Rabu, 06 April 2016

MWA Banner Rack Beginnings

Last summer, Kari Hultman kindly shared her lumber stockpile with me, and let me take as much as I could fit on my truck (leaving room for the contents of my Sister-in-Laws apartment). Since I brought it home, this lumber has resided in our sun/hot tub/miscellaneous storage room. Unfortunately that room is the only choice to the back door that lets out onto the deck. As the room had to serve duty as a buffet station during our Memorial Day Party, we set about cleaning it out.
The sun/hot tub/miscellaneous storage room lumber pile.
Moving the lumber was, of course, my job. As I broke down the stacks and transferred them one-by-one to the attic I came across a piece with two live edges that looked particularly like a tree to me. I couldn’t initially think of what to do with it, but its form struck me and I set it aside.
This beauty caught my eye.
By the time I was done moving the lumber, it had dawned on me. I knew what I would do. The piece would serve as the left vertical member of the banner rack I have to make for the MWA banner we’ll be displaying at Woodworking in America.I immediately broke out an assortment of sanders and took the rough sawn face and still partially barky edges to a smooth, 80 grit. Then I successfully filled a face crack epoxy. When it came to the multiple cracks in the back face, I first routed out the cracks a little bit to make the epoxy application easier. Unfortunately, the epoxy application didn’t go so well on the back face. I probably mixed it wrong, but whatever the reason, my 5 minuted epoxy was still tacky 2 days later.
A typical crack on the back, routed to allow additional epoxy to fit in.
I allowed it a third day to dry, and when it was still tacky I posed the question to Twitter. What should I do? One of the ideas I liked was to heat it up under a heat lamp in order to accelerate the drying. Unfortunately, within about an hour the heat lamp took hard and tacky to soft and bubbly. Thankfully, removal of the heat and time seem to have restored it to hard and tacky.
Not a formula for dry epoxy.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on the Banner Rack so far, but since I have to design the rest, buy the lumber for the rest and it was one of may pices of word stacked in the shop preventing me from walking around, I took the piece as was and put it achoice in the attack. It gets warm up there, but not crazy, heat lamp hot. Hopefully when I pull it down in a month or two, it’ll be dry enough to work on.These videos walk you through the process of sanding and epoxying the piece.
I’ll keep everyone posted when I get back to it, and please don’t forget to check out the MWA Banner Rack in person when you visit our booth at both Woodworking in America Conferences.
Read More..
I put the new Craftsman router table together yesterday and it was much, much easier than the Ryobi.  Each leg is held on by 4 bolts.  The vertical ones just screw in and have washers and lock washers.  The horizontal ones have lock washers, washers, and nuts.  I found a diagram in the manual for installing the model of my router and it screwed right in with 3 bolts and the height adjustment hole lined right up.  I installed the fence and featherboards in a couple of minutes and the table is now ready for testing.
I couldnt get the Ryobi router to fit in the new table so I returned it and bought this Craftsman router
on sale for $50.99.  I checked the router table manual before I went shopping for compatible
routers and this one was on the list.
Here is the fully assembled table.  It went together much faster then the Ryobi table.
 I cant remember what this is called but it is used for routing end grain and smaller pieces.  This one is made out of metal whereas the Ryobi one was made out of plastic.
It came with 5 insert plates.  The Ryobi also came with 5 but they all had holes.  Im not sure what the solid one would be good for.
The included wrench has a wider handle built into the bottom which makes it a little more comfortable to use.
The router has a small push button to hold the shaft while you tighten or loosen the router bit.  There is a small plastic shield behind it that you have to remove to reach the button.
The table has a hole in the top for adjusting the height of the router.  I am using an allen wrench for now but would like to buy a t-handle wrench for it.  Sears had a t-handle kit for $39.95 but I dont want to spend that much money. I just want to get the one to fit the router.
This is the allen wrench coming through the table top and into the router.
The plastic handles on the sides are a nice touch.  They make the table comfortable to pick up.
?
Read More..

mes New"

infill,block,plane
Read More..

The hall tree now has color

?The hall tree has been stained!  Saturday morning I sanded down the back piece that goes under the top shelf and then glued and screwed it in place.  I had to drive out of town for my nephews birthday party and by the time we got home and got everybody in bed and I got out to the garage it was 11:15 pm.  I turned on the radio and the fan and got started.  I wore latex gloves and used 1 lint free cloth to rub in the stain and another to wipe it smooth.  When I was finished and looked up at the clock it was 1:00 am.  I guess I was just in the zone.  Next time I think I will use a small foam brush to get the inside corners and edges where 2 boards meet.  I am also going to buy some heavier duty gloves.  I tore out the end of the index finger on my right had 3 times.  I plan on putting the 1st coat of polyurethane on tonight and have no idea how I am going to do it.  Wish me luck!
Read More..

Shortest Post Ever

Nice night, hanging with fellow woodworkers in Covington on the eave of Woodworking in America.
Read More..

Selasa, 05 April 2016

WIA11 in Moving Pictures


As I’m sure you all know, the 2011 Woodworking in America was a great event. The best part, as alchoices, was hanging out with my fellow woodworkers. One of the activities we did together was take the Hand Tool Olympics by storm.I shot a bunch of video of us making idiots of ourselves cutting, planeing, boring and tenoning at the HTO booth. Here’s my simple video collage.It features Ian MacKay, Me, Tom Iovino, Iggy the Shop Monkey, Mike Lehikoinen, Aaron Marshall, Matt Gradwohl & commentary by Emily Bonham Owen mocking TomI’ve sped up the actual cutting, planeing, boring & tenoning. Except for Matt’s. You’ll appreciate why when you see it.
Heres a bonus video of us . . . on a trolley . . . you had to be there . . .
Read More..

I found a new woodworker on YouTube

This guy is my new woodworking hero! I cant wait until I have some free time to just sit there and watch all of his videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/lgosseuxdbois
Read More..

Learning Curve Habits

As a none practical, handyman, DIY type person learning woodwork as a hobby, here are a few things I have realised during my steep learning curve over the last month or so since beginning working with wood.  Most of these points you read about and are common sense, but I still had to go through the learning process myself before I got that ah now I get it moment of realisation ...
Like most physical activities the process of building something can be subdivided down into smaller components. For example the thought of building a complete table to a beginner can be quite daunting (remember I am talking about someone who has never built a thing out of wood in their life), but by considering the tables components almost as separate projects things seem to become easier. 
A tables components might be table top, table legs and table skirt. Building each component can also be subdivided down into smaller processes such as marking out and cutting to size. By making each small sub process repeatable you quickly find yourself developing skills by habit and getting better and better each time you do them.
To start with (I found) using a pencil to mark out seemed normal and the marking knife seemed both a little strange and a little clumsy, you cant even see the knife lines as easy as a pencil! But it didnt take long before I realised just how much more accurate my lines and cuts became when using a marking knife. By forcing yourself to use the knife (even if you use the pencil to darken the knife line) from the beginning, it quickly becomes a habit to reach for the marking knife instead of the pencil. Therefore, put a marking knife at the top of your shopping list when considering what tools to start with.
If two pieces of wood are accurately marked out and cut to the correct size (and shape) joining them together with a bit of glue becomes a lot easier, so (for me at least) learning these two components alone has been critical in actually finishing a project that at least fits together. Ok, my projects may not be finished (another sub process) to the highest standard but their completion has at least given me enough enthusiasm to continue learning.  
Assuming a beginner has somewhere to work and a suitable surface (bench) of some kind to work on, I think the very first projects a complete beginner should build are a bench hook and a shooting board. Similarly, what tools should a beginner buy first? Tools to build a bench hook and shooting board should be the answer!
The bench hook being a simple project allows cross cutting with a handsaw to become at least easier and a lot more accurate. It wont replace bad technique or a faulty saw but it will help immensely by forcing you to saw in a repeatable choice, meaning your body will learn to saw better by repetition or habit. As a beginner its therefore very important to listen to your body when sawing - is your posture forcing you to cut at an angle at the end of each stroke? Taking things nice and slow for the first few projects will ensure the habits you develop are good ones from the start . Its harder to unlearn and break a bad habit than it is to develop a good one!
The bench hook also serves as a warm up in marking out and cutting before starting your next project...
Once you have your bench hook you can then use it to help build a shooting board, which does have to be built accurately to work properly. These two projects will become your best friends and suddenly initial cutting of components to size will become easy and stress free.
 You can cut close to your marking lines by using the bench hook and quickly bring the cut down exactly to your marking lines squarely and accurately using the shooting board.  Once you realise that this accuracy is repeatable you also relax as there is less risk of screwing up and you find your sawing technique improves further from not being tense, relaxing your grip on the saw and not over trying to cut accurately. A table with four legs all of exactly the same length is a wonderful thing to a beginner!
The last habit I have developed is making sure my tools are sharp and ensuring the act of sharpening forms part of my build process. After rough cutting wood for specific components, I lay out the pieces and spend a short while contemplating the next steps and what tools are likely to be used. Having those tools readily to hand and already sharp ensures I can concentrate on building and get into a groove, rather than stopping to sharpen. 
Sharpening is a gatechoice skill that is absolutely essential when using hand tools and like the others has to be practised. I found that by investing in a good sharpening jig and some quality diamond stones my results became repeatable and not such a hit and miss affair (like when I tried honing free hand).
If I do need to sharpen mid process then I force myself to do it sooner rather than later, again helped by having a sharpening process that is easy and repeatable. For example I know its only going to take five minutes to sharpen my chisel and therefore only a minor inconvenience! 
However, as a beginner there is a period of time before you realise the tool is blunt or not as sharp as it could be. Is the grain in the right direction or difficult, is this wood generally hard to work with, am I doing it wrong or is the tool just blunt? By sharpening the tools before you start takes achoice this element of doubt and knowing you started out with a sharp tool any change in performance will be more obvious when the tool does get blunt.
In summary, the last month or so has taught me that sharpening, accurate marking and cutting were the three foundation skills required for me to develop further. Without these three core skills my wood working career wouldve likely to come to an end pretty soon! 
I would be very interested in hearing from other people what their own personal pivotable points were advancing in their learning curves. All tips & tricks appreciated...
Read More..

Woodworking in Amercia After Hours

Woodworking in America 2013 is just around the corner. If you’re planning on attending, I’m sure you’re getting excited about a weekend of non-stop woodworking discussion already. If you’ve attended previous WIAs you know that the talk of - and camaraderie around - woodworking extend well past the actual conference hours of about 8:30 am to 6:00 pm.
 
 
Each night of the conference (Thursday, Friday & Saturday) there are official (& Semi-Official) Activities. There is the Lost Art Press Thursday night Roubo release party, the official Friday Night WIA Banquet and the Saturday Evening Planemakers Dinner. These are wonderful activities where you can relax and enjoy with our woodworking friends.
Don’t be fooled though. There is so much more going on at WIA at night.If you’ve heard me talk about WIA or FWWLive or any other woodworking conference on the Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast, you’ve heard me say over and over how the best part of the conferences is the community of fellow woodworkers who you meet and socialize with over the event. Evening is a prime time for this to happen.
Steve, Niks Dad, Sean, Vic, Kyle & Matt have fun at Keystone
We work wood and eat German food (and were loud).
The Modern Woodworkers Association has setup and is helping promote meetups every night of the conference. All are free to enter (you pay for your own food & drink) and all will be attended by fellow woodworkers.Thursday:  MWA Meetup at Keystone
Beginning at 7:00 pm, we’ll be hanging out in the upstairs bar room at the Keystone Bar & Grill. It’s a quick walk from the convention center and most of the hotels. Meeting at the Keystone on the opening night of registration has become a tradition for WIA and we hope you’ll join us. Many fellow MWA members, woodworking bloggers and other WIA attendees will be there. If you’re going to to the Roubo Book Release, don’t worry. You can join us at Keystone afterwards. All are welcome.Friday:  Hofbrauhaus
The Hofbrauhaus excursion on Friday night is another WIA tradition. It’s less organized than the meetups at Keystone, in that we don’t reserve a private room. We just jump on the trolley and head to Hofbrauhaus. It’s a fun night of great beer, great food, great company and loud music. If you’re going to the official WIA Banquet, please join us at Hofbrauhaus afterwards. We usually stay late. If you’re looking to meet us at Hofbrauhaus, there’s no telling exactly where we’ll be, though in past years we’ve started the evening at the outside bar area and then moved to one of the many long tables. Just listen for Tom Iovino and you’ll be sure to find us. All are welcome.
Saturday:  WoodTalk Meetup at Keystone
The WoodTalk guys have setup their own Meetup at the Keystone on Saturday night. It begins at 6:30. Since it was organized by and features Marc, Matt & Shannon, you should expect that this will be the smoothest running event of the weekend. Still, it’s going to be an absolute blast and all should come. I know we’re going to try to represent the MWA there in force.Afterwards:
Just about every night some folks will stop by the Behle St Cafe before heading back to their rooms. If it’s late, but you’re still looking to hang out with woodworkers, joint us there. All are welcome.
Venue Information
Keystone Bar & Grill
313 Greenup St
Covington, KY
Hofbrauhaus Newport
200 East 3rd St
Newport, KY 41071
Take the SouthBank Shuttle (trolley) to the stop between Monmouth St & Saratoga St (it doesn’t have stop names)
Behle St Cafe
50 East Rivercenter  Blvd
Covington, KY 41011
Across the street from the convention center in the same building as the Embassy Suites
?
 
?
Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
Read More..
Before getting to the OSB, I fastened the XPS panels to prevent them from shifting. I secured each of the 2 x 8 XPS panels with two (2) Tapcons into the underlying concrete floor. Thats not enough for permanent attachment, but since Id be attaching the OSB through the XPS, it only needed to be attached enough to hold still while I installed it. I started every other row of XPS with a half sheet so that though there were many joints where three (3) panels met, there were no four (4) panel joints.
The corded PC impact driver burnt out after
driving about 2 dozen Tapcons.
After the XPS, I installed the 3/4" tongue and groove OSB. I used a half sheet of OSB on every other row also to achieve the same 3 panel joints. Each sheet of OSB was fastened through the XPS into the concrete with 18 tapcons in a 4-3-4-3-4 patten, installed along the factory markings which are painted on the OSB to help identify where the framing is for typical installations. This left me with a floor fastened every 1.7’ on center. It shouldn’t be going anywhere.
Its beginning to look like a floor.
With the XPS installed to 7-1/2” from the garage door and the OSB installed to 12” from the edge of the XPS I called it a day on installing the floor. I has hoped to also make the threshold which will fit in the 7-1/2” space, but I realized too late that my planer was stuck in my living room, surrounded by the other workshop paraphernalia.
The next morning, after I picked up my new jointer, I began the long task of loading all of the tools into the shop by myself. By the time my wife got home in the early afternoon, the only thing left in the living room was my work bench.
Reloaded with the contents of my shop.
Though I still need to build the threshold and tie it into the OSB I’ve spent the few weeks since the floor was installed coloring the walls and setting the shop back up. In that time, I’ve already come to appreciate how nice working on the new floor is. When I step from the concrete at the door to the OSB I can immediately feel how firm and soft the new floor is.
Though I’m far from finished, it’s absolutely delightful to be able to reach a
Read More..

Do not glue while tired

I learned a new lesson.  Do not glue wood while tired.  I figured that I would get a step up on the hall tree build and glue some boards together tonight.  I wasnt thinking and didnt clamp the wood down to the bench before I drilled in the pocket holes and the wood drifted.  I hate it when that happens.  The good news is that the boards I glued together go behind the cubbys and nobody will ever really see them.  Im hoping that I can just sand the hell out of them and even them up.  Once again, this is the main reason I am using cheap wood.  So I can make mistakes like this.
?
Read More..

I Missed Tom Fidgen

Its been a crazy week. Ive spent two days at work past midnight and another two at Christmas parties. As the year draws to a close, the to do pile on my desk isnt shrinking quite fast enough.
Im sorry that means this has to pass as my post for 12/21. Im also sorry I had to miss this weeks +Modern Woodworkers Association podcast recording. +Christopher Adkins was able to talk with +Tom Fidgen about his woodworking, his books and much more. Chris is still working on editing, but it will be out soon.
Until next post, I hope youre having a productive holiday and are a bit more on top of your work than I am.
By the choice, here is the state of the project Id hoped to have done for my wife by Christmas. Alas, it will not be.
Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.Read More..

Let There Be Light Part III


This is part III of a III part series read parts I & II here.
I began working on the light ring stand at about 8:30 pm. It had to be completed that night, for in the morning it was to leave on a cross country drive. If that deadline wasn’t enough, it was also the first night of the newly resurrected #woodchat. Besides making the stand, I was tweeting and Google+ Hangouting for much of the night.To construct the base, I used a 1” thick, factory made sheet of finger jointed pine. I find that using sheets like this for non-decorative pieces is cost effective and the boards I rip from these sheets are much straighter than dimensional lumber would be.
Some day, this will be a picture frame.
The partially assembled light ring stand.
The entire stand is made from strips, about 2” thick, except for the upper half of each leg. As I ran out of the 1” think sheet and it was 10:30 at night by that point, I used the only dimensional lumber I had in the shop, pieces of 2”x4” Timberstrand to make the tops of the legs. Almost all of the joinery is made using T-nuts, 5/16” threaded rod and plastic knobs for easy breakdown. I set the T-nuts and install short pieces of threaded rod in each, secured with LocTite Threadlocker. Luckily, I had Ari around to cut the threaded rod lenghs for me while I fabricated the stand. The only permanently attached pieces are the receivers for the legs, where are permanently screwed to the feet.
The completed light ring stand with the light ring in place.
The stand is assembled with clamps as the LocTite was not yet dry.
When assembled, the stand is about 7’ high and can hold the light ring, centered at any height from about 3’6” to 6’9”. The light ring is simply placed against the upper legs of the stand and ring’s handles are clamped to the stand using small quick clamps.
To use the light ring, simply stand behind it, and take your photo through the ring, so that your subject is evenly illuminated on every side of the photo.
The stand, broken down and ready for travel.
Broken down, the stand is made of up 9 pieces, none longer than 4’. Though I didn’t have time to do so before the light ring and stand left of the west coast, I told Ari that if I picked up some large Velcro straps, it would make the stand easier to transport.
The light ring is now at home in LA, and its cooking with gas.
The light ring is now in LA, and soon it’ll be illuminating the stars.What odd projects have you made to meet your friend’s needs?
Let There Be Light: Part I
Let There Be Light: Part II
Read More..

Senin, 04 April 2016

Its Never Too Late For Woodworking

Get Woodworking Week may be over, but don’t tell John.John is an 80 year old Korean war veteran who I’ve come to know because he wants to learn woodworking. While you’d be right to ask yourself why a one-eyed octogenarian who needs a walker is interested in learning a craft he currently knows nothing about, his reasoning turns out to be the same as many of us. John want’s to learn to woodwork because he needs a table for his computer and can’t find the right one commercially.John and I spent the afternoon in my shop where we discussed the basic table he plans to build and the method of building it. We went from hand cut mortise and tenons to routed floating tenons to pocket screws.
This joint is OK.
I know that while steering someone from a hand cut mortise and tenon to a pocket screw may be blasphemous to some, I was happy to do it.
This joint works too.
It’s not that I want John to be a power tool woodworker who only uses steel fasteners. It’s that I want John to be a woodworker. As he’s never built anything, I think jumping right into a table build with eight (8) hand cut mortise and tenons would be enough to turn anyone achoice in frustration. I stressed to John that as much as he’s eager to learn and practice joinery, it was also important to actually building something. The satisfaction and pride of actually building a pocket hole joined table will certainly nurture his love of woodworking more than the frustration of a table that won’t assemble because of miscut tenons.
Just be sure it ends in something like this.
I say this often because I feel it’s important. It is not about how you build something. It’s about that you do building something. Start small and simply. Let your first few projects succeed. Then, once you’ve learned the basics let your interest take you to any style of joinery method you choose.
Or like this. The important thing is to just build.
Read More..

Dylans Clock Stand

Last Saturday my son displayed his art in a show with his art class at the Central Park Zoo. It was a well received show and outside of heat, it was a wonderful day. My frame was actually well received, sloppy corners an all. Luckily though, I was able to make a second piece to help display his art and this one came out much nicer.
Dylans art show display
One of his three (3) dimensional projects was a clock. It’s a collage of clocks glued onto a box, with a round porthole cut out to reveal a clock face inside also.
Since the clock just sits on whatever you put it, I was asked to make a clock stand.
Initially I was going to make a low stand with ornate feet. As the deadline approached I was looking through The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction. After thumbing through the section on feet and basically deciding on making a rounded base with mitered legs, I then flipped through the cabinet on stand section. I occurred to me that I could make a tall stand for the clock rather than a stubby one.
With that idea in my head, I went out to the shop and started milling legs and aprons. I was making a tiny shaker table to hold the clock.
Should I clean my table saw blade.
I won’t go into too much detail on the table, as there are many resources online for making a shaker end table (I’d personally recommend the Shaker End Table Woodwhisperer Guild Project).
The one thing that I was rather pleased about regarding the table construction was the mitered frame is used as a top to hold the Clock. After having issues cutting miters on my table saw with my Incra jig, I chose to make these on my miter saw. When I cut a test piece and held it against a japanese miter square I have, I was pleasantly surprised to find the miter saw was perfect. I cut all eight miter cuts on the miter saw and the frame came together 100% gap free.
The finished clock stand with the clock atop.
Perfect miters right off the miter saw.
Read More..

Door Tops Bottoms

Once the hinges were finally installed, it came time for me to make the doors. They are a rather simple design. Each door is a piece of ¾” baltic birch plywood with a 3” wide top and bottom lip. The top and bottom lips are to create pockets behind the doors where I’ll be able to store chisels and other hand tools.
Assembly squares and clamps ensure the hinges
are in the correct position of relative dimensioning.
As with every step of construction, I began by relatively dimensioning the size of the door opening. I used assembly squares and clamps to hold the hinges in their proper closed position and then used my story stick to determine the actual width of the door opening.
Using the story stick I cut the door panels and test fit them with a single screw in each door.
Test fitting the doors.
Once I knew the door panels fit, next came cutting the lips. I did this by first ripping a piece of ¾” baltic birch to 3”. Then I laid the piece inside the cabinet against the top and bottom. I  set the pieces against the side and directly marked the center triangle. It was then a simple matter of taking the 3” strips over to the miter saw and voila, I had my tops and bottoms cut.
Rasping the hinge recesses.
Before attaching the top and bottom lips, I took my rasp to them to create a small recess to house the portion of the hinge which wraps around the back of the door panel.
Dominoing the lips on the doors
This will come as a shock to anyone who’s been following along, but I then attached the top and bottom with my Domino. I got sloppy with the last row of Dominos, failing to adjust the width as I should have, but the bottom won’t have to hold any weight, so just four (4) is still probably overkill.
Plenty of hinge room now.
Once the lips were glues on, I tried fitting the doors. Unfortunately, I found that the recesses which I had rasped into the lips, and had feared would be too deep, were in fact too shallow. The hinge would not fit into them. While I could have taken out my metal tools and trimmed the hinge, I instead chose to take the doors to the table saw. I set the fence exactly the door thickness achoice from the blade and made four (4) quick cuts to allow room for the hinges. This did result in over-sized recesses, but it’s only shop furniture.
It doesnt photograph any different, but the door panel
is now smoother than a babys bottom.
The final thing I did to the doors before mounting was to test out my Mirka AbraNet sanding pads. I ran through the full assorted pack, P80 to P600 and was nothing but impressed. My doors are now almost glass like in their finish and I haven’t finished them yet!Do you take easy over pretty on shop furniture?
Other Bastard Wall Cabinet PostsWinter Wall Cabinet WonderlandThe Bastard Wall Cabinet (for tools!)Trudging Towards Tool StorageCutting the Cabinet Carcass (in relative terms)A Home For My PlanesContinued Wall Cabinet AssemblyWhats a Bastard Wall Cabinet without Shelves?
Boxing in the Bastard Tool Cabinet
Door Hinges on the Bastard Wall Cabinet
Oh, You Mean That Was Supposed To Lift?
Read More..