Little projects, Big satisfaction

 It sometimes seems as though I have no real shop projects to share on my blog.  I work in my shop fairly steady but many of the jobs I do are basic carpentry not projects worthy of sharing with the Internet World.

 For example, we are doing some landscaping in the back yard so I have made a couple of raised flower beds, out of left over and found wood. The flower beds will be filled with lovely flowers and add to the pleasures we enjoy in our yard. Making the frames was a real basic saw and screw together sort of job.

 There is another project from my shop this weekend. It took longer to decide on the photograph from the net and draw the plan than it did to knock it out on the band saw. There is a hull of sorts underneath the flight deck but again hardly a major project.

 To go with the aircraft carrier I was asked to make some stealth bombers. I left one unpainted, the owner of the boat can paint one to suit himself.

  While projects like this aren't high art they definitely have their place in my workshop. Each of these things was made easier because I have the right tool to make the job easy.  I try to make the garden frames square, all the edges are sanded and shaped slightly on the kids projects and I try and do my best regardless of the nature of the project.  

  I use sanding sticks like these when working on small things like the planes. These belt sander sticks seemed like overkill, until bought one, it makes getting into cracks and corners and controlling the sandpaper much easier than anything else I've tried.

  I guess the mortal of this story is: make stuff.

cheers, Ian W

TED Lecture - Start with WHY

  I have been known  in the evening to surf the internet. I love my work shop but I am also a information junkie, I'll watch a documentary on anything. One thing I go looking for are TED lectures-ideas worth spreading.

  Last evening I watched a a TED lecture that talked about business models and how to make your business successful.  

  My shop is not really a business and it is pretty much as successful as I want it to be but...the idea of Why being the starting place for your actions I think works in more than just business.

Start with WHY

  I think that many organizations not just businesses make the mistake of not thinking about 'why' and so suffer in the long run.  In my shop I make mostly projects for friends, family and myself, that is why I have a shop, and why I make things that could be purchased more cheaply at a Box Store. However I also make cutting boards and wooden toys that I sell at a local craft store, and sometimes making a bit of money obscures the real reason for my having a shop.

  It took me several years to arrive at a clear idea of 'why' I have a shop and I need to remind myself of that 'why' sometimes. My shop connects me with a family history of wood workers, boat builders and carpenters, not cabinet makers or specialised craftsmen. when I started out making stuff I was a wood butcher, now I am a carpenter. Since I grew up around saw dust it is how I express myself, and how I find pleasure. It really isn't about the money.  That is the 'why', everything else just follows on from that.

  Why do you have a work shop? Is it for the money, or is the money a happy by product?

Toy Blocks, and home made tools

  Yesterday I made some wooden blocks for my youngest grandchild.  Tova Elise is just one year old and so doesn't need battery powered toys, yet.

  I made a set of building blocks for Clara last year and so have developed a couple of techniques for small scale production of wooden building blocks.  After squaring a corner on the joiner I ripped the wood to thickness on the table saw.  

  Once I had two dimensions I needed to cut the blocks to size. Rather than set up a stop on my sliding mitre saw I used my table saw sled.  My sled is a bit different than average, mostly because I designed it for cutting small pieces when making toys and things, so it is small sled. Also my table saw sled fits over my blade guard which lets me leave the blade guard on.  I almost never take the blade guard off of my table saw, any more. (i do need to take the guard off to use dado blades, but that is the only time) I resolved to leave the guard on after my last unhappy encounter with the spinning blade.  At this point I don't expect to recover the feeling in my left index finger though the tingling has stopped, almost a year later.

 My sled has the typical two runners but instead of a sheet of plywood I have a frame that fits over the guard attached to the standard back plate.

   You can also see that I made a stop that I clamp onto the back plate to make it easy to replicate cuts.  For the smaller pieces I back the sled off and poke the off cut out of the sled with a pencil or bit of wood. I do not let my fingers get close the the moving blade any more.  It only took three small accidents before I admitted the saw is faster than the eye.

  Once the blocks were cut the were 12 edges that needed to be broken.  If I was planned to make a large number of blocks I would round over four of the edges on the router before cutting the blocks off, this time I didn't bother with that stage.
  Sanding 12 edges could be a pain but with the right tools it is not bad at all. First I used my block plane to shape the four edges that are with the grain, then I used my flat belt sander to shape the cross grain pieces.

  The flat sander is a bit of 3/4 plywood with a sanding belt attached. I have 80 grit on one side and 120 on the other.  It only takes four stokes on the sand paper and the edge is nicely broken.  I use this for these projects because I find the power belt sander too aggressive and so too much material is removed, too easily.  Power belt sanders are for big jobs, in my experience, not for fine touch up.  I made this flat sander a long time ago and keep cleaning it up with my crape block.

Complete, six 1 1/4 poplar blocks, unfinished. I use poplar because it it pretty tough and in many cases has a bit of colour, as you can see.  The blocks are unfinished so that they can be chewed  and there is no concern about chemicals.  I will make some more later. The blocks will have to go a few at a time to Sweden in family suitcases I guess.