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127K views 293 replies 54 participants last post by  MarkM 
#1 ·
An introduction

Since I already blog at my own domain I did not want to duplicate all of that content here at LumberJocks each time that I made a post. So, I asked Martin if it was appropriate for me to have blog entries here at LumberJocks that link to my own blog. The answer was a resounding yes - in fact it was encouraged!

So, Beginning with this post I will have some short into text and a link to entries on my blog. If you are using an RSS reader you can still subscribe to the posts if you'd like. My blog is fairly new, so I will go ahead and add posts here for each of my posts for September.

In this post I have a short intro about myself and I introduce the blog. Please click here for the post. Thanks for reading!
 
#12 ·
Improving your drawing skills for design

I've posted a new entry on my blog regarding ways to improve your drawing skills in order to help with developing new furniture designs. Check out the post here. Thanks for reading!
 
#13 ·
Guidelines for good design

I've added a post to my blog on some techniques and guidelines for developing a good furniture design.

Click here for the post. Thanks for reading and please leave a comment and let me know what you think!
 
#14 ·
enjoyed your article. I also am a "Blackburn" fan. I met him once at The Woodworking Show while it was on it's Kansas City stop, while he was doing demonstrations and selling his books. He signed his book for me, and I turn to his principles often.
 
#16 ·
Loose Tenon Joinery - A budget alternative to the Festool Domino

Given all of the buzz about the new Festool Domino, I thought that I'd share a technique that I've been using for years to do loose tenon joinery. While I think that the Festool Domino looks like a great tool, it may be out of reach, price-wise, for many woodworkers. In this post on my blog, I show a budget alternative.

Take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
 
#22 ·
The benefits of rough lumber for design and building

I was out this weekend at a friend's place where some logging is being done (I'll be posting about that in the near future).

I started to think about the process of gathering lumber for use in the design and building of furniture projects. The work being done at my friends was very small scale when compared to any kind of a commercial operation however, it made me think about the benefits that small operations like this offer to the average woodworker.

I buy rough lumber from small local sawmills for use in virtually all of my woodworking projects. I think that there are a lot of benefits to doing this. I examine some of my rationale for doing so in a new post in my blog. Take a look and let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
 
#23 ·
... and don't forget the joy of watching the beautiful smooth surface appear as you remove the roughness. And .. you can use the rough edge if you want (my preference always) when you get the wood in a more natural state.
 
#26 ·
Super-simple drill press table upgrade

Sometimes after you complete a task, you wonder why you procrastinated so long to do it. I had a good day in the shop yesterday doing a simple but, long-overdue upgrade to my drill press. If you are considering a similar upgrade, or you are just looking for some inspiration to tackle a project that you've been putting off, you might want to take a look at the post about it on my blog. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

 
#28 ·
Sam Maloof on design

I've recently been doing some reading on various designers in search of guidance and inspiration. Sam Maloof has always been one of my favorites. In doing so, I came across some quotes from Maloof that express some of his philosophies on woodworking and design. In this post on my blog I explore these and share some of my thoughts on them. I'd be interested in hearing the perspectives on this subject from all of you LumberJocks out there. Thanks for reading!

 
#29 ·
The joy of a well tuned hand plane

I spent some time in the shop this past weekend working on a couple of final tasks for a new table before starting on the finishing.

I had a choice on how to do the work and opted for a simple block plane. If you've done work with well-tuned hand tools, then you know how my experience was…either way, you can read about it here.

 
#39 ·
Asian/Arts and Crafts inspired table

I've completed the table based on a design that I blogged about in a previous post. I talk about the construction and design details in a new post on my blog. There are some pictures of the detail there as well. Take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks!
 
#47 ·
An evening with Kelly Mehler

The woodworking club that I belong to hosted Kelly Mehler for a lecture last night and a demonstration today. I had the pleasure of attending his lecture last night and I wrote about it at my blog. Take a look!
 
#48 ·
If you have the opportunity, take a class from Kelly . I took a class - hand-cut dovetail blanket chest - from Kelly at Marc Adams School of Woodworking before he built his own school. Although I have not attended his school, it looks like a wonderful facility and I know the teacher is excellent!
 
#56 ·
The legacy of one woodworker

I recently went to a sale for a wood shop that was being sold off. What I came home with was a bit more than what I had expected. You can take a look at my thoughts on the subject here. Thanks for reading!
 
#65 ·
Twin boxes in Cherry, Maple and Walnut

Not nearly as much time in the shop as I would like lately. I did however, get a bit of time in between other things for a small project. I did two twin boxes with some offcuts. Take a look at the post on my blog for details. Thanks for reading!

 
#72 ·
Gene Landon lecture

I had the opportunity to hear a talk given by Gene Landon recently. If you don't know Gene, he has been featured in Fine Woodworking numerous times (that's him in his shop pictured below) and he specializes in period furniture reproductions from his shop in Pennsylvania - for the most part all done with traditional hand tool methods.

Gene gave a good talk about the his home and shop and the furniture he has done over the years. His capabilities and work were inspirational. I talk about what it's inspired me to do in a post on my blog. Thanks for reading!

 
#77 ·
Queen Anne Side Table - Roughing out the legs

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I was recently inspired to build a period reproduction piece of furniture. I chose to do a side table in the Queen Anne style based on a Glen Huey design with cabriole legs, scrolled aprons and a single drawer. I like this style and it poses some challenges in developing new skills. The picture is Glen Huey's version.

I've started down the path of building this piece and I hope that you'll follow along as I post entries about its development. The first task at hand was to obtain the rough lumber for the entire piece and then to rough out the beautiful cabriole legs. Take a look at the post on my blog to get the details. Thanks for reading!

 
#78 ·
Great Blog. A nice start.

I agree about the maple. I don't thing it would look right in this piece. I used curly cherry and satin maple in a baby cradle for my daughter and I like the combination overall. I'm just not sure on this piece.
 
#84 ·
Queen Anne Side Table - Turning and shaping the feet

After band sawing the legs to rough shape in my last post, the next steps in developing the legs were to turn and shape the feet and to smooth and mark them for final shaping.

This was an interesting process. There's a good description and lots of pictures in the latest post on my blog. Let me know what you think - thanks for reading!

 
#88 ·
Queen Anne Side Table - More leg shaping

I was out of town last weekend for a family wedding so, progress on the table was stalled a bit. I got some more time in the shop yesterday and went to work shaping the legs for the table toward their final state. I had started this process before my trip but, I was not quite happy with some parts of the effort. The trip away allowed me to think about how I wanted to approach making changes for the better. You can read about my progress at my blog where there are a lot of pictures of the process. Thanks for reading!

 
#89 ·
Mark this has been an interesting read. I'm curious about your rasps and files. What brand of rasps do you use? I've been looking for a set of rasps and am considering the Auriou rasps. They are a bit pricey so would be interested in your thoughts on brands.

My understanding is that the rasps with teeth that are not uniformly spaced are actually better than the ones with evenly spaced teeth because they leave a smoother surface.

I want to introduce these shaping tools to my woodworking so I can fiddle with making odd shaped boxes that there would be no way to make with machines. I think they will help me be a bit more artistic with my work. I've used all kinds of very small rasps/files in my scroll saw work but never anything large like boxes.

Thanks for your thoughts. I look forward to reading more of this blog as you progress along.
 
#92 ·
Queen Anne Side Table - Leg mortises, knee blocks and posts

I've been progressing on the legs for the Queen Anne Side Table. In my last post, I had shaped the feet and reworked the heel transitions on the legs. This left the tasks of adding and shaping the knee blocks, cutting the mortises and trimming the posts to final size to be done. There's more on this with a bunch of pictures of the process in this post on my blog. Thanks for reading!

 
#102 ·
Queen Anne Side Table - Cutting tenons on the aprons

Well, after milling the stock and making a new tenoning jig for the table saw I was ready to cut the tenons on the aprons of the table. The jig was worth the effort and I was able to do a first dry fit of most the table parts. There's more info in this post on my blog along with pictures of the new jig and the process. Take a look and thanks for reading!

 
#103 ·
That tenoning jig based on a Frank Klasz design isn't it? Nice process that you're going through. I recently cut very similar twin tenons on the foot board of a bed I'm currently working on. You've gotta love what that shoulder plane can do!

The photo of the chisel hanging over the edge made me a bit nervous - I think I would have opted to play it safe and use a chisel narrower than the width of the stock but wide enough to clean up the waste there. Wouldn't want to hit that outside edge!
 
#112 ·
In search of a smoothing plane

After contemplating adding a smoothing plane to my shop for quite some time, I finally took the plunge. I looked at some of the beautiful new tools available out there and made my decision…what I decided may surprise you. I take you through the process in this post on my blog.

 
#119 ·
Thomas Pafk Lecture

I had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by Thomas Pafk - a Roycroft Master Artisan about his work and methods of construction. His work is made unique buy his use of veneers in its design and construction. I wrote about the tlk in this post on my blog. Thanks for readng!

 
#120 ·
Queen Anne Side Table - Dovetailed top rail and scroll work

Well, after a brief diversion with the new (old) smoothing plane, I have been back to work on the Queen Anne Side Table. This post covers dovetailing the top rail above the drawer and cutting the Queen Anne style scroll work on the aprons. Next up will be the glue up and drawer runner assembly. Take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!

 
#124 ·
Queen Anne Side Table - Glue up and drawer runner assembly

With the joinery completed on the table I set out to pull all of the pieces together. In this post I tackled the glue up of the table carcase and top along with the building and installation of the drawer runner assembly. With this completed the next step will be building the dovetailed drawer. Take a look and let me know what you think - thanks for reading!

 
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