Crafts / Craftsmen / craftswomen (craftspeople, I suppose)

dovetails (pretty ugly ham fisted first attempt with no consideration given to size/ratio)

That's a fantastic first attempt at dovetails!

Dovetails joints are a question of practice and getting good at them will stand you in good stead for all sorts of more complex joinery. Rob Cosman is probably the best YouTube resource for refining your technique especially this video

https://youtu.be/vM4lRyX0pHk

But the best advice I can give is find a technique that works for you and practice it as much as you can. Even if you are only using cheap softwood.

Thanks for the tip!

I've since watched a few videos and realise the importance of accurate marking and correct angles. I sort of jumped in blind with a plastic ruler and pencil!

Have just ordered a few bits of cheaper pine to make a toolbox for my growing collection of hand tools so will plan that out a bit better!

Accurate marking yes. In my opinion there is no such thing as a correct angle - if it looks good to the eye then it will be good! It's much more important to make sure that the angle is the same across the piece that you are working on than to worry what someone else will think of your chosen angle because it's different to how they were taught.

i seek design/fabrication help!

I've promised to make a mirror frame for a friend. she saw this design on etsy but it's £400+, and seems pretty simple to copy, but i'm umming and ahing about exactly how I'd do it.

The basic frame should be easy. It's hard to tell from the photos, but I think the original design uses bent angle iron. I wanted a 10mm 'face' but the smallest they seem to make is 13mm at 3mm thick. Instead of bending, I will instead cut and join (TIG) all four sides with mitres because I don't have anything that will bend 3mm steel cleanly. The central divider will be a simple bar. I was going to use T-section but they don't seem to make it in such slim sizes. The central bar doesn't need to hold any weight because my friend wants to mount the mirror in landscape.

The hard(er) part will be retaining the mirror glass and securing it to the wall. I've gone back and forth on a few designs, but settled on something like the below. There will be tabs on the left and right edges only and some screw-in tabs along the central strip. That way I can slide the glass in and hold it with the removable tabs. The glass will rest directly on the bottom strip, and, due to the effect of gravity, will not float upwards and burst out of the top.

I'll also use some self-adhesive felt/foam strip to cushion and protect the mirror glass. The glass is 4mm thick so there's a lot of space to take up.

For wall hanging I was just going to use holes in a couple of the glass-retaining tabs, run a regular picture cable across, and tell my friend to hang it on two chunky screws/bolts in the wall. 

My main worries are just whether the welds will hold. Any significant flaws? Anything I'm overthinking?

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I’ve made something very similar using angle section. I backed all the mirror onto 15mm mdf. That way you can drill and countersink the back of the frame to screw into the mdf and secure the mirror. Then hung the whole lot on split battens / French cleats. Also allows you to space the mirror away from the frame so there is no glass to steel contact, with a classy looking shadow gap

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ah OK so on your design the angle wraps round the edge and back of the MDF/mirror rather than the edge and front?

That's what I was thinking, reverse the angle iron so the edge is seen instead of the flat. Then glue/expoxy the mirror to MDF. You can then mount your hardware to the flat back of the angle iron.

I was picturing it in my head then @josho came along with exactly what I was thinking. Freaky.

it is a tidy solution and presents a much slimmer face to the room, so i'll go with that, i think.

Yep correct, I think that’s whats happening in the photo you posted. Also I didn’t weld the frame mitres as it had to flat pack and go up some stairs. As long as the cuts are decent it doesn’t matter too much as you don’t really see the top/bottom joins, just the face. the mdf backer holds all the frame components in

Non blurry photo

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Cool. And what adhesive did you use to stick the glass to the board?

Mirror adhesive, soudal maybe? But any brand should be fine

Making another batch of tool rolls, different design this time. One down, five more to go.

Upcycled sofa leather with waxed cotton flap

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Got this log off a neighbour. I'll season it then turn it. Any idea what wood it is?

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The collar looks reminiscent of Sycamore.

Beech ~85% sure

Thanks both. Nearly killed me carrying it home whatever it is. Will paint it and stick it away in the shed for a year.

I think with something that size you should turn it down to a blank and check it periodically for cracks. If one appears back to the lathe and turn it down to stop spread.

finished off this batch of six

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These look great, are you selling any of them?

I am, £15 inc P&P. Will update my thread in classifieds in a bit

edit, updated it here

Something different next. Got a couple of decent, sheffield steel butter knives, the handles were cracked and falling apart. Slice some oak, chisel out a groove, glue and wait.

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Cool! Have you glued the handles themselves in or just sandwiched them with wood?

used 2 part epoxy on the tangs and wood, should be a solid bond. Waiting 24hrs is boring though :)

Interesting!
I have a couple I've been saving for years with the intention of 'doing something with them' - some sort of ivorine handles I guess, cracked and split probably as a result of the tang corroding, which with hindsight is probably my fault.
Out of curiosity, why the two part handles? I imagined drilling a hole, followed by epoxy.

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Those are exactly how mine were looking, although tang not rusted.

No real reason for two part handles, in hindsight drilling is probably better