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Me and Gary, brooding (September 2004)

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Can you win anything better than the useless rewards of a fantastical imagination! Is there any greater honor?

Moominpappa


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Sunday, February first, 2004

🦋 Another candlestick

Here is another candlestick, that I turned last weekend -- the walnut that caused me a lot of respiratory distress:

posted morning of February first, 2004: Respond
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Thursday, January 29th, 2004

🦋 The Plan

So here is the plan for the next few weeks, reading- and woodworkingwise: On the train to and from work, I am going to be reading After the New Economy by Doug Henwood until I finish it, then Nickeled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, which I bought today for Ellen -- I believe she will be finished with it by the time I want it. Come home in the evening, play with Sylvia, have dinner, recreate, put Sylvia to bed. Then I will go downstairs and work on a dust collection harness for my lathe -- or when that is finished, on Ellen's bookcase or turning projects. Then come back up and read Don Quixote for an hour or so before bed. This makes it difficult to figure when I will post my reactions to DQ but I will try and make some room for that as well.

posted evening of January 29th, 2004: Respond
➳ More posts about Nickeled and Dimed

Monday, January 26th, 2004

🦋 Dust collection

My query on the turning forum has generated quite a lot of advice regarding how to control sawdust when using a lathe. I have ordered a Dustfoe 88 dust mask, and a dust collection hood to attach to the lathe. Neither is the very ideal thing, but both are within my budget and can be upgraded at some later date.

posted afternoon of January 26th, 2004: Respond
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Saturday, January 24th, 2004

Follow-on to the candlesticks pictures: This evening I turned another candlestick and it is way better than any of those. More interesting shape, better technique, and an actual finish! (By "better technique", I mean essentially that the surface of the turning is smooth almost everywhere, and that the cup for the candle is the right shape, tapering instead of straight.) The finish is shellac, which I mixed myself from Lee Valley's shellac flakes. I made sort of half-hearted efforts toward polishing it, that did not really work, but it is quite lovely anyway. I will post a picture of it when the roll is developed.

posted evening of January 24th, 2004: Respond

Thursday, January 22nd, 2004

Some new woodworking graphics in the photo album: Some candlesticks and The lathe I used to turn them.

posted evening of January 22nd, 2004: Respond

Saturday, December 20th, 2003

🦋 Back in the shop

My short time in the shop this evening included a number of "firsts". I used my new panel jig (completed after way too long a time, and a poor excuse for what I had originally planned to build) for the first time, gluing up the base for a sharpening station I am building -- it seems to do basically what I was hoping it would, which is to hold boards aligned while I get the clamps on and keep them flat. I cut into the wood I bought for Ellen's bookcase, which marks the first time I have ever worked with rough-sawn lumber. I like it! (Actually this "first" is a bit of an exaggeration but I am going to let it stand.) It is also the first time I have worked with maple since I built Sylvia's high chair (back in the early days of my woodworking career, before I had a proper bench); it is as nice to work with as I remembered it. My scrub plane eats it up. Now I just need to get some better bench dogs, so I can clamp wood that I am scrubbing properly in place -- this would be a major step up for me. I think I will order some new dogs in a few weeks, when I put in my order to Lee Valley for a couple of things I have been meaning to get.

Update: I managed significantly to improve the performance of my bench dogs. All I did was, I relieved the lower half of the dog's face; so that instead of coming up from the bench at a 90° angle, it comes up slightly acute. So the contact with the workpiece is all at the top of the dog and the force from the vise is pushing the workpiece down into the bench. It works a lot better now.

posted evening of December 20th, 2003: Respond
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Thursday, November 6th, 2003

🦋 Shop organization

Hey, did I mention I've been working on organizing my shop space in the basement, for a couple of weeks now? It's going really well -- I'm just about in shape to start working on the bookcase. What I have done: I built a lumber rack, and stacked most of my lumber on it; built a shelf with separate compartments for my carving tools; built a fixture for hanging my clamps; cleaned off most counter surfaces; and went a bit of the way towards organizing the big closet where I keep hardware. The last thing is going to be building a rack for clamping up panels and holding them even while the glue dries, which is necessary for the bookcase project. I have a pretty simple design in mind and will be building it next week.

posted evening of November 6th, 2003: Respond

Tuesday, October 14th, 2003

Researching lumber sources for the past few days I came up with this idea: I want to make a page devoted to lumberyards and sawmills in the area. There are already a number of online resources (including the very useful Woodfinder) which I am not really trying to duplicate; what I want to make is a list of personal picks from ww'ers I know and trust -- i.e. the WoodCentral crowd, as well as CJWA members. I have posted requests for recommendations in a couple of places and will see what comes of it.

I will be using this post as a holding area for candidates as I work on the list. Candidates so far:

  • Hutt Lumber, Newark
    I found this in the phone book while looking for soft maple for my upcoming bookcase project; I have not found anyone who has bought lumber there, but I think I will use it because they have the right price and are nearby. No weekend hours.
  • Monteath Lumber, South Amboy
    Recommended by several people incl. Lee Alexander, Phil Vitale, Bob Sheppard. They offer a 10% discount to CJWA members.
  • Rosenzweig Lumber, Bronx
    My primary source when I was in NY and they are still close enough by. No weekend hours.
  • NJ Hardwoods, Plainfield
    Recommended by Joe Hurst and by Bob Sheppard.
  • Wolbach Sawmill, Easton
  • Agincourt, Belle Mead
  • Bay Ridge Lumber, Bayonne
  • Northeastern Lumber, Jamesburg
  • US Mahogany, Matawan
    Recommended by Lee Alexander, Jack Feinstein, Philip Berman. 10% discount for CJWA members.
  • Medford Cedar Products, Bordentown
    Recommended by Jack Feinstein.
  • East Coast Log, Bloomsbury
    Recommended by Steve Antonucci. Wow â?? I just spoke to the owner of East Coast Log and he confirmed all lumber is $2/bf. He is around on Saturdays from 10-4. He has a lot of turnover so not all species will be in stock all the time.
    East Coast Log
    50 CR 639
    Bloomsbury, NJ 08804
    (908) 995-2902
  • Casterline, Morristown
    Recommended by Mike R. -- the man who works there gave him a lot of help though he did not end up buying the lumber. Also by Philip Berman who says they are a bit expensive.
  • Center Lumber, Paterson
    Recommended by Philip Berman.
  • Jay Samuels, and Rich O'Connor of WoodFinder, both write to recommend a number of smallish sawmills in NJ and PA.
  • John Aniano writes to recommend the unfortunately named Rippoff sawmill in Allentown, NJ; Mike Obertlick's sawmill in Howell, NJ; Willard Bros. in Trenton; and Josh Cavet's mill in NJ.
  • Congden Lumber in West Orange: very close to me and they have hours on Saturday morning.

posted afternoon of October 14th, 2003: Respond
➳ More posts about Lumber

Thursday, October 9th, 2003

🦋 My next project

My next woodworking project will be a built-in bookcase for Ellen's office. I am going to use this plan from American Woodworker as a starting point, but will make a few modifications. There will be three verticals instead of two, to double the amount of shelf space. A half-round table will come out of the middle of one side of the bookcase, to match the look of Ellen's desk (which is half-round on one end). I will be using mortise-and-tenons instead of biscuits to join the shelves to the verticals. The case will be built from soft maple; I hope to buy it at Rosenzweig's Lumber -- but only will if I can get a day off work soon, as they do not have weekend hours.

Update: Actually the place I will buy the lumber if I can get a day off work soon will be Hutt Lumber in Newark (sorry, no web presence; their phone number is (973) 242-7300 and their address is 301 Badger Avenue; they are open 8 to 3:30 Monday through Friday) -- they carry roughsawn 4/4 soft maple for $2.42/bf, as opposed to $2.92/bf at Rosenzweig's, and are closer. (Rosenzweig's soft maple is D2S but that does not make a difference for me as I will be reducing the thickness anyway.) Looks like I will need 100 bf for the project, but I think I will buy 120 and err on the side of caution.

posted evening of October 9th, 2003: Respond

Saturday, July 26th, 2003

🦋 Projects

Here is an inventory of home improvement projects I want to work on:

  • Window seat: which I have, ridiculously, still not begun working on; but today I bought some lumber for it and cleaned up my shop, so I have no excuses left...
  • Paths in the front yard: I have the slate, I have the tools to cut it; I am hoping to do these paths in the third week of August, when I will be on vacation.
  • Path next to the house: Really the same project as the above, I just don't think I have enough slate right now to do it. I want to see how the first path goes before I schedule the others.
  • Backyard patio: Again, waiting to see how difficult this slate laying stuff really is.
  • Stone at base of side porch: This is going to be pretty complex and I have not really planned yet how it should look.
  • New steps for side porch
  • Breakfast nook
  • Bookcases for Ellen's office: Ellen is breathing down my neck on this so they may come before the breakfast nook.
  • Bookcases for living room: I've had an idea for this since we moved here...
  • Dining room table: Again, I've had a very clear picture of this kicking around my head for about nine months now.

posted evening of July 26th, 2003: Respond
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