tomfly
The only thing left should be foot prints.
5-2-12
I have a good part of the rod case constructed. I did not think it would be so difficult. Kudos to furniture makers. The 2 main problems I was running into were trying to marry the top and bottom together to produce a seamless gap it is 40 inches long and the wood was not true. After 6 or 7 hours of sanding a little off here and there with a belt sander, I was able to get it quite close. The second problem I was having; making the rod mounts were a nightmare. The problem is trying to marry the two mounts together and drill a hole in the center of them. Many failed attempts. I the desired thing I was trying to accomplish was half the hole on one mount and half the hole on the other. Very difficult to do, after 8 to 10 attempts with disasters results I finally discovered a procedure to accomplish it. I clamped the two halves together and leveled them front to back and side to side and drilled them. There are not perfect but I am happy with them. I also clamped the top and bottom of the rod case together and belt sanded the two halves smooth the routed the top with a half round over bit followed by a roman ogee bit. It gave a finished dressing to the top of the case. I lightly sanded the entire case and mixed a paste that consisted of wood flower (from the dust bag of the belt sander) and spar varnish. I hand rubbed the paste onto the case. This is old trick to raise the grain of the wood. Let it dry for 24 hours and sanded off the residual paste. I then put the first coat of finish on the case. I did this with minimal tools that I had a cordless circular saw, a few clamps, a small belt sander, a cordless drill, a cordless palm sander and a router.
I still have a little touch up work to do on the rod but I am confident the project will be ready for Shannon’s traditional angler day. I will post more pictures when complete.
I have a good part of the rod case constructed. I did not think it would be so difficult. Kudos to furniture makers. The 2 main problems I was running into were trying to marry the top and bottom together to produce a seamless gap it is 40 inches long and the wood was not true. After 6 or 7 hours of sanding a little off here and there with a belt sander, I was able to get it quite close. The second problem I was having; making the rod mounts were a nightmare. The problem is trying to marry the two mounts together and drill a hole in the center of them. Many failed attempts. I the desired thing I was trying to accomplish was half the hole on one mount and half the hole on the other. Very difficult to do, after 8 to 10 attempts with disasters results I finally discovered a procedure to accomplish it. I clamped the two halves together and leveled them front to back and side to side and drilled them. There are not perfect but I am happy with them. I also clamped the top and bottom of the rod case together and belt sanded the two halves smooth the routed the top with a half round over bit followed by a roman ogee bit. It gave a finished dressing to the top of the case. I lightly sanded the entire case and mixed a paste that consisted of wood flower (from the dust bag of the belt sander) and spar varnish. I hand rubbed the paste onto the case. This is old trick to raise the grain of the wood. Let it dry for 24 hours and sanded off the residual paste. I then put the first coat of finish on the case. I did this with minimal tools that I had a cordless circular saw, a few clamps, a small belt sander, a cordless drill, a cordless palm sander and a router.
I still have a little touch up work to do on the rod but I am confident the project will be ready for Shannon’s traditional angler day. I will post more pictures when complete.
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