that time I worked as an itinerant carpenter

 For the past couple of months I worked for my friend https://spacecraftcarpentry.com/ as an assistant carpenter. I was lucky enough to be part of a few interesting projects. I learned a ton and (the more you know) I learned how much there was left to learn: basically that there's still an entire world of knowledge to explore where fine cabinetry and finish carpentry is concerned. 

And since these are someone else's projects, I will state plainly that while I had a hand in the fabrication, I don't own rights or lay claim to any of this work. 

 

First day at work, I started helping with this install. The original cabinet is on the right, the new one -fabricated to match- on the left. Open it up and it's a boot rack. Check out the scribing on the back!!! Talk about nerve-wracking!

 

 

Most of my time, though, was spent fabricating the doors below: 

 

We were given some old fence wood, which we milled down into thick veneers and stiles for the core.

 

 Here's a pic of a side's worth of veneers: 

And a core glue-up. Note the weathered face on the stiles and the poplar rails

 

 

 

And here's where the magic happens: we milled the veneers to size, made camouflaged repairs as necessary, glued both sides, and used a vacuum bag to clamp everything in place.

 

 

 

They came out looking perfect!

 

The last project I got a taste of was a site-built utility closet. This is definitely classier than the one I just built for myself. While it's built in a more exacting way, I was surprised at how similar our solutions were for making and anchoring slim walls.

It was a fun trip. Jaunts to Yellowstone and the Bear Tooth Range were among the extracurricular highlights. I learned a ton and got to catch up with an old friend. If you're in need of some custom cabinetry or finish carpentry and you're in the Bozeman area, I'd definitely recommend you seek out space/craft. Gabriel not only does excellent work, he's a gentleman and a scholar.

The next post will likely be the Seattle kitchen remodel I'm starting this week.

The utility room remodel

 After the welding, I got into putting the finishing touches on the utility room. The washer/dryer and the salvaged cabinet weren't exactly in the most efficient arrangement. So I made some improvements to those and installed nicer tub hardware.

The partition was framed using pocket screws and 2x4s on the flat side, sheathed in cabinet grade plywood. I left an opening for cleanout access. Here's the inside view:

 

For stability, I anchored an angle iron bracket to the floor and notched out the framing with a router. The top was toenailed into the truss above and the side was "glued" to the wall with expanding foam. This made for a really secure fit.

 

 Here it is in place and mudded

 

...Trimmed and primed...

 

Here's the cabinet I got at the ReStore, boxed in

 

And here they are all painted and tiled

 

 

Ideally there would've been space enough to box in the whole washer/dryer, but the floor plan would only allow for this much wall unless I wanted to remove the toilet whenever this needed work. I think this looks pretty good as is, though.

 

Definitely a step up from the economy clawfoot tub hardware

 

And here it is in action, utility sink and all

 (the ironing board soon found a home hanging on the wall)

After I finished this, I headed to Montana for a crash course in fine cabinetry and millwork. More on that in the next post!

A small welding project

This is most of the pandemic storage stuff. I'm currently without my bigger photo archive, so the suspended steel framed shelf will have to be added in later. The other stuff was interesting to make, too. Here it is.

I made a couple variations on this to get my storage cabinets off the ground and put bulky items underneath. The extra lip is for clearance behind the cabinet: either for storage or for light switch access.

The one below needed clearance underneath for the contractor saw, so the end is framed in steel bar, rather than angle iron.

This one was a little more straightforward

They only freed up about 12 square feet of floor space, but it's amazing how much clutter that actually eliminates.

The COVID stuff : finding use for salvaged materials

 Even though I worked onsite full-time through the pandemic, I found some time to experiment with some furniture and build in some storage. The furniture was all made using salvaged materials. I think a lot of people found that their spaces could use an upgrade and a purge during the pandemic. I did a little bit of both:

I made this chicken coop for a friend's flock out of the old siding and other scraps. I did use new lumber for the overall frame, but all the cladding is salvaged from one thing or another.

Made a little outdoor mounted box for my gardening hand tools as well.

And I made this rustic sleeper sofa. The slab of foam was already on hand, somewhat dictating the proportions of the thing. I laminated two halves of a sheet of ADX together and routered out slots and openings for the webbed backing. It's probably obvious that the base is made of pallets and the frame for the back is 2x4 lumber. 

Those are the early pandemic projects. The storage stuff is next.