Going to Build

 . . . tie a knot and hold on" Thats how the saying is supposed to go. At one point several years ago I worked for an Operating Room that was going through a lot of changes. Our charge nurse found this cute little saying and thought she would burst morale, little did she fully understand what critics an OR staff can contain. Not that Im proud of it now, but my younger, more passive aggressive self walked around one evening with a sharpie and modified every sign I could to read "When you get to the end of your rope, tie a noose and hang yourself."  The curse is I took what could be an up beat reminder to stay happy and focused and drowned it in my defeatist sarcasm forever. Now whenever I think of that saying, or hear someone say they are at the end of their rope, a noose is the only thing that comes to mind.

I am kind of battling that same mentality right now and all I have to do is convince myself to hold on and well come out the other side soon. I also have to remind myself to stay away from the proverbial gallows pole. In my quest to refurbish, renew and add to my hand tools I am starting to walk the line. Some of these items have been used and abused by myself for a few years, and god knows how long by others before they got to me. I have learned a ton along this curve and god knows they were needed lessons, I see the need for a book out there to help others walk a similar path. (maybe I will write that myself one day because I havent found one that I think does the entire process justice) but the truth is Im not a woodworker because I like to MAKE tools, Im a woodworker because I like to USE tools to MAKE sawdust. And though there has been some of that along the way, I feel like I am putting in a lot of work, and in my conscious mind I know Im making progress and doing well, but in my subconscious mind Im doing a lot of work and there is not much extra or new to show for it. Mostly I am working on the tools I own, not adding new ones, so I see nothing extra or added in my minds eye to prove progress, and I get restless at times when I see no progress.

Its the difference between hanging drywall and finishing drywall. Hanging drywall is very satisfying, you have bare studs before you, and you get to work. Several sheets up and you can see progress. Several more sheets and you have transformed bare studs into a wall. Then comes the muding, taping, and sanding to finish the drywall. You still know you are making progress, but you feel like you are covering the same ground again and again, revisiting the same dimple in the wall over and over. Hanging drywall - very gratifying, finishing drywall requires more persistence and discipline.

I guess I still have to work on the discipline part a bit.

The planes were finished today, just the scrub plane in the mail to go. For good measure I also took apart all my spokeshaves today and sharpened them as well. So the planes are done (again minus 1) so I set up to sharpen the last two saws of the four brothers. Then I made the mistake of coming upstairs to get a drink and take a break. I never made it back down to the shop. Instead my wife and I ended up taking an impromptu Saturday afternoon nap together. (I must admit, that was pretty gratifying as well)

Next on the agenda is remaking handles for my bench chisels. Out with the crap poly-plastic handles and in with some nice oak  wooden ones. The trick will be making them without a lathe set up... Rasp, drawknife, spokeshave, and scraper card I guess. Well see how it goes. Anyhow until then

Cheers

Oldwolf

On Design



Three weeks to the day; the time it took for the city to seep in. I recently met a great couple and they asked me to design and build a piece of furniture for their home here in Toronto. The only two guidelines they had for me were to use a darker toned wood and attempt to incorporate some brushed aluminum into the piece. They already have a piece of furniture with an aluminum, decorative inlay and brushed aluminum door pulls. I immediately thought about the aluminum aspect of the piece. As soon as I blended mediums I knew it would have to be more than a simple accent.
Clean straight lines, aluminum and glass, what else says Urban living like this?
Ive always been a fan of the more minimalistic approach to design; the modern movements and European influences. The over-all dimensions were a given due to the space requirements where the piece will be living. A kind of sideboard/cabinet with three sliding doors was my first instinct; but once the pencil went to paper things changed. Things always change from those first initial thoughts to design and then on to construction. Pieces evolve in a natural way, an ordinary process coming round full circle. Ideas seem to blend through the realities of joinery. One thing I want to maintain in the piece is a hand crafted look while still reflecting the machining of this metropolitan landscape. The aluminum aspect was decided on. Two 1 1/4" thick pieces of solid aluminum plating, cut and rounded by means of water jet. These two monoliths will make up the stand/ or legs of the unit; while the wooden carcass will fit perfectly inside the two larger cut-outs in the top portion of the plates. The wood at this point is still un-decided although I keep thinking PAU FERRO (Santos Rosewood) a dark bodied hardwood that will compliment the hand cut dovetailed box which will make up the bulk of the piece. The cabinet will be divided with two solid panels, isolating three separate spaces within. The doors are another design/construction reality altogether. I know I wanted to have sliding doors but now feel theyll eat up too much interior real estate. I decided on hinged doors incorporating glass panels. The first obvious choice for the door joinery would be a kind of frame and panel. This of course would be the obvious choice; and who could ever be satisfied with that? What Ive come up with is a three sided, open~frame and panel; the inside edge of the frame being only glass while the outside of the door solid wood. Full mortise and tenon joinery on the corners, with a kind of suspended glass panel within. A design challenge indeed, but one that will pay off in the final showcase. The interior will also feature glass shelves, securely sitting on Bronze ,threaded support sleeves. A real nice touch to allow the shelves to be adjustable to suit the contents later on.
Again, the initial impression would be three doors to match the three spaces, but now Im thinking on off-setting the aluminum legs and making one larger middle space, incorporating two doors for it and then carry on with two slightly narrower side areas flanking this first mid-section. Designs can change, re-arrange and why not let them? Sketches and diagrams will only show so much to the hand caressing softened edges of exotic hardwoods later on. At this stage of the game, anything is possible, never limit yourself before you even leave the starting gates. Design for the impossible, dream the unimaginable and then finally settle on the realistic. Stay tuned...