Why Wood?

 I have written of my love of wood and its properties.  I suppose if I were a black smith I would make more things from steel, but wood seems more versatile.

  Our garage if filled with bicycles, my motorcycle and now my wife's plug in car. The only available empty space from storage is up.

  Getting Eva's bike up and out of the way was part of a quick little project yesterday.  

  After deciding what to do I went into my shop and selected a nice piece of one inch hard wood. In this case elm. I drew the shape I wanted and cut it out on my band saw. Once I got the general shape formed I used a sanding disk on my 4 1/2" angle grinder to smooth over the edges and roughly sand.  120 grit sanding with my random orbital sander and a coat of Tung Oil for a finish.  It was a 20 minute + 1 cup of coffee task.  I used my drill press to drill the holes and attached the tie down with 2 1/2 inch self tapping screws.  I drilled pilot holes through the tie down and drove the screws through into the 2 x 4 framing. Now it is easy to tie off the rope once the bike is lifted into place. 

  The other job yesterday was a repair. 

  A couple of years ago I made this slider lock for out patio door.  For amusement's sake I carved the wee penguin. Anyway the other day the stick broke off.  Previously the wood that went in the track was just a nasty old cut off.  This time I gave the wood some shape, and stained it and drilled it for the dowel.  I even sanded the board this time.  Wood can be repaired and when the time is right can be shaped, sanded and stained and made into something pleasant to see as well as functional. Most doors are secured with a piece of broom handle....that is functional.

 Now, down to the shop to work on an interesting interpretation of a table.

cheers, ianw

  

A Glue Up Trick

 This morning as I was drinking my coffee and washing left over dishes I watched this very informative You Tube Video.

   As the presenter Nick Ferry says, it seems so obvious, but I'd not thought of it.

The Best Way to Glue Together Thick Pieces. 

  It is perfect solution.  

cheers ianw

A Great Summer Project

 The pace of shop production has slowed as due to summer heat and holidays.  This week my grandson has been staying with us as he goes to Science Camp during the day. Last evening was out second attempt at a Pop Pop Boat.

  This is a project I remember for my days as a Cub Scout, though I don't remember my boat working.

   K and I followed the instructions from the video Monday evening but made a couple of small errors in design.  The boiler was solid but didn't make enough stream.  Last evening we made a larger boat and fired the same sized boiler with two tea lights and it worked.

  

  There is a video of it steaming about in the sink but I'm not skilled enough to get it from Facebook to here.

  The video on how to make the boat is: How to Make a Simple Pop Pop Boat.

  If you follow his instruction carefully you two can have a steam powered boat. We were very very careful with the sheet aluminium the edges are razor sharp. I also found it was easier to cut the pieces square with a utility knife using a straight edge on a cutting mat rather than scissors.

  Give it a try.

cheers, ianw 

A Box, A Bed and A Rack

Last July I completed a Pochade Box for my water colour paints. Last evening I modified the box for this summer's painting course, in which I need pencil crayons and pastels instead of paint.

I

  The divisions inside the box were not suitable so...

I removed one of the dividers.  Also I decided that I wanted a handle on the box so 

 I added one.  Since the box is wood and I made it myself it was no big deal to make changes.  I know how the box is put together and what it is made from, all wood, no M.D.F. I made the handle by braiding three strands of heavy string together and then wrapping it with two more layers of string to make comfortable to hold yet totally squash-able.  Once I tied the strings together I sealed the knots with Super Glue and shazam a comfortable handle.

  Another project that was finished this week was a Bunnie Bed.  I carefully cut, from quality cedar a 10 by 18 bed for one of Clara's stuffed toys. On Monday we glued and clamped the bed together and on Wednesday day she admired the finished product, commented on how smooooooth the wood felt and then painted it multi-colours.  All that nice grain is gone.  I can't really expect a seven year old to have a love of wood and admiration of grain patterns.

  

The pink and yellow didn't show up very well in this picture.  However, the Bunny likes her new bed, and Opa hits another home run. 

  I still prefer cedar to 'pine'. The quality of the wood is higher for cedar, its grain is nicer and it is very light, perfect this sort of project.

  The last project is a rack for my pull cut saws.  A week ago I was given a very nice gift in the form of two high quality pull cut (Japanese Style) saws.  I made a rack to hold my two wonderful new saws and my old stand by plywood cutting saw.

 I made the rack from left overs in the shop.  The backing board is part of an old dresser I salvaged a while ago. It is veneer on real wood. The other pieces are soft wood that I glued onto the backing board and then embedded rare earth magnets to hold the saw blades.  Also I glued a small shelf onto the bottom of the rack, because I always over engineer my projects.  Also because I don't want my really nice saws to ever fall on the floor.

  The rack is screwed to the front of my tool cabinet.  On the inside are other small saws, so there is order coming into the chaos of my shop.  Those new saws ( red handled) are very fine tools, they cut with ease and grace and I promise to try and keep them away from hidden screws and nails.  

  If anyone is looking for a custom sized Pochade Box, contact me through the comments section and we can talk price.

cheers, ianw

Train is Done....

  Over the past few weeks I have not been very active in my shop.  In the cool of the evening I putter around for a bit but mostly my energy is spent in the garden, on the motorcycle and/or trying to stay cool.
  That doesn't mean that there has been nothing going on. Last week my buddy with the crazy truck,

  helped me bring home six oak pew backs from our church.  The wooden pews are being replaced by much more comfortable chairs.

  I now have six pieces of oak 10 feet by 2 feet by 3/4 inch.  This wood has been cured for fifty years so I have no concern about cracking.  What I will do with all the wonderful wood, I haven't decided yet but what a wind fall for my shop.

  Also I finished off a smaller project.

 Two serious coats of Minwax wood hardener and my envelop knife is ready for prime time.

 The biggest project that has been drifting around my shop was the train shaped planters.

  The engine is 22 inches long and 8 inches wide, as is the freight car that 

will follow the coal tender.  The coal tender is 11 inches long.  I am pleased with most aspects of this build, except the wheels.  Or more accurately the way that the wheels attach to the cars.

  If I were to make another version of this I would still use cedar, (good for the out doors and my favourite wood with which to work.)  The process of glue and dowels I would keep too.  If all else fails this project won't have rust streaks showing .  Since the wheels are just for show I would have made them from thinner material and created a more light weight under carriage.  

  I think the planters will do okay in varnished wood this season but will need to be painted in the future and a good paint job will make for more of a train look.

  Cut out and waiting are bed pieces for my Grand daughter's stuffy, Bella Bunny.  When they get here later today she and I'll assemble the bed for Bella. I love grand children making things,

cheers, ianw

   

Two Weeks away from the Shop

 So for two weeks I haven't posted anything.  That does not mean that I have been sitting in the shade drinking Mint Juleps. Well, in fact I had a Mint Julep last Thursday evening, oh my goodness it went down smoothly. It was an evening of decadence, I also ate four different kinds of home made ice cream/sherbet.  My host, the ice cream maker, recommended "The Perfect Scoop" as his ice recipe book. I have it on order from our local library.

  What else?  I spent a week riding my motorcycle around Muskoka and the Haliburtion HIghlands in fabulous weather. I can not recommend those regions of Ontario highly enough. My family is from Bracebridge, though I've never lived there and so can not claim to be perfectly objective.  As a foot note there is an excellent bakery in Dwight Ontario called Erika's, outstanding donuts. 

  Anyway, what else?  Gardening, it's a jungle out there, and we love it.  

  Wood working, well, whittling while enjoying quiet evenings on Lake of Bays.

  That is my Mora 511 carbon steel knife and the two projects that I whittled while sitting on the porch after my rides.  I found a piece of dry white cedar and went with the grain .  All I needed aside from the knife was a sheet of 80 grit and a sheet of 150 grit sand paper.  My grand daughters found the two ended spoon a bit odd but it was inspired by 'the daily spoon' My plan for the wooden knife is to make it into a letter opener knife by chemically hardening the blade with epoxy or something similar. I still get some snail mail. 

  Otherwise I have  just been puttering around and enjoying the summer weather,  that has finally arrived. 

   

How To Build A Wooden Boat. 

  One day I am going to have a reason to make a boat like this. One day.

  I hope you are enjoying your summer and are out in the fresh air and sunshine whenever possible.

cheers ianw