June 2018 – juddy judson builds

Alright. It’s been a busy month. I smashed out 16 board and batten shutters and an ash table top for the new Piatto at the causeway (I got the contract! They liked it so much they asked me to build them a counter top, too!!). I am pleased with how they both turned out. I always get nervous before a build but with every build my skills are getting better! I’ll post a how-to build for each build below.

In other news, I’m excited to say I’m making headway with my new shop plans!! I’m pumped to start this and it could happen as soon as August. Fingers crossed!! I also got a new job. Some of you may know I’ve been a resource teacher at Morell High and Mt. Stewart Consolidated for the last 8 years. I really enjoyed my time at these two schools but I accepted a new position at Glen Stewart Elementary teaching grade 2 and 3 resource! I am beyond excited to be teaching at a school where my daughter will go. Once she finishes at Glen Stewart, I’ll transfer to her next school, then her next school and so on. That’s okay to do, right?! But I am looking forward to my new position! Interesting fact– I was in resource from grades 1-12. Six of those years were at Glen Stewart. I’m going back to where it all started!

Lets get into the builds. We’ll start with the shutters

How to build board and batten shutters

I built 8 sets of shutters. First, I measured each set and clamped them together so they would all be an identical length.

Some shutters were bigger than others. Some windows are larger than others.

I put my chamfer bit in the router table and took the sharp edges off to give it a little detail.

Next, I got a couple gallons of black paint and went to town. I put 5 coats on. Shortly after this picture was taken, my elbow hit the can,sending the paint can tumbling to the garage floor. I then decided it was a good time to paint our garage floor black lol.

I ripped the cross pieces down to 2 1/2 inches. (Note the saw, and pretty nice bum if you zoom in)

I made a little jig and used paint sticks to evenly space out the boards. I glued and brad nailed them in place first.

I then flipped them over and screwed them from the back. You won’t see these screws as this side will be against the house.

A few more coats and there you have it. Shutters!

If you noticed the saw I was using in the picture above, you’ll see that this is a new one!!! This saw was once my grandfather’s, who gave it to my father, who then mentioned I could have it once I built my shop. He then said I could take it anytime. About 10 minutes after he told me this, I had it in my garage. I absolutely love my new saw!!! It is a beast and I’m proud that it’s mine!!

Alright, you all know how to build shutters now. I can’t wait to see you all make these wooden shutters.

Lets jump right into the next build. This table top is solid ash. It weights 6589 pounds and it is awesome!! I can’t wait to head to Piatto and eat some pizza on their new custom built table!!

How to build a table top

I ordered the Ash from Royalty Hardwoods in Pools Corner.

I just happened to pick them up on a day where it rained like a mother f*cker. Thankfully, I had a tarp that kept most of the water out! (Pretty happy I bought this trailer off Kijiji)

Unfortunately, one board got soaked. I put it in the boiler room at school to dry out.

I cut all my boards to a little over 10 feet long, making sure to cut out any bad parts of the wood.

I test fitted before glue up. I built this at school because there is more room and better clamps!! Plus, I had my mentor keeping an eye on me.

I used biscuits to help me align the board for glue up. This just helps keep everything level and straight.

Mr. Roger Kelly. I will miss him. Not sure what he is doing here. Probably forwarding a chain letter or a joke to someone.

I put it back in the trailer after glue up and brought it home. Doesn’t that grain look killer?!!

I sanded the top using 80 grit paper, then took a damp rag and rubbed it into the table top. The water raises the grain and then I sanded it again at 150, then 220. It was some smoooooth!

They wanted it to look weathered and white so I thought I’d first stain in grey!

Once I did that, I thought it was looking pretty awesome!

Next, I figured I’d put a little white wash on top to really give it a weathered look.

Jesus mother of a duck, it turned the table top blue!!! Not good Jim, not good!

So I had to sand the bastard back down and start again.

But once I sanded it, the stain left some cool marks in the grain and I just went with it! I put 7 coats of polycrylic on both sides.

I busted out my palm router and rounded over the sharp corners.

Voila

Oh yeah. I built a cutting board for a colleague I’m going to miss next year!

I also built this for my mother’s birthday and Father’s Day. Two for one. Get them while they’re hot!

Alright. Two big builds. One big post. For those who have read this, which I think 85% are my Mom’s friends or the parents of my childhood friends/teammates, thank you for making it to the bottom, and thanks again for the great support! It’s awesome!! Up next, I have a maple kitchen table to start (possibly two), and I’m doing a mock up for the beer tap handles. I’ll submit that to my client and hopefully they’ll think they are awesome and I’ll get that contract!! I’ll be starting to build my shop real soon too! I met with my contractor Saturday morning to go over what I need to do. I’m not sure if he knows he’s my contractor yet (lol) but hopefully he tells me what to do and I’ll just listen to his directions. It’s actually my friends father. Awesome dude!

Thanks again everyone!

Brett

Holy smokes! Two years and still building things! Who would have thought this would actually turn into a successful little business!? I certainly didn’t. I basically started “blogging” to get outside my comfort zone and talk about my builds. I remember being really timid about writing about my wood working adventures, let alone allowing people to read what I had to say (my wife gives me so much confidence!). It has been nothing but a positive experience for me and it has really opened up all kinds of avenues that I would never have expected. I sort of just figured I’d build things around the house, buy as many tools as I could on Kijiji and just be a tinkerer. However, things have just been heating up over the last 6 months and I just sent in my application for a building permit to build my own SHOP!

Let’s chat more about my shop. It’s going to be facking awesome! It will be roughly 20 x 24 (It keeps get bigger then smaller, then bigger again!). My plan is to start saving my money from my builds instead of buying things on Kijij or anything that is on sale in the flyers. Did I tell you I just got a new chainsaw!? I want to fund this build purely out of wood working money (not that I had a choice). No bank loans, no lines of credit. Straight cash! Wouldn’t it be incredible and rewarding knowing that?!! Plus, I’m building it myself and pouring the concrete. I’ve been doing some research on how to do these things and it saves a ton of cash. My plan is to hopefully start building in the fall, or the spring, or maybe even the year after that, or the year after that! It’s going to happen as long as business stays steady. I’ve basically been working 7 days a week for the last year so hopefully it continues (as overwhelming as that can be when I take on too much work).

Here’s what I’ve been up to the past month and what is happening this month.
• Finished and delivered a headboard.
• I built one of 3 baby gates for my own house. I haven’t finished painting it yet but I had to install it because Everly is on the move. Hopefully I can finish painting this one and build the other two before she is 5. Don’t worry. Our stairs are carpeted with a landing in the middle.
• My wife has been asking me to build a latter shelf for a few weeks now. I’ll get to that after I finish the baby gates….
• I just finished 12 more sandwich boards. Eight for the Murphy’s Group and three for the Scales Group.
• I built some shelves and a work bench for M&M Resources. They are a paving company located on the 48 Road. If you need anything paved, these guys are awesome! (They didn’t pay me to say that nor did they sponsor this post….. yet)
• I’m building 16 shutters for a client’s house. Hopefully I’ll start that today! (I’m not, might have some beers instead)
• A 7 X 5 Maple kitchen table! I’m really excited to build this! I ordered lumber from a local sawmill, so now I’m just waiting for them to mill it.
• I could potentially be building a table for a new restaurant in Charlottetown! Shit, did I just jinx it? Screw it. This would be cool to do!
• I could potentially be building beer tap handles for a local brewery!? Shit! Did I just jinx that too? Lol

My quotes are out so I’ll wait and see. It’s been a learning experience sending these out! I absolutely hate that part but it’s the only way to grow. I’ve received a few no’s/no responses lately which isn’t a bad thing according to the books and podcast I’ve been reading/listening to that are about pricing and running a small business. I just want to be fair and worth my time!

Well, that’s all I have to say about that. Two years building things out of wood. It’s been a dusty ride (thank god for the Roomba, it’s more than just a go-cart for Everly to drive) but I can’t and won’t stop learning as much as I can before I turn to dust myself! If that is morbid, it’s okay. It’s the truth. Life is short. Never stop learning or challenging yourself!!! I’ve solved the world’s most complex problems in the shop by myself or with my buddy, Colin, who typically comes down on Friday nights. We pretend to work and ponder the meaning of life. I could do a series about this. I’ll keep you all updated on this!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Juddy Judson

	Judith MacKenzie on It’s been a while.
	Judith MacKenzie on A Library
	Too expensive to bur… on The maple of all tables
	mrsmarshallkd on A Scandinavian bed
	Judith MacKenzie on To Everly. Love Dad.

Month: June 2018

Two builds – One post. And Shop news

Juddy Judson Builds turns Two- Shop news