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
Thursday, April 28, 2011
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.
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.
Good design Steve, thanks.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
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.
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.
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.
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| My Silver Wing is blue. |
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| I love the shape and sound |
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.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
KOBO
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.
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| Stand taken apart for storage |
Saturday, April 16, 2011
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.
I can't decide which blog is Dr. Jykll and which is Mr. Hyde.
Maybe they're neither.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
An Old Friend Comes out to Help
First the Project:
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.
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.
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| 32 7/8in Oak slats with spacers. |
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.
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| an old and trusted friend. |
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, April 4, 2011
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.
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.
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