A Jonathan.

So there was a request for this week - that I quit with the sad making and get on with the happy stuff. So instead of talking about my project and what's (not) going on there, I thought I'd share a bit more about what I've learnt up here in the cold North. Because let's face it, I've learnt a lot - from how to use various sharp implements correctly, to how to fill cracks and holes with everything from resin to plastic wood. I never thought I'd also improve my lexicon in my time up North though - I am now down with the lingo (neeps and tatties anyone?) but more importantly, I have some new words which I can take with me for use in any other part of the world. For example, "a Jonathan" is a standard unit of measurement of volume, and more particularly, how large a particular piece of furniture is and how much space it fills up. To get a better grasp of how large each standard unit is, one would have to think of a space which is slightly larger than a small child, but smaller than a dwarf. See attached picture for a better idea. I can safely say that whilst tall, Stumpy is sadly not a Jonathan. However several other pieces in the workshop are, including the bowl which the Mexican is turning for his new coffee table, a dog bed, a side board and a drinks cabinet.

A Jonathan - the standard unit of measurement of volume in furniture.

In addition to going around the workshop measuring how big things are (see above), which is much fun but only occupies so much time, we've had a little jaunt to Glasgow this week to visit the Burrell collection and the Glasgow School of Art. I was certainly impressed by Mackintosh and the Glasgow School of Art was well worth the visit. I can also happily say that we got back safe and sound and no one got glassed or stabbed for being foreign. On that happy note, I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. I am certainly planning on one myself.

Easter hols. Yay.

Wee broken thing, just like me.

Shit happens and the saying is right that when bad things happen, they tend to group in threes. Today started as with every other day this week in the workshop, and was just going into a spot of self-congratulation on how nice my jewellery tree was looking all sprayed up, when someone broke the news to me that an unnamed person had broken it and left it just laying about in pieces in the spray booth. I think I would have probably been a lot less cross if whoever had done it had the guts and the courtesy to put their hands up and admit to it, rather than sneaking off and keeping mum. After all, accidents happen and its not like it was done intentionally (one would hope not anyway). In such a small workshop as ours, its more than a tad disappointing I guess.

Things have gone steadily downhill from there, and I managed to break one router bit (just as I had just about got it set up just right, which I might add, had taken me just over 2 hours and resulting in me having to start all over again) and screw up many many dovetails before realising that the pieces I was putting in were just too small to clamp down properly and the reason why the dovetails weren't lining up was because the little wee pieces kept moving about.

The carcase fits (just about) on a dry run

Boulle work with a coping saw.

So very very sadly, not much to show for myself today (and really for much of this week) and production is steadily falling behind schedule. Eep. On the plus side, its the long weekend coming up and have got a long overdue gig tomorrow to cheer me up!

This one's for you Hamish.

Earlier this week, I experienced a weird tingly sensation in my finger and when I inspected it, I realised that I had manage to sand the tip of my finger nail off. Whilst I can be quite blase about this now (its the least of the many nicks and dinks I've managed to inflict on myself!), if someone had told me 5 years ago, I would one day sand the tip of finger nails off I suspect I would never have believed them. I guess it just shows you what a funny twisted journey life sometimes takes you on.

Now there's a lot of ways that one can injure oneself in the workshop, some more seriously than others, and if you think about it, a workshop can double up as a torture chamber, enabling you to inflict major pain on your arch nemesis (not that I spend any time thinking about this at all). Even setting aside the risk of dismemberment on any one of the more lethal machines (think table saw, cross-cut saw, band saw or router), the possibilities are endless. You could stab yourself with a chisel, scalpel or paring knife, cut yourself with a handheld saw, flatten your fingers with a mallet, graze yourself with the sander, or even stab yourself with pieces of wood (I have managed to do this one on numerous occasions in a variety of different ways and have a rather spectacular bruise on one boob to show for it). If I had to pick though, I think death by broken veneer press would probably do the most damage. How? By producing the most irritating and high-pitched whining noise imaginable (worse than finger nails on a chalkboard). As everyone is required to make a veneered piece this term, the blasted thing has been on pretty much constantly and I had reached the stage where I was just about ready to stab myself in the ear to block out the noise. Thankfully, however, the thing got repaired!

This week's rant over - here's what I have to show for this week:

1. We finished our French polishing and have some shiny boards to show for it.
2. I've played about with some bendy ply and veneer and now have the drawer fronts for my dresser ready to go.
3. I've made a mess of several bits of my dresser having to cut and re-cut pieces as result of my incompetence. Nonetheless, and despite my best efforts to the contrary, some basic bits of the carcase are coming together.

So shiny you can see your reflection in it!

A former and some bendy ply = serpentine drawer front

Building a dresser one small piece at a time

Finishing.

 

Polish mops housed in a funky new home

This week (and next) is all about the polish. How to finish off your pieces of hand made furniture beautifully so that they are all shiny and bling. It sounds easy, but it isn't. Its also a lot harder work than one would expect. I started off the week feeling like a 5 year old in art class, playing around with water colours and different stains, all of which was much fun. Then we moved on to the sticky stuff, French polish, which gets everywhere no matter how hard you try. The process essentially involves slapping on several layers of the sticky stuff (using a home made polish mouse, Sir Mighty Mouse to you), sanding it down and repeating until you get a matt finish over the piece. All very counterintuitive, but it works (eventually, if your little arms don't fall off in the process).

Stacks of sycamore all planed and ready to go

A home for your bling

Work on my new dresser is progressing a pace (just a relatively slow one). After a couple of weeks of hard graft planing and cutting, I've finally got most of my pieces of wood cut-up, and it won't be long until the fun starts and I get to glue bits together! In the meantime, there's more sanding and cutting down to be done. To distract myself from the mundane, I decided to put together the jewellery tree that was meant to be the piece de resistance on my new dresser. This is probably the most fun thing I've made in my time here and am pretty chuffed with the end result. I might just make me up one to keep in my spare time!

One of the best thing about the course is how much we all seem to learn from the other students on the course. Because everyone is making a different project, we get to see all kinds of weird and wonderful pieces take shape and absorb the different ideas everyone seems to have to solve the problems they are encountering. Today's fun tip was from Colin, who has made a very simple and effective template/mould to house the router whilst he does the complicated cut-outs needed for his table legs, together with some clever ideas for clamping the piece in place whilst working on it. Neat.