beware unstable timber

  

Rushing on with the daily challenge of bringing in new work, and then trying to deliver that work to the deadlines promised, it is easy to miss important lessons and patterns that are right under your nose. This was the case a few days ago, when making adjustment to some doors I had fitted some months back, It hit me just how many of my projects this year have been plagued by timber movement and shrinkage. It is in the very nature of wood to be unpredictable and prone to structural change over the years. It's this part of its charictor that make wood both a challenge and a joy to work with. However the level of movement I was seeing was beyond what I would normally expect, and allow for.

Just taking glancing out of the workshop window gave me one pice of the puzzle. This year has been the wettest on record, with near constant heavy rainfall. My second problem is the moden house with its double glazed and draft sealed doors and windows, thermostats cranked up to a constant 21degrees and no natural air flow. 

Generaly the timber I work with has been felled, machined into planks and then stacked in a kiln for a few days, where its original 200% moisture content is reduced to a more acceptable 12%. At this point  it is delivered to my unheated, well ventilated timber store, ready to be transformed into furniture. And this is where the problems start. Kiln dryed timber will start to absorb moisture within a few weeks, so if not placed in its new centrally heated inviroment soon, the moisture content will start to rise, causing potential problems at a later date.

So my solution will be, create a timber store with an inviroment more inline with the clients home, leave the purchasing of timber until the last possible moment and finally ask my supplier to reduce my timbers moisture content to a more realistic 8%. Also some better weather would help, but I'm afraid that's a little out of my control.

the Wood Store

  



Final photo shoot for the new book today, and joy of joys it was at The Wood Store in Brighton. I've been spending a lot of time here of late, picking up materials for the books 'up cycling' projects, but any excuse to loiter around for a morning sifting through reclamed timber is always welcome. 

Set up in 1998, the Wood Store is a charity which encourages local building projects to donate any left over materials, or any salvaged timber, which can then be sold on. And it's not only the building trade that are encouraged to donate, anybody with an old door or a few worn out floor boards, are welcome to drop them in. And all are welcome to buy any of the very reasonably priced wood. For those who find buying small quantitys of timber from a trade building supplyer a bit intimidating, the Wood Store offers the opportunity to rummage around unbothered, while you hunt out just the bit of stock you need. 

Although not wide spread as yet, I think, and hope, that we will be seeing more and more projects like the Wood Store in the future as the cost of raw materials increases. It offers a win win situation where the builder is able to cut down on his waste bill, the hard pressed woodworker has a economical alternative to the large timber supply company's and the Wood Store charity get much needed funds.

As well as selling raw timber the Wood Store offer items of furniture made in their workshops by a band of trainee woodworkers all looking for a new start in life. There is even a gallery showing sculpture and other art projects made by the team.

See if there is a project like the Wood Store in your area, its well worth supporting this admirable cause.

the deadline from hell

 

 Three weeks before Christmas I get some great news from my publisher that a book idea we had has been picked up by a publisher in San Francisco. The only problem was the deadline was for the end of  January! That's making, photographing, writing up and supplying basic illustrations for twenty woodworking projects. What we have here is a lame excuse for not blogging for the past few weeks. My Christmas was spent holed up in the workshop day and night, frends and family assumed I had been abducted by furniture loving aliens or some such thing. As we approach the end of the month I find that I am thankfuly on target to finish the book with only the last four thousand words to write, all the projects compleat and only one last photo shoot. I promise to get back on track with the Blogg with a posting next Friday about a fantastic local reclamed timber yard in my local town. Thank you for sticking with me. 

Worth a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrfDAIqn6KE&sns=em

reivew: Osmo Polyx oil

I have been hearing only good things on the grapevine about Osmo products for a long time, however when you have found a finish that works for you it's all to easy to stick with it. While on a trip to a supplier to pick up a few litres of my preferred brand of oil, I found that they had started to stock products by Osmo. Flicking through the product bumf one line jumped straight out at me 'No need to sand between coats'. Personally for me the worst part of any finishing prosses is the rubbing back. Not only is it mind numbingly boring but there is all that wiping down of the resuedue dust, which if not done effectively can ruin the quality of the finish. I decided to buy a small 750lt tin and try it out. 

Manufactured in Germany, Osmo's Polyx oil has very environmentally friendly credentials, being chiefly made from vegetable raw materials including Carnauba and Candelilla wax and Sunflower, Soybean and Thistle oil. But don't let it's natural ingredience fool you as Polyx is resistant to wine, beer, cola, coffee, tea, fruit juice, milk and water while being safe to humans and animals.

When applied Polyx oil penetrates the timbers surface leaving a microporous surface which will not crack, blister or flake. And becouse their is no sanding between coats, if you need to make a repair to the finish at some later stage there is no problems with colour change, just slap it directly on to the original coat.

I applied the oil with a long synthetic bristle brush. The consistency feels very different from a Danish oil, more like a thick Linseed. You are advised to keep the coats thin and allow at least eight houses in normal conditions before applying the next. As recommended I only applied two coats, with no rubbing down between. When dry I went to town testing the finish with everything from hot wet tea cups to kitchen cleaning chemicals, and I have to say the Polyx oil proved incredibly tough. I felt guilty looking at the deep shine produced when I reflected on what little effort I had put into it. 

The oil had great coverage too, the small tester pot I originally brought almost was enough to finish the internal carcasses of a kitchen going through the workshop currently.

I'm now keen to try out a few of the other Osmo products, and will try in future to be a little more inquisitive.

put your back into it!

Some of you may have noticed the lack of blog last week, for this I appoligise, however I do have a reasonable excuse. For about the past ten years I have suffered from a recurring back injury. Mine thankfully cannot be listed amongst those countless gruesome bad back story's involving slipped and ruptured disks or twisted crumbling spines that require treatments straight from the inquisition, with stretching racks and lumber injections. My own back issues are simply caused by years of misuse and neglect, and manifest as painful muscle spasms which can last for weeks.

After one such episode which put me out of action for six weeks I finally decided to act. Countless sessions with various different therapists over the years had helped relieve the pain, but not prevented the same thing happening again a few months down the line. The plain truth was the problem lay in the way I worked and took care of myself. It was an acupuncturist, who while struggling to get needles into my locked up muscle without them bending, put it best, he said "Tell me the most expensive, most used and most vital piece of equipment you have in your workshop?" with a bit of thought I replied "I think I would have to say my table saw" pulling another buckled needle from my back he said "WRONG! It's you." It was a was a good lesson that set me on a path to try to take a bit more care of my rapidly ageing self.

It's in our youth that we punish our bodies with little concern. I recall all the winter days I worked outside on sites, rain soaked and numb with cold with just a T shirt for protection. When young you brush this stuff off and recover quickly, but the neglect is slowly taking its toll and will return to torment you in old age.

So to get myself back on track I started by getting a work environment expert in, who taught me how to lift correctly, best posture for machining and setting the workbenches at a non slouching height. Along with this I invested in efficient heating for the workshop, joined a gym with a good pool and lastly signed up for a weekly Pilates class.

All very well you say, but your back is still out of wack. Unfortunately twenty odd years of wear and tear is hard to correct, however this latest episode is the first in about two years, it only lasted for a week and even at the worst of it I wasn't forced to hobble around on my stick like Yoda.

Unlike a table saw,  the body can't be replaced and upgraded when worn out, so my advice is show it a little tenderness.

Ash Die Back

The news came through this week of the first cases of a disease called Ash die back being found in our native woodland. Although only found in young trees in a small area of East Anglia, this fungal infection is airborne and can potentially travel up to 20km. Discovered on the continent over twenty years ago the disease has claimed 90% of the Ash population in Denmark. Ash trees account for more than 30% of British woodlands, so the effect on our landscape would be devastating. As a young boy I remember seeing countless trees being felled where I grew up, when I asked why I was told it was to stop Duch Elm disease. Well it did stop it, but only after we had felled most of the Elm's in the country. As with all diseases of this nature once they are establish it is near impossible to halt the destruction. 

The shocking part of this sad story is that none of this needed to happen, yet again it's a case of our insane import/ export culture. This disease was introduced to this country from imported Ash saplings, even though up until now they grew in abundance here. And now the thing that is stopping our government from an all out import ban is the worry of a slap on the wrists from Brussels.

Apart from its beauty and iconic status in our country side the Ash tree offers a strong, versatile timber with a striking grain pattern that will be much missed by both domestic and green woodworkers alike. Let us all hope it's not too late to act this time.

the woodworkers bible

A lifetime ago when starting my apprenticeship we were told by one of the tutors that we would need two things, one was the best set of chisels we could afford, I went for a set eight Boxwood handled Marples, and the other was a book by Ernest Joyce called 'The technique of furniture making'. It was good advice becouse thirty years later I still use both constantly.

Many books refer to themselves as 'the woodworkers bible' some even go by that title,but for my money their is only Joyce. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of great books out there, expertly written and packed with information, but Joyce's book works on so many levels. For the beginner it is clear and simple in its text and illustrations, yet it still has a lot to offer to the seasoned woodworker. For me it holds all that basic information that over time slips the ageing memory, a quick check with Joyce and the correct way to approach a compound miter is confirmed, it's like having an 'old boy' sitting in the corner of the workshop, cup of strong tea in hand and an answer for every question.

First published in 1970 by Batsford ltd, and not out of print since, The technique of furniture making was given a revamp by the late great Alan Peters to include a few modern production methods in the 90's, but apart from that welcome update it's still the same book. As well as covering all of the basics of furniture making as you would expect, Joyce is rare in having a very good chapter on running a workshop. 

It is probably clear that I have a love of this text, as well as being a companion throughout my career I have had the great fortune to chat to Alan Peters a few times when exhibiting together, he was one of the greats and a lovely humble man. Also some years back a discoverd by chance that an old friend is in fact the granddaughter of Ernest Joyce, she shared some of her childhood memories of the man and showed me a few pieces of his work still in possession of the family.

 There are two things you will need, the best chisels you can afford and a copy of The techniques of furniture making.