Prep Day in the Work Shop

  Even before I could begin today's work I had to clean up last week's left overs.  Building in the shop with my Grand Children tends to be messy.  I used these two tools to roughly shape the hull of our latest boat.  For years the blades have been projected by card board and duct tape. This morning I decided that they deserved more respect than that.  Especially the draw knife, it is many many years old and was made for my late Grandfather by a local smith in Bracebridge, Ontario.  As tools go it is excellent, razor sharp and remarkably easy to control for its size. 

  Today I took the few minutes necessary to make proper guards for these tools .  I ripped some 2 x 3 spruce and used my table saw to cut a slot in the guard. Unlike a stop gap job of cardboard and duct tap, I made the guards fit properly, not just adequately.  Once made I went the extra step to sand the work and break all the edges.  I have a supply of bicycle inner tubes on hand, they make excellent heavy duty elastic bands. 

  A couple of silly little jobs like this can be done with very limited available tools.  When you have a shop it is amazing how many tools come into use, cause they are available.  I used my table saw, my band saw, my 6 x 24 inch belt sander, glue and clamps as well as hand sand paper. Don't forget the drill press and drill bits and block plane.  All those tools aren't necessary but it makes replacing card board and duct tape easy and rewarding.  Each time I reach for my draw knife and push knife I will know the blades were safe and will be sharp. These guards will also serve as a lesson to my Grand children to take proper care of their stuff.

  Yesterday's project was filling in the crack in my ash wood round.  I used a variety of power tools to flatten the round first. I began with my power hand planer to knock the roughest stuff off. I find the power planer pretty aggressive, or at least that's how I use it and it survives the treatment. 

 I next moved to a 5 inch grinder with a 36 grit disk and then my 4 1/2 inch grinder with a 100 grit disk.

  The next challenge was fitting a wedge into the big crack. I decided there was no way the repair would be invisible so I didn't even try. First I traced the crack onto a bit of paper then transferred the shape  to a piece of spruce and cut it out, (more or less) on the band saw. Then it was a trial and error, fit and fuss process until I got the wedge shaped more or less to match the crack.

  I used Gorilla Glue and some filler putty to firmly install the wedge. Then I did some extra sanding and it looked better than I had planned.  Originally the round was destined to be a three legged stool, now it is going to be a side table in our living room.

  The change in plan for the round of Ash means that today I was gluing up some wood to become  four legs. 

 After facing the boards on my jointer I glued them together in pairs. I will cut them into squares and turn them on my lathe.  One pair of boards couldn't be glued to day, they were wet, my out side lumber stack cover leaked. No trouble I will not have time to turn all four legs in one day.  My back is getting better, or I am getting better at coping.  I can work in my shop for 3 or 4 hours in a day now,  which is not perfect, but it is much better than no hours a day which it has been in the recent past.

  

  While I was gluing wood today I also re-sawed some spruce to 1/4 inch for a tea box that I plan to make.  I squared the board on my jointer, then re-sawed the boards on my 14 inch band saw and then planed them to thickness with my 12 inch planner.  If I were doing lots of thin board, small projects I would like to have a thickness sander.  At this point I'm set for tools, but...you never know the future. 

Pochade Box

  I have been drawing and painting for a couple of years and now and I've got good enough that I am not embarrassed by my efforts.  Sometimes I try to on paint outside  and have decided to make myself a Pochade Box.  If you do a search of pochade box plans or complete boxes for sale on the internet there are 100's of different boxes available.

  The first part of the project was deciding what I wanted included in the box.

  In my box I want water colour paint, water bottles and the leather pencil case has pencils, pens, brushes and other tools.  I decided that I needed a box that was 10 inches by 12 inches.

  

  To make the box I used a piece of 2 x 4.  Once the 2 x 4 has been jointed, sawed and planed it is actually pretty nice wood with which to work.  I used all the power tools at hand to get the wood ready. I used my King Jointer to get a flat face and edge and then cut a parallel side on my table saw. Once I had a square board I sliced the 2 x 4 into 1/2 inch boards on my band saw I ran the thin boards through my Planer.

  I have my box nailed and clamped together while the glue sets.  I will cut the box apart tomorrow.  At this point I like the grain of the sides, this 2 x 4 was a nice bit of wood.  Once I get every thing sanded on the out side I will glue dividers on the inside and then I have to decide what I want to to about the lid.  I don't think I am going to hinge the lid, thought that is the traditional method. I think I will making the lid a 'fit over' type.

 Tomorrow I am at the kids house for a birthday so it will be Sunday before I can get hardware and carry on with this projects.

cheers ianw

Table Built

  You can never have too many clamps.  I glued up the remaining shelves for Mary's table yesterday.  I milled the two inch boards from a slab of poplar.  Poplar is an interesting wood, there are several species included under the name "poplar" and so the wood can be pure white, or slightly greenish, straight grained and very hard or softer with tinted coloured gain running though it.  These shelves are fairly soft which made milling them on basement equipment easier.  I started with a slab 44 inches long, 2 1/2 inches thick and 10 inches wide. I was able to flatten the board on the planner because it was so thick the rollers could not flatten the cupping.  First I planned off the top of the cup (hump) then turned it over to plane away the edges. The jointer provided a square edge and I used my table saw to slice off six two inch boards. 

  Once the boards were cut I did what all wood workers do next.  I went to my wall of clamps, got down a bunch and clamped the boards together.  Every time I do this I marvel at the advancements in adhesive technology. Now I almost never use dowels, or biscuits when edge clamping.

  This table is a custom size, and that is what you can do when you have a work shop.  In reality the table is a bit taller than typical which allows the middle shelf. The photo doesn't show but the legs are tapered  to lighten the presentation somewhat. 

   I will spent a bit of time sanding the whole thing again and then Mary can stain it, paint it or what ever her heart desires.

  I saw the band new Kreg  mobile work centre , I can't wait to check one out in person. In the  The video looks great.

cheers, ianw

Start with the Jointer

  The tool that took my wood working to the next level was my jointer. 

  I bought my jointer to enable me to use rough lumber when I built the crib for my Grand children almost six years ago.

   

    Popular Woodworking Magazine just ran a short essay on the jointer which reflects much of my thinking, it is nice to have your ideas supported.

  The on-line course that is being offered by Popular Woodworking Magazine is an interesting concept and one that I may explore one day.  At this time I have lots of woodworking books and magazines filled with good information and haven't felt the need to add on-line education, but I am sure there are younger woodworkers that are totally comfortable with the idea.

  I would agree with the essay buy a jointer first, then buy a planner.  It is really nice to have both.

ianw