The Great Outdoors

This morning I spent some time outside practicing cutting dovetails. I'm really enjoying the folding workbench. Not having a vise is actually kind of fun and I'm looking forward to trying out more of the work-holding solutions on Steve Branam's blog. Working outside is very enjoyable too (as long as the weather is nice). An added bonus is that it forces you to put your tools away when you're done, so the "workshop" is never a mess.

Cutting the pins.

Chopping out the waste.

The result. Not perfect yet, but that's what practice is for, right?

Tiny Boxes

I made three of these small boxes for a local printmaker. The outside dimensions are 3 in. x 3 in. x 8 in., which made the joinery a little more complicated than it would have been on a larger piece. For each corner, I made a lap joint which then became half of a second lap joint. Most of the work was done by hand because the parts were too small to safely use power tools (and because hand tools are more fun). In the last photo you can see how the back slides open to insert the artwork. The wood is black walnut and the finish is Poly Whey from Vermont Natural Coatings (an environmentally friendly alternative to polyurethane).

 

Portable workbench... sort of.

  I moved the workbench from work to home the other day(about 5.5 miles). Here are a couple of pictures I took in front of the shop. I was a little nervous about putting this much weight on the trailer's axles,

but it made the trip like a champ. I lugged the bench up two flights of stairs and set it up on the deck out back. I can't wait to get out there and work on it, but it's been raining for the past few days and I've been working late at the shop, so I have it covered with a tarp for now.

Folding Workbench Part II

The workbench is just about finished. It just needs another coat of Danish oil in a few spots, and a ramp to sweep the dust out of the tool well. I really love how functional it is for all of its simplicity. Steve Branam has a good post about how to use this bench here.

Making Window Sash

Custom window sash for a West Philadelphia Victorian home.


Test-fitting the parts...


















The intersections of the muntin bars are half-lap joints. Each one is cut by hand. The mitered cuts in the profile are done by paring with a chisel using a 45-degree guide block.

Folding Workbench Part I

Here are a couple of pictures of a folding workbench I've been building. It's based on Roy Underhill's version of a design from Bernard E. Jones' early 20th century book The Practical Woodworker. It's made entirely from reclaimed hemlock beams.








The one change I made is to dovetail the side pieces of the skirt to the front apron.

Put your bike to work

"sawdust is cleaner than snow and not unlike it, and the long curling crinkled shavings, that come off sweetly (as clean as a whistle) are lovelier than any manufactured fabric. Wood is tender stuff, too; you must not bang it about as you must bang iron about, and, handling it gently, carpenters as a race are gentle. They seldom shout; they never leave their tools about." -Frank Kendon

I was thinking about these lines from Kendon's introduction to The Village Carpenter by Walter Rose today in connection to my bicycle trailer.


Carpentry is a gentle art, and as I've been drawn more and more to using hand tools in place of power tools, I've thought about the other dimensions of my work. One of the things that seems out of step with the way I want to work is driving a truck around all of the time. A while back, I bought a used baby trailer from a friend, took all the canvas off of it and built the wooden wagon style frame onto it. Admittedly, there are times when driving is unavoidable. Some things are just too heavy or too big or too far. But for smaller jobs in the neighborhood, it doesn't make sense to drive. Especially on a beautiful summer day like today.

Today I used the trailer to carry my tools over to 34th and Sansom Streets to put up a window box I built in front of the University City Housing office. Once Laura fills it with flowers, I'll post some more pictures.