Basic Woodworking?! with sanders

   Sometimes making nice things is quite easy.  If you have really good raw materials and don't get crazy you can get a fine result with almost no skill.

  I was given a piece of ash and all it needed was  sanding and hemp oil to finish.

  I started with  disk sanding using my 4 1/2 angle grinder initially to flatten the slab and then belt sander time with 80 then 120 grit belts.  By the time I was done  the garage was filled with dust even though the door was open.

  Once I got the slab flat and mostly smooth I moved into the shop and used my random orbital sander to get a glass smooth finish.

  I put two coats of water based varnish on the bark and three coats of hemp oil on the face.  We now have a charcuterie board that is nearly three feet long.  Isn't that want every family needs?

cheers ianw

Long Spoon

   The most recent thing out of the shop is another long  spoon.  I have made a couple of these long handled spoons in the past.  The spoon is 18 inches long and perfect for mixing large pots of chilli, stock or stewed fruit.

 In some ways these spoons are a speciality item for the kitchen.  After all it is not often we make four gallons of chilli.

First I laid it out, and cut the rough shape with a band saw.  (a jig saw would have done the job too,

    This spoon started out as a piece of oak trim from a local farm house.  A few years ago I was contacted by a friend who had a friend that was over hauling a big ol' farm house.  I was able to go and get a station wagon full of mixed oak trim.  Some of the trim had been painted, some was splintery and good for fire wood and some was really nice.  The stain and/varnish sanded off easily and so the wood has been used for lots of things in many places.

 

  This long spoon is a lovely piece of that white oak  trim. Since the wood was a milled board this spoon is a machine made effort.  As a milled board  there is no advantage to working the wood with hand tools, there isn't much chance to work with the grain. 

  

    The wood showed a really nice grain and was as hard as stone to shape.  I used a belt sander and a Dremel tool with various bits to do much of the work.  Ultimately the final sanding was done by hand, 80,120,180 grit sandpaper and card scrappers providing  the final result. 

  I gave the spoon a quick coat of Hemp Oil and it is ready for the soup.

  I paid attention this time, it took about 2 hours of hands on time to complete this spoon.  If I were making several at once I am sure that I could cut the time, perhaps in half, I don't know.  If you go to a craft fair and someone is selling a nice spoon, made from nice wood it should easily cost $25.00 or more, I would expect that much for this spoon and I got the wood for free.  

  I was easy to make this spoon.  All it took was tools, time and experience.  Please buy wisely and support your   local  crafts people.

cheers ianw

ps. check out at years worth of spoons  

https://www.dailyscandinavian.com/365-daily-norwegian-wooden-spoons/

 

First Time Wood Working - Sanding project and tools

   Honestly many of the first wood wooding projects for my generation (60+ years old) no longer exist.  We don't need to make book ends, bird houses, storage boxes etc. they are all now readily available for reasonable prices from all sorts of retail outlets. So a person doesn't automatically end up making things from wood any longer.

  However if you like making things and aren't that keen on glue/saw dust board or plastic you may still want to make some basic things for your home space.

  Last blog I talked about how to start wood working  by beginning at the finish. (end)

  Imagine I had no tools, but liked wood more than plastic and wanted to have a slightly individual project when I was done.

   I spent $2.00 on this plywood box. To end up with a nice finished project I have to take a couple real wood working steps.

 1st- I sanded this box with 100 grit sand paper.  I sanded all the edges and corners to make the box nice to touch and reduce the chance of splinters. 

 2nd- I sanded all the edges and surfaces with 180 grit sand paper. You might not believe it but that makes the box smoother (softer) to touch.

 3rd- I sealed the wood with shellac. Any of the many sealing products could be used. I like shellac because it is quick drying, fool proof to apply and compatible when dry with just about any other type of paint, stain or varnish you may then use.

all the tools needed for this project.

  Then I used the 180 grit to lightly sand the shellac, once dry.  Our house has forced air heating...there is always fine grit in the air that settles into the finish. Next I used some water based craft to paint to colour in the box top.

  Since the box had been sealed the water paint did not blot into the wood and only one coat was necessary to get good coverage.

  Once the paint dried I but another seal coat on top just to make it more difficult for fingers to leave smudge marks.

  Doing this project will help you or your child to decide if you like the feel and smell of wood and wood dust. Rounding over edges and making the wood box gentle on your hands is a great feeling.

  This was a  'one time', project requiring two sheets of sand paper, sealer and some craft paint.  

  There are many pre assembled  wooden projects out there just waiting for you to finish them. When I was an apartment dweller I finished a couple of big items, including a television stand on a drop sheet in the living room.  Larger projects can be sanded by hand but......

A random orbital sander can make a large job, quicker and easier.  As a rule, the most expensive sanders have better dust collect, make less noise and run more smoothly.    If you find you enjoy staining, painting or other wise finishing wood projects sanders are big help with a shallow learning curve.

  A finishing sander works more slowly than a random orbital, but runs with the grain and so will not leave tiny swirls in the wood grain like a random orbital can, if you aren't careful.

  The monster of the sanding family is the BELT SANDER.  

  The belt sander can be used to remove a great deal of wood in a short time. I bought one early in my career before I had hand plane skills and flattened many board. In fact I still have that sander and occasionally still use it, though it doesn't have any dust collection  capability.  It is pretty much and out door tool now.

  I used to make cutting boards and so had a bank of sanders with ever finer grits of sand paper mounted so that I could proceed from 60 to 600 grit by switching sanders.  

  There is a fascinating world of specialty hand held sanders  as well as machines out there for all types of unusual tasks. check it out.

cheers ianw

  

 

Large Flower Pot Cover

  Few things are more enjoyable than making something that someone needs.  My daughter has a container plant on her deck that gets blown over regularly so the request was made for a large wooden box to contain the plant pot and ballast against the wind.

  The only thing more enjoyable than making useful things is making it with the help of a Grand Kid. This weekend my grand son and I used reclaimed lumber to make a big box.

The base of the box is 15 inches square with 15 inch sides. 

 The skids I picked up last week are now turned into something useful. My grandson did the majority of the work on this project. He cut a skid apart and did most of the measuring, drilled all the holes and drove all the screws. 

 

  My role was to be the extra set of hands that held things while he drove screws, or measured. This was a great project in which he added the use of two new tools to his experience.

  I introduced the bandsaw and drill press a few years ago but this time I thought he was ready for the sliding mitre saw and belt sander.

  

 My grand son is a big boy just finishing grade seven, also he is thoughtful and cautious, so I am pretty comfortable showing him power tools, knowing his nature.  First we talk about safety, what to do and what can go wrong.  Then I give him a slow motion demonstration of how to use the tools.  On the sliding mitre saw for the first few cuts I held the wood for him so he could concentrate totally on the blade. By projects end he was making cuts by himself.  Things aren't to the point that he can use those tools alone in  my shop but I'm confident that he can manage without me having to hover over his shoulder.

  The belt sander smoothed the worst spots on the box and we then used gel stain to sort of even out the colour.

  Not only was this a great way to spend a while in the work shop it continued Kieran's  workshop evolution.  In the past he was impatient to finished and never bothered to sand or stain/varnish his work.  The sanding wasn't great but it is a step toward greater pride of purpose. 

  Next time more attention to detail will make for a more attractive result, I am sure.

cheers ianw

  

Charcuterie board

  My most recent project did not require much skill, just much patience. My wife asked me to make a live edge charcuterie board.  I dug around in shop and found a slice of dry rough sawn ash.

  The first stage was to attack the slab with my hand power planner and my old 3 x 21 belt sander.  Both those tools remove plenty of material and make a mind boggling amount of dust.  The air in the shop was filled with dust.  Both my sander and planner are old models without any type of integrated dust collection.  I will replace them, if they ever break down.

  Once the rough shaping was done it became a job for random orbital sanders.  First I worked with 80, then 120 then 180 grit using up several disks.  Getting the board smooth with the sander was a multi hour production.  Once I got the surface smooth (ish) I filled the smaller cracks and let it sit over night.  The next day was more sanding with 220 grit and then another hour of hand sanding with 400 and 600 grit making the surface as smooth as glass.

  To finish the edges I soaked the bark in several applications of water based sealer and then the top got three coats of hemp oil.  Each time I flooded the surface and let the oil soak in before clearing it off and rubbing it in.

  Though it is not a project that required special skills I am really happy with the results.  If I can find another slab like this I think I will do it again.

  cheers ianw.

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

   

Band Saw Style Box

    While I was working on my latest spoon I thought I would have a couple of small projects on the go too.  I like to have a variety of things going on in my shop.  It adds  interests and has me working with with muscles and in different postures, which helps my back pain issues. This is an oval (ish) box with a twisting lid. It has a maple body and oak top and bottom. 

  It is similar to making a band saw box but instead of cutting the ends off I shaped the body, through drilled out the inside and then added the end pieces.  Through drilling and adding the bottom afterwards makes for a smoother finish inside and on the bottom.  Fitting the bottom and shaping it is easy.

  I rough cut the oak and glued it onto the bottom.  Then I used my belt sander to form the bottom to the exact shape of the body of the box.  To fit the top exactly I use a trick I learned from wood turning.  As you can see from the photo there is paper residue on the wood. 

  To glue the top onto the body solidly enough that I could shape and sand it and still get it loose I glued a layer of ordinary printed paper between the two pieces.  I clamped the two pieces together and gave them lots of time (over night) to set thoroughly.  After I was done sanding and shaping I inserted a thin knife blade between the top and bottom and gently pried them apart.  

  At this moment I haven't got a use for the box.  It is awaiting multiple coats of shellac and spray varnish.  I will finish it when I am finishing other small projects. 

cheers, ianw

The Design Process or How To Make A Mountain Out Of A Mole Hill. Project #10

  Yesterday afternoon I set about fixing a small problem in my shop.  I like to listen to music or pod casts while I work and have been using my tablet computer for that purpose.  A couple of years ago I made a passive speaker system for a previous tablet, my new tablet doesn't fit, of course. I have been leaning the tablet on things and hoping it doesn't get knocked over for a while now, yesterday I decided it was time to take a stand, and make a stand.  Another passive speaker system wasn't necessary but I wanted a stand.

finished version

  My initial plan was basic, cut a slot into a chunk of wood and have it hold the tablet.  Once I got the slot cut I decided it would be a good idea to drill some holes into the wood so the sound wouldn't be blocked.  Okay.  I measured the holes and made an effort to make it look designed rather than random.  

  Then the trouble began: the hunk of wood now needed to be shaped a bit on the band saw, then sanded on the belt sander to make it looked designed rather than random.  That took almost no time and improved the visual effect. What happened next was just silly.  I decided that the general shape needed so be sculpted and shaped, after all I had jumped off the artistic cliff and there was no going back.

  First I decided that the top of the hunk of wood was too plain and so I used my drill press and various chisels to carve out an indentation, in which to put.....I don't know but small somethings now have a place to be put. It wasn't that tough to rough out.  I drilled a bunch of holes with a Forstner bit upon which I have ground off the centre spur.  This modified bit leaves a much smoother bottom .  Not so smooth that it doesn't need to be sanded but not bad.

  Since that worked no bad I completely lost my mind and decided to shape the front side of the tablet stand/wood hunk.  The layout was easy, but I should have recognised the can of worms I was opening when the marking gauge had trouble with the end grain.  

  When I began this project I selected a bit of 2 x 6 spruce lumber from the scrap bit.  Spruce is fairly soft, pretty cheap and totally crap for carving. Not a problem since at the beginning of this process I had no plan to carve, shape or even sand this thing. 

  Now I am trying to cut a dado on a curved surface, across end grain that is course and chippy.  I cut the limits of the dado with a hand saw, then I cut more slots in the waste material hoping that it would make clearing the material away easier.  It didn't. I tried various chisels, fine with the grain, no luck across the grain, on the curve.  Finally I finished the job with wood rasps, they removed the wood but left a surface covered with voids when bits of wood pulled out while being rasped.  The wood that was left was filed smooth and sanded but there were many voids and much tear out.

  The holder was too ugly to be left bare wood and so I had to fill the rough spots with putty  before I resorted to spray paint.  If I'd left it as was I would have to invent a story about it being the loser in a pitch fork catching contest.  

  REALLY, all I wanted was a piece of wood to hold up my tablet computer.  It was organic design? Are organic designed products meant to be ground up and composted when you are done?

  For all that, it does the job, it is holding my tablet right now, and blasting away bassoon concertos. 


cheers ianw

Finished bench topper

16.5 by 17 by 1.5 inches

  I got my bench top finished today.  Rather mostly finished. 

 Since my shop is filled with tools I like to use them. I am amazed at how many tools I used for this simple little job. There is no doubt that more effort and a bit more time and this whole thing could have been done with a small number of hand tools. But just for grins here is the list of what I used to stick five boards together and mount two clamp tracks along it edge.

 Last time I said I used my table saw (1) to trim the edges square on the boards. Then I used my pocket Zip Slot (2) to put in the loose tenons. And of course, glue and clamps.(3 & 4)

  Today I used my circular saw (5) to trim the edges square, after I marked the edges with my carpenter's square (6). After the ends were cut square I used my disk sander (7) and my belt sander (8)to flatten the faces or the bench top. I used sanders instead of hand planes because this is reclaimed wood. 

  After the face was flat I used my router table (9) to cut dados on two edges of the top. Then I used my shoulder plane (10) to clean up the dados. 

  I put off buying a shoulder plane for years from cheapness and ignorance. 

Don't make that mistake.

  Then the Kreg track had to be cut to length, enter the hack saw (11). Next I used my belt sander to clean off the burrs on the track. Screwing ( cordless drill 12) the track down meant I needed my 4 1/2 inch angle grinder (13) since the screws were just a bit to long and needed a 1/4" ground off. 

 Then I laid out and drilled six 3/4 inch dog holes. (drill press & Frostner bit 14 & 15)

 At this point I am not adding dog holes in the middle. My current plan is to make some dogs and use the top and then develop what I need for what I am using. Looks like a lathe project to me.(16)

 Was this an over produced event? No... Well-maybe. I just have all those tools and I like to use them.

cheers, ianw

Ash Rounds-flattened

  Back in March I showed a router jig that enabled me to flatten both sides of one of these rounds and to get the sides very close to parallel. If parallel isn't important I figured out another way to get a smooth finish with a bit less effort.

bark off

 

 First I put the round on a non-slip mat on my bench top. Then I begin to rough the face down with an electric hand plane that I picked up at a wood show a few years ago. 

  My planner has a very short bed and throws chips everywhere but it was cheap and I don't mind using it brutally. By the time this set of ash rounds is done, I expect the planer to be done too.  Since rounds were cut from the tree trunk with a chain saw and even though my Brother in Law was careful there is still lots of wood to be removed before the slices are even flattish.

The next stage in the process is either a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder  or my belt sander with a very aggressive disk or belt. I have a 40 grit disk and a 60 grit belt. Both of these tools are older and throw a serious amount of dust.  The next time I do the grinding stage on a round will be done outside.

  After the machines have removed the bulk of the rough stuff I have found that scrapers work better that sand paper to arrive at the final finish. I scrape from the centre outward to get the best results.

 Once the face is scraped I apply salad bowl polish and work it in with my polissoir. These rounds are for serving cheese so I wanted a food safe finish.

contact me through the comments section of the blog

  I have about ten more pieces of ash with which to play. It will be sad when the emerald ash borer has killed off all our ash trees.  

bark on

cheers, ianw

Lets Look at our Portable Belt Sanders Again

 

Belt Sander Tips

  The belt sander was a staple in many wood working shops in time gone by.  Generally they were viewed as noisy, dusty and too aggressive, but we used them because they were the only game in town.

  I have two belt sanders that I turn to when I am looking to remove lots of rough wood, or glue. I confess to not having thought about the newer features or considering replacing my old standbys.

  As I watched the video I was taken with the improved quality of the dust collection and I'd never really thought of the advantage you get with variable speed. 

 

 Belt Sander Platform

  The video above shows a really good solution for life in a small work shop. A platform like the one in the video adds versatility to your sander at very little cost. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  A foot note on today's blog is the work that I am doing in our garage. I am building a 12 foot by 4 foot platform/deck 3 feet hight inside our garage to take advantage of our garage's very high ceiling.

 

  In the front of our two car garage is a freezer and two sets of off season tires. (tyres).  Once the deck is complete the tires and recycling containers etc will be underneath and the freezer and storage rack will be on top. Effectively we will increase the available storage space in the garage by 48 square feet. Wouldn't everyone like 48 more feet of storage?!

 

   I worked for a couple of hours in the cold building the frame and legs for the deck. This is a job that I should have done earlier in the year. 

  The legs still need to be braced before moving the deck into place and screwing 3/4 inch sheet stock on top.  Working with the 2 x 4 sometimes make me think that I am not a wood worker, but a weaver.  I had pretty good 2x4s, I picked most of them myself and they still have so much internal tension that they twisted as I was working with them.a

  Once my hands got too cold I came inside and worked on Bufford, he got a shellac coat and I've begun to paint him.  If I get some quiet time over the next couple of evenings he should be done by the end of the week too. 

  I have a couple of days away from the shop, but I hope to be finished the build by Friday and maybe get all the stuff moved on Saturday.    

  If you are where the snow is, shovel carefully.  If are where there is no snow, lucky you.

cheers, ianw 

 

 

 

Pinzgauer Woodworking Job?

I have a friend that likes to play off road with his jeep and his Pinzgauer. 

  It seems unlikely that there is any woodworking to be done on a machine like this...In fact there are two 'rub rails' that run down the sides just above the wheels wells.  The rails are made from birch and are about two inches square and 122 inches long.

  At this moment the Rub Rails are on saw horses in my shop.  Yesterday we removed the rails, on which the paint was peeling in one spot and set to work sanding the rest of the paint off. If you are going to try this yourself get a belt sander.  If you plan to do very many jobs like this get a better quality belt sander and work outside.  The paint was on thicker than peanut butter.

  As we worked we discovered why the paint was peeling, it was wet. This is how the wood work gets wet.

   Once the rail dries out completely I will finish sand it and then instead of army green paint the wood will be left to speak for itself finished with Tung Oil.

 I'll keep you posted, the rails are supposed to be re-attached on Friday.
 cheers ian