Grampa's Work Shop and Opa's Too

  My Grandfather was a wood worker, before it became a popular hobby.  My Dad's family lived in a small village a long walk from a small town and a serious train trip from what passed for a city in rural Ontario. So my Grandfather was a wood worker, because they wanted storage shelves and an ice house and skis and all sorts of other things that we now have some one in china make for us.  In my Grampa's workshop I learned the names of the tools, and how to use the basic ones and watched and helped as day to day things were created or repaired.  As well as basic domestic things my Grandfather, with my Father's help made boats before I came along.   They made 5 or 6 wooden boats, car top boats or slightly larger boats that would easily carry three men and their fishing tackle.  My Father and I helped a friend make cedar strip canoes one winter, my Father and my friend are gone now. 

  I was rummaging around in my shop and found the last project that my Grampa made.

  It's a door stop that he made in the wood shop in the seniors home in which he lived the last few years of his life.  The door stop needed the leaves glued back on, as with real leaves they fall off after a while.  I have a few tools that where in my Grampa's shop and then my Father's shop.  I think the old saying 'saw dust isn't just up your nose, it's in your blood." is true. 

  This last week has been filled with Christmas music and Christmas shopping. (I think we are expecting 167 people for Christmas, or at least we've got enough food to feed that many) and a couple of projects that will become gifts.

  My Grand Daughter Clara got a wooden 'blanket box' last year and this year she is getting her own middle sized rocking chair.  The chair was a cast off that I got for free, and it didn't need anything but soap and paint to make it as good as new.

  The original finish was long gone so all I needed to do was clean it up and put an entire spray can of gloss white paint on it.  My wife is making a colourful throw to go on the chair.  Clara is going to have a very special custom furnished bedroom.  I have a plan for one more interesting piece for her room.  Maybe for her birthday?

  Nut crackers have become a thing.  I am working to refine the thread cutting process.  These last two nut crackers has the dowel soaked for 24 hours, not quite long enough for smooth cutting but the dowel didn't swell.  The next attempt will soak the dowel for three days.

  Anyhow the wheels keep turning and it is winter, though you couldn't tell that by looking out our windows, so Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Glorious Long Weekend....whatever your family says at this time of year.

  We are having a gang here, not nearly 167 but lots so...see you in 2019.

cheers, ianw

An ancient Christmas Carol sung wonderfully.  The Wexford Carol

Nut Crackers---sweet

  I saw a plan for a nut cracker on Instructables last week and decided that I would make one, or two, or three....

  Once I got going, I decided to adapt the idea to make a more rustic style nut cracker.

  To make a wood screw nut cracker you do need one piece of specialized equipment, and some drill bits and a drill press. You need either a thread box or...some other method of cutting threading on a dowel and tapping a hole.  I have a thread box and matching tap.

 I began these nut crackers by threading a length of one inch hardwood dowel after reading variety of blogs taking about cutting good crisp threads with a thread box.

  I took the dowel and soaked it in vegetable oil for a week as suggested by a blog. The threads cut very crisp but...the dowel did swell a bit and fit very tightly in the thread box.  Next time I will soak the dowel for 3 or 4 days in hopes that the outside is soaked but not too swollen. 

  Cutting the thread was the most difficult part of these projects.  It is very difficult to get a good grip on round oily wood.  I had to clamp one end of the dowel with vice grip pliers, which tore it badly.  I threaded about twice as much dowel as I needed so I could pick and choose this time and so that I'd have some in hand for a later project.  

 With threaded dowel in hand I picked a piece of six inch black locust for my nut cracker. I cut one end square and left the top on a bit of an angle, just for the 'look'.

  Next I used a Forestner bit to drill a hole down the end grain.

  Drill slowly and clamp the wood firmly when drilling.

 You can see the branch clamped to drill the side hole, that will be threaded.  I use a wooden hand screw since it will hold irregular shapes better.

  

  I used the matching tap to thread the hole.  Again the branch needs to be held firmly, and the tap started straight and carefully.

    I glued a piece of barn board onto one end of the threaded dowel and await the final setting of the glue.  Once the glue sets I'll shape the knob a bit. On this nut cracker I drilled an opening on the opposite side for the dowel to fit into.  This way when not in use the dowel is totally buried and takes up less space on the table as well is protected from being broken if dropped. 

  I learned something important while experimenting, I could not cut threads into end grain, I had to cut thread across the grain.  End gain just tore and was useless.  I found that problem in maple, maybe other woods would work better, I'm not going to bother trying. 

 I thought I would add a photo of my bench in process.

When I am working on something 'new' my work space becomes chaos.  I am forging ahead full steam and don't put things away as I work. Also when I am working on something new I usually end up with about twice as many tools at hand than I end up needing.  For example I only needed three Forestner drill bits but I didn't know which ones for sure so I brought the whole box off the shelf.  I had things to clamp but started with the wrong type or clamps that were too small. They are there on the bench.  There are knives, chisels, saws, glue bottles, and various pliers.  Most of which will stay on the shelf the next time I do this sort of project, everything will look much more professional, next time.

  At the end of today's work it took 20 minutes to clean up and put all the tools where they live. This style of working is not a habit a new woodworker should cultivate and one an old wood worker should try and break. (maybe a new year's resolution)

  I think these will be popular Christmas gifts .

cheers, ianw

  

Opa's Workshop Christmas 2018

 I have settled into several jobs with a Christmas dead line.  

  Pettson and Findus are in the mail to Sweden as this is being typed. One job done.

 While working on other things in the shop I made a quick side trip and made this for Eva.

 

  If the yarn did not give it away, for you non knitters this is a jig for making pom-poms.  You don't need a shop to make a jig like this but having the materials and tools laying about makes it easy to do.

 I used my drill press to make a quick jig for use in the art kit.

 

  I bought two replacement erasers, needless to say they did not fit into the holder that I had.  Who would have thought that eraser producers would make none-compatible parts.  So...I threw the plastic thing away and made two wooden holders. I will spruce up the final product later, since I  needed an eraser right now. 

  The nail keeps the eraser in place and having a drill press meant that I could drill the hole in the center of the dowel and have it meet in the middle.  I could never have drilled that accurately free hand. The drill press was one of the game changing tools for me early in my workshop days.

  The actual serious project, upon which I have spent 5 hours since yesterday and made vast amounts of saw dust is a bowl. ( gone are the days when I could work hunched over the bench all day, a couple of hours a day is my max now.)

  This is a burl bowl and it is not going to be round.  I had the burl on a shelf, for several years and had planned to turn it on a lathe someday.  I had the burl, before I had a lathe.  Turns out my mini lathe is just a little too small for this chunk of wood.  The more I looked at the wood the more I wanted to go 'free form" anyway.

  Needless to say I was well into the project before it occurred to me how cool this is going to be and so photographs are not available for the first part.  Initially I blocked out a basic shape with chalk and began work with my Arbortech Turbo Plane . I've used this tool before to clear away large amounts of wood in short order.  It is however, aggressive.  

  Using the 4 1/2 inch grinder with the turbo plane and various sanding disks requires both hands, three would be better still.  To be able to safely work on the burl I screwed a block to the top first and gave the outside a basic shape as well as created a flat bottom. What you see in the photo is the block screwed to the bottom so that I can work to hollow out the inside.

  By clamping the block in a hand screw then clamping the hand screw to the bench I am able to rotate the bowl most any direction I need.  I can also hold it at a level that lets me sit while working. Sitting is just that little bit more stable while using various power grinding tools. After roughing the inside out, with the turbo I switched to various bits in various Dremel tools and hand drills.  I've done a number of bowls through the years and have a small tool box filled with dozens of burrs, rasps and grinding tips. In my experience power speeds the job along but quality results still require patience and steady hands. Rushing or lack of attention can make for a serious ugly gouge in an instant.

  I think I have at least 3 more hours of sanding with the final sanding having to be done by hand.  This afternoon I soaked the bowl with water, once it is final sanded and varnished, it is going to look cool.

 cheers, ianw

21 days 'til Christmas.  If asked, you can remind your family that a wood worker can always use more clamps. (or sanders).

Christmas Projects

  It is great to have a work shop handy. On the weekend I was able to work on a simple project with my Grandson. He used both the band and jig saws to cut out a circular frame for his sister and Oma to make into a wreath for their door.  Once he gets totally comfortable with the jigsaw he can make all sorts of things on his own.

  

  Today I cut out rings for Eva and her sisters to make into Christmas wreaths to sell at a church sale this coming weekend.  I make the rings from door skin and since I have the tools I used them all.  I cut the rough outside shape with my variable speed jig saw, then I drilled a hole in the middle and cut it out.  The outside was cut more carefully on my band saw.  To smooth out the edges I used a sanding drum chucked into a corded drill. I have had the sanding drum kit for years and consider it a must for an hobby wood shop.

  So that was an easy job that didn't require all those tools, but, it sure is quicker and easier with the right tool.

 Next I made a small wooden stand for our latest decoration from 10,000 Villages, we love the local store and the entire organization.

 The metal silhouette of the Manger scene  needed a boost to be seen over the edge of the window frame.  The wood is left over skid. I glued two pieces together and cut them to size with my band and table saw. Having a shop  with tools  makes it so easy....doing these various little things is No Sweat.   Having a shop and tools also makes it easier to customize your project. For example this green piece of wood 18 1/2 in. long, 2  in. thick and 3 in. tall.  A 2 x 4 wouldn't have done the job, something needed to be customized in the shop to show the silhouette properly.

  The last thing I'm working on actually needs a bit of skill not just available tools.

  If you know your children's stories this is Pettsen and Findus and they are carved Christmas ornaments.  I drew the shapes from a story book and then copied the shapes onto basswood.  I cut the shapes out on my scroll saw and have carved low relief.  Next I sanded the pieces and gave them two coats of spray sealer so that they can be painted in their characteristic colours.  I'm hopeful my little Swedish Grandchildren will like Findus and Pettsen on their tree.

  

  If you are planning Christmas gifts from you shop, better get on it. Christmas Day is less than a month away. ( not that the grand kids are keeping track or anything.)

cheers, ianw

Proportion, Ratio and Measurement.

  Woodworkers can obsess over many things: hand tool vs. power tools; sharpening, how why and when and don't even raise the question of finishing.  Some plane, others scrape and I a mere carpenter, sands. One thing that we all have to do some of the time is take/make measurements, either metric or imperial.  That is how we get the custom book case to fit the room or the end table to fit the space.  Sometimes I feel we drag the ol' tape measure out when it isn't necessary. Much of wood working is about ratio and proportion, 'if it looks fair, it is fair'.*

  In this blog I want to talk about making my easel,  a video might be a better format, but I decided long ago to be a blogger and leave video for the professionals, so here I ago.

  I wanted an easel that would sit on my desk but was also tall enough that I could use it while standing as well as seated.  An easel is a pretty basic two piece hinged item.  First I looked on the internet for some ideas and then went my own way, as I usually do.  At no point during the building process did I use a measuring tape.

  Once I decided what I was going to do I picked out two 2 x 4's from my collection of reclaimed wood and began by ripping them in half, more or less, on the table saw.  After I had the pieces for the four legs I ran them through the planer reducing them to 5/8.  I cut the boards to a length that suited my needs by placing it on my desk to try out.

   Based on what size of water colour paper I use most often I chose the easel's width. There was pallet wood available to make support cross pieces. I rip cut and planed  a  couple more boards to make the cross pieces and a ledge to hold the papers.  The whole project went together with pocket holes and glue. In the previous video you can see the easel clamped to the table while I attached the hinges.

 When it came time to write the last blog was the first time an actual measurement with a ruler was made. The easel fit my needs and is a pleasing proportion. 

  I've made a couple of projects from my last batch of pallets.  The spruce in the last pallets is actually nice to work and sands smooth and clean. My next project is a bowl featuring 30 degree joints and I'm about about half done. I've got a jig to make before I can finish. 

*fair: The word is a cognate of Old Saxon fagar, meaning beautiful, pretty or peaceful. Since the days of the historian Bede, in the early 700s, it was used to mean good-looking. "Fair of body."

Chair, Inserts and Snowblower, Oh my.

 I know that you have heard about the kneeling chair for months. Anyway, to finish the project off and have it in place in use is worth the trouble.  On the knee and seat pads David put Velcro to attach cushions. 

                                 

          

       

And the final result in use.  David says that it is very comfortable.  I don't know if I want to make one for myself or not.  My old office chair is getting pretty broken down, it was second hand 35 years ago so......maybe it is time for a replacement.

  I have a video to share that popped up on my You tube feed.   I use carbide tipped saw blades and wood turning tools.  While the video deals with industrial carbide inserts the principle will be similar.  On a personal note when I visit Sweden we often drive by the Sandvik steel mill in Sandviken Sweden.  I had to have to steel mill pointed out me, it doesn't look like a factory, it looks like a university campus. It is on the shore of a local lake and doesn't really spoil the scene at all.

 

It is a far cry from steel mills in Hamilton.

p.s.- Yesterday it snowed about 10 cm. and my thirty year old Honda snow blower started on the third pull. yay!

                      

Table Top Easel

  Recently I have been painting and drawing as well as working in my shop.  I began taking classes in drawing to help express (explain) my own designs.  After years of making and carving things from patterns only I needed to branch out.  What I discovered is that I like painting, for itself, not just a means to an end. 

  On Monday I finally got around to making a fairly large table top easel.  I made this easel large so that I can put it on my desk and paint while standing up as well as seated.  

  The first step was wood preparation,  

2 x 4 approximately 

 I began with pallet wood again. This is a basic project that suited soft wood.

Once the wood was re-sawn and planed it was fine for this job.

  The frame is a natural for pocket holes.  At 5/8 inch thick the wood is sturdy enough but light and required 1 inch Kreg screws and glue to hold it together.  

 

Gluing the cross braces onto the back legs brought out my lead weights.  I use these weights when a clamp will not reach.

You can see here that I have clamped the easel frame to my bench during assembly. Usually I work alone in my shop and try to mobilize things as much as possible while I work.

Using things like Pocket Holes is also much, much easier if you use the clamps that were designed by KREG .  Once the easel was screwed and glued together I knocked the edges off with sand paper and smoothed the wood to 120 grit.  The wood is left raw, this is not a project that needs paint or varnish in my opinion. If I made one for some else I would go the extra stage.

work surface is 23 by 24 inches.

  The completed easel has reclaimed hinges and reclaimed light chain in the construction too. The only thing that I had to buy was the piece of white foam core. I buy foam core 6 sheets at a time and use it to make patterns and for Grand kids craft projects.  To use the easel I will tape the art paper to the foam core, and when it  gets ruined I'll replace it with thin plywood. If I have some laying around.

  

fall colours are here. !

November 9th 2018 Burned Box

  Recently I picked up at couple of skids from the side of the road (again).  I have made projects from skids in the past but this time I thought I would make an effort to create a slightly nicer project than in the past, and to try out a new technique. 

13 x 14 x 3 inch box

  The soft wood burned nicely and gave a strong contrast colour.  I used a propane torch to burn the wood.  Another time I will  try roasting the wood in an oven or bar-b-q. The spring return hinges were picked because, a: I had a pair in a drawer and b: it eliminates the need for a latch.  I did not prepare the wood as carefully as if I were making a real show piece, this as a knock around storage box for loose craft supplies and such not a real show piece.  The next time I will thickness all the pieces carefully so that assembly will be more neat and polished.  There are no nails or screws in the this box, just glue and 1/8 inch dowels, except for the hinges. 

the short focal length on a camera phone sure
distorts perspective, don't it!

  Since the skid wood is thin and soft I made certain that the inside and bottom of the box got a couple of coats of finish to help it remain as stable as possible.  You can see the result of not planing the wood to a standard thickness, the joint in the middle is fairly ugly. I guess I could line the bottom with cloth  or foam of something.?

  The next box I'm making from skid wood is ever more silly.

  This is box from left overs, all for sides of the box are slightly different thickness, and to make things interesting I am cutting splines to re-enforce and decorate the corners.  I have cut half of these slots by hand, the other half I am going to cut with my table saw jig.  The table saw is just so much more accurate and fast.

  This should be enough wood for the top and bottom of the small box.  I found that the wood was so thin that it originally had a bow in it when I clamped it.  I had to back off the pressure to get it to stay flat. Again it is going to be burned  but before assembly this time.

  Lately I've been working with harder wood and haven't worked with spruce and pine etc in a while. The wild grain and ease of work is nice, the lack of structural strength can be a trouble. Everything is a trade off.

  I have several pieces of this spruce left. What to make next?

cheers, ianw

Into November

  Finally, after several months and gallons of coffee David's chair completed. David opted for clear varnish and the oak looks good.  Finally after the pieces where varnished we glued and screwed the chair together.  Now the chair goes into David's office and we'll see how it works out.  Needless to say I have kept the plans.  If the chair works out well maybe I'll make myself one. I have some oak left over.

  The current project is this burned wood box. I haven't figured out what I am going to do with the latch system, the hinges will be shown off.  All the wood for the project is made from the scavenged pallet. 

  A project like this uses clamps, bar clamps to edge glue the pieces together and now spring clamps adding the base plates for the hinges. It is impossible to work in a wood shop without sharp tools and bag loads of clamps.

  

  For the first time in a week the sun is shining and so I need to do some work in the yard before the weather turns rotten again.

  cheers, ianw

Burned Wood Finish

  This time I decided to make something nicer than another storage  box for my shop with my found wood.  I began this project by planning and sanding two of the better pieces of raw spruce pallet wood.  

  I decided to use wood plugs and glue again to make this project.  Bamboo skewers make excellent dowels and are super cheap. There have been several videos on YouTube lately showing wood being burned either to create an ebony finish, or in this case to highlight the grain. 

  I've never done this technique before so I sanded the outside burned wood and left the inside unsanded.  Since I am lazy and hate sanding I was curious to see how much difference sanding or not would make.  The results remain to be seen.

  As with so many basic workshop techniques there is room for improvement on the second attempt.

cheers, IanW

David's Chair

  After puttering around in the shop and drinking many cups of coffee we've actually nearly finished.  The knelling chair is finally at the finishing stage.  David took it home to sand and varnish.

  The last part of this project was making three long bolts and putting it all together. Once the chair is sanded and varnished we'll glue it together and take it for a test ride.

  I am working on the long section of the chair rail ( hand sanding)  a slow job spent hunched over the work bench.  Last evening I cut up the pallet wood for a small storage box. Next is surface prep, I am thinking of trying one of those burned wood techniques. 

  

  Time to carry on putting the garden to bed. Yesterday the summer bicycles were hung up in the garage, out of reach for the season.   It is time for rainy cold weather activities, painting, wood work, coffee drinking.

cheers, ianw

Up to Lately

  The other day I picked up a couple of skids while coming home.  The skids were small but the wood looked to be fairly clear pine or spruce.

  As you can see below I got a pretty good pile of small wood pieces.  The thin boards are about 3/8 thick and 16 inches long.

  I figure I will plane the boards down and make a small box of some sort.  Taking a skid apart to get the maximum good wood is not as much a bull strength task as it would first appear.  Over time I have found that trying to pry the skid apart ends with split and broken boards and less usable material. I cut the skid apart and then pull the nails out which gives me more short boards but nothing is split.

                                                  

  The thing that has consumed the house hold for the last week or so was the 2018 Rockton Fair.  The Fair runs for 3 1/2 days over the long weekend, Eva was there for set up and take down as well as working and visiting so she was there four days out of 3 1/2 and I was there two days in 3 1/2. This year I entered a variety of categories.  The three on the top left are for bread baking, my multi-grain bread came first.  The single third in the middle was for spray of Roses. On the top right are three ribbons for painting. The red ribbon is for my winning still life. And the two on the bottom are First for Chip Carving and Second for Relief carving.  Not a bad haul it I do saw so myself.

  If there is a fall fair in your neighbourhood I urge you to enter some of your stuff.  When you delve into things there are many categories for Makers to enter.  Even if you don't win there are ideas to see and you are helping promote your local community.

  It is now time to settle into the routine of winding down the garden and putting the summer toys away.  We've already brought all the tropical plants into the basement and put them back under grow lights. It is moving toward inside activity season: art, music, knitting and wood working.

  cheers, ianw