Podium (woodworking?!?!?)

[Fixingfarmer]

Had promised to build my wife a podium for a couple years and finally this week made some time she has switched schools closer to where we live and the one they had for her was about half her height

She found a simple one on the internet and it was about 180 bucks and that seemed like a lot for the plastic cart that it was

So we found an internet video last Sunday and it seemed fairly simple we added a couple shelves including a hidden one under the table

I spent a few days and made this out of a couple trips to Menards and some 2x4s I had around ended up with about 200 bucks in it but that’s with casters an oak top and the only untreated 4x4s I could find were Douglas fir that were hidden upstairs so I think it was a win but hopefully it outlasts those fragile plastic carts. It was a fun couple days

She has a speech class so the kids should now have a real podium too! We moved it with the casters stuck down in the plastic pallet I’m glad we only had to lift it in and out of the pallet

 

[chvet73]

Looks very nice.

 

[38 Sears Roebuck]

Wow, that's really nice.

 

[Gary Reif]

I know I'm showing my age but is that an ink well?

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Boy I don't doubt things were tougher then but would be a lot of ink.

We got to sit at a steam show with a bunch of people who were in a 1 room school house a couple years ago and they went around and asked what they were most amazed at technology wise and running water was a hit. My wife could have sat in there for 3 days listening to the stories and I felt bad when we had to leave. She has been getting more of those stories out of my 103 year old great grandmother as well its wonderful to still have a connection to that time even if we can't imagine it. I wish her whole class of students coming up could visit it was a schoolhouse full of stories.

The hole is to fit her big ice water bottle no coaster required there's a big cheap mudflap(NEW AND CLEAN forgot that in the price I guess there went 19.99 we have a stack here have been cutting them for 2 cylinder floor mats and have gotten pretty good with the jigsaw between 2 boards of the flatbed to make it cut nice with no smoke!) on the top shelf where the cup sits cut to size to cover up a few things that might catch the hand underneath where the plywood mounts to the frame and deaden the lid closing it won't make a bang that's not visible she said she wanted a cup holder and handed me the cup I picked the hole saw I say are you sure? she says yes!! Ok here it goes…

if nothing else she could run cords down the hole when she has her laptop it folds up flat as well. I have some wood blocks with directions written on them that fit in some of the natural slots made (its 24 inches wide and 17 deep then the 4x4s are outside of that makes for very little cutting required only one rip cut on a plywood sheet you just flip the sides it all works out if you don't care about the grain direction on the shelf who cares is my thought I even used the wrong side on a couple as the back was better and it made some 2x4 sized pockets along the short side perfectly)

She did ask if I got a kindergartener to write the instructions on the blocks my handwriting if not using cursive is terrible and I was one of the last classes they taught it to she's an English teacher 4 years younger and never had it so I told her I had to use my first grader writing or she'd risk pinching her finger. I had actually thought about using the laser on the support blocks to write her instructions but they are legible and the combine is needing a reverser sheave apparently and a controller...so the sharpie and this kindergartener prevailed. the things we do for love.

 

[farmersamm]

Tung Oil??

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Yes that’s all I’ve ever learned to use it was hot and humid enough it was drying too fast to wipe off

 

[farmersamm]

Yes that’s all I’ve ever learned to use it was hot and humid enough it was drying too fast to wipe off

Thought it might be.

I built all of the furniture in the house, with the exception of the sofa table, coffee table, and bed. Tung Oil was my go-to.

I did a version of Shaker, and Colonial, on all of the stuff. Very subtle gloss on all of it. Building that satin finish with Tung Oil is a work of dedication, and repetition. I think the heat worked in your favor. It's a finish that isn't easily duplicated.

I didn't have much money at the time, so I used Pine. Pine, 40ish years ago, had a more uniform grain than it does now. If you stained it, and squinted, it looked like quality wood. I'd stain it, then do the protective coat with multi layers of Tung Oil.

I'm not a fan of a high gloss finish. To me, it looks somewhat cheap. But, that's just me. I can't impose my taste on others.

 

[Snattlerake]

Great work!

That big old black mess after the Mrs., you'd think by now you'd be able to spell her name with good penmanship.

 

[farmersamm]

Show and Tell

The house is a mess, but it is what it is. Neither of us is big on housekeeping. Not nowdays anyways.

Small silver chest. Showing some signs of years of wet dogs coming in, and shaking the water off. Is what it is. Pups are more important than a piece of wood. One of a pair. The top is pine, the rest is CEDAR.

Small piece of cabinetry to show off a cable car bell from Frisco......along with some ticket stubs. My parents used to like vacationing in Frisco.

Small bookcase to fill narrow gaps.

When you's curious as to what time it is.

Bookcase styled after a secretary. Foot of the bed. First thing you see in the morning, and probably the last thing I'll see on the way out of the World.

Another bookcase. Big on bookcases I guess.

There's more, but don't want to bore folks to death.

Funny back story. Bought a place years, and years, ago. Looked around at what it would cost to furnish it. SCREW THIS says me. Marched right out, and bought a bench top jointer from Sears, bench top table saw, and a crappy little router table. Problem solved. Isn't a damn thing you can't do if you set your mind to it............and you're wallet's kinda slim.

Whole thing mighta been different if I'd met K'kins all those years ago. Everything woulda been to her taste. As it is..........she's ok with it. We have a reasonable home I guess. The stuff survived 2 marriages. She hasn't said a thing in 16 years(shrug) And........it's paid for

(She'll probably put it all in the burn pile the day I die

)

 

[farmersamm]

The bookcases got me to thinking............

Is a bookcase merely a repository for books, that we'll one day pull out again...............

Or does it convince us, and the outside world, that we had the intellectual fortitude to wade through the titles.......or truly enjoy the content.

I'm erring on the side of age, and "pull it out again". Now that I have my bionic eyes, it's possible to grab some old titles, and read them again. After all.........they once piqued my interest. I guess I'll find out this Winter.

K'kins is a repeat reader. Maybe I am too.

I'm getting tired of reading Machinery's, and The Welder's Bible.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Thought it might be.

I built all of the furniture in the house, with the exception of the sofa table, coffee table, and bed. Tung Oil was my go-to.

I did a version of Shaker, and Colonial, on all of the stuff. Very subtle gloss on all of it. Building that satin finish with Tung Oil is a work of dedication, and repetition. I think the heat worked in your favor. It's a finish that isn't easily duplicated.

I didn't have much money at the time, so I used Pine. Pine, 40ish years ago, had a more uniform grain than it does now. If you stained it, and squinted, it looked like quality wood. I'd stain it, then do the protective coat with multi layers of Tung Oil.

I'm not a fan of a high gloss finish. To me, it looks somewhat cheap. But, that's just me. I can't impose my taste on others.

I tried for the first time the pre stain conditioner on the pine 2x4s. It sorta worked I skipped the oak top but I think the fir it did help.

I only got 2 coats on before she needed it and like I said the second one was thick because it was so hot I couldn’t wipe it off but I bought the right applicator pads instead of just using my old tee shirt and I think that’s part of what saved me I hadn’t ever used those before the dollar a piece was worth it imo I’ll probably take a look this winter and see how it’s holding up I havent ever gone back and buffed and re applied but I’m told you can do that with the tung oil

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Great work!

That big old black mess after the Mrs., you'd think by now you'd be able to spell her name with good penmanship.

View attachment 126242

Yeah considering it’s been mine longer you would think I’d had time to get it right… I figured I better be a good boy like a license plate. she asked me too a couple hours if I had blurred it out on the photo can’t be too careful she says