This summer during vacation I managed a rather large woodworking project to completion using volunteer labor. My friend Sean had come up with plans for breakdown benches that would look medieval, and store flat. I'm actually working to make a pair of these benches in my shop, but I'm much slower and my shop is more primitive than Sean's: I expect to finish my two before we go to Pennsic next year.

Sean, on the other hand, is a powerhouse for bulk woodworking. You may remember the post I made about his 20 box run. At the time he completed the boxes, these benches were a pile of rough cut lumber in Sean's barn. In less than two months he converted that pile to what we thought was 30 collapsible benches (it turned out to be 29 bench tops and 28 complete benches).

The bulk of the bench parts were sent down to Pennsylvania with Jay on Wednesday, but Sean stopped by our house to deliver most of the bench sides at 11 p.m. Friday, the last possible moment we could have taken them with us. These benches would be outside for the next two weeks, and needed to be finished before being put to use. I promised Sean two things before I left: first, that I would take pictures of the benches after they were finished and assembled; second, that they would be properly stickered for storage during the following year. Implicit in those promises was a third: that the benches would be stained, sealed, and assembled.

So the first week of my vacation, I took a trip to Home Depot looking for staining and sealing supplies. Jay wanted to stain the benches green, so they would be identifiably ours, and after long deliberation, I chose Minwax water-based stain in an Olive tint rather than Hunter Green. Minwax Helmsman spar varnish would be the sealant. This started a two-and-a-half day marathon of staining, sealing, and convincing people to help complete the project.

With 28 total benches being finished for assembly, we recruited everyone willing to wield a brush. We went through a lot of protective gloves during this: probably 15 different people helped out with this project, the most important being Anne, who started staining and coordinating volunteers while I was still finishing the sand table. At one point the gloves we had made us feel like villains in Firefly. "Two-by-two, hands of blue".
Eventually (after several runs to The Borg) there were enough stickers to properly stack the benches between sessions. These came in handy during the finishing, since we could sticker them while they were drying from stain or sealant. Here's the full pile of 28 benches stickered while the Spar Varnish was drying:

Everyone's technique was slightly different: some charged the brushes more than others, some spread the finish more thinly or evenly than others, and some were faster than others. At the time, I could have cataloged these differences and told you who had sealed or stained each bench part, like looking at a finger print. It was fascinating to see all of us doing the work in essentially the same way, but having visible differences in the outcome. It makes clear that running samples for different finish combinations and techniques can be a valuable exercise.

The benches were completed by Wednesday. Nicodemus assembled the benches once they were dry and we enjoyed using them for the rest of the two weeks.

Sean expected the benches to withstand at least a 500 pound load (something they could plausibly be asked to do). I don't think they were ever tested to that degree, but through two weeks of use, being hauled about and seating up to four people at a time, the benches were enjoyed by the entire camp, and served without sign of failure!

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Green wood chair making class by American master craftsman Drew Langsner takes place this autumn at Gifu Academy.
We make a traditional ladderback chair out of local green wood, using only hand tools.


??????????????????????????????????????????????????Country Workshops??????????????????????????????????????????The Chairmaker's Workshop???????????????
Mr. Langsner is a world's famous woodworker who has been pursueing his career for more than thirty years. He runs various craft courses at his Country Workshops. He is the author of 'The Chairmaker's Workshop'.

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The chair making class consists of part A and B.
On part A we cleave logs to get chair parts, steambend and shape them.
On part B we drill mortises and cut tenons, assemble and weave the seat.
You can book either part A or B, or both.
The tuition is 24,000 yen for each part. Room and board is not included.
We accept eight bookings for each part. Contact Japan Green Woodwork Association.

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Green wood chair making class by American master craftsman
Instructor: Drew Langsner
Venue: Forest Workshop, Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture

Part A 27-29th September 2008
Part B 18-20th October 2008
9:00-18:00

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'The Woodworkers' Week 2008' takes place in Nagoya from 3rd to 11th June.
It consists of three exhibitions and a forum.

The three exhibitions are:
Chairs -designer/makers' work 2008-
Works of Shin-ichiro Tani, Santaro Takahashi and Tomio Murakami
5-11 June 2008
9:50-20:00
Maruzen Book Store Sakae 4F
3-2-7 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya

30 Woodworkers '08
3-8 June 2008
11:00-18:00
Denki Bunka Kaikan 5F
2-2-5 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya

Wooden Spoons
3-8 June 2008
11:00-21:00
Lachic 5F
3-6-1 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya

The Forum:
The works of furniture workshops
Mr.Daisaku Choh and Mr.Masanori Moroyama
8 June 2008
14:00-16:00
Denki Bunka Kaikan 5F
2-2-5 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya

This is probably the first attempt in recent years for the Japanese woodworkers to make a network and launch events. It is going to be a rare opportunity to see many designer/makers' work in one place.

I will be exhibiting my works at 30 Woodworkers '08.
Shinsuke Kato, the director of Japan Green Woodwork Association, and Kaya Nagoaka, a graduate of Forest Academy, will show their spoons at the Wooden Spoons.
Come and see our latest works.

Designing your rooms around an ethnic theme can be exciting and fun and allows you to bring elements of other cultures and distant lands into your home. You can be more daring in your approach to colour and with such a wide variety of textures and patterns available, this can collectively add a whole new dimension to your interior design project. Unusual artifacts from different cultures can work very well as focal points in a room and as there are no hard and fast rules to stick to and because there are so many variations, you can go beyond the usual or traditional to portray a style that is not only beautiful, it is unique.

So what do we mean by ethnic?

Ethnic basically means native or indigenous people from a particular area so in relation to Interior Design it means to bring the natural elements that are representative of whatever culture, land or peoples you choose to portray into your own home to define your space.

Naturally the world is your oyster as they say so there are countless cultures to choose from, all you have to do is bring a particular ensemble of colours, patterns, materials and artifacts together to create a "look" that is recognisable and distinctive. What about a Mediterranean flavour, Native American Indian symbolism, or perhaps Tibetan Buddhism? Popular themes include African, Mexican, and Asian but you can go with whatever inspires or appeals to you. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

African Theme

Think of Africa and all that it conjures up in your mind, the landscape, the sounds, the smells, the colours, the mood, and then if you try to pick out the key points, what would they be? Colour schemes might include earthy colours like green, beige, browns and tans, set off with orange and splashes of red. Think about floor and wall coverings, natural substances would probably work best. Finishing touches can include wall hangings, African artifacts, drums, rugs, African fabrics and prints, animals made of stone, clay or wood, ceremonial masks hung on the wall, brightly coloured African bowls and pots, and so on.

Mexican Theme

What does Mexico mean to you? Perhaps desert colours with sandy tones, beige and khaki, along with reddish, rustic colours and hues. Blankets and woven fabrics in bright colours, perhaps terra cotta pots and bowls, pine wood is popular for furniture. Artifacts can include symbols of the South West or from the Spanish influence, or from the Aztecs, Mayans and other ancient civilisations, all of which can add an interesting and authentic Mexican look and feel.

Asian Theme

There are many variations within an Asian theme but two quite popular ones are Japanese and Chinese. Japanese themes tend to lean towards a more minimalist look and have a tranquil and peaceful feel. Consider a futon and using screens to get that Japanese ambiance. Colours tend to be natural and objects from nature often feature as focal points, for example, smooth stones and pebbles, water fountains and bonsai trees. Chinese themes on the other hand might involve brighter and bolder colours, lanterns, dragons and other mythological creatures, artwork depicting the traditional people colours and landscapes and Chinese handwriting.

How to get started

Once you have established which particular ethnic culture appeals to you, browse through books and magazines and the Internet to get ideas that will spark off your own imaginative flair. Identify what elements go together to make up that particular look or feel that you want to create.

Consider the walls, ceilings and floors carefully as this will provide a base for you to work from and then you can add in the details to finish it off. For example, is the texture and appearance of the walls and ceilings rough or smooth? What floor covering is appropriate, should it be wood, stone, tiles or carpets? Will rugs and mats make a difference and if so what are they made of? Are the windows better suited to drapes, blinds or shutters? What style of furniture works? What about plants, motifs, pictures and wall hangings?

The theme you adopt and the way that you choose to portray specific elements of that theme is entirely up to you and your imagination, the end result will be your own unique interpretation of a culture or a place and you will have added a touch of the exotic to your home.

David McEvoy is an expert in interior design. If you are looking for a leather sofa to give the finishing touches to a newly decorated room then please come and visit our site http://www.leathersofa.uk.com/

In some parts of the world winter time has finished, while in other parts, autumn is starting… Wherever you live, is a good moment to show you this lovely puppet that is wearing cozy and warm clothes.

I improvised the pattern, so I´ll try to remember it for you.

1 - Cast on 14 loops. Make 7 rows of elastic stitch.

2 - Row 8: Knit 2, separate 4 loops in an extra needle, Knit 3, separate 4 loops in an extra needle, Knit 2. Increase 6 stitches (4 next to the loops you separate, 1 at the beggining, 1 at the end).
3 - Row 9: Purl (leaving the 8 loops you separate without purl, in their extra needles).

4 - Row 10: Knit

5 - Row 11: Purl

6 - Row 12: Knit

7 - Row 13: Purl

8 - Separated loops: they are going to be the arms. Make a knot with the yarn in the first loop of one arm (4 loops). Knit the row increasing 2 stitches (you get 6 stitches). Alternate Purl and Knit each row. I made 5 rows. Do the same with the other arm. After that sew the back part of the body and the arms.

9 - Head: Cust on 8 loops and alternate knit and purl along 9 rows. Increase until the 5th row until you have 18 loops, then decrease until you have 6 or 8. You´ll get a rounded shape. After finishing the head, sew it and fullfil it with cotton or a similar material. Then sew the head to the body.

10 - I Knitted the scarf, custing on just 3 loops and making Jersey. (Knit one row, Purl one row). I made the hat with sc (single crochet), crochetting circular. You can variate and put hair made of yarn).

11 - Make the hands: use crochet to make the little balls, there isn´t a technique, I made sc until I had a round little hand.

12 - I made tho little eyes with the sewing needle: look at those beautiful green eyes! But he is mouthless…

I think he is lovely! It was a moment of inspiration, I hope to have those moments more often!

FrAn

Well, it seems my brother had been keeping great great granddad's old spinning wheel - I had forgotten the box that it was in when I left the homestead, and he had been storing it for me. After reading the last piece I did on spinning wheels, he must have read it and remembered he had it -and got it out in the mail to me - because it arrived a week or so afterwards:

It's missing some pieces, but there's a good majority of it still there. The legs and pedal are gone, and it's missing the two pieces that hold the bobbin/axle.

It's an interesting piece to me on several counts... First, it was made by great great grandad... Second, it's a study in wooden machinery - everything has a purpose and yet it's still elegantly constructed. Third, it's an example of true frontier craftsmanship. I'm not sure of the exact date, my best guess would have been somewhere near the 1870 to 1890 range, in the Dakotas. This would have been made with the most meager set of tools, and quite far out in the country... I think I remember reading the nearest flour mill at the time was a full day away.

Parts of a Spinning Wheel

To have a discussion about the construction of the old wheel above, it would probably help to review just what the parts are called... I got much of this information off of various web sites, including The Joy of Handspinning, which is a wonderful resource for the enthusiast - I'm more interested in the construction, but that doesn't do you much good if you don't know how the thing works!... I'm using dad's wheel, which is a replica of the old one I'm looking at:

Tension Knob: A threaded knob, turned to raise or lower the bobbin and flyer assembly thusly reducing or increasing tension on the drive bands. Maidens: The upright posts that hold one end of the bobbin and flyer assembly Flyer Whorl: The pulley that drives the flyer - it has several different diameters so different speeds can be achieved Flyer: The U-shaped piece with hooks - the hooks are there just so the fiber can be spooled evenly onto the bobbin. This is what spins the fiber. Bobbin: A spool that collects the spun fiber Orifice: Where fiber is fed into the wheel as it is spun Drive Bands: Twine or string that drives the flyer whorl from the fly wheel Mother of All: The upright piece that holds up the tension knob, bobbin, and flyer Fly Wheel: The main drive wheel - the large wheel that is powered by the treadle Footman: Hard to see in the photo above, it's behind everything- it's the wooden piece that connects the treadle to the fly wheel Treadle: the foot pedal at the bottom

 

It's made from at least three, but more likely four distinctively different woods, from what I can see - and I think you can tell somewhat in the top photo. I'm not positive of the exact species, but from my experience with wood and my knowledge of the trees native to the area in which it was made, my best guesses would be birch or elm, maple, and basswood or poplar. I will get into where each was used as I deconstruct the thing.

Metal pieces would have been difficult to fabricate and expensive to purchase, so their use was kept to an absolute minumum. Could he have bought the metal pieces, or had a machinist make them for him? It's a possiblity. The pieces could have been ordered via mail order and shipped to the closest dry-goods store... yet they do all show at least some amount of fabrication. That eveidence could just be the technology of the time showing through, however - I'm just not qualified enough to say.

The only metal pieces are the axle/treadle drive on the fly wheel, the metal hooks on the spinner/flyer, and the axle for the flyer/flyer whorl assembly. The metal reinforcement on the flyer (the U-shaped piece in the photo below) shows signs of hammering to shape, and is riveted in place with metal pins and is surely of his own making.

The part that would have probably been the most difficult to make would have been the axle for the bobbin/flyer assembly... It appears it was made from something else, and made to work. I'm not exactly sure what it would have originally been had he fabricated it - it might even be two pieces, I can't really tell. The center was drilled out from the end and from the side to create the orifice that allows the fiber to be fed through it.... Both holes are off center, and show some evidence of being drilled and filed by hand.

You can see the orifice on the axle of the flyer on the right in the above photo, where the fiber is fed into the wheel. The far end of the axle in the photo above has a small taper to it - and is also threaded to hold the bobbin and flyer whorl on. It looks to me like the tapering was done by mounting the bolt in a wood lathe and tapering it using a file while turning. Fine metal work would have been difficult on the prairie in those days... and this is one of the things that lead me to believe this piece was at least partially fabricated by old great great granddad.

The bobbin (on the left in the above photo), the flyer, and the flyer whorl are all made from a very dense, close-grained wood - my guess is maple, though it could be just about anything of a similar nature. It needed to be, as the walls of the pulleys on them as well as the U-shape of the flyer makes using a strong wood imperative. The bobbinis made from a single piece... You can see by the breaks that it was made from a straight piece of about 3" round wood. The hole the axle slides through goes all the way through the bobbin, obviously - my best guess as to how this was made would be to first drill the hole through the rough blank - then mount the blank in the lathe and turn the bobbin to its final dimension. This would assure the axle hole would be centered on the bobbin. The far end of the bobbin is actually the first pulley you would use as part of the flyer whorl assembly - you see it in the next photo and the one two down that shows the whorl in it's place.

Here you can see the far end of the bobbin and the leather "bearing" that the axle is pushed into (the flyer whorl is not in this photo - it would take up the space between the bobbin and the adjuster piece the leather bearing is pressed into):

Both ends of the axle were mounted in leather bearings... but unfortunately the maiden that holds the closer end was missing on the original. Using another wheel made by granddad's brother, he fashioned the maiden with a leather bearing similarly to how that wheel was constructed:

You can see that it was simply a thick chunk of leather, glued into the maiden. This allows for the bobbin assembly to be easily removed from the wheel, simply by turning the maiden. There's not a lot of pressure on these bearings so they function quite well (as evidenced by dad's copy), and the leather would simply have been replaced as it wore out. Lubrication, if any, would have been tallow or beeswax.

The flyer whorl is made with two different sized pulleys so you can adjust the speed of the flyer - faster for more twists per inch in your yarn, and slower for fewer. More twists made for a stronger thread - but took more raw fiber. Fewer produced more "fluffy" yarns, good for sweaters and the like.... at least that's what I think - I have no experience spinning my own yarn. I still have the flyer whorl for the original, though unfortunately only half of it - but it does show how it is constructed pretty well:

You can see the differing diameters of the pulley to allow the flyer to spin at different speeds depending on where you placed the drive bands. The bobbin spins freely on the axle so is independent of the flyer whorl.  It is driven by its own pulley on the end next to the whorl that is a slightly different diameter - this is so the bobbin would spin at a different speed than the flyer.  Otherwise the yarn would only spin in place - with the different speed it slowly spools onto the bobbin as you feed more fiber into the orifice.

This is known as a "Scotch Brake"...  it basically means the yarn spools quite slowly onto the bobbin, while being twisted (for strength) many, many times for each single time it spools on the bobbin - which is the major function of the wheel.  It is this twisting that gives the yarn it's strength - without it, it would simply pull apart.

A good spinner feeds fiber into the orifice at a steady rate, thusly avoiding thinned out or lumpy yarn that is strong enough to knit.  More twists per inch results in a thinner, stronger thread - fewer provide fluffier, more insulating yarn.

The drive bands would have been simple twine or leather strips, or possibly even yarn - it didn't need a great deal of force to twist the fiber, so grip wasn't terribly crucial - speed was.

You can also see the tensioner knob assembly in the photo above at the top of the aptly named "Mother of All". It's broken as well, but it shows how it was made... A threadbox would have been pretty standard fair in most shops of the time, so that's not too surprising to find. It still works quite well, even after being exposed to the elements for many years.... The Mother of All is broken here as you can see in the photo above and below, but again at least we can see what it looks like:

The Mother of All is so aptly named as it is the main structural element of the wheel - everything pretty much hangs off of it. It, along with the maidens and most of the spindle work (with the exception of the spokes in the wheel) are made from a hardwood I would say is either elm or birch - it's hard to tell exactly as the wood is aged so. But those were common woods used in local furniture of the time - especially turned furniture. Oak was available and used extensively for standard casework, but wasn't preferred for turning because of it's open grain and it's tendency to tear out. I would imagine the elm or birch was riven and turned green, much in the fashion of windsor style chairs, and wedges were used to fasten the tenons to the half-moon shaped base (which I think was made of either poplar - but could be basswood)... There would not have been any kilns in the area, any dried lumber would have been air-dried.

Which brings me to the fly wheel, the most prominent piece of the spinning wheel, has some interesting construction methods. The outer wheel was constructed from four separate pieces. The wheel is made what I think is basswood, though it could be poplar, I suppose... both are plentiful in the area. There are a couple ofreasons that basswood would appropriate here. First, a lighter weight wheel would be easier to spin. Women using these wheels would often spin for many hours on end, for many days in a row... ease of use was paramount in their design. Second, basswood is a very easy wood to work... Mounting a wheel this size and turning it in a treadle lathe would have been quite a task... the easier one could make the task, the better. Third - since these wheels didn't carry a load, like say maybe a wagon wheel would, there would be little or no structural stresses on them, so basswood met the bill.

The pieces for the outer rim were first assembled before they were turned using splines and wooden pegs to hold them in place. You can see here where one of the pegs was placed too far out and was turned into:

The outer wheel itself was not constructed in the same manner as a wagon wheel - where the spokes have tenons that mount into the outer wheel - for the reasons mentioned above. It was first assembled and then turned without the spokes - they were added afterwards. Here you can see one I've pulled out:

After the main hub was turned, the spokes were made to fit inside the outer rim, then holes were drilled through the rim into the spokes - and a wooden dowel was driven in to hold the spokes in place. There just one problem with that - how do you make sure the hub is centered in the outer rim? Well - my best guess is that the hub and spokes were made first. The hub first, then the spokes, which could then be glued into the hub. The hub could then be mounted on a temporary axle and turned, allowing you to mark the end of the spokes in the same location as you turned the hub. The outer rim could then be turned to match this dimension... It's just an educated guess, mind you - but the best I can come up with given the circumstances.

As for the hub, it's one piece, with an axle that mounts into the adjacent spindles thusly:

The far side of the axle has an offset that attaches to the footman, which then is attached to the treadle. And yes - at the lower left of the hub in the photo above, that is a knot... As a matter of fact, it continues through to the other side:

Why would he have used a piece with a knot like that in it, you might ask? I would put forth that it was a matter of convenience... As I mentioned above, a lot of the wood used for the contruction of this wheel would probably have been worked green. The wheel would have had to be dried wood though. Most likely that meant that it was was harvested from already dead wood - possibly even seasoned firewood. There wasn't storage space available for storing wood while it dried... The house they lived in would probably have been the size of your living room and housed 5-7 people... The barn would have been similarly small was soley for livestock. The shed that served as a shop would have been more like a lean-to, perhaps with a pot-belly stove if the owner was well-off. So dried wood was a luxury most couldn't afford, but for the wheel it would have been necessary as green wood would have shrunk and rendered the wheel useless. So it's my guess it came from whatever was available - and since it didn't need to be all that strong, it wasn't a problem structurally. Also, I should mention that the knot would not have been this pronounced when it was made - this particular wheel was exposed to the elements for many years, so has weathered quite a lot. Originally, it would have been a very tight knot.

About all that's left is the base, legs, footman, and treadle - and all I have of those is the base... The base is made of poplar, it appears. I remember hearing the half-moon shape was a sort of trademark of his, but I'm not sure of this... compared to the other his brother did later, its a unique feature and was supposedly preferred by the people who used them as they were stronger. I do recall hearing that this makers' work was highly prized by those who received it, at least within the area he lived.

I may restore this old wheel someday - no, it will never be in working order again, but I may try to get it just so it is all in one piece and has all of the parts, just for display. I doubt it's worth much to anyone but me - but it sure is fun to have around to look at and to study, to give one appreciation for the original maker and the methods and material he used in creating it.

The maker, my great-great granddad, was a very adept turner, furniture maker, and woodoworker. He used green wood quite a bit, as I think can be seen in another of his works which I will show just for reference - a crib made of elm:

It appears he also used steam to bend wood, as you can see - obviously a very industrious fellow for someone truly out in the sticks... This crib was used all the way into the 1960's as I recall... It's been retired for obvious reasons since then, but still remains in the family, well over a century after it was made.

 

Part V 

One of my favorite lines in a movie was in one of the Naked Gun movies (with Leslie Nielsen) where Ricardo Montalban was playing the villain.  When asked by Priscilla Presley how he could be so evil his response was something like:

"You forget I spent two years as a building contractor!"

Of course that's in jest (?).  You know - there are, of course, good and bad contractors, and I've dealt with my share of each - and the concrete contractor I used for this project was quite unfortunately of the latter persuasion.  I was really disappointed in his work - and I even gave him a second chance the next year to pour the slab out front of the shop for me - but that's for a later entry...  If you are looking for a general contractor, or even just a "sub" contractor, make sure you check references and investigate your choices with the local builders' association.  Above all - you will need patience and perseverance to be successful.  Don't expect perfection - but be ready to stand your ground when needed - and pick your battles well.  Know what's important, and what's not. At the time, there was a shortage of available contractors for me to hire, and I was not patient... 

But first, I should go over the design of the foundation in a bit more depth...

The Design

There were two different foundation systems I looked into using.  My first consideration was to pour what's known as a "monolithic" slab - that's where the footings, stem wall (if there is one) and the finished floor are all poured at once, in one big pour...  The section through such a system looks something like this:

There are several advantages to a system such as this.. It is the most efficient system, combining the footing, wall, and slab all into a single, large system.  There is considerably less labor involved in the pour, but the earthwork needs to be done more precisely to save fill requirement.  And finally if termites are an issue in your part of the country this type doesn't allow anyplace for the nasty little buggers to penetrate from underneath.  It does have a couple of disadvantages as well...  One is that the bottom of the wall is more prone to water damage, as the top of the concrete can be only slightly above grade level...  and because of that, it also does not work as well on a sloped lot.  Though it's hard to see in the photos below, my lot slopes down from right to left (east to west) about a foot in the width of the shop.  It might not seem like much, but it is a lot of fill to bring in.   I prefer to work with the slope of the land rather than fight it...

Another disadvantage - at least for me - is that I wanted to have the entire floor of the slope 1/8" per foot from the back end to the front - a drop of about 4", so it would drain and I wouldn't have water puddling up in the center of the floor if I parked a snow-bound car inside.  That would make it difficult to frame up so it is level... This might not be an issue for you, but my experience has been to keep the space as flexible as possible - and that means uses other than woodworking.  The next owner of my shop might want to work on cars, for example - and so will I, for that matter.

The final disadvantage is I wanted to be able to hose down the slab in the main section of the shop if for some reason it needed it...    I can seal a rubber base down for some walls, but doing all would be too much.  So - it meant I would opt for the more expensive version (of course) - a stem wall type foundation.  Here's a typical section for that style of  foundation:

 

You can see that now the foundation wall is independent of the floor slab, so with this system I can slope the floor and not worry about framing the exterior walls plumb and level.  The slab at the far back of the shop would be about an inch below the top of the foundation wall - and about 5 inches below it at the front.  This works out well for the driveway slab to be poured out front of the shop - it will work out to be about the right height so the foundation wall can be above finish grade level by about 8".

You can also see why more labor is required to make it...  Instead of one pour for the entire foundation and slab, the work now has to be divided into three separate pours...  First you must form up the strip footing so it is below frost depth and pour it - then you must form up the stem walls and pour them; and then, finally, you pour the floor slab.  Three separate pours...  It uses the same or more concrete, and your contractor must have the form work to be able to pour the stem walls.  There are many concrete contractors out there that do only flat work - they don't want to invest the money into the forms required, and most often they can get away without investing in too much heavy machinery.  If you do it yourself, you can easily make your own forms, and rent your own machinery... but it's an added expense, and not a small one.  You could use the forms afterward as sheathing - but you need to coat the forms with a release agent (usually an oil) that can make it less than desirable for use as sheathing.  My neighbor rented a backhoe to do his shop, and by the time he was done with it, he'd spent $1100 or so just for it.

What determines how deep you put your foundation is set by the local building department and is what's known as "Frost Depth" - the depth at which the ground does not regularly freeze.  Freezing ground is bad for a foundation. Water expands when froze, and as a result lifts and stresses the foundation, and over time that stress can result in the foundation failing.

Frost depth in my area is about 2'-0" below finish grade.  With an 8" deep strip footing at the bottom, that means we can use a 2' deep stem wall - which will give us two feet below grade if we keep the finish grade at a maximum of 8" below the top of the stem wall.   Frost depth varies around the country... in warmer climates, there isn't one, just a requirement the footing be on inorganic undisturbed soil or compacted structural fill.  Where I grew up in the Dakotas, it was a full 4' below finish grade.  It's one reason you will see so many basements in the north vs. the south - you are required to go so deep anyway to get down to frost depth with your footing, there's no good reason not to make it just a couple feet deeper to make it a basement.

Optimally, I would have used the detail above, with a 6" wide stem wall.  Structurally, it's plenty strong to hold up the building. it also keeps you from having problems with applying the finish material - when you install the drywall (or plywood, or whatever finish material you have) the inside of the wall will line up with the concrete.  What I ended up with was more like this, however:

 

Note the foundation is 8" wide, not 6".  One other difference that is shown on that detail that I don't have - insulation.  I got none.  Nada.  It's a sordid tale - I'll let you know as I go through the photos of the construction below just how I arrived with that detail.

Strip Footings

The first job after you dig the trench for the footings is to form up for the strip footings.  It's pretty simple, really - your biggest concern is setting them at the right height.   You want the footings resting on undisturbed, inorganic soil (or compacted structural fill), just below frost level.  Your building department will be able to tell you just how much your soil can support, and thusly how big your footing needs to be.  You can check with them to find what frost level is in your part of the country.  You then want to form so the top is level and gives the footing a minimum depth (in my case 8").  You can use the excavated soil for the sides of your forms at the very bottom - but it's best to have most of it formed with footer boards to make sure the edges are held in place correctly, which will allow you to estimate just how much concrete you need.  It's always better to overdo the forms rather than under-do them, as nothing sucks more than a blowout during a pour.

The easiest way to set the level is if you have a builder's level or transit and a pole, which can be rented for fairly little money.  You set stakes in the ground at strategic points and with the aid of a helper, shoot the top of the stake, then drive it down with a sledge until it's at the right height.  Do this with each successive stake, then using a string line, a plumb bob, and batten boards, drive a pair of stakes in about every 24" or so (more or less depending how good your soil is) and nail the footer boards on the inside of the stakes - which you've placed just for that purpose, using one of the sides as a guide.  Once in place, you can reinforce the footer boards by putting nailers across the top to help keep them from spreading apart while pouring, as this crew did:

For reinforcement, mine has two #4 rebar (#4 means 4/8" or 1/2" diameter) running the length of the tooting.  An additional rebar can be added perpendicular to these every four feet or so, but I am fortunate enough to have soil with a great load carrying capacity, so it wasn't necessary.  The next step is to pour them, obviously...  but I wanted to show the photo below for another reason:

 Look at that nice, green lawn.  By the time the concrete was done - they had torn the living snot out of my yard.  I tried to keep them from doing too much damage, and I even roped off the area where my drain field was located to keep them from driving their 574 ton trucks over it - which could easily crush the pipe.  Or should I say did?  For some reason, I'm telling you - it was like trying to keep flies of of s__t.  I came home after bringing dad to a doctor's appointment to find they drove right over my little tape barrier like it wasn't even there.  Not only did this happen once, but it happened several times over the time they were there.  My drain field still works, but it's capacity has been cut about in half from what it was - no more "super" loads in the washer for us...  and a healthy repair bill someday when I do half to replace it.  The one guy I was most worried about - the kid with the skid hoe - was easily the most careful and professional and did by far the least damage of any of them.

Stem Walls

So after the footings were poured and allowed to dry for several day, the concrete guy's crew comes back and sets the forms for the stem walls:

It was at this point that I went out back and measured them only to find out they had set them for an 8" wall and not a 6" wall, like was in the drawings.   The concrete guy wasn't to be found anywhere, this was entirely done by his crew...  Ugh.  Is it really that hard to do something I ask?  It's not like I was being disagreeable, or hard to get along with, or anything.   I bring it up to him, and he's like, well - we can tear it down and do it at 6", but then I'll have to schedule it for later because that crew's already on another job.  Jeez, can't these guys come up with something more original?  In the end, I said screw it, let it be 8".  I'll just deal with it later, and let it remind me of why I should never hire bozos like this guy again (yet I don't even listen to myself - more on that in a later entry in this series).

Reinforcement was just as described in the detail above - a #4 rebar every 4'-0" vertically, and a #4 within 6" of both the top and bottom of the wall.  Anchor bolts were placed every 6'-0" and within 12" of each end of each wall.

 After they poured the stem walls, the kid with the skid hoe came back and backfilled around the stem walls, stripped the topsoil in the center, and no - I don't know why he did it that way, but it didn't take him all that long to get the sod out and down to good soil, so what the heck?  As long as it got done right, I wasn't concerned.  There wasn't enough good fill to use on the inside of the walls to support the slab, so I ordered structural fill brought in to bring the sub-base up to grade.  They brought in a type of fill that doesn't require compaction, which I think is interesting - it's a product I was familiar with but had never seen it done before, a material called CLSM (Controlled Low-Strength Material).  It looks mostly like really sloppy wet sand, and it is brought in in a concrete truck and poured out and leveled almost like concrete. 

It's usually made up of a mixture of portland cement, fly ash, and aggregate mixed with water.  Lots of labor saved in that you don't have to compact it, and it can be put in place so very quickly...  I did need 2-1/2 truckloads of it, each costing $200 though (I ended up having to buy 3 truckloads full)  I had the remainder put out so I could use it as fill for under the driveway slab that would eventually be placed out front of the shop.

So, I think in my case, I paid dearly for it.  But at least it was ready for the floor.  I did have one problem - there was a lot of soil left over in a big pile - sod, rocks, organic soil - pure garbage to me and I had nowhere to put it.  The kid with the backhoe offered to take it - seems he was filling some ditch on his property out in the back woods, and could put it there. He loaded it and hauled it out himself, so there was some consolation. I rewarded him by getting him to put in a gravel driveway back to the shop and to redo the one out front.  He did a particularly splendid job, for a fair price.

For more information on CSLM, visit the Portland Cement Association's web site.

The Floor Slab

So - another appointment for dad, and I knew they were going to pour the floor - when I got back, this was the scene:

It was a good thing I got back when I did...  I noticed two things were completely wrong.  First - there was no insulation laid down around the perimeter.  Second - he hadn't dug out for the two pier footings I would need for the two columns I had designed for the structure.  You know, I don't think he actually ever looked at the drawings...  Guess there might have been too much information there for him to handle.  Anyway, it was already too late for the insulation, but I did at least get him before the concrete had reached where the pier footings were to go - and stood there while he dug them out and made sure they were the right size, even as the concrete was flowing closer to the pit.  Essentially, the pier footings can be poured as a part of the floor, like a monolithic slab would be - so it's fine if done that way.  It would have sucked if he hadn't done them though - I wouldn't have known about it, and would have wondered why the floor slab cracked so badly around the columns later...

At long last - I had a foundation on which to build my shop.   Woohoo!  The rest would be all up to me and me alone.

 

Up next - walls!

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.

The April issue of Popular Woodworking is on it’s way to subscribers and will be available on newsstands before long. In this issue is an article I wrote about the Greene & Greene chest that has been mentioned on this blog several times before. While the full article isn’t yet available, the on-line extras are. I’m very proud of this piece. Have a look.

It’s been a few months since I completed the Greene & Greene chest project and two since I finished the bench for my wife for Christmas. Since I’ve been busy with other things but it’s time to get going on a new project. Next up is a simple shaker style desk for my mother-in-law.

I bought the lumber, some nice cherry, at a local lumber mill just after New Year. It sat acclimating in my shop for about a month before I began milling. At this point I’ve made the legs (though they aren’t yet tapered) and gotten a good start on the aprons though I still have to make the tenons.

As it is a Shaker piece, the design is simple. In fact, the most interesting parts are hidden construction details (the top rail dovetailed into the legs and lower rail attached with twin tenons). It should be a fun project.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the work of Greene & Greene. A big fan. Anyone with cursory knowledge of the brothers has heard of the Ultimate Bungalows. These homes, designed by Charles and Henry at the height of their popularity and creative energy, are grand residences built with uncompromising attention to detail. Everyone agrees the the Gamble, Blacker, Pratt and Thorsen houses are in this category. Many include the Freeman Ford house as well. Were I the ultimate authority, the Robinson house would also join the list.

While the Gamble house remained in the Gamble family until it was donated to USC and the city of Pasadena, the other Ultimates have more colorful histories. Most endured some period of neglect or abuse. The rape of the Blacker house resulted in ordinances that protect historic homes in Pasadena. I think the Thorsen house trumps them all, however. Since 1942 the Thorsen house has been home to a fraternity.

I suspect that many of you have seen the movie “Animal House.� It’s hilarious. It’s a classic. It’s completely unlike the California (Berkeley) chapter of Sigma Phi. The brothers of Sigma Phi take their stewardship of the Thorsen house, which the fraternity purchased from the Thorsen estate, very seriously. Every Saturday morning they work as a group on maintaining the house. They learn its history. They take pride in it.

But keeping up with the demands of a 100 year old mansion (and a work of art at that) is difficult. And expensive. About 9 million dollars. If you find yourself in Berkeley, stop by the house. The brothers will happily give you a tour and accept a donation to the fund. But don’t let an inability to visit stop you from contributing. Send a few dollars and help save an historic landmark, one of the Ultimates. It’s a lot easier to keep such houses around than to wait for another genius to come along and design more.

The Thorsen House Restoration Campaign
c/o Mr. Dan McNear
Route 1
Box 264-E
San Rafael, CA 94901

Editor's note: Because it's "Workbench Week Internazionale" I decided to tie up a loose end from my book: "Workbenches: from Blah, blah blah to Yadda yadda yadda." On page 57 I discuss Thomas Stangeland's bench and point out how the best woodworking I've seen has been built on the most minimal of workbenches.

Helpful reader Tom Moore visited Stangeland's shop recently and snapped the above photo of the bench. Below is the story that goes with that workbench.


In 2006 I taught a class in handwork at a school where Thomas Stangeland, a maestro at Greene & Greene-inspired work, was also teaching a class. Though we both strive for the same result in craftsmanship, the process we each use couldn’t be more different. He builds furniture for a living, and he enjoys it. I build furniture because I enjoy it, and I sell an occasional piece.

One evening we each gave a presentation to the students about our work. One of the pieces I showed was an image of my French workbench. I discussed its unusual workholding devices and how the bench was a bit of a Thor Heyerdahl experience.

Thomas then got up and said he wished he had a picture to show of his workbench for the last decade: a door on a couple horses. He said that a commercial shop had no time to waste on building a traditional bench. And with his power-tool approach, he just needed a flat surface and some clamps to work.

It’s hard to argue with the end result. His furniture is beautiful.

But what’s important to note here is that you can get by with the door-off-the-floor approach, but there are many commercial woodworkers who still see the utility of a traditional workbench. Chairmaker and furnituremaker Brian Boggs uses more newfangled routers and shop-made devices with aluminum extrusions than I have ever seen in a shop. And he still has two enormous traditional workbenches that see constant use.

The point here is that a good bench won’t make you a better woodworker. And a not-quite-a-bench won’t doom you to failure. But a good bench in any shop will make many power-tool operations easier and open the door to permit you to try many hand-tool operations. The bench is simply another tool. It’s the biggest wooden clamp in the shop.

As Thomas was wrapping up his part of the show he showed an interesting slide of an enormous and thick slab of an exotic wood he had been stashing for years and years in his shop.

“I just need to find the right project for it,� he said.

“Hey Thomas,� I heckled, “that slab sure would make a great benchtop.�

He laughed. Next slide, please.

— Christopher Schwarz

I first met Stuart Page at The festival of the Tree last August. He was there for the full 3 days and spent a good portion of his time bouncing between Rob Cosman, John Lloyd and myself. He was very enthusiastic, full of great questions and insight - we all loved having him around our respective booths.

Many months ago, Stuart contacted me to let me know he was planning a 3 month travelling tour of North American furniture makers and toolmakers and was wondering if he could stop in for a visit. It was great to hear from him again and I was quite excited to have him over.

On June 23rd - Stuart arrived in Los Angeles. He has been keeping a blog - curiously named, One hairy arm goes west. One of his first stops was to see Sam Maloof - and I am very envious of that visit. Sam is on that very short list of people I would dearly like to meet (along with Harrison Ford and Maynard James Keenan). And after Stuarts description of their time together - I am all the more green.

He arrived on Tuesday afternoon (July 23rd) around 3. I was on the main floor working away on an A1ss panel plane (more on that in another entry). He had just driven from Calgary... and to use his words - was a little “road worn�.

Stuart was very direct about his intentions the minute he walked in to the shop. He did not want to get in the way of my regular schedule and workday... but was hoping for a “fly on the wall� approach. I was pleased (and a little relieved) to hear this - and it turned out to be a wonderful experience.

At one point, Stuart offered to help in the shop with things that are challenging for someone to do on their own. Hmmmm... a shop helper....?

I need to back up a bit. I have two amazing sets of planes that I am itching to start into... but I am waiting for the last few % of moisture to come out of the Ebony. Quite frankly - I am really tired of waiting... so I started thinking about building a kiln. In the June 2006 of Woodwork magazine (No. 99), Ejler Hjorn-Westh wrote a wonderful article about building a kiln for under $500. This seemed like the perfect project for Stuart and I. I handed him the article and he just smiled... perfect.

Hmmm... where to put it?

We walked around the shop to find an empty spot for a 20"x 20"x 7' item. The best location was the first one we discussed - above one of the 48"to 60" shorts storage areas.

I had some scrap plywood from previous adventures - but we needed two 4'x8' sheets of plywood. I figured I would treat Stuart to the full North American experience and introduce him to the often understaffed “Orange Box�. I shouldn't complain... they did cut the two sheets to size for us.

Anyway - a few hours later - we had a kiln. Here are a few photos.



It tucked in perfectly above the shorts storage - and I didn't even have to move the phone or the furnace switch!



Here it is with the door open.



The baffle is a 1/4" piece of peg board.



The opening on the right is the dry air return to keep the air circulating.

I will be drying a test piece of Ebony to see how it goes. I will certainly post the results - regardless of how it turns out.

Thanks again Stuart for all your help with the kiln and keeping me company between piening, lapping and shaping.

Oh, and the one hairy arm... it really is ONE hairy arm... the other is pretty clean shaven.

My wife and I have 4 cars, but one of them is my baby. However, like any baby…it requires a lot attention. It's my Mercedes SLK 320 (with AMG Sport Package).

I don't want to discuss performance; otherwise I will get carried away talking about mine being the fastest time of the day at our MBCA (Mercedes Benz Club of America) Autocross event three weeks ago. (Note the trophy plaque in the photo below....braggin in your own blog...how pathetic.)

Instead, I want to finally clear the air about how much work it is to operate the radio while driving with the top down. I live just off of US31. US31 is a 55 mph 4 lane highway, but it has crossroads and stoplights. That means that each time I stop at a light, invariably someone pulls up next to me, causing me to scramble to change the radio to something far more hip than what I was really listening to.

While passing long lines of cars at very high speeds, I can be belting out "Looks Like We Made It" right along with Barry Manilow. However, at the next light I have to quickly punch up a station that is playing something more along the lines of Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher." 5 seconds after the light turns green, with the car back up to 60 mph, I can jump back to Barry for a strong finish to our duet.

This morning, though, something different happened when I switched to Sirius Radio's Classic Rewind while stopped at a red light. I hit the radio preset and found Night Ranger. Immediately an entirely different set of obsessive compulsive activities started. Sister Christian is a trigger song for me. Like the folks who would act out The Rocky Horror Picture Show down in front of the screen on Friday nights back in college…I do a one man production of Boogie Nights every time I hear Night Ranger's Sister Christian. Here is how today's show went.

I immediately went to the glove box, grabbed the firecrackers, started lighting them off, and tossing them in the air.

Next I grabbed my long-hair wig and bathrobe from under the seat and started doing air keyboard, transitioning into air drums, followed by full-blown windmill air guitar each time the song would crescendo toward "MOOOOTTTTTTOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I suppose that I should mention that even though my one man show starts with the Sister Christian scene, once the song is over I actually turn the radio off and play out the full film from there. (We've established it's obsessive compulsive behavior, folks…I cannot control it.)

Normally, it goes pretty well, but today was different. Because just as I got ready to roll the credits, having given myself a pep talk in the mirror as I vainly tried to convince myself that I am still a star…I looked up to find my only audience member was an Ottawa County Sheriff.

If anyone in West Michigan knows a good bail bondsman, please have him give me a call. I am currently in the Fillmore Detention Facility under the name of D. Diggler.

My niece Hannah turned 12 today.

Because there were pre-teen girly sleepover things happening at her house, Gail and I invited her 10 year old brother, Isaac, to spend the night with us last night.

Isaac and I played Wii. I am not a video game person, but as soon as I tried Wii bowling last year, I knew I had to have one. Isaac doesn't even have a Wii, but as an American 10 year old he has logged about 3000 more Wii hours than me, a full fledged Wii owner.

However, I had never attempted Wii golf until last night with Isaac. The stupid thing is that as Isaac was "teaching" me to play Wii golf, I was having to go first. So, on the first hole AFTER I managed to drive the ball about 30 yards right of the fairway, Isaac told me I should watch out for that 25mph wind blowing left to right. Then, he aimed way to the left and drove the ball about 300 yards landing right in the middle of the fairway. (Thanks for the tip, Isaac.)

Then, AFTER I used an iron to hit the ball so far over the green that it went out of bounds, Isaac pointed out the swing power meter, and he hit his iron with about a half swing and dropped the ball onto the green inches from the hole. It seems that my nephew is the King of Post-Failure Instruction.

Perhaps in a few years he will get the woodworking bug, and I can get some paybacks:

1) Oh, yeah....I forgot to tell you about dry-fitting the parts prior to glue up.

2) Wow, Isaac. You're quite the bleeder. I guess I should have told you about pushsticks....

3) Dude, you should have heard the Banshee scream you let out when that glove got caught in the jointer. Sorry for not warning you not to wear gloves, Little Buddy.

I recently traveled back to my hometown in central Ohio to see family and our new granddaughter. While I was there, my wife discovered the Big Bugs exhibit by David Rogers at Inniswood Metro Gardens in Westerville, Ohio.  As you can see in the photo at left, a beetle is about to amputate my son’s leg. The most impressive bug we saw was the praying mantis, shown on the right.

As noted on his web site, David sculpted these creatures using various combinations of whole trees found standing or fallen dead, cut green saplings selectively harvested from the willow family, dry branches, and other forest materials. The different shapes, colors and textures of these materials provide these sculptures with character, definition, and a sense of motion.

If you get a chance to see this exhibit in your area, it’s worth taking the whole family. Just keep your kids away from the jaws of the beetle.

And I am still a little stunned.

Riley and I just came in from the shop - lesson one of hand cutting dovetails. We had finished dinner early and I looked over at the clock - 6:45. Hmmm... I wonder if there is enough time? Jill gave us her blessing so we headed out.

As we did the long walk to the shop, I realized I did not really know where to begin teaching Riley how to do this. Where do I start? Stock preparation? No... that is a lesson all on its own. How to hold a saw? No... experience is the best teacher for this. Show examples of how they look? Geeze... I was getting bogged down in the details. K.I.S.S. with emphasis on the simple.

I grabbed a scrap piece of 1x6 pine, cut it to 7" long, ripped it on the bandsaw to two equal width pieces - stock prep done. I did have a sample box that I built while at Rosewood studios several years back. We used that as reference for what through dovetails look like.

I could tell Riley was in the right headspace for doing this - he gently unpacked and admired his Wenzloff saws. I gathered the tools: the Tite-mark gauge, the 4" adjustable square, the sliding bevel and a pencil.

The first task was to define the baselines with the Tite-mark. I showed Riley how it worked, and he layed them all out. I was a little surprised that he had the sense to hold the fence firmly against the stock - I was anticipating having to gently remind him a few times.

We did not bother measuring to locate the tail lines - he just marked them wherever - and they were surprisingly well placed. Then he transferred the tail lines on the top and back down th