Odd Jobs

I have gotten very little done lately. I have had several odd jobs come into the shop. These odd jobs seem so mind numbing to me to do. So by the time I finish with them each day, I don't feel much like getting online.

You know what they so though, sometimes we do the things we don't like to do in order to be able to afford to do the things we do like to do.

This is a rocking chair that came in. It wasn't much to it. It just needed some screws tightened up and some glue joints reglued.

This doll cradle project made me sick.

This little gem was once a well made piece of toy furniture for some little girl. When it came into the shop, I scraped off some paint and realized that there was some real nice oak under about five layers of paint. So I had hopes of bringing it back down to bare wood and putting a clear finish on it. That would have really made this piece shine.

Unfortunately though, the further I got into the project, the less promising it looked.

First, several deep scars in the wood were bad enough before someone used paint almost like wood putty and filled the holes with it.

To make matters worse, the large flat piece on the headboard has been replaced somewhere along the way with a piece of plywood.

In the end, about all I can do with this is to brush off the loose paint as best as I can and repaint it white. I also need to make a bottom for it. This is currently still on my work bench drying. I hope to finish it up in the next few days.

Next up, someone needed a small children's pic-nic table for a birthday present. These are easy to build, but use enough lumber to make them expensive for what they are. So I stopped trying to keep them around because everyone loves them but doesn't like paying the price for them. I still make them though for special orders.

The last project I have to show you today is my favorite. I actually enjoy doing projects like this one.

This is an old Coca-Cola bench. The man that brought it in picked it up at a flea market. I have no idea about the history of this bench. According to the information I was able to find, I think they were sold by Wal-Mart in the early 90s.

The wood was in pretty horrible shape. Luckily though, everything but the wooden slats is made of decent quality cast iron. So it was no problem saving this piece and even making it nicer.

The customer understood up front that it would cost more for cypress wood, but wanted to go that way anyhow. I am so glad he did. Cypress will grey with age, but will not rot out as easily as the wood that was on it before.

Also, I redesigned the slats a tad.

Originally, the assembly for the bench back was held together with dowels. In my opinion, this just would not be strong enough for a bench. So I redone the back using mortise and tenon joints.

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And that's what I've been up to lately, when I've been able to get anything done. The crazy weather we've had lately has been wreaking havoc on my health. We've had forty degree temperature swings on some days. Those kind of changes are pure hell on chronic pain sufferers.

Spring is right around the corner though, and I hope to be able to do a lot more in the shop in the very near future.