The November 2008 Newsletter has been Posted. Go to Club Menu and click on Newsletter.

Hi Folks
At last I can reveal the final version of my recent spoke shave journey. The obviously named, "Philly Shave".
This one is winging its way to the first customer and is made from some lovely Indonesian Rosewood. Complete with brass wear strip and locking knobs it looks quite special. The cutter can be adjusted from the top to set the depth of cut and then locked off with the brass knobs - a good system. Finish is a coat of boiled linseed oil followed by many coats of shellac - a finish which really shows off the Rosewood to its best.
There are more details on my website, here.

Cupcake the Kitten is settling in nicely at home. She's not old enough to go outside yet but is making herself quite comfortable around the house. A favourite trick is jumping on the keyboard whilst you are typing (so apologies if the spellllllingggggg iiiiis baaadd) but it's good to see how naturally she has fitted into life here. Our last cat lasted was well into her twenties - you forget just how much energy kittens have!
Anyway - have to go. Someone wants to play with her favourite mouse........ ;)
Philly

Tommy is joined by Rachel to bring a worthy cause to viewers' attention: the Rodman Ride for Kids, founded by Rachel's grandfather.

This is Part 2 of our talk with Hendrik about starting a woodworking business.  We all know that at some point the thought of starting our own has crossed our minds.  I for one have wasted many an hour, daydreaming of walking away from my day job and spending the rest of my life happily making beautiful projects for even happier clients.  But, to be honest I wouldn't know where to get started, or even how.  Luckily for us though our very own guest expert Hendrik Varju does and he's back to talk to us about it. 

If you'd like to learn more about starting your own successful woodworking business from Hendrik, then stop by his website to pick up a copy of his book "Starting and Running a Woodworking Business".

Also, coming up on June 14th, Hendrik is conducting a seminar by the same name at his Acton, Ontario Workshop.  If you'd like to attend or just get more information contact him at info@passionforwood.com.

REMEMBER!  If you have any comments, questions, suggestions or you want to enter for some free schwag you can always drop me a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com.  OR you can call me and leave a voice mail too!! 1-231-354-2338

If you have the time, please take the new listener survey.

Also, Hendrik is wrapping up his annual three part finishing seminars: 
Part 2 "Hand Finishing and Rubbing Out"    - May 24th.
Part 3"Antique Restoration Techniques"      - May 31st or June 7th.
So if you live in the Toronto area or feel like visiting it, and you want more information about Hendrik's finishing seminars, send an email to info@passionforwood.com

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My 17 year old son, the one I built the black desk for, completed his first project on the lathe.

Using my Harbor Freight Mini Lathe he turned a mechanical pencil using a Rockler kit. The wood is some scrap padauk I had, and the finish is shellac.

While he had some guidance from me, the work was all him.

He's excited and wants to turn many more!

The measurements of the boards which comprise the four drawer case panels are a tad smaller than originally planned, so I have had to forgo squaring the ends of the boards of each of eight boards. Instead I have assembled the eight boards into four panels and will instead square then ends of these panels off. It is just an arbitrary decision at this point and doesn't affect the assembly of the panels, although nicer panels would have resulted had I squared the ends of the boards first. This also allows me to dial in as much length as absolutely possible in each of the panels.

I had also jointed the mating edges of each of the boards, the edge which mates with the other, matching board of the panel. This went well and I let the boards sit for a day or so afterwards to determine if any further cupping would result. A very small bit of cupping did result, and of course it becomes more pronounced due to the width of the panels. The next step involved scribbling witness lines across each of the cupped faces of the boards and handplaning the outside edge area working towards the middle. I regularly go back and forth with a flat, steel rule to determine how much progress is being made. I also try not to overshoot... which essentially decreases the overall thickness of each of the boards.

At this point, I have four panels ready to be squared to finish dimensions, both in width and length. A small part of each of the panels form the sides of the drawer case. I will also need to cross cut these sections off, which leaves me with four shorter panels which form the tops and bottoms of the drawer case.

I'm going to take some time and spend it outdoors today. We had wintry weather until late last week, but this week has been getting wamer and sunnier with temps in the low 70's today. We've had such a long winter up here, and this weather couldn't arrive soon enough.

Perhaps you have seen my Chistmas round up of new tools for Furniture & Cabinetmaking magazine, Issue 135?

I made a grave mistake by ...

I finished this pen last night. It's the second one I'm donating to my daughter's school for a fundraiser. I'm pretty happy with how this style came out. I was a little afraid that it might be boring with only two different types of wood (jatoba and maple), but I think it does work.

The cigar style pen seems to work well for the segmentation as well. I'm a little disappointed it's being given away!


This pen has over 200 individual pieces used in the segmenting.

This ring is made from Ancient Kauri which is the world's oldest wood at 50,000 years old.

When I work with a wood that is this old it puts things into perspective in a very real way. I think of life without our minds trappings. Not empty but more full of what life really is.
Imagine for a moment the what nature has done for us to have this natural miracle of our life from so long ago. This ring gives you a connection to an extraordinary time of pre-historic sunlight, rains and life from so long ago.
Click to see the ring Eco-friendly Pre-historic Wooden Ring

http://www.simplywoodrings.com

I wrote once before about the generous gift I received from Kori Capaldi, Operations Manager of the Gamble House. I met Kori when I was in Pasadena for Pasadena Heritage Craftsman Weekend in October. Because I spent quite a bit of time at ?THE house? for various tours and receptions, I got a chance to talk with Kori for a while. I told her about the chest I was building and that the lid would be restrained by a leather strap. A month or so after I returned home Kori sent me an email and asked if I?d like a piece of the leather that was used in the Gamble house when the leather straps on the lighting fixtures were replaced several years ago.

Of course I said ?No? and that was the end of it. OK, maybe I said ?Yes? and tried not to appear overly anxious in the process. You see, the Gamble house is tantamount to a religious shrine for those of us afflicted with serious cases of Greene-itis. It is indescribably beautiful. I mean that literally. No attempt to convey, using words, that amazing vision can end in anything but utter failure. Thus, to have a tangible link between the core of the G&G universe and one of my pieces of furniture is very special indeed.

Though I?ve had the leather for some time now, I?ve just completed installing it. I didn?t want to be hasty -- it had to be just right. I spent hours scouring the internet for the perfect rivets to use to attach it and the search paid off. I found a product even better than I had hoped for. Screw posts are similar to rivets but because they screw together they are removable. So if I ever have to remove the lid of the chest I won?t have to cut the leather (Actually, I wouldn?t have been able to cut the leather I would have asked my wife to do it. When I wasn?t home.). And with persistence I was able to find them in solid brass with an oil-rubbed bronze patina. With that final piece of the puzzle in place, the installation is complete. And it was worth the wait. Thanks Kori.

By the way, this chest is the subject of an article to appear in the April issue of Popular Woodworking (available early March). Unfortunately, I didn?t have the Gamble leather when photos were shot for the article -- in the magazine you?ll see a piece of upholstery leather leftover from a Morris chair project.

Hi Folks
Brace yourselves - I have actually done some woodworking! Yes, non-planemaking stuff.
Remember the acoustic guitar project I've been slowly building? It's a Weissenborn lap steel guitar, and I made pretty good progress until I came to making the sides. Yes, the tricky part......;)
A couple of weekends ago I made a small bending iron from some steel pipe and a blow torch. Worked fairly well but the pipe was too small a diameter to give me the gentle curves I required. Rather than purchase some suitable pipe I decided to go for Plan B - build a former and laminate the guitar sides in the vacuum bag.
So I built a one piece former from some poplar and laminated the sides from 6 pieces of veneer. It was simple work and the vacuum press did its usual amazing job of flattening things while the glue set. I made a pair and then set them aside to cure. Now I can get on with assembling the guitar, when it finally looks like a "real one"!
Cheers
Philly

Keeping your turning tools sharp — before, during, and after a turning session is extremely important. Brian Simmons prefers the Wolverine system from Oneway, using their grinding jig with the vari-grind attachment to put a fine edge on his turning tools. If you’ve seen earlier seminars presented by Brian, you know that he constantly uses his General 6″ bench grinder to sharpen his gouges, skews, scrapers and parting tools. Brian prefers this 1800rpm grinder and uses an 80-grit aluminum oxide stone for most applications.

Be sure to check out the Woodsmith Podcast Store for a link to the Seminar Guide that Brian used during this seminar, plus a few sharpening accessories for sale.

After spending six hours selecting the wood for the project, Tommy reviews how he will mill the pieces. The work includes cutting, joining, acclimating, hand-planing, using a spring jointer and cutting dove tails.

If there is one power tool that lends itself perfectly to accessories it’s the table saw. Things like push sticks and stop blocks can make using a table saw more efficient and safe. And, auxiliary fences for the miter gauge and the rip fence prevent chip out and protect the factory fence from being damaged.

Best of all, each of these accessories can easily be made in the shop. This week’s Woodsmith Woodworking Seminar focuses on seven accessories that are “must-haves.”

You’ll find a few pieces of hardware, that can be used for building jigs, for sale at the Woodsmith Podcast Store, plus a link to the seminar guide.

I have been initiated; I broke my first chisel handle.

I was chopping deep mortises with a 1" Lee Valley plastic handled chisel. I was beating the poor thing. While I wasn't using a heavy mallet, I am a 200 pound guy and it was getting enough of a beating that the chisel got quite warm at times which may have softened the plastic. Anyway, about halfway through the fifth mortise, it gave way.

I really wasn't trying to break the handle, honest. I thought it would hold up to the abuse, but between the chopping and levering out the chips, it just didn't make it.  read more »

When the Dremel folks stopped by our office a couple of weeks ago, one of the products they were showing us is the new MultiVise. I’ll admit that my first thought was, “This can’t be a serious tool — it looks like it’s made out of plastic.” But I was soon to be impressed. The way this thing can twist and contort to clamp almost anything is amazing. 

It clamps to your workbench or table. A ball-and-socket joint can rotate the clamp 360° and tilt up to 50°. I was skeptical that this ball-and-socket couldn’t be locked too securely. But once you tighten the blue ring, it’s there to stay. The clamp itself as a 7½” capacity. And it has removable “soft jaws” for clamping delicate or irregularly-shaped objects. I was impressed.  Really.

Now, as a woodworker, the first question I had was if the clamp was available in longer lengths. The Dremel reps said that they honestly hadn’t considered it but really appreciated the comments. I suggested that they offer “accessory kits” with longer clamps for us woodworkers. The reason is that the clamps are great by themselves. They’ve got large “feet” that sit on your benchtop and won’t topple over as you clamp down. The only problem I had with the clamp was that the screw was rather stiff and took some effort to turn. But I suppose it would loosen up over time without compromising it’s clamping ability.

Oh…I almost forgot. It comes with an adapter and wrench so you can fasten your Dremel rotary tool to the vise. It’s great for grinding or sanding operations.

I’ve got to get one of these for my own shop.

The practice knot I carved when I started this project has a rounded look, like rope, but I tried something different with the final cross. Instead of creating rounded edges, they're chamfered, and I think it looks a lot nicer. (It's also a faster and easier technique.)

I used a gouge to chamfer the inside curves and cleaned them up with a small round file. All straight edges and outside curves were chamfered with a straight chisel.

Just another option if you plan to try this type of carving.

It's finally here!  Pt 2 of building the chisel plane will cover the construction of the chisel plane.  Now that we have the jig that'll hold the blank in place, it's time to do something with that blank.

Many of you sent me the plans to the FWW article featuring the chisel plane construction in issue #148.  Here's a link to it Wooden Chisel Plane.

If you'd like to enter for free schwag, have a comment, question or suggestion, drop me a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com or  head over to the website.  Or...leave a voicemail at 231 354-2338.

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If you've been turning pens, you'll have begun collecting odd sized drill bits. 27/64, 15/32, etc. Even the cheapie ones are $5 or more each.

Ugh.

Last week I purchased a Navigator rollerball kit from Woodcraft. $10 for the kit, $6 for the bushings, and $35 for the two drill bits! $51 just to make a $10 kit.

So I was standing there in front of the rack of expensive drill bits at Woodcraft when I noticed a box at the bottom. Drill bits in 64ths. A whole set. $25.

I opened it to ensure it had the sizes I needed, and it did! I put the $35 pair of bits back on the rack and grabbed this bad boy.

It's the Wood River 29 Piece Fractional Inch Brad Point Set. (Link here but it's $31.99 online.) I've been using them like mad this past week and loving it! Having all the odd sizes is great! For example, I was doing one of PSI's penlight kits that calls for a 1/2" hole. Well, 1/2" was a sloppy fit, so I went down to the next smaller size and the tube was a great fit!

Grab one of these kits if you can. I'll be getting the metric one next.

It’s times like this you find out who your real friends are.

There have been many kind words and comments that have come in regarding the missing skew chisel. (There have also been many harsh emails come in telling me to stop being such a whiny ass wanker….). I have focused on the more encouraging correspondence.

Well, this morning I faced the fear of the arachnids that inhabit the dark corners of the shop and went digging around in the corners to find the missing chisel.

As this photo shows…I did locate the chisel.



See that….I use the cocobolo handles to differentiate the two skew chisels from the other socket chisels in the tool roll. (And it is a beautiful wood for a handle that won’t see striking blows.)



The missing chisel wasn’t in the dark corner. It had not fallen off of the bench and rolled under the lumber rack. Instead, it was in the first (and last) place I looked. She was over at my sharpening station. Somehow she had snuggled up to a plastic tube of Herb’s “Yellow Stone”, and just rested there for a few days. (By the way…given that there are millions of recipes for honing compounds, mustards, and barbeque sauces…has anyone tried Herb’s Yellow Stone on Bratwurst??? Sorry, I digress.)


Again I appreciate everyone’s concern. I agree with all of those who said that one missing skew chisel is too many. But relax everybody….it just got lost in the shuffle as I became distracted from my sharpening duties last week.

Now if I could just find my Indianapolis Racers Hockey Puck that went missing in 1977….a black hole is still the only possible reason for that rubber cylinder to have disappeared from the top of my dresser… I think the hockey puck is truly gone for good.