Henry Rifle Forums

Just finished the new Woodshop last month. 24x30, 10' walls, concrete floors, vinyl siding, metal roof and fully finished inside. Climate controlled. Year round woodworking. Lots of things to do when that contract was satisfied!


The new shop from the front...


A view from just inside the garage type door. The width is 24', the depth is 30'

Getting all the equipment out of the storage trailer and set up... whew... lots of work, lots of thought, and LOTS of rearranging. Meh... gave me something to do... finally. Got me out of the house.

Alarm System. The Day I started moving the equipment in, I made sure the alarm guys were on site, wiring the new building into the alarm system. TOO much to lose.

Speaking of Loss? Insurance. I called the insurance agent and told him when we started on the building about the construction. We were covered both by our policy, and the contractor's. Once the building was finished, we upped the OTHER structures coverage for that one building, a RIDER don't you know, to cover replacement costs. But, I got to thinking about content. The other structures coverage didn't come close. I told my agent we needed to get together and discuss an overall review of total homeowners. I thought he was going to stroke out. Most folks won't bother.

I wanted to insure that there would be adequate coverage for at least wood shop content if necessary, the guns, certainly, and possibly certain jewelry pieces need adequate coverage as well. Then there are the fly rods and reels, the reloading related equipment, sheesh, fly tying setups, and a few others.

We are set to meet here Thursday morning for a walk thru and a sit down. NO commitment. He'll take the information and do a workup for each area of concern, make the necessary recommendations, and let us know what the coverage will add to the policy, or the best way to set up a package to cover it all, without breaking the bank. We can choose what best suits, or choose to stay where we are. (We have already added the addendum to cover the new Wood Shop. No problem with having him come and and do the work up. "It's my job, and get's me out of the office." he said.

I have spent the last ten days or so doing detailed inventories of some areas, overviews of others and the research to determine replacement costs for certain items on certain inventories. OMG... It has been a LOT of work. Photos of every item, an Excel Spreadsheet with the inventory and indexed to the photos, and the best thing about Excel, it does the math. Make a change and like your GPS, it's recalculating.

I had no idea what we had accumulated in the last twenty to thirty years. WE don't have that much, but what we do is quality. The figures came as a surprise to say the least. In certain categories I was very close since I had a very good idea what was in those categories and the market value of the items. In others, I was either very far off on the accumulation, or the current value. Well below the actual totals.

In addition, I knew I had several discs with photo inventories in the safe and stashed off site, but was surprised to find that the newest of those was dated 2013. Sheesh, where does the time go? They recommend you do a documentation walk thru every 12 to 24 months, with a video camera, opening drawers, doors, closets: and video taping everything, including the walls, under things and what is standing in the corners.

If there is a fire, major theft or a natural disaster; you'd be surprised how much it will help you compile an accurate list and substantiate a claim. You'd also be surprised how much you may add, without subtracting much, in that short period.

Give it some thought, bet your agent wouldn't complain if you asked what an increase might cost you if needed.

Great-looking wood shop.....inside and outside both! Looks like you've done an excellent job on this project, Marine.

I can already "sniff" the pleasant smell of the wood dust/chips/shavings, etc. Wood is great to work with, and it is always rewarding to produce a new product. To add a little décor to the inside, if I had such a nice shop, this is what I would do. I'd hang my Sandvik handsaw over either the work bench, or above the inside of the shop door. Check out a couple of pictures I posted of the saw in this Forum thread: http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... vik#p36236

Yup, you'll be out of the house in the days ahead with much to do, both with wood projects and reloading runs.
Enjoy-enjoy.

Wow that's incredible............

That IS a beautiful saw and deserving of a spot on the wall. I have my srepfathers's hammer hanging over the desk area of the cabinet I built for the woodshop, and high on the walls plan to hand our thirty year collection of flags and banners. Finally a place to display them.

This woodshop is a gift from Miss Tina, set up with our guy while I was still in the hospital last September/October as a result of that disney hippo fall. When I got home, they just told me the project WAS going to happen, I just needed to add my input or he would go ahead without me. Tina had been trying to get me to build the shop (she claims) I have earned for years. I don't sell the things I make there. I use them, give them as gifts to family and friends, or donate them to charity for fund drives. I mostly build military flag and medal displays, boxes of various sorts, and cradles and gifts for the grandkids.

I had been working in a 12x20 amish built wooded drop on site storage building as my wood shop for two decades, and having to roll unused large power tools against the wall and switch back and forth by rolling out the tool I wanted to use. Building size greatly restricted project size. I often rolled the table saw out on the carport to make larger cuts. It's a very nice shop, and as you see in the interior shot, I can move around the shop in "the dreaded chair!"

This way, I am able to stay in the shop much longer... I would never have had the room to have moved about the old woodshop in the chair. with the climate control I can work thru the 100 degee 100 percent humidity summer days; and those below freesing sleeting snowing out winter days.

Tina plans a flat screen so I can spend more time in my "house" and i'll add a dvd/blue ray player so I can watch the how to videos right in the shop. I have a dozen or so already.

That's a great gift from Miss Tina. Wow! That should do the trick for all the future projects. Please keep us in the loop about what you make. That's a wonderful man cave/ man structure. I hope you enjoy all your time in there.

What a nice and thoughtful gift. Truly any mans dream to have a shop like that. I hope you enjoy it and that gifts of talent and love continue to flow for years to come. Al

Now THAT is a nice shop.

daytime dave wrote:That's a great gift from Miss Tina. Wow! That should do the trick for all the future projects. Please keep us in the loop about what you make. That's a wonderful man cave/ man structure. I hope you enjoy all your time in there.

You asked to be kept posted, here is a box I am working on. It's the first project I have worked on in about 9 months. It has shown me that the skills are degradable and I have forgotten things and my hands aren't as skillful as they used to be. I'll call this box practice. I try and use hand tools as much as I can, and the beading on the top of the box was done with an antique molding plane. I used a fifty year old bench plane that belonged to my step-father to dress up edges and remove burn marks from the table saw blade.

The mahogany came from the clubhouse at the golf course where my dad played, and worked as a started a couple days a week to keep him out of the house so my stepmom didn't kill him for being under her feet. They redecorated and the old tables were going to be thrown out. They had mahogany edges and dad saved them for me.

The spalted maple came from a tree we planted 20+ years ago, one of the sticks you get when you order trees from those seed catalogs. Dang thing grew from a 2' stick as small as my pinky to a tree twenty five feet tall and a foot across at the base, but it got buggy and had to come down. When I was cutting it up, I noticed the grain and cut and dried it for two years.


-- It's far from perfect, but the grain does run around the corner of the box. It still needs final sanding and the finish applied.
Check out the top... the bookmatched inlay from the same Maple...


These projects take longer now, I work a lot slower, but I am still able to get out there and work. It's great to have my "man cave" as folks call it.
I have to thank Miss Tina for that.

Not many people have objects like that box that is worthy of being passed down from generation to generation; within your own family as well as others.

If this is a practice box built for the purpose of exercising your fingers, I can't even imagine what you are capable of BoM.

I am very critical of my work.... I like things to come out right. Something drummed into me by my stepfather who was VERY critical of HIS work.
I do build Heirloom pieces now and then, and give them to family. I think I have posted a few here.

This is a military presentation box of my own design, this one for my son in law in Curly Cherry.


This is a pendulum doll cradle for my Granddaughter, made from Knotty Pine... she doesn't play with it, just shows it off.
"Look what my Grumpy Made Me. Don't Touch! You LOOK with your eyes not your hands.... Geez."


The wife asked for a custom Jewelry Box, she wanted something special. It took more than two weeks, but I made this one in Curly Cherry. Every part hand made, even the trim. It has walnut interior trays and it is still in use today, more than ten years later.


My youngest daughter loves dolphins, a leftover block from a larger bandsaw box told me it was a dolphin. You know the gift turned out perfect when they cry when they open the package. She has had this jewelry box for fifteen years and still loves it.


I am hoping I can get back to the level of this original pendulum cradle made for my grandson more than a decade ago. Brazilian Cherry, Mahogany, and Birdseye Maple.. I hope he is passing it down to HIS grandkids some day. If not, I'm sure his little sister will. She slept beside mom and dad's bed in the cradle for three months just last year. The great thing about this design is that when the baby wakes and starts to get restless, their movement causes the cradle to rock them back to sleep. Knock out the pins holding in the stretcher under the basket, unscrew the birdseye maple retainers that hold the basket to the pendulums, and you can store the whole works in a closet until it's needed again. My daughter tells me it's too pretty to hide, so they use it to display blankets and such when there are no babies in the house.

You are a craftsman. That cradle is a wonderful example of your mastery. Thanks for sharing the work you've done with us. I look forward to seeing photos of your present and future wooden projects.

I worked on the box since the last pics, inserting the supports for the free moving bottom and forming the inserts for the top that will keep the top centered when it's placed on top of the box. Then the box was stained and protected with Watco Medium Walnut Danish Oil. I like using this product as it gets into the wood, and protects it. You can wait a couple days and WAX the box for a soft sheen, or leave it natural.

Here is the Box, after staining... I am pleased with the way the Danish Oil makes the grain pop in the Spalted Maple... as well as the Mahogany. I have used a Natural Danish Oil on the Maple before and felt it was too light.



Next up is the top, viewed from above, after staining... I was happy with the way this turned out as well. With the grain popping, you can see the bookmatching much better in the pattern now.



Lastly, is the top of the box, viewed from the underside, as if you have taken it off and laid it on the table. You can see the nice grain in the inserted Maple Panel, as well as the hand cut centering pieces. If this was a special jewelry box or an item I had built on request, I might have gone with hinges, although some like this method as well.



I will probably put about three coats of beeswax on the box for that soft sheen after a couple days for the drying time on the Danish Oil.
I also like the "Smell" of the wax as you wax and buff the projects... it makes the shop smell great, like you accomplished something.

I spent a couple hours digging in the recesses of my mind, and managed to fix the errors I made early on. An old saying: "It's only really a mistake when you can't fix it." LOL.

Very nice stain work, Marine. It almost doesn't look like the same wood posted in the previous pics! Really like the "new" contrast between the dark edges and center wood.

Only once before did I see a Henry rifle (I think on RFC), where the owner re-did the Henry wood stain, changing it to a "blond Henry." That fellow did a beautiful job. I could almost easily see the color and pattern of your wood in this box, after stained with the Danish Oil, as the wood on my Henry SGC. Sound cool? Now that would sure make my carbine special! Really love what you've made, and made beautiful in your new shop.

Keep the wood projects and pics coming.....great to gander at!
Take care.
PT7

BrokenolMarine wrote:I worked on the box since the last pics.....Then the box was stained and protected with Watco Medium Walnut Danish Oil. I like using this product as it gets into the wood, and protects it. You can wait a couple days and WAX the box for a soft sheen, or leave it natural.

Here is the Box, after staining... I am pleased with the way the Danish Oil makes the grain pop in the Spalted Maple... as well as the Mahogany. I have used a Natural Danish Oil on the Maple before......



Next up is the top, viewed from above, after staining... I was happy with the way this turned out as well. With the grain popping, you can see the bookmarking much better in the pattern now.



Lastly, is the top of the box, viewed from the underside, as if you have taken it off and laid it on the table. You can see the nice grain in the inserted Maple Panel, as well as the hand cut centering pieces.


I will probably put about three coats of beeswax on the box for that soft sheen after a couple days for the drying time on the Danish Oil.
I also like the "Smell" of the wax as you wax and buff the projects... it makes the shop smell great, like you accomplished something.

I spent a couple hours digging in the recesses of my mind, and managed to fix the errors I made early on. An old saying: "It's only really a mistake when you can't fix it." LOL.

I went out last night and put a coat of wax on the box, and let it dry overnight, and this morning I buffed 'er out. I was satisfied, (for now), with the soft sheen it gave the box. You'd be amazed, if you could actually touch the box, at how slick the maple surfaces are now that they are waxed. It's done, finished, completed.



I did this box to re familiarize myself with the various tools in the shop, and didn't have any real plans for it. The wife loves it, so it's taking it's place just inside the front door with some of her other favorites, for now.



Later, it might find itself a gift to friends or family, or an item on a Charity Auction menu to raise funds to help a worthy cause. I can't keep "everything" I make although many times you'd like to.

I made the item shown below on request. The woman's husband was the Sergeant Major of a local Reserve Unit and their Unit Shoulder Patch was the Ying Yang. She wondered if I could make something with the Ying Yang for his desk. After several discussions and ideas, I submitted sketches of several different items, and she chose one.

Bandsaw boxes take a couple weeks when done correctly, and this one was special. It's 12" tall, and even the drawer pulls were hand formed, I polished them to a glass sheen by buffing them on my flannel shirt, walking around the shop listening to music on an old cassette player... LOL. The stabilized knot in the front of the piece gave it character and was achieved using super glue and layers and layers of patience. After significant buildup, it was sanded smooth to the surface and looked like inlaid glass.

Miss Tina told me if the woman balked at all, even hinted it wasn't what she wanted to give her her money back, in cash, right then. She even gave me the money in an envelope to take with me. Tina loved this one and wanted to keep it so badly. LOL. Not a chance, the lady loved it and said later that her husband not only loved the bandsaw box, but the fact that she cared enough to think that far ahead.



Like I said, you can't keep everything, and you can't make duplicates, this piece was truly one of a kind. I could have made another. I still have the template I made to create this one, but the grain, and the knot, would not be there. That's what "made" this one special.

After posting this one on several forums, I saw a number appear that were similar, and I'm sure others made ying/yang boxes before I did, but I was proud of this piece. Later, after beauty and the beast came out... my kids said it reminded them of the Clock.

Oh...

BTW...

I started this thread talking about an insurance review by the agent. He was able to get them to schedule the jewelry, and raise the personal property to cover ALL the other items we inventoried for a very reasonable increase in the annual premium. Especially considering they ARE covering the ranger as farm equipment and the auto policy coverage for that would have been nearly as much as the increase to cover everything under the new farm policy.