Inky Art Project

Since my daughter started attending middle school in 6th grade, she has been enamored by the art projects on display each semester. In her school, the eighth graders create a final art project of their own choosing, it's wide open and many of them pour out effort and personality, even though the teacher merely sets a minimum of 5hrs effort for the project. My daughter, "Inky" (not her real name, I'm just paranoid), from the day she started wanted to do something grand and probably beyond her ability (looks like it runs in the family), and I have quietly sat on the side, hoping that she'd want to do something in wood. By the time 8th grade came around, we knew she wanted to do something that would also link to her primary passion, music.

At first suggestion, she wanted to make a violin either real or some sort of scale model but that was not practical, or realistically possible given her skills, with a little guidance she was hooked on the idea of replacing the rickety folding metal music stand she used with a nice wooden version.

So off she went to Pinterest and the like. Of course she was instantly drawn to the iconic Maloof and Esherick stands that were also way above her ability and not realistic to complete within her time frame. With a little more gentle guiding we found the CH Becksvoort music stands. Which in his typical shaker style are "simpler", though certainly not easy to complete and not lacking at all in the design.

We settled on "Stand V" for inspiration since we were both drawn to its vibrant angles. We laid out a full size pattern based on her decisions on what would fit her usage and design tastes, not directly copying the original, but tweaking to fit. Materials would be from what we had on hand, and after looking at what was possible, Inky settled on the classic high contrast of walnut & maple. 

The other rules set forth by the art teacher is that parents may assist with power tools etc but the student must be around through it all and be involved. For whatever reason, a backsaw can bring poor Inky to tears so I figured I would do the cutting of lines but have her involved in the layout and cleanup work around the numerous compound angled half laps. She always participated in each step along the way, though sometimes I did some "elf" work to complete the step to meet the timeline and keep each step from becoming a drudgery. We figured she spent >30 hrs herself fully engaged in learning and making, so she certainly put herself into it and exceeded the requirements.

There were of course many lessons to learn on this project, one is that many lapped joints at compound angles are tricky and would really benefit from machinery and a bit of "jiggery". We laid everything out and cut by hand so she would get the experience, but in retrospect, a table saw and a jig would be better (sorry if I offend you with my willingness to callously slaughter innocent electrons) she also learned how to use dividers, keep to a deadline and fix mistakes, both with patching and with adding new design "features". 

The real lesson I hope both my kids are learning from projects like this, is that woodworking and making things are just a natural part of life, fluidly moving from a way to fill a functional need or express an artistic desire.

Ugly Stick© Molding Plane Concept

So after stepping through my design considerations in my previous posts,

Concept
Bodies
Irons

I came to the task of essentially designing everything around using a small, easy to manufacture iron. After my usual sketching on random napkins for a couple of days, I had 2 promising concepts that utilized a short iron.

• First, the one shown, relies on inexpensive hardware for securing and adjusting the iron 
• Originally I planned on using barrel nuts and 1/4" holes for the 1/4-20 eyebolts which are easily grasped (and easier to come by than 4" thumbscrews) even if they are gouge-out-my-eyes pretty. After drilling the holes with my only long "1/4" drill bit did I realize that it was actually 15/64" (covered in grime) which meant I could thread the wood directly with the screw (and a bit of wax) and avoid the barrel nuts (further simplification
• Second concept uses wedged methods which I hope to get to soon (thanks also to Brian Eve who suggested looking at the Galbert shave horse for another potential wedge design)

The concept for this plane was not so much to get a working model so much as to slap something together that I could talk about with some pros at Handworks 2015.

(Insert raving about how great Handworks2015 was here, see some pics below)

While there, I was able to speak to Brian Eve , Larry Williams, Phil Edwards, & Chris Vesper about this plane. They each provided valuable information. Below are random points of discussion on the topic:

• I'm not saying it won't work, but it's a complete departure from how we do things and I'm not sure where the fitting challenges will even present themselves
• The escapment will need more room to clear the chip
• Need a blind side wall to provide repeatable registration of the iron and "yaw" control.
• Wow, that thing is ugly! You've got to do something with the eyebolts.
• Give it a try, I don't see why it inherently won't work.
• Way too much iron thickness, 1/8-3/16 max (I was using random chunk of metal in shop)
• Holding the iron during grinding and heat treat will present challenges, can't get it hot like you can with tang
• There may be a potential chip clog point where the iron meets the escapement

Many of these comments confirmed what my gut was already telling me, still it was really good to have input from experienced makers, and to actually feel like I have my toe in the door of the illustrious tool making community.

So I didn't waste any time once I got home. I ordered some O1 3/16"x2"x18" steel to take it to the next level of working beta prototype (and also provide steel for other planes). Now I just need to find a way to sneak in time on this project when I should be remodeling 50% of my house...

SSBO Wrap Up

Last weekend was a great experience. First off, I want to thank Chris Wong for initiating this event; without doing so, undoubtedly I would have trudged on with my meh shop stool for many more years. Having participated, there were many positives.

• I have gained clarity on what makes a mo' betta' task seat by really looking at the various functional features of even the "simple" backless stool.
• I gained confidence and practice cutting odd chair angles. Chairs are pretty close to the top of the woodworking pyramid and can now see having one or more chairs in my normal project list (vs. a bucket list)
• In seeing how successful others were in going the eyeballing angles, round/octagon legs route, I feel like giving that a shot too.
• Having a deadline forced me to press on. Often on a project, I get stuck either daydreaming about what it will look like, or over analyzing what is next when really the next step is inevitable and I'm just stalling. Prior to the build, I wrote up a coarse process map, that helped eliminate "what's next?" hang ups.
• Be careful what you consider scrap. The walnut I had was short, narrow, punky and had other defects. I could not have made a chest with it, but a chair or stool doesn't take much material, and I could work around the defects with some effort. I ended up with nice air dried material with consistent coloring for a great price, nothing. At the same time I used a piece of wood that several people had hung on to for a number of years. That feels good to put something to rest, once and for all.
• It's OK to make scrap. I had to work hard to highlight great figure in the seat. In the middle of this log was a small amount of burl grain, it took quite a bit of finagling to get it into a place that would put it on display. My juvenile sense of humor also enjoys the word play of "crotch".
• "All time greatest tool of all time this week" (FWW STL) Hands-down my plastic handled Veritas striking knife. This thing really punched above its weight. I've had it for a while and have used it a bit, but this was my first major layout project replacing an old reground kitchen knife. This little guy was inexpensive, yet it fit everywhere and never failed to leave a perfect line. 
• Subtle differences make a big difference with chairs. This has been fit to my bum like a custom saw tote, and I like it that way since it is purpose built. However, my petite wife didn't think it very comfortable due to the width at the top relative to the cutaways. While it was only 2-3" taller (prior to final height adjustment) I thought it felt a bit odd too.

The obligatory things I'd consider doing differently... I probably shouldn't, but it is compulsive, so here goes. Also, if you are a judge, please skip along, nothing to see here.

• Don't forget about vector clamping. With weird angles, it can be near impossible to  pull surfaces together. I found this out about midnight Saturday when I needed to glue the saddles to the top. Ideally, I should have hide glued on some blocks to allow the joint to be clamped normal to the joint. I hadn't time or lucidity required at that point and glued it together with tape (yellow glue) Because of this, I have some gaps that I will need to fill next time I get a chance. Not a huge deal but... it happened.
• The "wings" on the seat come forward a bit much aesthetically IMO, but it "sits" perfectly for my tastes. My prototype seat was shorter, and I found it caused a minor pressure point on the thigh. I will give this a fair chance,  but I may end up altering this shape in the future and feather the lower edge,
• I think I could have simplified the structure with joinery akin to a Morovian stool and combined with hexagon legs and had a faster constructed stool.

All in all this was a great experience. Based on the response this year, Chris will surely organize another, and can't wait to sign up sight unseen, hmmm that's an idea... Sealed orders build-off.

Shop Stool Build Off (Day 0) Waste Not

Not a Stool

In preparation for the SSBO tomorrow, last weekend I prepped some stock. I had committed myself to using what was on hand and one of the options that seemed viable was a pair of smallish walnut logs I had been given a while back. 

These particular logs had been cut probably 30 years ago and stored in a shed for "someone" to do "something" with "someday". It had passed hands a few times and finally ended up at my house after pending some time outdoors (Thanks Jeff!) 

Hopefully there's an award winning stool in there

Well a year or so ago I had just replaced the motor on my band saw (long story) and was itching to cut something, so I slabbed them up (heavy 4/4). They were in sorry shape, quite a bit of environmental damage, narrow & short anyway but I figured I might get "something" out of it and leaving it in the garage was easier than doing something else with it. The SSBO seems like a good use now.

I'm always amazed at how much waste comes from working with trees/logs/lumber. While trimming our trees I note that I do little to alter the tree's appearance, yet there is another tree left on the burn pile. Here, I had only 2 small, short logs to start with, but created 35 gallons of chips, an evening's worth of fireplace scraps (it is crazy cold here right now) and hopefully one shop stool (or possibly another fire.) Looking forward to tomorrow morning (and grateful for insulated boots, and fleece lined pants!)

What's Your Handle?

This post started out as a teaser about some other upcoming project posts [1]. Then it turned into why things I do take forever [2], finally it became about the value of wasting time [3].Maybe this is why it takes me forever to write...

Back at a few years, there was a clear resurgence of new high end back saws Wenzloff & Sons, Gramercy, Lund.  I felt left out, unhappy with my $9 Vermont American gent's saw, but unable to justify the purchase of one of these new saws, or find a suitable vintage saw (since I didn't look). I was at the beginnings of my tool journey and I needed soo many power & hand tools, that I couldn't justify such "extravagance", especially with my growing family (Where was ATC when I needed it?). So I did what woodworkers do, I decided I could just make one...[2]

Ply-tastic!

I researched pictures, reviews, catalogs, articles, & websites learning about fleam, rake, pitch, hang....[2] I had an old panel saw Dad literally pulled out of the dump (bit rusty). After the application of a little elbow grease and a cutoff wheel, I had a saw plate.[2] I came upon a treatise of 19th century backsaws (must read)[2], so I had some ideas about how I wanted my tote to look & feel. I spent enough time on the cherry handle, that the

Someday I'll black the back...

prototype needed to be "production" (despite a knot that I swore would disappear in shaping).[2] BTW, toothing a saw plate from scratch shouldn't be your first experience with a saw file... I got it together and it "worked", but the pointy bits looked like what you'd get from DIY orthodontia. I made do with the saw, and was pleased with many aspects of the saw making experience, though I knew I didn't want to start a new saw filing company. Still, it was enough fun that I found myself hooked on designing and making totes (and other shaped forms) quite a lot.[3] I later re-handled (in walnut) a decent miter saw whose plywood handle previously had the ability to cause blisters while hanging from a nail. When my daughter wanted to cut dovetails in the shop, I re-handled that $9 gent's saw to fit her hand and style better so she would have something all her own (she has since decided she's more of a continental girl and prefers frame saws[1]) I was pretty pleased with myself;  that was, until I left my cave, and saw the light of the outside world for the first time....

don't mind the split nut...

Feb '11 I took a class with Roy, and for the first time I was exposed to well maintained tools. (I could write another 10 posts on this experience, but probably won't get around to it. Short answer, "Just do it!") WOW! Well filed saws cut so nice. I drove home and immediately ordered the LV carcass saws. Unique modern look, an incredible value, and proves a saw can take a lesson from a plane. (I wonder if it could go the other way...)[1]

I see an owl

JMAW Toolworks' first saw sits unused in my till. I probably ought to get it sorted out, it'd probably end up a good tool, but I've been busy with other stuff. You could say it was a waste of time (and that I should have knocked out a few more honey-do's). I'd disagree. In the process, I learned that I enjoyed shaping and also how to get certain details. It provided a soothing diversion from whatever big projects I had going then. I learned a lot of useful technical information about saws, as well as historical details that while perhaps trivial, help me to really see and appreciate the art of various saw makers[2]. I think this sort of sums up my work, often enjoying the experience (physical & mental) from projects as much as the end result. I need to make stuff primarily, but the design and process is a close second & third, especially looking back a few years.[3]