Draw Knife

I was making some stakes for peony cages from reclaimed lumber the other day. 

  The stakes are about 24 inches long cut from construction  2 x 4. I cut the rough shape on my band saw but a jig saw could have done the job too.

  Once I got the rough shape I sharpened the end so the stake can be driven into the ground around the peony plants.

  To sharpen the stake I immediately thought of using my hatchet.  A great tool  for roughing out spoons and rounding pieces to be turned on the lathe.

  

  My hatchet is a fine tool and one that I am glad to own.  But....putting points onto garden stakes can be done with another 'ol skule' tool. The draw knife, I have three.

  The top two draw knives are from my Grandfather's work shop, The smaller of the two stated life in my Great Grandfather's work shop, so they are very experienced. Also very very high quality.  In the olden days tools like these were made in the local forge, probably as a special ordered item. Those two tools will outlast me and probably my grand children.

  Sharpening those 20 garden stakes was a piece of cake.  It was quicker, easier and more accurate than trying to sharpen the stakes with my hatchet.  The small straight blade used to be called a 'push knife', that seems now to means some sort of dagger.  The straight 'draw knife' is more flexible to use and easier to control for finer cuts.  Once the big cuts are done, using the modern Swedish knife makes working more like carving than carpentry.

  Mine is a hybrid wood shop, both sweat and electricity are employed to get the job done.   In my wood working I  try to take advantage of all available tools and techniques.  I think like a good carpentry hatchet or a stout shop knife, a draw knife is a great tool to have in any shop.

Peonies and Siberian Iris,
a view like our  back yard.

  

Two Tough Tools for Re-claimed Lumber Projects.

 I am currently making the many stakes that will be used to hold up Eva's peonies.  

  The stakes is about 24 inches long and are made from construction grade left over 2x4 and 2x6.  Some of the wood had been outside for the whole winter. so pretty rough.  I brought it in for a couple of days to dry out and then set to work cleaning, cutting and shaping. 

  To rough this wood to length I used a rough cut saw.

  This is a pull cut saw generally used to cut plastic pipe among  other nasty on site jobs.  It was purchased for just that sort of thing.  I use enough construction lumber and pallet wood to need a cheap no worries rough saw. It came from a local hardware store a while ago for a reasonable price thus I have no reservations when using it. There are no shortage of handsaws  with  impulse hardened teeth for under $30.00 CAN. I really recommend every shop and home should have one for everything from garden trimming to rough carpentry.

 The other rough tool is not as obvious.

  Ten years ago I imported hand planes from India made by Anant Company.  There are a couple of companies that make a similar low cost planes.  I have two of these Stanley 33 copies, one for rough work and one with a fine blade setting.  Since this plane cost about $25.00 and the blades aren't great to begin with I use this plane to explore the wood I am working.  Some re-claimed wood is so nasty it needs to be wire brushed or hosed down before I can do much with it, once it is 'cleaned' I use this plane to round edges and clean up rough grain.  Yes there is a nick in the blade, but.. better this tool than my good Veritas low angle smoothing plane. This is also the tool I put into the hands of my Grandchildren.  The less I fuss the more the kids are comfortable in the shop. 

  I have made some quality things from pallet wood, the wood can be nice once the gritty exterior is removed and then you can use your 'good' tools to finish your project.

cheers, ianw

  

   Peonies can be top heavy.

Finished Box, sow's ear to silk purse.

 Given the time spent at home I have been able to make serious headway on sorting out my accumulated 'stuff'.  The other thing that I have been doing is finishing up things that have been on the shelf for a while.

  

  The wine box top will be mated with a tool bin/box.  The box is made from re-claimed lumber complete with nail holes from its previous life.

  I used two small hinges to hold on the top and then reinforced them with leather. I buy the leather as scraps for a few dollars a pound and really like how it mates with wood.

  And the clasp is also made from leather and brass.

    I used a water based strain that I bought on clearance at IKEA a couple of years ago.  I really like the colour and the stain was easy to use.  I may buy some more when the stores open again.  The stain is some oil based varnish that was on the back of a shelf and the results are pretty good.

  This was a project that began as a throw away parts bin four or five years ago made from cheap materials.  A little TLC and it  has turned out pretty nice, now, what to do with it?

  cheers, ianw

Small Projects and an IKEA knock off

  My Grand kids were here for a couple of days on the weekend and as well as rambling adventures in the 'Dark Forest' behind our house the kids worked on various projects with Oma and I.

  Clara and Oma cooked, they made home made pasta and pizza including the dough and cup cakes, (from scratch).

  The batter and icing was filled with orange zest, those were not ordinary cupcakes.  Clara also has learned how to crochet slippers.  She has learned that things you make yourself bring the most satisfaction. 

  My grandson arrived with a project plan in mind, including dimensions.  He wanted a shelving unit upon which to display his many LEGO projects. He wanted a unit 75 inches long, 31 inches high with three shelves.  Once we seriously examined his plan it became clear that the unit would not fit into any of our cars to deliver it to their home.  We redesigned the unit into two pieces and then cut out all the sections, drilled the necessary holes and even counted out and packaged the screws.

  This project was a useful  learning experience for us.  The young fellow learned how to be a good table saw helper . Safety and operating procedures  are important things to learn from the very beginning.

  We are trying to keep a low profile and stay close to home and so it is a good time for maintenance and improvisation.  I have been sharpening tools as well as culling old finishes and lumber.  It is also a good time to replace glued sanding disks.

   

  My father made this sander/grinder for his shop when I was a kid. On the right side is a aluminium disk I bought in a tool store years ago to replace a plywood disk.  I have been using the sanding disk for a long time cleaning it with a crepe block. Finally I used my heat gun to loosen the glue and replace the paper.

  On the left side is the original sanding disk, a plywood disk with a 5/8 centre hole.  I had stopped using the wood disk, it flexed.  I decided to improvise and so found an old 7 inch saw blade, a plywood blade with lots of little teeth and glued it to the plywood disk.  Now I have two grits available to me 80 and 150. 

  I am working on 45 degree jigs in my shop now.  I have a couple of mitre corner boxes I want to make from thin wood, too thin to cut accurately with the mitre saw. I plan to rough cut the wood to length and refine the 45 degree mitre using hand tools.  The glue is setting and the jig will be in use tomorrow.

  I am a home body and so don't find the current situation a strain but if you do.  Hang in there, this is a short term aggravation  to avoid long term unhappiness.

cheers, ianw