Claremont Designs

Tag Archives: walnut


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Proper Fitting

I feel like I’ve been writing about a proper fitting on this piece forever… At least I’ve knocked out a bunch of other projects while working on this one. This time I really mean that I’m onto fitting. Currently in clamps are the final structural elements of the cabinet. The studs from yesterday stiffened up the piece enough that I can avoid the hidden 5th leg. I could probably finish up all of the fitting today, but with temperatures near 90 degrees and no ac or moving air in the shop, that activity will have to wait until next weekend.

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Mother’s Day Work

Spent Mother’s Day in the shop. None of these pieces are for her though (sorry Mom). Most of the day was spent between assembly, sanding and fit work. The tall cherry piece in the photo below was the dry fit of the back part of the new cabinet I’m working on. The four corners of the piece feature through dovetails. The back is a panel about 1/16th of an inch thick. The wood for the panel is from the same pieces used to make the sides of the cabinet. My cherry stock was pretty thick, so I resawed it to get the backs and the sides out of the same piece of lumber. The walnut piece below is in the middle of being fit for the 4 drawers in the center section of the piece. Little more fit work on the drawers and doors next week and then this one will be ready for finishing…

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Hand Tools

As much as I love my power tools, sometimes the hand tools are just a little easier to use. In this case I was trimming a walnut strip that I put on the front of a drawer runner. Granted once I got it dialed in it was over to the wide belt sander to get all of the runners cleaned up and the same thickness. The walnut might be overkill, but I don’t want the maple to show when the drawers are shut.

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Wonderful Blue Tape

I absolutely hate painting with a passion. I will pay obscene amounts of money to never do it again. But painter’s (painters’ ?) tape might be my favorite shop tool. The only other thing close is my glue stick (an old dowel rod that I use to apply glue). Here I’m using the tape on the inside of a buffet to clamp some decorative pieces to inside of the cabinet. If I’m applying decorative pieces, I must be close to finishing this one. Right?

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Edison Table Lamp

The Edison table lamp is a simple box that features through dovetails. The box is built from scrap walnut that I had lying around the shop. While fairly easy to put together, the wiring and alignment of the light sockets managed to kill most of my time in the shop today. It will be a great addition during the winter months, because those bulbs put out a lot of heat.

If anyone is interested in buying this lamp or one similar I’ve just listed this on Etsy for sale.

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Pro-Ject Stereo Cases

Finally finished a few pieces this weekend. In these pictures are dovetail boxes built from walnut. The boxes house a DAC, preamp, and 4 mono amps from Pro-Ject. The idea behind the boxes was to both improve the look of the stereo components and to strategically position the pieces to hide cables (unlike magazine shoots all of the pieces are actually hooked up). You can also see my Pro-Ject turntable and one of my Linn Tukans (on a custom built speaker stand in walnut and cherry).

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80-grit to four aught

Finally getting to some finish work which is exciting, but that means an ungodly amount of sanding over the past 48 hours. Started sanding with an 80 grit sandpaper progressing through to 220. In the picture below are a variety of boxes that will house some small stereo gear. In the background is the base for the Edison lamp I’m building. The box in the foreground hasn’t received the oil urethane blend yet. Hiding somewhere is a poster frame which also reached the finishing stages this weekend. After this first coat of finish dries it will be a rotation of four aught steel wool and oil urethane until I’m happy with the finish.

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Dry Fit

I decided to class up the living room stereo a little bit. In the picture is the partial dry fit of the woodwork. It’s only partial, because I still need to figure out how to pull apart the small box that I put together to test fit and dimensions… In front of those pieces are the individual parts of the two boxes that I’m hoping will fit together. Through dovetails all around on these pieces.

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Odds and Ends Sunday

Today’s projects are a random mixture of items. The walnut box with all of the clamps will be the base for an Edison lamp. The poster frame is sitting in my sled to cut slots for the splines in the miter joints. Fortunately these are both small projects so hopefully they will move to the finished furniture category next weekend.

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Half Blind Sanding

Well it’s taken a lot of sanding but the drawers are taking shape. Sorry if the picture is a little blurry. Combination of still shaking from sanding and using an iPhone doesn’t always make for the best picture quality. Up next is the carcass of the cabinet and then fitting the drawers to the opening…

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