I finished this restoration some months ago. It is doing everything I have asked of it including resawing 8 inch veneer. The tag is missing because of poor condition but the serial number tag is in place. The original motor with new bearings runs great.

The latest issue of Popular Woodworking has Marc Spagnuolo’s article on reproducing John Hall’s mirror frame. John and his brother were the artisans who produced G&G’s designs but this frame is John Hall’s own design.

I wanted to frame two tiles that we bought while attending the Craftsmans Weekend in Pasadena last October and thought it appropriate to make it in the John Hall style. However, I didn’t use all of the features because John’s frame was made for a mirror so all the elements of the frame were really the attraction. In my case I didn’t want the frame elements to detract from the tiles – the tiles were the feature so I tried to make the frame a little more subdued by not using the slots and by making the “puzzle” joint flush instead of proud. It was an interesting exercise in adapting to the purpose. The wood is walnut and the finish is shellac.

I’ve become interested in the design elements of Greene & Greene of California fame. I made three memory boxes for some of the grandchildren each applying different elements for practice. The first is spalted apple and uses the proud pillowed finger joint. The second is maple with the top and bottom being breadboard ends with walnut pegs and splines. The third is walnut with the front including a cloud lift that I extended into the top. It also includes my first attempt at inlay, which is nothing like G&G’s wonderful inlays. Hopefully with the obvious differnces between boxes and each child’s initial carved on front (my first letter carving) there won’t be any fighting over whose is whose.

This tile frame was inspired by a mirror frame made by John Hall about 1909. It is the treatment of the lap joint at the bottom of the stiles which really sets it apart from others. John and Peter Hall were the prolific master craftsmen who made Greene & Greene designs into the real thing. The tiles are a momento from our fabulous experiences at the Craftsman Weekend last October in Pasadena.

French has posted a number of shaker boxes he has made. Thought you would like to see the machine that John Wilson of shaker box fame uses to make the copper nails out of thin guage copper sheet. No, it is not a gattling gun but a great piece of 19th century machinery.

I’ve been air-drying rough cut green lumber for many years with my shop-made fixture.

When wood is kiln dried, it is stacked and stickered with huge concrete weights on top. As the wood dries the concrete keeps the stack compressed to control twisting of the boards.

I designed this fixture, which works as follows. The main piece is the 10-foot long 6-inch square heavy wall tubing – unbendable for our purposes. Every two feet crossing the tubing is a heavy wall tubing to support the stack and hold the clamps.

Rather than use weights at the top, I made clamps with ready rod. Only one is shown in the photo. I cut 1 inch pieces of pipe large enough to go around the cross members and made that into a connector by drilling and tapping it for the ready-rod. I use 2×4 on edge for the clamp. Capacity of the fixture is limited only by the length of ready-rod used for the clamps.

As the stickered wood dries you simply tighten up the nuts on the ready rod clamps. Drying the wood from green to under 10%, you will probably tighten the nuts as much as 4 inches over about ten weeks.

One fixture is in the green house and the other is outside under a lean-to so I know both types of location works.

You can dry to under 10% and, because it is not dried in a hurry, you will get few split ends. There will be little to no twisting.

Previously I have posted a photo of this lamp finished. I’m making another so thought you might like to see it before assembly. This project is not for the feint of heart as some of the pieces are delicate and the shade involves compound angle cuts. There are more than 60 pieces to this lamp. When these lamps were made by Stickley the shade support arms were glued and screwed to the column with slotted round head screws – definately an ugly design flaw imho. You can see that I use a quadralinear column, which leaves room for the lamp cord and provides vertical grain on all sides. The support arms are through the column so they are structurally sound. In the first photo, the three small pieces go above the shade supports. I see I need to drill a hole in each of the flat pieces for the cord to pass thru. You can see where I used the Delta precision miter guage that I reviewed yesterday to make a final adjustment cut on the lamp shade as my blade angle was slightly off 30.3 degrees and I didn’t see the error until each side was assembled. Now I have the digital reader for setting the blade angle and that solved the set-up problem. Since heat rises I put a little vent cap on the top of the shade.

Our main 4 piece bathroom is about as small as possible (1950’s bungalow) but we wanted to make a statement in renovating it anyway. It is all new except the tub, which was reglazed. The vanity and medicine cabinet are solid walnut. The vanity features 1-1/2” top (because I had the material and like heavy), frame and panel end, fluted legs, and crotch walnut door. I squeezed a drawer under the cupboard because I find a typical vanity cupboard to be a waste of space. The medicine cabinet also features a crotch walnut door panel. I made a walnut t/p holder (cove cut on the table saw) and cut it into the end panel.

The med cabinet hangs on the wall and I worried about lining up the wall anchor screws to the cabinet hangers until I realized that making a paper template of the back of the cabinet with the hangers in place, turning it over (easy to forget this step) and marking the wall for each location should be accurate. To my relief that worked.

For the first time, I used no-mortis hinges and am quite satisfied with the result as well as saving the hassle of cutting the mortises in the right location.

Lumberjocks can’t be beat for being the most ego friendly forum. Thanks for the comments. Some have asked for more info so here is a photo of the lamp w/o the shade and one of the inside of the shade. These are from the first lamp I made as the improved lamps are with my daughters. Just imagine that above the brackets the column is cut in two. The mortises are cut for the brackets. The through brackets are lap joined and slid into the mortises. There is a cap piece glued onto the column and the top piece of the column is glued to that. You can see how the tips of the brackets are shaped to hold the shade in place.

This shade originally had stained glass that got cracked. I replaced it with mica and for a quick fix used the glass clips. On a quiet day I’ll replace them with caulking.

The shade is the difficult part of this lamp as it is all compound angle cuts. I’m trying to find my source for this on the internet so I can post the reference for you.

In the center of the shade you will see a hole. That is to release any heat build up within the shade.

This lamp is not for the timid as it is made up of over 60 pieces of quarter sawn white oak. It is an adaptation of an original table lamp seen at the St. Paul, MN Arts & Crafts show. The lamps have become a favorite of our extended family and make a great wedding present.

The changes I made are structural in two major aspects. The column is quadralinear using a lock miter router bit. This allows for even grain on all four sides of the column. A rift-sawn piece would accomplish the same thing. However, the quadralinear form leaves a center opening to run the cord.

The second major change has to do with the support brackets. Traditionally these were attached to the column with round head screws. I think they distract from the beauty of the lamp. My first lamp relied on epoxied mortise and tenon joints. I didn’t feel too secure about that although they have held. The shade is quite heavy with stained glass; less heavy with mica, and lighter yet with parchment paper.

I now cut the quadralinear column and make through brackets with a lap joint – now I know they are secure and can relax. The top column piece is separated from the rest by a ¼” thick rounded over piece to avoid an obvious glue joint but aligned to maintain grain flow.

The finish is Wadco dark walnut and wax.