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Interview with Tim McCready
09/10/2008, 02:57 | A Woodworking OdysseyTim McCready?long-time cabinet maker, author of The Wood Mechanic blog, and president of Bankston & Bailey LLC, a fine woodworking shop in Virginia?commented on one of my entries, and during the resulting off-blog conversation I mentioned wanting to start a series of interviews and shop tours with dedicated woodworkers. Tim agreed to be the first interview. I think when you read the interview you'll be happy he did.
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How did you start woodworking?
I started woodworking completely by chance. Through a mutual friend, I came to Harrison (Higgins)'s attention right when his shop needed an extra pair of hands. For the first several months I didn't do much but catch boards coming out of machines. He had a contract job making furniture for one of the hotels at Colonial Williamsburg, and he needed one more grunt laborer.What is the first project you completed that inspired pride?
One aspect of the job was a production run of roughly 100 maple pencil post beds. Rough 8/4 lumber would be sawn and dressed into 8-foot blanks 1 ľ? square in cross section. The blanks would be marked then mortised for headboards and rails as required. The tapers were cut on the bandsaw, and holes were bored for bed bolts.
Once all of this relatively interesting work was done, and a giant pile of pencil posts had materialized on a pair of saw horses in the middle of the shop floor, an apprentice had to remove the machine marks with a hand plane and sand each facet of the post for an eternity.
Guess who got that job! It was extreme drudgery, but I did learn how to use a plane effectively. Eventually I also learned how to carve the lamb's tongue that marked the transition from the tapers to the lower, flat section of the posts.
The first piece I can remember feeling proud of was a desk I made for myself after hours at Harrison's shop. It's still my main desk, but now all I see are its flaws and its telltale signs of having been made by a not-yet-very-skilled amateur. Luckily, though, I feel a certain sense of satisfaction?if not pride?whenever I make something well.
I know I've made something well when there's a seamlessness that proceeds from the initial daydreaming through the design and fabrication and finally the finish. It's a good feeling. I wish I could say I felt it with every project, but I don't. My mood and mindset seem to have at least as much to do with my work's quality as any objective skill level I may possess.
You mention working with Harrison Higgins, a talented furniture maker who specializes in reproduction work. Can you tell us more about how you came to work for him, and what you remember most about your time in his shop?
A guy named Lewis who worked at Harrison's shop in the early 90's had seen my band play, and he and I had several mutual friends in the Richmond music scene. I ran into him outside the shop once on my way to the post office, and he invited me in to see the place.When you worked with Harrison, it sounds like you learned a ton. What was it like working with him?
Harrison and his partner Alan (the finisher) didn't want anything to do with me. They saw a skinny shaven-headed punk kid, and they didn't figure I'd be a very reliable worker if I was going to be out at all hours doing the band thing. They only hired me because they just really needed that extra pair of hands.
In retrospect I see all of this as having been one of the most fortuitous events of my life. Alan and Harrison are still two of my best friends and have been like additional fathers to me--although maybe big brothers would be more like it.
What I remember most about my time at Harrison's shop is the relationships with the other people. There were between 6 and 9 of us while I worked there ('92-'98), and while not all of the personalities meshed, we did manage to get along reasonably well and to produce some of the finest woodworking I've seen.
Sometimes there was a quasi-monastic aspect to the place, when everyone was at his bench doing handwork and there was no music or machine work. On the other hand, we could act like a bunch of total nitwits at times as well, and I have a slew of funny and extremely fond memories of my time there.
Harrison moved his shop a couple of years ago, and I started mine right around the corner. So I still see everyone there a few times a week. I wish everyone could have some kind of work experience like that, where they're making something tangible with trustworthy, kind people.
It was a big mix of things. He remains one of my very closest friends, and as my shop is just a few blocks from his, I see him often. As much as anything, he was a kind of second father/big brother to me. Most of what I gained in my time with him was personal, although I don?t mean to down-play the importance of learning my trade.In one of your blog posts you mentioned having a Festool TS 75. Do you find it was worth the price? What can you tell those of us that cringe at the price of Festool products, but wonder if they might just be worth it?
He?s a weird teacher. He is so much more visual than verbal, so for example, when asked how he carves ball-and-claw feet, he once answered, ?Well, I just take away everything that doesn?t look like a ball or a claw.? All of us who know him well enjoy razzing him about this tendency of his.
The Festool TS 75 would be worth twice its price for what I do. I use it constantly for rough sizing sheet goods before I cut them to their final size on the tablesaw. It's so much easier and safer that way. If I didn't work alone, I'm not sure I'd need it since there would be someone around to help me move full sheets around. As it is, it's an incredibly useful tool. I've used it to crosscut 12/4 maple (in two cuts), to crosscut table leaves, and all sorts of other things.You bought an amazing 72" straight edge at an auction, and I know you have an old 12" jointer. What other old "treasures" do you have? Are there any that you can't live without?
One of the things I find amazing about the TS 75 is that it cuts bevels so accurately. Somehow they engineered it so that when it tilts over, it still cuts exactly along the guide rail's line. Because of that it can be used to cut long mitered parts quite accurately.
I also have the Festool Domino which I find indispensable in my case work. Once I've bored the holes for the domino I find that my cases go together pretty much like legos. The Domino, however, isn't as precisely engineered as it could be. There's something slightly wonky about guidelines indicating center on the cutter; I haven't quite put my finger on it yet. In any event, I use it all the time and it's a big time saver. I had hoped that it would eliminate the need for a mortiser, and so far it has. I think, though, that it would be very hard to do the large mortises necessary for, say a bed without a mortiser.
In general, my philosophy is "Cry once when you buy a tool instead of crying the thousands of times you actually have to use it." This is not an original idea of mine--I read something similar in an online forum somewhere, and I found that it rang true.
There's really only one other treasure, a pattern maker's combination square. We used to consider it the square of reference at Harrison's shop, and for a long time while I was doing work besides cabinetmaking, my friend Reid was in possession of it. He was displeased when I reclaimed it. I suppose it's comparable to a new, top-of-the-line Starrett.You have worked in a professional woodshop, and in your own "shop" at home. At one time, the home shop was just your back porch with a handful of portable tools. What techniques, if any, carried over from the professional shop to the back porch? And what would you say are the ESSENTIAL tools for the back porch craftsman?
I use my Lie-Nielsen low-angle block plane a lot. It's the only very nice plane I have, and it was well worth the initial investment. I'm considering buying their #4 to replace the #4 Record I've always been lukewarm about.
I wish I had more nice stuff, but that's always a work in progress.
Only the basic ways of thinking about case building transferred to that piece I built on the deck, specifically the marking system I use to keep parts straight. Everything else was improvised. Honestly, that wasn't very enjoyable, and I wasn't very pleased with the results. Plus it was really cold!Did you ever build the incredible gazebo you mocked up, with the fir mantle and built in fireplace? I want one ;)
If one had no choice but to have a knockdown shop in the back yard, my best advice would be to build a flat reference surface. A solid torsion box does the trick. Fine Woodworking online has articles about how to do it. Without a flat surface, building square cases is nearly impossible.
Heck no!!! Sometimes my wife and I dream big...what can I say? I do want to mock that up in SketchUp now that I'm proficient. We were thinking that if we ever built that it would become our main living room. The best part would be that the cats wouldn't be invited!
In 2006 you described a table you built like this: "The drawer is pulled from the underside, so it appears to just be an apron. I love hidden things like that." What other hidden features have you built? Have you ever hidden something in the architectural moldings you build at work?I once made a blanket chest for my niece, which has a hidden compartment that houses a key. I kept the lock. I always thought it would be fun to send her on a scavenger hunt later in her life where she?d have to decipher clues. The key?s location would be one of the final clues, and the lock would secure some kind of treasure. Anyhow, that was my intention when I made the chest.I loved the parquetry you did (or was it inlay?) on the toy chest: you know, the one with the faux finish that looked like jade. I guess that's not a question, but there you have it.
A good friend of mine has a beautiful William and Mary highboy with a hidden map drawer. The crown molding along the front of the piece is actually the drawer face. I love that!
That?s actually a faux finish simulating malachite. A good friend of mine is an expert faux finisher and gilder, and she walked me through that process. It was not difficult although it was fairly involved. One drags a piece of leather through the dark paint to create those swirls. People either love or hate that chest. I admit that it is a bit much.
What is your favorite of all the pieces you've built?That?d probably be the serpentine top Federal Pembroke table.
In 2006 you built 6 cupolas and said "framing the first cupola base took four hours. The subsequent five only took an hour and a half apiece." Is this typical?
I think that the time savings after the first instance of any multiple is just what comes naturally. Making the first element involves a lot of thinking, checking, double-checking, and correcting. Usually the subsequent parts become second nature to crank out. The cupolas were an extreme example. I?d never made anything like those before, so the first one took a lot longer while I figured out what in the heck I was doing.You finally opened your own shop last year and stopped working for someone else. Can you tell us a bit about what led you to that decision, and how did you get the courage to finally do it?
I had become very bored at the large architectural millwork shop at which I was working in ?06 and ?07. That business was closely tied to the mortgage market, and the big developers who ordered custom goods from the shop were some of the first to take the sub-prime nosedive.After a year in business for yourself, what can you tell us about owning your own shop? What surprised you most about being the proprietor?
A lot of those big developers work on very flimsy financing, as it turns out. The net effect for me at that shop was that there was literally no work to do. For a variety of reasons too boring to detail here, the company not only remained in business, but it also didn?t lay anyone off or even reduce hours. Many people I worked with considered it a great arrangement, but I can?t imagine anything worse than clocking in at 7:30, standing around all day, then clocking out at 5:00.
At first I started taking work on the side, and when that went well, I finally jumped ship. I suppose?per your question?that a certain amount of courage was involved, but mostly I am motivated by the avoidance of boredom.
The biggest surprise of owning my own business is the intensity of the psychology of pricing. I?ve been surprised when very wealthy clients have balked at what I consider very fair prices. I?ve bitten my nails thinking I?d bid too high on something, not heard from the client for a month, and then gotten the work after all. It drives me crazy, and I think it probably drives my wife crazy hearing about it all the time. I?ve gotten jobs and later learned that my bid was twice that of the next guy, and I?ve lost bids to lower bidders. It doesn?t seem to make any sense.Were there things you should have thought about and didn't?
Hands down, the hardest part of this is the worry over whether or not new work will be coming along.
There have been many other lessons along the way, most of which boil down to the importance of sitting down and rationally considering problems before taking action. Doing so has been especially helpful in deciding which equipment purchases to make. I?d love to call Lee Valley and tell them to send me one of everything, but obviously if I did that the only business I?d be able to operate is a giant yard sale!
Not really. But only because I?ve been thinking about doing this for so long! It?s not that there haven?t been challenges, it?s just that I had already had the opportunity to think through the big issues.You're building your dream shop (I think). What have you done right? What have you done (if anything) that you would have avoided?
I rent a 1,200 sq. ft. space which is about right for a one-man shop, so that was a good decision. I shopped around until I found a good combination of low rent and good location. I only buy tools and machines as I need them for projects, and I do my best to build equipment costs into bids. I have bought a mix of top-of-the-line new equipment (Laguna, Festool) and solid old equipment (a jointer from 1910, a late 80?s Delta table saw). I haven?t sprung for central dust collection yet which has its upside (saved money) and downside (lots of dust)!You just landed a contract for the Virginia state capitol. Can you tell us about what you're doing for them, and how you plan to approach it?
So far, so good. There?s nothing I?ve done that feels like a big mistake just yet. Give me some time, and we?ll see what I can goof up!
Over the past five years or so, our state capitol has undergone an amazing renovation and expansion. In the new area, which is underground, there are two gallery spaces, each roughly 1,600 square feet. There was a bit of a rush to finish the construction for the big Jamestown 400 year celebration and the visit of Queen Elizabeth.In one blog post, you suggested that degree programs for furniture making are impractical at best, and possibly damaging to the graduates (I'm reading a lot into your comment, I know). Assuming I read your meaning correctly, what would you say to graduates of these programs that might help them once they get into the working world?
During that rush, there was little time for curatorial decision making in the gallery spaces. Basically, the decision makers in charge are getting to that now, and I?ve designed?and will soon start fabricating?the museum case pieces which will begin to unify the aesthetic of the galleries. They?re simple, veneered cases with acrylic vitrines and will house art objects and architectural models. There is also one massive piece (roughly 8? wide and 12? tall) that will display four flags on flagpoles.
Once I?ve made final drawings in SketchUp, I?ll cut pieces to rough size, edgeband the top edges, veneer the backs with poplar, veneer the fronts with anigre, miter the outside edges, and assemble the cases with band clamps and glue.
Truncated pyramids will sit inside the cases, and vitrines will fit precisely between the inside case edges and the outside edges of the pyramids. Some cases (like the one displaying a large marble bust) will require additional structure inside to accommodate the objects. That?s the basic idea.
I'm not sure I've been completely fair about this, but here is the fundamental problem I?ve noticed: Many of these programs teach people how to do top-notch work, but at a snail?s pace. I remember a job applicant who had just finished at North Bennett coming to Harrison?s shop. He showed us a photograph of a gorgeous Federal demilune table with all manner of amazing veneers and stringing. So far, so good. But when Harrison asked him how long it took him to make it, he replied, ?Six months.? At $50/hour, six months of shop time is in the $50,000 range, which nobody gets for an occasional table.
In my view, places like North Bennett would be optimal for independently wealthy people or retirees who want to become highly-skilled amateur woodworkers. I?m not sure it?s the place to go if the goal is starting one?s own woodworking business. Once again, I?m not sure this is entirely fair, and I would hope that the people at North Bennett would be prepared to answer this line of questioning candidly.
Sometimes people who go through fine woodworking programs wind up with a smug attitude about the superiority of their craftsmanship. I?ve seen this several times. Here in Richmond we have a highly ranked art school at VCU. I took a woodworking class in the Crafts Department, and the TAs there were just insufferable! I quickly found that I knew more about actually making furniture after my few months working for Harrison than they seemed to have accumulated up to that point in their lives. I sincerely doubt that any of those guys have successfully run their own shops. Successfully running a shop involves much more than meticulous craftsmanship.
I did work with two graduates of a highly regarded woodworking program at Rockingham Community College in North Carolina. Those guys came out of that program knowing how to work in real-world situations, and their level of craftsmanship was very high.
All of that having been said, if I had to advise graduates of woodworking programs as to how to proceed, I?d say "find a successful high-end furniture maker wherever you live or want to live, and if you have a halfway decent feeling about him or her personally, beg for an apprenticeship." If the answer is ?no?, offer to work for minimum wage. If the answer is still ?no?, offer to cover the workmen?s comp costs he encounters upon hiring you.
Here?s the thing, though: This is what I would advise someone to do BEFORE going to a fancy and expensive woodworking program!
_____________________________________________________________I hope this will be the first in a long series of interviews and shop tours. If you, or someone you know, would be willing to grant an interview or photographic shop tour, please let me know through the comments feature of this entry.
All photographs in this interview copyright and courtesy of Tim McCready and Bankston & Bailey LLC.
Handscrew Genius
08/30/2008, 22:53 | A Woodworking Odyssey
So I recently bought six handscrews (two each of the 8", 10", and "12 jaw length). I put them on the rafter near the workbench and radial arm saw where I can reach them easily if I need them, and I can tell already I'll be using them a lot. They've been here less than a week, and I've already used them for several tasks:
As an impromptu saw stop,
To hold a smaller machinists clamp (that held a modified hook that I had cut and was filing smooth), and also to serve as a third hand to hold up a chair rail (I attached the handscrew to the door frame at the height where the bottom end of the rail went and set that end of the rail on the hand screw. I could then hold the other end with one hand and attach it with the other.).If I was at all unsure of the purchase of these handscrews, I'm now convinced of their flexability and importance for workholding. In fact, I picked up 4 more of the Rockler 10" hand screws for the bargain price of $20.
Tool Shopping
08/21/2008, 04:09 | A Woodworking Odyssey
Today I went on a bit of a tool shopping spree at Lee Valley and Rockler. The initial motivation was to replace a pair of Crash Scissors I misplaced at Pennsic.Of course a trip to the tool shop is never safe, even if just on the computer. I ended up finding a list of clamps I had jotted down a few months ago after I read Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings, so I got those and (oh yes) some hones I've been intending to get since Beauty is using dull knives in the kitchen and I'm carrying a dull knife in my pocket. For good measure I got a dust hood to install on the Radial Arm Saw. So here's the complete list.
From Rockler:
- Tabletop Dust Fitting
- 2 10" Rockler Brand Wooden Hand Screws (at $4.99 each!)
- Sportsman's Hone
- Lee Valley Ceramic Honing Kit
- 2 8" Jorgensen Hand Screws
- 2 12" Jorgensen Hand Screws
- 2 3" C-clamps
- 2 4" C-clamps
- 3 Pairs of Crash Scissors
Photo courtesy of Lee Valley.
Shop Wiki
08/15/2008, 12:59 | Antique Knockdown Carved Wood HouseAs a home furnishings and decor buying guide, at ?ShopWiki? you can find something fancy or something functional such as: furniture, beds, mattresses, home accessories, home decorating style, lamps, desk lamps, light fixtures, oriental rugs, etc. All the goods on all budgets, in all styles and for every nook and cranny in your home.
Please visit ?ShopWiki? site now for your first order!
LJ Woodworking Awards - Summer 2008 #4: And The Winners Are...
08/08/2008, 16:27 | LumberJocks.com :: woodworking showcaseOur great Summer 2008 LumberJocks Woodworking Awards are over so allow me to officially announce the winners. The winning projects were selected from 84 total submissions in an online voting held from Aug 4 to Aug 7. 211 votes by 110 voters were cast during this period.
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BEST OVERALL LUMBERJOCK
1st Place – GaryK (448 points)
2nd Place – Michael Brailsford (142 points)
3rd Place – Karson (133 points)
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ONE MAN’S JUNK
1st Place – Rex Billiard Table by Michael Brailsford (142 points)
2nd Place – My Woodworking Bench from Salvage materials by Karson (133 points)
3rd Place – 'Safety' A Clamp made from a shipping crate by GaryK (97 points)
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SERVE IT UP WITH CLASS
1st Place – A Faberge Inspired Serving Tray by GaryK (351 points)
2nd Place – 'woven' cutting board in wenge, quartersawn white oak and honduran mahogany by DAN (115 points)
3rd Place – Fleur de lis Tray by CharlieM1958 (101 points)
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Click here to see the complete results.
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I’d like to thank our sponsors for their support once again, so here they are:
Jack Rabbit Tool
The Wood Whisperer
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And following are the three lucky winners of our stylish LJ shirt (randomly selected from all the voters):
- kewald
- windofthewoods
- Bigbuck
Congratulations, everyone! I’m going to PM the prize winners shortly.
THANK YOU LUMBERJOCKS! I’m already looking forward to the next Awards edition in the winter…
Bread Board Ends
06/29/2008, 20:14 | Lost Art Press Blog John is working on completing the Trestle Table
The thickness of the top is just under ľ inch so it flattens when forced without that nasty cracking noise that indicates you just learned another lesson. The cup, which you can see in the picture, is a Ľ inch. For the picture I clamped on side of the table flat so you can see the total cup that I needed to flatten.
Now the bread board ends create a cross grain situation and wood movement becomes an issue. I like wood movement! There I said it. I like feeling the non flush edges that arrive with the seasons. My friend has a table from the great Christian Becksvoort and he insisted on bread board ends. He can feel with his fingers that the top has moved. I like these oddities and have added divots and ridges under the arms of chairs for a person to finger when sitting. These subtle aspects humanize a piece.
First thing to do was to determine the size and layout of the tennons. Since we have a cross grain situation I am only going to glue the middle tennon,. I decided on three tennons because it gives me a middle. I think five tennons would work if the width would accommodate it. I also used a stub tennon on the entire width of the top. This stub is 3/8 inch in length. The thickness of all tennons is a Ľ inch. A rule of thumb in deciding the widths of the tennons is the have all of them equal ˝ the total width of the table. For me, I made them 5 inches for a total tennon width of 15 inches. It is also important to have enough wood at the ends of the bread boards so I started the tennons ľ inch in from the edge. I marked the mortis locations from the tennons. I increased the mortis for the end tennons by 1/8 inch on each side to allow for movement.
One thing about mortis and tennons that is finally sinking in is that they are related. What you do to one has an effect on the other. For example, my first idea was a tennon that looked like the tongue from the Rolling Stones symbol. From the tennons? perspective I was right, but what about the mortis? Chris pointed out that the walls of the mortis are just as important as the tennon. If the walls are too thin, the tennon will crack them and that old sinking feeling arrives. At least this time I learned a lesson without cutting wood!
Regards
John
Order, Mistakes and Karma
05/27/2008, 23:52 | Lost Art Press Blog John is at it again. We just finished a brutal month of traveling and teaching and John has got back in the shop!
There is a certain order or Karma to life, and when you violate this flow events let you know. Like the time I saw this woman and said ?when are you due? to wit she said, ?I am not pregnant!? Now the natural order would have flowed thus, a woman appears pregnant, you keep your mouth shut until she admits being pregnant, at which time you hesitantly congratulate her.
I learn through mistakes. I could be in the minority here but when I mess something up, I remember why and am less likely to repeat it. Like cutting on the wrong side of a line or jamming a perfectly sharp Barr chisel into my hand and cutting a tendon. Chris and I have been on the road a lot last month and I have not been in the shop much. The project shows my ?learning? and I hope someday to make something without learning anything.
To fix the problem I re-sawed a Ľ inch piece of wood and glued it to the full length of one side of the leg. After the glue up was dry, I snuck up on the fit. It now looks like this.
Can you guess which side has the wood glued to it? If you can, I will say that there is another learning experience in here. If you see a small glue line it is a result of that part of the piece not being clamped down to the leg. It could be that the piece was not flat or maybe the clamp is a bit off. Nonetheless, next time I will ensure the ?show? side has a seamless glue joint, and yes I am already fixing that nice nick off the bottom edge. Fortunately this will be painted!
-John
??????????/ 'merchandising' crafts for exhibition
05/01/2008, 11:53 | Masashi's woodworking diary
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tel 0742-26-3476
Our annual exhibition is taking place in Nara from 1st to 6th May.
Craft and Furniture Exhibition of Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture
1-6 May, 2oo8
10:00-17:00
Nara-machi Monogatari Kan
2-1 Nakashin-ya Machi, Nara, Japan
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Last week the second year students finished their works for the exhibition and presented them in front of the teachers.
They are requested to make their original products according to what they learned during their first year.
They need to produce them in a batch within a limited shedule, calculate the cost and assess their productivity.
This 'merchandising' lesson is a part of our curriculum.
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The venue, Nara-machi Monogatari Kan is in the city centre of the old capital Nara. Hundreds of people come and see our exhibition every day. Students show their works to the public for the first time and receive many comments from them.
Please come and see our exhibition. Students are waiting for your compliments!
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Unique oval floor lamps by Ken-ichi Matsuoka
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Plates by Hajime Hoshino. Designed for his grand child.
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Stools by Atsushi Yokoi. He was commissioned them from an adult education centre in Gifu.
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Stools for backache patients by Yosuke Ueda. Easy to stand up with handles.
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Hand mirrors by Keiichi Fukushima. Inspired by details of architecture in Hida.
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Hairpins by Mako Taniyama. An image of cherry blossom falling.
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Parquetry butter knives by Hiroshi Okabe.
Handmaded necklace with wire hook.
04/04/2008, 01:44 | Arts and Crafts BlogHere I am, this time with handmade jewerly, after a week posting about knitting and crochetting.
I get this beads and I start a very easy necklace. I embroider 12 little beads and 1 bigger bead… until I get the length I wanted.
After that I made the hook.
As you can see I made a hook using wire and modelate it with my pliers (clamps). I made the spiral structure and the hook.
Building the Woodshop: Part VII - Framing the Roof
03/03/2008, 03:48 | Norse WoodsmithThe idea is simple enough - all you really want is to shed water and hold heat in, right?
When I was designing the shop, I investigated several different methods for constructing a roof. First was manufactured trusses... I ruled those out because I knew I wouldn't be able to place them myself. Another option was to use wood I-beams... This was a really tempting option, and now that I've finished, this is the route I would take today, if I were to do it over again. Finally, I looked at doing it "old school" - with honest to God 2x10 rafters.
I didn't have any real reason for going that way except so I could say I did... a bit of a romantic notion, I think, of older methods. I hadn't built anything with rafters for a while and was itching to try out my new Milwaukee circular saw, which I treated myself to as part of my savings for doing all the work myself. My old saw has been dropped one too many times, and while it still works, it's just a little "shook".
The beauty of having a cad program is the ability to draw out and measure each cut accurately in the ether that is the computer. Once upon a time, I actually knew how to use the rafter tables on the side of the framing square, but lack of use has sent those memories into their own ether. My final plan was pretty simple:
In order to picture the individual members of the roof better, here's a perspective view:
The collar tie keeps the two sides of the roof from spreading - and the v-shape ties the center of the collar tie to the rafters so drywall can be hung off of it's bottom without sagging in the center. According to the rafter span tables, it could be done - so long as the wood for all of the members was #2 and better Hem/Fir, a common grade/species out here. I started by crowning the lumber - marking the high point of any curve on the lumber, so when you cut the rafters you can place the curve up. Then it was laying out and cutting the rafters for the lean-to portion of the roof and setting them in place one at a time:
One main difficulty was going to be the rafters over the main portion of the building. First, I looked into some scaffolding, but that was going to push the budget too much, which was already strained from the extra costs incurred because of the foundation. So - I bought some 1x4, took some 2x4's I had extra, and built my own using spare 2x10's for the planks. It's not something I would recommend for anyone - and it's certainly not an approved method, but it got the job done for me.
Now that I had scaffolding (of sorts) the big trick was going to be setting the initial rafters. The building is 36 feet deep, and the longest 2x12's I could get to use as a ridge beam were 16' long - which is 4 feet short, as you can see in this photo:
The scaffolding was actually much more stable than it looked, fortunately. One of the main objectives was for the design of the roof to be completely build-able by one person - which I'm proud to say I accomplished - but it wasn't without a bit of a struggle. This is where the struggle came in... I had a pocket built into the wall to hold one end of the ridge beam, and I thought I would just use a board to prop up the end of the ridge beam. Works well in theory, but not so much in practice. I would prop up the ridge beam, pick up the rafters which would slide off of the wall at just the moment I was ready to nail them. So, I placed a clamp on the bottom of the rafter to stop it from sliding. On my next attempt, the prop I was using would get in my way - I could put one side up, but without the opposite rafter to push on it from the other side, it wouldn't stay in place.
I ended up balancing the ridge beam on my shoulder and picking up the ends of each rafter, all the while holding a pneumatic nailer in my right hand. Once I got all three into place, a quick shot from the nailer on each side was enough to hold it up while I finished nailing it.
Whew! That was enough to get me going. Fortunately, my building skills hadn't completely evaporated from disuse, and the two ridge beams lined up with each other perfectly - though they were about 1" further apart than they should have been. To pull them together, I looped a 1/4" nylon rope between the two peaks and using a board, I wound the rope like a rubber band, pulling the two ends together. When they were the correct distance, I nailed an 8' long 2x2 centered on the opening on the bottom of the two ridge beams spanning the distance. From there, it was just placing the remaining length of 2x12 ridge beam between.
Lots of people asked me if that was safe - how can you have a ridge beam that is essentially three pieces? Truth is, the beam isn't structural. If you wanted, you could nail the rafter to each other without a ridge beam - it's only real function is to give you something to make aligning and nailing the rafters up easier.
With the rafters in place, I built a base for the cupola - which is a fully function vent. I'll build the frame of the cupola on the ground and place it later in the process...
Finally, the roof was taking shape. Here's an interior shot with all of the rafters up and in place - notice I haven't put the gussets onto the web and collar tie yet - that's something that can be saved for later work, as for now my main focus is to get the roof on and have it shedding water before the rain season sets in.
One thing I love about where I live is there are definite seasons - and one notable part is their predictability. From after the 4th of July until mid-September, one can count on very few rainy days. But there's also a fair amount of heat... and it was the second week of august, traditionally the hottest part of the year. Something about working on a roof -it either happens mid-winter, or mid-summer - when the weather is at it's extremes for hot or cold... I guess I should just be happy I for the lack of rain...
Next up was the sub-fascia and the lookouts for the overhangs on the gable ends, shown here shortly after the front was complete:
An important note here - the insulation I will be using in between the rafters is going to be about 8 inches thick or so, a "high-density" R-30 fiberglass batt. It's important that there be a least a 1" to 1-/2" air space above that insulation to allow for air to travel from the soffit to the peak of the roof in each and every rafter space. The "ladder" that holds up the fascia at the gable ends will effectively block that air from traveling up on the far ends. To compensate for this, I drilled holes into the ladders that will allow ventilation... I don't have a photo that describes it well, so here's a graphic representation that also allows you to see how the gable end is constructed:
On the back side of the shop, I want to have an overhang to keep things out of the weather, so that means framing up a roof over that area. Staying with the common rafter idea, I first built the header that would run the perimeter of the overhang:
Because the main roof would tie into the roof of the overhang, this needed to be done before sheathing. The beam is a pair of 2x6's with a layer of 1/2" plywood sandwiched between them. The rafters themselves are also 2x6, with a hip on each corner:
There is an interesting corner that I need to deal with right where the hip on the right side in the photo above meets the main roof - which I don't think I did as well as I should have. I thought and thought about it, and in the end decided I was thinking too much and just built the thing - in the end I think I should have thought about it more, but time was getting more precious. Something I haven't brought up before was during all of this, I was also the primary caregiver for my dad, who had Alzheimer's that was getting more severe daily it seemed... Up to this point in the construction, I had been able to spend an hour or two at a time working on the shop without checking on him, but that was getting tougher to do. But I will get more into that in the next installment...
Once all the work was complete with the rafters, I could take apart the "scaffolding" and re-assemble it onto the east side of the shop for the next phase of construction, sheathing and roofing:
Which was good, because August was now half over and I wanted to get the roof on by or shortly after Labor Day to avoid the rains - and Labor Day was only a couple weeks away.
Look for the next installment of this series - Roofing -coming soon!
furniture 01
05/27/2007, 21:58 | Furniture Craft
ABOUT US
Okecrafts is a company specializing in making handicrafts made from natural materials such as bamboo, wood, stone, terracotta, stone, etc.
We are also production and export of Table Lamps, Wooden Photo Frames, Wooden Mirror Frames, Natural Stone, Candle Holder and decorative Bowls and modern-living pine wood furniture.
All products are purely handcrafted, making them unique and have artistic value. Since they are made of natural materials, they are environmentally friendly.
Episode 96 - Bombe Secretary - Door Rabbits
00/00/0000, 00:00 | T Chisel - The Rough Cut Show!For This I Get Paid? Part 4
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Popular Woodworking
Today, Phil Lowe set up a jig to waste out the front side of the bridle joint that
the leg sleeves over in our demilune tables, and a niggling thought crept in to my
head. Did I really keep the screws out of the leg locations when bricking the rim?
I think I did, but… The last thing I wanted to do was hit a screw and set off the
Saw Stop. For one thing, the Marc Adams School of Woodworking has only the one dado
stack at the moment, and I didn’t want to keep anyone else in the class from getting
their work accomplished. And it would be really embarrassing.
Just in case, I moved to the end of the line. I figured if I did set it off, I could
handle the embarrassment – as long as I didn’t hold anyone else up. But as I waited,
I decided I’d best chop out the waste by hand. The longer I stood there, the more
I convinced myself that I’d misplaced a screw. But my handsaw skills are, shall we
say, in the developmental stage. So at Phil’s suggestion, I clamped a guide block
along my scribed line, and kept the saw blade pressed flat to that "training wheel"
as I cut down to the shoulders at each location. Then I chiseled out the waste and
flattened the bottom with a shoulder plane. Of course, there was nary a screw in sight.
This was the first time I’d used a chisel for precision work other than dovetails.
Dovetails are small. This joint is not. I’ve struggled with getting things flat and
even, and squaring the shoulders (among other things). Phil makes it look so easy.
I knew coming into this class that I was jumping into the deep end. In theory, I know
why the blade is cambered in a smooth plane, and how to use that plane. I’ve read
reams on how to hold and use a handsaw. I’ve watched editor Christopher Schwarz demonstrate
plane us, and the three classes of saw cuts – more than once. (Chris makes it look
easy, too). Heck – Chris has even stuck a plane in my hand and given me a lesson on
its use. But I didn’t pick up the plane again until this class. Using these tools
with purpose is very different than reading about it, watching someone do it, or taking
a few desultory swipes at a board – no matter how good the instructor. Use it or lose
it.
My table might approach mediocrity. My cuts aren’t great, my tenons are loose, and
I got so excited about my plane shavings that I was overzealous – the ankles on my
tapered table legs are very delicate indeed. But it will be the best darn demilune
table I’ve ever built. The next one will be even better – and will use no screws at
all.
— Megan Fitzpatrick
Read Part 1 of this series here. And Part
2 is here. Part 3 is here.
The Carver's Mallet Part 2
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Wood Destruction by a Woodscrub
The Carver's Mallet Part 1
In Part 1 I talked about making the handle from curly maple and fastening it to 3 layers of cross grain laminated wood.
Now I'm adding the rest of the laminated layers to the mallet and turning the assembly on the router.
As mentioned before, the head of the mallet is made from laminated 1/4" wood, oak and padauk. I had enough scrap 1/4" wood to make it a total of 14 layers. 10 oak and 4 padauk. The bottom three layers attached to the handle and then I stacked the rest on that, gluing up 3 at a time because even that many gets squirrelly when clamping the freshly glued wood together.
The photo above is the final clamping of the entire assembly. Those Harbor Freight bar clamps fit perfectly into the 3/4" holes in my clamping table.
I quickly made a jig from particle board to hold the mallet at an angle over my router. This idea came from an article in one of the wood magazines (I forget which one). The idea is to be able to rotate the mallet over the router bit to give it a smooth face at the correct angle. I wasn't confident enough in my turning skills to use the lathe on end grain oak, so I wanted to use the router.
It was a mistake.
Several times the router grabbed the piece out of my hands, chewed it up, and spit it back at me. I'm glad I was wearing goggles!
I finally gave up on the router and put it on the lathe. I gave my turning chisels a fresh hone, held my breath and started cutting.
Not bad! Not bad at all! Some tearout on the oak end grain, but overall a good turn. I'm very comfortable with the end result. Too bad I had done so much damage to the head already with the router. Otherwise I'd be able to say it was perfect. As it its, the mallet is just ok. There is no finish on the mallet. Just 2 coats of Butcher's wax. The photos were taken before the wax was applied. That shine is from good cuts alone!
Not really. It's from sanding down to 2000 grit. =D
This is a small mallet. I am planning to take what I've learned and turn a larger one with maple for the head.
The photos here show the damage, the turning on the lathe, and the final finish photos.
I hope this helps inspire you to try your hand at crafting your own mallets! It's satisfying picking up a tool that I've made myself!
Small Crosscut Sled
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Wood Destruction by a Woodscrub
workpiece itself over the blade. It also provides a convenient place to mount stop blocks, T-track, and other gadgets, if so desired.This allows for a safer and more accurate cut, especially on small pieces. No more needing to hold your hands close to the sharp blade, trying to control kickback, or needing a Rube Goldberg-esque configuration of blocks, clamps, featherboards, and fences.
First I cut a scrap of 3/4" birch cabinet ply from the BORG. It is only 5 ply, but works fine for many uses. I didn't measure the base of the sled, but it is around 30" x 18". For a sled the exact measurements aren't as important as squaring it to the blade is.
I next cut some 1/2"x4" reclaimed oak boards to make the front and rear fences. I like to use reclaimed wood whenever possible. Partly for cost and partly to preserve the good wood on the market for a little longer. These boards had some embedded nails that could not be removed. So I cut them out on the table saw, leaving several shorter boards. Two were more than long enough so I cut them to match the base.
I jointed them on my 4" Rockwell jointer, making sure the unfinished face and the bottom were exactly 90*. The bottom will be glued to the base, and the face will control the workpieces. I used a homemade pushblock for the face jointing. It is just a scrap of plywood with some rubber shelf liner stuff attached with spray adhesive. No fancy handles. Just enough to keep control of the
workpiece.Once the oak boards were jointed, I checked for square on the sled. My digital angle gauge is perfectly square, and makes for a convenient square when I'm too lazy to walk across the garage to get a "real" square. If the fence on the jointer is square, the workpiece will be too. And this jointer is perfectly square.
I cut some thin strips of oak 3/4" wide to use as rails. I placed these in the slots on the table saw and used shims to raise them just proud of the table saw surface. I then set my fence to fit the sled base so the blade is centered. A square table saw fence will also ensure the front and rear edges of the base are also square to the blade. This is critical because those edges will set the alignment of the fences!
I applied glue to the rails and clamped the base down to the table saw. I was unable to get a clamp on the front left corner so I piled a bunch of weight on that corner. Surprisingly it worked well!
After the glue dried I trimmed the rails to fit and tested the glide. As is normal, the glide is too tight. I used a cabinet scraper to pare down the rails until they would slide in the slots on the table saw with just a medium amount of force. I want the fit tight because once the rails are waxed it's perfect.
I had debated about using mechanical fasteners to hold the fences on, as I have for my previous sleds. I decided against them because they would add complexity without much strength. For a sled this size there is no need for screws.
I set the boards on the sled base again and drew lines so I could easily tell how wide to make the glue on the base. I then applied a nice even layer of glue to both the sled base and the rail, one rail at a time. Several clamps hold it together to dry.
Check the square several times throughout the process. The clamps will often draw the fence one way or another (a good argument for "parallel clamps" that don't do this) and require adjusting. Small position adjustments will usually resolve any angle issues.
Once both rails have been glued and allowed to fully dry, use a card scraper to clean up any glue. Especially on the inside of the sled. Bumps of glue squeeze-out will throw off the perfect square you are going for!
Now is the time to apply wax to the rails. If you haven't waxed your table saw lately, this would be a good excuse to get that done too.
Smear the wax on liberally and allow to dry 5 minutes. Then buff with a clean cloth. I prefer microfiber cloths for both tasks, but any soft cloth will work just fine.
Check the glide again on the table saw. There should be zero side to side play, yet the sled should move smoothly the entire length of the saw surface with just a push
from your pinkie finger. Feel free to scrape the rails a bit more and re-wax if needed.Check your saw blade is a good one for plywood or laminate so you don't get any tearout when cutting the initial kerf. I forgot to check when building this sled, so I got some tearout from using a 24 tooth ripping blade. It may not be critical, depending on the location of the tearout. Luckily for me the tearout was in the middle of the sled, not at the fence.
Sneak up on the cut, moving the blade up just 1/8" of an inch at a time until the kerf is exposed in the sled bottom. Don't worry about making kerf cuts up into the fences. You'll do that automatically when you start cutting workpieces with the sled. Right now you just want a clean kerf to begin with.
Take your time, moving the sled over the
blade slowly. There are no awards for speed, and you will just risk tearout of the plywood or fences.Check that the rear fence is square to the blade. Use your square (a real one this time) and hold the edge to the face of the blade, not the cutting tips. If it is not square you'll have to cut it apart and start over. But if you followed these instructions, you should have a rear fence that is perfectly square to the blade. Do some test cuts to confirm.
At this point you can either be done and call it good, or apply a finish. For small "throwaway" sleds like this it really doesn't matter. the bed of the sled will be chewed up before the wood
surface shows any signs of wear. So a finish will be just for appearances. My reclaimed oak boards had a poly finish on one side, I didn't apply one. And I saw no need to remove it either. On some of my sleds I apply two coats of shellac, especially if they're made from MDF to provide some moisture protection. Like, in case I spill coffee/tea/kool-aid on it.But I'm perfect and would NEVER do THAT!
John Brown: 1932-2008
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Woodworking blog Woodworking Magazine
When we started Woodworking Magazine, one of the things we definitely wanted
to include as part of the fabric of the publication were quotations about the craft
that made us laugh or think.
And when we launched our first issue in March 2004, there was no doubt or discussion
about what quote would be emblazoned at the top of the first page:
Just don’t let it get in the way of your woodworking.”
— John Brown, welsh stick chairmaker
Brown, who died June 1, is in my estimation the most influential writer on handwork of this generation. His columns in Britain’s Good Woodworking magazine inspired thousands of woodworkers to attempt or even completely embrace handwork.
His columns were short epistles on topics philosophical, mundane or both. He might offer a recipe for bacon in one column, offer plans for a workbench in another and in a third comment on the sad state of woodworking where we have traded skill for speed.
Brown was at times crotchety in tone, other times apologetic (to turners in particular); but he was always the spokesman for anyone who wanted to take hammer in hand and try to build something – either fantastic or mundane – using hand tools.
Brown himself was a boatbuilder who was made obsolete by fiberglass watercraft. After spotting a primitive Welsh chair in a shop in Lampeter, as Brown put it: “It was like a vision. I had never seen anything that had made so instant an impression on me.”
And so he built a Welsh stick chair like the one from his vision. He began selling them. He began writing about them. “Welsh Stick Chairs” was published in 1990. It’s a short volume, but is one of my prize possessions. In it, Brown gives a concise history of the Celts and their furniture. Then a short history of his love for the craft. The remainder of the book is photos of Brown in action, building what he calls a “cardigan chair.”
I first encountered his column in Good Woodworking in the mid-1990s. Brown had begun writing for the magazine during issue 13, I believe, which was the November 1993 issue. It was called “The John Brown Column,” and discussed mostly chairmaking, but with all hand tools. His run of columns there ended 32 issues later with a condemnation of power machinery in June 1996.
After a year of respite, Brown returned to the pages of Good Woodworking in issue 58 and continued for a couple more years. The last column I have of his is from December 1998. He continued as a chairmaker for awhile but during the last decade, Brown turned his attention to studying art.
"The John Brown Column" – sometimes titled "The Anarchist Woodworker" – was so inspiring to me, it’s difficult to quantify. I think it’s best said that if I had to have only one hero in woodworking, it would be Chairman Brown.
Not only did his writing encourage my hand-work skills, he also inspired me as a chairmaker to the point where I even ventured into the Canadian wilderness to take a class in Welsh chairmaking from David Fleming, a Cobden, Ontario, chairmaker who is Welsh.
All this detail above might make me sounds a bit like a stalker, but I never met John Brown. It was one of my primary goals for the coming years, which I can now bitterly cross off my to-do list. My plan was to ask if we could reprint his columns in book form so they could receive the wide audience they deserve. That project might be in limbo now, but perhaps his heirs will be willing.
If you can get a copy of “Welsh Stick Chairs,” you certainly will get the flavor of his writing and wit. And if I have any luck, perhaps you’ll also get to read his columns and then understand the loss the world of handwork has suffered this week.
— Christopher Schwarz
New CD: The Best of Arts & Crafts
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Popular Woodworking
The
revival of the Arts & Crafts Movement isn’t just in the furniture store. Woodworkers
of all levels of experience have named it one of their favorite styles to build in
their workshops. Why? Clean lines and honest joinery.So we've put together a new CD that features our 49 favorite articles from Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine from the last decade that deal with this important furniture movement.
All of the articles on the CD are in pdf format, so you can view them on any computer with the free Acrobat Reader program. Plus you can print the articles out and take them to the shop when you're ready to build.
If you've never used any of our magazines' articles in pdf format, we'd like to give you a sample for free. We think you'll be pleased. To give it a try, simply click on the link below to download the complete plans for Gustav Stickley's No. 72 Magazine Cabinet, a very popular project from our April 2003 issue.
Magazine_Cabinet.pdf
(1.66 MB)
Here's what else you'll find on this CD, which is available in our store for $15 (that includes free shipping in the United States).
â– 42 Furniture Projects: We feature comprehensive plans and cutting lists for
a complete suite of furniture for your home, including two Morris chairs, sideboards,
side tables, bookshelves, outdoor furniture as well as home accessories, including
lamps and wastebaskets. Every project includes step-by-step instruction and measured
drawings.
â– 7 Technique Articles: Arts & Crafts furniture uses straightforward joinery
like the mighty mortise and tenon. We show you a wide variety of ways to cut this
essential joint, plus articles on achieving an Arts & Crafts finish with home-center
materials and detailed plans for the jigs and fixtures that will make your shop time
more efficient.
This CD is in stock and ready to ship. To order your copy, visit our store today.
— Christopher Schwarz
In the Future with Festool
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Popular Woodworking
Two years ago if I would have mentioned the company Festool,
more likely than not, you wouldn’t have known the name. Then the Domino was introduced
and the name Festool jumped in popularity. The next year the company delivered two
routers, the OF2200 and the MFK 700, along with Kapex, the Festool miter saw, and
the company name is now well known throughout woodworking.
Of course Festool is here at the International Woodworking Fair. The main draw in
the booth is the Kapex. That saw wasn’t at the big Las Vegas show last year. There
wasn’t even a prototype to look at. So, even though we’ve all heard tons of information
about this miter saw, this is the first look for many woodworkers.
For those of us covering the happenings at IWF, Festool scheduled appointments that
were held outside the booth in a “secret” room. I think the team at Festool had a
great idea. With scheduled appointments, the team met with everyone on a one-on-one
basis to show us what was waiting in the wings from Festool – what the company planned
to bring to the table in the next couple years. And we get to deliver to you that
look into the future.
I’ve always heard Festool talk about “the system.” I knew a router or plunge-cut saw
with a multi-function table (MFT) wasn’t the system. Today the concept of system came
into focus. Festool envisions woodworkers setting up complete shops with Festool tools.
That’s what was displayed in the secret room.
The big concept was a Compact Module system. The table for this system attaches to
an MFT by way of the v-grooves along all edges. The top of the table, where you change
plates in and out, is where the action takes place.
In one module the Festool team set up a router station. Simply mount a router on the
bottom of a plate, flip the plate as you place it into the table and turn a normally
hand-held tool into a router table. (That’s not a new concept until you add in a number
of possible modules and plates, each with different tools). You can use an OF1400
up to and including the super-sized OF2200 routers and the setup comes complete with
a fully functioning fence that allows quick-action movement for positioning and then
a fine-tune adjustment so you can dial in the cut exactly.
Another module in the display held a Festool TS 55 EQ plunge-cut saw. Again the saw
was attached to the plate then inverted and extended through the plate to form a small
table saw. Included on this table saw was a fence ready to position and lock as needed,
along with a see-through guard system and of course, a riving knife (which is part
of the plunge-cut saw). The look and feel was that of a table saw.
What makes both these setups so cool is a sliding table that is positioned directly
beside the saw and in front of the router. These sliders fasten to the Compact Module
table using v-grooves and are very smooth in operation. Now you have a setup for crosscuts
or, if the sliding attachment is used at the router module, you have a great way to
mill the ends for rails and much more.