Here is one more fretwork job after getting a little experience on the earlier, the Letter Box. This is also a very old design from my uncle and I have reproduced it wth minor changes to cherish his memory. The swastika is considered as a religious symbol in India and some other East Asian countries. That was the most difficult part of the fret work. The big hole in the front was modified to hold a gum stick. The two beautiful and shining pens are a valuable gift from Scotsman to me and my wife. The handle and the bottom support for the pen stand was modified by using dowels which I aquired from US through a friend. The wood is Burma Teak. The glue stick can be kept only when one side of the stand is used for pen or pencil. The old fret saw is seen in the last picture. The hole for the gum stick was also done with the saw. All parts can be easily dismantled. The finish is not done yet.
Sharad

My uncle was an accomplished wood worker and among his wood projects he used to do fretwork with a fretsaw. He had made a letter box about 70 years back and I happened to get it about 35 years back through my cousin. One day accidentally one side of it was broken and but for my awareness it would have been tossed in the trash box. I preserved it for the last 25 years thinking one day I will repair it. That day came last month and I decided to complete the job. This required some experience in fret work which I lacked. While searching for information on this art I came across a book Fretwork and marquetry, A PRACTICAL MANUAL OF INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ART OF FRET-CUTTING AND MARQUETRY WORK by D. Denning. LONDON L. UPCOTT GILL, 170, STRAND, W.C. From the contents and the language of the book it looks to be published in the earlier part of 20th century or even earlier . The book is so lucid that I wasted no time in getting a printout and reading it thoroughly. The instructions were very neat and specific. I started practicing on a few pieces of trash plywood and learnt that it was not so easy as I thought. I broke a few wires (blades) and holding the work vertical to the cutting blade was very challenging. After some days of practice I decided to construct a new side for the letter box. I did not have the original drawing from where to trace the design on a plywood. I took a photograph of the other side, took a printout and pasted it on the ply and did the cutting. I did not get a plywood of the same thickness as the original and had to be content with a thinner one. I assembled the letter box. The letter box is now on my wall. I was happy that my will to repair the box was fullfilled and I have saved a beautiful piece of fretwork done with a fret saw as old as the box.. I have not yet decided how to finish the box. Any suggestions will be helpful
This was the reason for my silence on LJ for some time. I have ventured to make a few more projects after this experience and I will post them one by one. I am no where near perfection in fretwork and hope to improve day by day.

Summer is very harsh in my city, the maximum temperature reaching as high as 42C (about 107F). It is very difficult to do any hard woodworking in such a climate without air conditioning which I don’t have. To remain in touch with my hobby I made this cutting board from about 1” thick piece of Mango ( Manjifera Indica) Plank This wood is quite hard and long lasting. To cut the curved part of the board with hand tools was quite a task. The Korean Magic saw was very useful for doing it. I have used boiled linseed oil for the finish. This board is attached at one end with a specially made curved cutting blade with a scraper to scrape coconut. The blade is made in one piece out of mild steel. Stainless steel is also used for this purpose. Vegetables and fruits can be cut very easily and efficiently using both hands. After shelling, a coconut is cut into two pieces and each piece is scraped as shown in the picture. This requires a little practice but shredding can be very neat. The cutting and scraping is generally done by the ladies in the house. (I am an exception.) The blade can be folded back on the board for safety. Scraping can be done sitting on the ground as well as standing by locking the board against the kitchen platform. This cutting board is being used in India for centuries but is slowly falling back in popularity because of western influence of using knife, I believe. The board can be used as a traditional cutting board for cutting bread or similar things with a knife when the attached curved blade is not suitable for the job. With better workshop facilities the board can be made as beautiful and attaractive as the various designs posted by many of you on LJ,. Any questions, suggestions and comments are welcome.

Sharad

Original plastic handles of two spoons were broken. The spoons were of good quality so I made two wooden handles from a scrap of wood, white in color. In the mean time my chemist came with a broken handle of Fiskars scissors. I had a piece left from the same wood as the spoon and I made one handle for his scissors. Both of us were happy. The handles were made entirely from hand tools shown in the third picture. Making the curves and the holes was quite a task with hand tools but the results were satisfying. I am not sure about the name of the wood which I am trying to find, but it is on the softer side. After sandpapering the finish was very smooth and attractive with the white colour. Is there any way of applying a protective finish to these handles, maintaining the white colour of the wood ?
Sharad

This deck chair was constructed by me years back along with many others. I noticed that it had become lose in joints and the top rails for resting hands were also damaged. The canvas seat had become lose and old. I dismantled the whole structure, gave each part a face lift, made two new top rails and one leg and finished everything with polyurethan (oak yellow). The canvas seat was replaced after stitching it myself on my Singer sewing machine (1944 model in excellent shape). In all there are 24 mortice and tennon joints which were all done with hand tools. I like this chair because it is very comfortable and can be folded. The legs are attached to the seat by four iron strips with nuts and bolts. The wood used for the chair except the top railings is local variety of teak

This is my first attempt to make a box and I have not ventured to use advance joinery like dovetails. The wood used is Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) also called Sisu, Sissoo or Indian Rosewood.
After teak, it is the most important cultivated timber tree in Haryana and rest of India. Shisham is among the finest cabint, furniture and veneer timbers. The heartwood is golden to dark brown, and sapwood white to pale brownish white. The heartwood is extreemly durable ( Specific Gravity 0.7 TO 0.8 and is very resistant to dry-wood termites. The wood is a bit difficult to work with.
I have used only hand tools. I encountered difficulty while fixing the hinges. But now I know the trick. Squaring the box also was not so easy and has added to my experience. For hardware I had no choice as this was the only type available in the city market. For better hardware I will have to try in the Bombay market or import them for my next box. The box was looking nice without any finish still I gave it a couple of beewax coats. The beewax cake was applied and buffed I am sure my next box will be much better. Please make critical comments so that I can avoid any further mistakes.

When my father-in-law’s house, more than 100 years old was demolished for reconstruction I ransacked some old articles which were valuable to me but trash for others. Among them I found a wooden two pin electric plug which I was amazed to see how it was done. This was obviously before the moulded plastic plugs captured the market. My guess is that it must have been made in England. Just a month back I saw it in my preserved articles and thought why not try to make one. This small project is the outcome of that thought. The plugs were made entirely by hand tools and from pieces of wood left from other work. The pins were from broken plastic plugs and the screws were also recovered from scrap. Thus the plug has cost me nothing except my labour and I am happy about it. The main tools were the points files and the Magic Saw from Korea which I had purchased during my trip to Kualalumpur last April. It is a very versatile tool and you can log in to www.magicsaw.com for details. You can see a very good video clip ‘Multi-purpose Magic Saw’ from Metacafe.com The finishing was done with polyurethan/Walnut/ oak yellow. I am not sure if Liseed oil finish would have been better. Please advise. Although the closeup pictures look a little rough actually the plugs look very fine and smooth. Please make critical comments for further improvement.
Sharad

This is in continuation of my previous project on the same title. Observe three small holes drilled on both sides of the face to insert the projections on the horns and ears and simple device to hang the picture. A picture of Bamboo trees is shown in the third picture.
Sharad

I am breaking silence after a long time. My right palm was injured by a sharp knife. I therefore did a little refurbishing of a small pair of wall piece made out of Bamboo, purchased about 15 years back. It is by an artisan from eastern part of India where weather conditions are favourable for the cultivation of Bamboo. Bamboo is put to a variety of use in India. This wall piece got spoiled due to neglect and weather conditions and turned black and rough because of some mould growth perhaps. The first picture shows one of the spoiled pieces. I used various grades of sand papers to clean the other piece and the result is seen in the second picture. The painting of the animal face was done by a school going girl in our neighbourhood who insisted that she will do it. It has not come out so well but she was happy. My idea in sending this project is to show how simple ideas are used by the local artisans to earn livelihood. The next picture shows the pictures of horns and ears. The detail of how the horns and ears are fixed and how the piece is hung will be shown in my continuation of this project because I don’t know how to add additional pictures after the three. The horns, ears and the hanging device are all made from Bamboo. The natural shape of Bamboo and its special properties can be used for making varitiy of things and I am sure many of our fellow buddies will try their skills on this versatile wood.
Sharad

I have made a temporary repair to my back saw and given it a new look. The handle had a crack which I have fixed with an adhesive and reinforced with a small aluminum strip. I could not get the saw handle fixing fixtures so I have used suitable nut and bolt. Some black stains on the handle are difficult to remove. A small three inch plane, round and flat files, different grit sand papers were the main tools used. Soon I am going to try making a new handle for the saw. Earlier projects on LJ helped me to do this little maintenance and I am grateful to those who have submitted them.
Sharad