Archive for ‘Wood’

Valentines Day Bread Board

By John, 5 February, 2012, 4 Comments

Valentines Bread Board

For valentines day, I made a bread board or cutting board for my wife from a number of scrap pieces of wood that I kept from other projects. One of the pieces came from my first set of projects a couple of years ago. A piece of Paduk measuring only about 6 inches square provided plenty of space to house a heart and to be cut down into about 2 and 1/2 inches square.

The other pieces came from scraps of walunt and curly maple, with a few strips of bloodwood that I cut off from a twisted board. I think from what I can tell, all bloodwood twists, but these couple of thin strips seem straight.

The Heart Cut Into the Paduk

I cut a heart into the piece of Paduk this morning. I used a forestner bit to cut two overlapping half inch holes and cut the bottom of the heart out with a jig saw. After clean up with a couple of files, I rounded the edges of the heart to match the round-over on the edges of the board.

The entire board is only about 5/8 inch thick, and about 10 inches by 15 inches.

She seems to like it, but she only gets to look at it until Valentines Day comes actually comes around.

Folding Screen

By John, 29 December, 2011, 3 Comments

Side View of Panel

Our new home has one window that currently does not have a curtain. Right now the Christmas tree is filling that space, but when it is gone, we are without a way to keep the neighbors from looking in. There are mature trees between us, so the view into our home is not too good, but it would be nice to have a bit more privacy.

Because of the mature trees, we decided to not block the view out the window entirely. The idea is to make a folding screen that is about 4 and 1/2 feet tall which will block our neighbors view in, but allow us to see out.

Edge Ready for Glue

I took some curly maple that I picked up last year in Iowa, and planed it down. The maple will be wrapped with walnut which is the trim color in our home. The combination of the two colors, and the figure of the maple should look nice.

I started a couple weeks back, but have gotten more done this week due to the time off. These photos show how the walnut sides will be joined to the maple, and the gluing process.

Clamping the Side to Trim

More Wood

By John, 1 September, 2011, No Comment

My wife and I drove to the sawmill yesterday in Dunlap, Iowa. Our new home does not have medicine cabinets in either of the upstairs bathrooms, so I plan to build some to fit our tastes and space.

Mostly I picked up white oak. Unfortunately, the sawmill did not have wide enough pieces of quartersawn for the sides, but they had some wide pieces of white oak that I can use. Since the sides will be barely visible in their locations, I think I can pull it off with them. Quite disappointing actually to get there and only have narrow pieces available.

I also picked up some nice walnut that I am going to use for a couple of projects. One of those projects involves wrapping the rough wood used for the fireplace mantle. The wood in place is very crude and dark. This wood will provide beautiful lines.

Dying With Water

By John, 24 August, 2011, No Comment

In my new shop, I am far from being ready to do any serious work, so I have been experimenting some with the combination of water-based wood dyes and oil stains. The combination of the two stains can give your wood grain an appearance boost from what I read. I thought I would take advantage of this downtime in my shop to do some experimenting.

So far, frustrations reign. My normal process is to sand the wood to a very nice state and then stain. Water-based dyes raise the grain on what was a nice smooth piece of wood. So sanding is required again. This is bad.

I consulted some of the woodworkers on a Greene and Greene forum for advice and got some good responses. I am close to being ready to try another sample, so I will try some of the tips that I got from the group.

I want this to work. I have seen some of the value already from my first experiments, and I like some of what I am seeing.

Right now, I am using products from General Finishes if you want to check out their product line. Also a link to their how-to page.

I am going to include a couple of the links passed along to me for others to read as well.

Dorset Custom Furniture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWCptCxNx4I

Krenov

By John, 31 March, 2011, 1 Comment

Readers of this blog, apart from my family, probably already know the name of James Krenov. He passed away September 10, 2009. Some consider Mr. Krenov to have been among our greatest contemporary furniture makers and teachers. Sadly, I cannot say that I ever met the man in person, nor do I anticipate every owning one of his highly valued pieces.

But, I do own two of his books. I am currently reading The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking published originally in 1977 when he would have been about 55 years old. I am finding this book a challenge to read, because it is so inspiring that I can only read about 2-3 pages at a time before I am fired up to get back into the shop. I see wood differently, and I see making something from wood differently when I read his books.

He communicates thoughts and feelings and ideas rather than presenting plans and joints. My wife read the first book and thoroughly enjoyed the book. She is not a woodworker. But the man is a fascinating read. He seems to have written down so many of my thoughts and feelings. How amazing to find someone that expresses what you feel and think.

For example, with a couple of my projects, I have struggled greatly with details and many steps in the projects caused me much stress. I found myself distraught with fears of ruining a piece. I then needed to take a half hour or hour break before I could continue. My next experience might be euphoric as I saw such beauty in the wood and the project as it came together. I could not explain that to myself, or to my wife. This was supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable hobby!

But, then I read this section from The Fine Art Of Cabinetmaking, “I am cautious almost to the point of paralysis. Afraid to spoil something, and get off the track. Oh, I am afraid: when I have the most wonderful wood, I flutter between delight and terror. Yet, I do go on, wanting that wholeness where nothing lets you down.” pp 38.

Well, here is a man writing down my feelings 35 years ago. Perhaps he wrote down yours too. If you cannot explain your passion for wood, tools to work wood and the rise in your blood pressure over photographs of beautiful furniture, then maybe you need Mr. Krenov to explain it to you and to your loved ones.

Having taken a long hiatus from woodworking, I grow frustrated each day to realize that I cheated myself of one more day to enjoy this passion. My projects still resemble those of first-year students rather than those of a seasoned master of grain, color, shape and varieties of wood. Sigh.

Thank you James Krenov for enabling me to understand my own thoughts and feelings. Thank you for blessing my energy, time and money spent on my shop and projects. Thank you for explaining that unexplainable urge to hoard beautiful pieces of wood in my home. Pieces that I have to walk around every day to get into and out of my shop. Thank you for giving light to the path ahead, so that here in Nebraska, far away from your shop and the college you began, I know where my skills ought to take me.

Thank you for spending the time with me. I’m glad that I got to know you.

Patina Reflections