My latest creations

[grampahol]

So I've been keeping busy lately and making some dough making planter boxes for the neighborhood people with nothing else to do except grow flowers and stuff..
I was building them from just cedar, but cedar is getting harder to find in these parts so I'm making them with both cedar and cyprus since both are rot resistant.  Yup..the neighborhood ladies think I'm some kind of flower hero or some such nonsense..lol

[sandwedge]

Nice flower box. Where did you find the work bench?

[fredtoast]

More good work. Keep using some cedar because it supposedly keeps bugs away. Not sure if that is true but a lot of people think it is.

BTW want to let everyone here know I am a proud owner of one of gramp's creations. He does quality work.

[sandwedge]

(05-12-2020, 12:17 PM)fredtoast Wrote: More good work. Keep using some cedar because it supposedly keeps bugs away. Not sure if that is true but a lot of people think it is.

BTW want to let everyone here know I am a proud owner of one of gram's creations. He does quality work.

I have heard that cedar repels the Western Beetle. Scientifically, not sure how accurate that is either.

[fredtoast]

I have never built a nice "finished" piece like this.  I don't know a lot about carpentry, but I have made "rough" doghouses, storage bins, shelf units, and stuff like that.

So I have a question.

Why did you put the bolts into the thin cedar side pieces instead of the thicker cyprus rails at the top and bottom?  Are there dowels or something in the bigger pieces?

[grampahol]

(05-12-2020, 02:10 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I have never built a nice "finished" piece like this.  I don't know a lot about carpentry, but I have made "rough" doghouses, storage bins, shelf units, and stuff like that.

So I have a question.

Why did you put the bolts into the thin cedar side pieces instead of the thicker cyprus rails at the top and bottom?  Are there dowels or something in the bigger pieces?

The tops of the cedar is glued to the cyprus rails so it's not going anywhere. The screws are 2 inch deck screws and the corner pieces are a bit under 1 1/2 inch so there's a tad over 1/2" into the side of the cedar and friction does the rest.  I've never had one pop loose yet. Now if the cedar were like treated lumber like fence boards or such junk it would shrink and probably leave gaps, but this is all kiln dried or at minimum air dried.  I do have a butload of rough dawn cedar planks that are about 2" thick and around 12 feet long, but about half of it has insect damage. I've been cutting it up to salvage what I can from it.  A lot of the boxes I made are either all cedar with cedar corners and rails or a mix of cedar and cyprus.  
By the way..none of it is very thin. Everything is at least over 3/4 inch. Those rails also have a dado groove down the center of each one so the sides have nowhere to go if they did wiggle loose..
A few others..

[grampahol]

Here's a side view of how the pieces sit in the rails.. With exterior grade titebond it ain't going anywhere. 
Below they're all glued and screwed (with clamps) so they won't come apart any time soon. Titebond once clamped in place becomes stronger than the wood itself usually..

[grampahol]

One of these days I might spring for one of those fancy schmancy Sawstop saws then see if I can really chop my finger off properly..   If you've never seen this demo this is what a Sawstop saw does.  I've mangled my finger twice already. I really don't want to do it again. I just don't have the 2-3000 bucks sitting around burning a hole in my pocket. 

[jfkbengals]

Beautiful work Gramps!

[grampahol]

Unbelievable..I just walked out to my shop and the sawdust under my saw was on fire..or almost . It had been smoldering for a few hours evidently. I put it out, but apparently the saw power cord had a slight fray in it that shorted out from the fine dust from cedar I'd been cutting earlier.  I think it's time for a new power cord. I spliced it, but I won't trust it for long. 
I kept smelling smoke, but figured it was someone burning brush in the neighborhood.. Apparently not this time around.. 

[Benton]

Never said this to another guy, but that's a mighty nice box you've got there.

[*bengalfan74*]

Nice work Gramps

[reuben.ahmed]

Hey I need some flower boxes for my deck. Can you ship? Lol. At least make it so I can bolt them together on my end.

[masonbengals fan]

Quality work.

[fredtoast]

(05-13-2020, 08:59 AM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: Hey I need some flower boxes for my deck. Can you ship? Lol. At least make it so I can bolt them together on my end.

You would need bar clamps that would be too expensive for a one time use.

But if you look around you might be surprised how cheaply you can find custom built stuff like this.  It is not near as expensive as chairs or tables that have to hold up hundreds of pounds, or finely finished indoor cabinets.  The biggest advantage to custom built stuff is that you can order it to fit the exact size to fit the exact space you want to fill on your deck.

BTW I am not saying Gramps could not build tables, chairs or cabinets.  Just saying that custom made flower boxes might be cheaper than you think.  Almost every flea market has home made wood work for sale.  Tell them what you want and they will make it for you.

[TecmoBengals]

As a fellow who can't do anything handy, I like your work and especially appreciate it. Looks good!

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

That's beautiful work. Love the cedar.

I've got a question maybe you can answer.  I've made a couple little projects out of dead fall cedar I found out walking through the woods.  It warped because I didn't let it air dry.  But, I didn't let it air dry because it was already dead and didn't think I needed to.  Any idea how long I need to let it air dry so it won't warp on me in the future if I'm lucky enough to find some more?  Thanks.