I finally bought a house in Cave Country! W00T!!!

[Boston Breakwater]

A couple of months back, I replaced a leaking water heater. The closet that it sat in was soaked and my nephew redid all the drywall. He's a whiz at that. I still had to mount the door so that it looks good with none of the wobble it had before. There were two shelves up high, but I certainly need more with the recent loss of cabinet space over the oven. I also use it for storing the vacuum cleaner, so I can't make the shelves too deep. Most of the wood I'm using is scrap. Also, there is nothing square in this closet so everything will be fitted carefully. I have located studs at all four corners and will be using half laps to capitalize on that.

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I cut the rear rails a bit long so I could tie into the stud that was an inch or so outside of the shelf.

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Yes, there are finish screws holding this 'in', but the weight is distributed through the wood in the half laps. Much sturdier this way.

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The side rail uses the back rail for support. It is tied into studs at either end.

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The gap from top to bottom varied by over 3/8'. I mounted the 2x4 to the rails, then the door jamb. It was too thick for the door to close, so I used a 3/4" spacer against the door, to draw a line on the 2x4. I took it all apart, cut the line with my band saw and then smoothed it all down with a hand plane. This inspired a meme from a picture I took...

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The door looks great and is so solid now.

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Four shelves added, one a super shelf, and everything painted waiting for it to dry. I'll be usint the rails to hang things like mops and such.

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Detail inside. Three boards make up the supershelf. Getting everything to fit just right required use of the hand plane again. I'm really liking the results. Everything I need to get to for the water heater is easily accessible. Only 18 screws need to be removed for the shelves to come out, should I ever need to replace it again.​

Hey, Pete. Nice job.....thanks for sharing.
Cheers.

 

[The Chairman]

Thanks @Boston Breakwater. I really do love this place and all the area has to offer. I was sent a new camera (Go Pro sized) and asked to try it out. While we usually think of the ocean for large schools of fish, the Florida springs have their coolness. Here are a couple of pics shot by @Moose of underwater Ichetucknee Springs. There were at least a thousand freshwater mullet in this Spring and we missed getting a picture of the huge Alligator Snapping turtle. The confusing shot is actually the surface acting like a mirror. Look closely and you'll see the line where they invert and all the sunfish on the top are upside down. I think he did a great job with these. This is where I go for my daily swim.

 

[Boston Breakwater]

Thanks @Boston Breakwater. I really do love this place and all the area has to offer. I was sent t new camera (Go Pro sized) and asked to try it out. While we usually think of the ocean for large schools of fish, the Florida springs have their coolness. Here are a couple of pics shot by @Moose of underwater Ichetucknee Springs. There were at least a thousand freshwater mullet in this Spring and we missed getting a picture of the huge Alligator Snapping turtle. The confusing shot is actually the surface acting like a mirror. Look closely and you'll see the line where they invert and all the sunfish on the top are upside down. I think he did a great job with these. This is where I go for my daily swim.

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That's awesome, Pete. You deserve everything that's happened this year.
Awesome photos.....
It's a good thing, I think people were getting tired of you down "The Keys."
Cheers.

 

[The Chairman]

It's a good thing, I think people were getting tired of you down "The Keys."

The Keys are a nice place to visit. I haven't been back since I left, but I'm sure I'll go again someday. Easy diving and great dive ops. I just love my North Florida home far, far better than down there. I love that I get a fall and tiny bit of winter and I just love all the green that surrounds me. I pass this field every day as I go swimming in Ichetucknee Springs. They just mowed it and the scene is classic...

 

[The Chairman]

Earlier this year, I did my first mortise and tenon joint when I made the big planter. That was fun, but I really wanted to make a dove tail. Like the mortise and tenon, it's on a woodworking 'bucket list', but it's a bit scary. Many years ago I had bought a Porter Cable Jig which I thought would simplify it. I have to admit that I still haven't figured it out yet. I ended up having to trim the pins to fit and it was way too busy looking and wasn't satisfying. In a miscalculation of epic proportions... I made the 'drop of the second shelf way, too long and had to trim off 7 inches in order to get the bottom shelf to allow the stove to slip under it.

So, I had to recut the dovetails again, which is no big deal... just a bit more practice. It fit, which was cool, but then I noticed my second big noob mistake. There was no way the shelf was long enough. I had forgotten to add the thickness of the two boards when I cut the shelf. It was 1 1/2" too short. I cut another shelf and then did the pins entirely by hand. I had to do the other side and my dovetail guage had just come in. So now that I had the gist of what I was doing, and having watched a few youtubes, I made the other side by hand.

I really liked the look better and although it was a bit sloppy, I really liked the process. Then my new Japanese back saw and pin saw came in and I got busy.

I watched a few videos by Rob Cosman and they were awesome. I learned a new way to sharpen my chisels and also to use a fret saw to cut most of the waste, then chase the line with a chisel. My mistake here was I used the board to mark how deep I should cut, rather a rolling marking gauge. A warped board can make the middle higher, which it did, making for sloppy joints. I also learned you can't cut the line on any pins and have them be a snug fit. During the dry fit, I found that due to the walls simply not being square, I had to cut yet another lower shelf that even still longer.

You can see the gap right above the stove on the right. Everything else was square and I inset the hanging brackets so they would be flush into the shelving. I cut the bottom shelf yet once more, which is three for anyone keeping score, then glued everything together and mounted the assembly in place. A couple of coats of paint, and it really looks great. I'll be able to spice it all up later today or maybe tomorrow I have one gap all the way to the left wall, but everything else is tight. I might put a bit of putty in that and repaint.

Finis!​

I really like this ultra gloss white. It looks that it will be very cleanable. I am going to be redoing the cabinets on the other side to fit my huge sink. I think I'll be painting the walls the same bright white, and I might use a white formica on the cabinets or just paint them white to keep the simple look. The dark brown isn't doing it for me.

Past sins. I didn't like how the microwave vented smoke etc ever since I put it in. When I removed it to make these shelves, I realized that I had positioned the ducting in a way that looked right, but it stopped the back draft flapper from opening. Oops. I correct that this time round.

Next project: redoing the Eastern wall on my workshop.

 

[kelemvor]

My last attempt at a wood project was trying to learn dovetail... Then I had a need and became interested in working on metal instead of wood, so I haven't touched it in a few months. Your results are better than I've been able to achieve so far. Maybe inspiring enough to go back for another try.

Some things you just want done with wood. Kitchen cabinets are a good example. Although I'd be thrilled with a stainless kitchen, there's no way my wife would have it.

 

[The Chairman]

Then I had a need and became interested in working on metal

I apprenticed in a machine shop during college for four years and then took up welding. With my background in automotive, I've felt I've done enough in metals. Not that I won't have more projects in metal, but I really wanted to learn how to do woodworking. You have to use your eye more and I have more 'failures', but it's been fun figuring out the give and take of wood.

 

[The Chairman]

Maybe inspiring enough to go back for another try.

Look at this youtube when you get ready to give it another try...

​

 

[The Chairman]

I've been meaning to post more in this thread, but health issues have kept me from doing so.

However, I'm moving a bit more and have been playing in the shop.

I'm doing a lot more dovetailing than I thought, so I added a vise and a caddy for all those tools that clutter the area up and want to fall to the floor, damaging themselves.

End Vise

Dovetail Tool Caddy​

I also added a sliding handle to the planter I built a year or so ago, but I need to move the wheels about 40% to center to make it a bit more balanced.

Retracted

Extended

The limiting stops​

 

[The Chairman]

With the help of @michael-fisch I have also started to replace the rotted sheathing on the eastern wall of my workshop.

Big rain tomorrow in the forecast, so we're going to finish this next week.