1880's old Apple Cider Press resumption

When the Apple Cider Press arrived it was a mess, it had been neglected for many years it was left covering for a whole of years and was deteriorating. The metal parts were rusting away and sure parts were of no use to its functionality anymore. At some point the front legs were substituted with fence posts fairly recently because they were pressure treated 4X4's.

The press was completely torn down; all metal parts photographed and numbered then sent out for sandblasting and powder coated.

Drill Press

We wanted to rebuild the Apple Cider Press as close to primary as possible. This turned out to be a challenge indeed; we could not find a photo of what it was supposed to look like when it was originally made. We had the date and the fabricate but sadly could not find anything that was even close to our Apple Cider Press. We did however have the wooden parts that it came in with imagining that whoever substituted the broken or worn out parts hopefully made them as close as possible. We also had the owner who remembered it from his childhood days which he recalled his Grandfather using it to make Apple Cider.

1880's old Apple Cider Press resumption

So we began rebuilding it from scratch out of solid quarter sawn White Oak ranging in thickness from 2/4 - 8/4. I built the two front legs out of 6/4 with the cross member out of 8/4 straight through Mortised and Tenoned together. The platform in which the actual press would sit was made out of 6/4 and blind Mortised and Tenoned into the front cross member. The rear legs are also 6/4 full dado on to the platform to which the press sits.

The apple shoot was constructed out of 8/4 and the inner slats were hand routed out of the thickness. This was by far the hardest part of the entire build. 6/4 boards were ripped down and made into a skirt so the apples would be trapped. It's hard to see in the photo's but the front is also scooped out.

Next I had to build a pail worthy of our new press not to hard I ripped some stock down to 1 1/4 set my table saw's blade to an angle and ran them all through. Next I set up the drill press centered a hole and drilled them all. We had a convention piece of copper made for the straps 1/4 X 1 Drilled a hole centering all the slats and put our pail together.

We ultimately got our newly powder coated parts back and assembled our press to all of its glory as seen in these photo's (Click Link). A minuscule gold leaf to make the writing on the press stand out and it's done.

1880's old Apple Cider Press resumption

Bookcase Plans - How to Build a Bookcase With 3 Tools

Before committing myself to a set of bookcase plans, I first decided to shop nearby for a pre-fab bookshelf, both online and at a few discount furniture market in town. My plan was to look at a wide range of styles and prices before deciding what to buy. It didn't take me long to scrutinize that I unquestionably had only two choices in the matter; buy somewhat costly crappy particle board bookcases with fake wood laminate, or buy very costly wood bookcases that will stay in my family for the next 100 years. The good stuff would be nice, but since I can't afford to spend 0 at Ethan Allen right now, I'm unquestionably left with just one option: the somewhat costly crappy bookcases. It's disappointing to think this is my only choice.

So now I'm looking at some bookcase plans, which means I'd have to take on the job of construction something from scratch. I'm beginning to like the idea, though. First, it's the only other selection I can find to buying costly crappy bookcases, and second, I like the idea of deciding for myself what level of quality (and expense) I want to put into the project. I don't want a bookcase made from the cheapest materials around, but I don't need the most costly either. construction my own bookcase will let me create something between these two extremes.

Drill Press

I've done a fair number of researching on the Web, and I've come up with some pretty straightforward guidelines for approaching this kind of wood project. Overall, the good news is that you don't have to be a hard-core woodworker to pull this thing off. In fact, a bookcase is a perfect starter task for man just getting into construction stuff from wood. Maybe it's a exiguous more thoughprovoking than making a sawhorse (which is also a good plan to start with), but I think it's foremost for beginners to make something they can be excited about when it's all said and done. So let's get started with some of the basics of construction a bookcase.

Bookcase Plans - How to Build a Bookcase With 3 Tools

Three Tools - I assume that most people attempting their first bookcase task will not have a complete set of woodworking power tools in their shop - things like a table saw, drill press, router table, planer, and all that. What I do think first-time builders might (and should) have is a circular saw, a router, and a power drill. It's pretty overwhelming what you can build with just a few reasonably-priced tools.

#1 Circular Saw - A circular saw will cut just about anyone you can throw at it, and with a few accessories, some fairly complex joinery. Even if you decide later to upgrade to more costly tools, your circular saw will all the time get used in the shop. For a straightforward bookcase, you'll be using the circular saw to cut all the boards to length, and to help make the dado cuts that hold your bookcase shelves. You'll also use the saw to cut down a 4x8 sheet of plywood for the bookcase back.

#2 Router - I'm sure there are abundance of wood projects being built without the help of a router, but my inquire is, why go to the trouble? Sometimes you can pick up a decent router for under 0, and inspecting the extra work you'll save yourself in the long run, that's a good investment. A router will make easy work of cutting the dadoes for your bookcase shelves, and with a few accessories, let you try out a whole load of professional-style woodworking techniques.

#3 Power Drill - every person has a power drill of some sort sitting nearby in the basement or garage. You already know how much use (and abuse) this tool gets for unquestionably hundreds of jobs nearby the house. Although it's potential to build a straightforward bookcase without ever picking up a power drill, the no-screws advent to construction a bookcase requires that you own an insanely large number of clamps to hold everything together while the glue dries. Really, we're talking about 20 clamps or more at about each. Ouch. At a fraction of the cost, you can unleash the same clamping power on wood joints by using wood screws (or even nails) to hold pieces together while the glue sets up. Of course, you'll have holes all over everywhere, but most people just fill them in with putty and they look fine.

Plywood vs Solid Wood Shelves - choosing the right wood for a bookcase plan can be a big topic to get your arms around, especially if you start reading the zillions of articles online about wood species and wood grades, plywood construction, shelving span calculators, etc., etc. This is all good stuff, but for now, let me narrow down the choices for a first-time bookcase project.

Hold off on plywood shelves...this time around - Sure, plywood is nice for bookcase shelves because it doesn't have the warping problems that plague solid wood. But plywood comes in 4x8 sheets, which means you'll be doing a Lot of cutting to make all the pieces for a straightforward bookcase. For experienced woodworkers, this isn't unquestionably a problem. They'll first cut down the sheet into more manageable pieces (usually with a circular saw) and then head over to an 0 table saw to get things perfectly quadrilateral and perfectly sized for the bookcase plan they're following. Not that you can't do all this with another tool (like a circular saw or jigsaw), but at some point it just becomes too much work to make a zillion cuts in plywood without the bigger, beefy tools.

Solid Pine Shelves - For first-time projects, I like to use off-the-shelf dimensional lumber from the big box market like Home Depot. Pine is relatively cheap (compared to hardwood) and is precut to standard-size widths and lengths. That means a Lot less cutting for me to get the basic pieces of my bookcase ready for assembly. Woodworkers might point out that dimensional lumber is inconsistent in width and thickness, which makes less-than-perfect woodworking joints without first planning and/or squaring the boards on a table saw. They're right. Dimensional lumber is not perfectly quadrilateral and consistent from one board to the next. But that doesn't mean you can't build a decent-looking bookcase otherwise. Sure, you might have some small gaps in the joinery, and maybe the case isn't unquestionably quadrilateral and plumb. But more often than not, you'll be the only one who knows any different. Save the more exacting work for nicer bookcase you'll build next year.

Setting up to Cut Boards - It's a exiguous frightening to think about how precarious and unorganized a workspace can be when we start cutting boards. No one wants to spend time thoughprovoking nearby tables, setting up sawhorses, adjusting work clamps...just to cut off the end of a board. Unfortunately, any less making ready than what I just mentioned will put you in a dangerous situation. Power tools can be evil...and I mean unquestionably evil. And it's not about how much feel you have. Go online and hunt woodworking accidents. The most horrific stuff happens to people who have been construction for 20-30 years without a scratch. Then out of nowhere things suddenly go wrong...boards go flying across the room, arms and fingers get cut, and worse.

Cutting Dadoes for Bookcase Shelves - By far the trickiest step in following bookcase plans is cutting the dadoes (that hold the book shelf ends). No need to be intimidated with this part of the project, though. If you're unquestionably true about setting up for the cut (that means using the right clamps and cutting guides for your router) this can be the most fun you'll have with bookcase plans. I like to cut my dadoes assembly-line style. That is, I clamp down both sides of the bookcase side by side...so that each pass with my circular saw (and router) cuts both boards at the same time. This not only saves you tons of time and headache, it also makes sure that your shelves are perfectly aligned when you glue everything together.

Bookcase Plans - How to Build a Bookcase With 3 Tools