Skittles and Seminars

I conducted 2 seminars at Lee Valley tools during this past week.
Thursday evening we looked at the cabinet scraper, and Saturday we were finishing wood.
Once again I was among enjoyable, enthusiastic people that asked a lot of good questions.
True participants

I mentioned a few books on Saturday, they were Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner. Flexner's book was the "textbook".
I particularly like the myth and fact sections that are throughout the book.
Another good book is by Teri Masaschi (Foolproof Wood finishing)she has included some good recipes as well as a fine explanation of rubbing out the finish.

I even managed to take a photo at the end of the scraper evening, as well I included a picture of a walking stick. One of the attendees had a really convoluous laminated stick that had inspired him to begin to make a walking stick, which of course reminded me of walking sticks I have made.

I was describing the pictured stick which was a reject from the chair part rivings. It is simply a piece of split ash, shaved (preserving the form created by the wood flowing around a couple of knots) .
The "T" shaped handle was inspired by a painting I saw at the National Gallery of Ireland, The handle provides a perch to lean on as well as a hook to hold back branches.

I believe these are the best projects they are quick and simple, require the least amount of tools but provide the most solace.

Just Cutting Wood

Nothing too groundbreaking to report, this month.
I have been cutting and turning and chopping mortises
I am presently working on some nightstands, small boxes and wands (magic sold separately)

The wands are one of the ways I stay on top of the short pieces that get kept because they are too good to throw out.
I want to make an effort to turn them into something, (no pun intended) instead of gathering them into an ever increasing collection of offcuts.
It takes a conscious decision to prioritise the seemingly unimportant things as well as the effort to act on an idea that appears somewhat frivolous.

Quite often that bit of meandering will stimulate greater ideas as well as clean out the short stock box.

I am also preparing for some Summer classes at Lee Valley Tools (Toronto East).
I have never done any classes in the summer so I am curious to see if we get enough people.
Surely everyone doesn't have a cottage.

By Guess or by God, the Table saw class

Saturday the 22nd I ran a Table saw class at the Lee Valley east store.
By guess or by God was one of the comments from one of the evaluation forms,it was referring to his previous approach to woodworking. I liked the saying as well as the author.( it's the first time I ever heard it)

Once again I was blessed with a wonderful group of enthusiastic people who made the day very enjoyable,and as always Jennifer Hart the seminar coordinator had things ready and organised.

As is often the case there is never enough time to talk about all the woodworking I want to, that being said naturally I forgot to take any photos of the day.

Lee Valley has the big Sawstop cabinet saw, this is the machine that shuts down and retracts the blade if contact is made with flesh. It is a good Idea ( this being a hands on class one doesn't want it to become hands off)
The saw took a little time to get used to,( lots of bells and whistles compared to the 1951 Unisaw) But I suppose this is not unlike driving an unfamiliar car. in time it will become second nature.
There is a demo of the mechanism on their website Sawstop.com

I am starting to realise that sailors are a sentimental lot.
I have just finished another boat transformation, this time a portion of the stern was turned into a display case.
I guess woodworkers are nostalgic as well, I found some photos of McGowans mill (no longer in operation unfortunately) so I thought I would post them.
This place was like stepping into the past, a belt driven circular blade that ran off a tractor, that produced good lumber, courtesy of good people.

plodding,and board(s)

Well I have spent the last couple of weeks working at converting a gun cabinet to a book cabinet. That must be an analogy of some sort (the book is mightier than the rifle ?)

As well as my disarmament activities, I have also been working on some pieces for the Maclaren Gallery gift shop.
I turned some spurtles and made a new line of cutting boards. the boards will be in the product section of my website soon.

Another website addition will be another little film.

The first film is a spontaneous product of my friend Brians creativity and has garnered so many favorable comments I asked him to do another.

The new video follows the same casual flavour as the last one, and is a review of some of the process involved in making a post and rung stool that I hope will be offered as a fall 2010 course at Lee Valley Tools

Cast Your Sabots Into The Machinery

Just when I thought it was safe to hit the on switch , my lathe started to make a noise. Not the rattle of the variable speed pulley, it was more of a metal on metal sound, perhaps a bearing.
I wasted no time and prepped for exploritory surgery.

What I found once I got the lathe open was a broken pulley, that went to pieces when I removed it from the machine.
The quality of the broken part was dissapointing to say the least, white metal (cast aluminum) with a flange that was as thin as a bad artery.

To add insult to injury the price for a new pulley was $180.00, I just couldn't do it.

After investing some time and money coming up with an alternative solution I am left with a quieter lathe, however the process to change speed is slow (despite the beautiful new steel pulley) I like the original shift on the fly action of the machine but not enough to put up with the sound of being on a train.

I think the next step is step pulleys