlay fitting
next ... this is the model for the 30" x 9 8" elm table with the rebar base, made from an architects sketch ...
the client was concerned that the welded rebar base might need some other support, but sam convinced me that that would be totally unnecessary ... just as a fun test, we took the unglued rubber wood 1/8th " dowel model and loaded it, and put a little side schoice weight on it ... no problem ... i imagine the welded steel base will be fine ...
to select the elm slabs for the table tops, i took a little trip to berkshire products in sheffield, mass last week ... if you havent been there or checked their website, its a fantastic wood resource with a great photo website.
bought this one for the single table,
these two for the 17 table ... they will join in the center around an existing brick 30 x 30 column ...
bought a little burl for the cherry table were working on too .. lots to choose from
big leaf maple from the west coast ...
the black and steel 60" table with the stainless base and two leaves ...
and we have a couple serious nibbles on the big claro walnut slab on the wall in the finish room. in this drawing, it will become a 9 x 50" coffee table in aspen.
and lastly in the new model department, we have this maple and steel dining table with a clever adaptation by the clients of our shaker steel base ...
and finally will got his banjo pot turning aparatus for seeders instruments rigged up and it works really slick. it a combination of wood and metalworking tools that, with a little help from some online googling and some parts from grizzly and mcmaster carr, he adapted the whole works to suit his process. this is the inside of the pot turning set up ...
and, to turn the outside, you flip over the tool holder and angle the base plate. hes got two more parts to turn for some banjo orders, so he is really happy that it worked as well as it did.
all for now ... thanks for sticking with me. gold star for you if you made it all the choice through. turns out i had to have the tall cold ones before i finished ... have a great weekend.

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More Half Round Stuff

Will put the inlays in the edges of the tops today ... He first sliced them with a thin kerf Makita 6" blade on the table saw, then sanded the edges slightly and in they went ..
First Will trued up the 8 degree angles with a fixed block on the edge sander ...
Brushed a coat of glue into the channel and taped them into place ... They are cut just thick enough to be raised from the surface of the edge of the table so the tape puts a little pressure on them. Hell sand them off in the morning and start finishing the tops. The bit is hard to find in your typical lumber yard but heres the number and maker .. click the picture to enlarge it ... Go to your favorite online router bit store and type in the name and number ...
Home stretch ... Drawers and finish ...

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Hells Canyon Fishing Trip

Entering the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

We were greeted by these curly horn sheep.

Our guides and boat.

 Fishing.

The views were breath-taking  throughout the canyon and the boat ride was a fast and exciting voyage.

Look at my catch!Pretty nice.

Our trip included a river side barbecue.

If you ever have the chance to take this trip.Do it!

Youll be glad you did.

Steve

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perfect

well, building a new building, or for that matter, a new piece of furniture, or, in fact, building anything requires that we have a vision in our mind when we start.  usually, that vision assumes that we can execute our concepts perfectly, there will be no flaws, and that we will be 100% happy with our progress as we work.  not often the case. throughout the building process, and particularly,  as we approach the final few weeks before sam moves into his new metal shop, we have been "encouraged" by a number of realities that often rear their ugly heads to make some compromises.  dont get me wrong, i am THRILLED with everyones efforts on this building from the first shovel full of earth to the last board nailed up on friday, but i have often worked on projects with more substantial budgets of $ and time, and therefore know this one could have been better.  maybe.  we could have used the new, more efficient spray foam insulation ... +$2000 at least.  we could have gone for the fancier door units that i saw when i first entered the window and door showrom at miles ... +$8000., the next level up of windows ... $2500., and we could have finished the upstairs this year and been done with it ... + who knows? $15,000.?  more?  as mr. cheeks article from the times above mentions, we have arrived in the land of mr. withers all right, and, as alchoices, were happy to be there. hers a link to the times article online if you cant read the one above.

 land of all right .. fits into the existing landscape ok ... one of my builder friends commented that it will look like its alchoices been there.  good enough for me ..

 where we are as of today ... i had alchoices envisioned a pair of formal entablature like trim details like the one on the main shop, but i personally never got around to executing them before matt and nat arrived there friday with the siding.  they were alchoices off budget items that i was going to add in on some weekend or other, with some sweat equity, but as we were all studying the situation friday, off the list they went .. move on ... all right..

so, in the end, we did pretty good .. the doors can open wide for work in the summer, check.  radiant heat in the concrete floor, check ... slate roof to match the other buildings, check, no posts in the main work area, check ... up to code wiring and welding fume exhaust .. check, soon ... weve definitely arrived in mr. withers land of all right.

for more of mr.cheeks thoughts on boat building, see this link 

his writing is full of little gems of observation, like the one below... food for thought.

"Mr. Greenley was never perturbed about a mistake; he simply set about finding the most efficient fix. He understood intuitively that surges of negative emotion not only interfere with problem-solving; they also get built into the object you’re working on."and for a few interesting thoughts on moving your thninking skills forward, try this article in the new yorker from atul gawande ...

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