Working wood: the

Showing posts with label the. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The Perfect Technichien

Peter seems to do everything is his shop! His video is in German, but if you click the little CC button, it translates into English. Pretty funny stuff:

Sunday, February 23, 2014

THE SECRET TO MY HOME TOUR

Today I am happy to share a home tour update with you.

I finally found the right piece for the wall that helps define a line between the bedroom

area and the sitting area. For those not familiar with the space,

the main living space is set up like a bachelor suite, kitchen, living, sleeping all in one open area.

The full HOME TOUR can be seen here with a big secret at the end, be sure to read all the way to the bottom.

I found this reclaimed window cabinet on the roadside ...

Maybe if everyone chanted quietly "Curbside Treasure!" at the same time your neighbors will put something great out for you to find too ... It was just a thought.

One pane of glass is missing and its really crooked but I adore it, and you see how well it

works over the printer trunk.

BEFORE AFTER

For those who missed out on a cool way to hide your printers here it is again ...

THE PRINTER TRUNK

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Art Show Project Finial turned for the Ash Wood Box

Hi Everyone,

Well, I put the lid back on the lathe this afternoon and turned the finial on the top and that went along without any problems. Here are a couple of photos:

I also took off the red wood stain from yesterday. I think it looks better with it left in its natural color.

Ok, this whole thing needs a lot of sanding and finishing but Im satisfied with it. Not ecstatic mind you but ok.

Ill work on this off an on over the next several days and post finish photos when Im done.

I have to have a tooth pulled so the shop will be closed and I wont be actively posting next week.

I plan to return to the shop on September 15 so stay tuned. Theres always something going on the wood shop so grab a coffee and your computer and drop by.

See you all soon,

VW

Monday, February 17, 2014

Safety In The Shop What You Ought To Know About It

When you are working around sharp saws, machinery that can sever a limb, and heavy boards, it’s important to be safe and avoid any mistakes that could endanger your health and even your life!

Safety glasses or goggles should be worn whenever power tools are in use and when chiseling, sanding, scraping or hammering overhead. This is very important for anyone wearing contact lenses. Wear ear protectors when using noisy power tools. Some tools operate at noise levels that damage hearing.

Be careful of loose hair and clothing so that it does not get caught in tools; roll your sleeves up and remove jewelry. Keep tools out of the reach of small children. The proper respirator or face mask should be worn when sanding, sawing or using substances with toxic fumes. Oily rags are spontaneously combustible, so take care when you store and discard them.

Keep blades sharp. A dull blade requires excessive force and can slip which causes accidents. Always use the right tool for the job. Repair or discard tools with cracks in the wooden handles or chips in the metal parts.

Dont drill, shape or saw anything that isnt firmly secured. Dont abuse your tools.

Do not work with tools when you are tired. Thats when most accidents occur. Do not work with tools when you have been using alcohol. Alcohol can skew your judgment.

Wait to celebrate after you’ve finished your project! Do not smoke around flammable product like stains and solvents. Read the owners manual for all tools and under- stand their proper usage. Unplug all power tools when changing settings or parts.

Take special care regarding the use of the table saw fence settings and the suggestions on how to make cuts using safety guards, push sticks, push blocks, fence straddlers, and feather boards.

The most powerful tool in your shop is your brain, use it. Thinking your cuts and movements through before acting can help save both fingers and scrap wood. Pay attention to your actions. Looking up to watch the shop TV or visitor can result in your hand contacting the blade. Always wait until you have completed your cut before you take your eyes off the blade.

Keep in mind that this is just a hobby and take a break when you feel rushed or frustrated with a project. Mistakes happen when we rush to complete a job.

If your saw is resisting the cut, stop and see what’s wrong. A misaligned rip fence or improperly seated throat plate can sometimes cause a board to get stuck in mid cut. Forcing the board in these situations may cause kickback or contact with the blade. Take a moment to evaluate the situation and
determine the problem.

Let the tool stop running. Giving the power tool time to wind down after a cut is an often-overlooked safety mistake. Even without power, the spinning blade can still do a lot of damage.

Accidents are caused by inattention, taking chances,bad judgment, fatigue, and horseplay. Other causes are poor instruction (not reading manuals), missing guards,unsuitable clothing, defective equipment, insufficient working space and poor lighting.

A huge step in preventing personal injury is to familiarize yourself with any new tool before using it, read the manual, do a dry run with the machine unplugged. Only use a tool or machine for its intended purpose. If it is a two person job dont try to do it alone, wait until assistance is available.

Keep a clean shop. A cluttered shop is an accident waiting to happen. Keeping your shop clean will help protect you, and your tools, from tripping hazards. Designate where hand tools are stored, sort nails, screws, and other hardware
in containers. Sweep up at the end of the day. Solvent fumes and airborne dust can present health and explosion hazards. Care should be taken to ensure a supply of fresh air and use only explosion proof vent fans.

Just as there are safety procedures you should follow, it helps if you are aware of the most common mistakes newbies make when beginning their wood projects.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Unplugged Summer Part Two

Drilling Holes in a Perfectly Fine Bench Top

Drilling holes in a perfectly fine bench top can be as scary as you make it; Ive been using this style bench at my shop in Toronto and have come to find Im much more comfortable hand planing stock with it sitting freely on the bench top surface butted up against a thin baton of hardwood. No tail vise or hold-fasts just the weight and the balance of my arms and the hand plane working together. (There are of course exceptions with this rule like cross grain work with a scrub plane) This, my summer bench has never been equipped with dog holes so now, before I get any further along with this dovetailed box project Ill need to get out the brace and bit and make some cheese.

In the shot above you can see where I placed my bench dog holes; this is my comfort zone and its what works for me. Id suggest clamping a baton across your bench top and see wheres right for you. Maybe clamping a baton across the bench will always be enough for you and youll never have to scar your work bench...in my world I dont mind a few holes in the work surface.

So with that I carefully draw a square line and mark with an awl the locations. I also mark off a hole in the block on my front shoulder vise; this is used sometimes to hold small pieces across the bench top. Ill probably add three more holes in line with the left hand side of the vise, but for today these three will suffice. (Make sure before you start boring youre not in line with the vice bolt or screw!!)

Im using a couple of Bench Pups from Veritas; theyre the round brass type 2 3/8" long. I also use a pair of the 4 3/8" ones but theyre still sitting all snug in the holes on my bench top back in the city.

With the third hole drilled Im ready to get back to work and surfacing the four pieces of the project is next on the list. As mentioned Ill lay a thin baton of hardwood across the bench top and work the boards flat, checking as I go.

My shop made winding sticks also made the journey home and theyre the perfect tool for the job of checking this Khaya for any humps, valleys or wind.

In no time at all Im back on the shooting board taking incredible shavings in the end grain. The 5 1/2 is a wonderful shooting plane and this minimal shooting board is working out better than I anticipated. (Just to answer the inevitable now instead of later...no-I wont be getting rid of my fancy shooting board back in Toronto nor will I stop using my dedicated No. 9 Iron Miter plane! This is good and working well but that duo are the cats ass when shooting)

Four pieces, square and smooth Ill sit them on the bench top and take a few steps back. Im already thinking about adding to the design, perhaps a small frame to hold the carcass? Theres still some long skinny strips of Khaya and will think more of the piece while Im marking out the dovetails.

The Tite-Mark again finds its way into my hand- this time the perfect application. Im laying out simple through dovetails, nothing too fancy, I am still on vacation over here!

I like to clamp both pieces together when I lay out my tails as seen in the next photo below...This will obviously insure continuity between the top and the bottom and will speed up the process a little as well.

I walk the dividers across the tail board and draw in the lines with a pencil and my dovetail marker. Youll notice that I divide the board into seven even sections and then when I start sawing Ill skip the middle one. This is something Ive been doing lately, (perhaps a nod to my Krenov admiration?) I love the look the two trios of tails make. (my tool chest and small wall cabinet I made for my book projects also had this same treatment) With that its time to cut dovetails and my small rip saw seems to really like this hardwood. Khaya is a great wood for hand tool work except sometimes when hand planing. The ribbons in the wood grain can reverse and bend which in turn can result in tear-out. This is easily remedied by some sanding in the final stages but Im hoping to avoid it if I can.

The tails are cut first in my world but you can start with the pins if youre so inclined. From dovetail saw to fret saw I wander and in no time at all Im reaching for some chisels to clean out the waste. My detail chisels which I cant say enough about are always close by.

With the tails cut and clean its a good time to break for the night; were having a campfire and I better get some kindling together. The beauty of the wood shop-always lots of waste to get a good campfire going...

...Morning comes fast and first up is to transfer the tails over to my pin board; I use a thin Paul Bebee knife to reach deep into the corners. You may have noticed I didnt use the 140 trick when beginning these dovetails Im not sure why I didnt other than to say I may have been thinking this little project was destined for the wood shop. If this was a drawer for a client then I would have cut the shallow rabbets into the inside end of the tail board to make life easier when transferring the lines over. (if youve never heard of the 140 trick then you have some homework for tonight...look back through my older posts to find the method)

Again from the dovetail saw to fret saw dance Im back to the chiseling and ready for a dry fit.

At this point the box is ready for glue; Ive been thinking about the long strips of Khaya left in the off cut pile. Maybe a frame assembly to cradle the box? A trestle type affair dictated by the stock in question. In my work space Im able to create and design without any guidelines or rules save the lumber Ive chosen (perhaps foolishly) to work with. Sometimes the pencil and paper are better left on the shelf and we can meander through this creative process with only the wood to guide us. It can be quite liberating stumbling through a building process when time is our only real investment. Ive been enjoying myself over these past two days and really most of my time was given to setting up the work space. The hardwood owes me nothing but Im going to do my best to lure it into some form I can call my own. A cantilevered box over a thin double trestle?
This evening Ill do some more measuring and continue a little further on, down the path.
For now though...theres an old crow waiting hungrily, from his perch in yonder tree...

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

What Do You Think Of The New Veritas Tools

Peace,

Mitchell

Monday, February 10, 2014

Creating with the Stars Knockoff

Hi! Hope you all had a great weekend! :) We finished our submission for Creating with the Stars! This weeks theme was knockoff, which is right up my alley because I love taking something that I love and creating a similar, less expensive version!

Again, I cant tell you which project is mine, but I hope you think its awesome too! Stop by East Coast Creative and vote for your favorite!

Voting is from now through Tuesday at 10 pm! Looking forward to sharing which project is mine (and some fun tutorials) on Wednesday!!

I See Said The Blind Man

As I have mentioned here before, I have a little eyesight problem that keeps me out of the pool halls. I can see pretty well from about 4” to 10”, a little blurred from 10” to about 30”, and progressively on to a melding of colours from there, but often, I can recognize something from its blurred shape.

When I’m playing navigator for my wife, I can’t read the writing on a sign, but I can see the shape of it and by judging their length and calculating whether or not the street’s name would fit in that length of sign, I can tell my wife it is the one we are looking for so she will drive accordingly. I’m silently proud of myself for being right most of the time, although she gives me shit every time I miss one.

When it comes to people, I have learned to pay special attention to their body language as it helps me recognize someone at a distance. I cant see who they are, but I can see who they act like, which allows me to react to them "normally".

When this first came up, back in 1988, my wife and I were sitting at a stoplight and a blind guy was being lead across the road. Of course, this got my wife all choked up, as she is prone to overreactions. For me, I was just upset about how this guy was dressed as he was wearing a plaid pair of pants and a stripped shirt, both in the gaudiest colours you could ever imagine. I looked at my wife and said, “If you ever dress me like that when I can’t see any more I’ll kill you.” She answered me with, “Ya, and how will you know?”

All in all, it is one of those – deal the hand your dealt - sort of things, and as I won’t lay down and play dead, I insist it is absolutely no issue for me at all. I am not trying to pretend I can see normally, I just dont think about it much. Sometimes, though, not thinking gets me into trouble, like what happened a few months ago. I needed paint to paint my office so one evening I went off by bus and subway to the paint store. By the time I got to the street it was on, it was well into dusk, and by the time I got out with my purchases, it was night. I found myself on the darkest street I could ever imagine, and given I cant see squat in the dark, that was a problem. As I headed back to the subway, I walked into two A-frame signs on the sidewalk and tripped and fell on two unexpected curbs. It scared me so badly, I now make a mental note of where things are on any street I walk on, just in case I find myself on it after dark.

Overall, there is only one minus with the whole thing, that being that I can’t drive, which I truly miss as I have always loved getting behind the wheel. There is, however, one very strong item on the plus side. Since my vision went down the tubes, I have noticed that there is a hell of a lot more beautiful women in the world than there used to be.

For many, sight follows waistline as we get older, both dropping to shocking levels, so with this theme in mind, I’d like to give those of you a quick run-down on how I have started to do cuts, such as making mortises for my never-ending plant shelf unit project.

Here is a quick render of how I made up the crown moulding that I am using as the top rail for the lower cabinet’s face frame…

Because of the weight this thing will carry, the top requires multiple cross-braces, so the rail was made extra deep to allow those braces to be tied into it.

Lighting is a major necessity of life in a shop and it angers me when I view someone else’s workshop that has less than adequate lighting. If yours is like that, skip the next project or tool purchase and buy yourself some damned lights.

I have two lights on my bench; one that is movable and low, and another that has it’s swing arm clamped to the edge of the bench. I use the swing arm for general lighting and when I am working on something small and critical, I bring the little table lamp into play. I bought these both from Lee Valley when they were on sale. Looking this morning I found they do not have the swing arm listed, but this little guy is still available. Because you will constantly whack these things, I would suggest spending too much money on them.

Back when I wrote about creating dovetails, many of you were kind enough to give me advice and by combining what all of you suggested and modifying things slightly to fit my situation, I came up with a fairly solid way to cut some pretty good dovetails and I thank you for it. If any of you have any more suggestions to offer on this process, believe me, I’m all ears and eager to hear what you have to say.

Mike Siemsen commented about the scribe line when that dovetail article was posted. He told me to trust it, letting the chisel grab and hold it, as it will, “lock in there like a screwdriver in a slot”. I have been following his advice ever since.

Following Mike’s advice over the course of time, I have tried a number of different marking knives to try to improve my scribe lines. Frankly, I found them all a waste of time and money. For me, the cheap, basic, blade-replaceable box-cutter knives are the way to go. I have knives in my cutlery drawer that I sharpen often and I have become so accustomed to sharpening knives, my wife won’t use them because they are too sharp. I will do the same with a marking knife, and while they cut well, they don’t cut deep enough for me as their blades are always too thick and wood, unlike a good prime rib, won’t fold away to give the blade room.

I need a good, strong guideline to start. Once I have it, I run a pencil along it so I can see it easier. A pencil seems, for some reason, to follow the deeper cut made with a box-cutter better than it will a shallower cut made by a marking knife. I use a soft graphite black pencil for lighter woods, and a white or light coloured Derwent

ColourSoft pencil for darker.

Once I have the deep scribe line marked to stand out more, I then use a chisel to chop away a V-groove inside it, keeping the outer walls square to the top surface. This is an expansion of a concept explained by Chris Schwarz when he was on the Woodwright Shop last year. The deeper scribe line makes registering that chisel easier and holds it there better. With a shallow cut, the chisel is sitting on the wood and the blow to it has to immediately be transferred to the wood. With a deeper cut, the chisel sits above the bottom of the cut, so the blow tends to allow the chisel to follow the cut’s wall, minimizing its deflection. This is a very small benefit, but I will take all I can get.

My issue is a bit extreme as I was born with lousy eyes to begin with, and angle-closure glaucoma, retina tears and detachments, scar tissue from operations and injuries incurred when I was young have all served to make things go as they have gone, leaving me with a pretty narrow angle of view. The result of all of this is, when I focus on the closest edge of even a ½” chisel, I can’t register the furthest edge. I bring this point up because while I hate to be the barer of bad news, I have to tell you that as you age, you will find this issue will rear its ugly head with your vision as well, although definitely not in this extreme.

Ready to make the cuts with a couple of the
marking knives I have collected over time.

That is what this V-groove is for; to allow me a better chance at following the line. When I am drawing the saw, I can only check if it is following the line one end of the cut at a time. By adding these grooves, the saw blade is less likely to move off the line as its blade runs against the flat outside wall while the angle tends to make the blade slope towards that wall. Since I watched Chris explain this in that movie, I have improved my cuts 200% as I can now get them started properly, and that is half the battle.

After cutting the outside edges of the mortise, I then make cuts between them, every ¼” or so. Because I have the heavy pencil lines on both sides of the stock, I tend to see when to stop better, finding it best to shoot for stopping just above the lines.

Using a ½” chisel, I then knock out the narrow strips…

With a wider chisel, the one shown below being 1¼”, I then clean up the bottom of the mortise, checking it with a little square every so often to ensure it is staying square with the edges and consistent in depth…

Using this process, I end up with some pretty tight mortises that require very little clean up afterwards…

Where there is a will, there is a way, and while many of those ways redefine the word “patience”, workin’ wood is still a blast and something I never want to give up.

Peace,

Mitchell

P.S.: The title of this post is from one of my old mans favourite expressions...

"I see", said the blind man.
"Bullshit" said the deaf-mute.
And the man with no legs walked away in disgust.

The Partners Desk Leaves Tomorrow

Well, the house is finally finished and the desk will be on its way to its new home tomorrow. We finished it up a few weeks ago but we were waiting for the carpenters to finish, the hardware to arrive and the ok for delivery. All set now and ready to go except for a small adjustment that I see I need to make to the bottom file drawer face ... Its amazing what you dont see until you look at the photographs closely. Anyway ... no problem well take care of it in the morning before the shipper arrives ... A nice use of the 30" wide mahogany boards, if I do say so myself ... Good job boys .... Click the photos to enlarge them ...

Close up of the very nice handmade hardware by Richard Spreda, The Stowe Smith/

Drawers like this on both sides, 3/16ths by 1/2" brass hanging file supports in the bottom drawers. There is also a removable butterfly grommet (not shown in the file) for cord passage to the surge protector in the center below the kneehole ... The cord from that travels between the drawers and plugs into the wall that the desk will be placed up against ... More drawings, comments and construction photos from the original post here ...

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Petersburg Mi making the trim

Today, Ive decided to start shaping the smaller box trim that I will be using on the panels. I actually ran out of stain, and the new shipment is not going to be in until this afternoon at Woodcraft. Here are some photos of the trim profile...

Ive decided to use a router bit called a Classical Cove and Round. This bit will give a nice profile. In these photos, Ive chocked up the bit, and set the fence to almost zero tollerance. In the last photo, you can see that I have all of the trim run.

Ready for more staining!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

the scott lenhardt show

well, you just never know whats next around here .... a couple years ago, at the last minute, we helped wills friend, scott lenhardt, get some stuff together for his first new york show .... scott is a graphic and fine artist and sculptor, most famous for his burton snowboard graphics. as you can see in the flyer above, hes got a show opening at the firehouse gallery in burlington this coming friday. below is a description of the part of the show will helped him with this time ... click the photos to enlarge them ....

scott had a rough prototype with him and some ideas for changes on his first visit a couple of weeks ago ... hes got 6 paintings and 6 birds so he needed 6 painted houses. we brainstormed it a bit and after some adjustments, arrived at the final prototype and the six houses.

naturally, the cnc was involved, as was mdf since they had to be simple, fast to construct, and easy to paint. they left thursday to be wired and painted and i imagine scott is installing the paintings and birds this morning as hes off to burlington later today and the show set up starts tomorrow ...

lots of details for a smallish object ... lights, cords, (groove down the back), discreet hanging on the wall, (french hook), ventilation (slot in the tops at the wall intersection), wiring accessibility, (rare earth magnets and 26 guage galvanized spray 90ed into place), frosted glass, hold the painting (velcro), etc ... will got them all i think ... interesting project and were considering making the run to attend the opening ...

we also made two sort of big mitered frames (3 x 5) that led to the creation of one of our best ever construction jigs ... next post ...

Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Schwarz on Benches

Last week I posted about the wonderful time I had at the Northeast Woodworkers Association Showcase 2011. This week, Ian did an even better job describing the wonder of the show on his blog, Woodcanucks Blog. Check it out if you havent already.

This week, Im taking it easy and just posting some videos I shot at the show.

The first three (3) are Christopher Schwarzs entire talk about his Petite Roubo bench. I highly recommend you watch them. Its a great talk about a great bench by a great guy.

The fourth (4) video is just a quick snipped of Chuck Bender giving his hand cut dovetail demonstration. The videos not quite long enough to get the whole technique, so you should probably buy his DVD as I did.

Seen and good woodwork lately?

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Get the Look Bright and Airy Modern Foyer

For todays get the look, Im featuring a bright and airy foyer with just the right amount of pattern and whimsy to keep it fun and current! I would love to have this amount of light in my foyer! Hello windows!

via pinterest (not linked to original source)

1. | 2. | 3. | 4. + 4. | 5. | 6.

1. If youve read my blog for a few months, you probably know how obsessed Im with this folded pendant, I even DIYed my own version!

2. This wallpaper is so good! Maybe even stenciled instead? I love how it is just above the high wainscoting so that if you get bored it is less to switch out. Though harder to apply to the ceiling, it really adds so much more impact!

3. I decided to include this dining settee because it isnt too deep - perfect for a narrower hallway! Its not leather, but the price is great!

4. Upholster a thrift store bench with a fun new fabric like this one from Premier Prints, I also love this one from Waverly! This may be the exact bench from the image (it may scare Annabelle (my puppy) though ...)

5. A blue glass lamp gives this space the perfect pop of color! I love how it balances the blue abstract painting on the other side.

6. A classic parsons table brings in classic lines to balance the bench.

I love love love this space! Having a settee and a console table in a foyer (as shown in the picture), probably isnt an option for a lot of homes. Maybe our next place will have the space :) We can always dream, right?

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You still have time to enter to win a $400 gift card for Ryobi tools!! Make sure to ENTER by Sunday!

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I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend!! See you Monday!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

the montshire museum benches

back in the beginning of the year, we were awarded a commission for a bench for the montshire mueum, in norwich, vermont. it was part of a contest, and they selected 5 winners, bought benches from all of us, and installed them in their woodland garden. click the photos to enlarge them ...

bridges 2 variation on the bench for the bennington museum show, state of craft ... dan and will, wood; sam mosheim, metalwork and paint

dave hurwitz, one of the other bench makers visited the museum recently and sent me these photos of the benches in place and the documentation the museum posted inside. great job by the staff there ... its an impressive show ...

dave hurwitz, white oak

mark dabelstein, burlington

lars larsen, furniture maker, and rolf kielman, architect, also of burlington

and doug clarner of east burke, vt