Another Group of 10,000 Villages Repairs

  Being away on holiday does not prevent the rest of the world from carrying on.  I came home to five things from 10,000 Villages that needed repair.  As I have been working on these things it struck me how a repair shop is different from a typical wood working shop. 

  For example I am making a repair to a glass goblet.  At some point in this glass objects life it got chipped, small but sharp edged. Repairing it is not a typical wood shop job.  I turned to my collection of glues and mixed up a tiny dab of two part epoxy and filled in the chipped spot.  The repair is not invisible but the goblet can now be discounted and some one will buy it as an object d' art rather than a regularly used wine glass.

two part glue at work 

  While talking about glue, here is a video of a band saw box being glued together using adhesive and hardener. This is  the more typical wood shop application.

   Another repair pending is trying to remove this stain, or repaint the piece to try and hide the it. 

  This piece is painted with acrylic paint and I have already tried to remove the stain but I am pretty sure it is brown paint that was left to dry by accident.  I am going to have to over paint this blotch to hide it.  Luckily! I have a pretty good selection of acrylic paint kicking around. Again a repair shop needs various types of paint that a serious wood shop could live without. (happily) 

  I also have a typical repair on my wood bench.  It is a carved box from Indonesia, and the lid doesn't close properly.  The solution is some planing and sanding. Once sanded I repair the finish using orange shellac. I am very fond of shellac, but I wonder how many wood workers still use shellac as a sealer or finish?  The new water based sealers seem to be pretty good, now.

  The repairs that I have done for both 10,000 Villages and other customers draw heavily on a small selection of tools.  Knives and scrappers, glues and clamps, drill press, hand drills  and bits and sometimes fine blades saws.  Seldom do I need a table saw, router, jointer or planer, power doesn't seem to be as important in repair work as patience.  It has been a long evolution from being a power tool, belt sander kind of guy to where I am now.  

  Just proves...you can teach a old dog new tricks.

cheers, ianw

  

When are Tools more than Just Tools?

  We returned from a very good holiday in Ponta Delgada on the Azores island of Sao Miguel yesterday and this morning I returned to my work shop.  Recently I watched a video by  April Wilkerson talking about her feelings related to moving from her current wood working shop. Aside from the pragmatic aspects of having a shop,  like saving money and the creative control available she talked about personal sanctuary, peace and joy.  

    If we pause to consider our shops and tools fully I think we all have those feelings.  Maybe not all the time, joy is not the feeling I have when struggling with an awkward glue up or when facing hours of hand sanding, but mostly my feelings are positive.

  This morning I was making a couple of little trucks for my Granddaughters in Sweden.  As I was working I realised that I enjoyed our holiday, but I love to be home.  I was aware that I was using tools that were my late father's and grandfathers.  I thought about the really good hand planes that were bought with Christmas gift money from my Mother.  I also looked around the basement at the lovely home my wife and I have made here together, all those feelings: peace, joy and sanctuary were all there.

  Wooden toy trucks is one of the many children's toys I've made over the years. 

I've actually made a few of these.
Go to a clearance store and you can buy the bins for cheap.

  My policy is that all the toys I make are simple, study and meant to be played with until they are fire wood.  And....I don't care if the toys are played to death or forgotten at the play ground, I'll make a replacement if asked.  I don't like to see toys smashed in anger but I hate to see toys  sitting on a shelf in a pristine box,'collected'.

  Today was the first day working without a table saw.  So far....so good.  I was able to break down the boards as needed with my band saw and hand saws. I used my shooting board more this morning that in the last year.  It was actually a quieter more gentle way to work.  I'm not kidding myself, this is small stuff with more sanding than sawing going on.  I'll report later in the week when I get into a heavy duty storage cabinet that I have to build for a stained glass group. (glass is really, really heavy).

  Anyway, I'm off to take care of those 3,275 that that pile up while one is away on holiday, and visit my Mom.

cheers, ianw