I begin my case with an observation from my shop.  If I build something for someone else, that person decides what it will be and I build it.  I may make recommendations but ultimately the client makes the decisions.  But when I make something for our house, things are quite different.  Suddenly I have a vested opinion in how the piece should look.  AND so does my wife, Chantal.  I’m betting that cobbler tried to make shoes for his son but his wife just didn’t like them.

Previously, I presented some ideas for a couple vanities and a mirror, all of which will take up residence in a bathroom we’re remodeling.  I was given a list of “gotta be” attributes and I’ve struggled somewhat with a design that would meet the criteria and still look nice.  There in lies the rub.  I wanted a fancy high-minded design; my wife wanted some boxes in which to store stuff and some mirrors on the wall.  I wanted something that would rival a Krenov cabinet (why dream if you can’t dream big?); she wants something a cut above Ikea.  Oh, and an attribute I didn’t mention previously – I want beautiful wood grain; she wants white paint.

I had convinced Chantal that pretty wood would be good and all other concessions were accommodated – I thought.  Anyways, I bought a bunch of oak and started cutting parts.  I even showed you the pile of cut parts in this photo of my NutriSawz-Um Fitness Program exercise station.

I was making good progress but sometimes I talk too much.  You see, I started this project using red oak.  That was probably a mistake and not only was the grain lack-luster but the wood color and quality very inconsistent.  I wasn’t pleased, which meant that half the ‘client base’ didn’t like it.

So, I dragged Chantal into the shop to show her the problem, thinking we could discuss a switch to another wood.  Her comment?  “Well, why don’t you just paint it white?”  How could I have been so stupid?  Not that white paint thing again.  But with can opened and the worms crawling out it was, quite literally, back to the drawing board.

To assist my lobbying effort I created these SketchUp references:

I wanted to make the case, again, for something other than white as I felt there was already too much white in the bathroom because of the fixtures, moldings, and tiles.  I wanted to discuss whether mirrors, frosted glass, or wood panel inserts would be “best.”

Chantal wanted to discuss cleaning.  “Those little trim pieces are going to make it hard to keep a mirrors clean. “  And, of course, she was right.  Why is she always right?  Sigh…

And so, I am once again heading down the road of vanity-building, armed with a new “plan.”  She agreed that cherry cabinets would look good.  We agreed that a more simple door design would be appropriate and that mirrors would be more functional than alternatives.  And so this is the goal:

Off to the wood store I went, happy as a clam that I had a plan, a material spec and that I could proceed… again.  The wood store, however, was a disappointment.  I did buy some cherry but it’s far from optimal.  I bought at least 30% excess with the thought of picking my way around the poor segments of the available boards.  I’m not sure that was enough of a margin but I do have a set of parts, cut from cherry.

If this doesn’t work out, I can always paint it white.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

That’s the kind of guy I am.  It could be justified if this behavior (or is it a lack thereof?) were driven by thrift but it has little to do with money.  Rather, it’ s that I view buying a new coat an annoyance, something that will take me away from something “important”, like maybe drinking coffee or eating a donut.  Lazy am me when it comes to this sort of thing.

And so it went, for years and years that I worked with a pair of winding sticks that were only one cut above firewood.  They were straight.  They did the job.  But they were ugh…ly.  It was last September that I broke down an made a set of winding sticks that looked good.  I thought it was a step forward and nearly broke something patting myself on the back.

So, with good-looking winding sticks, what more is there to talk about when it comes to winding sticks.  Well, just as I used ugly winding sticks that worked for several years, I began to use good-looking winding sticks that didn’t work so well.  I guess I’m more tolerant of ugly things than I am things that don’t work well as it’s only taken me 5 months to decide that I had to fix my sticks.

The problem was they were simply too thick.  At just over 3/4″ thick, when sighting over them it was hard to see a single ‘edge’.   I was working over a bunch of cabinet parts yesterday and got frustrated with this problem to the point where I just stopped and shoved the sticks through my thickness planer, taking them down to 1/2″, which seemed a good thickness for my old eyes and yet thick enough that they wouldn’t fall over.  While I was at it I lopped off the corners, drilled a hole in each so I could hang them and rejointed the top and bottom edges.  It only took a few minutes but what a difference it made.

Then I did something fun with them.  Tage Frid describes a finishing method where he applies boiled linseed oil and almost immediately adds some shellac to the surface.  This, of course, creates a very sticky surface but if you rub it with a clean cloth, the sticky goes away and you can bypass the time normally required for the BLO to dry.  It was actually sort of magical and allowed me to get back to my cabinet pieces.  I don’t think I’d like to try it on a large surface but it was great for these sticks.  Best of all, I now have winding sticks that not only look good, they work even gooder.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

The “big-money-made-by-blogging” thing is has exploded in popularity as those who have lost jobs due to the Wall St. debacle have flooded the Internet with websites and blogs telling us how they can teach us to make lots of money.  Who’da thunk that a recession could create so many experts who know how to get rich?  Anyways, these folks hawk courses, eBooks and themselves as they will teach you the obvious while pushing your “get rich quick” buttons.

So I figure, why not?  I’m a smart guy..sort of…so why shouldn’t I make lots of money too?  I’m going to give you an advance glimpse into my own money-making venture.  As a loyal Wood’n Bits reader I’ll give you a peek at my program that will let you benefit even before any of my break through program is available as an online course and eBook.  Everyone else will have to wait as they don’t yet know of the Wood’n Bits greatness like you guys do.

I call my new program the NutriSawz-Um Fitness Program.  Imagine achieving these results while continuing to eat pizza, drink beer, and helping out Frito-Lay stockholders.  No need to shun desserts and there are no expensive gym memberships involved either.  My program will attack these biological realities:

Calories In >  Calories Out —> Weight Gain

Calories Out > Calories In —> Weight Loss

I know it’s complicated but my NutriSawz-Um Fitness Program will make it easy.  I’ll show you how to lose weight, make stuff for your house, and you’ll never have to use a Nautilus machine, those silly elastic bands, or spend money on diet books.

While it wouldn’t make sense to give away my entire program now that I’ve got you all excited to buy it and become my disciple, because you’ve been so supportive of Wood’n Bits I will provide a couple hints.

There are actually two workout stations required for the complete NutriSawz-Um Fitness Program workout.  The Sawz-Um Station, from which the program gets its name, requires at least one saw and saw bench.  The wood pieces on the shop bents are an additional side-benefit to this program and in this case, these pieces will become a couple of vanity cabinets.  Calories burned?  I estimate about a gazillion but my program doesn’t count calories as big numbers make my brain hurt.  With the purchase of the NutriSawz-Um Fitness Program you’ll receive plans for 10 complete projects that will help guide you to success.

This is station two, the Planz-Um Station.  Here you will burn calories, tone smaller muscles as you maintain plane orientation and build muscle mass as you push a big hunk of metal along a wood edge or face.   To those of you who want to start accumulating the workout equipment, I’d recommend a long straight-edge, a square, and a jointer plane.  Oh…the entire NutriSawz-Um Fitness Program benefits from an iPod and your favorite tunes.

The other half of the NutriSawz-Um Fitness Program is to gain control of your diet.   Throw your Atkin’s and Suzanne Summers diet books away.  You have to make choices here and it’s not easy, but traditional diet books won’t help.  I need to line up some celebrities to promote the program and their diets may assist you in your decision-making.  In the mean time, Bob Easton, world-renowned woodworker, eats a lot of Snicker’s bars.  In reading their work I surmise that Chris Schwarz (aka – “The Schwarz”)  and Roy Underhill (aka – “King Roy”)  prefer thinner foods made from barley and hops.  For myself, I’m something of a beer and pizza kind of guy but donuts will do in a pinch.  Whatever your choices, make sure you eat a lot of it.  The NutriSawz-Um Fitness Program requires it.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

]]> http://www.woodnbits.com/blog/2010/02/making-money-as-a-blogging-woodworker/feed/ 7 http://www.woodnbits.com/blog/2010/02/1801/ http://www.woodnbits.com/blog/2010/02/1801/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:19:31 +0000 Larry http://www.woodnbits.com/blog/?p=1801 There’s not much going on in the Wood’n Bits Workshop right now.  You’ll probably laugh but the Olympics has turned me into a couch potato.  Well, I shouldn’t blame the Olympics for my shape but they are causing me to sit on a couch firmly attached to the glass teat.

I not sure what it is about the Olympics that grabs me so.  I’m not really a sports nut and I don’t think it’s the actual sports themselves that interest me.  Rather, it’s more the nature of the humanity that turn my head.  It’s about young people, who have worked hard to excel, being there, excelling.  It’s about people acknowledging that there is something beyond “winning” that matters in human activities and we’re shown that coming in 6th is still an accomplishment.  It is.  It’s about realizing that things other than money are important to the human condition and just being good at what you do is justification to work hard to be so.

The International nature of the Olympics is also important to “my Olympic experience.” It demonstrates that if you strip the posturing by politicians from the process, people can actually get along in spite of differences.  The Olympics also show us that we’re more the same than different.  We should have Olympic-like events daily; the world would be a better place.

The one “sad” thing about the 2010 Winter Olympics is the weather.  All winter I’ve been happy as a clam that Quebec City, where I live, has gotten almost no snow (normally 11-12 FEET of the stuff) as the US has graciously accepted more than their share.  To shovel snow so I can have a year without doing so is, well, it’s pretty special.  Thanks to all who have taken on some of this burden.

But, alas, this has not been good news for the Olympics, where Vancouver is experiencing summer-like temperatures as they try to provide sporting venues covered with snow.  I applaud their efforts and the acceptance of conditions on the part of the participants.  It does, however, make one feel sorry for someone slapping on a couple boards and flying down an ice-covered mountain at 120 mph.  Even so the results have been spectacular.

There’s something that we woodworkers can learn from all this.  Skill trumps conditions every time.  So often we read someone explaining that they made this or that error on a piece and this is quickly followed by a desire to own some tool that, of course, would have prevented the problem.  Skill, or rather lack of it, is not understood to be the real problem.  Olympians show us the importance of practice and maybe, just maybe, I will get up off this couch and spend some time practicing in my shop.  Then again…big Olympics weekend coming up.  I need to get to the store to pick up some munchies.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

Here’s one idea I’ve come up with and it does meet all the criteria laid down by my wife.  Its inspiration comes from Tom Fidgen’s Made By Hand book, specifically his small cabinet project.  It kinda sorta works and if I’d take the time to orient the grain in the proper direction on all the boards would look decent.  But it’s lacking something, maybe many somethings.

Here’s where I’m leaning towards  at the moment as this approach produces a more ‘free’ look in my view.  Again, Tom provides the inspiration as does Krenov but I’ve to use trim to provide a flow between the two cabinets.  What I can’t figure out, though, is what to do about the mirror.  No matter what I do, I can’t get it “right.”  I’ve left the area blank in this drawing.  Anyone have any ideas on how to fill it in?  Would sure like to hear from you.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

This year I decided to take advantage of the fact that the two Valentines in my life are avid readers.  I can show them I care and they can be reminded of it every time they mark their place in a book.  These bookmarks were made from 1/16″ cherry and painted with General Finishes Milk Paint.  These paints aren’t casein-based milk paints but are, rather, a water-based acrylic resin with the creamy, smooth properties you expect from a traditional milk paint.  I just love them.

Attached to a box of candy, I think they’ll look great and for another year I have avoided the Hallmark store.  I’ve got an extra one.  Will you be my Valentine?

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

So somewhere in the mid-90s I started buying old handtools and putting them on shelves.  I learned how to do electrolysis to remove rust and while these days I use Evapo-Rust, I sometimes miss my bubbling tub.  I learned how to clean a saw blade and make replacement totes for hand planes.  Having the tools caused me to learn how they worked and, just as the galoots are fond of saying, I slid down the slippery slope.  But I’ve always been one to want the tool in working condition, with little interest in making them pretty.  I’m not sure why that is but it is.

And so many of the tools I use on a regular basis are less than pristine.  They are flat where they need to be, sharp as I can make them.  But pretty they are not.  There’s something special about using a tool that someone else, in another generation used.  But I admit that sometimes even I roll my eyes when I look at some of my tools.

And so it was that I was waiting for the Super Bowl to start and, I said “Why don’t I make some decent handles for these chisels?” (I talk to myself often, don’tcha know).  “These chisels” are two Berg chisels and I love them as they hold an edge even at a low paring angle, which is how I use them.

I don’t have a pattern for the ideal chisel handle so I looked at a couple photos.  I grabbed a short piece of 8/4 maple and cut a couple 1 1/2″ square blocks that were 7″ long.   The photo above is more for this post than the actual process but let’s call it “planning and design” as I kinda sorta squinted and drew what seemed like a pleasing handle shape next to the old handle.

This went onto the lathe.  I used a roughing gouge to create a cylinder and then started marking out the rough dimensions using a parting tool.  At this point the idea was just to separate the various sections but the next step was to use calipers and increase the depth of the slots to reflect where I wanted the diameter to be at the various points.   Once  this is done I just removed stock between the slots to achieve the final shape.   If I were really concerned about building a matched set of handles I’d probably have a couple more diameter positions along the main handle area but I just did it by eye as I wanted one handle significantly larger than the other and I had no idea with “best” is in any case.

This is what I ended up with after adding a bit of shellac.  Not bad for less than an hour’s work.  And just in time for the Super Bowl.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

I’ve been distracted from the shop, playing Mr. Fix-It, and my woodworking time has been spent  navel gazing and some doing some sketching as my aged brain grapples with what a good-looking bathroom vanity looks like.

But I’m like a violinist between concerts; I still have to fiddle.  Quite a while ago I bought a marking knife “kit” from Czeck Edge Hand Tool.   The kit comes with a blade, several tip covers for the blade, and a ferrule – the assumption being that you will use a lathe to turn a typical marking knife handle.

The problem with round knives is that they roll off benches and the laws of Mr. Murphy require that such knives always hit the ground, or foot, point first.  So, I thought I’d follow a method I first saw on the Woodworker’s Zone and produce a knife that will stay put on my bench and includes a matching tip cover.  The only materials required are:

1) a central core piece that is just a teensy bit (technical term dating back to the 18th Century I think) thicker than the blade.  I used maple.

2) two side pieces that, when added together with the center piece make up 1/2″ or so (another 18th Century qualifying term used mostly while holding your thumb up next to the wood and saying “That looks about right.”

The length of these pieces is determined by how long you want the handle plus the blade length.  Width should be “some” wider than the blade width.  My pieces were 6 1/2″ x 3/4″.

Making the blade cavity

This is the key to this sort of construction.  You cut a cavity in the center section that will eventually hold the blade shank and provide a slot in the cap into which you can stick the blade.  Trace around the blade to get the cavity shape but leave a bit of space around the blade itself rather than tracing tightly to the blade sides and blade end.  When you trace the shank, however, trace close to the sides but leave a bit of space in the bottom.  These accommodations will cause fitting the shank to the knife to go well and allow the cap to work without problem.

If you have one, a scroll saw makes quick work of this job.  Otherwise, use a fret saw.  You can probably get away with cutting it with a sharp knife, using multiple passes with the knife.

Gluing Up Time

Once it is cut out, a very important thing is to mark, on the sides of the piece, the location of the blade base.  You have to know where this is and this mark will be the only evidence after the glue up.   Use your favorite glue and build a 3-layer sandwich.  I recommend that you apply glue to both sides of the center piece rather than to the side pieces so that a minimum of glue fills the cavity.  Too much filling and you’ll have a hard time when it comes to fitting the blade.

Once the glue is dry, mark, on all sides, the location of the blade base.  I cut all four sides with a carcase saw, ensuring that I didn’t cut too deeply and separate the cap from the handle.  Ultimately, though, you will cut through the two pieces here so the saw marks work very well.

Removing Non-Marking Knife Material

At this point the woodworker in me trumped the blogger in me and I forgot to take photos as I shaped the knife.  Oops!  So, I posed this photo to show you some of the tools I used.  I started with a hand plane, removing edges and squaring up the sides.  Then I used a carving knife to shape the ends and to cut the curved ‘notch’ that will become the interface between the handle and the cap.  I finished up with a “bit of the rasp” and then some sandpaper.

Assembly

Assembly starts with a bit dis-assembly.  I used my carcase saw to separate the cap from the handle.  I made sure the blade fit in the handle slot, mixed up a bit of epoxy and glued it in place.  If you did the tracing right, it should register itself straight relative to the handle but check it anyways.

Once the glue is dry, test fit the blade into cap.  Mine was a bit tight and so I used a thin file to clean up the slot where the blade was binding.  I suspect it was due to excess glue.  It could be that you can get the wood/metal fit close enough that the cap will stay on but there’s too much silicone caulk in the world to worry about that.  I took a bit of clear caulk and filled the opening to about 1/16″ deep and let it dry.  Once dry you can shove the blade through it a couple times and you’ll have a nice tight fit and the cap is easy to remove but it’ll stay put when you want it to stay put.

Finishing/Finished

It’s fashionable to put high-gloss, bulletproof finishes on marking knives.  That’s smart cuz you can sell them for a bunch of money.  Maybe I’m a “traditionalist” or maybe just a luddite but I like my tools to have softer, easier to revitalize, finishes and so I applied a couple thin coats of boiled linseed oil and followed those up with two coats of 2lb-cut blonde shellac.   I’m happy with how it turned out and the long, thin blade will be great for marking dovetail pins…or tails.  You choose.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

And while I use both liquid and hot hide glue, I find that hot hide glue is superior.  Rather than reiterating all my thoughts on hide glue, here are two posts I’ve made on the subject:

Hide Glue Use – Part 1

Hide Glue Use – Part 2

Today, though, I want to talk about a new pot for heating my hide glue.  If you follow the links you’ll see the pot I’ve been using.  It’s a thermostatically-controlled tea kettle and I’ve used it as a double-boiler, keeping the actual glue in a container sitting in a water bath.  This works well but suffers from the fact that it heats so quickly that it overshoots its temperature setting.  I also, sometimes, get water slopping onto my bench but that’s cuz I’m like a whirling dervish when I’m doing a glue up.

I heard about this pot in a Twitter discussion and while I wish I could remember who recommended it, I can’t remember who gave up the name “La Grande Wax Warmer.“   It’s used to heat various torture devices sold under the auspices of removing body hair.  Ya just gotta love any product that requires two languages to name it but I guess if you’re selling stuff to people who think sticking hot wax on themselves and then ripping it off is ok, this makes sense.  There is also a smaller version called “La Petite Wax Warmer.”  In fact, I ordered the small one.  I paid the price of the small one.  But they sent me the larger one.  Go figure but I’m grateful for the error.

In spite of its true “raison d’etre”, this device has two attributes that I really like in my tools.  It works very well and it was dirt cheap.  The first thing I wanted to see was how long it would take to heat and, initially, I was disappointed.

It takes about 15 minutes to take cold water and heat it to hide glue temperature.  I tested it with cold water because I often have hide glue in the fridge and so I figured the cold water would be a close enough mimic.  My initial disappointment turned to joy, though, as the slower heating brings the contents to temperature and stops – the temperature control of this device is wonderful.  With my old system the temp would heat to around 170F and then drop back to the 150-155F that I like.  Then it would cool a bit more and the cycle would repeat.  This device does lose a couple degrees when I remove the lid but not much and there is no over-heating.  My preferred temp comes at a setting just about half of the max setting.

I don’t normally store my glue in the pot but I might start, at least for short periods as the lid on this pot can be locked in place and the seal is quite good.  In operation you just set the lid on top of the container.  I’m a happy camper and my shop is just a wee bit warmer.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

Admittedly one can discuss the value of a table saw forever and not find common ground that all woodworkers would agree with so I’ll only talk from my perspective.

I’m not one who believes there is anything more ‘pure’ or ‘better’ about using hand tools exclusively any more than I believe another common view that power tools are the only way to be precise in one’s work.  I bought my first table saw because I grew up in the Norm-era, watching the New Yankee Workshop.  I read all the books that told me that “the table saw is the center of any woodworking shop.”  I believed it.  I no longer do.  THAT, in a nutshell is my “philosophy” about table saws.

But my planer isn’t the center of my woodworking shop either but I wouldn’t sell it.  My lathe isn’t the center of my woodworking shop and you’ll not pry it from my dead cold hands.   Once purchased, I see little reason to get rid of a table saw.  But it is true that the table saw requires more space than any other tool in the shop.  It is also the most dangerous and messy tool in a shop.  The multitude of jigs and fixtures required to do things with it exacerbates the space problem.  We often ignore these downsides of table saw ownership.  Particularly those with small shops should keep these in mind before accepting the need to own a table saw.

Most jobs the table saw does can be done quite well on a bandsaw or by hand, often in less time.  When people imply in forums the need for this tool in cabinetry I have to chuckle as much fine furniture was created during the 17th and 18th Centuries without table saws.  It wasn’t until the mid- to late-19th Century that table saws became common and even these did not provide the precision of the modern table saw.  Take a look at my blog header for an indication of what early 19th Century table saws looked like and think of the “precision” one could achieve with such a device.  Modern table saws are marvelous, but several centuries of furniture production have demonstrated that they are not required to produce fine furniture.

But, Chippendale  and Hepplewhite produced their furniture from solid wood exclusively.  They had none of the plywoods and composites we currently have available to us.   When one starts working with any of these modern materials, a table saw is far superior to any hand tool.  When I want something built from plywood, MDF or some other constructed material, I don’t reach for my Disston saws.  The top comes off my table saw and I put it to work.   If I’m cutting ply inserts for frame-and-panel construction, the table saw will get the nod for cutting those panels even though I’m using hand tools to create the rails and stiles.

So, will I be selling my table saw?  No.  But if I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn’t own one.  I’d much prefer to own a large bandsaw and have the room devoted to my tablesaw available for other things.  I might own a track saw for cutting plywood.  These days, however, I’m content with having my tablesaw shoved out of the way and used as an assembly table, abeit an expensive one.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com