Matt's Blog at LumberJocks.com

Hand Plane catastrophe...or almost nearly a catastrophe!!!

Matt — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 03:34:17 GMT

So there I was last night. Down in the shop putting the finishing touches on a piece of cherry that would become a part of the desk I’ve been making for my daughter Madison. The pieces are all cut and dimensioned so now I’m just using my smoothing planes to put that sheen on the face that only a sharp blade can achieve. I have nothing against sanding, but I promised myself a long time ago to keep on practicing when and where I can with the hand planes. I’ve come a long way since the days of trying to true up an bowed board with a block plane…I now own two working block planes and an assortment of smoothers, jacks, and a jointer.
So I have my favorite smoother, a brand new No.4 1/2 by Veritas. She’s be tuned up and ready to go on another project and just waiting to be brought down off the shelf. I mainly use her as a final smoother. Only light delicate wisps of shavings flow through her mouth and onto the bench. Just a few passes into the final board and I’m thinking I’m in the clear. The next step is assembly and glue up.
Maybe that was the problem, my mind was a few steps ahead of where I was. Because the next thing I knew, SMACK!!! The toe of the No. 4 1/2 plows in to the metal head of a clamp. I knew it was too close for comfort, but I was so near the last stroke that I didn’t heed the screaming voice in my head. I tried to shake it off. You know, “it happens all the time”, kind of talk. But what happened next…I still shutter about it as I’m writing this.
So I take that final pass…after I move the board a little ways up from the clamp head. There on the board was what I feared the most. A trail mark left by a dinged up toe. The collision had been so hard that a small dent forced an even smaller fragment of the edge down below the sole of the plane. And the result was a scar across the face of the board, of course it had to be the final pass.
I hit the roof, well the ceiling of the basement workshop, but you get the idea. How could I have been so stupid?? The scar on the board, came out with the help of my old No.4 smoother. But I felt like I let my No.4 1/2 down. She trusted me to take care of her and let her do her job all the way to the end, but instead I led her smack into an immovable object.
So tonight I spent a little time with a fine file, a little sweet talk and a lot more attention to the details. She’s back, as good as new and her scar? It’s still there, but now we both have something to talk about.

A day off to tie up loose ends....

Matt — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 02:18:13 GMT

I hate it when a project is close to the end. Inevitably there’s always the little things I’ve been putting off. I know they need to be done but the procrastonator in me just can’t bring myself to do them, no matter how little time it would actually take to do them.
I’ll spend hours and hours selecting the correct stock for the project. Sorting through the stock to match up the grains or the colors for key components. Hours trying to decide the type of joinery that would work best or even minute design ideas. But when it comes to something as simple as filling a brad hole(s) or doing touch up work on a painted surface. I can find every excuse under the sun not to do them.
Perhaps it’s my sign, I’m an Aries and even though I don’t check my horoscope that often I do know that Aries are notorious starters and even more notorious at avoiding finishing anything they start.
So today I took the day off from the day job to finally tie up all those loose ends I’ve been putting off. This project I’ve been working on for far to long has been consuming far to much time. I warned the client that since I’ve never done anything this big it might take awhile and so far they’ve been understanding. Five floor to ceiling shelf units with a grand total of 30 adjustable shelves can be a little time consuming, especially in this basement workshop. And that’s only half the project, they also wanted an modern looking entertainment center with bookshelves (sounds worse than it is).
The client chose to have everything painted black, no grain showing through. Normally I would have opted for MDF but the local big box store couldn’t help and the nearest supplier wasn’t close enough to make it worth my while. Not to mention I don’t even want to think about carrying those sheets downstairs to work on them.
The project proceeded well and so did the assembly. Once the primer went on and then the first coat of paint I thought I was in the clear, but that’s when I began to notice little things I overlooked. A glob of glue not scraped away or a speck of dust or two that wasn’t wiped away. But after sanding and then the second coat the end was near right? Well there was still the matter of the thirty shelves….Thank goodness tomorrow’s saturday!!!

No more cobwebs

Matt — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:22:07 GMT

Well it’s been a while since the last entry hasn’t it? According to the days since posted I think it’s been 66 days to be exact. So about 66 days ago I was on the eve of going to pick up a large load of lumber for a number of projects I had planned on building.
The pickup went great, I even documented it on my podcast and rather than worrying about stacking the stock in any particular order, I just threw it up on the rack and called it good.
So the first of my projects that I planned on tackling with the new stock was a flip front desk for my daughter Madison. It’s time to remove her from the kitchen table, spending all that time clearing off the table so we have some place to throw the pizza box down was becoming way to time consuming. I mean seriously, you try to explain to her teacher for the thousandth time that the reason all her assignments smell like a pizzeria is because she had to much homework to clear from the table. Although the art teacher did think the tomato sauce was a good contrast to the….well it’s just time to build it for her.
Just like with Aiden’s dresser I chose to build the desk for Madison out of Cherry. As I’ve talked about in my show before, I chose to use No.1 common cherry vs. select or better. My lumber supplier hasn’t let me down, they were absolutely right that the color has been more consistant from board to board and given the price break I’ld have been a fool to say no.
In the first week after being on the rack I decided it was time to start selecting my boards for the project. I pulled them down. Sorted, selected, resorted and reselected just the right boards for each component. I planned out my course of action to mill, cut and join the components. I figured I was really close to being able to reclaim our kitchen table and then it happened. A coworker came to me with a request. It’s hard to say no considering the coworker was one of the partners who owns the lab. I know, I know, you can always say no. But she was willing to pay whereas my daughter probably would barely acknowledge all the work. Not to mention that her and the other partners think that it’s really great that I have this hobby and are always encouraging me to do more with it. Anyways, the coworker’s request seemed straight forward. Some bookcases to fill out a wall and another set of bookcases and a tv stand for their living room.
The design was straight forward with simple lines and a modern look to it. I ordered the sheets of plywood and had everything I would need for it. But after the first week of stealing a hour here and there each night and the occassional block of time on the weekend I suddenly realized. I may have bitten off more than I could chew. At this point I’m a little behind in finishing the project, but she’s been very understanding. I can’t help but just wish it was done everytime I walk into the shop and see the unassembled components of Madison’s desk and the rack full of lumber. Especially considering also that we’re meeting with Madison’s teacher next week for parent teacher conferences and I know she’s going to ask us where we get our pizzas.

Clearing the cobwebs

Matt — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 03:24:19 GMT

Alright, seeing as I get most of my woodworking thoughts out of my head via my podcast. Typing them out is going to be a lot different, so here goes nothing…
As I’m attempting to write this, I’m on the eve of a big lumber delivery. Multiple projects are to follow as soon as I get it all tucked away down in the shop. A task I’m both looking forward too and not, at the same time. I spent most of my lunch hour today rearranging the “lumber rack” to make sure I was ready for the big adventure. Oh, by the way, if you’re wondering what I was doing home on my lunch hour, I live only a few minutes from my laboratory so why would I bring a lunch to work??
Anyways, back to the lumber rack. I guess the main purpose of the whole rearrangement today wasn’t so much to make room for the incoming lumber, but instead to make room for me to practice a little obsessive compulsive behavior. I hate to admit it, but I’ve known all along that it’s not so deeply buried inside me. I now have plenty of rack space to make sure that my hardwoods and softwoods never acclimate together. Not that there’s anything wrong with multiple species acclimating together, especially considering that at some point in the very near future they’ll be joined together in a myriad of ways to make something absolutely beautiful (and usefull of course).
Actually, the more I think of it, perhaps keeping them apart isn’t such a great idea. Afterall, shouldn’t they get to know each other as soon as possible to make sure that they’ll work in perfect harmony once the glue dries and the clamps are removed? If I mix them up on the racks though, it might be a lot of work to move boards around when I’m searching for that right face for a certain component.
So my next thought is that maybe I should sort and stack the stock in a way that corresponds to each of the projects I’m building. But this then raises the next issue, which project goes first?
Well, considering that I’ll have plenty of time driving to and from the mill and then plenty of time hauling the lumber from the van to the rack I guess I’ll figure it all out then , or not?!