In our family home.

  I haven't lived in our family home since the early 1980's but it is the place where I did much of my early wood working.  My younger brother has lived here all his life and knows no other home. I learned basic skills from my Grandfather in Bracebridge Ontario and practised and developed at home. At one point with the help from friends I built a wood shop (actually a large shed) in the back yard.  We did it all, from digging the holes for the concrete pillars to putting the shingles on the roof.  My uncle who is a licensed electrician ran one circuit from the house fuse box out to the shop. I didn't have enough juice for serious power tools, nor enough money to buy any anyway. In that shop I made many things from reclaimed wood little knowing I was years ahead of fashion, I was just too cheap and poor to waste free wood. In that shop I also cut my left index finger on a table saw, for the first time of several times.  It is amazing that I still have enough finger to play guitar.  In that shop my friends and I made home made hard cider, it was drinkable if you were a bold and tough young man. I suspect you couldn't have sold it in prison.  I also made several small clocks in the shop that when out in the world as gifts, so not all my work in those days was slap dash.

  Currently I am spending extra time around home helping out my Mother who is recovering from a broken hip.  I think this week has been the first time my brother and I have slept over in the house in thirty years.  Anyway while I am hanging out making tea and lunches for Mom I noticed two woodworking projects that I did a long time ago.

  This book case was made in the driveway one Saturday while I was a high school student. I bought the shelves pre-cut and a 2 x 6 for the vertical pieces. I knew even then that pre-formed chip board was weak and so made the design to support the shelves in the middle.   I think I has been repainted to darker colours, I suspect it was much brighter in the 70's, it was a time of vibrant colours. I know the basement has flooded at least once and the modern chip board flat pack book cases in it  suffered terribly. On the other hand this shelf sits on 2 x 6 by 4 inch legs and came through the flooding fine. This is why making things from wood is a good idea, here is a basement rec-room bookshelf that is over forty years old. (old enough that it has been through the 'flood')

  At some point the lid of our laundry hamper fell off or was knocked off by a clumsy teenage boy.  Anyway the stop gap solution was to cut out a lid from plywood, edge band the piece and stain it. 

previous related blog post.

  This was probably my first jig saw project and certainly the first time I put edge banding on anything. Again, a project from the early 1980's.  I did not expect this repair to last all these years.  It is a testimony to practical thinking on my Mother's part as well as our families love of wood grain, even plywood wood grain.

  For a while I expect my life to involve more time in our family home, more tea making and probably less time in my home shop.  Once the weather gets better maybe I will return to making things in the drive way while I am here, the shop/shed is still stands but is filled hopelessly to the rafters will years of collected stuff so working in it is not likely.

  cheers, ianw

Work Bench Solutions

  There is a saying, 'if you can't raise the bridge, lower the water'. That little maxim is meant to inspire thinking that is 'outside the box'. You are to think of a valid but unlikely solution to a problem.

  A while ago I solved the problem of misaligned table tops not by shortening the tall table but by fitting thicker than usual floor pads to the short table.  I gave the lower table lifts.

  As you know I have serious and ongoing back pain issues, issues that are really aggravated by working bent over. Until you get into a situation like mine you have no idea how much of the work in a shop is hunched over and twisting.  I have my semi-movable work table upon which I do nearly all my woodworking. This work table is very heavy and stable but now too low. I have made a couple of smaller bench accessories that raise the work surface which helps but they are too small.  My original thinking was to make a larger accessory and affix it to the bench,.  Ah Ha! don't raise the bridge......

work table up on blocks

  Using four 10 inch cinder blocks I was able to raise the work surface and extra five inches. The bench no longer rolls  but....I seldom moved it anyway.  I am going to take the casters off and use them somewhere else and get a couple of more blocks to add to more stability. This raises the bench too high for most people's comfort and well above the recommended height but it allows me to work longer with less pain.  I continue to cope with my back pain without drugs, and want to keep that way. 

  Another solution that I have worked the details out on in the one dealing with large sheet stock.  In an ideal work your shop is large enough that you can cut large pieces of plywood on your table saw, or you have a panel saw set up. My shop is in the basement and doesn't have space for either of those solutions.  If I worked with sheet stock regularly I would beg, borrow or build a panel saw, no question.

 To cut the 1/4 plywood for the drawers for the small cabinet in the photograph I turned my raised work table into a giant clamping table.  I clamped a couple of long boards across the work table and clamped the piece of plywood to the boards.  I then clamped another board close to the cut line to give the thin plywood as much support as possible.  I cut the plywood using a hand saw.  For very thin plywood a circular saw to aggressive, and cutting with a good hand saw means that there is virtually no tear out, therefore less wasted material. 

  My current project is a three drawer storage box for art supplies. Although the inner drawers will be mostly plywood, the box  will be mostly cedar, keeping it light and aromatic.

  Cheers ianw

 

Make a Wooden Balance Bike

build a balance bike

  

  In Europe balance/glide bikes are fairly popular.  These bikes allow a child to develop their balance  early on.  I've seen this sort of bike being used by two year old  children.  My Grand daughter in Sweden started out on a balance bike and graduated to a proper two wheeler without training wheels by her third birthday.  Her balance was well enough developed that she didn't need training wheels.  My Grand children in Canada didn't begin on a balance bike and so spent a season with training wheels before moving to two wheel pedal bikes.

wooden balance bike

    These two videos show some ideas for making your own bike.  This would be a wood working project that somebody would love. If you have a large enough play room a balance bike can make a good Christmas present for a little person.

   Bikes are on my mind lately.  I was able to get away for a couple of days bike riding and today my wife rode her bike 100 km. That is pretty good for a member of the Ancaster Senior Achievement Centre or anybody else for that matter.  She took up riding about 15 years ago and has written thousands of miles.  

 

  cheers, ianw

  


 

What to do before a two week break

 We are going to be involved in family things and travel things and general busy things for the next two weeks. I will not be in my shop at all and may not even be able to post any blogs. So what did I do with the remaining few hours I had before my break? 

  Well, first off I cleaned up the shop a bit. Nothing major, just put tools away and swept the place up a bit.

  Then to kill some time on a rainy afternoon I did a couple of small potter around things. These are the jobs that most people don't bother doing, but since I have a shop and tools I improvise and repair.

                                                

   A none event, but now the clothes hanger doesn't grab my pyjamas. I had to drill two holes and use some super duper glue. Most people won't bother.

  I also took time to sharpen some knives and change the  blades in a couple of utility knives.   Maintenance stuff like that takes more time than you realize.  I like to use times like this to sharpen blades so that when I reach for them during a building project I don't have to stop and sharpen.

  While I had my super crazy glue out I glued a rare earth magnet to my pencil sharpener so that it would stick to my over bench work light.  As with having sharp tools it is nice to work with a sharp pencil.

     

   The last thing I did was make a pattern for and cut out a silly little craft. These roosters will go into the box for the church bazaar. 

  Projects like these give me practise in making patterns from a photograph and uses up small scraps of wood that I have been to cheap to throw away. 

holding post-it notes on my desk.

   This rooster is made out of 1/8 inch plywood and a bit of pine. I like the shape and size and will make a few from stained wood like the one from the internet. (when I have some time to kill)

 Have a good couple of weeks and I'll for sure be back in mid May, and maybe will post an update or two before if I get a chance.

cheers, ianw