Creeker's Past Week's Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

13 Sep 2021

Greetings,
I finally got the stain work done as well as the clear coat work done on all the cabinet parts for my customer. This is the 1st time I've ever completed all the finish work "before" assembly. It did make it easier to color and clear coat, but boy, dealing with all the parts scattered around the shop was challenging!!!
This past Friday, I turned in my 2 week notice with my current employer. I start a new job in 2 weeks. I'm not a job hopper and am typically loyal to my team 1st and then my company. The new job appears to be much better in several aspects, so we'll see how this goes.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past week?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, pre-finishing does bring some shop logistics challenges, but yea...it does make the actual finishing work easier when you can spray everything flat, etc. Even with the extra work of masking for glue areas, etc., I think it's worth it. Congrats on the coming employment change...it will bring a new sparkle to your eyes and a skip to your step!

Let's see...this past week I did a little work on my bass guitar project but have been waiting on a few specialized fasteners I needed to get to the next steps. And on the subject of "steps", that's actually the real project I've been working on: replacing the bottom step on our staircase to the upper level of our home with one that doesn't have "wings" for a fancy newel/baluster setup that didn't exist (major tripping hazard) and installing actual railings. I'm taking my time with this work because it's a new experience for me and involves critical angles and I want it to look and be correct. I'll also be pre-finishing everything to avoid odors in the house that can be dangerous for our birds, as well as because we have to actually use the stairs to get to our bedroom and my office. This is one of the very rare projects where I'm working with red oak. I'm not really a fan of red oak, but that's what the stairs are made from and what's on the floors of this house. "When in Rome..." I have one more component to actually make...a small moulding that goes across the bottom of the step to mate up with the profile on the commercial end-caps. I could have ordered it, but that would take more time than it's worth for a small 4' long stick of material. The off-cut from the riser cover is just the right size to do the deed, too, so I'll use that to create what I need. Then I'm at the sand-sand-sand place followed by stain, seal and top coat. I got lucky...the existing stain on the stairs is literally out of the can Minwax Gunstock and I have that in my cabinet.

This was where it started...I have no idea what the previous owner was thinking when they did this without putting up any railings, etc.

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This was a progress photo the other day. Everything interlocks together...the holes for the newels in the step were cut on the CNC. It seemed like the right tool in my shop to do that. LOL And yes, I have tile to repair the floor where the "wings" of the old step stuck out, lurking to trip everyone walking by.

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[Zachary Hoyt]

Last Sunday I made a cart out of Lowe's CDX plywood which has 7 low but deep shelves and a top work surface that is at a comfortable standing height for me (about 50"). It's on casters, and I am using each shelf to hold the parts for one banjo. They'll also fit guitars, fiddles etc. This way I can roll the cart over to whichever tool I'm using, do the same step on all the banjos and put each part back on its own shelf as soon as the task is done. This is much better than carrying stacks of rims and necks around by hand, and it should keep me from mixing up which parts go into which banjo. I've been planning this cart in my head for the best part of a year but I was waiting till plywood came down a bit. This was about $28 a sheet for 1/2". My local lumberyard is still $40 a sheet, and I am too cheap for that. I had to go to Syracuse to pick up a band saw and scroll saw from an auction the previous week so it gave me a chance to buy the plywood. I hadn't been to the city since last October when I helped someone move.

[Bill Carey]

Good luck on the new gig Dennis - I switched jobs once for the money only and my first day in the office they brought me a cot and sleeping bag! Lesson learned.

Finally got to completing the second Morris chair. All that's left is to attached the corbels on the legs.
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Started a small cherry table that was born from trying to learn about the use of curves in sketchup, and finished the steering wheel repair.
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[Paul F Franklin]

Dennis, good luck with your new job! Always a hard decision to make, but from your descriptions, it seemed like the old one had gotten really unpleasant. May the honeymoon phase st the new one last until you retire!

I'm plugging away at the kitchen remodel. Removed another bunch of cabinets from another wall and tore the sheetrock off that wall. Cleaned out all the sheetrock trash the builder left above the stairwall behind the wall. Did the electrical and plumbing work needed in that wall; just need to put in the duct for the range hood and add some blocking for the cabinets and then I can put up new sheetrock.