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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.
About Gebyok Center
09/09/2008, 06:08 | Antique Knockdown Carved Wood House
The Traditional House of Kudus is a traditional house of ancient culture that made from 95 percent high quality teak wood (tektona grandis). Presently, the sum in its origin area, Kudus, has become very slight compare with its glorious time in the 18th century. The Traditional Wooden House of Kudus with its parts, which full with carved, is continuously chased by collectors from local and foreign that generate one by one of the traditional house relocate from its origin location where its belong, Kudus.If it is seen from its physical condition, actually there were three categories of the traditional house in Kudus area. First was regular traditional house, second was carved traditional house and third was completely carved traditional house, known as Traditional House of Kudus.The first category appeared without carved. Its present predicted start from around year 1500th and the amount reach hundreds. Second category appeared almost at the same time but the owners had given a bit of carved in several places such as in pillars or doors. For the third category, the owners intentionally gave a full carved in all over the places. The quality of the carved was even until the highest point to reach the three dimensions level.
For note, the original traditional house of Kudus used to only located or exist in Kudus Kulon (West Kudus) area around Menara (Tower) of Kudus, a unique building remained by Sunan Kudus spreader of Islam in Java at the Wali Sanga (Nine Wali) era. The fact could be researched from its history. While, the regular traditional house could exist in the area around 10 - 25 km from Menara of Kudus. The difference between wooden carved and noncarved including more or less of the carved of the traditional house was because of the differences in the financial matter and the social status of the owners at that time.
As the time by, the original traditional house of Kudus is slightly disappear or relocate from its origin location, as they are many people who intend to acquire the uniqueness. Beside that, factors like the age of the traditional house, financial condition of the present owners and alteration in the social culture that different with the past condition, accelerate disappearing possibility of the original traditional house of Kudus. Furthermore, what it makes more concern is the possibility of vanished of the art to build the traditional house from Kudus itself as the place of origin.
Rise awareness of the vanishing of the traditional house of Kudus with its finest art, initiate an effort to maintain the existency of the unvaluable arts into an attempt to keep the art and the culture exist.
A long effort has been establishing for more than 30 years, started at around 1972 by Mr. H. Mustofa to collect, trainee and develop woodcarvers, workers and carpenters to specialize mastering the art of carving, how to maintain, structuring and setting the traditional house of Kudus with its parts, since traditional house of Kudus has speciality can be released and assembled back (knock down system) that absolutely need a particular expertise.
The effort was started from served the collectors who need his service in released and assembled back the original traditional house of Kudus that bought by them from the recent owners. Almost 60 % from the whole amount of traditional house of Kudus (totally the original sum is almost 100 houses) was handle by him. While in the process, it always found that minimum 30 % from the house clearances was damaged because of the hundred years occasion. It maked effort and obligatory to rebuild the damage parts to became complete as the former condition when it assembled back.
Using teaks wood that came from clearances of the old teak house of the wood reguler traditional house in the area surrounding district area such as Pati, Jepara, Demak, etc, especially because the owners usually want to modernize their house, component of the damage parts of the traditional house of Kudus were reconstruct together with its carved process to acquire the former condition. These process dawn the expertise in maintenance, construct, carving ability, knowing the carving style and motifs also technic in release and assemble the house, hence develop the ability to reconstruct the parts or even the whole parts of the traditional house of Kudus similar with the original one.
It recorded that 18 (eighteen) traditional houses of Kudus from the reproduction process were obtained from the long efforts. Eleven (11) were form as the standard of the traditional house of Kudus, while the rest were with the variation as requested by the buyers. The location spread in
Beside that, it cannot be counted parts of traditional house of Kudus like gedongan, gebyok and gapura have been made into many kind of size and variation to fulfill the passion of the antique collectors. Also there were many process of released and assembled of joglo, one part of traditional house that can and used for another functions like to decorate house yard, to construct pendopo, use to make garage, as a gazebo near the pool, etc. It counted also five (5) particular pendopo of Kudus was made in the process.
Beside the effort to keep existing the art and the culture, Gebyok Center which center in Kudus (see in location map), also has environmental friendly commitment as it has explained above that all the products are produced from the high quality old teak wood from ex-release of the old teak wood traditional houses where the age until reach hundreds of year and are not from the teak forest in the recent era. These are the additional value for the
Antique Traditional Kudus House
09/09/2008, 06:06 | Antique Knockdown Carved Wood House
The traditional house of Kudus is one of the traditional houses that formed as the human culture evolution that continuously occuring process acculturation and as the results of developing creation of the supporting community.
The architect mostly achieves the ideal process of culture combination and success to represent a unique colour of
The roof construction of traditional house of Kudus shows the level of wealthy of the owner since cost to make the roof is the highest cost compare with any other parts of the house. The expensive cost was because of the motifs perfection and the carved style also the difficulty on the process to construct it.
The Pencu style roof (the towering roof) used to be made of Rumbia (a particular kind of palm leaves), but now more likely to be made of tiles. Kudus tiles often have special plant motifs, and there are the so-called genteng gajah (with elephant ornamentation) on the wuwungan (the topmost row of tiles), and the genteng raja (king tiles) which are beautifully decorated.
The design interior of the traditional house of Kudus looks simple and divided into Jogo Satru room as a guess room, which in the standard traditional house of Kudus the cover area is around 3 x 10 msq. In this room, the floor is lower around 1 m from the main room (inside room) and is a part of the fourth step or floor.
Then, inside room (jogan lebet) is a fifth step with area around 7 x 10 msq. A chair uses as the connection between the two rooms because of its level differences.and as partition between the two rooms used Gebyok.
Inside the inside room (jogan lebet), there are several rooms such as living room located below the joglo, then bedrooms and gedongan as the place to keep the heilroom and wealthy. Gedongan placed between inside room and pawon (kitchen) that located in the left or right of the house.
This pawon except use for cooking and dinner room, also use for the family activity, such as made of convection products and other home industries. In front of the pawon, precisely in the edge part of the yard placed well complete with the bathroom.
There are several types of doors in the traditional house of Kudus, there is one door, two door and sliding door. One door is usually for the kitchen, two doors in gebyok and the sliding door is in the front.
One thing that necessary to be noted is that traditional house of Kudus always build face to the south that full with the philosophy meaning and based on the natural rule of rational calculation.
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Get Tough Challenge with Gorilla Glue #3: And The Winners Are...
09/02/2008, 21:26 | LumberJocks.com :: woodworking showcaseGorilla Glue has challenged LumberJocks to build anything for enjoying the great outdoors using just two materials (wood and any other material of your choice) plus any gorilla glue product. And now you can admire 17 beautiful entries as a result of this challenge.
As mentioned in my Challenge announcement, it’s time to announce 16 random winners of cool prize packages by Gorilla Glue:
- Grand Prize consists of $200 plus 1 of each Gorilla Glue?s products and a Gorilla Glue t-shirt:
- scottb
- 5 runner-up prizes; winners will receive 1 of each Gorilla Glue?s products and a Gorilla Glue t-shirt:
- John
- MsDebbieP
- RobS
- trifern
- Dan Walters
- 10 third place prizes of a Gorilla t-shirt:
- RickieD
- Ryan Shervill
- jeffthewoodwacker
- mjon
- Zuki
- drgoodharp
- Bruce
- PaBull
- Karson
- Davesfunwoodworking
Congrats and thanks for participating!
Get Tough Challenge with Gorilla Glue #2: Last Call
08/31/2008, 15:36 | LumberJocks.com :: woodworking showcaseDon’t forget that tomorrow – September 1st – is Gorilla Glue Challenge deadline. We already have 11 creative entries and there is a great chance to win one of the following prizes:
- 1 Grand Prize will consist of $200 plus 1 of each Gorilla Glue?s products and a Gorilla Glue t-shirt.
- There will be 5 runner-up prizes; winners will receive 1 of each Gorilla Glue?s products and a Gorilla Glue t-shirt.
- As well as 10 third place prizes of a Gorilla t-shirt
Click here for all details and rules
Winners will be announced on September 2nd… GOOD LUCK!
Get Tough Challenge with Gorilla Glue #1: Announcement
08/12/2008, 00:26 | LumberJocks.com :: woodworking showcaseLumberJocks, can you get tough?
LumberJocks.com is proudly hosting the Gorilla Glue Challenge. This is a fun and creative event for all woodworkers, but be careful; this may be a sticky challenge!
Bond with your wood and the great outdoors while competing in this challenge to win some great Gorilla Glue products. Gorilla Glue is challenging you to build anything for enjoying the great outdoors. You must use two materials, one must be wood and any other material of your choice. You must also include any gorilla glue product in your entry. And there are 16 prize packages!
PRIZES
Gorilla Glue will have 16 random winners of some very great prizes.
- 1 Grand Prize will consist of $200 plus 1 of each Gorilla Glue?s products and a Gorilla Glue t-shirt.
- There will be 5 runner-up prizes; winners will receive 1 of each Gorilla Glue?s products and a Gorilla Glue t-shirt.
- As well as 10 third place prizes of a Gorilla t-shirt
RULES
- Your entry must be a creation for enjoying the great outdoors.
- One substrate must be wood
- Plus any other substrate of the participants choice such as metal, stone, brick, glass, rubber, etc.
- Any Gorilla product such as: Gorilla Glue, Gorilla Glue Precision Pen, Gorilla Super Glue, Gorilla Wood Glue, Gorilla Tape.
Get your Projects in by Monday September 1st and the winners will be announced on September 2nd. Are you up for the challenge?
HOW TO ENTER
- SUBMIT your challenge entry as a project and tag it with challenge06 (of course you may add any additional tags too):
Note that you don?t need to use ?challenge06? in the project title. - You can submit only one entry ? give it your best shot.
- Describe your process in a project story and add at least one photo of the finished outdoor creation produced by you.
- Explain what materials you used and what Gorilla Glue product helped you in your outdoor creation.
- The entry deadline is September 1st.
- Winners will be announced online at LumberJocks.com on September 2nd.
Please note: Photos entered in this challenge will also be published on the Gorilla Glue site.
P.S. You can help promoting this one of a kind event by clicking on the BOOKMARK button in the top right corner. It allows you to easily submit to one of the popular bookmarking/sharing websites like Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg or others.
?????/ picture frame making
07/29/2008, 05:19 | Masashi's woodworking diary
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The first-year students of Gifu Academy are making a picture frame.
It is not mitred but mortise and tenon construction. They are their first machine-cut mortises and tenons.
They learn various joineries and how to use machines through making such small products.
??????????/ 'merchandising' crafts for exhibition
05/01/2008, 11:53 | Masashi's woodworking diary
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2008?5?1-6?
10-17?
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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.
Building the Woodshop: Part V - The Foundation
12/20/2007, 04:02 | Norse WoodsmithPart 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!
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.
A tree grows in Brooklyn (Wooden Ring Passion to Overcome)
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Wood Rings by Simply Wood RingsThe wood for this ring is from a tree which is commonly known as the “Tree of Heaven”. It is the tree that has taken on the symbolism for what it is to be an immigrant in America in the book “A tree grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith. Anyone who has ever come in contact with this tree will remember it. The journey to learn more about this tree has led me to learn more about myself. It was the long forgotten memories and dreams of a little boy that this piece has allowed me to rediscover.
The base wood is walnut which represents passion and intellect. The crème colored wood ailanthus (Tree of heaven) celebrates the spirit to overcome all life throws at you.
http://www.simplywoodrings.com
The Mystery of the Dangerous Flying Bats
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Popular Woodworking
Broken baseball bats are becoming so commonplace that Major League Baseball has undertaken
a study to determine what’s behind this growing phenomenon. The concern, of
course, is the busted barrel-end is hurtling into crowds – not to mention million-dollar
players – and posing a serious safety hazard. Baseball czar Bud Selig wants to know
what’s going on so he’s collecting every chipped, broken and cracked bat and shipping
them off to the University of Wisconsin’s Forest Products Laboratory to have them
studied.
Reading news reports on the subject can be entertaining for people who’ve been around
and worked wood for a while. For example, I learned the problem is due to the increased
use of maple instead of ash. Maple bats break clean in two while ash bats just crack
or splinter. OK, I can buy that. We all know ash is a good choice for bending while
maple would be avoided. But when players and other clubhouse types weigh in on the
“why,” it seems maple has no “grain” while ash does. I thought all wood had grain.
Here’s another: switch to beech, which I read is a hybrid between maple and ash that’s
imported from Europe. Learn something new every day!
Hitters are notoriously superstitious about their bats as they seek every advantage
to improve their stats. The move to maple got serious after Barry Bonds made the change
and hit 49 homers in 2000 and 73 in 2001 (and we all thought there were other factors
at play!). Today, some 48 percent of MLB bats are maple with a typical bat fetching
$58; ash bats are significantly less at $45. That adds up when you figure the team
buys 11 to 12 dozen bats for each player each season.
So is the broken bat mystery merely a question of maple vs. ash? As a woodworker,
I doubt it. I will concede that the safety question is best answered with the choice
of ash over maple because I’d bet the ash will be far less likely to break in two
and send a hurtling projectile. More likely, ash will just crack or splinter.
No, I believe the scientists at the Forest Products Laboratory will conclude the breakage
epidemic is due to the shape of bats today and the relationship between its weight
and length. Players’ preferences today are bats that are longer and weigh less with
a thinner handle and bigger business end. This preference is a result of the
widespread use of aluminum bats on the college circuit that have this shape, and lots
of MLB players are from the college ranks. Used to be, most bats were made with weight
about equal to the length; a 32” bat usually weighed close to 32 ounces. Today’s bats
are often longer, 34” inches, and weigh between 30 and 32 ounces. And to make the
handles thinner, some players are shaving them. Can’t you imagine the MLB clubhouse
equipped with a Brian Boggs
shavehorse and set of spokeshaves?
Given these guys probably lack much woodworking know-how, I have this mental image
of the rookie hearing about shaving the handle to improve his performance. I see this
kid with his bat all lathered up and his razor stropped and ready to shave. That cracks
me up!
–Steve Shanesy, publisher & editorial
director
photos courtesy of MLB Advanced Media
Digital Download of Issue 9 Now Available
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Woodworking blog Woodworking Magazine
You
can now download an enhanced
pdf of the March 2008 issue of Woodworking Magazine (Issue 9) for $6.
Our instant digital downloads are compatible with any computer running Adobe Reader
7.0, a free program available from Adobe that runs on Macintosh, PC and other systems.
The downloads are delivered to you on a secure and fast server (a high-speed Internet
connection is highly recommended). Plus, if for some technical reason your download
is interrupted (power outage due to nefarious squirrel activity etc.), it’s quite
simple to get back on and download the issue again.
Issue 9 focuses on the act of handsawing, and it explores the three backsaws you need
for hand-cut joints – the dovetail saw, carcase saw and tenon saw. Plus we explain
the nearly-lost English system of cutting joints by hand.
We also delve into cutting circles with a simple (and very cool) jig, plus how to
properly use glaze when finishing. All these skills will help you build the Stickley
Tabouret featured on the cover.
On an administrative note, we’re still working on how to deliver subscriptions digitally
to subscribers and have narrowed it to a couple options. More news on that to come
this summer. Until then, these enhanced pdfs will (we hope) keep you informed and
inspired.
For more details on the digital downloading process and to place an order, click
here. You can view all our digital downloadable products here.
— Christopher Schwarz
The Woodworking Show: Atlanta 2008 Part 1
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Woodworkers ResourceHere's the first episode of several to come on our time at the Woodworking Show in Atlanta, GA. In this episode we give you a taste of what it's like to attend one of these events. You'll see booth after booth of vendors showing their products to thousands of interested woodworkers, seminars that teach skills, and deals being made on every corner.
We also picked a few vendors that had some really cool tools to show case in our videos. In this first video, we bring you Alex from Carter Products, makers of innovative products for your bandsaw.
While we were at the Atlanta Woodworking Show we were able to talk a few of the vendors into giving our subscribers some great deals on their products. So if you're a subscriber, be on the look out for more information. If you're not a subscriber, it's not too late. Simply head on over to our website and sign-up!
www.WoodworkersResource.com
Nothing Magic About My Rag
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Woodworking blog Woodworking Magazine
Sometime back in 1996 I took a piece of cloth that was cast off from my wardrobe.
I cannot remember what the garment was. A sweatshirt perhaps? Long underwear? It’s
a bit stretchy. And I soaked the sucker in WD-40.
Since that day, I have soaked that rag with every kind of oily substance you can imagine.
Here’s the short lubricant list: Camellia,
3-in-1, Jojoba, mineral spirits,
thread-cutting oil, spray-on “dry” shop lubricant and oil from various recesses of
my personhood (yes, it’s true, and historically correct. Ask me over a beer sometime).
I use this rag to wipe down every tool after I use it. I lubricate my plane soles
with it while working. I use it to wipe off the sharpening slurry from my tools after
honing them.
And what I’m about to say will upset people who know anything about chemistry: I have
never suffered any ill effects from this nefarious mixture when finishing my projects
using any of the known finishing compounds: shellac, lacquer, oil, varnish, wax and
all of their wacky combinations. No fish-eye has ever appeared in my finish. No orange
peel. No silicone contamination.
So what gives? How have I cheated the finishing gods for 12 full years?
Probably because of the cutting action of all tools. When I wipe down a tool – a sawblade
or a handplane – I leave the thinnest coat possible behind. This thin film is all
I need to protect the tool from rusting. Then, when I apply the tool to the work,
there is little doubt that some of this lubricant winds up on my work.
This first cut removes the lubricant from the tool. Then my next pass with the tool
removes the wood that has the lubricant on it. Problem solved.
In addition to my magic rag (Lucy, my wife, calls it my “woobie”), I also am very
fond of the Sandflex blocks from Klingspor to
remove rare and errant spots of rust or staining that show up on my tools. These spongy
“rust erasers” are like rubber that has been impregnated by a mild abrasive. The blocks
will abrade your tools, but only slightly – in most cases less than steel wool. One
block (I like the “medium” and “fine”) will last for decades of normal use.
As a result, I have had few problems with rust on my tools, despite the fact that
I live outside a humid river city (Cincinnati) and my home shop is in a basement.
The bottom line is that diligence is far more important than the brand of lubricant.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Below is my latest project with a shellac and lacquer finish with no finishing problems. Maybe next project....
Pin the Rattail on the Foamular
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Woodworking blog Woodworking Magazine
After three more hours of CAD work last night, I finished up the preliminary drawings
for the next cover project for Woodworking Magazine. We're calling this project
"An American Wall Cabinet." But right now a more apt name would be "An R-5 Wall Cabinet."
This morning I spent about 45 minutes building the face frame, tombstone door and
drawer front of the cabinet using the pink ½"-thick Foamular insulation
board. I taped up the joints with packing tape. Then I printed out the hardware from
the Horton Brasses web site, cut it out (Horton scaled it full-size!) and taped it
in place.
If you ever wonder how woodworking magazines get away with coverlines like "Build
a Bench in a Weekend," this is it. It's our trade secret. We just build it out of
Foamular.
After a dry-fit of all the parts (no tape), I determined that the mediary rail in
the door was too wide. So I shaved off ½" with a ruler and a knife and it looked much
better. Then Senior Editor Glen Huey and I placed the rattail hinges on the stiles
so they would work well and look good.
This short exercise also drove me to plan on adding some stopped chamfers on the stiles
of the face frame when I build it out of walnut. So all in all, it was worth the $10.
If you'v