Christmas Present for my Granddaughter

[BrokenolMarine]

Sometimes, all the best intentions don't work out as you wished. As I worked to fit the top to the toybox, yesterday, I found that as I had worked on the BOX, it had somehow been pulled "out of square." Not a lot mind you... but enough that the squared top piece I had but slightly oversized, wouldn't square up.
I didn't throw things, I didn't pout, I didn't use (much) bad language. I measured and marked and trimmed. I tested the fit. I marked and trimmed a tad, and re-tested the fit on that corner of the front and right side. One last time, I remeasured, marked, and very carefully trimmed. Then fit.

Then I cut across the back and with three sides squared, I cut the other side. Next, I cut the trim pieces out of walnut and attached them. Glue, clamps, and the loyal brad nailer. Overnight to dry.

01 Lid Walnut Trim.jpg (292.35 KiB) Viewed 4606 times

I tested the position and fit of the Rockler Torsion Hinges. They will go on MUCH Later in the process.

02 Rockler torsion hinges.jpg (202.88 KiB) Viewed 4606 times

Thankfully they fit perfectly, nothing had changed there.
Nothing more to do until the glue dries and I spent several HOURS in the shop so I'm done.

This afternoon, after most of the day was burned with a 5am wake up, drive to the VA, Hurry up and wait for appointments, and the drive home, plus two or three errands. (Never waste a trip to town.).. I got back in the shop and took off the clamps and started the next stage.

03 Clamps Removed.jpg (287.92 KiB) Viewed 4606 times

Time to plane the edges of the walnut for a perfect (as close as you get to... ) match with the Maple Ply top.
So... break out the water stones and sharpen the iron. Diamond Stone, 1,000, 4,000, 8,000 water stone ... 30 minutes later and the iron is sharp and we are cooking with gas. Carefully planed the walnut and made every attempt NOT to touch the maple as I planed the walnut down even. Sanded with 220 grit and I used walnut dust to fill any minor fails in the contact between the two. More sanding.

04 Planed and Sanded.jpg (316.92 KiB) Viewed 4606 times

It turns out that it was a pretty nice fit. I'll stop here for today, and come back out tomorrow and attach the hinges, stain the top, and make all the adjustments. May need to add some trim to accommodate the thickness of the hinge, not going to moritise the hinges in the ply like you would hardwood. Ply tends to split at the most inopportune moments.

Then we can finally start on the carving of "Grumpy" and the lettering.

[BrokenolMarine]

Got some work done this morning, staining the top and mortising the hinges. A long process for the mortising, but I won't bore you with the details.
I also marked the top with the position for the hinges to be installed on the top, then they can be installed in the mortises on the box. Once that is done, the carving for the front can be attempted.

The stained top...

top stained.jpg (293.02 KiB) Viewed 4597 times

Mortised Hinges

hinges mortised.jpg (229.65 KiB) Viewed 4597 times

I should get the top installed in the morning, then the real fun begins....

[BrokenolMarine]

I took an hour or so and installed the torsion hinges. I started by using a special skill I learned working on Helos in the Corps. Many of YOU probably developed this skill working on cars. Mechanics Mirror. You see, I had to mark the depth to install the hinges on the top edge, as the hinges are installed on the underside of the top, and I have to screw them onto the underside, but how to see the alignment marks.... ?

Ah...

01 marine corps skills.jpg (225.93 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

Line up the hinge in the laterally correct position, peek at the alignment marks with the mirror and tap, tap, tap with the brass mallet. viola! Aligned.

02 Centered.jpg (264.3 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

In no time at all, the hinges were installed, and the top was on the box.

03 mounted.jpg (182.06 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

04 on the box.jpg (321.33 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

As you can see, the torsion hinges work like a champ. Stop halfway up, and it.... stays.

05 works like a champ.jpg (271.49 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

If you are below about thirty degrees, it SLOWLY closes due to the weight of the top, but it NEVER slams. Good enough.

Time to start the fun part. (or... perhaps, frustration to the 100th degree. )
First, I had to figure out the transfer of the first design. This was the SECOND pass. the first time the cuts were too light to see. Luckily I made several copies. Ah... ran the walnut thru the planer to erase the chicken scratches and repeated the process.

06 transfering the design.jpg (270.65 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

FIRM, EVEN pressure. (YES, I was raising my voice, to remind myself to use firm, even pressure on every cut.)
Wow... it worked.

07 Grumpy.jpg (306.74 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

I went over all the lines with pencil... and comparing the copy to the original, it's close enough for Grumpy work.

08 close enough.jpg (287.87 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

In the morning, I'll decide HOW i'll use it. Do I cut the lines in with a VEE chisel and then cut OUT Grumpy on the bandsaw and call it good?
Do I attempt to CARVE Grumpy, making him 3-D? Who am I kidding, I'm not that good, but will a 2year old or her parents really care?
I'll know....

I'll think about it for the next few hours. (yeah, right, I'll toss and turn....) but I'll know by morning, or afternoon, or Tuesday.
Until I do decide, I can cut out the letters.
(Chicken, Bok Bok.)

[BrokenolMarine]

I decided I could always start over if I messed it up too bad, and I could take the carving as far as I thought I could manage.. sort of...
I got started, and discovered that cold damp weather, serious concentration, that arthritis in my hands...
is going to make for short work sessions... but off to a decent start.

Slow going..

got started.jpg (259.92 KiB) Viewed 4578 times

[BrokenolMarine]

Honestly, I think this would be a lot easier with a high quality carving set, but you go with what you got when you start out. If I find I like it... I might spend the money for a good set of carving knives/chisels. Good ones aren't cheap, cheap ones aren't that great... but...

Isn't that usually the case? No matter what product you are discussing?

[BrokenolMarine]

I decided to try the carving after all, and finished up the V - Grooving this morning after using the grinder to sharpen the cheapo Chinese tools on hand. I planned to keep the strop with buffing compound on the bench beside me and strop the tools every time they started to drag.

Before I started the actual carving, I'd go ahead and bandsaw the Grumpy... first I had to prep him.

01 Prepped to bandsaw.jpg (291.41 KiB) Viewed 4561 times

The relief cuts allowed me to use the bandsaw rather than the scroll saw, which would handle the thickness much better.

About 15 minutes later, I took my time.. ... we had Grumpy in all his glory.

02 bandsawed.jpg (277.13 KiB) Viewed 4561 times

Man, that's a lot of little chunks when you make all those relief cuts.

03 little chunks.jpg (301.31 KiB) Viewed 4561 times

Three or four sessions today, short due to the stress of the carving.

04 started to take shape.jpg (257.35 KiB) Viewed 4561 times

Here is what I ended up with.

05 The day's work.jpg (281.04 KiB) Viewed 4561 times

Still some carving to do, and some final sanding on the edges of course.
It won't be perfect, but it ought to work.

[BrokenolMarine]

Another session this morning and Grumpy is nearly done. Some work left on the hands, That left hand needs the thumb completely reshaped and the fingers more defined. Of course... all the sanding. I want to smooth the areas that were lowered for contrast, and round all the edges. Then I will stain grumpy, wax him, and add him to the front of the box, with a couple brads and glue.

nearly done.jpg (297.39 KiB) Viewed 4537 times

FAR from a great carving, but just like Grandpa Grumpy, he's got wear and tear. I know my daughter will love it. After I get him on the front of the box, all that will remain is cutting out and finishing the lettering.

[CT_Shooter]

I know my daughter will love it.

...And your granddaughter will cherish it for the rest of her life and, possibly, her kids will, too. It's an awesome gift, Marine. Good job.

[BrokenolMarine]

Sometimes there is an industrial accident... I was working on making that hand look a little better and the fingers weren't coming out right, so I decided I'd make it look like a closed fist. Ah, that didn't turn out so well either... it began to look like a stump. I had come a long way and wasn't ready to call it quits and was still working out a solution when Grumpy got a good look. He was so.... embarrassed.
Grumpy stuck his hand in the bandsaw rather than go thru life with a FLIPPER for a hand. Hey, his words, not mine.

01 bandsaw accident.jpg (268.67 KiB) Viewed 4531 times

Luckily there was a scrap from the project in the bin the right size, some spray temp glue, and always have extra copies of the pics.
Extra hand, coming up. Six million dollar Grumpy? The new hand, better than the old one. I wouldn't let me... (Ah, him... ) down.

02 new hand.jpg (371.82 KiB) Viewed 4531 times

I did the rounding, the sanding, worked on the new hand, and called the project step acceptable. Recognizing that Grumpy was as good as Grumpy was going to get. Hey... it is my second attempt at Carving. Perhaps I should have gone with Intarsia? LOL. Each piece is cut out and placed into place as if you are doing a puzzle. Botch a piece, you just redo the piece.

03 Grumpy Stained.jpg (327.83 KiB) Viewed 4531 times

Now I may add another coat of the various stains, then wax and attach. Then the Letters. The good news is, the letters require NO carving.. cut them out and sand them, stain them and glue and brad them in place, AND we are DONE. Whoo Hoo.

[BrokenolMarine]

And the darn thing is almost done. I am pushing a bit now as I have other projects I need to get done as well.
Grumpy is done, the second coat of stains/Watco Oil is done. He is drying.
The letters went smoothly....

First up... I went back to the desktop computer and worked out new lettering on Microsoft Word using "WordArt." Printed it out in Letterbox Format.... pun intended.... letters for the toybox.. "Get it? Yah Get it?"

Then I cut the letters out in groups, trimmed the excess, and .... oops.
I set up the Dewalt Power Planer, and ran the walnut board thru, measured and cut to size the board I needed... (palm slap)... then... and only then...
Did I use some temporary spray adhesive to slap (I mean carefully glue) the letters to the board.

01 temp glue.jpg (292.77 KiB) Viewed 4521 times

For the next two hours, my duty station would be the bandsaw, slowly and carefully cutting out the letters for the front of the toybox.

02 duty station.jpg (311.84 KiB) Viewed 4521 times

My first step was to separate the letters and place them in order on the Table Saw deck. No real reason I needed to keep them in order, I'm just anal like that. (Ask Miss Tina, She'll tell you.)

I cut them one at a time, taking care to follow the lines and go slow and easy. I didn't want to have to print another sheet and repeat the process. I was confident that I could complete the process, but I'm not stupid. When I prepped the board, I prepped Plenty. I could complete another entire set if I had to. (knock on wood)

After what seemed like hours.... it was done.

03 Sweet.jpg (299.27 KiB) Viewed 4521 times

I think they turned out very nice. I WON'T cut out the centers of the letters that need it, I will scoop out the areas for accent and blacken them to give the impression that they are gone, but leave them as full as possible to give the letters strength. I don't want them to get broken if we can avoid it. Done for the night, I'll sand them in the morning after removing the paper. THERE is nicely grained walnut under that white paper.

We are close folks, by this time tomorrow, you should get to see the completed project.

** How many caught the change in the structure of the verbage from the first pic to the last? I like the swap.