DIY Headboard – Sista Girl with Skills

June 25, 2020June 25, 2020

Rear Portico Makeover – Scraping The Headboard

The portico over the rear door was as caked up with paint as the window mouldings, maybe more. The inside top and sides were just slats of bead board. I decided to replace the old bead board with new. The ceiling was spongee and in really rough condition. I remembered when installing the light fixture thinking it really should be replaced, so now is the time. Removing the bead board was a piece of cake. A crow bar and hammer did the trick. Removing the ceiling and sides revealed a glimpse at what the house looked like when it was originally built. The original, unpainted, flawless condition cedar shingles siding were revealed. Seeing that really makes me wonder what condition the house was in before they added the asbestos shingles.

I decided to build the ceiling first. I didn’t even need to cut those boards. They were 48″ long, so I had Hyde Park Lumber cut 8, 8′ boards in half for me. That saved wear and tear on my miter saw. Before installing them I used my carbide scrapper to remove the paint from any surface that would touch the new wood. I used the grinder a bit also, but unlike the windows and the door I was concerned with damaging the original corbels, so I used it sparingly.

Before tackling the sides I removed the remaining paint using my heat gun and a 5-in-1 scraper. It took me about three hours to get all the paint off.

I used my angle finder to determine the slope, 30 degrees, and with that I was off to the races. I set up a jig on my miter saw to cut the point (dental teeth) at the end of each board. Basically I cut the needed angle off a 2×4 and used that to set the angle of the saw each time I needed to make those cuts. I put a piece of tape on the back support plate, to mark where I needed to place the 2×4 and I used the miter saw clamp to hold it in place. With it secured I just had to butt my bead board against it, cut, flip the wood, and cut again. Originally there was a strip of crown moulding that went around the top edge of the sides and front. I found a very similar profile at Lowes, plastic, but for the life of me I could not figure out the right angle, so I settled for a flat piece of old pine scrap wood I had in my basement.

In removing the old side bead board I managed to break the asbestos tile on each side. No big deal to replace, but when I put my ladder up to get measurements I noticed two large holes in the tiles above the door. The wood of the house was completely exposed, so I decided to replace them also. I couldn’t get the damaged pieces out without sacrificing the two narrow strips at the top. Thankfully those could be cut from one piece of the replacement tile. It was extremely hot that day and the shingles where hot. I tried my best to minimize how much I touched them. My cuts for the side pieces where spot on! I actually reused the damaged shingle from the top to replace the broken pieces on the right side of door. I only needed two narrow pieces and I hated wasting a full sheet of the new. I was hoping I’d only need one case to repair any needed areas around the house. Yes I did wear a respirator mask while cutting them.

At this point I told Lyle, the painter, to just consider me to be part of his staff. He’ll still need to sand the corbels, but I saved him at least a day of work by tackling that project. I actually had fun. This degree of woodwork is in my wheelhouse. Speaking of woodwork projects it is back to the drawing board on my headboard project.

I got the trim pieces stained, coated, and attached. My cousin Zachary came over to help me carry the three pieces upstairs. I wanted to apply one more coat of Danish oil to the front panel before getting him to help me carry it upstairs, but I put the three pieces together and placed them where they’d reside in the room. I thought I took a picture of the top and sides assembled in my bedroom, but I didn’t and I’ve already gotten Zachman (my nickname for Zachary) to help me carry it back downstairs. It’s too big/bulky for the location. All I really wanted was the top shelf. Scotti from the WoodShop expanded that idea to include the side shelves, which seemed like a great use of the dead space being created by the top shelf. However, in addition to looking bulky when I had my mattress elevated at the top to allow me to sit up in bed, I can’t reach the top or side shelves. Elevated I’m about a foot away from the headboard; something I had not anticipated.

Fortunately I have two more pieces of the oak boards. In my minds eye my new design will be 100% better as it will eliminate the Aspen wood side boxes altogether. What I haven’t grappled with is how to deconstruct the top box. The bottom shelve is just screwed in place, but the top is glued and screwed and the screws have already been concealed with dowel rods, see post All I Needed Was The Right Jig. Actually let me rephrase that. I know exactly how to deconstruct the top box, the question is do I have the guts to do it. I got a lot of practice with straight edge cutting with a circular saw during my shed project. I need that same mastery of skills to manifest again. Stay tuned. I’d really love to have the headboard completed in conjunction with the house painting completion.

March 27, 2020June 25, 2020

All I Needed Was The Right Jig

A jig‘s primary purpose is to provide repeatability, accuracy, and interchangeability in the manufacturing of products. It is a tool used to control the location and/or motion of parts or other tools. My father set up jigs throughout the restoration. We had a jig to cut insulation, I jig for all the wall and outlet switch heights. Having the right jig will make a task easier and faster to complete.

My vision for the top box of my headboard was a waterfall affect, the top corners joined at 45 degree angles. Kendall helped me accomplish the cuts, but he didn’t clearly explain the ramifications of that decision. Given the weight of the wood and the end grain glue up that would be needed, he felt some type of additional anchor support would be needed to hold the two sides together. Glue alone he felt would not be enough. What he didn’t provide was the clear cut method on how that would be done.

If he had explained in advance the difficulty of the waterfall I could have altered my vision and allowed the corner to overlap at 90 degrees and used my Kreg jig to create pocket holes that could have been plugged. I reached out to the Kreg company about this dilemma and they confirmed that their product could not be used. The angle produced by their jig would be too shallow of an angle not leaving enough wood for the threads of the screws to grab. I had to figure something out or start this portion of the project over. I have enough oak to create a new top and the original top could be cut to make the new sides at the lengths that would allow for anchoring at 90 degrees. Covid-19 isolation gives you time to think, so I pulled another MacGyver and developed my own jig.

First step was finding the angle that would allow the screw to enter the thickest part of the angle. That was accomplished with my angle tool. I transferred the angle to my miter saw and cut the block of wood that was my outlet jig. I thought about buying the Kreg micro drill bit, but for practice purpose used my existing 3/8″ Kreg bit. I drilled a small pilot hole, just deep enough for the tip of the Kreg bit to fit in. I took the depth collar off the Kreg bit and laid it flat against the angled side of the piece of wood I cut and carefully drilled a hole through the block of wood. The end result was a “jig” drilled to the angle I needed. From there it was trial and error as to where to place the block on the board being drilled and where to set the collar on the Kreg bit so that only the tip broke through the top piece of wood. I realized quickly I needed to clamp my jig in place, so I flattened out the top on my miter saw. Once I got a combination that worked I took a piece of 3/8″ oak dowel rod and practiced plugging the hole. That worked like a charm. The large Kreg bit also worked fine, so I decided to forgo buying the micro bit.

Now it was time to go live. Kendall felt that I only needed screws in the front because the insert for the back of the box would support the back angle. However now that I’m working solo I’m not building the box in the same order we did the dry run. The insert will be the last piece I install as I will do it as part of the final assembly in my bedroom. I need to keep the pieces as light as possible if I have any hope of carrying them upstairs by myself. For that reason I drilled four evenly dispersed holes on each side. Everything was working as practiced until I got to the last hole and the collar on the Kreg bit loosened and I drilled completely through the board, which meant there wouldn’t be a shelf for screw head to rest on. Not to be deterred I moved my jig over a bit, re-tightened the collar and drilled another hole.

Now I was ready to glue and screw the angles together. When I was trying to find an example on how to attach mitered corners I stumbled across a video from the Woodworkers Guild of America that showed how to make strong mitered corners by using a process called sizing. I followed the video precisely, diluting my Titebond III glue 50/50 with water. I brushed it on, let it dry 2-3 minutes as instructed.

Once dried enough I applied the full strength glue and inserted my biscuits, which were there just to help with alignment. Months ago I had bought Bessey angle clamps. I used one to hold the top corner together and then proceeded to put in the screws working my way up from the bottom. I used 3/4″ Kreg screws for hardwood. I was going to call it a day, let that side dry before tackling the opposite end, but it went so well that I did the other side immediately.

Once I had let it set a bit, I smeared glue in the holes, put more at the end of the piece of dowell and inserted them in each hole. I came back about an hour later and cut off the excess.

At that point I should have called it a day and let the glue up set over night, but I was on a roll and the bright light at the end of this project tunnel was starting to creep in so I decided to insert the bottom shelf. During the dry run, Kendall had me connect the bottom to the sides first, followed by the back, and then the top. It went in easily, so easily I forgot to snap a pic. I was going to let it go for the day, but at about 10 pm I returned to the basement and proceeded to sand and stain it. I am elated with how this is turning out. Having the box completed made me realize that I like the look of the polycrylic bottom shelf better than the sides and underside of the top that I treated with Danish oil, so I’ll now apply the polycrylic to the entire piece. I’m being optimistic that I can actually have the piece finished by the end of the weekend.

March 23, 2020May 27, 2020

Covid-19 Is Rocking Everyone’s World

No, I have not been infected nor am I paranoid to the extent that I’m wearing mask in public. However it did make me to remember to use my mask when I’m sanding, something I generally forget to do. I haven’t made a post in awhile, so this will be an update on the two projects I’ve been working on, my dining room table and headboard.

Filling the holes/cracks in my walnut boards of my dining room table is my new skill set. The first step was taping the underside anywhere epoxy to could seep through.

I used TotalBoat 5:1 Epoxy Resin, Slow Hardener. This was a very easy product to use. I bought the quart size that came with metered pumps. One pump of resin dispensed the five parts to the one pump of hardener, 1 part. Mix for at least two minutes and then you have about 20 minutes to work with it. I was amazed how much epoxy went into small cracks or holes. I made three trips to the Manufactory before all the holes were filled. I definitely will have some clean up to do as I applied too much in some areas. I’ll do better on my next project.

The only other thing I accomplished on the table was rejoining a set of the boards I split when I first started this project. The center of the table will be the board I bought from Urban Edge Wood Works, but I wanted a wide board to rest on each side of it. Only one of my boards was left uncut, so I needed to rejoin at least one. I chose the one on the left.

No pics of the glue up process, but it didn’t come out very well. The board is barely over an inch thick and I’ll have to plane it more as the seam didn’t line up through the entire length. I’m hoping I won’t lose the board altogether as my target width of 38″ is dependent upon using it. The joined board has the tape measure next to it in the picture on the left. Shown there is approximately 50″ in width of boards. I don’t want sap (white of boards) in the center of the table, so once that is cut away I have about 42″ in width. The picture on the right were the worst of all my boards and still in their original state. Hopefully they will make the skirt for the table.

The Governor of Ohio has locked down the state, so today was the last day until further notice to work at the Manufactory. Just as well as it relates to the table as according to Kendall I’ve taken it as far as I can with him and the Manufactory’s equipment. I’ve brought my boards home where they will stay in my living room until Covid-19 has passed, I find a shop to complete it myself or pay someone to do it.

Most of the headboard project has been in my basement waiting for me to do the staining, so with the dining room table on hiatus the headboard has my full focus. My workbench was my first 100% solo build and it will be the perfect surface to assemble the top of the headboard. The Manufactory let me borrow their biscuit joiner, the only piece of equipment I didn’t have at home, but needed to complete the project.

With my slots made I turned to sanding the inside of all the pieces, so I could finally tackle the stain, hence the mask. I applied the same custom stain I used on the side shelves. The color looks perfect against my beadboard section.

I’ve decided to apply polycrylic to the bottom of the top shelf since it will be a surface that items will set on it, three coats.

The rest of the oak pieces will have Danish oil. I’ll let it rest overnight and the tomorrow I’ll tackle building the box, which brings me closer to the finish line of this project.