FWW Build Off '08 #6: Maybe next time

Well, in case some of you hadn’t guessed, I didn’t make the deadline. Oh well, I’ll still have a great wine rack to sell when it’s done.

Thought I’d post the progress up to this point. I’m going to put this on the shelf for a while as I need to try to make a living here. Yes, I’ll keep y’all posted when I pick it up again.

Here is the steam/lamination setup. Again, as they say, you can never have too many clamps.

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It’s pretty obvious I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to steaming. I’ve come to the conclusion that, although my steam box got the wood hot enough, there just wasn’t enough steam to make the wood wet. The wood came out hot but mostly dry. My son came up with a good idea that I think I’ll build when I get the time. I’m going to mount 2 or 3 of hot water tank elements in an old propane bottle (I’m accustomed to cutting propane bottles – don’t do this at home unless you know what you are doing!) with a large vent on top (for the steam) and a condensation return line near the bottom. The elements will likely burn out quickly since they’re not designed for that level of heating but they’ll be replaceable and cheap.

Here’s the bent keel:

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And here’s why I can’t use it:

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The base is sectioned but too thin for biscuits so I had some trouble with it falling apart. My solution was to make flush biscuits (there’s probably another name for them).

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A close up:

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Sometimes when I’m trimming small parts I’ll use a 1.5” circular blade on a flex shaft. Here’s what happens when you’re in a hurry and not careful. The tape is holding a splint to keep my knuckle from opening the cut. The splint is made of a maple scrap, of course ;).

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Here’s where it ends, for now. The base is on and the outalls (the outer part of the gunnel) are temporarily mounted.

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-- Michael R. Harvey - Brewster, NY - RusticElementArt.com - SpaceAware.org - AnConn.com