First Upholstery Project

This summer I decided to try re-upholstering a chair (cehaper than buying a new one). The one I chose was a 8 year old $900 chair. $150 worth of fabric later this is how it came out.

Crown Molding

To go with the new bookcases I needed to finish the crown molding throughout the kitchen. Here are some highlight pics.

French Doors

With all of the time on my hands I decided I wanted to try my hand at making a door. What more of a challenging door than a French door. Even better when the lumber costs come to about $20 and a new door knob for $24 and free circa 1930 window pane glass. 18 panes, 18x4x2=144 pieces of custom cut pane molding, six coats of oil based paint and four weeks later I have two new doors (only one shown).

Kitchen Bookcases

What would a newly painted wall be if you cannot show it off. Solution - White bookcases. These are made of one sheet of plywood and some white pine with an oil base paint. They came out well and I left enough room on both sides to accommodate two kitchen chairs. To top them off I added crown molding which ended up encompassing the entire kitchen.

Final touch was a trip to the Habitat Store for a recycled light fixture with red suede shades. Not sure where the orb came from.

Pistola Parade

Contained herein are my picks for a perfect affordable collection:

Walther P99 .40 SW

I like the gun, very well made but it dropped a mag first time I shot it. I need to have it worked on.

Taurus PT-99 9mm

My second pistol purchase (my first was a .25auto long since gone). Bought the Taurus while in college after my house was broken into. This gun shoots very "loose" but it has never jammed in 20 years, is very accurate and still looks new.

Walther PPK/S .380Cal

I bought this gun for conceal carry and personal protection. Very well made (better than Bersa Thunder 380), very heavy but it has jammed 3 times in 100 rounds. I will try to break it in more.

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.357 Cal Defender CCW

This is a very cool gun that will have no jamming issues, packs a lot of power and has two barrels at the ready. I think this would make a great conceal carry weapon.

S&W Model 629 .44 Magnum

What collection would be complete without the staggering power of a 44MAG. I hear Smith and Wesson makes the best and I want stainless.

Taurus PT-1911 .45 Cal

Again, what collection would be complete without a .45Cal auto. This gun has the best featureset for the price.

============ Smaller Calibers ===========

Walther P22 .22 Cal

While every Walther I own has either jammed or dropped the clip I still think they are the best built, best designed weapons out there.

Secretary - Furniture 211

Here is my design for a dremel based purfling tool. The wood is cut from the same block of cherry that the legs are cut from. The depth of cut is controlled by how far you insert the bit, the distance to the edge of the piece is set by interchangeable shimming blocks (at the bottom of the tool).

My first table leg. It has Federal style inlay stripes to accentuate the leg. My furniture mentor indicated that there was a better way to make the strips more uniform (instead of cutting by hand) using a purfling tool. So I made the dremel based tool and I will redo the stripes in the legs. More PICs to come showing the new method for stripes. Thanks Tim.

Here is my latest project. A 56" demilune table. The center is Burled Walnut with a 3" Avadore band. The outer edge is made from a 1-1/4" Cherry Apron. This is just the top. I have to add the bottom apron (cherry veneer), legs (solid cherry) and center drawer. Also the top has a 1/2" black inlay band I did with epoxy. I must admit, this is the prettiest thing I have done so far. The top photo is just to get an idea what it will look like in the bedroom where we have a wicker table now.

Valet Cabinet

This is a finished Valet Cabinet. I was going to put a door on the front but liked the finish so much I could not cover it up. The drawers are diagonal grain satin wood with cherry veneer. I built it to hold all of my stuff.

Pine Wood Derby Time

Two weeks to go. Coban wanted a Honda NSX. Here are our progression shots of the pinewood derby prototype before the spoiler. We modeled it after a screen shot of a GT4 car. Racing January 27th. First heat the car came in first place.

Best Pizza Dough Recipe

Baldini Pizza Crust

I got this recipe from my brother in-law. It is simply the best recipe I have ever tried for pizza dough.

1 Tsp Sugar
1 C Warm Water
1 pckt Yeast
2 Tbl Butter
3-1/2 C Flour
1/8 tsp Salt
1 Egg
1 Tsp Olive Oil

Mix sugar and yeast in warm water, let sit until foaming. Add melted butter than the rest and mix. Let rise (10min), beat down, let rise again then use. Beautiful stuff. Cook at 450 for about 10 minutes or so.