Book Follow Up

Posted by Ron at 8:00 AM 0 comments

In my last post I raved about Tedd Bensons book, Building the Timber Frame House and alluded to the fact that another of his books was on it's way. I expected The Timber-Frame Home: Design, Construction and Finishing to be a continuation of the previous book but it was a little more.

Building the Timber Frame House was a more in depth look at the joinery while The Timber-Frame Home focuses more on the design aspect. The former would make a great addition to any woodworkers library because of the insights on constructing a rigid frame. I already understood that cross braces would stabilize a structure but Benson explained to me the concepts of tension and compression in a way that I will never take for granted. The Timber-Frame Home is probably not for every woodworker but I would suggest it anyway. It's more about the aesthetics, layout and design considerations when considering a timber frame home. The reason I suggest it anyway is because the concepts learned and the photography can be very inspirational, and celebrates the use of joinery in function and form. We all know that a dovetail drawer is a wonderful achievement but it's downfall is the fact that when anyone sees a dovetailed drawer it is not really that inspiring. Everyone knows (or at the very least think they know) how and why they work and they don't spend too much time contemplating it. Instead it is used as an earmark of quality. On the other hand, there are pictures in this book that displayed some roof joinery that I stared at for an inordinate amount of time. I like that. I think it speaks volumes about craftsmanship when I feel the need to walk to the other side of a piece to see how things join over there. Of course I try to show my wife and she goes "oh that's pretty" and goes back to her book. I don't think less of her about it because we know it's because it's not her "thing". We are both big fans of music with good lyrical content and we are both frustrated when well tell some one about a good song and they say "It's kind of slow" or "I like the melody" when we really just wanted to share the profoundness of the message the artist/songwriter was conveying. It's just not their thing and home building is not always a woodworkers thing and woodworking is not always a sub-contractors thing. But where two worlds converge, inspiration can be found.

New Life

Posted by Ron at 2:02 PM 1 comments

Well it's been a while. I just can't focus on anything except getting ready to move. With my pending exodus from the Navy. Being a country boy, one of the oldest dreams I can remember is owning my own farm. I've worked on farms. I went to school with farm kids. My dad only ever owned 2 acres and he has probably pushed it to it's agricultural limits. So when I had the opportunity to purchase 76 acres back home, I jumped at it. It's not a perfect situation but I'm still young and have a strong back. My suburban daughter might have some quibbles about getting put to work but I think the critters will make up for it(if she could, she would own a zoo).

What does this have to do with wood working? Well, I have to build a house. I had considered many options. I don't have much against manufactured housing. It certainly would be easier and faster to go that route. And they make some surprisingly luxurious models these days. But I also know how they hold up over time and, well, they don't. Going stick built is certainly an option but it seems ridiculous to deforest land and then by wood to build a home. If I mill my own it would be FAR cheaper but becomes very time consuming going 2x4,2x4,2x4. Then I rediscovered timber framing. An oversimplification of the process is basically to build a sturdy frame using large timbers and *gasp* woodworking joinery. Then you have the option to either in-fill the bays or sheath the whole thing thermos style with insulation. The latter way is far more efficient than stick framing in which the studs form a thermal bridge every 16 inches, regardless of the R value of the insulation between. So I did what any sensible person would do and ordered a how-to book. And wow what a book. I recommend Building the Timber Frame House by Tedd Benson to any woodworker. I don't care what you think about Timber Framing this book is outstanding. The rock solid joinery is inspiring and he provides many insights as a builder on home efficiency and quality construction. He has two other books and I ordered one other but will wait on the other book. I'll receive it tomorrow and will likely devour it in a day like I did the first one

A Serious Consideration

Posted by Ron at 7:07 PM 1 comments

As a beginning woodworker, I believe I can say with a fair amount of authority that the greatest challenge I face is getting wood. Hardwood is expensive! I am the sole bread winner for my family and its tough to make ends meet already on enlisted military pay (not like I can get overtime on salary). It's not without a tinge of guilt that I look at my new table saw. I could have used that money to buy a decent living room set. As a matter of fact, I sometimes feel that I am at the bottom of the income bracket that can even entertain the idea of having this hobby. When considering a project, the cost of materials weighs heavily on me and I am constantly putting them on the back burner because I simply cannot justify it. Even now, as I work on the new cabinets for my kitchen, I decided to go with poplar face frames and painting them rather than a finished wood look. On the other hand, I do have hardwood floors and want wood countertops so it wasn't that hard of a sell (from an interior decorating point of view there can definitely be too much wood grain).
I made the decision some time ago to woodwork for a living, eventually, and this puts more pressure on learning the craft. I can't learn the craft if I'm not out there working. I can't work if I don't have materials. It's a vicious circle of depressing self-doubt.
Recently, I've been browsing the pages of woodgears.ca. This guy, Matthias Wandel, is smart. Like, Jeopardy smart. If you don't believe me then check out his page. I'm no slacker and am known to be a smart guy (although I'm not near as bright as I used to be), but this guy makes me look like I should wear a helmet. At any rate, I finally make it around to his furniture page and I like the things I'm seeing. Not a lot of over the top stuff that I hope I can build someday, but that good old mission and arts and crafts stuff that made me think I could woodwork in the first place. But, upon reading deeper, I discover that he is using pine. No Norm, not river recovered, antique pine, but the "go to insert box store here, pick up some 2x4/6/8 construction grade, throw it in the back of the truck, take it home and get to work" pine. This is not news to me. I know that pine is used in amateur furniture making fairly often. The thing is that I never saw any of my woodworking heroes using pine extensively so I kind of turned my nose up at the whole idea. Even when Christopher Schwarz used pine in his workbenches (as did I), I took it with a grain of salt. After all, it's just a work bench. But here's "Brainiac" Wandel using it to make stylish bed frames, completely unashamed. Am I missing out? How many weekends have I spent putting around the shop, not able to afford walnut, when I could have been honing my craft with pine?
I guess the take away from this is that I should suck it up and pay my dues. If it has to be with pine, so be it. There is a lot of shop furniture yet to be built and my military career ends in 22 months (actually 21 months 27 days and a wake up, but who's counting).

OOPS!

Posted by Ron at 5:54 PM 1 comments

  So I'm at the hardwood dealer and, as always, I go into the scrap/cutoff room to see if I can find any goodies. I once found a beautiful slab of african mahogany this way. I was there to get stock to build my first blanket chest. As I was looking I found a 4 ft slab of 8/4 red oak and had a "brilliant" idea. Why not grab this and resaw it to use as the rails and stiles.
 I slice it up it 3" wide sections and take it over to the band saw to half it to 4/4 stock. As I'm cutting, it just doesn't seem right. I stop the band saw about halfway through to inspect the stock and realize that the cut end is pressing against itself. No problem, I can fix that in the planer. It's just some internal stresses in wood. I start to finish the cut and get a little less than an inch from the end and "SNAP!" The internal stresses were so great that the piece actually pressed against itself hard enough to split it along the grain in that last inch.
 I set the stock on my assembly table to assess the situation and this is what it looked like.

Luckily, I'm cutting this into much shorter pieces and was able to
flatten them out and maintain 3/4" thickness. If I had needed them
longer I would have been hosed.
 I wonder who among you has had such a "brilliant" idea that didn't exactly pan out. Some of the veterans probably could have warned me of this. What else can you warn me about?

Episode 5: New Tool and Tool Buying Philosophy

Posted by Ron at 9:22 PM 0 comments

Click to Play

Well it's been well over a month since my last post, but in this episode I'll bring you up to speed and introduce you to the new tool. We'll talk a little bit about tool buying philosophy as well.

Children In the Shop

Posted by Ron at 7:41 PM 0 comments

Often when we build a piece of furniture or other project, we will show it to someone and they will say, "wow, that's really nice." Even if they mean it, it still seems patronizing sometimes. In a world with department store furniture, people just don't understand the work that goes into these projects. As far as I'm concerned there are really only two kinds of people who actually "get it". Fellow woodworkers and children. When my daughter is helping me or is looking at a finished piece, she thinks I'm a genius. At the same time, I can see the gears turning in her head. At 7 years old, the world is full of magic, mystery, and possibilities. She built this robot out of my scrap pile. She did need me to drive a few nails and even out the legs but it's all out of her imagination and ingenuity. Now we have a shop mascot and a reminder to never stop thinking creatively. Merry Christmas, Zoey. Daddy loves you.

Woodworking Trivia

Posted by Ron at 5:20 PM 0 comments

Quick! Who is this?

I remember watching this guy as a kid, but only recently rediscovered him. He's lively, philosophical, and you'll usually get a history lesson while watching him. Oh and those crazy contraptions!

It's Roy Underhill! Host of The Woodwright's Shop, which has been on air since 1979 and is PBS's longest running how-to show. If you're keeping score, that's a full decade before Norm.

So if your a hand tool enthusiast, check it out. Even if you're power tools only your bound to learn something. Me? I like getting the job done.

You see the last 4 seasons online at http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/schedule/27season_video.html