In The Shop, taking all the space.

  Currently I have a couple of larger projects on the floor/bench in my shop. I have four feet of the chair rail carved.  There is a bit of sanding to be done and then there is only sixteen feet of carving left. 

  The carving work station is a particular setup. I have have my bench raised to where I can work standing without  being too hunched over and having my back hurt.  This arrangement lets me carve for an hour or so twice a day. I am using two Kreg clamps, and two bench pucks from a previous generation to hold the work piece down.  

   The other project that is taking space and needs drying time is a  table that I am going to refinish. 

   This table was picked up off the street a few years ago in is used to extend our dining room table when the entire family is here.  The table is solid but a bit tired and shabby looking and was always going to be replaced with something new...if we found something. Well.....after five or six years hidden under a big table cloth we've decided to keep the table and I have to fix it and stain it and make it look 'good'. 

 First task is to glue the oak skin down where it has lifted over time.  The oak is not veneer, it is 3/16" think.  I am pleased with that because after it is glued back into place I have a couple places to repair before serious sanding and staining. I think it will be easier to make repairs to thinker wood. At the end I am going to hide its age and experiences by staining the whole thing dark walnut.

  I also picked up a bag of repairs from 10,000 Villages that I will work on while glue/stain/ paint is drying too.  

Wheat Bran and Rolled Oats Bread.

    I like to make stuff all kinds of stuff.  I like to bake bread. My latest is a Swedish loaf featuring wheat bran and rolled oats. It turned out to be a really good bread for toasting. Bread baking is a D.I.Y thing too.

cheers, ianw

A Box Of Course

  Isn't just about all woodworking box making? or lathe work.  We arrived home from holiday and resolved to do our spring cleaning.  One thing that we discovered in guest bedrooms and our cars were facial tissue boxes 3/4 filled with tissues that had been attacked and savaged by one or more grand children. Why, I don't know?  

  Since I am cheap and love to make things that have a purpose:

  What makes this box interesting as well as useful is 

a: it is made from the wood that was a drawer in the dresser I took apart just before leaving for holiday.  

The thin lumber that was used to make the drawer once sanded and stained had real character.  The lesson learned is to check out old furniture sitting on the side of the road on garbage day.  &

b: 

   I wanted the box of tissues to stay inside the box when it was moved from place to place so I glued a strap made from bicycle inner tube. I used contact cement to glue the inner tube to the box wall.  I have found, over time, that few adhesives are as versatile as contact cement.  Yes it smells and it does take time to set but I just clamp the pieces and leave them over night. 

  This was an easy project that made use of reclaimed materials.  I think I may make a couple more of these and give them to our church to sell at the Christmas bazaar.  

  I have been spending time painting our new windows, and then touching up the paint on the wall around the windows. We then decided to rehang the old roller blinds and each window now needed a valence type of cover, hiding the roller blind.  We bought new windows, from a serious window company. There are three windows, all the same, except the frames are different sizes, but 1/4 inch.  It is also worth noting they are only sort of square. Jeez louise.

  The current project is a bit of a back breaker. (hunched over carving) I am making a chair rail that has shallow relief carving the full length that about about 25 feet of carving.  I will post some pictures in the next blog.  If you look up chair rail photos there is often wainscoting too, I like the look without wainscoting although a design decision will be made one the rail is up.

cheers ianw