Small Box B

   The second small box I made from pallet wood also turned out to have lovely grain. This time I pushed my luck a little too far and made the sides 1/8th inch thick.  That did not give enough contact surface to get a solid glue joint so I had add  bracing.

 

The sides are braced internally and taped 

while the gravity clamp does its job.

  When I do a project like this that relies on glue alone I always give the glue lots of time, usually over night to set. I used Gorilla Glue to hold this together.  Also I tapered the corner braces so there was a smooth flow from the top into the box.

  The box is finished with two coats of "3 Part Finish" * and one coat of wax.  The only small handicap 3 Part Finish has it is is slow to dry.  I find that it needs 24 hours to dry enough that a second coat can be applied. It takes a couple of days for the final coat of finish to really harden. In this case time was available so it is not a problem, old style finishes are not for last minute folks. Once dry I gave the box a quick coat of wax and now it looks great.  

  Start thinking about gift season, it isn't far away.

  

* 3 Part Finish - one part boiled linseed oil

                          -one part varnish

                         - one part mineral spirits or turpentine.

Last Week - Safety On the Brain - Boiled Linseed Oil.

 Since we live in the Great White North, almost, we are doing some yard things to get ready for the coming cold weather.  Eva is spreading wood chips around the garden and pruning shrubs.  I have disconnected the hoses and turned the water supply off, pumps needs to be pulled from the water features too.  It's not that cold yet, but any job involving water is best not put off too late.

 The other thing I have worked on is Tromso. He needed some paint and I sealed his back side with boiled linseed oil/oil based poly/turpentine mixture.

  As long ago as 2013 I adopted a three part  mixture when using oil based finishes.  Most wood finishes in Ontario are water based now and for the most part work fine.  Tromso is going to sit outside all winter and so I opted for an older style treatment, using some materials that have been around for years.  I mixed equal parts, oil based varnish, boiled linseed oil and turpentine to get a perpetrating style oil finish.  I liberally  soaked the bark and the back side of the snowman. As well I made him new buttons;

 which literally sat for a couple of hours in a jar of boiled linseed oil.  The oil will help seal the small rounds and I hope keep them looking good through the winter.

  Boiled Linseed Oil is a very old, well respected, time consuming finish that has a special issue, its own special safety concern.  If you watch "Wood By Wright"   you will see that linseed oil can spontaneously ignite   and what to do to avoid that.  In my shop right now are two used shop cloths laying on the floor drying, to be burned later today. 

  While things were drying I filled some time in the shop with carving yet another spoon.

  This spoon will be used to scoop loose tea from a tin, therefore a teaspoon. I made this spoon from a scrap of walnut in the burn bin. I hate to discard any wood, nice hardwood especially, even if it likely has no purpose. This bit was saved. Once fully dried linseed oil is food safe, they say, I've always opted for pure Tung Oil , or for the last few years pure Hemp Oil as my spoon and cutting board finish. 

  As a foot note:

Last blog I showed splined mitre joints.  I turned the example joint into a square for our craft table.                                                                                                     

 

                                           

  This square is not accurate enough for my workshop, but plenty accurate for measuring and cutting card stock, drawing papers or laying out a design for a poster or card.

   Al together a fun, relaxed and positive week in the shop.