Puttering in the Study

Model workshop table with unfinished top from old lumber

I built a 12" x 48" side table for the model workshop over the last three  weekends.  The intention was to have a place to drop bag, keys, and other stuff when I got in the workshop, but as soon as I put the unfinished shelving in place I realized it was a great place to put the model kits that I actually intend to build, as well as reference books that are in the workshop temporarily from the study  next door.

Design

The basic design of the table is the same as the shelves made from 1x6s that Daddy and I made for my paperbacks years ago - which I still use for BluRay disks in the movie room - which means solid shelves and sides with a recessed toe kick at the bottom, but the dimensions are far larger - twice as deep and twice as long, with an overhanging top screwed on.

Since I was not sure whether I would be staining or painting it I didn't want exposed screws, so I used a technique which I learned building my large Bartley shelves - cleats.  As the photo shows, I use 3/4 x 3/4# poplar strips as cleats to hold the shelves and top to the toe kick and the top cross-pieces.  I chose the poplar because it is harder than pine. The cleats were pre-drilled with countersunk holes for the screws, then glued and screwed into place.  One dried the the shelves were attached, which was easier than I thought now that I had a workbench I could securely clamp the pieces to.

But I wasn't happy with the 12" x 48" craft board that I used for the table top (at right), and decided to build a new to-be-stained top from multiple smaller boards (final at left).  After realizing that I had enough boards of the right size from the old Hub Shoe Store already set aside in the garage, I decided to use those, since the wood - which is at least 50 years old, and potentially 90 , is far better than new stock.

Determining the age of the old boards is interesting.  Each of the 1x4's were actually 3 5/8" wide, which means they predated the 1961 standarization which reduced the width of 1 x 4s to 3 1/2.  Their standardization means they weren't likely from the original store, which would have made them 120 years old, but since the store hadn't been modified since the 1950's, they likely date from the 1940's-1950's - possibly as early as the 1930's.  In any event, very good old wood, although still nothing compared to the old shelving, which dates from 1897, making it old-growth East Texas lumber.

I started by choosing boards with no major defects and cut them to the required lengths, then used my plate joiner to cut holes for biscuits in the sides and ends of the boards. Next it was time to glue them together and clamp them securely while they dried.  

I was going to add a second thickness around the edges in the form of a "lip" that would make the final product look ticker, but decided against it.  

My plan is still to paint the base the trim color of the room - a cream color - but I don't think I'll sand or stain the top - just oil it and enjoy the natural wood color.  But as it isn't attached I can always go back and plane or sand it down if I want. 

We're Getting the Band Back Together - The Drydock Tables are Baaaack!

After 30 years in various garages, I've finally got my old ship drydock tables back together.

I don't remember my room in my grandmother's house having a desk in it when we moved in in 1974, just the terrifying print of the sad Depression-era baby. But it did by 1977, which I suspect means the desk came from Pop's old stationery store next to the Hub because it was sold around that time, and various tables and shelves made it into the house and garage - including the monster safe in the garage.

It likely came from the old Demmer Company at one point or another.  (Maybe it was Ms. Rountree's?  Is it looking at us from the mezzanine in this picture of Pop at the original Marshall Stationery in 1950?) This August 1977 photo shows the initial docks painted on the desk (which had previously been antiqued, so this is all reversible).  You just know Mother had to really appreciate me scribbling "Carrier Docks" on a perfectly good table. And no, I don't recall why my 7th grade class picture is in the background.

By high school two years later the docks were filled out, and I was using one of Mom's card tables and the seat to a piano (which is in front of the table in the photo).  I added an airfield for the small planes that didn't belong to a specific carrier, complete with a helo pad, and marked out individual spots for 1/700 carrier squadrons where the paints had been in 1977.  And the first dock got detailed a bit to resemble 1010 at Pearl Harbor.  And I Sharpie'd in the more mature lettering "Naval Base" in the corner.The big Revell 1/542 Essex class carriers usually filled it - Ricky Toussaint gave me five he'd built (who has five of the same model?  I mean other than me?  Even I only built four of them.) and you can still see them in the 1980-ish photo at left.  With, of course the pictures of Jane Seymour, Carrie Fisher and Battlestar Galactica because of course.  (As an aside, why did it never occur to me to either sand off the ridiculous keels that made those Revell carriers list, or add bilge keels to make them sit level?)

The desk was later moved out to the garage on West Burleson, probably when Lucinda moved back and Zach moved it, and later when the garage was being cleaned out to our garage on Harris Lake.  I moved it to the carport at Fern a couple of years ago with the idea of using it as the study desk there, but we've never found the room.  Yesterday afternoon I carried it down to the workshop and set it up so I have a place to sit and read, write or work if I want a closer view of the lake.

SBDs at the Naval Aviation Museum - from models in 1978 to the actual combat-flown aircraft in 2018

In 1978 when my dad took me to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, I was able to see a model of a dive bomber that flew from old USS Lexington (CV-2) in early 1942.

When Parker and I went this week we saw an actual dive bomber that flew from the Lexington in early 1942. And that's only part of its history.

Bu No. 2106 was at Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7, then flew with Bombing 2 with the Lexington, then was reassigned to a Marine dive bombing squadron and sent to Midway where, you guessed it, it was sent out to attack the Japanese carriers on June 4. It's the only known aircraft in existence to have fought at Midway, where it made it back to the island with over 200 bullet holes, as shown in the attached photo.

The plane was retired to training duty, and sank in Lake Michigan. It was recovered recently and completely restored to its June 1942 condition (minus the bullet holes).

Amazing.