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."