November 8th 2019 - noses

  I am working on a box and finishing some spoons and working on hand carved noses.

  Last winter our brother in law made snow men from off cut rounds of ash.  We named our snow man Tromso after the city in Norway.

  As you can see he is a noble fellow but...was lacking in the nose department. Et voila.

  He is laying in the shop as his nose dries, also he needs some work on his lower back, to help him hold it together.  The other nose is for his brother Bodo  that lives with my Mother.  I will make the custom installation next week.  By the way, both Bodo and Tromso are interesting cities to visit. Isn't Norway on everyone's bucket list?

 

the natural use for spring clamps

 Yet another box.  This one is made from some sort of exotic pallet wood.  It looks as though it is related to mahogany and will look good with a clear finish.  Under all those clamps are cherry veneer details that I added to the long sides.  Working with pallet wood adds a stage in the work that is not there with new wood.  To get the wood ready I had to do more planing and sanding than with new wood.  Also with reclaimed wood the first step is ' looking for hidden nasties ' .  This time there were no hidden nails or staples, one time there were hidden bits of staple in the material which wrecked some teeth on my fine toothed pull saw. 

  My work style in the shop has slowed down.  Most of my latest projects are hand finished and glue up rather than faster methods, nail, screws, pocket holes, etc and currently the pace and productivity suits me fine.

  cheers ianw

cheers, ian

 

  

A wooden hat for Tromso

  In two weeks I am taking my February holiday and will be out of the shop and irregular in my postings. That is why I am trying to knock off some of those projects that have drifted around my life or are some little thing that I just haven't gotten around to yet. I what to March 2019 to be filled with new inspirations not left overs.

 Today's post is one of those little things.

  Just before Christmas this snow person arrived from my sister and brother in law's shop.  What was missing was a hat.  Tromso, for that is his name, had a stylish scarf but no hat.  I had never made a hat in my shop before, it wasn't difficult but it was a new experience.  The hat sits on his head and so far is not fastened in anyway but that could change if winter winds become as issue. The hat isn't just a box the sides curve a bit and the top is rounded giving our snow man a hint of style.  Looking at this photo I think he needs a nose job too.

  When we first saw this house without any furniture in it, it looked huge and empty.  We imagined a large living room with a sectional sofa and I thought I'd have a basement workshop that was big enough for a barn dance.  We had even talked about a separate wood shop and a finishing room.    I would have loved to have a dust free space to allow paint and varnish to dry to smooth glossy perfection.  Well......the basement wasn't as big as I thought and so the finishing room vanished in a cloud of physical reality.  So the reality is that when I am painting things like snowmen's hats and chair rails I have to stop making dust. For the last few days the work shop has become a painting and drying space. As you can see the hat's done, the chair rail should be done today and then I'm back to making dust..

  More than building, on my agenda for the next couple of weeks is serious cleaning.  It is time to drag all the machines away from the wall and vacuum behind them, also send the various blades out for sharpening too.  It is time to sort out and put away properly the many assorted nail, nuts, screws and thingamabobs that have collected over the last year or two.  Those two jobs are worst, they seem so mindless, but are actually productive and over due.

  If I find anything really strange while cleaning I'll let you know.

 cheers, ianw