That looks good.

I made a oak shelf in Jr High shop class.  It collects dust nicely.  At least it wasn't an ash tray

I don't usually like the look of a thick layer of poly either.  I usually just dilute it with thinner and apply several very thin coats (with a light sanding in between each coat - steel wool very lightly to get the little "bumps" out).

Doesn't really answer your question, but it doesn't end up looking like thick plastic coated wood.  More like thin "glass" coated wood.  [:)]

[8P]

They do make a satin/flat poly now.You might try using a wax also.Here is a tip,even though it doesn't show I would finnish the inside.If you use this in a high humidity area it could take on mostiure.Don't ever use the stain/poly combo EVER.

I'm having brain fade I cannot remembwe the brand I use.You can get the poly, stain and wax in it .Its in the orngish yellow can.

Nice piece, ever do someting like an ammo box, or mag holder??

ARMALITE FAN: I think you're talking about MINWAX.
DVD Tracker: What about an oil finish?   Simple to do, hard to screw up, easy to repair and refresh down the road.   The only down sides are that it's labor-intensive (not a major factor with a small box)and the relatively long through time.

Thats it.I thought I was going to have to walk out to he shop.

I'm a fan of Tung Oil. Easy to repair if you get dings. Has some water repellant qualities.
You can get it in finishes from flat to shiny depending on your tastes.
Downside: It can take a lot of coats to fill in all the grain in oak if you want that effect.
Oak is my favorite wood, and I happen to like the grain, so I just put on enough coats to get the sheen that I want (usually a soft satin) and quit there. The grain texture just makes it more interesting.
Great hobby, good start. Enjoy.

All right where to start...

1. Throw out the silly putty. The first thing you should learn is how to measure and cut accurately.

2. Use cheaper wood while learning. Your just wasting money by learning with oak. Go pick up some cheaper stuff and hack together some do dads for wife/kids.

3. There is no substitute for good accurate tools. A Craftsman will work when framing a house but it's junk when you get into finer woodworking.

4. Don't waste your time with excessive sanding. 150 will work to finish most stuff. Go to a 220-240 for items that are handled more like your kleenex box. No need for 100.

5. If you need advice or want to learn more go to your local woodworkers supply. They can provide you with all kinds of reference material. Also subscribe to a monthly woodworkers magazine.

For a finish I would look at a satin poly. Get a water soluble kind. It is much easier to clean up.


Remeber: measure once, measure twice, measure again, then cut.


[IMG]http://www.3dpcgames.com/cwm/s/otn/violent/dark2.gif[/IMG]

A couple of other thoughts:


Buy a good table saw. Since most of your cutting work will be done on the table saw and it will substitute for other tools as you start out, an accurate easy to use TS is a good investment.

Forget the nails in joints. Most properly glued joints are stronger that the surrounding wood. On larger projects use biscuits in combination with glue.

I like woodworking as much as guns (hope I don't get banned for saying that :) ) heres a site for you to check out.

"Badger pond"

http://www.wwforum.com/index.asp

I tried my hand at making a workbench and a desk using oak.  The problem with oak is that it's open pored.  The more you sand, the more you open it up.  It'll never really be as smooth as, say, cherry, walnut, or mahogany.  You have to fill in the pores a type of wood putty specifically made for that purpose.  I personally have no woodworking skills but a close friend makes his own furniture.  As was already posted above, he told me the first thing any woodshop needs is a quality table saw.  The more power the better for long cuts through tough wood.  A 220volt motor ultimately costs less to run than 115volt because you're billed by amps used, not volts.

A finishing method I've used is a couple of layers of Tung oil topped with a couple of layers of Minwax Wipe On poly.  The Minwax goes on very thin so there's no buildup.  Easy to clean up and not expensive ($10qt).  

Here's a homemade sideboard made from solid cherry:

[img]http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/Wadman/Im000064.jpg[/img]

Here's a slant desk also from cherry:

[img]http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/Wadman/Im000071.jpg[/img]

Sure beats paying ridiculous prices for something that's made out of fasteners, plywood, and veneer.

Nice pieces, Wadman.  
Did you make your own plans and BOM for the desk?

I used to be a cabinet maker by trade.  I went to a vocational high school and finished at the top of my class.  I had dreams of making fine custom cabinets like you see in Fine Woodworking Magazine.  When I got out into the real world, I worked at a series of "cookie-cutter" shops.  I made alot of custom store displays.  I have always loved working with wood, but found that commercial shops use particle board and plastic laminate.  I got sick of pumping out bland products and found an other line of work.

I still do custom cabinet making on the side.  I specialize in new pieces with an antique look.  My customers bring me a photograph of a piece that they want, then I use CAD to scale and make up a set of shop-drawings to build it.  I also collect vintage woodworking tools.  I do most of my work with modern shop equipment and put the finishing touches on with the antique tools.  I only complete a handful of pieces a year.  I do make a nice profit doing this, but the enjoyment is my motivation.  My favorite finish is tung oil.  I can rub it out to any effect from satin to a high gloss.

I just bought a tracer lathe.  I will be setting it up to make AR buttstocks this winter.  I think it would be cool to have a wood stock.  I will experiment with different woods to get some nice effects.

OSA

No no!  You misunderstand.  I have no woodworking skills (I use fasteners).  A close friend made those pieces w/o plans.  He just eyeballed pictures from a catalog and estimated dimensions and scale.  

DVD Tracker, you're right about slim pickings.  Trying to find a board that requires as little planing as possible.  Then you find what looks like a straight board and the damn thing has knots and splits.  The specialty places save all the good stuff for major purchases by actual furniture manufacturers.  Take a look at the Thomas Moser site.  This guy basically started out small and now has a good size company producing made to order pieces (www.thosmoser.com).  

These days, if you want to avoid screws, particle board, and veneer, you either pay BIG bucks, go to estate sales, or make it yourself.

What do you guys recommend as my first purchase? I am torn between a table saw and a band saw...

Table saw definitely.  There's so much more you can do with it.

Ditto what Stealth said. A good free standing (not table top) table saw will work for 80% of the cuts you make on the average piece. Depending on what your doing a band saw can be pretty useless.

I was going to say something smartellic! but looking at these pics you did a very well! looks
good.

Another site with good info and lots of woodworking related forums is: [url]www.woodmagazine.com[/url]

I really like the Watco Danish oil finish.  I used it on an oak cabinet that I made and it looks great.  I like the color of the medium walnut.  I have also used and like tung oil.  Both of these allow the beauty of the wood to show and it still feels like wood and not plastic.

I agree that a good table saw is a must.

Ditto on the table saw....
Look long and hard at a grizzly.
The wait sucks, and you have to work to set it up and align it, but if you put the work into it you have a saw that can do anything for the price of a sear's worst contractors saw.
Get a forrest WWII blade for the table saw, and a freud dado set, and you have half your shop tools (the other half being drill press, miter saw, band saw, RO sander, mortiser--you really use a good table saw for half or more of every project).
A good table saw equals better project outcomes...

Grizzly tools are second only to Delta and get high marks from WOOD magazine. If there any sawmills local to you it might be worth the wait (drying time) to buy from them. There are 7 hardwood mills within 15 miles of me so I am lucky to be able to get inexpensive wood. There is one that sells hardwoods for $250 per 1000 bd ft. It is straight off the saw and could be oak, poplar, hickory, or whatever but the price is right. I like to use a blow dryer and beeswax to finish wood. The blowdryer melts it into the wood so you can polish it easily. White oak is a tighter grain than red oak and finishes smoother. Red oak is so open that you can blow through it length wise if it isn't too long of a piece. Around here they use white oak for hay wagon beds, barn siding, and anything else that needs to stand up to weather.

Been a carpenter for 30 years. That's how I make my living. You guys have any questions, send me an email. Last house I built I decided to make everything from rough cut cherry and oak, kiln dried to 5 to 7%. Made all my oak and cherry flooring, 2500 sq.ft., all jambs, casing, base, chair rail, crown molding, solid oak doors, cherry cabinets, solid maple countertops, vanities, oak steps, (not railing). Did all the sanding, varnishing, building myself. Haven't had too much time to make furniture, but my day will come. My compliments to the desk maker. Did a nice job.

I do woodworking also.  I got some cool tools about a year ago. I'm too poor to afford to buy much wood tho (spend it all on guns).  I love doing it.

Deerslayer, you've got that backwards.  You have to buy the wood then build something people will pay for.  The revenue from your woodwork funds your firearms collection.

=====================================================

Lint free cloths might be in the wax section of an automotive supply store.  

After buying a good table saw, don't forget about the blade.  100 tooth carbide tipped blades are pricy but will yield superior cuts.  A nice compound miter saw would make a good second purchase.

Hey all,
I have worked my fair share of years as a carpenter and done a large amount of cabinet making and such.

I hate to disagree with a lot of you, but you don't NEED a big table saw as a basis for your shop.  There are a whole lot of good woodworkers out there that get by with little table saws and some get by without one.

If i were to suggest a first power tool it would be a router with a router table and a good assortment of bits.

But it all depends on what you are going to make.  If you are going to make small furniture or boxes, or humidors or whatever, you could certainly get by with just a bandsaw.  I think most home woodworkers could.  They generally make project type stuff.  I wouldn't encourage someone to go out and buy a 3hp 220V saw without them having spent quite a bit of time woodworking and making sure that is what they need.  I would start small and work my way up.  

Remember, you don't need a single power tool in your shop.  

They just make things easier and faster, not better.  You do need a crosscut and a ripping handsaw, some chisels, a hammer, and about two planes and a scraper.  With those you can make a heck of a lot of furniture.  If you couldn't, we wouldn't have any antique furniture.

The best way to learn how to make furniture is to learn how its done by hand first.  You don't have to necessarily master making it by hand, but you should know how its done at the very least.  Then use power tools to help you get the job done.


While I'm preaching here, let me spout off about the Home Depot type stores.  Their wood selection and quality sucks.  Unfortunately, the super size stores are running the specialty shops out of business.  (Sound familiar to gunshops?)  The large stores came in, undercut everybody on price for a while until the competition dried up.  Now they still have low prices, they just carry crappy stuff for the low prices.  

They did the same thing in the tool department.  The tool selection used to be great when the super stores opened up, rivaling the professional tool stores.  Have you looked at the selection lately?  Its all homeowner type stuff because that is the stuff that sells in volume.  Except now, when I try to go out and buy a professional duty tool with a knowledgable person selling it, and at a place where they let me try it out first at the store (!), I can't find a shop.


There was good advice before to start with cheaper wood.  If nothing elase go with pine or poplar to make your mistakes in.  They both can be stained to look really nice.  Look in the yellow pages under "hardwood" or "lumber" and you might be able to find a good source for wood.

Finally, pick up an issue or two of "Fine Woodworking".  They used to be better, but they still are the best magazine out there, in my opinion.  There are a whole bunch of people that buy, sell and trade old issues.  That is a testament in itself.

DVD Tracker-

The elusive lint free cloth can be found at your local fabric store. Just look for linen.

Even linen will start leaving lint after awhile, though.

I've re-thought this one out and I think your right. For someone starting out a table top table saw should be just fine. But having gone from a table top to a bigun I notice a world of difference.



I'll have to disagree with you on this one. Simply because for someone starting out the table saw can be used in place of so many other power tools. While a router can be a little more difficult to learn (burnt wood anyone?).



Bingo!



Unlike our ancestors we usually have more to do during the winter than just stare out the cabin window watching it snow.


BTW I am not a professional carpenter so feel free to blow off my comments. [:P]

BTT

I love woodworking. I'm JUST getting my shop set up after moving to SC.

How many of you watch New Yankee Workshop??  Norm Abrams is a god.

But it ALWAYS ticks me off at all the cool toys he has.

Garandman, you mean you DON'T have an industrial wide belt sander in your shop? Not even a production pocket hole cutter?????? Those should be common in every workshop!

Norm is dependable enough to start a new yankee workshop drinking game. Drink a shot every time he says 'a few brads will....' and you'll be sloshed in under 30 minutes!

Ohhhh, OF COURSE I have those...what self-respecting woodworker wouldn't??? :wink:

What I don't have is one of those $5,000 14" wide titanium blade industrial planers. "Just a pass or two thru the planer, and we ready to begin assembling..."


GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

The utility of a good planer immediately becomes obvious when you try to glue boards together for a table top. I tried leveling out a top made from six glued oak boards without planing.  Boy was that fun.  I could sand till hell froze over and not get it level.

The friend who made the sideboard and desk actually came up with a couple of different methods.  First he used a long blade and scraped the top by hand.  The second method worked even better.  Using a pair of hardened steel rods as guides, he used a router with a 2" wide bit to glide over the table top, eliminating high spots.  Not as quick as a planer but still effective.

There's some neet stuff I might try my hand at http://gunstands.com/

Janus,
Now come on, if we had more to do we wouldn't be making oak Kleenex holders!  [:D]


For the glued up table top, here are two methods.
1.  Lay the good sides down on a really flat surface like a 4X8 sheet of laminated face particle board sitting on a flat floor (the only thing particle board is good for).  Do your glue up and while it sets put a bunch of flexible weight, like sand in bags, on top to keep your boards pressed against your flat reference surface.

2.  The easier way is to biscuit the boards with a biscuit cutter or with a router set up (yet another use for the router [:)]).  The biscuits make it self registering and if done with some care you should end up with an almost perfect match on your boards.  Your joints will be much stronger as well.

I just built a kitchen table out of maple and using biscuits made it real easy and it came out well. The wood had been planed by the mill It bought it from.

I've found the easiest way to joint boards together is to use a router. I use a set-up that clamps the board in, use your power saw to cut to a pre-determined width plus 1/8", then finish it off with the router. The straight edge fence is used to guide the same saw and router. You never move it. Takes about 1 minute to cut a 10 ft. board and joint it. If you want a perfect fit for jointing, just use the other side of the straight edge, at the same location that you cut previous board, and you will copy any slight deviation to the other board, assuring you a perfect fit. This is an exageration in explanation, as the straight edge I use is pretty straight. Still, when jointing, it only takes a hair to stand out. As far as bisquit jointing goes, I do it all the time.  It does help to get the boards together quick though, as the glue sets up pretty quick. When it comes time to clamp boards together, I bisquit join them with #20 bisquits every 10", glue up both sides, and clamp. I then use an angle iron and clamp it across the tops of the boards. This aligns the top and your finish sanding is held to a minimum. If possible, the grain should be alternated to minimize cupping. This is just what I have found to work for me, as I am sure everyone that does alot of this has their own setup.

I'll try to take some pics tomorrow at work of my latest "woodworking" project. It also includes electronics, upholstery, metal fabrication, welding, fiberglass work, and of course body filler and paint.


I won't say yet what it is, but I'll say it takes up the whole back section of a new Excursion...

[img]http://item5.homestead.com/files/07140005.jpg[/img]

testing

Surprised the hell out me, it worked. Just wanted to show off a few things I made in last house, which is still not finished. All made from rough cut. Pictures as promised.

[img]http://item5.homestead.com/files/07140006.jpg[/img]

[img]http://item5.homestead.com/files/07140007.jpg[/img]

[img]http://item5.homestead.com/files/07150001.jpg[/img]

Damn DVD Tracker....

I just sprayed beer over my keyboard!!!!

Sorry dude, but that is funny as hell. Measure once, measure twice, measure thrice, then cut.

Then go back and make sure that the dimensions are what they are supposed to be.

DVD Tracker - it's not your fault, your mom is simply using the wrong type of kleenex. Go to the store and buy several boxes of the 'correct' kleenex as a replacement. Problem solved!

Here's a pic:
[img]http://wsphotofews.excite.com/026/Tw/nm/My/YN94447.jpg[/img]

This is a good example of the type of stuff I build at work. I've got a couple days left on this Excursion, It'll soon be out of my life.[:D]


[edited in an unsuccessful attempt to reduce picture size]


Link to more pics here:
[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=37908[/url]