Christmas Season Comment and Wrap Up.

   Traditionally one waits for the the New Year to do a wrap up and retrospective of their year.  Lets face it next week is a holiday week filled with friends and family so the real work of the year is done.
   I sat down and made a casual list of the past year's projects in my wood shop.


-two book cases for the kids house in Toronto.  A very good learning experience,
-a flat bed trailer to go with Kieran's wooden trucks.  Toys for kids are a way to become a hero.
-wooden building blocks too.
-cutting boards, many many cutting boards.  They are getting more interesting and I am using more interesting woods, I still like the roasted maple.
-several sets of wheels for shop tools.  Everything is the shop is on wheels.
-box joint jig.  That was a cool little project that gets dragged out now and then to make a sturdy little box.
-Eva's wooden gear clock.  I know it was a kit but...it was still a work shop project and very educational
-many pate knives, and I expect to make many more in the coming year.
-several scroll saw dino puzzles.
-an assortment of boxes, large and small.
-various gates to make stair cases safe for little people.
-a number of pieces of wooden jewellery
-finished the basement, made and installed the trim
-band saw boxes.
-raised panel doors, as I write this the paint in drying on doors for our basement sink's cabinet.


And various and many repairs as well as shelves and storage in the basement and the shop.  All together a very good year.


I hope and trust that your year was as good and that like mine your next year will be better.


 Thank you to my wonderful wife for her patience, ideas and  encouragement.  
 Thank you to my friends and family for their cheerful acceptance of prototypes and first tries. 


 Merry Christmas to One and All.

Clock, latest news

After fussing with the pendulum the clock has now run for 24 hours with out stopping.  The last stage is some final paint and stain and mounted on the wall.  Ya hoo

Eva's Christmas Clock

   Hanging in the open door frame is the clock finished with all but the face.  It does work although there is fine tuning and final gluing and balancing to do yet. It  runs for an hour or two before something binds and it stops. I have a pretty good idea what is causing the trouble, ( my fault, not the plan's fault).  And as this is being typed, glue is setting and being left to harden for 24 hours in the hopes that it will solve the trouble. 
   I you wanted to make a clock like this you do not need a work shop if you buy the complete kit.  Everything but the glue, clamps and sand paper comes with the kit.  ( you could probably use clothes pegs and rubber bands for the clamping tasks)


   This was a very tough project for me.  I am not inclined to detail or very fine work at all, and so this project was a very good learning experience for me.
   If you want to see it running I have it loaded on 
blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com.  .  I am not going to load the movie here too, it takes tooooooooo long to load a movie on the net book.  My net book is a great little back up tool, but I will be glad to get my lap top back in running order.


  wooden-gear-clocks.com

Christmas Time is Here

    These fine fellows are a combined project of my Mother, the painter and me, the carver.  Interestingly they were carved while sitting under a palm tree on the Pacific coast of Mexico last winter.  If I take a knife project with me on the resort trips I drink less beer, because I don't mix beer, sun and sharp tools.  The beer has to wait until suppertime when I have whittling to do.


    I have made Christmas tree ornaments for several years now and these are for family trees for 2011.

Latest Cutting Board

   This a my latest cutting board, it is oak and roasted maple. I have been making boards with various edge glued combinations of wood for some time. Those boards have been popular with people but I have been reading Lumberjocks http://lumberjocks.com/ and seeing the boards done there.  One of the fellows showed a clamping jig on his site and that made it easier to re-glue the board after it had been cut on the angle.


   Having made so many cutting boards it is time to make them more interesting and complex.

End of The Season

The world can often be divided into two groups, one of the classic divisions is those who like Brussel sprouts and those who don't. 


  The year, though divided technically into four seasons; is in reality only divided into two season for most Canadians.  One season being winter and the other season being road construction.  I divide the year into two seasons as well, winter and motorcycle season.

   As is shown clearly it is now winter.  I went out to the garage in the hopes of a quick ride in the wonderful afternoon sun and found the battery dead.  I could have put the battery on the trickle charger and hoped for a nice day in a couple of days but  the cycle of charge and discharge is not good for a battery, especially a older battery.  My Silverwing is due for a new battery next season, I want to be able to get the bike going in the spring and so don't want to have beaten this battery to death just for a couple of short trips in November.


  It was  funny year, this season I rode the scooter half as much as last year.  Not for lack of interest and be because of rising fuel costs.  Just because there were other things to do and places to be.


   Now the winter hobby of planning next season's trips can be fully indulged.  I use google maps and street view and all sorts of tools to check out the places I want to go.  Maybe this coming season will be a big riding season, only time will tell.

Opa, Kieran and Clara

Over the last two years Kieran has show up in Blog posts and over the past couple of months Clara has too.  These two sweeties have come to play a major role in our lives, as it should be I believe.
This weekend past Opa's workshop provided much needed repairs to a couple of trucks.  The wooden wheels tend to become unglued from repeated impacts on floors and side walks.  I have made trucks and boxes and building blocks for Kieran, I am at a loss as to what an Opa makes for his little grand daughter.  I suppose that there will need to be a doll house and certainly a toy box but I don't know about trucks.
If you are a workshop guy and have a scrap bin don't imagine that it is all firewood.  If you have little ones, sand the edges and throw them into a box, all sizes and shapes can be houses, garages and cargo for trucks.  A great way to re-cycle if you ask me.


cheers, iw

Link to Blog the Tools Store

blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

Just an idea and a photo, not wood working related really.

Latest Contract

  The photo is of some very fine wooden knives and spreaders sold on the west coast of Canada by a company called Arbutus Arts.  Their web site shows a wide variety of cool looking wooden kitchen tools.
   I have looked to them for inspiration and design ideas in the past. Today I struck a deal with a local pottery, Pavlo Pottery in Rockton to make some pate knives.  The knives are going to be sold in his shop and included with some of his pottery too.  It sounds like an interesting challenge, it could become a situation were I have to make several hundred items per year. 
   The cabinet makers in the crowd will no doubt scoff, but some of the more down to earth wood workers can see the advantage in finding someone that will buy products like this. I expect to make many knives/spreaders from what  ordinarily would be off cuts and therefore waste.  I hate waste, for all sorts of reasons.  
   The other thing is that a couple of weeks per year spend on productions type items helps finance the fun stuff, helps more than we like to admit, I think.
  Anyway, Monday I have to get set up to produce 3 dozen knives for next week.  I will let you know how quick I can get at making a knife.

When Does Your Head Explode??

I am very afraid that my head is going to explode, there is going to be one more thing piled into my work shop and "BOOM" my brain is going to explode.


At this moment in the shop there is:


1. the scroll saw panel of the Lord's Prayer 3/4 of the way framed.  It is a large panel with narrow trim requiring many clamps. So...it is one side at a time and then the glue needs to dry.


2. I am working on Pate/butter knife designs for a possible contract to hand make 400 knives.  The design has to look good and I need to be able to create each knife quickly with the band saw and grinders.  A design needs to be decided upon and a method of work established.  Once I refine the production process I need to find out how many I can make in a day.  Needless to say there are now band saws and every sander/grinder that I own set out to work with. (while the glue   is drying on the panel)


3. I have an off site job on the go that requires me to slip away for an hour per day glueing and clamping in a  10,000 Villages store repairing a large shelf unit that got damaged while being moved.  Today it is going to tie up ALL my Bessey clamps for over night.


4. cutting boards, always on going.  I have able half of what I  expect to need for the coming holiday season. 


5.  marble trees.  I have an order for 8 of them for the beginning of November.  Preparing materials takes time, clamps and glue.  Then it will require a dedicated shop with the table saw set with dado heads and various sanders forming the leaves on the trees.  I figure there is easily two full days of nose to the grind stone, if uninterpreted. 


6. I have a truck for the Grandson in the works.  It is drying as I type.


7. This morning was spent partly creating a temporary safety gate to keep the roving  little fellow in the family room and off of the stairs.  A permanent, pretty gate is in the planning stages but.....it will be later in the season before it is done.


8.  Today I also have to fit in time to tend the Lodge garden before tomorrow's degree.


9. On Wednesday's I blog on blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com too.

Blog Spot 101

Wow,
  Yesterday 101 people looked in on my blog.  Thanks, I will try hard to make it worth your time.


http://www.rocktonworldsfair.com/images/Banner5.jpg



 This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, for us that means Rockton World's Fair and family.  Eva and I both volunteer at the fair and often enter food and carving for judging.

These guys are the cute part of the family.

Scroll Saw Master Piece

An outstanding example of the Scroll Sawyers Art

click the link and see the story on my other blog.

This is Different

But I think I like it

new look

The birds are flying south, you can see them as they fly off the edge of the page.  Wood working season will be in full swing shortly. Motorcycle season is winding down.


 Now you can't see birds fly off the page.  I didn't like that format either.

This is one of Eva's birthday gifts, her birthday was yesterday.  She returned to sick husband and birthday cake in another city.
My friend Daniel at Forged-Link made this mobile for us.  It twirls gently  in the wind as though it were feathers not iron and steel.  Eva thinks it looks like a long legged bird.

Thanks to Tom Fidgen at the unplugged workshop .com

http://www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com

Haves

and Have Nots

As I play/work in my shop it helps to remember these things.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Part One

  Once upon a time I was a school teacher, and as a school teacher we always asked for a "How I spent my Summer Vacation" composition in English class.  Not as you may have thought to hear about the student's summers, but to protect us from hearing about their summer. Lets face it Grade Threee kids don't have much to talk about and if they didn't write we teachers didn't have to hear about it.
  On the other hand the summer of a retired old man with a work shop and two grand kids is interesting.....( or so I believe)
  There were of course grand plans and schemes for the summer.  This was the summer I was going to take a long, multi day motorcycle trip.  There was talk of the creation of a water feature in the back yard and the basement was to be competed.
  None of the above plans came to fruition. But, that doesn't mean that the summer was spend sitting around lonely and bored.
  Richard and Jenni came to Canada for a visit and passed through this address several times over the course of the month of July.  That naturally involved barbecues, dinners out and travelling to and fro, all in a good cause. 
  July 4th was Kieran's 2nd birthday and so there were preparations to be made and celebrations to be enjoyed.  It is amazing how a one day event can consume 2 or 3 days.

Philip Jones Photographer

http://philipjonesphotos.com/

In 1977 I went to England with the Ontario Youth Concert Band and stayed as a guest in Philip's parents home. Philip turned out to be a pretty good fellow and we've stayed in touch for all these years.  Even in the very olden times Philip was keen on taking photos.

He has got very good at it.

Check out it site and see what I mean.
cheers,
ian

How we all start out.

Clara and Opa, five days old. Clara that is.

For the general information of my readers.  Clara and I started out in the world at nearly the same size.  When she is 53 I don't expect she will be 6ft.1 in. tall, and 265 lbs. So, just because we started out the the same size doesn't mean we must end up the same.
Legend has it that I also had blue eyes as a tiny baby.

New Face of the Blog

Do you like this?
I have my doubts about it, let me know if it is easier to read or not.
cheers,
ianw

extra large dominoes

   When Eva and I were in Spain we went to a store that featured products much like Ikea but Spanish.  There were many interesting things to see, one of which was these dominoes.
   The dominoes were about 5 inches long and were then suitable for playing with outside or would be good for little people that play on the floor or back deck as readily as play on a table.
    I was thinking of making some, is there anyone out there that would like a set, for a reasonable price?  With things like this it is always much for time efficient to make a couple of sets at a time.

Clara

Oma and Clara Ocean Solaris Jackson

Clara for a great Canadian athlete, Clara Hughes  http://www.clara-hughes.com/

Ocean because when Kieran was asked what the baby should be called he said ocean.  He had been on holiday with Mommy and Oma to Mexico where he played very happily in the ocean.


Solaris, she is her Daddy's little ray of sunshine.


Jackson, family name.


Everyone is well and thriving.  She was born at lunch time yesterday and should be coming home today.

Video: Mayor drives over Merc in tank to clear bike lanes - Europe, World News - Independent.ie

Video: Mayor drives over Merc in tank to clear bike lanes - Europe, World News - Independent.ie

The Best Part of Wood Working

   The Village Carpenter, Kari Hultman http://villagecarpenter.blogspot.com/ is one of my favourite bloggers and recently she wrote a blog about the best part of the woodworking project process. It appears that once again Kari and I are on the same page.  She talks about the planning stage of the project, the time when she can think and dream about what might be as being her favourite part of the project.


  I don't want to take anything away from the pleasure experienced when the project is done and the family member or customer is pleased and smiling.  There is certainly few pleasures that can complete with the joy I felt yesterday re-assembling the crib I made 2 years ago to accommodate   the next grand baby. (see blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com for details).  But there is a wonderful set of feelings that come with the imaging and planning stages of a project.  While I imagine what I'll build and what it will look like I am not constrained by the mighty forces of reality or gravity.  The merciless clock does not enter to the imaginary stages and everything is hand cut joinery and fully carved.


  Ultimately the project is built and it always incorporates some of the fantastic imaginary plans and dreams.  Occasionally the project disappoints, but not often, usually I learn something new and always my skills are improved. Maybe that is the best part of wood working?

2011 Tour De France

This years tour was quite wonderful.  Eva and I watched nearly every stage and certainly cheered our favourites.  She like Andrew and I liked Thomas.  I knew Thomas would not win but I was glad that Cadel Evans did.

It is always inspiring to see people perform at the very highest level in anything, sport, art or wood working.

Shop tip

Honey Bottle filled with Hemp Oil

  Sometimes the obvious is not so.  For years I have been buying glue in gallons and decanting it into some smaller bottle.  But just yesterday I got this brain wave.  I have been using hemp oil to finish cutting boards and to create a semi-gloss finish on milk paint.
   Typically the hemp oil comes in a tin, like Minwax Wipe On Ploy, Watco Danish oil etc. all finishes that I use regularly.  Dispensing those finishes is often a mess and guessing what is left in to bottom of the tin is always a challenge too.  But, since the tins are fairly small I had never really bothered with transferring them into another container.  Duh, from now on that sort of stuff goes into a bottle like the hemp oil.  I can pour out a very controlled amount and I know exactly what I have left.
   Good ideas can sometimes be so simple and so obvious.

Kieran the Carpenter

The trades are in good hands I think.  But of course I am not 100% objective.

Basement Family Room

   If you have followed this blog at all lately you know that I have not been very active.  I do have an excuse.  We have been working on our basement.  That is the one wall.  Eva and I put up the wall paper.

    She put in all the extra time to get it nice.  The mural did not come pre-pasted as expected.  The sales person was mistaken and instead of long narrow panels it was 8 square panels.  Now there is a seam in the middle but with careful work by Eva is looks darn good.

The other wall is panelling and wood trim, I made the and installed the trim. All that remains is for the bookcases to be refilled and the wall paper to be put in the stairwell.  At this point at least the chesterfield is out of the work shop and I can get back to cutting boards and boxes.

Scrub Plane

    Sitting on my bench is my Veritas Scrub plane.  I bought this plane several years ago and it just occurred to me the other day how often I reach for it.  I suspect that real woodworkers would shriek if they saw how I use my scrub plane, but tough.    As you can see from the photo I am about to turn my scrubber lose on a glued up cutting board.  It will knock down the high spots and clear away that glue in the blink of an eye. I will then turn the board over to the more gentle ministrations of various smoothing planes and scrappers.  I am also a fan of my random orbital sander.


    The scrub plane also comes to the fore when I need to clear away lots of wood in a hurry.  I can remove material for smaller projects faster with the scrub than I can get the planner out of its corner in the shop and hook it up to the dust collection and move other things out of the way.  


   It is a work horse, or if you will a bull in a china shop.  I do adjust its blade for depth of cut but usually it is an adjustment from very deep and aggressive to sort of deep and  slightly less aggressive.  Not a delicate tool but one that I am really glad I own.

Check Why Wood

Check out Why Wood at blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com and let me know what you think.
cheers,

New Page on my Blog

Good Monday Everyone,
   I have spend too much time playing on the computer and not enough working in my shop lately.  The shop should be cleared out and ready to function properly be the end of next week.  That means to Chesterfields and Ottomans blocking access to the band saw and not bookshelves blocking access to the table saw and the dust collection set up.  All the furnatire, light fixtures, televisions and book cases should be out of my shop by next weekend. ( or maybe the following one)  Once the drywall guys are done, it is painting and then finishing the floor then moving everything back and shazam it is done.
  Of course having all that stuff moved out the shop will mean that I have to spend sometime sorting my shop space out too so it maybe the end of the month before I am into full comfort mode.
  Anyway, since I have had computer time, I added a new page to the blog.  It shows some of the projects that I have created in my shop over the last year or two.  Not all the projects and not even some of the best.  I forget to take photos sometimes.
  Check in to the projects page occasionally, I will be adding more to it as I go along.

Fireman coming down a ladder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgJZm9lqWI0

Amazing young players

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhetvLOBOOo

 The performance was amazing, watch it all the way through.
Do you suppose they love to play and are happy practicing?

More Cat things, this time Book Ends

     As I look back through the records of visits I see that Cat cutting boards was popular.  I can only hope that it is people who love cats and were looking for useful decor items, cat themed.
    Also cats seem to be popular with the Textures Co-op crowd. So  here are the cat book ends, my design and my Mother's painting.  The faces are actual cats and they have given their permission for the commercial use of their images, just in case you were wondering.

 The flash always makes the look slightly stunned.

The latest News

 It has been sometime since this blog has got much attention.  I was on holiday for a week, Spain as you could have noted.  There are several listing relating to Spain on the other blog.
                                                    
     There is nothing going on in my work shop right now.   For the next couple of weeks the shop is just a jumble of stuff piled high as the other side of the basement gets finished.  We have hired a contractor to put up drywall on the walls and ceiling to clean up the family room side of our basement.  Drywall is one of those things that are heavy, awkward and unpleasant.  After some consideration we decided to hire that work in, instead of doing it our selves, (and hating the whole experience).


   When the drywall is done we'll paint and the plan is an epoxy floor.  Once that is done we'll move back into the living space and out of the shop.  I guess I will spend the time working on the yard and trying to bring order to the garage, (a never ending battle it seems).


   I had planned to include photos showing the piled up chaos in the shop but decided that was too depressing.


   So I am including a photo that is not depressing.

He is bigger and older but just a cute.

Tools Chests

gersterusa.com

Tool chests to envy, the story at.

blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

Now that I have got home, got settled and am making headway on my new computer the blog should get to be more active again.


cheers, ianw

Spain

This last week was spend in Barcelona Spain.  Eva and I flew into the airport on Sunday last.  A travel tip, arrive in Spain on Sunday, the airport was practically empty.  Barcelona is an old style city were people take Sunday off to be with their kids and that seems to extend to flying out and in to the country.
   Architecture is the claim to fame of Barcelona. Barcelona is a beautiful city filled with interesting  buildings both great and small.  
  I am working from my net book and the software is not loading photos but shortly I will include a series of highlights.
   Barcelona is the most foreign city I have ever visited and so the most challanging.
   More to come, when I get home tomorrow.

Computer trouble

The post showing the book ends actually had construction stage photos that were to go along with the blog post.  It would appear that the God's of the Eternal Byte, bite. This afternoon my computer's hard drive went soft and all that stuff is floating about in the clouds.  I am using my wife's computer until I get mine replaced at which time I will pull the cloud stored data down again. We don't see a point in loading a bunch of my stuff onto her computer for the short term.
  What that means is that by the time I can show you the construction stages, you will have lost interest in seeing them.
cheers, ian

Wood Working for Mere Mortals "bookends that actually hold books."

Book Ends at actually work

A couple of weeks ago Steve made some book ends, and another of his weekly videos.  Yesterday I decided I give the project a try, like his door mat, I viewed the code as more a set of guide lines, not hard and fast rules.

 Purple and yellow, the plan is for them to hold grand kid books.  I made the runners fit tightly enough that they do not need to be glued or screwed together.  It means that this book rack is 100% portable and part able. I can see using it as a display item that then gets taken apart and stored until needed later.
   Good design Steve, thanks.

Workshop list, not a bucket list

   A couple of years ago the idea of a list of things that you want to do before you kick the bucket was made into a movie.  No doubt we all have things that we want to do before we are no longer able, because of age, or finances or time pressures. 
    

My Silver Wing is blue.

   I got a motorcycle for my 50th birthday, three years ago.  There are several trips I want to take before my concentration flags and I can't ride for hours at a time.  That time is far off, but I don't want it  to slip away.
   

I love the shape and sound

   Equally I have a workshop list.  These are things that I want to make, mostly to prove to myself that my skills have continued to develop.  For example, I think that an acoustic guitar is one of the most difficult wood working projects.  I don't expect to make an acoustic guitar, I could make a solid body but rather I'd like to make an Appalachian dulcimer someday.  
  
   Other things on my list, which is a list written down. On that list is a nut cracker, I would probably have my Mother paint it, she is good at folk art painting. Also a really nice box made with hand cut dovetails. I have jigs and tricks but would like to make one box with all hand cut joints.  My Uncle had a book from Lee Valley on making wooden locks and keys.  One day I will settle down and make a lock and key, for no other reason than I think it is cool.  Spinning wheels have always fascinated me and so I want to make one of them too.  I will have to find someone that can show me the details of how a spinning wheel works and then find someone that whats it after I make it.

          
  Then there are skills that I want to develop like relief carving, and inlay and veneering.  Those skills will be applied to those ordinary projects that I do with an eye to adding flash. A box that is carved is much more that a box, it can be a work of art.  Inlay enables a wood worker to expand his scope and include many other materials like brass and glass.  
   
     Those are projects for "Someday", most of my time is spent with less challenging but more useful things.  Lots of flower boxes, and cutting boards and toys.  The cutting boards have encourage me to improve my sanding and finishing, the boxes have inspired me to box joints and the toys are for the Grandson.
  
  Remember: anytime spend in the work shop is good time.

A viking spoon

Get the link at
blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

KOBO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsISZqWkNZA

This is a short video showing the basic details of the Kobo e-reader stand that I made from scraps in the workshop.  I made this so that the reader can sit on a table top or desk and be read hands free.  The adjustable wheel is glued to a dowel, but the dowel is not glued to the body of the stand and so can be taken out, that way the stand can be thrown in your briefcase of desk drawer without taking up too much space.

Stand taken apart for storage

Check out Blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

Kari Hultman wrote a excellent blog on wood carving and it is loaded on my alter ego blog, blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com.


I can't decide which blog is Dr. Jykll and which is Mr. Hyde.
Maybe they're neither.

An Old Friend Comes out to Help

 First the Project:

32 7/8in Oak slats with spacers.

    This project was inspired by one I saw on woodworkingformeremortals.com.  Needless to say I made it from what I have on hand and following my own sort of design.
  
  I jointed, then ripped the slats before putting them through the planer.  They are all pretty close to the same size and the spacers where also planed to  similar thicknesses.  The size of the mat, 32x18" meant that is was glued together in three sections before being glued into one piece.  The edges are held on with 7 screws but the balance of the project is held together with titebond III.  


  Now for the old friend, this old friend is one of the first quality power tools that I ever bought and it is easily 30 years old. Over those years is has flattened acres of table tops and long before I got a planer, or decent planes it took care of all my humps and bumps.

an old and trusted friend.

  I am guilty of neglecting my 3x21 sander, complete with broken handle, glue spots, paint marks and all.  For the last while I have imagined myself a woodworker that did not have to resort to the beast of the belt sander.  I have scraped and planed, struggled with glue lines and end grain and made my life harder than was necessary on more than one occasion.  I had thought about the sander but talked myself into believing that it was somehow not a tool for quality work. In my mind the belt sander had been put in the category of rough carpentry tools.
  
   Last weekend a friend of mine and I were talking.  My friend Charles is a very talented wood worker and guitar maker.  I value his opinion highly and aspire to his quality of work.( in another life I suppose)  I was asking him what he would do with some of the very twisted grain that comes up when working with Red Elm.  He had several answers, including throw it in the fire, but one idea caught me by surprise, he said he would drag out is heavy duty sander and put it to work.
   
   Well.....if Charles uses beast of a sander sometimes then it must be OK.
  
   This last project was made 100 times easier by dragging out the beast and sanding down the top of the mat.


   Thank you Charles, and old friend.

Monday Round up at Blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

Check out my entry at blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com for more things.

This is the shelf in the bathroom with the little step stool for Kieran and Ocean.  Opa likes making stuff for the Grand Kids.
  This weekend Eva and I were in Ottawa and we checked out a children's toy store. The were some amazing toys from Germany but the prices were totally out of this world.  There are going to be Canadian versions of some of them created in the near future.  Stay tuned.

Cutting Boards from My Shop

blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

full story at the other blog site

Latest Curve in the Learning Road

   




















 On Wednesday I descended in to the basement workshop with a plan.  I had been going to make a Box Joint Jig like the one from the Router Workshop for sometime now.  Months actually, in truth I bought the 1/2 Baltic Birch at last year's Kitchener Wood show, like about 12 months.
   
   Anyway, better late than never. 
   
   I will spare this blog's readers the full story of broken routers and blue air. ( you can get the whole story at blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com, if you want).


  You can see the corners of the poplar box that I made using the box joint jig. The jig is set up for 1/4 cuts, I am going to experiment with 3/8 and see if I can control the cut along the 1/4 guide. If it doesn't work, I'll make a 3/8 jig too.


  I made about four sets of joints before I got the hang of setting the jig up and now I think it will be fast and easy.  In the course of the day's adventures I lost my 1/4 brass spacer bar.  Such a pain, I use those spacer bars all the time.


 The colour of the box is sort of interesting, it is straight orange shellac.  It is a very old fashioned looking colour.

More Kieran movies.

There are two reasons for the Kieran movies on the site.
1. he is so cool
2. I am trying to expand what I do on the Blog and making, loading and managing movies is going to be part of it.  So, like my family that get workshop prototypes, you get the blog prototypes.

Kieran

What can I say, "he is a sweetie!"

Fibonacci Gauge

Check out
woodworkingformeremortals.com,
I am a foot note in his video presentation.
cool eh?
cheers,

The Last Glue, good glue

Great Glue:

Borrowed from blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

finished knitting needle box

I like the aniline stains though when dissolved in alcohol  instead of water the colour seemed to darken.

Band Saw Insert - borrowed from Blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

Go to blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com to get the rest of the story.

a great idea from a great web site.

woodgears.ca is the original site for this and many other ideas.

in progress: Knitting Needle Box

Open box with tray that fits inside

Closed and as yet unfinished box.
I am planning to stain it in a walnut browns.  The elm takes water based stain well.
Come back in a days or two and see the results.
cheers,

Patron Saint and Oak and Cedar Clock

Patron Saint of all Workshops

Latest Project for Textures

This fellow is the patron saint of many a work shop. Where would we be with out cookies to have with our coffee.  Coffee time is think time for me.  When my frustration mounts to audible colourful language it is time for a coffee and a rethink.

The clock is about 10 inches square and has a battery movement.  I like the clean numberless face rather covering the grain with numbers or other forms of marking.  For me it is all about the grain,  the finish is several coats of  blond shellac .  Even the cedar framing has some grain of note when finished with shellac.

Borrowing From Blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com

This blog (WAL Specialty Woodworking) and blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com are both my blogs and the toolstore blog is going to lean heavily toward wood working and the like while WAL is going to get more personal as time goes on.
Blogthetoolstore.blogspot.com is a blog that is sponsored and so must be kept more active and up to date than my personal blog.  Therefore the sponsored blog will get first attention until a routine is established.  Fear not....I shall not run out of things to talk about.
Actually I have third blog. brantdistrict.blogspot.com which is a blog focused on Free Masons.

THE TOOL STORE BLOG: Red Elm Mirror Frame and box

THE TOOL STORE BLOG: Red Elm Mirror Frame and box: " Recently I got 120 board feet of Red Elm (slippery elm) that was to be flooring but ended up as m..."

Borrowed from my other Blog, The Computer and the Woodworker

The Computer and the Woodworker

Proud Opa

Be honest.... who wouldn't be proud of a grand son that can tame a tiger.

Lapstrake dory

Last fall my wife and I were in Sweden. Sweden's capital Stockholm is very beautiful and set on a dozen or so islands. There are hundred's of boats of all types docked around those islands and within easy strolling distance of down town.

We saw these boats being built.

It wood is nasty looking softwood and the fit kind of rough. I was told that the wood swells and the bottoms and cracks are filled with tar and paint and the boat is put to work.

Opa Can't Fix Everything

My Grandson is a small but barely controlled whirlwind and as you know whirlwinds are hard on the world around them. Kieran is small enough that trailer parks are still safe but toys, aren't.

One of my roles in his life is to fix broken toys and make things for him. (he sleeps in a crib that I made for him) At 16 months Kieran's vocabulary is limited but the message is clear when he comes to me holding wheels in one hand and car in the other saying, "Opa, Opa." He usually then goes to the door that leads down to the work shop and we take the damaged toy or toys down stairs and put them on the bench.

I then explain that Opa and his helper Elves will fix the toy overnight and it will be waiting for him in the morning. So far I have been able to deliver on that promise 100% of the time. Lets face it being Opa/Santa is a serious blast.

This morning however I am sitting in a coffee shop writing on my netbook because Opa can't fix everything. I am waiting on the garage to change the oil etc. etc. etc. on the family car. I suppose I could do the oil change, I do it on my motorcycle, but I'm not even remotely interested in working the car. I have never been interested in fixing cars, the only machanic's tool I owed for years was the small plastic card shaped tool.

That being said, we have a great local garage that does super work for reasonable money and I trust them totally. Why mess with a winning combination??

One day Kieran will learn that Opa can't fix everything and there are lots of things he doesn't even want to fix. But... the basement Elves and I are committed to fixing the boy's toys for as long as we can.