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103K views 457 replies 49 participants last post by  stefang 
#1 ·
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CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG
I am glad to see that there are many others besides myself who are interested in ancient woodworking. In this first blog of the series I will suggest how the group can communicate and function efficiently , timing for completion of the various steps, What materials can be used and alternative methods for those of you who are mainly interested in the finished bucket and/or just don't have the time to make or use the shop made tools.

WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND FOR THIS PROJECT?
The idea and background is laid out in my last blog here http://lumberjocks.com/stefang/blog/20546. Here once again is what we are making.

"Photobucket"

FOR THOSE MAKING THE TOOLS
As mentioned before I hope as many as possible will make their own main tools for this project, but I want to allay any fears about either the tools or the materials. With that in mind alternatives and philosophy are covered below.

Personally, I don't want to be TOO obsessive about using ONLY the ancient type of tools. For example I plan to use my cordless drill for making holes and my Stanley handplane for angling the edges of the stave's and also to round the convex surface on the outside of the stave's. I also plan to use machine made dowels and shape them by hand or chuck them in my drill and sandpaper them to shape. I will also use any other tools not specifically mentioned.

I plan to make the tools below with the help of my machine tools. They can be made with a bandsaw or a tablesaw or your machine of choice.

"Photobucket"

FOR THOSE NOT MAKING THE TOOLS
From some of the comments, it is clear that some are worried about the tools part, so I have some alternatives for those folks.You can make this authentic bucket with your machine tools if you wish. That said, I won't be giving any details on how to use your machines. This is just to avoid confusion and to keep my own workload at a reasonable level.

1. Stave's have to be concave on the inside. This work can be done on your tablesaw using the 'cove' cutting
method. Info about this method can be found by searching the net or maybe your old woodworking books.
This eliminates the need for the shopmade handplane with the rounded bottom.

2. The dado (groove) which holds the bottom in place can probably be done with a router, but you will need to
construct a curved jig for this to match the concave inside shape of the stave's in order to insure an even
depth of cut. You may have a better way I haven't thought of.

3. The binding lever has to be made as it is necessary to force the rather tight bindings over and around the
bucket. I will be providing a plan for this tool, which is very simple and quick to make.

4. the outside of the stave's have to be shaped convex to match the
inside concave shape. A handplane or spoke shave is ideal for this job, but it could also be done with a power
sander for example.

ADDITIONAL TOOLS NEEDED BY ALL PARTICIPANTS
You will likely need the following:

1. Flat handplane for the 'cooper' angles on the stave's, alternatively your tablesaw with blade tilted to the correct
angle(s).
2. A handrill, electric or not for the dowel holes
3. Marking pencil to mark out the position of dowels, etc.
4. A compass to draw a circle of the circumference of the bucket and the circumference of the bottom.
5. A ruler to draw radii from the center of the bucket circumference.

MATERIALS
There were also some concerns about getting the materials needed for this project. Don't worry! You can use just about any wood you want. However, in the old days the wood was carefully selected and/or treated to suit their intended purpose. The main criteria were, perhaps in order of importance; availability, wood that would not impart a taste to the contents, easy to work with, long life and low weight to strength ratio.

Actually just about any type of wood is ok if you won't be consuming any of the contents from the bucket. So just to keep it simple let us just assume here that you won't be. You can use for example: Pine, fir, oak, alder, beech, elm, ash and, well you get the idea. If you want to drink or eat from it let me know and I will advise you the best choices and/or how to treat easy to get wood to eliminate problems.

PROJECT TIMING FOR EACH STEP
I will set up a fixed amount of time for each step in the tutorial blogs. Many will have time constraints and/or health problems to contend with, so I will try to make a schedule that is roomy for comfort, but short enough to keep things rolling along smoothly. Here is my suggestion for the various steps.

1. Acquire the materials, including for making tools (buy, beg, or steal). - 1 week

2. Make the rounded bottom handplane - 1 week

3. Make the lagging knife and the binding lever - 1 week

4. Cut up the bottom material to final lengths and cut to circumference finish smooth planing and/or sanding. Drill
dowel holes and put together with dowels. Cut up the stave material into long lengths and plane the insides
concave on the inside. Cut the stave's into their final lengths and then cut the dado at the bottom of each
stave. plane, or saw the 'cooper' angles on all the stave's sides. Mark and drill the dowel holes in the stave's.
Prepare the dowels and and use them to assemble the bucket using a steel band to hold the stave's in place
1 week

5. Prepare the band for the handle and bend it so it sits inside the assembled bucket. Scrape off the bark on the
bindings material, split them into two halves, scrape out the dark pith in the center of each half. cut the
hacks in each end of the bindings and make the other necessary cuts. Make extra bindings in case
replacements are needed and leave these in water. Install the bands with the binding lever. This takes
some patience and time, especially without an experienced instructor. Install the handle - 1 week

6. You may want to decorate the finished bucket with a traditional pattern. I will come with some suggestions for
appropriate patterns

Although 5 weeks are set aside this project normally takes about 30 hours or so of actual work.

Each step of the work will be covered by a blog giving material quantities, dimensions, work methods, etc. The above is just to put you in the frame and to get your thoughts on how appropriate the suggested time plan is.
I hate blogs without photos, so I will be posting my own work as we go, plus supplementary drawings where needed covering the how to.

COMMUNICATIONS
I think it would be best if every participant blogs his own intermediate results and frustrations too if he wishes. Questions for me or the other members could either be postd own on their blog, my blog or by PM. The important thing is that we are in touch with each other the whole time to enjoy the experience together and share concerns, successes and failures. The best way to do that is probably for the participants to buddy-up so that we will get email notifications when posts are made to insure we don't miss anything. This could best be done as follows:

1. I'll compile a list of all the known participants and post them. Then it is up to you to buddy up or not.

2. It would help if we use the blog name 'MAKING AN ANCIENT BUCKET- LJ NAME OF BLOGGER'

I hope this rather long and boring blog covers the admin stuff and gives you a rough idea of what's involved. I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on the proposed time-plan or anything else you want to discuss.

I will do my best to make the future blogs more picturesque and less wordy, although I had thought to have a fixed section to add some historical background. That part can be ignored if you are not interested.

Thanks for reading. Now you can go and take a nap.
 
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#294 ·
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Another short update to show the outside rounding. I managed to get half of the stave's rounded on the outside today. Some pics below to show you the result.

The first picture below shows the 'Lag' or dados cut.

"Photobucket"

Here are some rounded in the photo below. I used the concave shaped template to first mark the curve on both ends and the to check my progress as I planed them. I used a spokeshave for this work as I felt it gave me better control. A regular hand plane would work well here also. The rounding work wasn't difficult. It took about the same time as for the concave planing.

"Photobucket"

You see below the bottom with half of the stave's assembled. Note that I numbered the stave's in their mounting order. I did this because I still have some very small edge angle adjustments to do and I want to make sure the stave's go back in the same order to insure my joints are correct. And a pic from the top.

"Photobucket"

"Photobucket"

You can see that the joints between the stave's are pretty good now with this view of the outside shown below and the 2nd photo of the inside.

"Photobucket"

"Photobucket"

The stave's aren't all the same length around the top. This will be correct before final assembly. I was able to save the shavings from all the planing work so far as shown below. I swept into a pile and it wasn't as much as I thought it would be.

"Photobucket"

I still have 7 stave's to round on the outside and the dowel holes to drill before doing the binding work. I might not get a chance to work in the shop tomorrow, so I hope I can do this on Friday.

The work so far isn't 'masterly', but it has been fun and I think the result will be nice if not wonderful. Thanks for reading.
 
#307 ·
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Another short progress report today. I finished rounding the stave's on the outside using my spokeshave. This was nice to use because I could sit down while doing the work. I wouldn't have been able to do that if I used my plane. A good enough reason for some folks to buy a spokeshave.

Here is my spokeshave set-up. I have two spokeshaves, one with a flat sole as seen here and another with a rounded sole for inside curves, like for cabriolet legs and such. I have had these shaves about 30 years. I know they look brand new, but I haven't really used them much. But when I do they are wonderful to work with. A few years ago I read an article in FWW mag., I think by Garret Hack showing how to tune them up for optimal performance. I did this and they perform beautifully now.

"Photobucket"

The following photos show my bucket temporarily put together. I still have to perfect a few edge angles, shape the handle Stave's and drill holes in them and make a handle before doing the bindings. So I will take my time to do those edge tune-ups tomorrow or maybe Wednesday if I can't get into the shop tomorrow.

"Photobucket"

"Photobucket"

"Photobucket"

TAKING TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES

During this project I have heard few comments to our group's blogs about needing a lot of patience to do this work. I just wanted to say that often we woodworkers get very excited about what what we are making and we can't wait to get it finished, so we push our wood through our machines making a lot of noise and dust and sometimes wearing ourselves out to get our project finished.

I feel that sometimes we are so focused on getting the work done that we forget to enjoy the work process. Doing a project mainly with hand tools occasionally is a very nice way to do that. it's relaxing, quiet and dust free work and the slower work pace gives you a chance to think about improvements you might make to your project before the next step.

I would be the last person to give up my beloved machine tools, but this project has been very enjoyable so far, partly for the reasons given above and also sharing the experience with the others who are participating in this project and I don't regret the slower pace. We amateurs are after all doing this type of work because we like it and we set our own deadlines (or sometimes the wives do).

Thanks for reading!
 
#326 ·
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Just a short EMERGENCY BLOG concerning the dowels in the buckets. I haven't noticed it before, but I found a picture of the dowels used in the traditional buckets.

The dowel was shaped like a woman, that is a slim waist in the middle and pointed on both ends. The reason for this is that when the bucket swells from water a great deal of pressure will be applied to the dowels and they can break in the middle.

There's no explanation in the book, but I think the most vulnerable point is the middle because that area of the dowel is in the joints and any unevenness of the stave's at that point can produce enough leverage to break the dowel when expanded by moisture.

The idea here is to make the center about 2/3 of the diameter of the dowel with a smooth transition like a woman's hips. (Sorry girls, I couldn't find a better form to describe this). The ends are with a taper of about 1/8" or 3mm.

I apologize for coming so late with this information, but this info was somewhat obscure in my book. I have most of my dowels done and now I have to pull them out and carve them into the required shape.The Author said that if you won't be filling the bucket with liquid, then you won't need to do this step.

I have to go shopping with the wife now, but I will get a picture of the shaped dowels later today. I hope this doesn't cause you a lot of aggravation.
 
#327 ·
Mike….
Don't be sorry, it's fine, and it makes sence, it will also be easier to align.
I'm not sure I will redo mine since I will not use it as a water bucet, but I do understand the reason, and find it clever also for the fit of it, in this way you will get some slip also.
Best thoughts,
Mads
 
#330 ·
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Just a little update to let my fellow participants know that I'm still alive. I do apologize for the delay. I had some dental problems and among other things I finally had to get a tooth yanked out, so I haven't been doing much lately. I got into the shop today for the first time in quite awhile. I finished perfecting the edge angles on the stave's that weren't quite right and I got all the dowels finished up and installed. I managed to drill one stave wrong and so I have to make a new one, but no big deal.

After making the dowels, I put them in a Jacobs chuck (drill chuck) mounted in the lathe to thin them out in the middle as I showed you in the last blog. The purpose is to allow some swelling room in the center of the dowels between the stave's so the dowels won't break when the bucket is filled with water. the chuck is a hand tightened one, so it went pretty fast, taking about 10 minutes for 50 dowels. I have some mini lathe tools, and I used the round nosed scraper from this set to make the cove in the middle of each dowel. They are only slightly longer than 3/4", so it was a 'tiny turning' project. Here is a photo which shows the finished dowels. Didn't really need the pic, but I hate blogs without photo's!

Wood Gesture Tints and shades Door Facial hair


I clamped the bucket together with the dowels and the bottom installed and everything looks good now. I just have to replace the one ruined stave, cut the stave's to the same length (except the two long ones) and then I plan to do the bindings and the handle. I'm hoping to be finished by this coming Wednesday, and I will be blogging the work. I do expect some problems with the binding work, so It may take a little longer than I expect.

I hope all the other participants are at about the same point now, so we can have a fun finish to the project with everyone blogging their results or at least letting us know how they are getting along.
 

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#331 ·
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Just a little update to let my fellow participants know that I'm still alive. I do apologize for the delay. I had some dental problems and among other things I finally had to get a tooth yanked out, so I haven't been doing much lately. I got into the shop today for the first time in quite awhile. I finished perfecting the edge angles on the stave's that weren't quite right and I got all the dowels finished up and installed. I managed to drill one stave wrong and so I have to make a new one, but no big deal.

After making the dowels, I put them in a Jacobs chuck (drill chuck) mounted in the lathe to thin them out in the middle as I showed you in the last blog. The purpose is to allow some swelling room in the center of the dowels between the stave's so the dowels won't break when the bucket is filled with water. the chuck is a hand tightened one, so it went pretty fast, taking about 10 minutes for 50 dowels. I have some mini lathe tools, and I used the round nosed scraper from this set to make the cove in the middle of each dowel. They are only slightly longer than 3/4", so it was a 'tiny turning' project. Here is a photo which shows the finished dowels. Didn't really need the pic, but I hate blogs without photo's!

Wood Gesture Tints and shades Door Facial hair


I clamped the bucket together with the dowels and the bottom installed and everything looks good now. I just have to replace the one ruined stave, cut the stave's to the same length (except the two long ones) and then I plan to do the bindings and the handle. I'm hoping to be finished by this coming Wednesday, and I will be blogging the work. I do expect some problems with the binding work, so It may take a little longer than I expect.

I hope all the other participants are at about the same point now, so we can have a fun finish to the project with everyone blogging their results or at least letting us know how they are getting along.
Mike - good to hear from you again. Sorry to hear about the tooth problems. I've been there, I know how uncomfortable that can make things. Glad you are back in action.

I will be catching up with the staves shortly. I have some outdoor work to do before the cold starts setting in, insulation and painting, so I haven't been in the shop either since I finished the tools ( well apart from finishing a few projects which were getting in the way in the shop and some carpentry and interior finishing work which is just part of the renovations).

Do you think the dowels in the staves ( and the floor of the bucket) are there to actually tighten the staves when the bucket is holding water or was it used just as a way of aligning the staves?
 

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#343 ·
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Another little update. I've finished the stave's and tuned up all the edge angles, so my next step is to smooth the outside. As you might recall I referenced the inside of the stave's when locating the dowel holes. The idea is of course to have the inside of the bucket as smooth as possible. This worked out pretty good as you can see from the pictures below. I don't think my bucket will leak through the stave's now, but I'm not as confident about it being tight where the bottom fits into the lag.

Window Wood Window blind Hardwood Flooring


Wood Wood stain Hardwood Varnish Flooring


Because the stave's are aligned on the inside, when I smooth the outside, this will (theoretically) make all the stave's a uniform thickness. They aren't very far out, but this extra step will give the bucket a smoother appearance as well. I plan to keep repositioning the temporary bands as I work with my spokeshave. I'm not sure yet how I will hold the bucket during the smoothing, but I'll figure it out and pass along a photo. As you can see, I'm using ratchet type cargo fasteners which are dirt cheap and really work well.

I also plan to cut the binding materials tomorrow and I hope get them ready. The handle will be riven from a long piece of pine about 1/8" thick and soaked in water for a day or two. Once good and soaked I will try to bend it to a round shape and then put it into the bucket to dry. The bucket will help it retain it's round shape while it dries. I don't know how well this will work out, but we will see.

The binding will have to be split in two, again by riving with a knife, and then the pith in the center has to be cleaned out and the bark removed. After that the binding will have to be softened up by pulling it back and forth across a rounded post secured in the work bench or somewhere solid. After that the binding will be measured directly on the buck and marked to indicate where the locking notches are to be cut and then thinned out on the ends.

I'll be taking photos of everything needed and the methods for the above work as I do it myself, but I just wanted to give everyone a preview of the next steps in the project.
 

Attachments

#344 ·
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Another little update. I've finished the stave's and tuned up all the edge angles, so my next step is to smooth the outside. As you might recall I referenced the inside of the stave's when locating the dowel holes. The idea is of course to have the inside of the bucket as smooth as possible. This worked out pretty good as you can see from the pictures below. I don't think my bucket will leak through the stave's now, but I'm not as confident about it being tight where the bottom fits into the lag.

Window Wood Window blind Hardwood Flooring


Wood Wood stain Hardwood Varnish Flooring


Because the stave's are aligned on the inside, when I smooth the outside, this will (theoretically) make all the stave's a uniform thickness. They aren't very far out, but this extra step will give the bucket a smoother appearance as well. I plan to keep repositioning the temporary bands as I work with my spokeshave. I'm not sure yet how I will hold the bucket during the smoothing, but I'll figure it out and pass along a photo. As you can see, I'm using ratchet type cargo fasteners which are dirt cheap and really work well.

I also plan to cut the binding materials tomorrow and I hope get them ready. The handle will be riven from a long piece of pine about 1/8" thick and soaked in water for a day or two. Once good and soaked I will try to bend it to a round shape and then put it into the bucket to dry. The bucket will help it retain it's round shape while it dries. I don't know how well this will work out, but we will see.

The binding will have to be split in two, again by riving with a knife, and then the pith in the center has to be cleaned out and the bark removed. After that the binding will have to be softened up by pulling it back and forth across a rounded post secured in the work bench or somewhere solid. After that the binding will be measured directly on the buck and marked to indicate where the locking notches are to be cut and then thinned out on the ends.

I'll be taking photos of everything needed and the methods for the above work as I do it myself, but I just wanted to give everyone a preview of the next steps in the project.
Looking Good
 

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#355 ·
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Hi fellow bucket enthusiasts. I finally have something new to show. Today I cut the binding materials and made some bands. The photo below shows the cut materials and some of the buds. This is the most difficult part of the project for me because I'm in unfamiliar territory here. In short, today was learning through minimal instruction and maximum experience. In other words trial and error. today was heavy on the error side. I'll take you through the step by step with the hope that you will benefit from my experience.

BINDING MATERIAL
Here's a picture of the branches I cut from the willow tree (or at least a willow cousin anyway). The 2nd picture shows the buds if that's any help. The last picture shows the pith in the center of each branch.
Wood Plant Twig Flooring Hardwood

Brown Wood Twig Amber Branch

Wood Audio equipment Wrist Electrical wiring Event


PREPARING THE BINDINGS

Step 1
The bark and shoots should be removed from the branch. Then it should be split in two. I used a camp knife for this. The idea is to get the knife started and cut down a little and then twist the blade a little to continue the split. I've tried this 3 times now without success. The book I have doesn't give any details or tips on this work. Maybe you will have better luck. The split kept narrowing out to one side until it parted off the main branch. I therefore used the remaining half for each binding. That means I have to use one whole branch for each binding. If you do this correctly you will get two bindings from each branch. I hope you have better luck with this than I did.

The first photo below shows the bark being removed and the 2nd photo the 1/2 branch I'll be trying to make the band out of.
Kitchen utensil Wood Tool Recipe Terrestrial plant

Wood Automotive exterior Bumper Metal Auto part


Step 2 planing the band
Now it's time to plane away the pith and the wood surrounding it. It should be planed down to an even flat surface as shown in the photo below.
Safety glove Hand tool Wood Tool Metalworking hand tool


Step 3 Making the band supple (bendable)
The band should now be a pretty even thickness. Don't make it too thin or it will be weak, but an even thickness will give a good even bend without breakage. DON'T TRY TO BEND IT YET. FIRST YOU NEED TO MAKE IT SUPPLE. The band will be worked on the half round stock shown in photo 1 to make it soft and supple. This is done by pulling the band back and forth around the stock until it is supple. It takes a while. I also found thick spots on the band while doing this, so I stopped to thin it out a little with my knife. You will feel this and see it while you work. It can also be smart to start with short lengths of the band first and then work longer lengths as you go. This work is shown in photo 2 below.
Wood Tool Hand tool Lumber Engineering

Wood Safety glove Artisan Engineering Gas


Step 4 Measuring the band

The band is measured directly on the bucket. It is important that the bucket is tightly clamped before the actual measuring. In the photo below you will see that I've put the band around the already clamped bucket. One end of the band is clamped to the bucket so you can pull the band tight as possible with one hand and make a mark across both ends where the two ends of the band meet. These marks will be the cut line for the notches that will be carved in each, and which will hold the band together.
Watch Wood Artisan Engineering Tool


I forgot to take photos of the notches, but just as well since I did them a little incorrectly and also it turned out that my band wasn't quite long enough. I will show this work in the next blog.

Step 4 Making the notches in the band
I did the notches a little backwards and also my band wasn't quite long enough, but it did work anyway. After cutting the notches I hooked the two ends together. It was too tight to just slip it over and around the bucket, so I used the band lever which was shop made for this project. To my surprise it worked perfectly! I use it to lever the band on and then I used a piece of wood to gently knock it further down. I will be showing the proper way to make the notches in the next blog.

Below are photos showing the band mounted. It is sitting very tight on the bucket. I will have to replace it with a proper one, but I was thrilled with my partial success with this third band after total failure with the first two which broke before I could mark and install them. KEEP TRYING UNTIL YOU SUCCEED. IT'S THE PRICE WE PAY TO LEARN SOMETHING.

Wood Window blind Gas Clay Art


Wood Window blind Gas Engineering Wood stain


I hope you got something useful out of today's blog. I might have to harvest a few more branches to get 4 good half round bands, but that's ok by me even though it's a bit of work to get a band prepared. If anyone has any tips about splitting the willow branches, please share it!
 

Attachments

#356 ·
-

Hi fellow bucket enthusiasts. I finally have something new to show. Today I cut the binding materials and made some bands. The photo below shows the cut materials and some of the buds. This is the most difficult part of the project for me because I'm in unfamiliar territory here. In short, today was learning through minimal instruction and maximum experience. In other words trial and error. today was heavy on the error side. I'll take you through the step by step with the hope that you will benefit from my experience.

BINDING MATERIAL
Here's a picture of the branches I cut from the willow tree (or at least a willow cousin anyway). The 2nd picture shows the buds if that's any help. The last picture shows the pith in the center of each branch.
Wood Plant Twig Flooring Hardwood

Brown Wood Twig Amber Branch

Wood Audio equipment Wrist Electrical wiring Event


PREPARING THE BINDINGS

Step 1
The bark and shoots should be removed from the branch. Then it should be split in two. I used a camp knife for this. The idea is to get the knife started and cut down a little and then twist the blade a little to continue the split. I've tried this 3 times now without success. The book I have doesn't give any details or tips on this work. Maybe you will have better luck. The split kept narrowing out to one side until it parted off the main branch. I therefore used the remaining half for each binding. That means I have to use one whole branch for each binding. If you do this correctly you will get two bindings from each branch. I hope you have better luck with this than I did.

The first photo below shows the bark being removed and the 2nd photo the 1/2 branch I'll be trying to make the band out of.
Kitchen utensil Wood Tool Recipe Terrestrial plant

Wood Automotive exterior Bumper Metal Auto part


Step 2 planing the band
Now it's time to plane away the pith and the wood surrounding it. It should be planed down to an even flat surface as shown in the photo below.
Safety glove Hand tool Wood Tool Metalworking hand tool


Step 3 Making the band supple (bendable)
The band should now be a pretty even thickness. Don't make it too thin or it will be weak, but an even thickness will give a good even bend without breakage. DON'T TRY TO BEND IT YET. FIRST YOU NEED TO MAKE IT SUPPLE. The band will be worked on the half round stock shown in photo 1 to make it soft and supple. This is done by pulling the band back and forth around the stock until it is supple. It takes a while. I also found thick spots on the band while doing this, so I stopped to thin it out a little with my knife. You will feel this and see it while you work. It can also be smart to start with short lengths of the band first and then work longer lengths as you go. This work is shown in photo 2 below.
Wood Tool Hand tool Lumber Engineering

Wood Safety glove Artisan Engineering Gas


Step 4 Measuring the band

The band is measured directly on the bucket. It is important that the bucket is tightly clamped before the actual measuring. In the photo below you will see that I've put the band around the already clamped bucket. One end of the band is clamped to the bucket so you can pull the band tight as possible with one hand and make a mark across both ends where the two ends of the band meet. These marks will be the cut line for the notches that will be carved in each, and which will hold the band together.
Watch Wood Artisan Engineering Tool


I forgot to take photos of the notches, but just as well since I did them a little incorrectly and also it turned out that my band wasn't quite long enough. I will show this work in the next blog.

Step 4 Making the notches in the band
I did the notches a little backwards and also my band wasn't quite long enough, but it did work anyway. After cutting the notches I hooked the two ends together. It was too tight to just slip it over and around the bucket, so I used the band lever which was shop made for this project. To my surprise it worked perfectly! I use it to lever the band on and then I used a piece of wood to gently knock it further down. I will be showing the proper way to make the notches in the next blog.

Below are photos showing the band mounted. It is sitting very tight on the bucket. I will have to replace it with a proper one, but I was thrilled with my partial success with this third band after total failure with the first two which broke before I could mark and install them. KEEP TRYING UNTIL YOU SUCCEED. IT'S THE PRICE WE PAY TO LEARN SOMETHING.

Wood Window blind Gas Clay Art


Wood Window blind Gas Engineering Wood stain


I hope you got something useful out of today's blog. I might have to harvest a few more branches to get 4 good half round bands, but that's ok by me even though it's a bit of work to get a band prepared. If anyone has any tips about splitting the willow branches, please share it!
Very Nice Mike! If it was willow you could chew the bark and you wouldn't get a headache. My Mawmaw taught me that when i was little. She was half Cherokee. She taught me many things and would love your bucket. I hope your project has no leaks.
 

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#370 ·
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Well it's time to once again reveal my ignorance about ancient bucket making. Today I went out to the shop armed with some new knowledge about splitting willow branches, thanks to a link on willow splitting posted to me by Debbie.

I managed to almost perfectly split a willow branch with the new found info. If at first you don't succeed…....... In spite of this new found skill I still had mishaps that prevented me from making a good binding, but…..I did learn how to correctly cut the joints where the bindings hook together. A major learning point and another step towards success and mastering this archaic skill.

Today's subject is how to cut the band joints. Our forefathers were very clever and cunning in coming up with this joint. Not only does it work well, it is also a little hard to figure out, thereby eliminating competitors. However, having the advantage of various unclear drawings, several failed joints and a lot of luck, I have finally figured out how to do it. Those of you who are more gifted (have brains) won't have any problems with this joint.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so the photo below shows the joint on one end. What the photo cannot convey is that the we are looking at the inside of the band. I have thinned out behind the cutout (to the left) and cut a shallow diagonal in toward the hook. The tip of the hook on the edge is slanted slightly towards the cut. It is cut this way in order to retain strength in the band while giving a positive and strong joint. Think of the diagonal cut as thinning the inside of the band from the top inside of the band and down to the bottom of the cut out hook.
Wood Natural material Twig Metal Automotive exterior


The next photo shows both ends of the band each with their own hook, how they will be engaged, and how the ends of the band will be tucked away behind the outside of the band.
Finger Wood Thumb Natural material Hardwood


Here you see how the hooks go together. The ends beyond the hooks have to be thinned out so they fit snugly behind the main band and are invisible. I found that for me it easy to thin out the ends after hooking them together while the pieces to be thinned are supported by the main band.

This is how they look from the inside with everything in place. the end on left is carved too short. They should both be like the end on the right.
Wood Insect Bumper Automotive exterior Office ruler


The next picture show what the joint should look like on the outside when finished.
Hand Gesture Wood Wrist Thumb


Clear a mud? This is difficult to explain, but if you don't understand my description please let me know and I will try to come up with a better explanation. I managed to learn this through pictures in my book and some trial and error.

It's probably a good idea to make a practice band and try making the joints a number of times. Just cut off the failed ones and keep trying until you get it right or run out of band.

Some of you asked to see the band lever being used. the first photo is the bucket with the first band installed. I thought I did it wrong to start with, but it seems really good now. It dried up a bit overnight and shrank, and it is now so tight I can't move it at all. So I decided to just keep it.
Wood Gas Engineering Hardwood Wood stain


And lastly using the band lever. This worked perfect, How ever the band I'm putting on was already botched at the joint, so this was just to show the lever in action.
Window blind Wood Artisan Gas Tool


I hope the above will

I won't be in the shop for a day or two, so I will have to continue with the banding as soon as I am able. Meanwhile I hope this will give you enough to think about for now. I am aiming at two bands at the top and two at the bottom.
 

Attachments

#371 ·
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Well it's time to once again reveal my ignorance about ancient bucket making. Today I went out to the shop armed with some new knowledge about splitting willow branches, thanks to a link on willow splitting posted to me by Debbie.

I managed to almost perfectly split a willow branch with the new found info. If at first you don't succeed…....... In spite of this new found skill I still had mishaps that prevented me from making a good binding, but…..I did learn how to correctly cut the joints where the bindings hook together. A major learning point and another step towards success and mastering this archaic skill.

Today's subject is how to cut the band joints. Our forefathers were very clever and cunning in coming up with this joint. Not only does it work well, it is also a little hard to figure out, thereby eliminating competitors. However, having the advantage of various unclear drawings, several failed joints and a lot of luck, I have finally figured out how to do it. Those of you who are more gifted (have brains) won't have any problems with this joint.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so the photo below shows the joint on one end. What the photo cannot convey is that the we are looking at the inside of the band. I have thinned out behind the cutout (to the left) and cut a shallow diagonal in toward the hook. The tip of the hook on the edge is slanted slightly towards the cut. It is cut this way in order to retain strength in the band while giving a positive and strong joint. Think of the diagonal cut as thinning the inside of the band from the top inside of the band and down to the bottom of the cut out hook.
Wood Natural material Twig Metal Automotive exterior


The next photo shows both ends of the band each with their own hook, how they will be engaged, and how the ends of the band will be tucked away behind the outside of the band.
Finger Wood Thumb Natural material Hardwood


Here you see how the hooks go together. The ends beyond the hooks have to be thinned out so they fit snugly behind the main band and are invisible. I found that for me it easy to thin out the ends after hooking them together while the pieces to be thinned are supported by the main band.

This is how they look from the inside with everything in place. the end on left is carved too short. They should both be like the end on the right.
Wood Insect Bumper Automotive exterior Office ruler


The next picture show what the joint should look like on the outside when finished.
Hand Gesture Wood Wrist Thumb


Clear a mud? This is difficult to explain, but if you don't understand my description please let me know and I will try to come up with a better explanation. I managed to learn this through pictures in my book and some trial and error.

It's probably a good idea to make a practice band and try making the joints a number of times. Just cut off the failed ones and keep trying until you get it right or run out of band.

Some of you asked to see the band lever being used. the first photo is the bucket with the first band installed. I thought I did it wrong to start with, but it seems really good now. It dried up a bit overnight and shrank, and it is now so tight I can't move it at all. So I decided to just keep it.
Wood Gas Engineering Hardwood Wood stain


And lastly using the band lever. This worked perfect, How ever the band I'm putting on was already botched at the joint, so this was just to show the lever in action.
Window blind Wood Artisan Gas Tool


I hope the above will

I won't be in the shop for a day or two, so I will have to continue with the banding as soon as I am able. Meanwhile I hope this will give you enough to think about for now. I am aiming at two bands at the top and two at the bottom.
"Not only does it work well, it is also a little hard to figure out, thereby eliminating competitors."

I like this line :) Good one!
 

Attachments

#386 ·
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Another short update from Mike's inferno. I never was a math whiz and I still have problems dividing those darned willow branches. Maybe numbers are easier to work with after all.

I ran out of willow branches, having destroyed all but the one I successfully installed. I would harvest some more branches, but we still have a lot of snow and in fact it's snowing pretty heavily right now. I know you aren't reading this blog to get a weather report from Norway, but I need an excuse for the bucket delay. I had a nightmare last night that I was suffocating under a mountain of willow bark!

I thought that since the bucket building is in WOW status (don't get excited, it means waiting on weather). I could show you a nice drawing of how the banding joint should be cut. I know you get it, but just in case someone doesn't, the rounded lines represent where the carving is. Looks easy huh? After you ace this the first time you will understand why I consider myself challenged in the world of woodworking. I am much more clever with money, mainly in the area of spending it.

Slope Rectangle Font Drawing Parallel


I was thinking it might be amusing to bury one of these buckets in a peat bog and when it's found a 1,000 years from now and carbon dated to 2011, some fantasts will claim that the Vikings had mastered the art of time travel!

Well, I've run out of corn for today, so have a pleasant day wherever you are and try to remain patient. There will be an end to this project, .......................eventually.
 

Attachments

#387 ·
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Another short update from Mike's inferno. I never was a math whiz and I still have problems dividing those darned willow branches. Maybe numbers are easier to work with after all.

I ran out of willow branches, having destroyed all but the one I successfully installed. I would harvest some more branches, but we still have a lot of snow and in fact it's snowing pretty heavily right now. I know you aren't reading this blog to get a weather report from Norway, but I need an excuse for the bucket delay. I had a nightmare last night that I was suffocating under a mountain of willow bark!

I thought that since the bucket building is in WOW status (don't get excited, it means waiting on weather). I could show you a nice drawing of how the banding joint should be cut. I know you get it, but just in case someone doesn't, the rounded lines represent where the carving is. Looks easy huh? After you ace this the first time you will understand why I consider myself challenged in the world of woodworking. I am much more clever with money, mainly in the area of spending it.

Slope Rectangle Font Drawing Parallel


I was thinking it might be amusing to bury one of these buckets in a peat bog and when it's found a 1,000 years from now and carbon dated to 2011, some fantasts will claim that the Vikings had mastered the art of time travel!

Well, I've run out of corn for today, so have a pleasant day wherever you are and try to remain patient. There will be an end to this project, .......................eventually.
i was cleaning the yard the other day
all the plastic and plastic buckets
were deteriorating
and breaking into little brittle pieces

yours may be the only bucket to survive this modern time
 

Attachments

#404 ·
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A progress update.

I haven't been in the shop for a few weeks due to illness. Now I'm ok and back at it. As you might remember, I had been struggling with the bindings. these are willow branches that are split, planed down and joined with a specially cut joint (no glue or fasteners).

Well, I'm glad to report after working my way through about 10 of these and having failed 9 times, I finally learned it! I can now say that I can properly split branches and get 2 bands from 1 branch, plane them evenly and cut the joints properly. Personally I'm not too impressed with my learning ability, but I am relieved that I can now finish my project before I die of old age!

Today I managed to get 2 more bands made and installed. I also put a bevel on all the edges including the bottom inside and outside, likewise the top rim and handle ears. The critical part is the bottom as this can chip out when you set it down hard. This work took about 1-1/2 hours. I still have one band to go, but it was either to continue working or have dinner and I'm not known to miss a meal.Besides the remaining band, I have to make a handle, but unfortunately I've run out of wood for that, so I have to get some tomorrow. Below are photos of my progress so far. The first pic shows the binding joints which I am much too proud of.

Wood Hardwood Plywood Wood stain Rectangle

Cabinetry Wood Hardwood Plywood Wood stain


I am wondering how all of you other participants are doing with your buckets and I hope no one is getting discouraged by my unplanned delays or having the kind of technical problems I've had. I hope to hear from you soon!
 

Attachments

#405 ·
-

A progress update.

I haven't been in the shop for a few weeks due to illness. Now I'm ok and back at it. As you might remember, I had been struggling with the bindings. these are willow branches that are split, planed down and joined with a specially cut joint (no glue or fasteners).

Well, I'm glad to report after working my way through about 10 of these and having failed 9 times, I finally learned it! I can now say that I can properly split branches and get 2 bands from 1 branch, plane them evenly and cut the joints properly. Personally I'm not too impressed with my learning ability, but I am relieved that I can now finish my project before I die of old age!

Today I managed to get 2 more bands made and installed. I also put a bevel on all the edges including the bottom inside and outside, likewise the top rim and handle ears. The critical part is the bottom as this can chip out when you set it down hard. This work took about 1-1/2 hours. I still have one band to go, but it was either to continue working or have dinner and I'm not known to miss a meal.Besides the remaining band, I have to make a handle, but unfortunately I've run out of wood for that, so I have to get some tomorrow. Below are photos of my progress so far. The first pic shows the binding joints which I am much too proud of.

Wood Hardwood Plywood Wood stain Rectangle

Cabinetry Wood Hardwood Plywood Wood stain


I am wondering how all of you other participants are doing with your buckets and I hope no one is getting discouraged by my unplanned delays or having the kind of technical problems I've had. I hope to hear from you soon!
Mike, glad you are back and healthy! Your bucket looks excellent. If you didn't tell me that a band was missing, I wouldn't even know it.

I've managed to begin on the bucket itself and I have the bottom glued and planed and am ready to start on the staves. I've got my pine wood selected. I've been delayed, not by sickness but by a rush to finish some outdoor house maintenance tasks ( trim painting, adding insulation) before the fall season closes in. Darn it, I actually had to light a fire this morning, so not a moment too soon. I hope to make better progress in the next few weeks.
 

Attachments

#431 ·
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Today I finished my bucket project. The best part of the project for me has been doing the work, learning some new skills and last but not least enjoying the dialog with the other participants and everyone else who has commented on our progress from the start. I'm also pleased (and relieved) that I made it to the finish line.

We have been working on this project, or class as Debbbie has defined it, for about 3 months. None of us has to my knowledge used an inordinate amount of time on the work, but life has a way of keeping one busy with a lot more than just woodworking!

Just to recap the project, our end goal was to make an ancient bucket. The idea was to make it like they did in the past without metal fasteners or glue. Just a bunch of wooden stave's all planed by hand and grooved for the bottom. The bucket to be held together with willow branch bindings around it and kept in tension with a (very) special joining method, again with no fasterners.

How I experienced the project. Most of the work was fairly straightforward and the tools worked extremely well. The biggest challenge for me was the willow bindings. I ruined quite a few willow branches, but I stuck with it until I got it right, and now I'm very happy with the result. The bindings are what attracted me to this project to begin with. The idea that such a simple accessible thing can be so useful still amazes me. In the old days, gathering these willow branches and selling them to container makers became a cottage industry that anyone with some extra time could do.

The first thing we had to do was to make the special tools needed to make the bucket with. These tools included a (1) a round bottomed hand plane to round the inside of the staves with, (2) a special long handled knife to cut the the groove in the inside bottom of each stave where the bottom edge would fit into, and lastly (3) a binding lever to help with stretching the willow bands over the outside of the bucket. All three of the finished tools together with the bucket are pictured in the photo below.

Wood Output device Automotive tire Flooring Gas


Here are some photos with a close-up of the finished bucket including the handle pins and attachment bolts which are made out of birch and hand carved.

Wood Flooring Rectangle Hardwood Circle

Wood Serveware Floor Flooring Home appliance

Wood Wood stain Hardwood Beige Tints and shades

Wood Top Wood stain Hardwood Natural material


The water test Although this bucket was intended to be used only for decoration, I was interested in finding out if the bucket would leak. So here are some photos of the test with a caption for each one.

Dishware Wood Serveware Pottery Automotive wheel system


Filling with water.

Wood Liquid Rectangle Audio equipment Gas


Good news, only leaking out from the bottom.
Dishware Tableware Basket Serveware Toy

Refilled the bucket after some initial swelling (10 min.) and moved to a new location for a timed test.

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Varnish Flooring

After 30 minutes still about 1-1/2" of water left. I'm pretty happy with the result. The book I have on the subject indicates that these were never 100% water tight. This bucket could be useful for carrying water.

Now a series of photos showing the outsides just to show that there was no leakage whatsoever between the stave's on the outside.

Wood Sleeve Flooring Comfort Hardwood

Wood Comfort Hardwood Grass Watercraft

Wood Flooring Hardwood Grass Basket

Flower Plant Flowerpot Houseplant Wood


And finally the last photo after the transfer of ownership to my wife.

What next? Thanks to Mads slowing down to allow me to finish first, the other participants are still working on their buckets. I am hoping to see them blog their progress and completion too. It would also be nice if we could gather photos of all the participants in one blog if possible. So the class is not over until everyone is done. Then I will write a final blog at that time.

For anyone interested in how the tools and bucket were made, you can refer to all the blogs in this series. A list of these can be found on my home page under 'Blogs'. I will try to also summarize the other participants blogs on the project in my final blog so you can also see how the others approached the project. Everyone is doing this work a little differently, so it should be interesting to see.

Meanwhile thanks for following with and I'm glad to answer any questions you might have.
 

Attachments

#432 ·
-

Today I finished my bucket project. The best part of the project for me has been doing the work, learning some new skills and last but not least enjoying the dialog with the other participants and everyone else who has commented on our progress from the start. I'm also pleased (and relieved) that I made it to the finish line.

We have been working on this project, or class as Debbbie has defined it, for about 3 months. None of us has to my knowledge used an inordinate amount of time on the work, but life has a way of keeping one busy with a lot more than just woodworking!

Just to recap the project, our end goal was to make an ancient bucket. The idea was to make it like they did in the past without metal fasteners or glue. Just a bunch of wooden stave's all planed by hand and grooved for the bottom. The bucket to be held together with willow branch bindings around it and kept in tension with a (very) special joining method, again with no fasterners.

How I experienced the project. Most of the work was fairly straightforward and the tools worked extremely well. The biggest challenge for me was the willow bindings. I ruined quite a few willow branches, but I stuck with it until I got it right, and now I'm very happy with the result. The bindings are what attracted me to this project to begin with. The idea that such a simple accessible thing can be so useful still amazes me. In the old days, gathering these willow branches and selling them to container makers became a cottage industry that anyone with some extra time could do.

The first thing we had to do was to make the special tools needed to make the bucket with. These tools included a (1) a round bottomed hand plane to round the inside of the staves with, (2) a special long handled knife to cut the the groove in the inside bottom of each stave where the bottom edge would fit into, and lastly (3) a binding lever to help with stretching the willow bands over the outside of the bucket. All three of the finished tools together with the bucket are pictured in the photo below.

Wood Output device Automotive tire Flooring Gas


Here are some photos with a close-up of the finished bucket including the handle pins and attachment bolts which are made out of birch and hand carved.

Wood Flooring Rectangle Hardwood Circle

Wood Serveware Floor Flooring Home appliance

Wood Wood stain Hardwood Beige Tints and shades

Wood Top Wood stain Hardwood Natural material


The water test Although this bucket was intended to be used only for decoration, I was interested in finding out if the bucket would leak. So here are some photos of the test with a caption for each one.

Dishware Wood Serveware Pottery Automotive wheel system


Filling with water.

Wood Liquid Rectangle Audio equipment Gas


Good news, only leaking out from the bottom.
Dishware Tableware Basket Serveware Toy

Refilled the bucket after some initial swelling (10 min.) and moved to a new location for a timed test.

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Varnish Flooring

After 30 minutes still about 1-1/2" of water left. I'm pretty happy with the result. The book I have on the subject indicates that these were never 100% water tight. This bucket could be useful for carrying water.

Now a series of photos showing the outsides just to show that there was no leakage whatsoever between the stave's on the outside.

Wood Sleeve Flooring Comfort Hardwood

Wood Comfort Hardwood Grass Watercraft

Wood Flooring Hardwood Grass Basket

Flower Plant Flowerpot Houseplant Wood


And finally the last photo after the transfer of ownership to my wife.

What next? Thanks to Mads slowing down to allow me to finish first, the other participants are still working on their buckets. I am hoping to see them blog their progress and completion too. It would also be nice if we could gather photos of all the participants in one blog if possible. So the class is not over until everyone is done. Then I will write a final blog at that time.

For anyone interested in how the tools and bucket were made, you can refer to all the blogs in this series. A list of these can be found on my home page under 'Blogs'. I will try to also summarize the other participants blogs on the project in my final blog so you can also see how the others approached the project. Everyone is doing this work a little differently, so it should be interesting to see.

Meanwhile thanks for following with and I'm glad to answer any questions you might have.
Thanks Mike. I probably won't have the time to make my own bucket, but it has been very interesting following along. Your bucket looks great!
 

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#447 ·
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Hello all you bucketeer's. I got a message from MsDebbie asking that the participants in the class tag their posts showing the finished buckets 'Antique Buckets'. Her message was sent 10 days ago, but I've been offline for quite awhile until today. I hope your bucket projects are coming along well.

I used to be a woodworker, but my wife has (once again) promoted me to gardening assistant for the duration of the summer. So far I have power raked the lawn to remove the moss, washed the entire house, garage and gardening shed outside, washed the terraces and transplanted a bunch of bushes and a couple of trees. And that's just the beginning! Not a great future for such a lazy fellow as myself. I hope you feel sorry for me because I really need that pity right now, and I know I won't be getting it from the wife!

I also had to cut down a 12ft high juniper and I managed to save the trunk for some sneak woodworking ,he he. In fact I did manage to cut 9 boards from a 24" length of said trunk in my bandsaw today and I've got more juniper and some Sycamore logs to cut up. I've found a really easy and safe way to cut logs with my bandsaw without a special jig. I'll blog that as soon as I get the time.
 
#448 ·
sorry to hear you have got soft soapfingers from all that washing down
I had a little twist in the ring with all the windows myself last week , two days on the latter
with the back I have ain´t what I call fun and being scared of highs too ..LoL well you got the picture
me balancing up high with waterbucket , brush and swiper looking like another Charlie Chapling
yep the years highlight for the neighbours ….. do you think Silke sell tickets to it …..they all seems to
pass by with werd advices every time I´m on a latter

the rest of the garden work I wuold have treaded with the round of dealing with concrete and mortar
the rest of the vacation

hope it will be over very soon for you so you can relax the rest of the spring and summer :)

I look forward to see your timberslicing :)

take care
Dennis
 
#450 ·
And I forgot to add that I also changed out the winter tires on my son's and my own cars. Good thing I don't have paid job as well!

Dennis I suppose my sad story is nothing new to most folks and especially Scandinavians like yourself. It isn't fun working on a ladder. That's why I designed and built what I call 'comfort steps' that I use while working on a ladder. They're great for folks with arthritis or other foot problems. I've been using them for several years now, and they make working on a ladder a lot easier. I'll do a little blog on them while the wife isn't looking.

David I hope you sent that pity in a large box air express. I'll surely have to work hard for a sardine sandwich or anything else. I've been practicing my chip carving on my rest breaks on the terrace. That keeps me sane (or insane?).
 
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