| Project by lanwater | posted 06-06-2011 11:41 PM | 4417 views | 13 times favorited | 30 comments |  |
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My old plant stands by the backyard door are on their last legs so I need new ones.
This project was inspired by Peteg: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/39287
I worked mainly from the picture.
The tops are made out of oak and finished with 2 brush on and 3 wipe on coat of oil base poly.
The rest is also out of oak but finished with 3 coat of outdoor varnish.
The legs are out of recycled 3/4 oak hardwood flooring that a friend gave me.
Why the difference in finish? I did not like the outdoor varnish. SO I put oil based poly on the top. I am probably going to regret it rather quicly.
I made some basic templates for the curve on the leg and the crossmembers out of 1/4 mdf panel.
I started with the legs (16 sticks). I chose to do a pattern routing on the curves instead a spindle sander just to have everything the same.
I also drilled holes for the screws.
I then worked on the crossmembers. After cutting them to the final size, I cut the dadoes then cut the lower curve on the band saw.
I also pattern routed the cuve on those.
I had to sand the face crossmembers lightly because the dadoes were just a little tight.
I then cut the tops on my circle cutting jig. It worked like a charm: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/47285
Then came assembly… I tried to keep those sticks as square to the crossmembers as I could.
Once the base assembled I decided to inlay the top with my favorite dragon. Why inlay when they would hident but pots of plant? Just to practice and have fun.
I cut 4 pieces (2 spares) of padauck veneer aproximately 1/8 thick.
I pull my scroll saw and after a couple hours I got crap :) Never hurry! Maybe the spiral blade wasn’t such a good idea.
Collected the saw dust from the scrollsaw. Pull my dewalt (DWP611PK) palm router with the plunge base.
Router and routed out the waste. Then chisel out the corners (not really the right tool).
A quick word for Dewalt: A great tool to have, quieter and better than the bosch colt. The plunge base is a killer
Mixed the saw dust from the scrolling with some epoxy.
Spread it all over, got a nice “poop” like my son said.
The drum sander to the rescue et voila: My dragons. 
The strange dots here and there are oak dust left over on the scroll saw that contamined my padauck dust.
Thanks for looking. Any criticism is always welcome.
-- Abbas, Castro Valley, CA
30 comments so far
degoose
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7287 posts in 4847 days
#1 posted 06-06-2011 11:47 PM
What a great technique… never would have thought of sawdust and epoxy… great…and I love the dragons…
-- Be safe.
BobTheFish
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#2 posted 06-07-2011 12:02 AM
very amazing….. the cutouts don’t look that bad, and could double as trivets.
AAAAAAAND it looks like you found a way to recycle the smallest scrap in any woodshop: SAWDUST!
lanwater
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#3 posted 06-07-2011 12:19 AM
Larry: Thanks! Dragons are my favorites. I learnt this from my teach Jim Vice at the adult school in Castro Valley,CA
He is a great teacher. I can’t say enough about him.
BobTheFish: The cutout are pretty bad. They needed a lot of sanding. The regular blade was doing fine until I decided to go faster with the spiral so I can change direction at will. I am very new to scroll sawing.
The saw dust saved the day! Thank you.
-- Abbas, Castro Valley, CA
Bearpie
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#4 posted 06-07-2011 12:27 AM
My wife loves the dragons! It also happens to be her school mascot and which is probably why she loves the dragons. You did a superb job on the dragons.
Erwin, Jacksonville, FL
-- Erwin, Jacksonville, FL
Mickey Cassiba
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#5 posted 06-07-2011 12:59 AM
I like ‘em! I’m a fan of dragons…and these are fantastic!
Into the ‘plan to copy file’ this goes!
Thanks
-- One of these hammers oughta fix that...
mafe
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13872 posts in 4581 days
#6 posted 06-07-2011 01:05 AM
Hi Ian,
That is some wonderful dragons there!
It was a shame with those scroll saw dragons, I also have a issue with the scroll saw, I think it is called lack of patience…
Have you noticed that I have a dragon on my personal stamp?
You can see it here: http://lumberjocks.com/comments/993862
Best thoughts,
Mads
-- MAD F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect.
tdv
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1203 posts in 4562 days
#7 posted 06-07-2011 01:09 AM
Ian that’s a real nice job my friend
Best
Trevor
-- God created wood that we may create. Trevor East Yorkshire UK
Eagle1
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2066 posts in 4556 days
#8 posted 06-07-2011 02:01 AM
WOW!! Very cool..
-- Tim, Missouri ....Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the heck happened
Dennis Zongker
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#9 posted 06-07-2011 03:01 AM
Very nice Stands and Guardians!!! I really like how you did the poop method lol Great job.
-- Dennis Zongker
Mathew Nedeljko
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715 posts in 5322 days
#10 posted 06-07-2011 03:02 AM
Great Design and nicely built! I really like the dragons inlay and I’m glad you discovered the sawdust n epoxy mix. I have used sawdust and glue to fill small gaps in my marquetry work too.
I like how you did a left and right hand version of the dragons, very symmetrical and balanced.
What type of bit did you use in the router to relieve the ground?
-- Aim high. Ride easy. Trust God. Neale Donald Walsch
peteg
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4438 posts in 4315 days
#11 posted 06-07-2011 03:58 AM
Wow, you have pushed my origonal along a notch, love your dragons.
I never gave any detailed sizes for the top or legs
O/A height was 30”
Dishes were 9 1/2”
Legs were 5/8 Sq
looks like your method was the same as mine, one difference I can pick is I checked the legs into the dish under rails by 3/16 so I could get a good glueing seat as I didnt want to have any mechanical fixings showing to any of it apart from screwing the dishes on from underneath, the dishes I turned on the lathe as my saw blade was “dull” at the time I made it.
I am chuffed that you liked it so much you made one.
You did great, nice job :))
-- Pete G: If you always do what you always did you'll always get what you always got
shipwright
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8821 posts in 4290 days
#12 posted 06-07-2011 04:07 AM
Great recovery Ian.
Sawdust and epoxy is a time honored boatbuilders’ putty. If it’s teak I call it T3, mahogany=M3 (like K3 fiberboard) and on and on. So just let me say that I like your deft use of P3 filler.
My only regret is that you might just go and put plants on them.
-- Paul M ..............the early bird may get the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese! http://thecanadianschooloffrenchmarquetry.com/
plantek
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315 posts in 4291 days
#13 posted 06-07-2011 04:17 AM
Beautiful work Lanwater…
Here here to the DeWalt router. I love mine and the plunge base is great.
Thanks for posting.
-- If you want it and it's within reason... It's on it's way!
Homer J. Woodworker
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#14 posted 06-07-2011 07:08 AM
Criticism? Uhm…ya…Not ENOUGH pictures of those cool tables! They look GREAT!I also like the Idea of mixing the saw dust with epoxy and using it as an inlay material….I’ve thought about doing that…but I’m just too lazy. GREAT JOB again!
-- -"Trying is the first step towards failure!"
lanwater
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3113 posts in 4426 days
#15 posted 06-07-2011 07:44 AM
Bearpie, Mickey Cassiba: Thanks! Dragons have something about them.
Mafe My friend, I had noticed your stamp and I thought it was a sign of someone who is sure of his work. I must admit I missed the dragon. I did not look close enough.
Trevor: Thank you my friend!
Eagle1: Thanks!
-- Abbas, Castro Valley, CA
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