ListWise

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Done With The High-Tank

I was able to finish the mounting frame for the high-tank today. I said yesterday that is was “simple mortis and tenon construction”. I didn’t mean to say that making mortise and tenons is simple, only that the style they used was simple. I actually had a little trouble with making the tenons.

I desperately need a better table saw. My $150 POS table saw is just not going to cut it anymore. I was at Sears today buying a router bit for the tank frame and I drooled over several high-end table saws they had. The price is one thing, but the other is space. Some of these saws are as big as a dining room table. My little Model T sized garages don’t really accommodate big pieces of equipment like that. I’ll have to do something though.



Here’s the tank with the new frame. The stain is not an exact match, but it’s close enough. The reason I say the mortise and tenon joints are simple is because instead of making a mortise just big enough for the tenon, they cut a groove down the entire length of the board. Once the groove is there, the tenon can pretty much go in any place. There is a lot less measuring, and it makes it pretty simple to do. The whole thing is done on the table saw. I get the feeling these tanks were really cranked out of the factory way back when. It didn’t take a lot of skill, and one person could produce several in a day.



Here is a real mortise and tenon joint. The mortise is the pocket and the tenon is the opposing slender piece that slides in. On the frame, instead doing a nice pocket like that, they just milled a groove the entire length of the board. Then just slap in the tenon, glue it up, and cut off any excess. Next!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice- some of the old bars in Pioneer Square in Seattle still have toilets with the tall tanks. The stain looks great!

Anonymous said...

that looks beautiful.
just the mention of a table saw gives me the willies. and yet...i have a machete in my kitchen and do not fear plunging my arms into toilets, disposals, 40 lb. brontosaurus turkeys....
funny.
anyway, i am very impressed.

Anonymous said...

The tank is gorgeous. Who ever thought a toilet tank could be a work of art? Hope it's closed at the top. Our daughter's for some reason was open and grew all kinds of vegetation which required gardening. From a ladder, yet!

Greg said...

Thanks everyone. I love the new tank. It's a bit fancier than the one I have upstairs. Speaking of which, I've had that one for several years now with now "growth". I've never heard of anything growing in a toilet tank before. High tanks are always open at the top. How can something grow on copper with fresh water constantly coming in!?! Did your daughter not flush it very often.

Anonymous said...

My daughter's response:

"The vegetation was because of the profusion of sunlight from the skylights. It made it sort of a pond. The growth was thick "pond algae". The lining of the wooden tank was plastic, not copper, in our case. PLUS, our water supply was not as treated as most public sources."

The house was a reno of an old, small cottage. It was gorgeous -- lots of wood, lots of light and lots of work. She would be able to appreciate all the "fun" you are having.

Greg said...

Well water would have been my second guess. Your daughter's place sounds nice.