A bit of a Blur

Oh boy, it's been a bit of a blur here. I don't do so well with time changes and I've gone through two of them on this trip.
Well trip began with visiting one Dan M... DannyMac? hehahhe Looking through lumber, spinning around Vancouver, some coffee and beer. Went down to the beach to see where his chainsaw milling takes place. Pretty cool, I wouldn't mind being able to do the same now and again ;).
Thanks for your time and hospitality Dan!

Onwards/back to the school!
It was great to meet all the passionate crafts-people here, to reminisce on memories past, and taking some new memories for the future.
The program has changed a bit since I was there but the quality and underlying goals remain.
There is, of course, great working being done this year. I didn't get to pull my camera out on everyone's project but I snapped a few...

Raul is stationed at my old bench, it seems to treat him well. He is making a lovely little jewelry display case for his wife, a jewelry maker, of Boxwood and English Sycamore. Above is one of his panels getting applied edges.

Meredith across from him is working on a lovely Danish inspired low console/coffee table. I think those through tenons are going to look pretty hot Meredith! ha!

Jesse is making a pipe wall cabinet of Caltalpa and Black Limba. I haven't been the biggest fan of either of these species, but these planks coming together in this cabinet of his is looking mighty fine.

Melissa is making a desk not hugely different from the one I'm working on. Her's is of Kwila and Narra, with drawers coming from the sides.

This is a mini mock-up of Hong's. Very cool. I think it could be very successful as a coffee table.

Steve Wolf finished and presented the second of a mating pair of end table/cabinets of Zebrano and Walnut. Well done sir!

Andrea is working on a wall cabinet of Claro Walnut, Monterey Cypress, and Swiss Pear featuring a display area, and an enclosed space. Pretty sharp.

Dave is reproducing a rocking chair made by Roberts a number of years ago. A great chair it is.

Jay has been spending time on a media stand with drawers made of Kwila. His plank of Kwila is a bit cranky but it's looking good!

Christian, from Denmark, is a highly meticulous worker... a regular Craig Johnson heh. Making a small tool chest of Boxwood and Maple. These woods call for precision work and Christian is surely meeting the challenge.

Josh is a young man somewhat strikingly similar to myself and my mode of work... also a musician. He's tackling one of JK's silver chests. These Maple drawers will be set into a Spalted Maple carcass. Good luck Josh!
Kylle is working on a lovely little floor standing cabinet made of a familiar material to me heh... Euro Cherry. Great work Kylle. He can show you his work on his blog here: http://kylle221.wordpress.com.

Howard has had years of experience as a carver. I can see how the plank he selected and his form speak to him and each other. It may be a little tricky but it will be lovely in the end. I'm sure he'll be looking forward to making happy shavings after break.

I've also been reminded how awesome this little coffee grinder is! I want one!!!

Thanks to eveyone who made this trip possible and for the kindness, hospitality, conversations, inspirations... and the food haha ;). Please keep in touch and show me your projects when they're done!

It is coming time for me to leave the coast again which is a bittersweet affair. I love the land, people, and culture here. Especially the multitude of cultures drawn to the school. At the same time my shop and work are calling me. Also I am looking forward to get back to special lovely lady back home...

Return to The Creek

With my short trip to the Sunshine Coast fast approaching I found it more difficult to get work done in the shop. Had to tie some ends, had another gallery night, and spent some good time with the lady. However I did get SOME work done.
Above is the veneer being applied to the substrate in a jimmy rigged "press"... this time it didn't work out as well as I got some shaping out of said "press" that isn't quite flat. I do have some speculations why that I will address in the future. For now can make it work but it will require some extra attention.

Ahhhh smoothing that top! One thing I did miss about Walnut is it's workability! This air-dried selection seems to work particularly well... or it could just seem that way after coming from an Oak project :p.
Whatever the case, the top is looking pretty nice if I do say so myself, though it is due to the nature of the tree, not as much of my own work ;).
So it's time to leave this project, MN, the Midwest, the country for a couple weeks.

I'll be back Mr. Desk, I promise, but for now I'm back in Roberts Creek, BC, Canada. Here to do my best to help out at the school (IP)! Should be an interesting, challenging, and inspiring time!
Alas I forgot how late things get going around here on Sundays ha. Can't get that Gumboot Granola till 11:00!

Desk Substrate

Geez, seems like I've had my hands full with little progress to show for it. I have been spending more time on the gallery's website, and I guess it is the way of veneer work sometime.
Desk top substrate! I decided I didn't want to do a 3/4" top but wanted more than 5/8", however plywood comes 1/8"s. Well I have extra 1/16" veneer I've used for cross banding. I opted to joint together some 1/16" Poplar veneer and laminate that in a 1/4" ply sandwich.

The sandwich gives me about 9/16" thick substrate, adding the two 1/16" walnut veneers it should come out to be somewhere around 11/16" aka 1/16" less than 3/4".
Here is said substrate shaped before the bake-ins are applied.
Nice subtle curves which I seem to be gravitating toward. Also I wanted to maintain the amount of usable surface area. Some more "radical" curves could look nice but in the end this is to be a daily desk with an effective use of space... who ever says their rooms are too big?

And the part that set this piece in motion. The top. Well the veneer for the top anyway. pictured above are the "strips" of veneer cut to mate together. The light spaces in between is just the ply wood "work space" I had set up but nicely defines the joint lines for viewing pleasure/ease.
So, part of the reason I needed to veneer this is that the raw board wasn't quite wide enough for a desk top. I'd veneer it in order to do a couple slip matches to make it wide enough. I have used this technique before. Although I'd prefer to have planks wide enough and like to maintain the wood's "integrity", it's just not going to happen all the time. Being in my position and locale I need to be able to work with what I have. I'm sure many others can relate :).
So, those slip matches are the two thinner pieces inside the strips with sap wood.
I think this will make a beautiful top! I'm excited to see it clean up :).

Catching up on the Oak

Oh boy, this may be a doosey of a post. Some times the time just flies and one doesn't realize how many operations have gone by!
Back on the brackets adding the final touch. Using my jimmy riged x-y table to add the notch to the brackets. I was surprised at how well it worked while taking it easy. Last time I went over to Craig's to use his mighty x-y but looks like I wont have to bother him for that any more heh.
I like to think my clamping/positioning jig is a little clever. Milled a piece of Poplar slightly thinner than the brackets are wide. This way my clamping force is stable on the table and the brackets are held securely.

With the "carcass" all dry-fit together it was time to move on to the finishing touches with it too.
Sometimes I get a little antsy with edge treatment, just wanting to get on to the next step. This time it was different. I really found a "groove" with these edges. Being such a stripped down piece, the edges are one of the few places the maker's hands can really come through.
I'm sure I've said it before, but one of the things I really like toying with is the concept that the fewer components/elements in a piece of work, the greater weight each carries. If one blows any component on a very simple piece, there's no "making up" for it else where. Sure maybe that adds a bit of "pressure" but I like the challenge :).

Bam! Assembly, after pre-finishing of course.

On to the drawer, the only other component of the piece ha.
Using a small piece of Chinese Elm I saved from my school project at IP. It should go rather nicely with the Oak. For the rest of the drawer I've opted for Ash as it has a stronger grain structure better mating with the Oak than Maple may.

Poof! the Dovetail Gnomes are at it again!
Anywho, fast forwarding the sawing, chopping, paring, and fitting of the dovetails I was to flattening the bottom of the drawer in preparation of making the grooves for the drawer bottom.

This time around I tried putting a little flare into the pins and tails. The Elm being stringy and brittle across the grain I couldn't very well just shave a little curve into the pins. Thus the outcome isn't quite as nice as I was hoping for but hey, at least the fit of the joints are pretty spot on :).
Next drawers I;m planing on doing are with Walnut fronts. I think they would work better trying to get that flare. However the sides are looking to be of Oak which doesn't work all too well... hmmm don't know if I should try it in those or not, we'll see when the time comes.

Skipping ahead past drawer fitting and drawer edge treatment, the pull is the last piece of this "puzzle".
I originally made a different pull out of a different wood but when I mocked it up on the drawer in its pocket I got one of those sinking feelings that I didn't like it. The shape was decent but it was the color that screamed at me. I decided to cut into my prized little stash of Ornamental Maple I received from Jody at IP. The shape of the new pull is a bit simpler and cleaner which I thought would ultimately be better for the piece anyway. It is actually very similar to the ones I did for the Chinese Elm Cabinet but heavier and with less movement. I think it will be nice.

Well I've pretty much wrapped this piece up already :). Quite a change from the more lengthy pieces I have been doing. It's nice, but I feel like I may need another piece to push me. The desk may just be enough push for me. Don't know when I'll get to photographing this piece but rest assured I'm post the pics when they're done :).

Till later, happy shavings!

Oak Display Doweling

Boof! Carcass all doweled up. I think we can all guess how that happened. What is a bit more interesting is doweling the little corner drawer pocket.

Here are the pieces to finial dimension and about where I want them. I made the same old doweling jig I always do but there is a little trickery in setting exactly where the doweling jig should be.

First I bored the dowel holes in the end grain joints. Order of operations doesn't especially matter what holes are drilled first as long as the jig is used accurately.
I used my drawer pocket vertical piece as a "template" to locate the dowel jig on the carcass vertical, nailed it and went to the drill press.

This is the bottom of the drawer pocket top. I cut a piece of Poplar to use as a template for horizontal distance from the side of the carcass.

Similarly, I set the same template up for the carcass side of the joint.

And there we have the dry-run after fitting dowels!
KEEN!

Decided to go on to the hanging brackets. I only plan to use two on this piece but as long as I'm changing blades and setting up jigs for one pair, I might as well make two. I probably would have made a third pair  but only had enough brass left for two plus a fifth bracket in case a mistake is made heh.
These brackets are a little different than the one I normally use. They need to be skinny to stay hidden behind the carcass sides without a back-panel to cover them up.
I figure even if this piece isn't a sales "hit" I really do like the form and may someday want one of my own ;).
Welp, I'll have an extra pair of hangers for a customer or myself heh.

Walnut Desk Search

In my newly cluttered order of operations drafting/mocking and rough component milling of the Walnut desk come first. Put the "slab" I've had saved for the top of this desk up on my horses that happen to only be an inch or two higher than the desk will be and started looking at defining the top shape which will define the shape of the whole desk.
Pictured above, looking for/drawing the left end of the desk top.

Copying lines I put on the rough piece of Walnut I put the full-scale top "outline" on paper and started to "draft" the whole thing through a top view.
When I originally had the desire to build this desk I was hoping for a relatively simple project, but it's looking more complicated now. The drawers need a whole "separate" drawer-pocket structure within the main structure of the desk due to the curves. Also I'm very strapped for material once again so it looks like I will be veneering all the aprons and therefore the drawer-pocket vertical pieces as well. Not sure how I will construct the two side stretchers yet.

Back to the wood. As I mentioned, this nice wide plank I got for the top has a big old check in it. Fortunately the check is relatively straight. I built in a taper to my drawing allowing to take this check out with minimal waste. I was going to taper it anyway ha.

Here's the same plank cleaned up after ripping the check out, and ripping the initial two parts again to accommodate my small machines. 8" re-saw, 8" jointer... sigh.

Went looking for components in the other Walnut lumber I've had set aside for this project. The four chunks on top are for legs. These are kind of grossly over-sized but I wasn't going to get any more usable material from cutting closer and I've been worried about the stability of these planks once opened up. I'll just slowly whittle away at them while working on other things until it's time to really focus on this piece.
So, you'll probably not hear about this one for a little while.
Tomorrow it's on to the Oak Wall piece!

Multi-tasking

So the door of the Cherry Display Cabinet hasn't showed any sign of improving over the last couple days. I just took it out of the basement and brought it upstairs to see what would happen, probably nothing.
I'm looking at rough cutting more material tomorrow morning and moving on to another project while waiting for the wood to settle for AMPLE time.
I could really dive into the gallery website but think I'd go crazy just working on a computer all day so I need to move on to another woodworking project.

So, I'm looking to do the Oak "wall display" while waiting on another Cherry door.
I probably already mentioned the concept with this one but will re-tell a little. Looking to build something on spec perhaps a little more "gallery savvy". Small, simple, lower price, but with the same level of craftsmanship, visual interest, and personal touch.
It is also interesting because this is something that can be made with just one nice 8/4 plank. I had picked up a White Oak plank at the local commercial lumberyard one time I was there for something else. I didn't have any plans for this plank but knew I could use it sometime for something. It's not terribly rift-sawn but it was pretty straight and clean.

Problem I've had before with commercially sourced Oak was some crazy tension in the lumber. Pictured is some cupping towards the middle of the plank. I re-sawed the pieces way over-sized allowing for some of this.
Today I jointed and planed the pieces I re-sawed a week or two ago, still over-sized. I need to let them sit for some days more... Now what?

Well I've been planning to make a small desk out of Walnut after I would be done with the Oak wall piece. Might as well get a little into that.
Took out my metal smoother plane to do some scrubbing on some planks of Walnut I had set aside for this desk. The top is coming from a smallish wide plank. The legs, aprons, stretchers, and drawer fronts hopefully are coming from the plank on the horses and the other two pictured behind. I will be building a web-frame system out of Oak for the Oak sided drawers.
These planks are thick and have a number of knots so there will be a lot of waste and I feel like there is going to be tension and moisture issues. I want to get components out to settle for a good time. I think I will mock this piece up, and cut component stock before I get back to the Oak piece.

Ugh this multi-tasking kind of stuff isn't usually how I like to work. However in my circumstance it seems a more effective use of time.
Here's hoping I don't cut a Walnut drawer out of Oak hahah!