Woodwork 101

[geeks]

marksx said:

How are the rafters secured to the horizontals? Screwed through the bird mouth?

I'm thinking of something similar as a carport.

Yup exactly that.

[wibble cb]

I do the occasional bit of woodwork.

the garage needed saving...





As it was rotten from the ground up.



All renewed now



This gave me the confidence to tackle the front deck



No wonder it bounced, no cross bracing!



All done now




I then moved indoors, 'build me a built in bookcase' she said...as you wish.



I cheated a bit, using Ikea units that I adapted to fit

My beloved then decided she'd like a six panel door for the bathroom, but wanted half of it glazed, fine...



turned out ok ,I think.



I'd lilke a headboard, but made from an old door....



Got away with that



I then had to go back outside as one of my porch columns needed some attention, it was a bit rotten



Nothing a 4x4 post and a carjack can't support



I didn't make the base (no lathe), but the one I found online seemed to fit



Back inside, I decided to go back to the past, and revert my newel posts to circa 1906, rather than 1987



I clad the 1987 one



seemed to work



I then decided the french doors separating the kitchen from the dining room were not to my taste either

Old ones (which were donated), were a bit fussy



New ones, much cleaner



Having now got my eye in with newel posts, I re did the one on the main staircase, and the balustrades while I was at it.

From this:



Via this


To this:



Much more Edwardian



Which meant the landing had to be done as well....



I made this one up as I went



This last week, I replaced the steps at the front of the house

old ones:



New ones:



Painted up



I also retro fitted six panel solid wood doors throughout with period hardware (replaced all the 80's hollow core cardboard doors), I can spot a Corbin patterned door knob at 50 paces now.



Found and fitted a period front door as well.



I find woodwork very therapeutic (actual work is high stress office based work) and rewarding, there is an end result, which if all goes to plan, does the job and is pleasing to the eye.

[crmcatee]

Using some offcuts from the clocktower which was originally using offcuts anyway I decided I wanted a bird table.

Criteria - it had to be a bird house/table. I opted for a semi-detached style giving the chance for tits or the likes to have neighbours.
It also had to keep out the large greedy bugger type birds (magpies/wood pigeons).
I wanted it to blend in a little (rustic) so used some thin branches I was originally using for kindling which to be honest I didn't have enough of the right sizes but it's rough and ready; I'm sure the birds won't complain.







Next plan is to make it squirrel proof (I have a cunning plan).

[geeks]

Nice one, assume the squirrel proofing is partly the metal tube its sat atop of?

[crmcatee]

geeks said:

Nice one, assume the squirrel proofing is partly the metal tube its sat atop of?

That's the chimney from an outdoor log burner we have. It'll be going on a normal wooden post (once I find some) but I plan to use a kids toy to stop them.

[geeks]

crmcatee said:

geeks said:

Nice one, assume the squirrel proofing is partly the metal tube its sat atop of?

That's the chimney from an outdoor log burner we have. It'll be going on a normal wooden post (once I find some) but I plan to use a kids toy to stop them.

Well I suppose that would stop them, probably the birds too

Also now all I can imagine is this for anti-squirrel device

[crmcatee]

I'd need a whole line of them, it would be like the Somme round here - we back onto a nature reserve. Tree rats a plenty.

[geeks]

crmcatee said:

I'd need a whole line of them, it would be like the Somme round here - we back onto a nature reserve. Tree rats a plenty.

[PAT64]

Query for wood fans, is it possible to drill large holes for m8 coach bolts to the side of a 2 by 4 timber ?

I know you can drill onto the front 4 inch wide facing part of a fence post easily in the middle but doing it from the side it feels like it could be tougher and more prone to wood splitting ?

[227bhp]

PAT64 said:

Query for wood fans, is it possible to drill large holes for m8 coach bolts to the side of a 2 by 4 timber ?

I know you can drill onto the front 4 inch wide facing part of a fence post easily in the middle but doing it from the side it feels like it could be tougher and more prone to wood splitting ?

Yes.

[PAT64]

227bhp said:

Yes.

cheers ill test it on end cuts and maybe run some pilot holes, just a worry about splitting wood.

[227bhp]

PAT64 said:

227bhp said:

Yes.

cheers ill test it on end cuts and maybe run some pilot holes, just a worry about splitting wood.

It's a 10mm hole in 45 - 50mm of timber so it isn't even close to being difficult not with any type of drill. Drills tend not to split wood anyhow, it's nails and screws in thin stuff which hasn't been drilled for them which split.

[crmcatee]

PAT64 said:

cheers ill test it on end cuts and maybe run some pilot holes, just a worry about splitting wood.

Remember and put a bit of scrap of wood behind it so it doesn't burst out when you drill through the first bit. You'll end up with a cleaner finish.

[Promised Land]

227bhp said:

It's a 10mm hole in 45 - 50mm of timber so it isn't even close to being difficult not with any type of drill. Drills tend not to split wood anyhow, it's nails and screws in thin stuff which hasn't been drilled for them which split.

Joiner here, if an M8 is 10mm, then use a 10 or 12mm auger bit, far better than using a normal hss bit or speed bit. Slow speed, non hammer on your drill.

But as 227bhp says it is nowhere near weakening the 4x2.

[PAT64]

Cheers good ideas will do just that, slow drilling speed was what I was going to do also but great idea about a bit of wood on the other side too.

[PAT64]

I used Vinegar overnight on my old coach m8 bolts and the rust fell off but after cleaning them and leaving them to dry the rust returned. Any way to remove rust more permanently ?

Or is that just how rust works ?

[Flibble]

PAT64 said:

I used Vinegar overnight on my old coach m8 bolts and the rust fell off but after cleaning them and leaving them to dry the rust returned. Any way to remove rust more permanently ?

Or is that just how rust works ?

You need to dry them quickly (heat or a chemical drying agent like acetone would work), but even then if they're in a damp environment they will rust up again. You need to galvanise them or use stainless if you want long lasting rust proofing.
You could try bluing the bolts as an alternative.

[Maxf]

I made some good progress on my alcove cabinet (my first project since woodwork at school about 25 years ago) at the weekend - unfortunately my 'workshop' is a south facing patio, so it was a rather hot affair... I even had to go out and buy sunscreen!

So... I built the frame and joined the various parts using dowels and wood glue (none will be visible). My carpenter brother in law popped over and said I should just be using screws... I had assumed I was doing it the 'proper bodge' way rather than a total bodge (the non bodge way being lovely dovetail joints) - am I wrong? I did screw the last few bits as it was getting late and I wanted to finish but it did feel a bit like cheating.

[Flibble]

Maxf said:

I made some good progress on my alcove cabinet (my first project since woodwork at school about 25 years ago) at the weekend - unfortunately my 'workshop' is a south facing patio, so it was a rather hot affair... I even had to go out and buy sunscreen!

So... I built the frame and joined the various parts using dowels and wood glue (none will be visible). My carpenter brother in law popped over and said I should just be using screws... I had assumed I was doing it the 'proper bodge' way rather than a total bodge (the non bodge way being lovely dovetail joints) - am I wrong? I did screw the last few bits as it was getting late and I wanted to finish but it did feel a bit like cheating.

Will you be able to see the screws? If not, then crack on. If yes, then dowels and glue looks neater. Strength will be similar in both cases - the failure mode for both tends to be the wood around dowel / screw splitting.

[SeeFive]

Maxf said:

I made some good progress on my alcove cabinet (my first project since woodwork at school about 25 years ago) at the weekend - unfortunately my 'workshop' is a south facing patio, so it was a rather hot affair... I even had to go out and buy sunscreen!

So... I built the frame and joined the various parts using dowels and wood glue (none will be visible). My carpenter brother in law popped over and said I should just be using screws... I had assumed I was doing it the 'proper bodge' way rather than a total bodge (the non bodge way being lovely dovetail joints) - am I wrong? I did screw the last few bits as it was getting late and I wanted to finish but it did feel a bit like cheating.

What you have done sounds fine for the frame. No doubt there would be places where screws go into end grain and without a pocket hole approach, it’s not a recipe for strength or longevity.

You wouldn’t use dovetails for the frame, the joint of choice is mortise and tenon, which to some extent the dowels and glue provide. Having said all that, you should see some of the “time-constrained” lashups I have done on non-seen framework in alcoves in the past

Good luck, take your time and I am sure it will turn out just fine.