May Day.

Sussex: Week Two

Day One
Here's a tip from the course, the maxim of cabinet makers everywhere (a rule which is, I would add, a bit of a pain):

"Sharpen often, more than you think you need to."

We've spent the day planing various bits of wood into shape, hopefully getting them to do something useful at some point. By the end of the day, I'm slightly battered and bruised (digits still intact, more or less) and it feels like someone has been hitting me with a big stick. I seem intent on impaling pink fleshy bits on sharp metal (although there was less spurting blood today), so much so that I've now earned the nickname "May Day" on the course. If there is an accident, chances are I was involved.

Day Two
More planing and sharpening, with a little break in between to make some biscuit joints. The biscuits are awfully cute, and the joints invisible. However, it also requires quite a substantial investment in more kit.

I don't mean to whinge (not a lot anyway), but my little arms are terribly sore from all that planing and feel like they are about to drop off. Add that to the collection of nicks and scrapes I've picked up in the last week and you have one not very happy bunny. I have to admit that the last couple of days have had me doubting my choice of a career change. Its not that I am not enjoying it, but the practicalities of it all (the difficulty of earning enough dosh to support myself without having to flip burgers in McDonald's; the risk of self-mutilation; etc) are weighing heavily on my mind. Would it be a cop-out if I went back into the law, and just did this as a hobby?

Day Three
There is no end to the planing and sharpening. We learnt a bit about mortices and tenons, which will be put into practice tomorrow.

Day Four
I am running out of steam. Have been to bed at 9.30pm for the last couple of nights because I've been so tired! Today has been fun though with only a marginal amount of planing (plenty of sharpening though), with some sawing and putting together the mortice and tenon joints. This table might just be taking shape.

Note to self, if when you're doing something a little bell goes off and you think there must be a better, more accurate way of doing it - there probably is! Trying to mark out tenons using a scalpel and a steel rule is just not a good idea - a mortice gauge does the trick 10 times as fast and much more accurately.

Day Five
Learnt about dovetail and bare-faced dove-taily joint thingies today, plus putting all the bits together to try to form a table.

If I was completely honest, this has been the first time since I've set out to do this that I've felt like I've failed at the task set before me. There are all manner of bumps, protusions and imperfections in the table I've put together. I know its slightly irrational to expect the very first table I've made (especially with little prior experience) to be perfect, but there is a part of me that is ever so disappointed that its not.

I had a chat with John about Scotland and whether I should have given up my day job. He thinks I should give it a shot, and that I haven't done too badly. Just need to practice more (10,000 hours!) and always sharpen my tools. Its a shame John doesn't take international students on or I would have been very keen to do the long course with him, as he is an excellent teacher - he goes into the theory behind why things are done in a particular way and is very happy to impart little tricks of the trade which just make things that little bit easier. I find this particularly helpful as this means I am learning the skills of a cabinet maker which can be applied as and when I do decide to potter about on my own, and not just learning how to make a particular table (all the other courses I've been on to date have been task specific).

So at the end of my two-week sojourn, you have one slightly battered and used Mae, with a little of the wide-eyed wonder knocked out of her.

Dove tail joint next to a mortice

Plan view of the table joints coming together

My very first table all done

Shavings and such.

Greetings from Sussex

Day Two

Honing my planing skills by trying to get the shavings  as light and thin as possible

After a couple more hours of sharpening, I was finally given a block of wood to touch, feel and plane. Yay. Setting up the plane to obtain fine even shavings is definitely a skill, and almost an art form. Most of the time, I'm not quite sure whether the uneven size of my shavings is a result of a mis-tuned plane or my incompetence at planing! Tricksies.

Day Three

Let's play spot the rub joint!

More sharpening, some more planing and mild swearing. Made a rub joint (which, as Mark kindly pointed out, is just a fancy name for glueing two pieces of wood together) and got a boo boo on my finger by clamping it in a vise. Not the smartest! Started work on a tool of some description (can't remember what its called, but am sure a picture of the final product will emerge at some point).

Day Four

Sighting down and tuning my plane. No, I'm not just about to kiss it.

Gouged a huge chunk out of my finger today with the help of a bench grinder. I knew it was only a matter of time before something like this was going to happen, and am wondering if I should have chosen a career which is less likely to cause physical damage or injury! At least I still have use of the finger.
I asked John a question which has been weighing down on me somewhat, "In your years of experience, have you ever come across someone who just doesn't have the aptitude for woodworking?" (The unspoken question being aimed at yours truly of course). The answer, unsurprisingly I guess, is that very rarely, and one just simply needs to put in the hours of practice to become good at it and more specifically, at least 10,000 hours of targeted practice at each specific action (be it planing or chiselling, sawing, etc) is required! Not sure if that is meant to be reassuring.

Day 5

A handmade scratch stock atop my wooden piece with the inlay around it.

Finished my scratch stock (yes, that's what its called) and made an inlay with it. All digits still intact and no new war wounds. Phew. Bring on the weekend.