LJ Woodworking Awards - Summer 2007 #1: Ready, Set, Go!

thanks for the thanks… and no problem!

And now… on to the Awards event.. what to build, what to build…. :D

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

WHeeeeeeee!!!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Here we go…. Another deadline

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

lol no pressure Wayne :D

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

at least we had one weekend “off”.. well most of us. Debbie had loads of time after finishing her Thorsen Table so early.

Awards Event? Black tie – like the oscars? That would be Awesome. little carved or turned trophies…

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Thanks, Debbie and Martin.

-- Jesus is Lord!

yah.. I’ve been waiting FOREVER for you guys to finish so we could start a new project!!! :)

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I had two done about the same time as you Debbie… just needed several more weeks to refine the third and final one. ;)

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

oh sure.. NOW make me feel bad!!!
lol

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Pondering the challenge (and my July schedule) but just a comment after the flush of excitement has faded . . . there’s green wood chair building that uses natural wood drying movement to lock parts together and pegs and wedges, but are you sure you want to exclude glue from the challenge?

Seems as though many fine classical/hsitorical joinery methods still used glue – no matter how tight their joinery fit . . .

-- Paul, Texas

it’s tempting, isn’t it?

definitely makes a challenge for many of us, I think. And I thought the TABLE was a challenge!!! HA

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

My copy of Fine Woodworking arrived in the mail yesterday, and what do my wondering eyes behold? The project of the month was – you guessed it – Adirondack Chair! The quintessential outdoor furniture project. To make matters worse they had two pages of GASP! artistic interpretations / departures from the classic design. If that’s not enough to get the grey matter working…

-- John

and now you get to add your own flare to the chair.
I’m excited.. Hurry up.. get it made!!! :D

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Challenge, yes, but in a theoretical – “look what I did” – but “don’t touch it, sit on it or use it” kind of way. Over time, a wood joint will loosen by itself with changes in humidity and wood movement.

I’m not trying to be a sourpuss or rain on the parade, but hundreds of years of woodworkers have gone before us and the true lasting options are limited in joinery without glue.

Yes, there are a few solid joinery methods without glue that I mentioned before (wedges, pegs, etc.), but my point is that excluding glue actually limits the challenge and creativity.

Isn’t gluing up two boards to make even the small Thorsen table top, joinery? Yes, it is!

No board glue-ups then! – all projects as big as the boards you can find, or dry splines, keys or just butt the boards together!

-- Paul, Texas

lol oh but you make a good point!!

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

The latest Woodcraft magazine also has an Adirondack chair as well. At least the garden project part would be covered.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

yah.. that one is fair simple, I think—the category I mean, not the chair… that’s far beyond my abilities.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Paul…. The latest FWW (arrived yesterday) had a breif bit about an octagonal peg, that when pounded into a round mortise was nice and snug – also claimed a historical precedent for sturdy furniture that was able to be knocked apart if necc…

sounds good to me, but I don’t think I’ll be making a chair – though, yes, green legs would dry nice and tightly around dry rails and spindles, no glue necc there either.

I wonder how many of us will dream up something for the wood joinery challenge… no glue… makes for a toughie,... but all a matter of what the project should be.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Hello to all workers of wood;

—-in all the workings of wood that I do, whether they are building cabinets, restoring a house or barn, timber framing, making benches in the woods or in my shop, rustic furniture or traditional furniture and then there are the pieces of furniture I also make, which I call ‘wood art’, there is no theorizing….anything I make as such stated above, can be used, after all what is ‘wood art’ if you cannot sit or stand on it. So yes, I use wood with mechanical fasteners, with glue and without glue and then I also use ‘wood joinery’ in the wood and with and without the above hardware and also using tree nails and wood nails of minute scale all hand made or carved.

As far as glues go, over time the glue will break down and then what remains to hold the wood together except for it’s joints? And then some might ask, “what about the new glues?” Well I do not know about what’s going to happen with those glues one hundred years from now, and then what about one thousand years from now? Nobody knows how well their glues are going to react and hold up….which makes me want to trust the wood and ‘wood joinery’ since the past tells us wood will last.

I believe the standard here at Lumberjocks has been raised and that in the spirit of true workers of wood, we also can raise our standards and learn, plus move ahead. Not all of us have the same skill levels, but all of us share together in the common interest of wood and therefore we are also willing to move forward and dream of what can be done in the areas of our skill levels.

In this category of ‘wood joinery’ if one can build a box, bench, chair, hutch, table, cabinet, house or barn and also there may be those who carve their ‘wood joinery’, while some may build a model boat or truck using ‘wood joinery’....and all other’s, then build it. What I am saying is, lets not lower or limit our standards because “without metal fasteners or glue” limits us, but lets dream of what ‘I CAN DO’ and then go forward to do it, knowing that as workers of wood we are unlimited in our abilities. Those who are unlimited in their dreams go on to become the makers of dreams come true!

....but then that’s just my two cents, and what do I know….

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Great point Frank. We seem to be limited by the box we build for ourselves. Once you think outside the box, you start visualizing the possibilities.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Well Debbie, you are right, the garden category should be easy. You can make a planter, an outdoor table, chairs, many items.

The wood joinery will be a challenging one. How to make something that will stay together without glue or screws/nails. Some type of interlocking method would need to be used, but which ones would look nice and be functional at the same time? As Frank said, a good test to see how a joint holds together once the glue is gone.

Time to put the thinking cap on….

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

my 2 cents regarding the wood joinery discussion…

-- Martin, http://lumberjocks.com | My Facebook: http://profile.to/msojka