Woodworkers of Head Case unite!

[VPI]

I have seen enough bad reviews of the new Dewalt with bases breaking off that I guess it will not be that one. 

[swt61]

Interesting. 

[swt61]

Found these reviews to be quite interesting. 

I will certainly try out the Bremen. 

 

[VPI]

Any wood guys that can guess the type of wood?  I have over 100 1.5x1.5x8’ strips of this wood. Really heavy, almost looks like Mahogany on the edges but I am not sure. 
 

 

[swt61]

Hard to pinpoint exactly, but it's a Mahogany derivative of some type. Could be Sapele.

Edited September 15, 2022 by swt61

[VPI]

3 minutes ago, swt61 said:

Hard to pinpoint exactly, but it's a Mahogany derivative of some type. Could be Sepele.

That is what I am thinking. Looking for scraps to nail into a bench for the new front seating area. 

[naamanf]

What Steve said. Sapele would be my guess. 

[dsavitsk]

Sapele isn't particularly heavy.

[VPI]

Going to build an outdoor version of this. 

 

Found some 8/4 Sapele for most of the build but trying to come up with an outdoor wood for the accent slats. White Oak? Any other ideas?

Edited September 16, 2022 by VPI

[VPI]

Bonus question. I have now 6 orders for chairs from locals. Is anyone here using Section 179 to write off their equipment and setting up official businesses for tax purposes?  I could use a Naaman level CNC and Hammer Jointer. 

[naamanf]

15 minutes ago, VPI said:

Bonus question. I have now 6 orders for chairs from locals. Is anyone here using Section 179 to write off their equipment and setting up official businesses for tax purposes?  I could use a Naaman level CNC and Hammer Jointer. 

Yes, set up a LLC with the Secretary of State, get an EIN, and get an account with you state sales tax devision.  Also look up any other county/city licensing requirements. Probably could skip everything minus the EIN but if you want to stay safe with the local government I would do it all. Keep in mind you do have to be a profitable business in the eyes of the IRS. I believe you have 5 years to be profitable.  Otherwise they will consider it a hobby and want their $. 

[dsavitsk]

Also, if your state is anything like my state, you have to pay a yearly property tax on all the equipment which cuts heavily against any savings. On the other hand, if you own an LLC, you can use it to buy an extra $10K in I Bonds which will pay you an extra risk free $962 this year to offset those taxes.

[Voltron]

According to Doug's tutorial on I-bonds, you could just set up a bunch of LLCs for $50 in filling fees each and pay for much of your equipment costs without all the other hassles. 

[swt61]

So, two woodworkers, both with incredible skills. One known for reasonable deadlines, the other known for projects that span the length of Halley's comets orbit around the Earth. Both known for biting off a lot. 

One of them is flying to the other, with a project in mind. The project? A simple fireplace mantle. Timespan? A few days.

Absolutely no news so far!

Tune in next week for the dramatic next episode in our serial...

"Here, hold my wood."

[dsavitsk]

2 hours ago, Voltron said:

According to Doug's tutorial on I-bonds, you could just set up a bunch of LLCs for $50 in filling fees each and pay for much of your equipment costs without all the other hassles. 

I make no claims regarding how the IRS might feel about this plan.

[Voltron]

Well, it seems one person is anxious for this report on the simple mantle. The original idea was to make a mirror to cover a niche over the fireplace that had been occupied by a Madonna and Child sculpture for many years at Claire's family place in Michigan. The other idea was to incorporate decorative tiles made by a local artist that Claire's mom had collected. I built the mirror up here using vintage mirror glass that was in a basic frame and had Sat in the attic for decades. I milled some curly walnut from a chunky board I bought locally and also some nicely figured walnut from a chunk that was in the shop here for many years. Here is the mirror, with one place holder for a tile we have to add later:

I didn't like how high the mirror Sat in order to cover most of the niche. Doug was here visiting for a few days so we decided to make some kind of mantle to add to the fireplace. I was thinking about walnut like the mirror but ultimately felt it did not match the simple room or the paneling that is pine, fir, or cedar or something in the soft wood family. The winning idea was to match the paneling to blend it in.

In the shop, Doug immediately pointed out a 2 x 12 that was 6.5' long. I never would have thought about it but we used that to make the mantle. It was *just* wide enough and long enough to make a 6" deep top and the tapered legs. We drew out the legs on opposite ends of the remainder and used a jigsaw to separate them before using a tapering jig screwed to a long board to run it through the table saw. I also managed to get Doug to use the Kreg pocket jig and pocket screws to attach the top to the legs and the mantle to the wall. 

I still felt the mirror was too high. Claire and Doug separately suggested flipping the paneling boards above and below the niche so that the longer bottom boards were on the top and the pierced boards were on the bottom. Hard to explain without a before photo but here is the niche after I flipped them and made a new middle board from the former ledge shelf. I also really like the metal low profile French cleat I got for the mirror.

So here's the mirror and the mantle as it is now. We are debating a little stain for the mantle versus waiting until it ages a bit, and secondly whether to chamfer the mantle edges or perhaps make a miter cut across the front to give the simple mantle a little visual interest.

[swt61]

Excellent!

And the idea to swap the boards above and below the niche was spot on. Everything is proportionate and balanced now. I also love the simple look of the mantle, with the elegant tapered legs! 

Personally I would avoid staining. It never matches quite right, but I like how the lighter mantle kind of mimics the frame around the hearth tiles.

Really nice design!

[VPI]

I like it as is but for any additional interest I would go Mitre across the front and some finish that won’t see the wood non-uniformly darken with smoke for my vote. 
 

I found a woodworker neighbor that used to have a cabinet shop. He is offering my choice of these for a set of chairs. Both older models but fairly heavy duty and appear to be in good shape. 
 

I typically have about $450 invested in a pair of chairs at this point so either would be worthwhile, just not sure if I want anything that I have to try to track down helical heads for. 
 

https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-8-x-65-super-heavy-duty-jointer/g1018
 

https://www.woodstockint.com/products/w1741w

[Voltron]

The Grizzly for $450 would seem like a good deal if you need a jointer. I wouldn't worry about helical heads if it works OK. Get a better one when you want to upgrade.

[dsavitsk]

Agree. Helical heads are nice, but not necessary. People jointed boards for a long time without them. The shopfox is 2x the hp, has more knives, and has some other features that might be worth having. Either should be great.

7 hours ago, Voltron said:

Well, it seems one person is anxious for this report on the simple mantle.

I think the simplicity belies the amount of consideration and thought that went into it. We went through a lot of design ideas before coming to this. Minimalism is harder than maximlism.

[swt61]

Maximalism can get pretty hard. It just can't sustain it as long anymore. 

[VPI]

According to YouTube, everyone with a wood shop should be making these now so, why not. 
 

I call this one “Brent, after they used the jaws of life to get that go-cart helmet off”

 

[Voltron]

Listen to Doug, he actually looked at more than the name.

[VPI]

6 minutes ago, Voltron said:

Listen to Doug, he actually looked at more than the name.

You should look more into Shop Fox.   They are typically the more expensive versions of all the Grizzly stuff. That is why I have 4 things from them in the shop now. 

[Voltron]

Yeah, I had that backwards in my head. Very similar design but I was thinking Grizzly was the better version.
 

And as for the mantle, I meant to say that I am leaving it the way it is for now and will let it age and grow on us.