Happy holidays.

Finally. All done.

The end of term 1 has mysteriously crept up on us, going simultaneously fast and slow like a weird Twilight Zone time warp and I'm glad to be going home for the holidays. There's an overall sense of relief that I managed to finish my project in time, mixed with a dash of pride, although it all feels slightly anti-climatic really.

Reflecting on the last 10 weeks, I'm surprised at how much woodworking is not only a physical exercise but also quite a cerebral one. To be really good at it, one needs an active imagination and the ability to innovate. Whether its thinking up a jig to make the final piece more accurate or to save time, or puzzling out how to get a particular piece to fit when the wood just isn't behaving itself (shouting "that just won't do Stumpy" doesn't quite achieve the same effect). I have found that I am scarcely able to clamp up without the blessing of one of the tutors, whilst the others on the course seem have to entered into problem solving mode a little more readily. Perhaps its a lack of imagination, or the fact my brain seems only to work in straight lines, exacerbated by a lack of confidence, but I'm hoping that next term I will be able to do most (if not all) of my thinking on my own.

Anyways, I hope you've had a lovely 2012, here's to a merry and restful Christmas. See you all in the new year.
Ta

Stumpy.

Stumpy on a dry run.

Against all odds, I managed to glue up my project this week. Stumpy, as it is now known, started life a couple of inches shorter then he was meant to be and also a lot fatter. I've been unable to make it any skinnier, but at least on the final run I've made it a wee bit taller (although the graft in the middle is sadly a little obvious).

This week has been a comedy of errors in a lot of ways, highlighting the worst of my incompetence (including fitting shelves without checking that they are at right angles, sanding a bit off the cabinet door by mistake, gluing the back panel on to the cabinet without having fitted and measured the front door, etc etc etc).

Stumpy (post-op). Shame it can't also go on a diet.  

I am amazed at what I've managed to achieve in the space of 9 weeks, but I also know that I really wouldn't have been able to get this far without the help of Sandy and Graham, our tutors. They've helped me tremendously on the particularly tricky bits, like scary saw cuts (the potentially cut your finger off kind) and drilling hinges in at weird angles. There's a part of me that's a bit disappointed that I can't say that I've done this completely on my own, but I'm more relieved than anything else that I've just about got there in the end.   Some concessions have been made on the design aspect, as a lack of time and materials has meant that I couldn't quite accommodate everything that I set out to do. Perhaps I will feel better about it by the end of next week when all the inconsistencies have been sanded down and the gaps filled in, but at the moment, if I was truly honest with myself I'd have to say that I have mixed feelings about Stumpy.

The butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.

All things considered, I am really looking forward to the Christmas break, and not just because I have an excuse wear fat pants and jim jams for a week solid. 

Ps: How terrible would it be if I tried to fob off the candlestick we made during bench skills this week as a Christmas present to someone? I am after all a poor student. 

Cold.

Eight weeks and this is all I've got to show for it folks.

The first of the snow has hit Scotland, and whilst its been very pretty, it hasn't been particularly warm, resulting in yours truly catching a spectacular cold. The workshop has been a frantic hive of activity in the last week, with everyone desperately trying to get their projects over the line before term ends in two weeks. The sight of me snivelling and hacking my way through the workshop has probably done nothing for the atmosphere, and I do feel quite sorry for my fellow course mates for having to put up with it all week! If I wasn't so worried that I might not finish on time, I would have spent the week in bed (and felt all the better for it), so its certainly made for a taxing week. One difficult week now over though and the base of the cabinet is now pretty much done (minor details like doors and back notwithstanding).

Look at the pretty patterns made by a shoulder plane.

The last two weeks of planing, gluing and sanding have resulted in the final curve needed for the top of the cabinet being finished this week - I probably would have gotten it done much quicker if it hadn't been for (a) the lack of wood and (b) my fear of the router. In an effort to avoid the blasted thing, the last curve was made entirely on the disc and bobbing sanders (even though I knew it probably wouldn't all fit), joined together with some more herculean sanding and with Graham's and Sandy's magic touch (I take no credit, but then again I have been sick). As much as I hate that blasted router and the amount of sanding I had to do in making the other curves, it was several times worse with this new method as none of these things were like the others or even consistent in the same block.  If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't!

Restoration week.

Sanding down in preparation of laying new baize

Stripping down the old finish by setting the piece on fire. Exciting.

We found a gun in an old cabinet we were restoring. Even more exciting.

Veneer repairs. A spot of paint and polish and it will look good as new.

The gods of woodworking appear to have decided that I haven't done enough sanding for my day job, so as part of restoration week, I've got to do some more (and by hand). I've really enjoyed this week overall - we've had a guest tutor in, Simon MacIntyre, who specialises in furniture restoration, and he's been excellent. Plus, the good news is that he will be back some time in Term 3 as well.

I find it quite difficult to think in 3D, so its nice to have a piece to disassemble and see how it all fits together. Especially if there are any tricky bits like hidden hinges or secret compartments. Its also been very interesting to see the different types of furniture which have come in and the areas which are the stress points over time. Joints are of course the number one area of breakage and can mostly be salvaged by the application of a little glue or a nail/dowel or two. You would also be surprised at the amount of difference a new coat of wax makes.

In project land, things have been going a little less smoothly. The lack of timber for my project has resulted in me spending a lot of time this week planing down planks and gluing bits (each 1 cm thick) together to make a block large enough for me to work on (35cm required). That's a lot of planing and cutting and gluing up. You lose so much wood in the planing process - a block of wood which starts off 2 inches thick often ends up less than an inch thick once its all flat, due to variances in thickness all round. Still, I think I now have most of my wood, barring a one or two small pieces and hopefully things will start coming together now.

Progress?

Ask and you will receive. Its Christmas come early this year. Last week I jokingly asked Graham if I could borrow a small child to do my sanding. Lo and behold at the start of this week, we get a student on work experience who helped me do a spot of sanding at the start of the week. They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to though, as I broke this one after about 2 hours of sanding when he gave up and asked to be excused. Hmph, try camping out in the sanding room for the third week in a row is what I say!

This week I’ve finally got to use the lathe and do a little wood turning which is much fun. I’ve found its quite important to go quite slowly and gently, as otherwise you end up taking out a much larger chunk than you mean to, and we all know there’s no going back from that.

We've also been busy making a veneer hammer - its not perfect, but its probably the only thing I've made during my bench skills sessions which is remotely any good. And that has nothing to do with the construction, but more with the fact that the wood (burr oak, if anyone is interested) is soo pretty.

After three weeks, I can safely say I've used every single sander in this joint, including big bertha and various made up ones using drill bits!

My veneer hammer.

5,000,000 hours of effort and an equal amount of swearing to produce the first step in my cabinet.

The lathe.

With woodwork, as I guess anything else in life, there are good days - like yesterday when things slowly come together and everything seems to be working (more or less). And there are bad days. Like today, where I've spent 10 hours trying to fit two shelves and attendant runners into my cabinet and even then they've not come out too good. For the record, I don't think something as "simple" as that is meant to take that long.

Some handy tips from this week though:

An accident with the sander and some veneer.

–       Use eye protection (and preferably wear clothes without pockets) when on the lathe as the shavings get everywhere!

–       Be careful when sanding veneer, as you might end up sanding through it into the plywood underneath.
–        If you feel like you are fighting against the machine all the time, chances are something is wrong (eg the blade needs changing). Take a step back and reassess the situation before proceeding.
–        Support your wood as it goes through a saw (whether it be the table saw, cross-cut saw or band saw), especially if its a funny shape. Use packing veneer or blocks of offcuts in the right shape to ensure that the cut is even all the way through.

Sanding.

When you think you smell something burning, you probably do. That one was the dust extractor blowing a fuse. I would like to maintain I had nothing to do with it (just happened to be passing by at the time), although it does feel like I've been camping out in the sanding room over the last two weeks.

Sanding has been one of the many unpleasant tasks that I am slowly trying to come to grips with (routing is still number one on the list). To be fair, sanding is less unpleasant with a gas mask on (sans slug - and don't even get me started on how that got in there! Needless to say that it was pretty unpleasant) and merely falls into the tedious category. Which is why I like to do my sanding in the evenings, when the room is empty and I can do a little jig and sing a little song to liven up the process without someone asking me if I am in pain/convulsions.

Despite this week being short (4 days! Yay!), its been a busy one. Apart from the sanding, routing and general project work (which despite all this does not really seem to be going anywhere), we've been doing a little brick building, making coopered boxes and learning how to use bendy ply to make curves.   All fantastic stuff, if a little knackering. Now if you'll excuse me, I might go for a wee walk in the woods.

The trick is glue sizing  first.

Brick build all clamped up. The gaps miraculously disappear on sanding.

Sanding the brick build into shape.

My brick build and coopered box. I was particularly proud of my brick build until I ruined it by sticking a base on it. It would have been alright if the base fit.

Laminated bendy ply. Better than routing.

Sticking various routed bits together, and sanding them down.

Dovetails.

I must admit that this week has been rough. After two whole days of routing and a full day of sanding, I seem to have not gotten much further on my project. On top of that, we've had the neigh impossible task of making the dovetails in our apprentice boxes by hand. I've found the process pretty demoralising, as despite all the will in the world, I just can't seem to make mine flush.

My head knows that one does not become an expert woodworker overnight, just because you happen to have enrolled in woodworking school, and that it will take time for my skills to develop to an acceptable level. It also knows that for someone who has only this year picked up a saw, hammer and plane I am doing pretty well just keeping up with the course and bashing these out on target. But head and heart don't seem to be communicating too well at the moment, and so here I am a little down on myself for not getting them perfect. Because they should be. And God knows its not for a lack of trying.

Thankfully though, a trip back to civilisation this weekend and some time off to attend a lovely wedding has given me a bit of space to reflect on all that I've achieved in the last month and to remember why I am doing all of this. So despite the grubby chimney sweep fingers, and the aches, pains and scrapes I've accumulated in the last month (my little hands are sadly still sore and swollen  notwithstanding the impromptu hand massage at said wedding - a long story which I will save for another day), I find myself looking forward to the start of another week. Although if I never have to do another dovetail again I won't be too upset by it!

Some sawdust and glue to fill in the gaps. 

Accursed dovetails

Machines.

So I've finally overcome my instinctive fear of bandsaws, when I get introduced to an even meaner, scarier machine - the open table router. Its a horrible thing which sucks up end grain and spits it out, leaving one's precious timber full of unsightly gouges if not careful. After about 5 hours on the blasted thing I'm just about able to do a run without too much of a palaver, and even then its still a pretty unpleasant experience.

Routed cabinet tops - only a million more to go without cutting my fingers off

Work on my project is plodding along. I've got various bits cut out and have run out of wood about 1/3 into the process, most of next week will be spent on the bandsaw and router but hopefully once that's finished, the most difficult bits will be done.

Bench skills this week have focused on more joints - different types of mortices and tenons, and lap joints. I'm still more than a little dissatisfied with the standard of teaching/tutoring on the course, but trying to make the most of it. I may be a total beginner, but even I can sense that spending a paltry 2 minutes teaching us how to sharpen our tools is just not going to cut it (again, thank goodness for the course I did with John Lloyd).

A relatively successful fox wedged mortice and tenon 

Apparently sawdust and glue helps mask any less successful joints made - didn't seem to work in my case

Ps - the claws are back, together with an assortment or minor scrapes and bruises. Ho hum.

Trees and such.

Week 2 and I'm slowly settling in, getting more used to the madcap, ad hoc method of teaching and feeling less at sea. We had a jaunt in the forest this week for purposes of tree identification (less fun for those who forgot their wellies, i.e. yours truly). As Anselm says, its slightly ridiculous if you're a furniture maker but can't identify wood unless it comes in planks. Fair point, although I think it will take a lot more than a lovely 1 hour walk in the woods before I can safely claim to be an expert. 

Say hullo to this lovely beech tree if you see it in the forest

Scale drawing of my project

 

Working on various joints, cleats and strengthening keys

Elsewhere in the news, we've been busy starting work on our respective projects. A day or two (or three, but who's counting) was lost in preparing full scale drawings and quotations/cutting lists, but then with no further ado or fanfare, we were launched straight into it. There's been a bit of a race for wood, and rather than wait until I've got all the right pieces, Graham, my tutor, has suggest that I just get on with it and start making the side cabinet for now. I haven't gotten very far as yet, but I can tell you one thing, its going to be a heavy fucker once its done. Don't even want to think about carrying it up to the attic where it will live!

This week for our bench skills we've been looking at various joints (rub joints, dowels, biscuit joints, tongue and groove and loose tongue) and accompanying strengthening keys. Its definitely taken me a while (and three passes) to get there, but the end results haven't been to bad - my loose tongue joint was, well, loose (unintentionally!) and my butterfly keys could have been cut neater, but all in all I'm not going to beat myself up too badly about this one.

School.

School

I still have all ten fingers, for now. Right, now that is out of the way, here’s a quick round-up of my first week.

The bench tools we've made in the first week

It was strange driving in on the first morning. That coupled with my kindly landlord’s enthused caring, has made me feel 15 again. Truth be told, I wasn’t too impressed by the first day. The tutors were slightly scatty and disorganized and spent more time telling me they didn’t have time to teach me things because this was a condensed 30 week course than actually teaching me things. Quite frankly I would have been happy if they had knocked on an additional week or two to the course if that meant some teaching actually got done. There was very limited instruction, and for a course which targets itself at people with no prior woodworking experience, it felt like the pace was set by those who did and those without just sort of muddled through the day trying to keep all fingers and toes intact. If it wasn’t for the short courses I did over the summer with John Lloyd, I would have been completely lost and not known the business end of a plane from the other, much less how to use it! Personally I found John’s method of teaching much more to my liking - he was easy to understand, methodical and detailed, with little nuggets of wisdom tucked away in almost every action. Still, its early days yet, and perhaps the teething problems of the first week will go away as things progress.

Scale model of my chosen design

We’ve spent a lot of time this week designing and coming up with our pet projects for term 1, on top of the small bench tasks we’ve had to do. Its 1 part frustrating and 3 parts fun – its really hard to think of ideas which are good, but at the same time original and which are aesthetically pleasing to boot. In the end, I’ve had to just go for pretty. I am hoping that with time, the process becomes a wee bit easier. At the moment I've got my work cut out for me and am trying hard not to get too stressed about everything - it feels like I'm trying to learn a billion things at once, from drawing to design, to actual carpentry, which is more than a little daunting. That said, there have been moments in the workshop when I've got my headphones in and have got stuck in to whatever it is I am doing at the time (whether it be drawing, planing, sawing or the like) and life is good - its just a really sweet spot to be in. 

Didnae fash yourself.

Greetings earthlings. I know its been a while since my last post, mostly because I've been rather slack on the crafty front over the last month, concentrating on the more mundane and boring stuff like trying to get a visa and a driving licence.

Knitting baby booties, cute as they are, doesn't really add to the sum total of craftiness

Visa now got (sadly, not the driving licence, at least not yet), I have re-rooted myself up to bonnie Scotland where the scenery is beautiful but its oh-so-quiet. Although I've mentally tried to prepare myself for this, arriving in the little village (picturesque as it is) with only 1 co-op, 1 post office and 1 cafe (but 2 pubs you'll be pleased to note) after the hustle and bustle of London town was a bit of a shocker to the system (try getting a supply of Chinese groceries here? I think not). I've also run out of my Fringe boxset after only two marathon days, so am a little bit concerned that cabin fever may hit, especially if I don't get a driving licence and a car soon!

Am a little bit apprehensive about the start of school on Monday - in the past month, it feels like I've been waiting in limbo, and during this time I've consciously tried to avoid thinking about the future and what it may hold, but there's no avoiding it now. Part of me feels extremely underprepared for this, and I've got an inkling that it will take a long long time for this feeling to go away, if ever. Will keep you posted on how things go in the next instalment, but until then - here's some pictures of the view.

Gifford village and its woody walks

North Berwick's beaches

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.

Tools of the trade.

Taking it apart for hours of sharpening

My spanking new planes 

I have decided to take a wee break from upholstery to get back to basics and do what I originally set out to do, namely woodworking, by enrolling in a two-week furniture making taster course in Sussex.

By the end of the first day, I have managed to spend more moolah on tools and a total of 5 hours sharpening my pretties (with 2 hours for assorted tea breaks in between). It feels quite momentous as these are the first proper tools of my new trade, which I will (hopefully) use and cherish for a long, long time (upholstery supplies notwithstanding).

The current course is with John Lloyd, who according to people in the know (ie everyone else on the course!) is quite well-known for  cabinet making.
Here's the link to John's website: http://www.johnlloydfinefurniture.co.uk/

The pace has been relatively slow compared to the upholstery courses I've been on, although things may pick up over the next couple of days. Nonetheless, this hasn't stopped me from feeling quite bewildered at times. Am feeling slightly like a fish out of water, surrounded by testosterone and being treated like a little girl on a frolic. Sigh. One of the few times when not looking your age is actually a draw back.

Am finding my new planes quite heavy and unwieldy, and having a little trouble getting flat/straight shavings on my test runs. And I have been putting my back into it, I promise! Hopefully practice will make perfect, but only time will tell.

The only other gripe I have (and those adverse to girly-girl behaviour, please look away now) is that I now understand why all the cabinet makers/carpenters I've met to date have such grubby, dirty little fingers. It is neigh impossible getting all the bits of grit/oil/etc out of the ridges on your fingers, much less the stuff that gets into your nails. There goes my manicure! 

A surfeit of footstools.

My slippered chair

So, despite the quiet stretch blogwise, I've actually been busy beavering away in the background on various upholstery projects. As a result I'm currently inundated by footstools, and one slippered chair.

If I've not mentioned this before, upholstery is hard work! After three weeks of upholstery, the strain on my little hands (unused to anything more strenuous than picking up the occasional pen before now) has caused them to curl into little crab-like claws (think Zoidberg). But I can safely say that it has all been worth it and I'm enjoying every moment of it! Hopefully all this means is that by the time Scotland comes round (fingers crossed the whole visa debacle will be settled favourably soon!), I'll be callused and hardened like a builder and it will make the woodworking easy-peasy.

Working with fabric to transform old worn out items of furniture into kooky creations has been immensely satisfying. It just constantly astounds me how draping a different piece of fabric on a piece changes the look and feel of it all so completely. I'm completely in love with fabric at the moment and have had a hard time trying to curb myself from trying to buy up an arsenal of material with which to upholster things with. Its a real shame that I've managed to miss the bulk of the summer sales, or I would have a lot more lovely fabric to play with!

Having finished my very first unsupervised project, I'd probably give myself a B+? Part of the problem is the tools - having to work with what I've managed to accumulate thus far, and making it work. I guess the real test is if anyone else can tell the difference!

Footstool No 2

Footstool No 3 (Before)

Footstool No 3 (After)

Footstool No 4 (Before)

Footstool No 4 (After)