You may have noted the Barbie beds I showed pics of in the "Weekend Accomplishments" thread this past week. They were much appreciated and prompted Nastia (Anastasiya), the older girl, to request additional pieces. Of course, I said yes with the caveat that she was going to do the work. It was also an opportunity for some "bonding" time with her as she is closer to Alison and Alesya had a dentist appointment this morning. So...I fired up the shop heat after breakfast and after a little while we went out to work on the project.
The first step was explaining the shop rules. They are simple, but a little harder to impart in an unfamiliar language...translation isn't "exact", unfortunately. Safety glasses are required at all times. No touching any of the power tools. Papa will show you how to do something first...watch carefully...and they you get to do it. Strangely enough, she pretty much stuck to these rules which is nice because she is a bit rebellious and impatient.
Second, we had to work things out on paper first, at least a little. So I had her retrieve a Barbie to allow for measurements. I gave her the choice of a square table or a rounded one...of course, she chose the rounded version.. From there, we headed to the shop to get started.
First step...create an ellipse on the material for the table tops. (scrap 1/2" MDF) We used the "two nails and a piece of string" method which she thought was pretty kewel. I cut out the tops on the bandsaw and had her sand them smooth. (well, sorta smooth...) Next, I marked out the legs on some pieces of 3/4" poplar dowel and showed her how to use the hand saw. (I purposefully measured slightly long...) She did a good job despite the fact that I had no knowledge of the right words to say things like, "Don't press down...let the saw do the work."
I then "trued" up the legs on the table saw with my sled to insure that the tables would not rock. The last step before assembly was to drill some 3/4" recesses with a Forstner bit at the drill press. She was taken with the curly material ejected by the bit...it looks like macaroni...I then showed her how to apply glue to the legs and insert them in the mortises...driving them home with a few taps of a small hammer.
On to finishing...after some more sanding, of course. The shellac was still on the workbench from the beds, so I had Nastia don some gloves, roll up her sleeves and get to work. Bottoms first and then two coats on the tops. Shellac is a good choice for this kind of thing 'cause it's easy and fast. Children really don't have a lot of patience to wait and this is a finish that works in that respect.
We did start to make some couches after the tables were set aside to dry, but the limit of attention span had been reached and exceeded. Once Alison and Alesya pulled in the driveway after the dentist and hair cut...work came to a screeching halt, hopefully to be resumed either later today, later this weekend or whenever.
Obligatory Pictures:
- What every well-dressed woodworker wears...
- Learning to saw
- Sawing some legs
- Surreptitiously trimming said legs square and all to the same length...
- Whacking the legs home
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Originally Posted by tod evans
