My third Leg Revealed

In my last post, I hinted at the construction of some new booth furniture. This happens every spring and the set up is still evolving. Basically, I wanted to replace a 5 ft shelf that I usually ran along a side wall with a smaller shelf that sets up parallel to the front of the booth but still allows plenty of room for entry. The question of booth furniture comes up pretty often on the web so I thought I would put together a pictorial how to just in case some of you are getting tired of all this reading. For best results, you will need a table saw and a drill press. You can do it with hand tools but you will work harder and you will not be as accurate.  I decided on a 4 ft unit that has two sides. Six inch shelves on one side and eight inch on the other, with the frame hinged in the middle for easy folding and set up. I prefer Red Cedar for my shelves. They need no finish, they are light and stiff and they make the van smell great. I was able to cut down the shelf boards from my old unit for the eight inch side. These are one inch stock and really stiff. For the six inch side, I bought 1/2 inch thick cedar fence boards. they will be holding mugs so they don't need to be as heavy as the other ones. The frame is made of a 10 ft cedar 2x6, an 8ft 2x4 and 8 3/4 " dowels.. Have the lumberyard cut the 2x4  at 48 " then cut the 2x6  into two 60 inch pieces.

Make sure you 2x6's are exactly the same length.

Strike lines where you want to put dowels for

shelf supports. Rip each into 3 equal pieces.

 

Make a quick fence for the drill press. The line on the base lines up with your

drill bit and your layout lines for dowels. It is much easier to match two lines than to try to find a line with the point of a drill.

 



 Drill all holes on the front and back posts 1" deep. The center post, you drill about 1/2 "
from either side so you don't go through. Don't let shavings pile up behind your work.

 

 Use a stop block to cut your dowels .Less measuring and they will be exactly the same.

Shelf width plus depth of both holes.

 

Dry fit it together

 

Smooth any sharp edges.

 

Check for square often

 

Brush some glue in each hole. I do one leg, insert dowels then do the other one.

 

Clamp it all up and check for square. Repeat for the

other side piece

 

 

Simple frame squares it up and supports the sides.

Notching helps keep the wiggle out. I bored 3/4 "

holes for dowels through the side of the central frame and into

 the horizontal rails. You could use countersunk lag bolts.

 

 

no mortise hinges hold it all together. bend your hinge pins a little

and hang them so the heads are up. keeps the pins for falling out.

 

Finished Frame

 

 

Finished unit

 

 

Folded frame.

 

 

 

Opening Day

Hey everyone. Happy Easter, Ishtar, Passover or whatever you have been celebrating. I've just been celebrating being able to work outside without a jacket. I've missed you but it has been awfully busy around here. May 3 is opening day. No, not the Reds, show season. Cincinnati Clay Alliance has its club show on the first Saturday of May every year. 60 Clay artists on one street ! I always do well there. Last year I did twice what my next best show was so I need a bunch of stuff. When you make tableware, that means 8 to 12 place settings of each glaze plus serving pieces, corner pieces, etc. I'm done with Green, Black and Shino but I still need Blue. Busy Busy . I bisque fired and threw through the cold months, well , when I could force myself outside I did. That led to a huge pile of bisque. Orders late last fall led to me being out of most colors of plates and I can only fit 2 on a kiln shelf then fill in with other low stuff. This train of logic lead to the conclusion that I had a ****load of firing to do. The last 3 weeks have not found my kiln cold. Load , fire, unload, load....I have had to do a bisque just to have enough mugs to fill some 6" high spaces. If I do all plates, I run out of shelves halfway up. It's all a big jigsaw puzzle anyway.

 I've also been working on a new shelf unit. It is almost done and I am including a teaser picture of some partially completed parts. Next time you stop by, I hope to have full instructions posted. It is a slick design. Oh yeah, The Subaru returned home after a month in the body shop. Total damage was about $11,000 on an $18,000 car but it looks good and drives fine. The Ford Escape from Enterprise was fine but I'm glad to have my own car back. There's no place like home. Have a great day.

Pile O' Green ,at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Greens ,Blacks, and some tests

She's Back

What the?? Why the third post?



Periodic Embarrassment

Hey everyone just a quick update. The car continues to be repaired. The toll is up to $10,500 on the damage but still not enough to total it, just ruin it. I have been throwing myself silly (short trip) to get ready for summer shows and have just about enough bisque to get through the summer. Rather than show piles of greenware, I thought I would amuse you all with another song. Thanks for stopping.

A Little Rant

When you are attached to something with an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis you are...? Hint.. it's the same thing as when your car is run over by a truck owned by the State of Ohio. If you didn't see last week's post, scroll down to look at the picture of the Subaru.  Back? OK. Here's the strange tale of how things work in Ohio.There was never any question that the BASDT ( Big Ass State Dump Truck) merged into my car at 50 or 60 mph , took out the right side, pushed me and the dog down the road with amazing force and left us 75 feet down an embankment. The risk management person from ODOT assured me at the scene that they were" Self Insured " and all would be well. What I didn't understand is that meant "MYSELF" not   " THEIR SELF " !!!  Yes friends the State of Ohio accepts responsibility for the accident but my insurance company picks up the tab. Supposedly there is to be no impact on my claims history, we'll see. Remember Sovereign Immunity from school? This is it in action. The state will generously cover my deductible and any rental car days beyond the 30 my policy covers. Five minutes before my car sustained $ 9K in damage it was worth about $ 18K. Even if it is perfectly repaired, it will never be worth even $ 14K with that big an accident on the CarFax. I have been up and down the food chain on this and cannot get anyone to consider totaling my car or compensate me for the loss of value that I have to eat on this deal. They tell me I'm screwed, I tell them I'm pissed and nothing changes. So if you see you are about to get hit by a "BASDT" try to get out of the way. The only one who is going to get hurt is you and no one will make you whole again.  Sometimes when no one is interested in making you happy you just have to decide to be happy anyway. I'm trying. be patient. Thanks for listening.

Back Again

Hi everyone. Thanks for stopping by. It has been an adventuresome week. The dog and I were driving up the highway yesterday when a State of Ohio dump truck merged into the Subaru. This was one of the big ones they plow the interstate with. Yikes it was thrilling as we spun around and got pushed down the road sideways then spun over a steep embankment. Both man and dog came through without a scratch but I don't know how we kept from rolling over. The car is pretty cut up on the passenger side and my insurance company and the State of Ohio are sorting out who pays for what. Hopefully it will all come out in the end.

My friends Mike and Karen had their photo both set up the other day and invited me over so I could update my photos for shows. These are better than what I had but could still be improved. It won't hurt my feelings if you have suggestions on which ones to use or how to make them better. If you don't tell me who will? Thanks for stopping by.