Noah B Woodworks

A woodworking page for the free time foot soldier

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about

Hello there! My name is Noah Budd and I am a woodworker from southeast Michigan. I hail from a small set of towns in the Upper Peninsula called Houghton/Hancock. I lived there for 24 of my 31 years, and graduated from Michigan Tech in 2019 in audio production.

In my free time I am a dad first and hobbyist second. I make music, read books, smoke pipes, and kayak fish. I am a broadcast engineer in my professional life, working an early morning 3:30 – 11:30 am shift. The early bird has most definitely gotten a worm or two.

Thanks for stopping by my site and feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @noahbwoodworks or via the email found on the contact page

-Noah

    • New Ice Rod Holder Design

      Yesterday was Sunday, and sometimes on Sundays after I am done working I will go out into the shop to do a little more woodwork. It’s usually a time I can finalize the projects that I’ve been working on over the weekend that isn’t usually too intrusive to family life. I decided to take it relatively easy and did a little 3D printing and fixed my Genz pack Garmin Striker 4 fish finder.

      The ice fishing shanty is missing a few quality of life items: Flooring, and rod holders being the two big ones at the moment. I decided to model a first draft of an ice rod holder and print it yesterday. I went with a hexagonal base design and used my rods to get the dimensions for the holder. The first revision I modeled and printed did not have enough height for the reel to hang freely. It would have worked but I heightened the holder by 30 mm and printed a second time. Now the reel will hang freely, and it’s not too tall so the center of gravity is still in a good, non tippable position. Here’s a picture of v2:

      I used my signature icy teal-blue for this, but I can print in any color. I sent this picture to my brother and if he wants one I’ll print it in a different color. I’d like to figure out how to change filament better on my 3D printer. Right now I have to feed a piece of dummy filament in the opposite direction the filament is supposed to go. I then feed the actual printer filament into the machine, then I have to push against the dummy filament to get through the little filament sensor, who’s gates are always shut. Feeding the dummy filament through the other end opens the gates for the actual filament to pass through. Quite annoying and tedious to load new filament now, but I love the upgrade that I did. A small trade off for a better machine.

    • Still Sick

      This morning I got a very slow start. I took some Nyquil last night, so it was difficult to wake up. My mind feels foggy and I’ve been groggy for the first hour or two getting back into work for the week. That being said, I had a fantastic weekend. I took it easy on Friday and did a little woodworking in the morning. I went ice fishing on Saturday with my brother and a friend. This cold doesn’t take you out completely but it lingers and overstays its welcome. It’s a slow burn type of cold, where I’ve been sniffly and my throat is sore. Thankfully, I haven’t missed work or any weekend activities.

      I’m currently working on a case for my ice fishing gear. I’m looking to make it fairly large. The internal dimensions are 33 inches long by 7 inches high by 8.25 inches wide. I still need to work out the joinery, because all I did last weekend in the shop was create the blank cherry panels that this large box will be made from. The 8.25 inch wide dimension is intentional, because that’s roughly the maximum bed size of my 3D printer. I should be able to print some neat rod holders for the inside of the case.

      The four planks that I created came from two 5-quarter chunks of cherry that I had picked up a while ago. I ran them through the table saw on their side, then ended up ripping the 9 inch wide chunks of cherry down the middle, so that I could make the separating cut on the band saw easier. I then re glued the roughly half inch thick by 4.5 inch wide planks back together along the seam I had cut earlier to create the pieces for the case. I need to work out the rabbeted joinery to achieve the internal dimensions mentioned above, but it should be fairly smooth sailing once that has been figured out.

    • Ice Rod Case Planning

      My beautiful, sweet, adorable toddler has given me her head cold so todays post might be a little shorter than normal. It might be a good weekend to try and knock out the ice fishing rod case. I haven’t come across any videos of anyone trying this so I’m interested to see what I come across when researching ideas. I most likely wont be going ice fishing this weekend because I don’t want to make my cough worse than it already is. It all depends how I’m feeling on Saturday but this cold seems like its going to be a slow burn. Not particularly intense, just annoying and not showing any signs of going anywhere.

      I’m able to be just productive enough to maybe work out in the shop or at least get a plan put together for how I’m going to build this ice rod case. I need to determine how much wood will be necessary, it would be great if I could make these from solid chunks of wood, instead of having to glue the panels together from smaller pieces. Although it might make the resawing of the timber easier if I cut them int o smaller width strips. I’m assuming I’ll be needing to resaw my 5-quarter pieces of cherry into 1/2 inch thick strips in order to not waste an absolute ton of wood.

      I could just spend like $80 and have this problem be solved by purchasing a rod case, but something about building a custom one sounds intriguing. We’ll see how far I get this weekend, and luckily the ice isn’t going anywhere for a while. I’m planning to cover whatever case that I conjure up in epoxy so it’ll be relatively water proof.

    • Scheming on Camping

      The next step in the ice fishing journey is to ice camp for the walleye night bite. Ice camping sounds like such a good time, but I’m unsure it’ll happen this season. We can always shoot for next year. I need a couple semi-expensive pieces of gear. I need a cot, and I’m debating getting a bunk bed style cot which is slightly more expensive. I need a small table for cooking, and then we’ll be set. While we’re at it I might as well upgrade the sonar too but that’s just wishful thinking. A cot is really the big obstacle. I’m wondering if I could make one out of canvas and dowels?

      I’ve got a shanty, rods, chair, and stove. Some extra good things to get would be a nicer sleeping bag, camp pillow, and maybe another sled to transport some of the gear. This has me thinking about camping and fishing somewhere up north this summer. Head up a couple hours with all of the camping stuff and my family. Sounds like a fantastic way to spend a weekend. I just looked at Michigan’s DNR website and it looks like some of these camp sites are on a first come first serve basis which is unfortunate. I’d prefer being able to reserve a site if I’m going to drive a couple hours north, but they’re cheap and fairly close together so it should work out. Might be a harder sell for my wife but that’s okay.

      We’ve been trying to get out camping for the last few years, and now our toddler is old enough to participate. The last time we went camping our little one was still baking inside my wife. I have fond memories of camping with my wife so this summer it’ll be a big priority for us to get out. We’re just not sure where to go as we’ve got to drive fairly far north to get to decent, unoccupied camp sites.

    • Ice Rod Case

      It’s one of those midweek days where I’m not really sure what to write about. I’ve been absolutely obsessed with ice fishing this season, and it’s my first season on the ice. I’ve purchased a ton of gear, which has been really fun to investigate, and I’ve been using it well. To be honest, it’s been a really fantastic way to enjoy the cold weather, which tends to be difficult to handle when it’s your 31st wintry season in a row.

      I was toying with the idea of maybe building a small wooden case for my ice rods. Its the only piece of gear that is missing from my setup, and since my rods are somewhat high quality I’d like for them to be protected while being transported in the car. I’m toying with the idea of making the rod case fairly high quality too, giving special attention to waterproofing and embellishments. I can 3D print the internal rod holders to have either sliding latches or places for elastic like rubber bands or Velcro fastening straps. I’d like for it to hold 3-5 rods, incase I’d like to expand in the future. At the moment I have 3 of them: two jigging and one for the jaw jacker.

      I’m brainstorming right now, so you’ll have to forgive the unorganized stream of new ideas for this small project, but it would also be really great if it also had storage for a tackle box. I’ll need to make sure that the joinery is really sound, and that the latches and handle also feel fairly high quality. I’ll most likely paint the inside and outside with an epoxy resin to really weatherproof it. I’d like to build it out of either cherry or maple wood as I’ve already got some to spare, but I’m unsure how much of each that I’ve got. I may need to resaw the cherry wood that I’ve got to get enough material for this build.

      First thing’s first, I need to make some measurements. I’ll most likely be trying to keep the case as small as possible for now because it’ll fit into my rig better that way. I’ve got a smallish commuter car that I’ve been packing all of my stuff into and I’m very close to being at capacity. It would also be cool if the handle holder in the rod case articulated upwards so you could slot the handle in, and lower the rod into place. On top of everything else, it would be nice to have a fishing line spool holder inside. Many of these little mechanisms I can 3D print, which will make the build a little easier, as the material is sturdy enough to do what I’m asking of it.

    • Musical Tidings

      No new changes to report on since yesterday. Our daughter is sick so I put her down for a nap after work yesterday. Full disclosure, I was looking to make some music and/or sounds yesterday afternoon but ended up playing Terraria instead. Some new filament came in the mail yesterday for the 3D printer so I’ll finish the gridfinity drawer that I’ve been working on. I’ve got one more bin to make after work that’ll finish the most recent drawer. That’ll be 3 drawers down once this one is completed. As many as 5 more drawers to go in the home office.

      I’m gonna talk about music for a bit, because it’s much easier to do in the winter than woodworking in my unheated shop. I was looking yesterday to run my guitar through the Moog Sub 37 synthesizer to see what sort of weird tones I could conjure. That got me thinking that maybe I should be trying to run it through the eurorack too. Something to think about there, because I’m not sure if that would sound very good. Maybe run it through the Moog and then rout the moog through the eurorack.

      I’ve been making lots of electronic, mostly house, music lately, because it’s easy to do on my laptop, but I’ve been playing guitar/bass since I was but a wee lad. I’ve always been inspired by the blues greats like Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, and Jimi Hendrix. In my teenage and college years I was very captivated by electronic and bass music of all types. I’ve been searching for a long time for a way to combine electronic bass music and my blues/funk guitar/bass playing. The music feels more organic and home made, according to my wife, who happens to be one of the largest music critics I’ve ever met. Her taste is specific, and she won’t venture beyond what she’s familiar with. She’s extremely picky about voice as well.

      I’ve got a major challenge when it comes to recording guitar though, and that is noise. I’ve got a really great guitar, its a 1970s era sunburst Fender stratocaster with original pickups. This is a guitar that was built for making noise through an amp. I’m sure if I had a nicer amp this guitar would sound amazing, but I’m hoping to model the amp/pedals in my software. What I’m looking to get is a clean DI signal from it and it’s pickups were built to pick up interference. There are a couple of ways to fix this problem. One is to apply copper tape to the inside to isolate the electronics from external noise. I’m thinking I’ll be trying this fix first. The other is a little more intense and expensive, and that is to replace the single coil pickups with humbucking ones. I’m completely open to other suggestions, these are the two fixes that seem the most obvious to me.

      Once I can get a clean recording from this guitar, I’ll be looking to broaden my musical horizons. Maybe do some funky house stuff. I’ve got a nice fender P bass as well, and I can track that instrument significantly better. I forgot to mention that as well as electronic and blues music, I’ve also been extremely inspired by music similar to Tame Impala. Kevin Parker achieves this nostalgic, synthwave, classic rock vibe that is just immaculate. I think a lot of musicians attempt to achieve similar because it’s so compelling.

    • Weekend Spent Ice Fishing

      I ended up taking my Friday off to ice fish Lake St. Clair. I needed to return a buddy heater to the Bass Pro that was close by so I figured that Lake St. Clair would be a good look. When I got off work on Wednesday, I picked up a cheap set of antique downhill skis off Facebook marketplace. I turned them into a smitty sled for my shanty. The smitty sled collapses down, and was made from scrap 2×4 and scrap hardwood. It only took a couple of hours, and does its job very well. It’s much easier to pull the shanty on a sled than to carry it. I needed the sled to collapse down because my car is at capacity when it comes to gear. I caught one singular perch on Lake St. Clair and the fish were being very finicky. I was at about 9.2 feet of depth.

      Screenshot

      My brother, stepdad and I went up to an inland lake on my Saturday. We ended up catching a lot more panfish and it was so fun. It’s nice to have a decent quality shanty, as there was some wind and it was very chilly. I’m struggling to focus on just about anything else. Work this week already feels like an enormous slog, and I’ve got a dentist appointment on Wednesday. It’s just one of those weeks living in Michigan where the gnarly-ness of the winter season has caught up with everyone.

      As far as woodworking goes, it’s so cold that it’s difficult to do anything. I started work on a walnut pipe that I’d like to continue working on. I’m still unable to glue anything outside. I uploaded a video about the tessellated box, and I most definitely need to make another one. I’d like the next one to be either a humidor or puzzle box. I also need to create the jigs for the joinery of the box top and bottom.

    • Ice Fishing Madness

      I’ll most likely be dragging my feet getting another woodworking project started over the next few weeks. It’s still very cold, and there’s a ton of snow on the ground, so early morning woodworking is not the most appetizing of thoughts. Ice fishing on the other hand has completely taken control of my life. I purchased a shanty last weekend and that completely changed the experience. I’ve got to figure out better methods for getting it out onto the ice. It’s very heavy and takes up a ton of space, so my car is pretty much at capacity as far as gear is concerned.

      The Genz pack for my fish finder that I 3D printed works really well too. It was so fun last weekend seeing the fishes on the flasher and watching them come up after our baits. It’s getting so bad that I’m debating taking time off work to go and get out on the ice some more. I figure the ice will only be here for so long, and now’s the time to get out there. It’s been between 0 and 7 degrees for the last week straight in southeast Michigan.

      I was able to attach the drill attachment that I purchased to the auger I got from Facebook marketplace. This is great because this auger’s blades are very sharp, and the diameter of the auger is smaller. It should be easier to poke holes in the ice without frying my handheld drill. Depending on the weather, I might be doing some run and gun fishing one morning and then set up the shanty the next, we’ll see. It would be good to get the shanty set up both mornings, it just is a decent amount of effort to get it out onto the ice in the first place.

    • The Box is Finished

      The tessellated box is officially done. I completed the last step yesterday and I’ll start work on the YouTube video later today. I’ve attached some pictures. I’ve got a few ideas for the next one. I’d like to see if I can do a wood inlay for the tessellation. Instead of filling the female engraving with epoxy, you fill it with a male insert and then remove the material down to the surface. I think this will make for a more interesting looking box.

      Another idea I had was to leave a small border on the top and bottom. You can see how deep the epoxy goes into the wood on the rim of the box lid and base. Leaving a border would eliminate this problem. I’d like to see what the box will look like when the top and bottom of the box are of the same species as the sides. This should make it look really uniform. I liked the contrasting wood colors that I did in the last box but I think it might be better if the box is more monotone. With the tessellation, it does look a little busy when the top and bottom are a different color.

      I also need to figure out and make a rabbeting jig for cutting rabbets into the top and bottom of a box. The joinery of the last box looked a little clunky in the sense that I did it fairly quickly and you can tell. I need to rig one of my routers to cut 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch rabbets on the edges of wood and leave it set up and ready to go. I think rabbeted joinery is a must for these boxes and will add to the rigidity and overall quality.

      I’d also like to make the next box a humidor, which adds a little challenge to the building of the box, as I now need to line the inside with a thin layer of Honduran mahogany. It also needs to be air tight and have a piston fit. It will probably need to be a little bigger, and possibly have a section for the humidifying agent, whether that be distilled water sponges or humidifying bags. I also need to find great affordable hinges and create a routing jig for installing them onto the lid and base of the box. Lots of work to be done yet.

    • Discouraged

      I’m really dragging my feet finishing this tessellated box. I was very discouraged at my own craftsmanship in finishing those last couple of steps. Separating the lid from the base of the box, and installing the hinges was a clunky and cumbersome experience. The end result is okay, and it most definitely is a box. However, there are some flaws. I understand as well that it was the first one that I attempted to make, so it is foolish for me to expect perfection on the first go. Also, it’s still cold so I haven’t wanted to make the trek out to the barn with the soaked boiled linseed oil rags. I dispose of them in the fire place so if they do catch it’s no big deal.

      I finished another gridfinity drawer yesterday. They are taking about half a weed to do, and they really do make a huge difference in the amount of clutter that is in the drawer. It makes it so objects don’t just rock around freely inside and that in itself is worth doing in my opinion. I made a little music with my daughter yesterday, mainly just trying to stay inside. I need to figure out how to find balance between woodworking and fishing.

      All I ever want to do on the weekend mornings is go fishing these days, and it’s taken a toll on my woodworking as that’s when the majority of my woodworking can be done. Now that I’m ice fishing I’ve basically cut my woodworking time in half. It’s hard to achieve balance when you’re attempting to do too much. Family, woodworking, music and fishing all take a lot of time and it’s a constant struggle to keep the peace.