Projects for Friend's and Family.

  This week I have been working on my friends kneeling chair.  All that remains is buying the hardware and putting it together.  It is a slow process because we aren't in a hurry and like to drink coffee as much as work.

  Yesterday I dragged my planer, sander and grinder out to the back yard and smoothed out another of the elm rounds that I gathered up a couple of years ago.

approx.  16 inches in diameter.

  My wife is going to use the round as the base for a wedding cake.  I used my electric hand planer to knock down the really high spots and it give me a mostly smooth surface. Stage two was angle grinder with sanding disk.  I used a 40 grit disk to smooth down the ridges that the planer left and trim some of the bark.  To finish  I used my 3 x 21 in belt sander with a 120 grit belt.  My sander is a Craftsman that I have had since I was doing projects in my parent's driveway. ( in the 1970's)  One day the sander with quit but until then, I use it for dramatic material removal, it is effective but not subtle.  

   

    Eva wanted the big crack left alone. The cake is going to have icing to look like birch bark so the wood goes with the theme. Even with all the power I could ask for,  it still took almost an hour of bent-over time to finish smoothing the piece of wood.

  What else have a done?  I finished my latest spoon/spatula.

  This spoon is made from a piece of fire wood I picked up last June while on holiday. The shape is artistic (not so practical) but the wood grain is interesting and the finish is silky smooth. I am developing a real love for spoon making with hand tools.  I can see a collection of artistic spoons in a cool vase as an object d'art that was tactile, not for eye only. 

  I have begun the mate to the above spoon, split from the same piece of firewood.

  Since so much of this spoon is shaped with my hatchet and draw knife all I need is a basic outline of the shape.  As I work the wood, the grain will affect its lines and final shape.  In contrast if I were cutting the spoon out on my band saw I could impose my idea on the wood, of course the spoon would look like it had been made in a factory in China. That's not the look I am going for, need less to say.

  You can see the process a bit in the photograph. I have taken many small bites with the hatchet to form the handle. This is where the grain comes into play. Those feathers want to follow the grain when they peel off.

  Hollowing the bowl is also a tiny bites process. 

  I'm using a narrow gouge and a hooked spoon knife to shape the bowl.  I didn't make my hook knife, I bought it in Sweden from my favourite knife maker, Mora of Sweden. 

  These on going projects have kept me going at about the speed I can manage.  If I spend too much time in my shop I end up with serious back pain again.  I just can't work standing at a bench for more than an hour or two per day anymore.  Lucky this is a hobby and not my livelihood.  Things like spoons and small carvings are good because I can pick them up and work for a few minutes  or half an hour and can stop almost anytime.

  Oh yes, the olive tray.  It's one the bench waiting, again. I will finish it some day. When I do I will share the news with you. (I wanted to say y'all, but I had elementary English class flash backs).

  Cheers, Ianw