The American Woodshop

(bright upbeat music) - Hi, welcome to "The American Woodshop."

I'm Scott Phillips, and today we're going to make a display case out of an old door.

Okay, now that's a beauty, and it will house Native American artifacts.

So, stay with us.

Learn how to make your own today.

(metal scraping) - [Presenter] "The American Woodshop" with Scott Phillips is brought to you by... - Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

- Pro tools (heavy drum beats) for tool pros.

(heavy drum beats) Rikon Tools.

- Woodcraft Magazine.

Projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood.

Home of Timberwolf Swedish Silicon Steel bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- A bed to sleep on.

A table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- I don't think you could beat old things.

And the old glass in this old door cost me a princely sum of 20 bucks at a ReStore.

And we're going to make a project that's going to house my Native American artifacts.

And which one do you think is the oldest?

You look at these three frames of stones here.

What's going to go back the furthest?

That scraper was from Mastodon.

They disappeared from the earth over 10,000 years ago, so that would make that the oldest one.

And who knows exactly how old it is.

Now, you see that?

You think, "Well, that's an ax."

Not really.

Good luck trying to cut wood with that.

That's a war club.

You go, what?

Yeah, when Native Americans would go to battle, they would swing this in close quarters, and these are all war club heads.

And if you look at this, you see how a piece of hickory, and they always knew their woods, they used hickory because it's nice and strong and light.

But they would split a branch where it forked out around the top or the groove in the club, and then they would use sinew, let it dry, and that would be there to stay.

That also doubled as a great thing to hammer in stakes whenever they needed to.

So, the other cool thing over here.

Wampum, that's money, which is drilled bone.

That's a meteorite fragment.

I found all of these hiking.

There's a celt, that's quite pricey.

And then, these are cake stones, though on average are about 5 to 6,000 years old.

So, why not build something special for this?

So, the cool thing is it's a beautiful day.

Let's head to the outside workshop.

(wood scraping) We're using basic tools today to build this cabinet.

Now in this case, this door measures just under four feet long by an 8th of an inch.

And that measures 20 7/8ths across.

So if you plan ahead, you can go and buy a piece of precut wood like this.

It's a chipboard that's been veneered with barn siding.

And the cool thing about this being half an inch thick, it will hang on the wall easier and be sturdy.

And so, I'm looking for the best grain on this.

And then, I know that this door being just a 8th of an inch shy will fit on that perfectly.

So, then how do you end up with the side pieces?

This came from ReStore.

These side pieces are molding that came from ReStore.

This is cherry.

This is ancient white pine.

Look at the color match right there.

They look so close, it's almost identical.

That's what time will do for you.

Now earlier, Suzy did a special finish on that.

Let's take a look at that.

Let's see what Suzy's up to.

(wood clattering) - Anytime you have a beautiful day outside, you want to take that day to do your finishing.

I'm using a shellac on this beautiful cherry trim piece, and I love using the shellac one to match the antique door front that Scott bought at Habitat.

And the other is shellac doesn't get all blotchy on cherry like some finishes can.

And you just want to keep brushing it out.

Even strokes, and be careful, runs in the sides.

And it's just going to be beautiful, and it really just brings out the cherry grain really fast.

And it's going to mellow and darken with age, and you'll think the pieces were original together.

So, I'll just keep working on this.

Get the front.

And then, I'll let Scott finish it up.

Man, I'm loving this.

Woo!

(wood rattling) - So, that's what cherry looks like when it has shellac on it.

Orange shellac that is.

Gives it that lovely color, and it does not splotch.

Now, over here I still have some pieces that are unfinished.

And oh, by the way, to cut these to a square and length, and that's really important that these ends are square for this whole assembly to work.

I took it to the Miter saw and cut it precisely, and make sure that Miter saw blade is locked in at square before you make those cuts.

And that's how I cut all these side pieces to that 48-inch length.

Now I'm going to set this door safely out of the way because I do not want to break that ancient glass.

And now, what I want to show you on these pieces right here, again, these are cherry and I'll get those finished later on.

I'm going to join these pieces together.

And I've done it in a way that I just bring up the cherry on top of the piece, and you'll see how I trim this edge out in a second.

But what I'm going to do now, in pre-drilled pilot holes is use screws that are square drive to draw, and you'll see this in just a second, everything together.

Just like the pre-drilled holes (drill whirring) allow.

(wood ratcheting) Okay, that one is in and indexed.

And what I do is I use a magnet in there to hold everything together.

And let's get this one in right there.

Okay, pre-drilled.

(drill ratcheting) Okay, now that piece is square right there.

And let me bring that up with just two screws.

And right there, this is the old hardware that I salvaged to go to the door, and it's going to stand up like that, which is quite fetching.

I mean, that's pretty.

And so, I bring this other piece of trim molding that's right up and on like that.

And I chiseled out where the hinges go.

So, I'll screw that in place.

And remember, all these holes have been pre-drilled.

So, you never want to drive screws into hardwoods without having a pilot hole.

So, that's good right there.

And I want four screws per side to make this nice and strong.

Okay, no glue required on this.

(screen whooshing) You know what?

Everything's lined up the right way.

I want you to see the bit that I like to use to pre-drill.

It's tapered to a point and it has a counter sink in it.

(drill whirring) There is the train right on time.

Just want to dimple it down.

We've got one more hole here.

You don't want it closer than 7/16th to the edge of that cherry 'cause you'd lose a lot of strength.

And here we go.

We just drive that in.

Good pressure down, like that.

And you know, some people say, "Scott, why are you working outside?"

I just love it.

I do absolutely love it.

And it's great for dust control.

So, that side's on.

I'll do the same on the other side.

Then, we'll flip it up and I'll show you how to trim off each end.

This is a super simple project and when we get through with this, you'll go, "I can do that."

And that's the idea.

Don't go out and buy your cabinets, build 'em.

(drill whirring) Okay.

(drill whirring) Now that's the final screw in the back.

Let me set this all up and you will see it's rock solid.

This will be hung on the wall.

And then, what I need are two boards, one for the bottom, one for the top.

Those are seven inches wide, twenty seven inches long.

Let's go mill those at the table saw, then the Miter saw.

Now, boards aren't perfect.

You can see how that dog legs about two-thirds of the way up.

And I've got a decent straight edge here.

So, I'm going to rip this straight on this side, leave this front edge rough for effect, and then I'll take it to the Miter saw and cut it to length.

(saw whirring loudly) (screen whooshing) Now, whatever you do, be sure to read, understand, and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use in your workshop.

Work safely.

Okay, safety glasses, hearing protection.

And now, with that straight ripped edge along the back, put that against the fence, and that'll gimme square cuts here.

And I've got layout lines there.

I need to inch that over just a hair.

And when I use a Miter saw, I always like to grip not only the work piece but the Miter saw, and keep my fingers at all times at least four inches away from the moving blade.

(saw whirring loudly) And let that blade come to the stop, then raise it up.

And we can net out two perfect work pieces that way.

That looks really good right there.

Again, the straight edge is against the fence.

(saw whirring loudly) I want to see how good you are.

What species of wood is this?

Take a close look at that.

Is it cherry?

No.

Is it white pine that's old?

No.

This is eastern red cedar.

The stuff they make cedar chests out of.

Why am I using that?

Because it's got the look I want and it's going to be a color match.

And I've pre-drilled pilot holes like before, and I had it indexed left and right.

And so, now I can bring all of this together, and once I have this screwed in place, lining it up into the side piece right there like that.

You don't want to strip it out.

Do the same thing over here.

And (drill whirring) that draws it nice and tight and makes the whole frame assembly square.

(drill whirring) Just like that.

And once I have the bottom fastened the same exact way, then we can set it up and check the door placement.

Looking good.

(screen whooshing) Now, I bought a hinge that precisely matched the old hinge that was rusted out beyond use.

And I am using this special bit.

It's called a VIX bit that centers up that bit in the center of the hinge hole so that when I go to drive the screws, the hinge will seat perfectly and never unscrews.

This is tiny.

Never use a power driver.

You have to torque those in by hand.

And on the end of a screwdriver when you buy a good screwdriver, yes, all screwdrivers are not created equally.

This is German made, and on the very end of that hardened tip, it's serrated on that Phillips drive.

And that means it really grabs that screw and you don't strip out the head.

And you want to make sure you pre-drill the right size pilot hole.

So, I'll get this all screwed in place and we'll see how it fits.

Looking good.

Okay, let's see how all of this comes together.

Being careful, swing this up and it's going to be latched in like that.

Oh, that sounds good.

And then, we will scoot this around.

And I got a feeling that's a keeper right there.

That looks really nice, and that will look great with those stones.

And the door and that latch.

Fit to perfection.

So, this was all built around that door.

And then some people go, "Yeah, but Scott, you have that raw edge from that MDF."

That's where I have cut two small pieces of maple to the exact length that I'll put a little bit of glue on that, and that will be glued in place.

And while that glue is setting, we're going to go see what "The American Woodshop" has just started.

It's a nonprofit organization all about trees.

And we need a great sign, great logo.

Let's head there now.

We need full color for this effect, so off we go.

(wood rattling) This is fantastic.

This is a beautiful sign of the Miami Sylvan Reserve.

Now tell us, what's this on?

- [Brian] This is a material called ACM.

It's aluminum composite material.

It's got aluminum on the both faces of a plastic core.

- Okay, so this will last and last as long as we do certain things to protect it from the sunlight?

- Correct.

- Okay.

And so, the process right here to get this beautiful scene of the great Miami River that we're going to protect with this new initiative is printed up on this.

And run us through the paces on how this prints.

- This is a CMYK plus light magenta, light cyan.

And it also does white ink.

Just a wide format printer.

And we're going to print onto vinyl.

- Okay.

- To make the face for the sign.

- Okay, so let's see it go.

- Okay.

Okay.

- [Scott] Okay, so where would we be without computers?

Okay, and now what's going to happen is it's fired up, it's getting ready to roll and it's going to print in here and then roll out here.

- So, what it does now is it cures of heat, so it has to come up to a certain temperature before it'll start printing.

So, you're going to watch it cycle back and forth while it heats up, and then it'll start printing once it reaches the temperature.

- [Scott] And then, this is actually how thick of vinyl?

- [Brian] This is 2.5 mill vinyl with adhesive back.

- Okay, and so this has UV protection in it to preserve that image?

- [Brian] Correct.

- [Scott] But then we're going to laminate it on top of that.

- [Brian] Correct.

The laminate will add up to seven years of UV protection.

- [Scott] And then, we'll take that back to the CNC to route it?

- Right.

- Okay.

Man, this will take about 15 minutes, so I'll let it go.

(machinery whirring loudly) (light, upbeat country music) (light, upbeat country music) (plastic crinkling) (light, upbeat country music continues) (wood rattling) We're here with Cheyenne and Brian.

Now, Brian, what's up with this?

The aluminum's cut out on your CNC.

What program do you run on that?

- We use Vectric Aspire.

- Okay, well so many people know that.

- Yeah.

- It's the best one going.

So now on the aluminum composite, you're laying on the vinyl, you have it all indexed and- - Correct.

- I'll let you do- - What we did is, is we printed the print with an extra half-inch bleed.

So, we're have black to the outer edge of the ACM.

We just cut on the CNC.

So now we're just going to apply the vinyl to that ACM product.

- Because it has an adhesive that's a peel-and-stick.

- Yep, it's all adhesive backed.

- Well, I'll get out of your way.

Thank you so much.

- Yes.

- I could not be happier.

Thank you, Cheyenne.

(upbeat country music resumes) (paper rustling) (upbeat country music continues) (chainsaw whirring) Imagine my surprise when I went to Germany and I was touring the Black Forest, and they absolutely know how to take care of their timber and their environment.

They really manicure it.

It does timber stand improvement like you wouldn't believe.

And that's what "The American Woodshop", the Miami Sylvan Reserve is all about.

We're going to take care of the habitat, we're going to take care of the forest that takes care of the watershed, that takes care of the great Miami River.

And that's what we want.

Now, let me get to work and in five minutes show you what you can do.

Clock's ticking.

Wear all your safety gears, Kevlar shafts.

Hard hat, especially when you run the chainsaw.

And work safely.

(wood scraping) Okay, now let me clear out the brush and then we're going to do a Dendrology 101: Identification of Trees.

(saw whirring) Now this tree is northern white cedar.

(saw whirring) Native Americans called it tree of life.

There's a lot of medicine in this tree and I'm using an electric saw to prune it down low.

And you can see this opens this whole space up.

And what does that do?

Well, that stops the competition from the less desirable trees.

Walnut, walnut, walnut, walnut, white pine in the back.

The understory of the trees that just didn't make the grade and compete and survive is being cut out now, and that will release these trees.

And that's what timber stand improvement is all about.

You improve it.

So, I work with wood.

I'm going to plant trees.

Makes me feel good.

I know I've planted way more timber than I've ever harvested and that's what the Miami Sylvan Reserve is all about.

Taking care of our resources.

Now, let's go finish our project.

(wood clattering) I did a little bit of spot sanding on this and tacked it off.

And now, I'm using the same bristle brush that Suzy used, and the same shellac to finish this project.

And you know, here's one question for you.

Shellac is actually used in food grade products.

You go, "What are you talking about?"

It's true.

It's been the shine on apples and oranges, things like that.

So, it imparts a color and it also gives you a sheen.

After the first coat, you let that dry for a couple hours, sand it lightly.

Any first coat on a finish is going to raise the grain a little bit because the cellulose gets rehydrated.

Being careful with that door.

Look at how that brings out the color.

So, it's one of my favorite finishes.

And that would be the finish on many period furniture pieces as well.

Now, what is shellac exactly?

It's harvested from lac beetle pheromones that are deposited on plum branches throughout Pakistan and India.

It's harvested in flake form.

It's cooked and then it's graded.

De-waxed shellac is what you want because it gives you superior results when you finish.

So, I'll just get this all finished out and we'll get the stones mounted in the case.

And then, we will do the final reveal.

I will warn you.

If you get a few drips on a spot, get to it and brush it out before it dries.

Otherwise, it's going to be a permanent mark.

That's one little trick.

There's nothing quite like finding these artifacts and then making the cabinet for it.

It really tells a great story.

And I don't have a favorite.

They all tell a story and that's why they're priceless to me.

They will always stay in the family.

Well, that's it for this week.

Hope you enjoyed it and learned a couple good ideas.

Please join us next time in "The American Woodshop."

See ya.

Fit as a fiddle.

- Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

- Pro tools (heavy drum beats) for tool pros (heavy drum beats).

(drum beats continue) RIKON Tools.

- Woodcraft Magazine.

Projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood.

Home of Timberwolf Swedish Silicon Steel bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- A bed to sleep on.

A table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information about "The American Woodshop", you can watch free episodes 24/7 on our website.

And you can find us on these social media platforms.

(bright upbeat music)