A re-post and a prototype.

   Sometime ago I wrote a fairly wordy post, that only a mature individual would have the nerve to write.  A young man needs a few years and a couple of battle scars before he can seriously talk about the search for balance in his life, or workshop.

http://blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com/2011/04/wisdom-du-kannst-nicht-alle-hasen-jagen.html

  I think it is time for me to re-visit 2011 and check which rabbits I want to hunt now.  I am just as happy trying to draw and paint as make saw dust most days.  Secretly I think it is because it is quiet, cost effective, portable and the product of hours of work fits into a folder instead of me having to find a home for that I have made.

  The drawing process is not that different at the craft level from wood working.

                               Graphite

   I then draw the same subject  in pastels, then charcoal looking to see which appeals to me most. 

 Recently I have to trying to get comfortable with chalk pastel. 

  It is like deciding that you are going to learn a new finish in you shop.  It takes some practice before the lacquer finish is as good as your old standby.

  The wood shop prototype is a scoop.  It has been a particularly challenging  winter and the other day I needed to spread sand and salt on the driveway and front steps.  The plastic scoop that was in the bag let me down.  I love it when there is a good reason to make something.

 This scoop is make from scrap 2 x 4 but...I like the size.  I tried drilling out the void with a forstner bit and cleaning it up with chisel.  The general shape was cut on my band saw. I may try other ways of forming the scoop(s). Once the glue sets I will shape this scoop so that it is comfortable to use.  The size and shape suits me and I will pick some quality material and make a couple more.  Everybody I know needs a salt/sand scoop. 

  If I find a nice piece of wood I may make a nice scoop just for the heck of it.

cheers, ianw

Band Saw Style Box

    While I was working on my latest spoon I thought I would have a couple of small projects on the go too.  I like to have a variety of things going on in my shop.  It adds  interests and has me working with with muscles and in different postures, which helps my back pain issues. This is an oval (ish) box with a twisting lid. It has a maple body and oak top and bottom. 

  It is similar to making a band saw box but instead of cutting the ends off I shaped the body, through drilled out the inside and then added the end pieces.  Through drilling and adding the bottom afterwards makes for a smoother finish inside and on the bottom.  Fitting the bottom and shaping it is easy.

  I rough cut the oak and glued it onto the bottom.  Then I used my belt sander to form the bottom to the exact shape of the body of the box.  To fit the top exactly I use a trick I learned from wood turning.  As you can see from the photo there is paper residue on the wood. 

  To glue the top onto the body solidly enough that I could shape and sand it and still get it loose I glued a layer of ordinary printed paper between the two pieces.  I clamped the two pieces together and gave them lots of time (over night) to set thoroughly.  After I was done sanding and shaping I inserted a thin knife blade between the top and bottom and gently pried them apart.  

  At this moment I haven't got a use for the box.  It is awaiting multiple coats of shellac and spray varnish.  I will finish it when I am finishing other small projects. 

cheers, ianw

Clara's Clock

  When the grand children where here for a visit last week my grandson designed and made a submarine, Clara designed a clock for her room.  I think that design, not engineering is going to be her strength.

  I think we have a duct tape diva in the making.

  The taping and painting was all Clara, I got assigned the woodworking part of the task.

  The round slab of wood is ash.  If you have ever tried to carve ash you know that it is hard, and end grain is even tougher.  You can see from the holes I used a forstner bit to hog away most of the wood.  I drilled out the space for the  clock works and squared the corners with a chisel. Since this is the back of the clock I used a sanding disk to flatten it.  

  To even do something as small as this you need a drill press, drill bits and an aggressive sander. It is nice to have a wood working  and an assortment to tools with which to work.

cheers ianw 

  

Spindle Turning Project

 Usually a cylinder with a lid is turned as a spindle and then finished on a face plate of multi-jaw chuck. The body is hollowed out while the cylinder is held by the four jaw chuck and the lid is also finished that way.

 In this case I made the lidded cylinder without using a face plate.

  First I turned the cylinder 

 leaving about 1/8 of an inch on each end knowing that those pieces would be cut off, and about 3/4 from one end I cut deeply with my parting tool.

 Once the cylinder was round I cut the top quarter off using my table saw sled, so that the cut would be at 90 degrees. I then cut the extra wood off the base, on the table saw again so the base would be flat and square. Next I used a Forstner bit to drill into the bottom section, since I couldn't hollow it out on the lathe. I used dividers to make sure that I was drilling in the centre of the cylinder, if the hole were off centre the top would not fit properly.

 The base once drilled is ready for final sanding.  I had sanded the cylinder to 400 grit on the lathe.

 The top section was now re-installed on the lathe and a tendon cut to fit the bored hole  in the cylinder. The other end has the extra wood that will be cut off with a saw once the piece is removed from the lathe.

  The cylinder has a flat top where it has been cut off the extra wood and that needs to be sanded carefully to get a nice end grain finish.

  The only real downside to making a cylinder like this is the final sanding isn't done on the lathe but by hand. The up side is the money saved. 

 Once sanded I sprayed the two pieces with 3 coats of varnish.

Full On Cabinet Repair

  Last entry was the door to this cabinet.  Now I have the rest of the cabinet home to work on. The drawers are bullet proof, thick heavy wood dovetailed together. The body of the cabinet is a frame filled with raised panels. Sadly the panels are glued and pinned solid, hence, cracked.  If there was ever an endorsement for floating panels, this is it.

This cabinet from 10,000 Villages has not been able to adjust to the huge difference in humidity between it's place of origin, Malaysia and place of sale, Ontario.

cracks on left side, both panels.

the other side only has one panel that is cracked.

 As you can see the cracks go right through and the panel has pulled apart by several millimetres. Like the door these are not just 'cracks', but monster cracks/holes.

 I need to work on the top of the piece too. I just haven't decided what I am going to do.  I know that I can not hope to hide the crack, but I can't really think of how to make a virtue out of this reality.  

 The design of the piece is nice and the wood has great character, it just didn't make the trip without real suffering.

Top six ways to Become a Better Wood worker

    As the Mr. Huey said, it is a bit self serving, but the points he makes are good.

The Tool Store.ca

Deal of the day

  

You Might Be A Woodworker...if .. part 2

   You might be a wood worker if you just like stuff made from wood instead of other materials.  Sometimes I make things from wood because I really want to replace  a plastic something. Other times I make stuff from wood because I just love the look, and feel of wood.

  Do you recognize this small cloth pouch?

   You might be a diabetic if you recognized this small black pouch.  It is the one that comes with you Contour blood glucose meter.  I am diabetic and so handle this little pouch at least twice a day.   I am not happy to be diabetic and really hate having to stick my fingers and draw my blood.  On the other hand, sick, blind and crippled is not a better option.

  Each morning I begin my day by opening the top drawer in my bathroom  vanity and taking this pouch out, and testing my blood.  Each morning my stiff old fingers fumble with the Zipper and more than once the whole thing has ended down on the floor.

  So today....as a wood worker guy.....I did this.

  Now this nice little wooden holder will sit in the top drawer instead of the pouch.  This holder will remind me, that I have a great workshop in the basement waiting for me to come and play, it will also remind me that if I mind my diet, get my exercise and take my medication I should have years and years to play in my work shop.

   I will also be reminded that I am lucky that my trouble is diabetes, there are many many things that are worse.

  It was a silly little project but kind of fun.  I used my forstner   bits to drill the holes.  The wood is a piece of scrap spruce stud  and the finish is orange shellac.  I had a quiet morning and didn't want to take on a big project, but still wanted to play in the shop so this is what I did.

   Some blogs ask people to answer polls.  I won't ask but I do wonder how many wood workers just like to play in their shop and so do little projects like this?