An Atypical Week.

  This week there were family things to cause stress and upset schedules but they have been resolved and life returns to what passes for normal.

  I found an interesting You Tube video to share:

DIY Concrete and Wood Table

   The project is interesting and the quality of the video production is quite high.  I could see trying a project where there was a concrete element to it. I think a patio table might be a natural for a combined effort.

  My  bench is filled with glued up 3/4 oak.  Many of the pieces that I cut out for the kneeling chair are to be 1 1/4 inch thick so we had to rough up, then glue pieces together to get that thickness.  Once the glue is set David and I will square up the boards and plane them to the require thickness. 

  We used nearly every strong clamp in my shop.

  I'm also working away on my pickle tray thing. I have discovered several thing about this project.  I am able to clear wood with a carving gouge quite easily in the dry, dry oak by going cross grain. 

 I have gouges in three sizes and so begin with the smallest chisel which leaves obvious marks but is easiest to use without a mallet. The middle size chisel lets me flatten thing somewhat and the widest chisels can make things pretty smooth as you can see in the photo.  With sharp chisels of the correct size much of this carving task can be done without a mallet.

  The other thing that I've learned from this project is that this is  learner piece.  In the past I've used band saws and grinders and Dremels etc to make thse olive trays. The commitment to  learning hand tools is newly developing thing .  

  Clearly carving this project is slower than using power tools and at least in this case the end product won't be as good as my previous trays.  However this is a sustainable working method.  One can't assume that one will always have a large well equipped power tool shop at hand.

    cheers, ianw

from Eva's Garden

  

The Finished Table and What's Next.

   I always like to see my projects installed.  Underneath this three sided black table is a hatch cover to a sump pump, but you would never know it.  For that matter you wouldn't know that this is a funny three legged table.  The client is happy and so am I.

   Now I am onto making a knelling chair for my friend David.  

  David is quite a talented composer who is spending too much time sitting at his computer and hopes this alternative style chair will be a good for his back.  He is helping me make  his chair from a plan that he found on the net.  

 We cut out the pieces from one of the church pews that I got a couple of weeks ago.

  

  The oak pew sliced up nicely, all that remains is to buy (or make) some large dowelling and various small nuts and bolts. This is one of those projects that will take as long to sand and finish as to build now.

  Speaking of chairs.

 There is another chair from my Mother's house.  I don't remember how long ago my parents bought those chairs,(25-30 years ago) they have lasted well and only required a little bit of attention over all those years.  We are heavy folk and seldom miss a sit down meal so those chairs have lived a hard life.  I love wood and those chairs are a solid example of why. Some glue and clamping and the chair is a sturdy as ever, you can work with wood in a way that is satisfying and special.

  Again I had to take some time out to clean up and put away tools, cutting up the oak pew meant I needed slightly more room to move.  Also I have been seriously reconsidering my wood 'addiction'.  My friend Ron pronounced me a 'wood junkie' several years ago when he encountered my shop in it natural state.  So I have sent myself the goal of cutting up and throwing away at least 10 quarts of wood a week.  My fire place owning friends don't need anymore wood and so I am going to send 10 quarts per week to composting/recycling.  Ten quarts happens to be the size of container I have chosen to fill each week no other reason.  For years I  have kept and used off cuts and left overs.  There are dozens of projects that I have done from the scrap bin, some nicer than others.  I have also kept dozens of little bits to turn on the lathe. (that's never really happened in-spite of my best intentions).  While it is deeply satisfying to make something from nothing but...floundering and tripping over bins and boxes of wood scraps has lost its allure.  Gradually I am going to reduce my addiction and improve my work space. (pictures to follow.)

  Anyway as I was culling some scraps I found two projects that I'd begun a while ago.  I found an olive tray project from an oak barrel stave and a spoon.  Both of these things had been started with my hatchet, and forgotten.  It seemed like a good time to take them in hand.

The olive tray is the last of several I've made over the years.  The first few trays I began by cutting and shaping the staves on my band saw and then using an angle grinder and power sanders to finish. The results were acceptable, the trays were popular gifts.  Oak barrel staves are really nice wood.

  

  I'd switched to hand tools for spoons last summer and this time I decided to work the oak stave with hand tools too. You can see my fabulous hatchet that I bought in Sweden just down the road from the foundry that forged it.  It is a Wetterings #106 and a work of tool art. Their forge is twenty eight kilometres away from my kids house in Sweden I think I need go for a visit the next time I am in Sweden. 

  Scattered about on the bench are chisels, planes, and rasps. The only high quality tools of the bunch are the hatchet and the rasp. The chisels are a mixed bag, some good quality    

( Two Cherries) gauges but others are no name for a wood show.   The hand planes are quite ordinary too.  Most workshop projects don't need tonnes of expensive equipment to complete.

  

similar to the KIng K-2800 

  There are speciality vises that will hold none parallel items but for my purposes I get along with an ordinary vise and wedges.  I cut out four wedges with different angles ages ago and when I make one for a particular situation I save if for later use.  

  The other thing I'm working on is another spoon.

basic shape formed with gouges and chisels

  By the time I am finished with scrapers and rasps there will be little need for sand paper.  I like making spoons/spatulas with hand tools, this way there is almost no dust and no noise.  

I will use a draw knife to shape the handle. 

I will share the results later in the week.

It's been a while

  It has been a while since I blogged last, that doesn't mean I've not been busy. I am one coat of varnish away from having the table finished. My plan is to have it up stairs and out of my way tomorrow.

  On the weekend my Grandson and I found a video on You tube and made a wooden whistle. Now that we have a method, next time,  production: we'll make whistles for all his friends. His school teacher will love us.

  Having the table is the way has limited my ambitions so what have I done.  I sanded to 600 grit and then carved a trivet.

   It is a small space, no noise basic tool thing to do while hanging out in the workshop.  Everyone needs trivets and hot pads. This trivet is exactly the right size for a French Press coffee pot. 

Or a really big coffee mug.

  Another thing I did while sitting around one evening is finish sanding and shaping an olive/pickle tray from oak.  I laid this out years ago while I was developing my skills with my Dremel tool. While I was sitting around waiting for the varnish to dry i decided to finish shaping and sanding.

  I cut the basic shape on the band saw and then gouged out the inside with the Dremel.  One evening last week I sat quietly listening to music and hand sanded the tray smooth.  Since the tray is curved I split a cork in half and glued it on for feet. The tray has a nice shape and is stable in use.

  For portions of the last two days I have been working on two low skill, high back stress projects,  wood chips. And the sump pump water evacuation system has taken the other portion of my digging energy. (it should be finished tomorrow). Chips, not finished tomorrow.

  This is the remaining half of yesterday's dump of wood chips. Dump because the chips arrived a dump truck full. Eva and I moved some yesterday and I moved some more today.  I have learned my limit when doing this sort of task, but it still kicks the you-know-what out of my back.

  Tool for the job:

  Last time we did this I went and bought the specialized tool for the job.  That manure fork is the perfect tool for loading and moving wood chips around.  It is another of those specialty tools that get used seldom, but....make life way easier.  We tried moving wood chips with snow shovels before, Okay, but the fork is better.

  Today's quick project is a glue up.

  Sherlock Holmes couldn't guess what this is. By the way, the pipe clamps have been in my tool kit for thirty years.  I love good basic tools that last.

  Our drive way is interlocking stones, and the folks that did the work did a good job and the drive way still looks good.  However it has sunk a bit along the front of the garage. If you look in the 'chip' picture you can see a maxi-scooter. I've put the ramp in place to make it easier for me to push the scooter backwards into the garage. Just a little thing, but little things can make a big difference. 

  

  

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