Custom Barn Door

I built a barn door for Elisabeth and Yannick from Bourget ON.  Their barn used to have a small window, so they wanted to open it up more.  The door measures 79 1/2" tall by 41 3/4" wide, and is 2 3/4" thick! It's made of 1"x8" and 1"x12" rough shiplap pine boards from Home Depot.  

I started by building the frame using pocket hole joinery. I cut all the boards to size and sanded them to 80 grid. I then assembled the boards, dry-fit everything, made some adjustments, then glued, stapled and screwed all the pieces together.  I also sealed every crack with silicone.

I added an 18” x 23” sliding window with a screen.  The window is from Outdoor Hardware Supply out of Dover, Pennsylvania.  The heavy duty hinges are from System Equine out of Rockwood Ontario.

The door weighs north of 200 lbs., very solid.  Elisabeth and Yannick will stain the door in the spring, and Yannick will add a small concrete pad at the door's entry.

It turned out awesome! 

Stow-away Cutting Grid

I built this knock-down cutting grid for bucking down 4' x 8' sheet goods.  I used some 2" x 6" PT boards laying around in the workshop.  It's very easy to setup and tear down, and takes very little space to store it.  I made it to fit on my saw horses.  When set up, it spans 9' x 4'.

A New Track Saw!

I purchased a Makita SP6000X1 6-1/2" Plunge Cut Circular Saw with 55" rail from Busy Bee Tools.  It also comes with a 48-tooth blade.  I added another 55" guide rail so I can rip a full sheet of plywood. On my last project, I was able to make a precise 1/8" cut on an 80" long board, 2" thick!  Very accurate, very impressive.

 

Woodworking Vise for my Workbench

I added a woodworking vise to my workbench.  I bought it from Lee Valley Tools.  It has a jaw width of 9" and a maximum open size of 13".   

Designed for easy adjustment, this vise has steel spindles and large cast-iron faces.  The movable jaw has a slight inward cant to let the top of the jaw touch first as it closes.  The quick-release function is very useful for one-handed operation.  The vise also has an adjustable steel dog.

The installation was simple and straight forward, but did I mention the vise is heavy!  It sits about 1/16" below the surface of the workbench.  I also added 10" wide wooden face-plate attachments to the jaws to protect my work when using the vise.

This is an excellent quality vise.  It wasn't cheap, but it will last me a lifetime.