My woodworking

[Acala]

Greetings All,

This will probably be boring as hell to most of you, but there was a barely audible murmer of interest in seeing some of my wood butchery. And I have never put together anything like a protfolio. And I am among friends. So I figure I will post a little bit. Everything I post will have been done entirely with hand tools using traditional methods. Which is why it takes me forever to finish anything. That and my general laziness.

Long ago, my Grandfather gave me a portable Victrola. The case was a wreck, having suffered water damage among other insults. I finally got around to making a case for it out of cherry (my favorite domestic wood).



This lid was my first attempt at a fielded panel - that thing you see every day in a well-made wooden door.



It needed a place for the sound to exit so I carved this grill and covered it with silver leaf. It is too shiny when freshly applied, but settled down with time.



It was a disaster. I failed to account for the height of the tone arm when on its rest and so the lid would not close. Some mistakes you can work around. That was not one of them. It sat around for a couple years with the lid propped open, mocking me. I ultimately pulled the Victrola mechanism out of it and will at some point probably convert it to a jewelry box.

edit: I have no idea how I managed to attach a totally unrelated image

[green73]

Very nice!

[Suzanimal]

Nice, you're a much better woodworker than I am. I built a cart for my kitchen (just finished it) and it looks "sketchy" according to my husband.

[RJB]

It's good to see an individual's creativity. Making crafts by hand is such a dying art.

[Uriah]

I'd love to start woodworking.

[Acala]

I'd love to start woodworking.

If you want to do it the traditional way, I can suggest some books and strategies for getting the tools you need.

[oyarde]

Greetings All,

This will probably be boring as hell to most of you, but there was a barely audible murmer of interest in seeing some of my wood butchery. And I have never put together anything like a protfolio. And I am among friends. So I figure I will post a little bit. Everything I post will have been done entirely with hand tools using traditional methods. Which is why it takes me forever to finish anything. That and my general laziness.

Long ago, my Grandfather gave me a portable Victrola. The case was a wreck, having suffered water damage among other insults. I finally got around to making a case for it out of cherry (my favorite domestic wood).



This lid was my first attempt at a fielded panel - that thing you see every day in a well-made wooden door.



It needed a place for the sound to exit so I carved this grill and covered it with silver leaf. It is too shiny when freshly applied, but settled down with time.



It was a disaster. I failed to account for the height of the tone arm when on its rest and so the lid would not close. Some mistakes you can work around. That was not one of them. It sat around for a couple years with the lid propped open, mocking me. I ultimately pulled the Victrola mechanism out of it and will at some point probably convert it to a jewelry box.

edit: I have no idea how I managed to attach a totally unrelated image

Very , very nice.

[westkyle]

If you want to do it the traditional way, I can suggest some books and strategies for getting the tools you need.

I would like to know your suggestions, myself. Thank you.

[Suzanimal]

Here's my "woodwork"
I built a cart for my kitchen, this is a what not to do example...

[tod evans]

Sweet cherry box!

Love me some hand-cut pins-n-tails...

+rep

[Acala]

Thanks!

[Acala]

Here's my "woodwork"
I built a cart for my kitchen, this is a what not to do example...

Belt sanders are beastly. You will be much happier with a plane.

[Acala]

I would like to know your suggestions, myself. Thank you.

For books on methods I like:

The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing. A new edition has just come into print.
Hand Tools: their ways and workings. By Aldren Watson
Tage Frid teaches woodworking. All three volumes.

To get the proper tools without spending a fortune, you need to buy American tools made before about 1970 at the latest. Before WWII is better. Learn to repair, tune, and sharpen them. They can be had on ebay. Saws, planes, chisels, brace and auger bits, marking tools, etc. You will want brand names like Stanley, Disston, Atkins, Swan, Buck Brothers, Millers Falls, Yankee, Pexto, and others. There were great European tools made as well but they are less common here in the States. Mike Dunbar's book will guide you: http://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Tuni.../dp/080696670X

If you have money to burn, order the tool catalog from Lee Valley and have at it. You will still have to learn to sharpen, tune, and use them. But they make some good stuff.

[tod evans]

Don't forget Lie-Nielson..

[ClydeCoulter]

Don't forget Lie-Nielson..

All of my planes are lie-Nielsen except for few that I loan out or use for framing.

I love the little low angle plane for cross grain work.

[tod evans]

Books I've found worth my time;

http://www.amazon.com/Circular-Carpe.../dp/0941936481

http://www.amazon.com/Treatise-Stair.../dp/0941936023

http://www.amazon.com/Marquetry-An-I...+pierre+ramond

http://www.amazon.com/New-England-Fu.../dp/0912724382

Not necessarily for the novice but full of inspiration!

[Carson]

Needs a knob that goes to eleven.

Nice job!

[Deborah K]

Acala, did you dove-tail the sides together?

[Acala]

Acala, did you dove-tail the sides together?

Yes ma'am.

[Deborah K]

Yes ma'am.

Well done! I've actually made a piece of furniture or two myself. I love working with wood. My dremel multipro is my favorite tool.

[Working Poor]

Belt sanders are beastly. You will be much happier with a plane.

I like a Rockwell orbital sander for cherry wood 600 grit paper for getting a glass like finish and to prevent blotching of the finish and buffing with .0000 steel wool.

[Acala]

Post pics!

[Acala]

Another project.

I wanted to make a Native American Flute. One of the big challenges with a wooden flute is that wood changes dimensions on exposure to moisture. The functioning of a flute depends on precise dimensions. And human breath is moist. See the problem? This is why flutes are typically made from wood that is relatively stable in dimension upon exposure to moisture - like cedar. But they still stop functioning after being played for a bit and must be allowed to dry out. I chose to make my flute from padauk. It is very stable and also attractive.

Native American flutes are typically made by hollowing out two halves and then gluing them together. So here I have cut the two halves to their rough outside dimensions and am beginning to hollow them out. This is usually done with a power router so I had to figure out my own hand tool method. I ended up using a spoon bit with a depth gauge to drill holes along the length.

Attachment 2178

Then I used a variety of crank-neck gouges to remove the rest. This is what it looks like with the inside of one half carved out.

Attachment 2179

The NAF uses two chambers. You blow into the first chamber. The air leaves the first chamber through a little hole, passes under the block or fetish through and across another small hole called the sound hole that leads into the sound chamber , past the finger holes, and out the open end of the flute. These holes and the narrow channel between them are the most dimensionally critical parts of the flute. But a sharp chisel can do very delicate work:

Attachment 2180

(toes included for scale)

Once the halves were glued together, I added a mouthpiece. First I had to turn the flute down to a cylinder. I used a tool called a hollow auger, which has a pair of blades that circle around and cut away wood to leave a cylinder. It is the device in the chuck of the brace. The flute is in the vice.

Attachment 2181

[Acala]

Here is the business end of the Swan Universal hollow auger. You can see two blades and two guides. You can also see in the vise the body of the flute with the cylinder cut for the mouth piece.



I made the mouth piece from a copper plumbing fitting beaten into shape and polished on my treadle lathe.



I like working with padauk but the sawdust looks like rust and it scared me numerous times when I thought one of my tools had rusted but it was only padauk sawdust. Yikes!

So I then had to shave the body of the flute, carve a fetish to cover the flue, and drill the finger holes in the proper place. I once had a very powerful dream featuring a white wolf. And so I carved one out of maple for the fetish.

The finished flute. Sounds great! Wish I knew how to play it.

[fr33]

That's so cool. Especially the flute. I wish I hadn't screwed off all through woodshop classes.

[tod evans]

Acala,

Is that a real Emmert or a clone?

My bench is outfitted with a pair of clones....

[Uriah]

For books on methods I like:

The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing. A new edition has just come into print.
Hand Tools: their ways and workings. By Aldren Watson
Tage Frid teaches woodworking. All three volumes.

To get the proper tools without spending a fortune, you need to buy American tools made before about 1970 at the latest. Before WWII is better. Learn to repair, tune, and sharpen them. They can be had on ebay. Saws, planes, chisels, brace and auger bits, marking tools, etc. You will want brand names like Stanley, Disston, Atkins, Swan, Buck Brothers, Millers Falls, Yankee, Pexto, and others. There were great European tools made as well but they are less common here in the States. Mike Dunbar's book will guide you: http://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Tuni.../dp/080696670X

If you have money to burn, order the tool catalog from Lee Valley and have at it. You will still have to learn to sharpen, tune, and use them. But they make some good stuff.

Don't forget Lie-Nielson..

Books I've found worth my time;

http://www.amazon.com/Circular-Carpe.../dp/0941936481

http://www.amazon.com/Treatise-Stair.../dp/0941936023

http://www.amazon.com/Marquetry-An-I...+pierre+ramond

http://www.amazon.com/New-England-Fu.../dp/0912724382

Not necessarily for the novice but full of inspiration!

Thanks for the info.

[Acala]

Acala,

Is that a real Emmert or a clone?

My bench is outfitted with a pair of clones....

It's real. I drove to Colorado to get it.

[tod evans]

It's real. I drove to Colorado to get it.

I'm jealous!

[Acala]

I'm jealous!

It's a peach!