Christmas Present for my Granddaughter

[BrokenolMarine]

Sometimes, all the best intentions don't work out as you wished. As I worked to fit the top to the toybox, yesterday, I found that as I had worked on the BOX, it had somehow been pulled "out of square." Not a lot mind you... but enough that the squared top piece I had but slightly oversized, wouldn't square up.
I didn't throw things, I didn't pout, I didn't use (much) bad language. I measured and marked and trimmed. I tested the fit. I marked and trimmed a tad, and re-tested the fit on that corner of the front and right side. One last time, I remeasured, marked, and very carefully trimmed. Then fit.

Then I cut across the back and with three sides squared, I cut the other side. Next, I cut the trim pieces out of walnut and attached them. Glue, clamps, and the loyal brad nailer. Overnight to dry.

01 Lid Walnut Trim.jpg (292.35 KiB) Viewed 5443 times

I tested the position and fit of the Rockler Torsion Hinges. They will go on MUCH Later in the process.

02 Rockler torsion hinges.jpg (202.88 KiB) Viewed 5443 times

Thankfully they fit perfectly, nothing had changed there.
Nothing more to do until the glue dries and I spent several HOURS in the shop so I'm done.

This afternoon, after most of the day was burned with a 5am wake up, drive to the VA, Hurry up and wait for appointments, and the drive home, plus two or three errands. (Never waste a trip to town.).. I got back in the shop and took off the clamps and started the next stage.

03 Clamps Removed.jpg (287.92 KiB) Viewed 5443 times

Time to plane the edges of the walnut for a perfect (as close as you get to... ) match with the Maple Ply top.
So... break out the water stones and sharpen the iron. Diamond Stone, 1,000, 4,000, 8,000 water stone ... 30 minutes later and the iron is sharp and we are cooking with gas. Carefully planed the walnut and made every attempt NOT to touch the maple as I planed the walnut down even. Sanded with 220 grit and I used walnut dust to fill any minor fails in the contact between the two. More sanding.

04 Planed and Sanded.jpg (316.92 KiB) Viewed 5443 times

It turns out that it was a pretty nice fit. I'll stop here for today, and come back out tomorrow and attach the hinges, stain the top, and make all the adjustments. May need to add some trim to accommodate the thickness of the hinge, not going to moritise the hinges in the ply like you would hardwood. Ply tends to split at the most inopportune moments.

Then we can finally start on the carving of "Grumpy" and the lettering.

[BrokenolMarine]

Got some work done this morning, staining the top and mortising the hinges. A long process for the mortising, but I won't bore you with the details.
I also marked the top with the position for the hinges to be installed on the top, then they can be installed in the mortises on the box. Once that is done, the carving for the front can be attempted.

The stained top...

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Mortised Hinges

hinges mortised.jpg (229.65 KiB) Viewed 5434 times

I should get the top installed in the morning, then the real fun begins....

[BrokenolMarine]

I took an hour or so and installed the torsion hinges. I started by using a special skill I learned working on Helos in the Corps. Many of YOU probably developed this skill working on cars. Mechanics Mirror. You see, I had to mark the depth to install the hinges on the top edge, as the hinges are installed on the underside of the top, and I have to screw them onto the underside, but how to see the alignment marks.... ?

Ah...

01 marine corps skills.jpg (225.93 KiB) Viewed 5428 times

Line up the hinge in the laterally correct position, peek at the alignment marks with the mirror and tap, tap, tap with the brass mallet. viola! Aligned.

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In no time at all, the hinges were installed, and the top was on the box.

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As you can see, the torsion hinges work like a champ. Stop halfway up, and it.... stays.

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If you are below about thirty degrees, it SLOWLY closes due to the weight of the top, but it NEVER slams. Good enough.

Time to start the fun part. (or... perhaps, frustration to the 100th degree. )
First, I had to figure out the transfer of the first design. This was the SECOND pass. the first time the cuts were too light to see. Luckily I made several copies. Ah... ran the walnut thru the planer to erase the chicken scratches and repeated the process.

06 transfering the design.jpg (270.65 KiB) Viewed 5428 times

FIRM, EVEN pressure. (YES, I was raising my voice, to remind myself to use firm, even pressure on every cut.)
Wow... it worked.

07 Grumpy.jpg (306.74 KiB) Viewed 5428 times

I went over all the lines with pencil... and comparing the copy to the original, it's close enough for Grumpy work.

08 close enough.jpg (287.87 KiB) Viewed 5428 times

In the morning, I'll decide HOW i'll use it. Do I cut the lines in with a VEE chisel and then cut OUT Grumpy on the bandsaw and call it good?
Do I attempt to CARVE Grumpy, making him 3-D? Who am I kidding, I'm not that good, but will a 2year old or her parents really care?
I'll know....

I'll think about it for the next few hours. (yeah, right, I'll toss and turn....) but I'll know by morning, or afternoon, or Tuesday.
Until I do decide, I can cut out the letters.
(Chicken, Bok Bok.)

[BrokenolMarine]

I decided I could always start over if I messed it up too bad, and I could take the carving as far as I thought I could manage.. sort of...
I got started, and discovered that cold damp weather, serious concentration, that arthritis in my hands...
is going to make for short work sessions... but off to a decent start.

Slow going..

got started.jpg (259.92 KiB) Viewed 5415 times

[BrokenolMarine]

Honestly, I think this would be a lot easier with a high quality carving set, but you go with what you got when you start out. If I find I like it... I might spend the money for a good set of carving knives/chisels. Good ones aren't cheap, cheap ones aren't that great... but...

Isn't that usually the case? No matter what product you are discussing?

[BrokenolMarine]

I decided to try the carving after all, and finished up the V - Grooving this morning after using the grinder to sharpen the cheapo Chinese tools on hand. I planned to keep the strop with buffing compound on the bench beside me and strop the tools every time they started to drag.

Before I started the actual carving, I'd go ahead and bandsaw the Grumpy... first I had to prep him.

01 Prepped to bandsaw.jpg (291.41 KiB) Viewed 5398 times

The relief cuts allowed me to use the bandsaw rather than the scroll saw, which would handle the thickness much better.

About 15 minutes later, I took my time.. ... we had Grumpy in all his glory.

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Man, that's a lot of little chunks when you make all those relief cuts.

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Three or four sessions today, short due to the stress of the carving.

04 started to take shape.jpg (257.35 KiB) Viewed 5398 times

Here is what I ended up with.

05 The day's work.jpg (281.04 KiB) Viewed 5398 times

Still some carving to do, and some final sanding on the edges of course.
It won't be perfect, but it ought to work.

[BrokenolMarine]

Another session this morning and Grumpy is nearly done. Some work left on the hands, That left hand needs the thumb completely reshaped and the fingers more defined. Of course... all the sanding. I want to smooth the areas that were lowered for contrast, and round all the edges. Then I will stain grumpy, wax him, and add him to the front of the box, with a couple brads and glue.

nearly done.jpg (297.39 KiB) Viewed 5374 times

FAR from a great carving, but just like Grandpa Grumpy, he's got wear and tear. I know my daughter will love it. After I get him on the front of the box, all that will remain is cutting out and finishing the lettering.

[CT_Shooter]

I know my daughter will love it.

...And your granddaughter will cherish it for the rest of her life and, possibly, her kids will, too. It's an awesome gift, Marine. Good job.

[BrokenolMarine]

Sometimes there is an industrial accident... I was working on making that hand look a little better and the fingers weren't coming out right, so I decided I'd make it look like a closed fist. Ah, that didn't turn out so well either... it began to look like a stump. I had come a long way and wasn't ready to call it quits and was still working out a solution when Grumpy got a good look. He was so.... embarrassed.
Grumpy stuck his hand in the bandsaw rather than go thru life with a FLIPPER for a hand. Hey, his words, not mine.

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Luckily there was a scrap from the project in the bin the right size, some spray temp glue, and always have extra copies of the pics.
Extra hand, coming up. Six million dollar Grumpy? The new hand, better than the old one. I wouldn't let me... (Ah, him... ) down.

02 new hand.jpg (371.82 KiB) Viewed 5368 times

I did the rounding, the sanding, worked on the new hand, and called the project step acceptable. Recognizing that Grumpy was as good as Grumpy was going to get. Hey... it is my second attempt at Carving. Perhaps I should have gone with Intarsia? LOL. Each piece is cut out and placed into place as if you are doing a puzzle. Botch a piece, you just redo the piece.

03 Grumpy Stained.jpg (327.83 KiB) Viewed 5368 times

Now I may add another coat of the various stains, then wax and attach. Then the Letters. The good news is, the letters require NO carving.. cut them out and sand them, stain them and glue and brad them in place, AND we are DONE. Whoo Hoo.

[BrokenolMarine]

And the darn thing is almost done. I am pushing a bit now as I have other projects I need to get done as well.
Grumpy is done, the second coat of stains/Watco Oil is done. He is drying.
The letters went smoothly....

First up... I went back to the desktop computer and worked out new lettering on Microsoft Word using "WordArt." Printed it out in Letterbox Format.... pun intended.... letters for the toybox.. "Get it? Yah Get it?"

Then I cut the letters out in groups, trimmed the excess, and .... oops.
I set up the Dewalt Power Planer, and ran the walnut board thru, measured and cut to size the board I needed... (palm slap)... then... and only then...
Did I use some temporary spray adhesive to slap (I mean carefully glue) the letters to the board.

01 temp glue.jpg (292.77 KiB) Viewed 5358 times

For the next two hours, my duty station would be the bandsaw, slowly and carefully cutting out the letters for the front of the toybox.

02 duty station.jpg (311.84 KiB) Viewed 5358 times

My first step was to separate the letters and place them in order on the Table Saw deck. No real reason I needed to keep them in order, I'm just anal like that. (Ask Miss Tina, She'll tell you.)

I cut them one at a time, taking care to follow the lines and go slow and easy. I didn't want to have to print another sheet and repeat the process. I was confident that I could complete the process, but I'm not stupid. When I prepped the board, I prepped Plenty. I could complete another entire set if I had to. (knock on wood)

After what seemed like hours.... it was done.

03 Sweet.jpg (299.27 KiB) Viewed 5358 times

I think they turned out very nice. I WON'T cut out the centers of the letters that need it, I will scoop out the areas for accent and blacken them to give the impression that they are gone, but leave them as full as possible to give the letters strength. I don't want them to get broken if we can avoid it. Done for the night, I'll sand them in the morning after removing the paper. THERE is nicely grained walnut under that white paper.

We are close folks, by this time tomorrow, you should get to see the completed project.

** How many caught the change in the structure of the verbage from the first pic to the last? I like the swap.

[BrokenolMarine]

I called my daughter to tell her the toy box was almost ready. I needed to find out if they would need me to deliver the box or if they were going to come and visit and pick it up. She is planning to come and visit the day after Christmas... so that's that. I had sent here a few pics along the way, but told her that she would have to wait and see the box when they come and pick it up. It will be a surprise for she and Johnny, as well as for Izzy. I'm so mean.

[GFK]

Nice work!!! It seems you have found your calling!

[BrokenolMarine]

As I planned, I went out and worked on the lettering, removing the paper from the straight lettering, and working on adding depth to those letters with interior cavities. A, O, R.. etc. I used the gouges, and small chisels to do the job.

I had a few to do after removing the paper from all those that didn't need "special" attention.

02 a few to do.jpg (288.13 KiB) Viewed 6461 times

The key, was the careful outline of the lettering. In order to get accurate placement of the chisel BEFORE smacking it with the mallet, a very important step mind you... I would first outline the cavity with the exacto-knife. Slow and steady, never in a rush. The pucker factor was high.

03 getting the outline right.jpg (303.01 KiB) Viewed 6461 times

Once the cavities were outlined with the chisel, I took my time and worked in some depth, mostly by hand. Pushing the chisel and rocking side to side to control the forward motion and moving slowly. It worked very well.

01 Gouging the Cavities.jpg (261.62 KiB) Viewed 6461 times

I got all the cavities done and then got the sanding done as well. This took about three sessions spread across the day.
Then came the staining.... I was pretty pleased with the outcome.

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I laid out the completed pieces on the front of the chest, to see what we ended up with.

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I think it worked out okay. I'll have to try and find some 1.25" brads, very thin, and then drill and set by hand. I am not going to chance splitting these letters using the air driven brad nailer and the pinners are too short. I could glue them in place and weight them down...
Once they are all safely attached, we are golden and the project can be considered done.

*Unless I decided to add some enhancement to the sides. (NOT) But...
nah, it wouldn't get seen anyway, although....

[The Wiz]

Amazing craftsmanship.

[BrokenolMarine]

Went to Lowes and picked up the 1" 23 Gauge Pins to attach the lettering and Mr. Grumpy. With some Tight Bond Glue and a few pins per letter, we are set.

Shot and Glued.jpg (211.25 KiB) Viewed 6447 times

Grumpy and his message are permanently in place!
What I want you to catch in this viewing is the flow of the grain, I took care to MAKE this happen. Note that the sunburst of grain flows thru the lettering, and Grumpy. The sap line (light grain) arcs over the top in the frame, and then UP in the bottom of the frame. I love to play with the flow of the grain in my projects... it's an additional touch.

Now it's the final touchup of staining, and then some wax all around... and Done and Done!

[BrokenolMarine]

I sat the box back upright and took the pic, thinking, wow, finally done. As I was looking at the lid standing open. It hit me. I could put Izzy's name under the lid. But, there are three or four other projects I need to get started. I'll do that. But the folks are picking this up til the day after Christmas and there is always downtime between glue setting, or finish drying...

You never know.

Done and Done.jpg (296.08 KiB) Viewed 6440 times

[BrokenolMarine]

Seriously, I just had to put Izzy's name on it, so I knocked that out this afternoon, but NOW, the toybox project is "in the can." It's done. (Well, I will put a coat of wax on it... but Ya'll don't have to see that, Right?) It will just give it a soft, warm glow...

So, anyway, I laid out the letters in Word, a trick I use a lot, cut them out as before, and glued them to a nice leftover piece of walnut, MINDFUL of the grain. Then I cut them out on the bandsaw... MUCH easier as these guys were six inches tall.

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Once they were cut out, I sanded them and lightly rounded the edges, then stained them with Watco Golden Oak oil treatment; not as dark as the Dark Walnut, but still gives a warm deep color and highlights the grain.

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After they dried, I found the center of the top, split the difference, and placed a wide thick board on the panel with clamps so I could make sure the letters would be properly lined up. I marked the center and laid out the name... No glue. I marked the position on the "board" with chalk... so I knew where they went.

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Once I was satisfied that we were golden, I took them down,one at a time, and spread the glue on the back. Then tacked them in place with the pinner. Once they were all tacked down I could remove the temporary board.

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Now, we are actually done. When they open the toybox, Izzy's name is RIGHT there. Sweet.

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[GFK]

Nice work!

[BrokenolMarine]

Do you know how you tell?
Look at that face!

Grumpy's Girl Izzy.jpg (278.11 KiB) Viewed 6419 times

That's Grumpy's Girl Izzy!
She loved the toy box... that's what we do this for.

[BrokenolMarine]

BTW....

About thirty seconds after Daddy showed her that the top opened... Iz pointed inside the box and said, "I Fit!"

I can fit.jpg (270.26 KiB) Viewed 6409 times

In she went. Then she turned and counted the letters in her nickname.
"One, Two, Three, Seven."
Hey... give her a break, she's two after all.
She climbed out... and back in, out, and back in.
She'd turn and look at Grumpy, and grin, and say, "Cheese."
I had a camera, I was supposed to take her picture.
Oh yeah, she should blow me a Kiss.
MMMMM-Wahhhhh.

kisses.jpg (299.84 KiB) Viewed 6409 times

BTW.... my plan worked.
She sat on the floor after mommy explained that the dwarf was Grumpy.
"Grumpy," she said pointing to the dwarf.
She turned and looked at me.
"Grumpy" she said grinning. Pointing at me.
"Grumpy..." again at the dwarf.
At the old man....
"Grumpy..." at the dwarf.

Ah... two year old, energizer bunny. Full speed, around the room, in and out of the box.
Plop, back in front of the box.
"Grumpy, Grumpy, Grumpy.".. at the dwarf.
Head cocked, sly grin.
"Grumpy?" eyes cut to Grumpy.... the old chubby one.
laughs and up and on the run again.

Score... that toy box, will always be... Grumpy's box.