Disclaimer: This is a long post detailing the adventures of one who simply followed the next idea.
A few years ago I decided it was time to build myself a real work bench. I did my research, collected ideas that I liked and eventually drew detailed plans of what I would build. Somewhere during this process I let myself be talked into the idea of adding a tool well to the bench. For those who are wondering what a tool well is, it's mainly a place to collect shavings and lose tools. To be fair I have worked at benches where these served a practical purpose. That's not really the case with my bench.
Another reason this made sense at the time was that I was a bit short on the hickory I used for the bench top. Adding a tool well meant I would need less wood. This actually did prove true. I would have ran out of hickory if the whole top were solid. Not a good reason, but the truth.
I also designed the bench to have a split top and use the space between the two halves to store the most common tools. This works great and I really like having these tools at arms reach, but that makes it even more impractical to reach into the tool well.
Fast forward four years. What I've found is that even with the split top and tools at the ready there always seem to be a few more tools I'd like at arms reach. These congregate on the bench top and I'm frequently moving them from one side to the other. They hang around until a phase of the project is complete and then find their way back to their permanent homes.
All this has led me to the idea of making a small tool cabinet that straddles the tool well. The specs required that it have a base that raises it above the tools stored in the split top (about 8" would work). I wanted drawers in the base for storing small tools and fasteners, and have the cabinet above this with clam shell doors. Here's a sketch of the proposed cabinet.
Another idea. Let's make a goal of using up some scraps that have accumulated. I had three boards from a sweet gum tree, some pecan and hickory left over from the work bench, and a variety of other small boards. Given the quarantine I wanted to avoid having to make a Home Depot run.
Now the fun starts. The sweet gum was all the boards left from a tree taken down by Hurricane Fran. I had a log milled just to see what sort of lumber it might make. Unfortunately, it wasn't covered well so some spalting occurred. To make matters worse powder post beetles had worked over the sap wood pretty good. I was able to find enough sound wood for the cabinet, but there would be a few holes left by the little critters -- especially on one side of the base.
At this point I got the idea that I could just slice some veneer and cover that side of the base. This meant switching the blade on my bandsaw from 1/4" to the 3/4" wood slicer. I had some other figured wood I planned to slice into veneer so I'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. A half-hour later my bandsaw was back in business and ready to make veneer.
Enter the next idea. The back side of that tool cabinet base is a relative large, blank space. It deserves some decoration. I'd been wanting to try marquetry so why not? It's a tool cabinet so I'd marquetry (is that a verb?) some tools in this space. But what do I need to get started in marquetry? Let's watch a few YouTube videos and see.
Well, turns out you don't need much -- just a fret saw with some fine blades and a donkey. I didn't have a fret saw, fine blades, nor a donkey. I'm also quarantined. Remember? Amazon to the rescue on the fret saw and fine blades. While I'm waiting on these I'll make the donkey. The purpose of this is to provide a platform for sawing that keeps the work at a suitable angle. The process is to stack the pieces, saw at a slight angle to account for the saw kerf, and then they fit perfectly together. I know have a donkey (and used up some excess melamine!).
Note how the top is hinged on one side and has an adjustable riser on the other. As you work the saw vertically, the tilted table top holds the work at an angle. Check out this video by Peter Young if you want to learn more
.
I also used the time spent waiting for the fret saw and blades to arrive making veneer. I scoured my supply of wood and managed to come up with a dozen different species to provide a variety of colors, exotic woods like ebony and purple heart and the more mundane southern yellow pine and maple. There's chestnut, ash, oak, walnut, cherry.... well, you get the idea. If it wasn't in use, I sliced it. Even so, I could have probably used a few more choices.
The next task is to figure out what picture to make. I chose a few tools, arranged these on the work bench and took a picture. I used the printer to size the picture and an online photo editor to create a cartoon version I could easily reproduce on tracing paper. Oh, I forgot. You also need carbon paper to transfer the image from the tracing to the wood. This time, Staples to the rescue (and with free shipping). A day later my 10-page pack of carbon paper arrives at my door in a box the size of a small suit case.
I won't go into the full process. The summary is that you are building up each item two sections at a time, stacking one part onto another for cutting. Once a tool is complete you then stack it onto the background and cut all the way around the tool. If you've done it right the tool will inset perfectly. If you did it wrong, start over (that old "measure twice, cut once or measure once, cut twice" rule applies here). The trace paper with the cartoon is used constantly to maintain alignment and trace the next section onto the carbon paper. You're also working from the back (under) side of the marquetry. Here's how it looks from the back side through the tracing paper.
And finally, this is the finished marquetry once it is glued on the backer (note, it's a mirror image of above photo). Gluing to the backer was the part I wasn't so sure about. I could have hammer veneered it, but wasn't comfortable the design could take the rubbing. In the end, I pulled out the vacuum press to avoid taking unnecessary risks. It was a fair amount of work to get to this point.
You'll see I also added a walnut frame around the edges. No marquetry for the other side of the cabinet, just the nicer piece of sweet gum. I finished off the base with walnut trim and used some SYP for the inside drawer stretchers. Here's how it looks sitting astride the tool well. Note the handles on either side to aid in lifting or sliding it.
Well, it's about time for another idea in this adventure. Last year I took a class that @Phil S hosted on cock-beading. It was taught by @danmart77. I really enjoyed the class, but have not gotten a chance to use it on a project. Queue idea. Why not add cock-beading on these six little drawers! I was able to salvage a very figured piece of sweet gum and slice this into veneer for the drawer fronts. I book matched the pieces to give it a symmetrical appearance.
I'm still working on the drawers, but the first three are done. The cock-beading is made from some pecan that was left over from the work bench. The contrast of light and dark make these really stand out.
I'll follow up with other posts as I complete the project. Definitely having a lot of fun with this one.
Until then...
A few years ago I decided it was time to build myself a real work bench. I did my research, collected ideas that I liked and eventually drew detailed plans of what I would build. Somewhere during this process I let myself be talked into the idea of adding a tool well to the bench. For those who are wondering what a tool well is, it's mainly a place to collect shavings and lose tools. To be fair I have worked at benches where these served a practical purpose. That's not really the case with my bench.
Another reason this made sense at the time was that I was a bit short on the hickory I used for the bench top. Adding a tool well meant I would need less wood. This actually did prove true. I would have ran out of hickory if the whole top were solid. Not a good reason, but the truth.
I also designed the bench to have a split top and use the space between the two halves to store the most common tools. This works great and I really like having these tools at arms reach, but that makes it even more impractical to reach into the tool well.
Fast forward four years. What I've found is that even with the split top and tools at the ready there always seem to be a few more tools I'd like at arms reach. These congregate on the bench top and I'm frequently moving them from one side to the other. They hang around until a phase of the project is complete and then find their way back to their permanent homes.
All this has led me to the idea of making a small tool cabinet that straddles the tool well. The specs required that it have a base that raises it above the tools stored in the split top (about 8" would work). I wanted drawers in the base for storing small tools and fasteners, and have the cabinet above this with clam shell doors. Here's a sketch of the proposed cabinet.
Another idea. Let's make a goal of using up some scraps that have accumulated. I had three boards from a sweet gum tree, some pecan and hickory left over from the work bench, and a variety of other small boards. Given the quarantine I wanted to avoid having to make a Home Depot run.
Now the fun starts. The sweet gum was all the boards left from a tree taken down by Hurricane Fran. I had a log milled just to see what sort of lumber it might make. Unfortunately, it wasn't covered well so some spalting occurred. To make matters worse powder post beetles had worked over the sap wood pretty good. I was able to find enough sound wood for the cabinet, but there would be a few holes left by the little critters -- especially on one side of the base.
At this point I got the idea that I could just slice some veneer and cover that side of the base. This meant switching the blade on my bandsaw from 1/4" to the 3/4" wood slicer. I had some other figured wood I planned to slice into veneer so I'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. A half-hour later my bandsaw was back in business and ready to make veneer.
Enter the next idea. The back side of that tool cabinet base is a relative large, blank space. It deserves some decoration. I'd been wanting to try marquetry so why not? It's a tool cabinet so I'd marquetry (is that a verb?) some tools in this space. But what do I need to get started in marquetry? Let's watch a few YouTube videos and see.
Well, turns out you don't need much -- just a fret saw with some fine blades and a donkey. I didn't have a fret saw, fine blades, nor a donkey. I'm also quarantined. Remember? Amazon to the rescue on the fret saw and fine blades. While I'm waiting on these I'll make the donkey. The purpose of this is to provide a platform for sawing that keeps the work at a suitable angle. The process is to stack the pieces, saw at a slight angle to account for the saw kerf, and then they fit perfectly together. I know have a donkey (and used up some excess melamine!).
Note how the top is hinged on one side and has an adjustable riser on the other. As you work the saw vertically, the tilted table top holds the work at an angle. Check out this video by Peter Young if you want to learn more
I also used the time spent waiting for the fret saw and blades to arrive making veneer. I scoured my supply of wood and managed to come up with a dozen different species to provide a variety of colors, exotic woods like ebony and purple heart and the more mundane southern yellow pine and maple. There's chestnut, ash, oak, walnut, cherry.... well, you get the idea. If it wasn't in use, I sliced it. Even so, I could have probably used a few more choices.
The next task is to figure out what picture to make. I chose a few tools, arranged these on the work bench and took a picture. I used the printer to size the picture and an online photo editor to create a cartoon version I could easily reproduce on tracing paper. Oh, I forgot. You also need carbon paper to transfer the image from the tracing to the wood. This time, Staples to the rescue (and with free shipping). A day later my 10-page pack of carbon paper arrives at my door in a box the size of a small suit case.
I won't go into the full process. The summary is that you are building up each item two sections at a time, stacking one part onto another for cutting. Once a tool is complete you then stack it onto the background and cut all the way around the tool. If you've done it right the tool will inset perfectly. If you did it wrong, start over (that old "measure twice, cut once or measure once, cut twice" rule applies here). The trace paper with the cartoon is used constantly to maintain alignment and trace the next section onto the carbon paper. You're also working from the back (under) side of the marquetry. Here's how it looks from the back side through the tracing paper.
And finally, this is the finished marquetry once it is glued on the backer (note, it's a mirror image of above photo). Gluing to the backer was the part I wasn't so sure about. I could have hammer veneered it, but wasn't comfortable the design could take the rubbing. In the end, I pulled out the vacuum press to avoid taking unnecessary risks. It was a fair amount of work to get to this point.
You'll see I also added a walnut frame around the edges. No marquetry for the other side of the cabinet, just the nicer piece of sweet gum. I finished off the base with walnut trim and used some SYP for the inside drawer stretchers. Here's how it looks sitting astride the tool well. Note the handles on either side to aid in lifting or sliding it.
Well, it's about time for another idea in this adventure. Last year I took a class that @Phil S hosted on cock-beading. It was taught by @danmart77. I really enjoyed the class, but have not gotten a chance to use it on a project. Queue idea. Why not add cock-beading on these six little drawers! I was able to salvage a very figured piece of sweet gum and slice this into veneer for the drawer fronts. I book matched the pieces to give it a symmetrical appearance.
I'm still working on the drawers, but the first three are done. The cock-beading is made from some pecan that was left over from the work bench. The contrast of light and dark make these really stand out.
I'll follow up with other posts as I complete the project. Definitely having a lot of fun with this one.
Until then...
