Baking Bread

I decided to bake some bread for myself. After all, nothing is more old-school than baking your own damn staff of life. I was really in the mood for warm bread with melted butter, but I have to admit that baking bread is not exactly an instant gratification type of activity.

I decided to start with something simple, so I found a basic recipe, gathered the ingredients, and got to work.

The process was pretty simple, and I knew that I was doing things right as the dough rose as it should.

My only regret is that the loaves were a bit on the short size. Maybe they needed to rise more, but the bread tasted good and wasn't too dense. If I try the recipe again I may double it and use 3 bread tins or just try to find 2 smaller tins.

All in all, give bread a try. You'll feel like you got something done.

Getting Back to Getting Things Done

Well, as with most of my endeavors, I hit a wall with this blog when the routine I was trying to establish was interrupted. This particular interruption was a family vacation. It was an enjoyable trip, but it was enough to throw me off my game.

I'm going to give it another shot. I'll probably slip up again, but it's the trying again that really matters.

Belated Christmas Gift #2: Simple Leather Briefcase

This is a gift for my girlfriend. She has a fancy job, so I figured she should have a fancy briefcase to go along with it. I found the pattern on the internets.  It's a simple design that calls for a single piece of leather, apart from the strips for the handles. It required 8 rivets and 2 snaps. I used that same double shoulder leather from the leather portfolio I made a while back.

Here are some pictures:

And the back.

Here you can see how it's all fastened together.

Here's my laptop peeking out to give a sense of size.

Some detail on the handle stitching.

This project was not all that difficult, and it feels good to be finished and see what I have accomplished. It did not take very much skill, just patience and some careful measurements. Give it a shot!

Belated Christmas Gift #1: Combination Stepping Stool and Chair

This was a gift for my sister's family; for the little kids to use in the bathroom or kitchen. I had a few months before Christmas to get it done, and I didn't. In the days before Christmas I got it glued and assembled, but did not get around to finishing it. This week I sanded it, finished it with Tried & True wood finish, and installed the hardware. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but for my first woodworking project since middle school, I think it turned out pretty well.

Here are a few pictures of the finished product.

Making a workbench out of an IKEA table

One of the things that I have been procrastinating for quite a while is building a workbench for myself.  Dusting off my Jr. High drafting skills, I sketched out my plans. I priced out all the materials and even went down to the big box home improvement store to select my lumber. After sorting through dozens of boards, I was hard-pressed to find any that were both straight and free from cracks or large knots. So, I gave up and went home and tossed my plans in the corner.

Now, since I work from home,  this workbench was also supposed to serve as my everyday work station. After a few weeks of seeing me sore from working either in bed or in folding chairs, my girlfriend got fed up and got me a table from IKEA.  The table is turned out to be a great work space for me, but I have still been daydreaming about a woodworking bench.

A side note: For those of you who have tried to get into woodworking, you know what an expensive and frustrating process it can be. An instructional book you pick up may feature lots of projects for beginners, but the workshops are invariably those of professional woodworkers. "Make this simple birdhouse! All you need is a table saw, a planer, a drill press, a band saw, and your own lumber mill." Of the few projects I have attempted, I have yet to complete them without realizing that I'm missing an important tool or jig. The expenses add up fast, and if you've got a tight budget, you need to improvise.  Or just put it off for later.

So, I decided to do something about my lack of a workbench! I turned my table into one. After all, I want to use that new hand plane I just sharpened.  I ordered a few bench dogs and once they arrived I set to work.

First, I masked off the places where the supports run underneath. Then with a pencil I marked down the places I wanted the holes to be.

Next, I drilled some pilot holes before switching the the larger bit.

Here are the larger holes. 

I cleaned up the edges of the holes with a cool little tool that my dad sent me.  They're called Sandits, and they're like q-tips with abrasive ends.  

Here's the table once it was cleaned up.

A close-up with the bench dogs inserted. They fit well.

I tried them out, taking a few passes on this piece of ash with my hand plane.

Obviously, one of the major problems with using this table as a workbench is weight. The table does move a bit when I'm working the wood, but it is an acceptable trade-off for me at this time.  I have plans to add a tail vise at some point, and that will at a bit more weight. There's also the possibility of supporting the table legs with some hefty lumber. In the end, a $100 workbench that is does the job beats a fantastic bench that is 10 or 20 times as expensive; particularly when you're a beginner on a budget.

Andrew: He Gets Things Done

Low-Angle Jack Plane Sharpening

I bought a low-angle jack plane a while back. I have yet to really put it to work, partly because I didn't have a great work surface, but also because when I was testing it out I found that it was digging in a bit on the edges.  I decided to sharpen it and slightly round out the corners of the iron while I was at it.

The first order of business was soaking my water stone for a few minutes. I just used a bread tin for that.

I used one of the stones from my Spyderco tri-angle knife sharpening set to round out the corners of the iron.

Here's the detail. You can see I didn't take too much off.

Then I set about sharpening the edge. First on the 1000 grit:

Then on the 4000 grit:

The finished product.

Next up: modifying an IKEA table to serve as my workbench.

Andrew: He Gets Things Done

Leather Portfolio

I made this leather portfolio as a gift for the gifted writer in the family.  It was made to fit a manuscript.  I got the idea from another leather project I'm working on (coming soon) and it is a more simplified version.

I started with a template made from some wrinkled old newsprint I had laying around.  I definitely recommend using something more substantial.

I got a big piece of double shoulder leather down at the Tandy Leather Factory. Using the template, I cut out the leather using a utility knife.  Since a stack of loose-leaf paper doesn't slide well into a leather bag, I used snaps rather than rivets to attach the bottom and side flaps.  That way you can place the papers in the center and close the portfolio around it.  For the closure I went down to the fabric store and picked up about 4' of something from the ribbon section.  I ended up with a woven natural cotton tape about 1" wide, which I attached with a rivet.

Here it is partially closed, so you can see the snaps.

Here's another shot.

Now, all wrapped up with the card attached.

This was actually a pretty simple project, and was great for a beginner such as myself. I think that anyone can do it, so give it a try.  However, if you'd rather pay the gold price, go ahead and send me an email or contact me at my etsy shop and I'll quote you a price.  I'd love to make another one, after all.

Andrew: He Gets Things Done