it should be an Olympic sport

Ended the week with some extreme hinge fitting. When time is on my side I will attempt to have every part of a project fitted in the workshop before installing it on site. However with one thing and another these last few weeks have been manic. I was lucky to hit the fixed completion date for a pair of fitted bookcases. So I was left with no choice but to leave the hanging of two pairs of doors on the day of delivery. As a rule I don't like working away from the comfort of the workshop. Here I have all the tools I need, I can make as much noise and mess as I like, in short it is my domain.  Working in somebody's home you are obliged to be on your best behaviour, and if some unforeseen problem arises it has to be solved useing only the tools and ingenuity you have to hand. I remember once working in an office in central London at about 8.00 at night and realising we had neglected to pack a hammer in the tool box! We ended up resorting to useing the battery end of a cordless drill. 

Back to my fitting day and my set of doors. Luckily this time I had all I needed with me, the only thing I was short of was time. The bookcases were installed, it was time to turn my attention to the doors. I had 45 minuites to fit them and no more, the room I was working in had just been expensively decorated so no mess and if that was'nt enought the client had just got a very bad temperd baby off to sleep after many attempts, so no noise!

Whatever your technical approach to hinging doors to achive good results it has to be carried out with a calm clear head. So it was that I took a few deep breaths, found my inner calm place, and went to work. 

OK maybe it wasn't a Gold performance, but I think I at least deserved a Silver.

a wonder in wood the Olympic Velodrome

With the Olympic opening ceremony only hours away I can't let the moment go without a mention of my personal favourite Olympic bulding the Velodrome.

Built on time and within budget by Hopkins Architects, the Velodrome is a stunning example of both building green and building with wood. From the elegance of the subtle curve of its exterior walls, clad in 5,000 square Meters of Western Red Cedar, to it's vast interior, which spare in construction, offers unrestricted views of all the action.

A team of 26 specialist carpenters led by designer Ron Webb, took only eight weeks to install the vast cycle track. Constructed using Siberian Pine grown in the permafrost of the north Russian wilderness. This timber grows straight and strong, yet is very malleable. The Pine was left for months to acclimatise in the venue before being laid with millimetre precision onto 356 trusses using 36,000 nails. Siberian Pine is reputed to produce the fastest surface, so we should see some records broken. 

Made from sustainabley sourced timber, the Velodrome is its own torch to just how we can be useing timber in major construction projects.

And best of luck to whichever flag you will be rooting for.

John

This small box of carving chisels were given to me this week by the widow of one of the three people who set me on the path to train as a woodworker. His name was John and he moved into the house opposite my childhood home. John ran a modest joinery shop in the local town, where he specialised in making widows and doors. Over the seven summers I spent hanging out with his two sons, I watched as he slowly transformed his house. First came new windows, then a beautifully proportioned staircase and after the house had been filled with tables chairs and cabinets a well appointed conservatory was built. However as a boy of twelve I was most in awe of the sailing dingy to be found taking up most of the space in the garage workshop. This was John's two year pet project. The boat was made of a rich dark Teak, the aroma of which would migrate over to me as I sat on our front lawn watching him sanding. After being finished in coats and coats of faultless gloss varnish, the boat was ready for its maiden voyage. John knew how we boys had patiently watched as the craft had taken shape, helping out with small tasks that were trusted to us. So when the bows cut a path through a cold November sea for the first time, it was with us boys, excitedly taking turns with the tiller.

John passed away last year. He was content with calling himself a carpenter, the term designer/maker or master craftsman did not sit well with him. To me John was a man who loved his craft, and the simple joy that came from making to the best of his abillitys. There could be no better inspiration.

turning time

Finally have a clear week to make progress on my giant bird feeder commission. When finished it will stand over a meter high by 650mm wide. It's design is based on a three tier Chinese temple, with each section graduating in size. Made in Poplar, the bird feeder will be finished with a weather resistant black lacquer, with gold lacquer details. Rods of solid 4mm brass will run between the stages to keep out unwanted squirrels, but still allow the birds to enter and exit.

My tasks this week were to create each stages roof mouldings, and the turned Bamboo style posts that sit in the corners and connect the frames together. 

I wanted a good deep curve moulding for the roof sections, something that I could not achive on my spindle moulder because of  limitations in the size of cutters it could take. So I resorted to setting a stop on my table saw carriage and haunching out the curve. This was a bit time consuming, but the reward was a more dramatic curve. 

Then it was time to dust down my old lathe. It must be over six months since I've done any serious wood turning. Just like riding a bike it all comes back to you as soon as you get started. The turning tools I used did need a bit of attention, I prefer to use them straight from a trip to the grinding wheel, avoiding any messing around with sharpening stones. It was a pleasure to spend a day at the lathe. And as I listened to that magical crisp noise of wood againsted chisel, I thought how important these sounds are to the woodworker, they tell us if our tools are sharp,under stress or if work is not held fast. It's these skills aquired over time without us even realilising, that built to make a master craftsman.

contemplation

The analysis into how our society and  economy arrived at its current low will go on and on. A lot of it is pointless conjecture, however every so often a point is raised that can cause you to reflect on your personal charictor and working pattern.

Half listening to the radio as I raced through a current project, caught in the constant need to catch up with my schedule, I was struck by a discussion on the stock market traders culture of quick gut instinct decision making. In an attempt to make faster trades and inturn more cash, traders were incoraged not to reflect on outcomes but just nail the deal. Not surprisingly this practice was rampant in Lehman Brothers before they were declared bankrupt.

Looking around the workshop I came to the shocking realisation that I could accuse myself of having the same work ethic. Taking on too much work and battling to keep up with a schedule can cause risk taking, poor planing and a sence that all is spiralling out of control. 

The answer to this? take on less work? easer said than done these days. One positive step to take could be allowing more time for those long forgotten and much underrated skills contemplation and reflection. Taking time to think a job through, looking for problems that may arise and asking if the techniques you plan to use are the best, or would a different approach work better.

I will try to implement this simple plan into my working life, and if successful I'll give the I.M.F a call

Maple candlesticks

I had a phone call early on in the week from a friend asking if I could create something for his wife to celebrate their wedding anniversary, which just so happend to have wood as its linked material. For a request like this there are only two choices, small box or candlesticks. As his budget would not run to a small box, she married cheep, it would have to be the candlesticks. Normaly I would fire up the lathe and get to it, however having just finished a project that called for lots of tricky, repetitive turning the thought of a return to the drone of the lathe did not fill me with joy. Instead I decided to try out a design based on something I had seen on the net a few months ago. 

The idea was simple enough, a block of timber had random facets planed onto it, with the odd one gilded for a bit of dramatic effect.

 Having first glued and then squared up some nice Maple I had in the store, I started by drilling a 25mm whole in the center of the top about 30mm deep, this tends to be an industry standard for candles. I then set to work planning my faces, which was easy to start but as the work progressed some ingenious cramping was called for. 

When happy with the balance of the pieces I sanded each face, pencil marking them as I went so as not to miss one out. Then armed with my Gesso pot, soft brush ( I use a lady's blusher brush for this, it works a treat ) and some Gold leaf, I set to work on the dramatic effect. 

After applying three coats of Danish oil I was quite happy with the results, let's hope the wife is.

review: Double sided diamond bench stone from Axminster.

Started the week with a tool sharping day. All of my abused chisels and planes were treated to some much needed love and attention. Having been flat out with work any sharpening required has tended to be rushed and lacking in time and care. Setting my bench up as a super sharping station I realised that it wasn't just my chisels that needed sorting out, my stones were looking a bit worse for ware. For many years I have been useing water stones for all my sharpening needs, they give great results. However due to a soft nature after time (even when useing a figure of eight pattern) they will loose their flat surface. Luckily this problem can easy be reamided by dressing the surface with a flattening stone. While carrying out this task I decided what I was lacking was a basic stone that could be slipped into the tool box for site work, and would be more robust for general sharpening tasks.

After a bit of research I went for a double sided Diamond stone from www.axminster.co.uk. Diamond particles are fused onto a Nickel plating which is attached to a 8mm thick steel base. The surface has an etched pattern which helps to remove metal particles created when sharpening. The stone has a good surface area of 200mm x 65mm, perfect for wide plane blades. One face is graded medium at 400g (36 micron) and the reverse face is fine at 1,000g (15 micron).Compared to the water stone equivalent, a Diamond stone can feel quite harsh, but their advantage is the surface cannot be hollowed through use. With a Diamond stone you don't have to control your sharpening technique to keep the stone flat, you have the freedom to concentrate on getting the edge you want.The Axmister stone comes with a rubber surround that help to keep it anchored to the bench, and offers some protection when in the toolbox. 

Whatever the production quality of a Diamond stone it will never match up to superior finish achived when useing a water stone. But at a very reasonable £20.00+ vat this stone works well as a sharpening starting point when you need a flat back to a tool quickly, or as a stone to put an edge on a chisel when out on site.