Tommy (with Al asking the tough questions) walks you through the process of making simple dovetails and some clasic "George Washington wooden teeth".

Here's an excellent interview with a young furniture designer showing at the 2007 International Contemporary Furniture Fair.

Here are the promised pictures of my earlier saw sharpening adventures.

Remember that I am not offering these pictures as the standard of excellence. They all still have fairly major defects, but they are all quite usable and, in my opinion, cut pretty nicely, particularly when compared to what they were before I worked on them. I expect to take care of some of the defects with further sharpenings at some point in the future.

Here is the HSB & Co. OVB rip saw:


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Shop classes are fast becoming an endangered species in the United States. I suppose that the beginning of the end was when the name changed from ?shop class? to ?industrial arts.? When I was in 7th & 8th grades, all boys had to take wood shop, plastics shop and drafting class. All girls had to take home economics but the sexism inherent in our educational system is a different article.

In the 7th grade I didn?t care much about shop class. It just didn?t interest me. I did the work I had to do to make the little treasure chest project we were assigned but there was no joy in it for me. Surprising only because of my current love for working wood. More surprising however, is a dark secret I?ve hidden for nearly 35 years. My wife doesn?t know. I don?t think my parents know. In fact, I don?t think I?ve ever told anybody. You?re the first. Here it is: I was kicked out of wood shop.

Since most of you don?t know me very well that statement might not surprise you. So let me tell you, I wasn?t the kind of kid who got kicked out of classes. That was the one and only time in my scholastic career. I wouldn?t go so far as to say that I was scarred by the event but here I sit more than 30 years later writing about it. So what happened you may ask?

The shop teacher at our school was a man named Delbert Lumbert. I couldn?t make that up. No, really. Knock it off, I?m serious. OK. Mr. Lumbert seemed somewhat less interested in teaching the class than I was in taking it. I certainly don?t envy someone the task of shepherding 30 mostly uninterested kids through a minefield of sharp, spinning steel. All the same, he didn?t seem to be enjoying his chosen career. Maybe the years had gotten to him. Maybe he could see the coming extinction of his kind. Maybe he just needed a hug. But I don?t think I ever saw the man smile.

So one day I?m waiting to use the band saw. Another student is cutting something. When the offcut is free of his work piece, I reach over and remove it from the table for him. I wasn?t trying to challenge authority, I was just trying to be helpful. Of course, I recognize now that it was dangerous. Mr. Lumbert recognized it then and, as luck would have it, he saw me do it.

I can?t know the underlying cause of Mr. Lumbert?s reaction. We didn?t discuss his feelings. We didn?t discuss anything. He yelled. Loudly. I cowered. He told me to get out. I did. I don?t remember where I went but I?ll never forget walking out that door. I wish I could say that after he cooled off he reviewed shop safety with me (or the entire class). Or that he called my parents to make sure that they were aware and could remind me to be careful. But that didn?t happen. We never spoke of it again.

I have no idea what became of Mr. Lumbert. I?m sure he?s long since retired. Our brief, unhappy encounter caused no lasting damage. Who knows, maybe it was even positive. It?s not how I would want to handle such a situation but it?s hard to argue with results. After all, the lesson was well learned. Later (much later) I became an enthusiastic hobbyist woodworker. And so far, I can still count to ten without removing a shoe.

The architect mostly achieves the ideal process of culture combination and success to represent a unique colour of ur main pillars (as part of Joglo) and Soko Geder (one pillar). On the top of soko guru there are put tumpang songo (nine support) (it musn't be nine, it could be only three support (tumpang telu (tiga)) which depend on the capability of the owners), as the support of roof construction.

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.

Tommy and Al sit down to talk shop and discuss plans for a small project building a table. The project will be simple and take under 60 hours to complete. Tommy and Al first review the general design of the table and then discuss the power and hand tools that will be needed. Tommy stresses that it will be a low budget project that will produce a beautiful table.

Tommy finally gets to glue this "bad boy together." After putting glue in the front only, he assembles the drawer dividers, the back and the partition and puts them in the desk to show the viewers. Watch this episode to find out why Tommy calls himself a "colorful guy, just not too bright."

First of all - Happy New Year to all you Folks out there reading this! Its amazing how quickly time flies by, so.....

First up - Operation Norris. Remember the rusty old Norris I was going to restore? Well, to kickstart the year I have made some progress. Sadly, the rosewood I put aside for the infills was half an inch too short for the tote. After much head scratching I had to use something else - so Bubinga it is. I have made the replacement tote and two side sections and I'm shaping the front bun at the moment. Once the woodwork is done I can concentrate on the metalwork side of things. The adjuster mechanism will be a challenge, but hey, its a new year!

I am finally going to start building the new porch for the house, too. I had a new path and step built to the front of the house and the bad weather has put me behind with construction. I have loads of gorgeous European Oak sat in the workshop ready to be broken down. Stay tuned.

I've also had some great plane ideas over the holidays and shall be turning them into reality in the coming weeks. Can't beat Xmas t.v. to get the old brain daydreaming....... ;)

Cheers
Philly

Have some good tools that you no longer use? Maybe you are looking for some used woodworking tools at a good price. The Des Moines Woodworkers Swap Meet is for you.Our Swap Meet is scheduled for Saturday, September 20; 8 am to noon at the Woodsmith Store. If you have tools to sell, swap, we will provide a table at no charge. Just download and print out the application by Clicking Here Fill out the application and mail to the address on the form, or if you have a scanner, scan the completed document and e mail it to dynexdp@aol.com The event is open to both members and non members.

Here is part one of laying out and shaping Carlo’s Plum Pudding. So many design elements to consider specific to the structural integrity of the Carlo Mollino coffee table and its ability to withstand the manufacturing process. In this episode we take the furniture design through the paces of machining and with minor safeguards and careful craftsmanship, the table, structurally takes the stress. The episode is loaded with design analysis of the piece and options to its final look.

Enjoy Part1 … Part 2 is right behind!!!

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

As requested, here is a photo of the Dovetail Saw which Mike made for me.

It is ...

I?m still in a mode with very little time for woodworking. That?s not a complaint since the project keeping me out of the shop is a great opportunity and incredible fun. But there is some news from the shop.

About a year ago I made a new arts & crafts kitchen table with a tile inlay top. I wrote about the process for Woodwork magazine. The article is in the June issue, available now.

Soon I?ll be able to post about the current project. I hope you?ll agree that it?s worth the wait.

Last week's episodes on the replacement of my workbench top have generated a few questions and some great feedback.  As always when these come in, I can't help but share them with everyone...because I'm willing to bet there's plenty of you thinking the same things.

 Hendrik is back in September so get your questions in for our open Q&A session and if you get a chance this weekend stop by and see him at the 5th Annual Welbeck Wood Expo.

If you'd like to enter for free schwag or just have a comment, question or suggestion drop me a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com or  head over to my website at www.mattsbasementworkshop.com or call our Skype Voicemail at 231 354-2338.

Listen to today's show by clicking on the player below

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HI Folks

First up - apologies for the double - video posting yesterday. Had trouble getting Blogger to respond but it seems it caught up later- I've removed the offending post.

Remember the Hand Tool Event at West Dean College I mentioned a couple of months ago?
Well there are some updated details on Classic Hand Tools web site - sounds like it will be an excellent event! Put it in your diary now!!

Cheers
Philly

I left off with the individual boards which comprise the two drawer cases. I moved on, trimmed the boards and created the joinery for the sides and top and bottom. The joinery will consist of a rabbet with some small reinforcement. I need to accurately trim the sides of the dual drawer case since there is an allowance for the middle drawer divider which needs to be taken into consideration. The accuracy revolves around the fact that I want each of the three drawers to be of the same general height.The dado for this particular divider will also be stopped, end just short of the front of the drawer case. This allows me to have the upper drawer have a lower lip to meet with the bottom drawer, hiding the center divider in the process.

The back frame and panel is assembled with panels in place and installed at the back of the cabinet. The cabinet is slowly evolving into a piece of furniture. The frame and panel back fit very snugly after some light, judicious planing of the outside rails and stiles. I have not yet finalized the layout of the interior of the cabinet, but I expect to create an assembly with two or three drawers in the lower right section of the cabinet. In the photo, you can see the overhang at the front top and bottom of the cabinet to allow for the front doors. The amount of overhang or space I allowed for is the thickness of the individual veneered door panels along with a very small extra gap both behind and ahead of the door.There is also the small chamfered edge of the top and bottom surrounding the cabinet front, sides and back.

Creating the door panels is my next task in this cabinet build and I will be working on this over the next days. I'm also working on the stand design which has not yet been finalized. I have a feeling I will be modifying the original drawings and doing something a little different here. I'm just waiting to determine how the enclosed cabinet looks to me and what stand design provides the best complement for the cabinet. This goes back to a term I coined a few months ago on an earlier project.

The term I coined is "dynamic design" and allows the maker to dynamically modify a design as the build progresses. The modifications in design are directly attributable to how the project is taking shape, as opposed to moving forward with an existing design which might or might not make sense any longer. The concept of dynamic design and artistic freedom go hand in hand. I mention to my clients that the design will most likely evolve as the project continues and to expect some changes, most likely small ones. There needs to be a certain trust between the maker and client to be able to accomplish this, something I strive to provide the client.

I should have the beginnings of the door panels done in the next day or so along with resawing of the veneers I will be using.

After Tommy got the pattern drawn on the fret pieces, the next step is to start removing material. He starts out with a small router and takes the bulk material out. Then, with sharp chisels in hand, Tommy shows how to clean up the edges.

The upper case is done and the drawers are built. Below the drawers, the candle pulls will be installed. After another trip to the RSID Museum, Tommy and Steve get the specifics about how to make the candle pulls. In an interesting aside, Tommy recalls how 20 years ago this weekend he was in a horrific car crash and spent a month in the hospital.

Al says he "doesn't get in the zone until 9:30" and since it's only 9:00, he and Tommy sit around talking about...well, not much of anything.

With his new hi-def camera, Tommy reviews how he worked with the rake. He shows how the application of the molding makes the outside corner and the top of the rake more pronounced. Tommy then wonders how he will work with the compound angle at the top, which is going to be difficult.

Rather than leave an open gap between the doors, even a small one, it is much preferred to create a mating set of lip and rabbet along the inner edges of the front door panels. This serves to provide a positive closure of the doors and masks the very small reveal between the doors. In this particular case , I create an outside lip or rabbet on the right hand door as this is the first door opened. The method I utilize is to mark the outline of the rabbet, in my case 1/4 in. X 1/4 in. and begin to remove material at the edge of the right hand door. The wood removed is part of the hardwood edging I installed within the door panel edges prior to veneering. The tool I use is a skew rabbet block plane with adjustable fence. This particular plane is based on the Stanley No. 140 plane. I added a wood auxiliary fence to the plane to extend the bearing surface of the plane against the edge of the door panel.

This process went along fairly well without any surprises and afterwards I re-installed the door and began to fit the mating edge to it. This rabbet will mate perfectly with the right hand door edge. Rather than concern myself with a slightly wider left hand door I add a lip of the same wood and grain orientation to the inner edge of the left door instead. This allows me to create two identically sized door panels and since veneer is involved, the complexity of the process is simpler if the door panels are of equal dimensions.

I currently have the left hand door rabbeted edge in the process of glue-up and afterwards I will perform any small trimming to ensure the fit is perfect between the doors. There is a small, slightly greater than 1/32 in. gap between the doors at the moment which will have less of a reveal apparent once the lipped edges are created and installed.

Yup, today is Nicole’s birthday. So let’s talk about Nicole for a little bit. For those of you who don’t know, Nicole is my wife. She also plays some important behind the scenes roles here at the Wood Whisperer, the most important of which is marketing and what I like to call “sittin’ there and lookin’ pretty.” But the truth is, her role in the show has decreased over the past year simply because of the demands of her day job. A job that keeps The Wood Whisperer Cruise Ship afloat, and allows us to take chances and capitalize on opportunities when they arise. And all of this means a better show and a better experience at TheWoodWhisperer.com. So I just wanted to take a moment to publicly thank the one person who truly makes all this possible, my adorable wife Nicole. Oh yea, and happy birthday!!!

With the banding now cut, it's time to put on the cuff. Tommy outlines how to construct the table foot and cuff then reviews some user submissions.

Tommy and his furniture team (Steven Brown and Lance Patterson from North Bennet Street School) visit RISD Museum at the Rhode School of Design. Tommy meets with Museum Director, Hope Alswang, and Curatorial Assistant, Melissa Burchanan to discuss a priceless piece of historical furniture.