Woodworking Weekend

Non-Flash Gallery if the one above doesn’t work.

This is a gallery of images showing where the material for the coffin came from.  A stack of rotten pallets.  The truth is they are not as rotten as they look.  Once you get past the surface decay you’ve actually got plenty of sturdy whitewood.   I’ve been using ebony stain to cover the gleaming freshwood if I have to make a cut to keep it all looking old.  The photos at the end of the gallery show the coffin as it’s nearing completion.  Sides are complete but the lid is in the works.

I’ve been building a coffin for one of my friends.  He’s shooting a ZOMBIE horror film and needs a coffin that looks old and creepy since it’s set back in the 1800’s.   I scavenged four pallets of various size and few long boards from our construction yard and picked up a sheet of exterior 3/4″ plywood for under $20

I’ll post more when I get further along, but you can get the idea from the images in the gallery.  If the above link doesn’t work for you try this one!

In this video I use the four foot level as a straight edge guide to cross cut a sheet of 4′ 3/4″ plywood.  It makes the job really simple, and once you get the hang of it, the job goes really quick.  If you are cramped for space as I am and can’t run a full sheet of plywood (or other sheet goods) across your tablesaw, or simply don’t have an extra hand to do so using the level or any other straight edge of suitable length makes the job of cutting accurate and safe.

After using the Skil 1810 fixed base router that I picked up for around $60 for a few projects, I figured out I would have to purchase a new base plate that accepts guides for use with a dovetail jig, and a dust collector that doesn’t really help.   The shipping on the dust collector cost more than the dust collector, like 10 times more.   I decided to turn to Skil’s daddy Bosch for a superior router.

I could see that after using the Skil and seeing what it could do, I would get alot of use out of a router.  Routing, being what it is requires precision, and that is the one thing the Skil lacked.   I researched all of the top selling and highest rated routers on the market and was torn between buying a used Dewalt router kit with 3 bases (Plunge, Fixed, and D-handle)