A record of our home improvements

Today, I have mostly been, hand cutting dovetails.

The finished panels after veneering both sides. Went quite well for a first attempt. The workshop was cold, so I had to keep reheating the glue with an iron to give me time to squeegee it down with the veneer hammer.

Veneer panels were bookmatched and taped together with veneer tape. 8 leaves of burr walnut veneer to make 4 panels.

The plywood panels were scratched with a hacksaw blade to provide a key for the glue.

Time to start veneering the panels. Pearls of hide glue were soaked in water overnight, then heated to 60 degrees C to dissolve before use.

Have some nice consecutive leaves of burr walnut veneer. Sprayed it with veneer softener and placed it between sheets of paper under a heavy weight. Changed the paper every day for about a week. It’s now flat and dry enough to use.

I’m going to try my hand at some traditional hammer veneering. I quickly knocked up a veneer hammer out of some mahogany and brass. Handle-to-head joint is a wedged through tenon. It’s all a bit rough but should do the job.

Really enjoyed making it, but really now feel the need to make something bigger!

Also took the opportunity to fit a good quality outside tap. Used a proper back plate rather than a plain female iron siliconed into the wall! Just need to sort that waste pipe now.

Holds about 44 jars.

Have been meaning to fit one for a couple of years, we desperately need it!

This is what a dovetailed box looks like when you lose track of your face-edge markings. 😀😀😀 looks like I might be preparing some more stock and cutting some more dovetails. Need to find my white pencils…

Used some of the left over timber to make this frame. It’s to mount the power sockets for the machinery in the centre of the room. It will also eventually carry the dust extractor ducting.

Made a ‘doe’s foot’ from a strip of hardwood. Working with this simple device and a holdfast is a revelation. The workpiece is held solid as a rock, yet you can just pick it up without unfastening any clamps or vice. Place it back into the mouth of the doe’s foot and it’s held solid again - brilliant…

All finished! I sanded the bench with coarse 60 grit sandpaper before finishing with 2 coats of danish oil. I didn’t sand it with finer paper as I want to keep the surface nice and grippy.

Cut the panels for the bottom shelf. These are made from some of our old kitchen doors with the laminate stripped off.