Log Book

I am a manager of a wood and metal shop, and while my boss was on vacation he asked me to update the log book for the water jet cutter. Pretty sure this is what he meant, but I'm not quite sure. Anyway, here is how I made it.

Obviously the most important part of a log book is the logs. Fortunately, we had a few logs in the storage room.

The first step was to split the log in half. Sorry, I don't have any photos of this step.

Next was to use the jointer to flatten one side of each half log.

I wanted to have a flat surface on the front cover of the new log book too, so I used the planer to cut a small flat area.

Heck yeah, lasers.
Laser cutting (lazy cutting) is a super easy way to get text into wood. If you don't have a laser cutter, a wood burning tool, or decommissioned soldering iron works pretty well too.

I thought it would be really nifty if the book stood on it's own at an angle that was convenient for writing in. I used a belt sander to angle the bottom ends of the logs to a 70 degree angle.

It may seem a little early to apply finish to the logs, but actually, all the wood working bits of this project are finished. My finish of choice these days is the Gell Topcoat from General Finishes, but that is just a personal preference.

At first I just attached the log halves to either side of the existing log book binder, and considered it a completed project, but nothing can ever be so simple. If you do intend on stopping here, I recommend clamping the log in place while drilling the pilot holes for your screws. There us always more room for over-building. If you are satisfied with the plastic cover binder look then you can stop here, but if you are like me, the idea of a metal jacket under the logs is just too tempting.

Ok, so now go ahead and unscrew the logs from the binder, because it is time to turn it up a notch.

You'll be needing that old cardboard and plasticy junk from the old binder, but you will need the mechanism, so drill out the rivets holding the two together.

Start the metal jacket, by marking the pieces out on your stock and sheering them with snips or a jump sheer.

Piano hinges usually come in longer lengths than necessary, so you'll probably need to cut it down to size. A hack saw or band saw is ideal for this.

You'll need to attach the hinges to the sheet metal some how. Screw posts are my recommendation for this since they look so darn good, but rivets are ok too.

Look at all of that brass hardware! Need I say more?

See above version of this same step. Oh, and add just a little bit more brass hardware.

I thought it would be nice to have a few pencils handy too, so I drilled three holes in the top of the front cover.

That's all folks. Here it is, the new Hobby Shop Log Book. Hope this is what the shop director had in mind when he asked me to update the log book. Warning, this thing is heavy, so probably keep it on the table.