In the Shop Today- Oct. 2019

  Today I planned to spend more time in my shop. I am returning to my 'work 30 minutes, stretch out 60 minutes-repeat often as possible' schedule.  I have things I want/need to do and I really don't want back pain to stop me. 

  First thing I did was sharpen one of my wife's fine serrated blade kitchen knives.  To touch up the fine serrations I needed my triangle needle file and my magnifying headset .

this is another of those tools that I only use a few times per year,
but would be stuck without.

  After I sharpened the knife I set to work to up grade my bathroom caddy. 

  I had up cycled as orange crate and have been using it since December  2016. Over time I got tired of bottles and stuff falling over and getting trapped underneath the handle. The caddy needed a couple of internal dividers added to the design.

  To make the dividers I used my rip saw, planes, drills, dowels and bench top planning jig.

The wood began with a piece of reclaimed lumber from a skid.  First I ripped the board it to width with a hand saw, holding it on the new raised bench top.  Now that is much easier and at a better height.

  After I used a hand saw to  rip the wood  to width I hand planed the board holding it with my planing jig. I used my mitre saw to cut the wood length, hand tools are nice, power tools are quick. 

  I glued and pinned the dividers in place with 1/8 inch bamboo skewers cut to one inch dowels.  Dowels are used because I don't want rust stains from screws in the caddy/tote  which will get damp in the bathroom.  I have made several projects with the 1/8 bamboo pins, the pins really are just for alignment 'til the glue dries, but they are cheap and available. 

    The caddy was painted bronze last time, purple this time.  When I am out and about I pick up cheap cans of spray paint for jobs were the colour  doesn't matter, currently I have purple.  I added the two internal dividers to keep things from falling over while I move the caddy around.

  The planing jig is something I made in May 2017 and used on my lower work table, but really like on the raised work surface.  

I added a couple of semi-permanent dogs
 to the end of the jig. 

  Just for an update:

planter with foam box insert
back on my Mom's patio.

  The cheap paring knives that I sharpened can be replace for a couple of bucks, the planter uses a discarded foam packing box and the bathroom tote thing is an up cycled orange crate and skid lumber.  I like to be able to repair and remake things to keep materials out of the land fill sites as much as possible.  

  I have a couple more knives to sharpen and a small box I am gathering nice wood for to keep me occupied for the next few 30 working-60 stretching days.  The larger raised work surface seems as though it will make a big difference in the long run.

cheers ianw

Two Videos and What I've been Up To, too.

 As I wonder about the world wide web I occasionally find a longer video or two that I feel are worth watching all the way through.

  This first video is in Swedish with English sub-titles. If you know anything about Sweden you know they are serious about wood working with knives and axes.  In this video a team of four woodworkers split out eight 13 metre ( 14.2 yards)  beams from a spruce tree. 

My arms were tired just watching. 

    It seems like a great deal of work, but remember those beams will last for hundreds of years. Split wood has the extra strength gained by working with the grain verses wood that has been sawn to size.

  The next video is a long bow maker.  He works with patience and care and all hand tools.  It is sort of a gentle massage for the wood worker's soul watching him work.

 It is a weapon but its creation is high craft.

    The production values of the video were high and without commentary it is less informative but more entertaining.

  What have I been doing?  Well, the weather has improved so I have been trying to ride off some of my winter fat on my new bicycle. The shop projects are small and mostly personal.

  I repaired a wobbly chair for 10,000 Villages.  It was suggested a couple of metal brackets would do, but.... I decided some carefully placed screws with plugs to hide the holes would do better.  Once the plugs are cut flush and a bit of stain is applied the repair will be much nicer than metal brackets.

  My Wife's cousin provided me with some antler and I have been thinking about and working on a handle for a knife for Steve.  This morning I got down to the nitty gritty of actually drilling the horn and fitting the blade.  I spent a great deal of time designing in my head before I drill for the blade, since there is no going back once the hole is drilled.  

  The request was for a 'cool' knife not a working tool.  I have a design for a finger guard made from copper or brass in my head, now to source the materials.  I don't make enough knife handles to keep a variety of specialised and interesting materials on hand. As it is my shop is stiffed with stuff for woodworking.

  To fit a handle like this I use needle rasps, files and my bench grinder to shape both the tang of the blade and the hole in the antler. 

  The bench grinder is one of those tools that every shop should have but get used twice a year at best.  My grinder was in the back of a bottom shelf so covered with dust that I couldn't see it.  I don't use the grinder for anything delicate but I'd sure miss having it.

  The small project that created all the wood shavings is yet another box.  

  Occasionally I just need to plane a board by hand.  I made the planing jig a while ago and it makes planing small pieces safe and easy.

   

  This small box is going to go into a book cover creating a secret compartment for things like pass ports and emergency cash.   I used skid wood for the frame and once it was planed it looks good.  Ultimately I will paint the frame creamy white, sort of book page colour. 

  I have a couple of other small things I want to make, maybe if it rains for most of the weekend I will get around to them. If it doesn't rain,well them there are bike things to do.

cheers, ianw