| Blog series by Gary Fixler | updated 54 days ago | 28 parts | 14071 reads | 262 comments total |
Part 1: Walnut Wood - I just need to know...
Does anyone else – when working with black walnut – think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I’m cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don’t really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery i...
Part 2: Just realized exactly how tiny my shop is :(
I finally ran the numbers. My shop is a 1-car rental garage in cramped, suburban LA. Making things extra strange is that there is a 6’ tall cinder block wall running down one side of the property that terminates right at the corner of my garage. It actually buts into it, overlapping the wall by the width of the cinder blocks. The fence around the back of the property passes about 4’ behind the garage, giving me a little tree-covered (Hollywood Junipers and Ficus benjamina) area I ...
Part 3: Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me
I hadn’t noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who’s been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he’s adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.
Part 4: homemade walnut pegs
(don’t miss the video at the bottom!) I’m currently building a rack for lumber shorts and cutoffs under 3’ in length. I wanted to do a bit more than slap together Home Depot plywood and solids this time, though. One small ‘extra’ will be exposed pegs through the sidewalls to help support the thin ply shelves (they’re also getting #0 biscuits – I like overkill). These pegs will be flush-sawn, sanded, and finished with the rest of the rack, and most ...
Part 5: Ouija Router
I just had this idea after commenting on roman’s Bosch laminate trimmer review. I need to get a group of woodworking pals over to help me channel the spirits of past woodworkers by lightly laying our fingertips around the base of my Porter Cable 7518, running at 21k RPMs. Then we’ll just see what happens :) I’m hoping the spirits will see fit to channel up some fine inlay work for me.
Part 6: Suffolk Machinery band saw blades - helpful folks
I made the mistake of ordering 1 each of their 1” thick (my saw’s max) 103PC (3TPI) and 102PC (2TPI) swedish steel blades in the wrong length. I went by info I found online when ordering, instead of walking out to the shop to check for sure. Online places said 133”. The machine says 135”-137”. It just wouldn’t go on, even at the bottom of the top wheel’s extension. I called Suffolk just now, and they said 133” is a common length, so no re...
Part 7: The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards
I didn’t want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander. I like the faint grain revealed in the piece on the left, sanded down from one like that which I’m holding: I clamped my belt sander down to the table to use it as a mini (though relatively enormous) benchtop model: Here’s a long piece sanded ...
Part 8: Square trees - how convenient!
So little waste in the resawing process! Also handy – “extrusion trees” : Both made by an art group, with more info at the links (just click the pics).
Part 9: Just having one of those projects...
I’m building a little rack system currently, and I just keep failing miserably. I wanted to do something a little nicer than usual, so I made some 1/4” walnut pegs, and was planning to face the front edges of the rack with 1/8” walnut strips, and drill and peg through that with lighter wood that matches the plywood of the sides and shelves. To hold the shelves in, I’d drive pegs through from the outside, walnut pegs through ply sides, the inverse of the fronts. For wha...
Part 10: Hooray for windy days in LA
After a little get-together with friends last night around a backyard campfire in the ‘burbs of LA, and them hearing about how I’m collecting wood from wherever I can find it around here now, one of said friends left a message for me today. He was outside of an El Pollo Loco (Mexican fast food chicken place) that I frequent, and alerted me to ‘an entire tree’ that had fallen over in today’s crazy wind storms. I was over there in 10 minutes, new Irwin hand saw in ...
Part 11: What a way to test out my new lumber rack!
Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32” construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4’ 2×4s, 8 23-7/8” 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69”), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I&...
Part 12: Hatchback toy update
I decided to update my old toy version of my ‘00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I’ve made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window :) Big version:
Part 13: Bryan Nash Gill's Hemlock Relief Print
Artist Bryan Nash Gill has created a series of 12 prints in the traditional block printing style by inking the cross section of a very large stump of hemlock – from the mill next door to him – and then hand-rubbing large sheets of handmade paper into all the growth rings. The prints look beautiful, but at $4k/ea., I think I’ll make my own ;) Now to find a 3.5’ diameter chunk of hemlock… Some shots of the creation process[via Craftzine] And as way leads on t...
Part 14: I bought a truck tonight!
No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an ‘06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an ‘05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It’s a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab – 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there...
Part 15: New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road
Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything. It’s 5 years old, but the engine looks pretty new. Obligatory guy and his new truck photo: “Access Cab,” woo! Let’s go find some dead trees! Few more pics in the flickr set if you need them.
Part 16: What LA does with its wood (and lawn trimmings)
I’ve been trying to figure this out for a bit, and last weekend I cracked the case. Where do the logs and trees the tree trimmers cut down, and the stuff in the green waste recycling bins go? I tooled around Google Maps, searching for dumps and landfills, and found things like this that just didn’t seem to fit the bill. Finally I found this PDF file. It includes 20 pages, most with photos of everything that goes on, with figures on how much of each type of green waste is hauled in...
Part 17: I finally have a proper wood lathe!
Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) – she loves zebrawood :) – and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular. They only had 2 chrome wine bottle stopper har...
Part 18: Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs
22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and ‘limb’ them, or at this scale, to ‘twig’ them. Little by little, I’ve been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter’s saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, g...
Part 19: Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?
I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It’s stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures How hard could it be?
Part 20: The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress
I found this talented woodworker’s site tonight through a post on Make Magazine’s blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights. “Oops” in mahogany “Crippled Table” in walnut and hickory “How to Build Furniture” in cherry “Self Portrait” in ...
Part 21: some ramps for my truck, almost
To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck’s dead battery. I’ve seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size. I also picked up the required 2×8s, each 8’ long. Unfortunately, measuring my truck’s unfolded tailgate he...
Part 22: JACKPOT
In early February, 2009, in rough seas 14 miles off the coast of Sussex, England, Russian cargo ship Sinegorsk lost its load of 1500 tonnes of sawn timber, which washed ashore on the beaches of Kent. The police issued warnings, but scavengers came out in force. Daily Mail has several great shots of people braving the icy surf and a high wall to claim the lumber, which is apparently still the rightful property of the original owner, according to law. Police were powerless to stop the lo...
Part 23: Band saw wizard
Well I’m impressed. via videosift.com Just watch those fingers, everyone.
Part 24: list of favorite woodworkers
While searching up something else on the Google last night, I stumbled upon an exactly 900 day old post on our very own LJs site in which user ToolCrib asked the question Who are YOUR top five most influential woodworkers?. ToolCrib (Garrett) then went on to compile that list to his own site here. I thought I’d repost that effort on the 900th day as a little look back at who everyone thought was inspirational a few years ago, but then I fell asleep early, so here it is, 901 days later :)
Part 25: Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?
What a day I’m having! Okay, so September of last year I was gearing up to buy a band saw. I liked the Craftsman 18” Wood/Metal deal for $1300 (and eventually got that one). Above the picture on the saw’s page were clickable, hierarchical categories, something like “Power Tools > Saws > Band Saws.” You could click on each to go to broader categories – pretty standard. I noticed in the address bar that these category names were echoed in the URL as variab...
Part 26: Burl Wood... "Nutz" :(
This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There’s a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile. But c’mon… beautiful wood burls? Is nothing sacred? I can only hope it’s injection-molded plastic wrapped in some kind of heat-shrink plastic print....
Part 27: New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)
Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when wHaCk! A piece of heavy, hard bark about 3”x5”, and around 3/16” thick smacked me really hard in the face. I was wearing a polycarbonate full-face shield fro...
Part 28: Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926
This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It’s neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There’s something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoul...
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