Shipping a new prayer kneeler, and losing sleep

May 19, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

I was busy part of last week crating a new prayer kneeler (Prie Dieu) for DS, in Colorado. The best part: After fretting for several days, DS called me, to let me know the kneeler arrived in excellent condition. I learned from his wonderful e-mail message that he called me earlier today, to let me [...]

A simple layout

April 11, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

From this:

To this:

And this:

Large Forstner bits tend to wander on me when I use them on a cordless drill. As a result, I prefer to use them on the drill press.
In this case I wanted to install two sets of 1-inch diameter rare earth magnets on the upright legs and on the folding legs of [...]

The Prie Dieu (Prayer Bench/Kneeler) project

April 3, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

This is the project, one day prior to crating and shipping to my client (Gran) in North Carolina:

After reading my prayer bench/kneeler blog post, and watching the videos I produced, Gran contacted me and was interested in having one of these specific models, in walnut. I requested details to custom-fit the kneeler, and scheduled the [...]

The finished prayer kneeler – The photos

December 14, 2008 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 5 Comments 

Some time ago I posted three videos on the design and build of a prayer kneeler. We donated the kneeler to the local church where our daughter is a parishioner, to help raise funds for their little school in a Silent Auction.
Due to last-minute events, I completely forgot to document the finished piece, as I [...]

Episode 28. The prayer kneeler Finale – Part 3 of 3

November 6, 2008 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

Download Quicktime (*.mov)

In this final episode I share the following tips:

Advantage of using router bits with perfectly-matched height.
For best results, align router bits with the fence using a straight edge.
Practice your router cuts doing “dry runs”.
When routing stopped grooves on the router table, use stop blocks when possible for best results.
When using a routing pin [...]

Episode 27. The prayer kneeler – Part 2: Construction tips

October 26, 2008 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 2 Comments 

In this episode I share some of the machining I did on the kneeler. In particular, I provide tips to allow you get better results from your project builds:

How to get perfectly even spacing of the the folding legs within the upright legs.
My preference of using a jig saw to cut the boards a little [...]

Episode 26. A prayer kneeler for a GREAT cause! Part 1

October 24, 2008 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 2 Comments 

In this episode I introduce a prayer kneeler we donated to a GREAT cause: A church school fund-raiser. In the video I mention that the kneeler “… will be donated… “. I had to delay publishing this video due to unforeseen circumstances.
On a sad note, I spent most of last week to New York City, [...]