I fashioned some baseboard heater covers to replace the old metal ones in the powder bath and mudroom of a project I am working on. I made them out of 12mm baltic birch with 6mm birch end caps. They hang on “french cleats” and are removable for painting, cleaning, and replacement if necessary. Each cover is comprised of 4 pieces, and I got all 4 by making only 3 cuts (two beveled cuts at 45 degrees and one at 90 degrees) out of 8.75” rips of birch ply.
Four pieces from three cuts and two saw settings
Laying out the slot ends to be cut with the Domino and face template
Template allows easy visual alignment with slot centers and through mortising
Once the slots are cut on both ends, connect the dots with the tracksaw
A completed cover with added end caps
Powder room heater cover
Mudroom heater cover
One of the keys to becoming an efficient builder is staying in a state of flow. Batching processess into groups keeps your mind and body on one task. The cognitive load is reduced and the path becomes linear. It's way more fun.
Drill all holes, place all nails, start all nails, drive all nails. Move to next area you can reach.
A sort of traditional piece of furniture, the hutch has many uses in various locations throughout the home. This one will be used as an “entertainment center.” The work surface is 36” and will accomodate a stereo system. The shelves will have books, CDs and pictures. The base has one half-depth adjustble shelf and will hold many other items. All of the moldings and panel details were made in-house except for the beaded rear paneling. The finish is a traditional oilwax formula that I made. This finish is hand-applied and buffed, creating a warm satin glow. Oilwax is a great starting point for a lovely patina, which will happen slowly throughout the years. In addition, the pine will naturally oxidize, which will deepen the color while also becoming more uniform. There is no substitute for time when it comes to beautiful wood. Unlike film finishes such as polyurethane and lacquer, oilwax remains “alive” and can easily be revived or modified as needed. Maintenance is surpisingly simple and, dare I say, enjoyable. In fact, it's up to the owner how the piece ages. Keep it shiny and spotless or let it age with purpose and show the signs of life happening around it. It can be a living part of your Maine home, made in Maine by a Mainer with Maine's state tree, the Eastern White Pine.
Sometimes, the best practice for building something is to sketch out an idea and then see what happens. This is especially true for small spaces where storage layout happens in 3D. I made a small cutlist and broke down the material outside, but made a few changes along the way. I call this iterative building.
sketch
built
making beaded window casing
Making doors out of EWP with one saw
cutting grooves in the rail and stile to receive the panel
pine smells better than money
cedar porch
The HKC 55 carpentry saw is Festool's general use circular saw. It is a close relative of the company's hallmark track saw, but is optimized for ambidextrous, one-handed operations. This makes it is especially usefull for cross-cutting and rip cutting both wood and ply.
Recently, I have been working towards a distilled approach to the process of milling, or cutting, of wood and wood products. The original Festool track saw was born out of a post-war need to quickly, accurately, and affordably process sheetgoods without the overhead of large shops and equipment. In that sense, it was designed to replace the table saw and miter saw and, with practice, has proven itself capable of such.
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working outside in the summer, last day of July
This article is part of a series about shingling a gable wall. The first part covers running strait courses from the bottom up. In the future, I will cover initial layout, which is not provided in this article.
The shingles I am using in this article are locally known as “shim stock,” a.k.a. the lowest grade of eastern white cedar. Without getting into the weeds regarding how suppliers esoterically classify wood products, suffice it to say that they are charmingly rough and not in the least bit square. But, with somewhat careful installation and the acceptance of a varied look (or even a penchant for it), they can look quite handsome.