54 degrees in the shop today 

Turning an old chair back into a wall mounted shelf 

The most tedious part was figuring out the right angle to mount the shelf and added wooden brackets.  Since this is an old chair back it does not sit against the wall at perfect 90 degrees so I had to dry mount a shelf to the chair and keep checking the angle against a wall to get it right.

In order to securely mount a shelf to the chair I made two custom oak brackets with notches cut out for the shelf angle and to attach it to the chair.  I matched some of the preexisting curves of the chair in making the bracket so it did not look overly clunky on the finished piece. 

Inside view of the bracket with notches for mounting 

Finished bracket 

Bracket secured to the chair with screws to be later filled with oak dowels.

Drawing out the shelf curve on a piece of reclaimed walnut 

Bracket attached to the chair 

Dry fit of shelf 

Walnut shelf secured to the chair and wooden brackets 

Finished product in the store.

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69 degrees in the shop today

How to make a bowling ball vice out of Mary's old bowling ball and shop scraps.  I plan on using this vice for chain saw carving.

Some cuts of pressure treated 6x6 I got from a friend that I used for the base.

Notched out.

I wanted a very heavy sturdy base that won't move with the bite of the chainsaw.

I used a $12.00 bottle neck hydraulic jack for the lifting force of this vice.

The Jack didn't come with mounting holes so I drilled three 1/4 holes into the base of the jack and secured the jack to a slat of plywood with carriage bolts.  The whole unit can be removed without completely disassembling the vise in case the jack fails.

Finding as close to center as possible.

I need a way to secure the bottom plate of the bowling ball holder to the jack, so I tapped a 1/4 inch hole into the center of the jack.

As well as added lumber to the bottom of the plywood plate and drilled a 5/8 inch hole to meet the plywood so 2 inches of the jack is secured around lumber.

Making the hole with a chamfer cut to hold the bowling ball.

I have never seen one of these bugs before but they seemed interested in the progress.

Added 2x3 side supports that the bowling ball base can ride against then it's being lifted.

Adding the top plate to the vice that locks the ball in place when you pump the jack.  Blocks of wood keep the plate securely in place.

The finished vice with the top plate secured to the 5/8 threaded rod for mounting wood to for carving.

 Top view of vice with movable vice base.

The final vice ended up being rather heavy which is a good thing since it won't move during carving.  Still I put it on a dolly for easy transportation in between uses.

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