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

  

A Wonderful Bit of Wood Working.

  I came to this video more or less at random and am glad that I watched it all the way through.  Now I wish I had access to bamboo.

Bamboo Furniture  

  A great result with limited tools.

cheers, ianw