# Stuff I've Been Working On



## chuckgray (Aug 2, 2015)

I've been pretty busy making stuff this spring. My daughter is getting married in October and as something to put in the guest bags, I've made a bunch of wood coasters. Around 500 of them:surprise:. They're about 4" square by 1/4" thick and I made an assortment from maple, walnut and cherry. This was a very tedious and boring project but well worth it considering that it's for my daughter.:grin:

This project reinforced my feelings about being retired and not working on a production line. I know I wouldn't want to make coasters for a living. I didn't include any pictures since they're quite mundane.

However, I have attached pictures of a dog bed I just finished for my grand dog. It's made from walnut and finished with spray lacquer. My wife bought the cushion for it. One thing that I haven't learned very well is wood selection. Not the type of wood but the actual pieces that I use. I have too much heartwood (I think it's heartwood - it's the light colored parts) in the project and I think it detracts from the overall appearance. I keep telling myself that I'll pay more attention the next time I build something but I always seem to forget.


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

That's one lucky dog............


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

tomp913 said:


> That's one lucky dog............


woof!!!


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Now thats a new one on me "Grand dog" that must be your grandchild's dog, Wonder if there are great grand dogs.HMMMMMM.................

Good job on that, the dog should love it.

Herb


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I sure like the looks of that dog bed. Really nice stain and finish. I really don't mind the light/dark wood. It's wood, not plastic. I think the dog will accept it just fine. I'm with Stick, woof woof.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

If you hadn't said anything about the wood grain I wouldn't even have noticed, Chuck. Damn fine piece of canine furniture!


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Ah yes the grand dogs. They can be as important as grand kids. I have no grand kids but 3 grand dogs, that's how I know this. You are expected to spoil them as much as you would spoil grand children, and at a roughly equal dollar level.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

DesertRatTom said:


> I'm with Stick, woof woof.


Totally agree with Stick and Tom. That would be 3 woof's from me.


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

@chuckgray. Any dog worth his bones would kill to own such a beautiful bed.You must love your dog so much & he/she must love you.I'll be making a similar bed for "Charlie"but it won't be as neat as yours


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Very nice.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Very nice looking, Chuck! I like the contrast in the wood and actually buy my Walnut looking for the mix. Just an FYI, the dark part is the heartwood and the lighter part is the sapwood. It's all Walnut, though, and purty!

David


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## chuckgray (Aug 2, 2015)

difalkner said:


> Very nice looking, Chuck! I like the contrast in the wood and actually buy my Walnut looking for the mix. Just an FYI, the dark part is the heartwood and the lighter part is the sapwood. It's all Walnut, though, and purty!
> 
> David


David, thanks for the clarification about the heartwood and your kind comments are much appreciated.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

jj777746 said:


> @chuckgray. Any dog worth his bones would kill to own such a beautiful bed.You must love your dog so much & he/she must love you.I'll be making a similar bed for "Charlie"but it won't be as neat as yours


Make the railing out of Raw Hide and Charlie will never get out of bed.
Herb


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

You bet, Chuck - you do nice work!

Here's a little more 'Walnut' info that some may not know - I buy unsteamed Walnut directly from a sawmill specifically because I _want _the sapwood as it is in the raw. Steamed Walnut is what most lumber yards carry and I just don't care for it as much. 

Walnut is steamed to produce an even color and the process causes the sapwood to darken. Most of the time when people think of Walnut they think 'dark', so when an architect or designer specifies Walnut for trim, cabinets, furniture, etc., they want dark wood. In order to get a good yield on the tree the wood is steamed and this is accepted in most cases. If they didn't steam Walnut then the yield from the tree would probably be about 60% of what it is now and that would make prices go through the roof on an already pricey wood.

But to my eye the process muddies the figure and color of the natural Walnut. It loses some of the brilliance, shimmer, and chatoyance present when any kind of figure comes into play. I've had some projects where people have specified to use only heartwood and I work around the sapwood in those cases. I think a few streaks of sapwood really give a lot of character to a piece but that depends on the piece as it's designed and the desired final look.

My $0.02... ok, that might be a nickel's worth :wink:

David


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## rrrun (Jun 17, 2014)

Lovely piece. Looks good enough to chew on.


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## chuckgray (Aug 2, 2015)

Herb Stoops said:


> Make the railing out of Raw Hide and Charlie will never get out of bed.
> Herb





rrrun said:


> Lovely piece. Looks good enough to chew on.


LOL...I like the idea of the rawhide on the railing...

My wife was checking out my work and she suggested that a drawer would have been convenient for toys...I agree. If she had mentioned it before I had it completed, I probably would have included it.



difalkner said:


> You bet, Chuck - you do nice work!
> 
> Here's a little more 'Walnut' info that some may not know - I buy unsteamed Walnut directly from a sawmill specifically because I _want _the sapwood as it is in the raw. Steamed Walnut is what most lumber yards carry and I just don't care for it as much.
> 
> ...


Thanks David. That's good information regarding the steaming process.


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Nice, comfortable looking bed. Some grand dog is being spoiled. The wood and finish looks fantastic to me. The blocks in the corners of the rails are a nice touch.


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## Gjoustra (Jun 12, 2017)

Nice work!


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