Tuesday, July 30, 2013

0 Crunch Time

Most of the stuff in our house is done, but there are a few unfinished projects that I'm racing to complete before our baby is due (which is any day now!).  I'm really just trying to get all the prep work that requires loud tools done, so sanding, sawing, that kind of thing, so that the painting, staining, sealing parts are left - things that don't make noise.  So as frustrating as it is to have a bunch of half-finished things in the garage, it's better than risking waking or upsetting a newborn.  Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but it's my first, so who knows?

First, there's the front door:


Finally got it all sanded down, and noticed that there's some repair near the bottom that someone did.  It's apparent that this was in a house that had at one point settled, so the original owner cut the bottom to match, and then the next owner fixed it with a piece of redwood, which doesn't match the rest of the door.  No idea how they got that angle so perfectly, or why they didn't just cut it straight across and attach a straight piece, but it definitely ruins my plan of leaving the sanded parts light and keeping the door two-toned.  Or at least has me thinking of how to get around it without having to remove it and repair it.

I'll also have to fill in the old holes from the hardware and carve out new hinge spots.  Lots of work yet on that, but it'll be cool eventually.  The table it's sitting on is the other project in the works.

I opted for the Dremel Multi-Max to sand the door, since the Tool Shop mouse sander I was using is a piece of crap.  I got the Tool Shop sander in a lot of tools I purchased from a guy on Craigslist - most of the lot was great (vise grip set, screwdriver bits, tons of hand tools), but the sander & jigsaw were nearly useless, and definitely made this job more difficult.  The Multi-Max ripped through it with ease.

Next, my mother got this dresser for $10:


I had taken the top drawer out before this photo, but it exists.  It's perfect for the closet project I'm planning - I've been looking for very square dressers to build shelves around, and this is great for that.  The exterior is in really rough shape, so I'm just gonna paint it and not worry about repairing it much.  The inside of the drawers is cedar, with nice dovetail joints and all - very solid piece, and very clean on the inside.  For $10, it's incredible.  Since I don't know what color I'll be working with in the walk-in closet, I just primed this and will wait till I actually start building to decide on colors.



It's a wood veneer, so priming is definitely necessary.

Lastly, I started some garage shelving last night, and will be finishing that tonight hopefully.  I used this step-by-step, which is the best I've found of any project I've worked on, really.  The dude's name is David Wirth, and he made this project super easy.  I don't have a photo of mine yet, but here's the one he finished:


Very strong, and pretty easy to put together, as long as you have the right tools.
 

The Wolven House Project Copyright © 2012