If God Isn't a Tarheel...

Finally getting a little chill in the air here in the NC foothills. Could be my favorite time of the year. Milo has started rocking It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at night, and the leaves are just on the verge of making things feel like magic.

I haven't done anything with cherry in a while so when I started milling some today, it got me feeling a little crazy. Julie Andrews,,, Hills are alive,,, crazy. A good crazy! It smells SO unbelievably good when you cut it. Sweet and drippy. Like a cheese danish, or baklava. Maybe it was the coffee, or the blue skies, or the cancer causing dust particles entering my lungs, whatevs... I got giddy.

Glued, scraped, and sanded some tome tops. Gonna start the finishing process tomorrow. Priming, painting, and finishing for the next few days. Dreading it, but somehow nice weather makes it seem like fun.

In my state of autumnal euphoria, I began to think about my favorite things in the shop. Some are sentimental, all are essential. Maybe I secretly want to be John Cusack in High Fidelity...

Top Five favorite things in the shop:

1: Tie for first- Picture of my baby boy at the bench/ My now big boy hanging out with me.

2: Card Scrapers: Hands down my favorite tool. (low angle block plane a close second)

3: The worlds craziest music machine donated by Mr. Famous Bike Racer himself and best friend to yours truly, Mark Hekman.

4: Super, ridiculously, dangerously, scary sharp chisels.

5: Last but not least, my sweet sweet Izz-Bot.

Hope everyone in the Old North State enjoys the week of freaky nice weather!

You know it!




Its On You.

Ok.... I am going to post a tip that may be helpful to some. I will make every attempt to thoroughly cover all safety issues........ But if you get hurt.... I have a very good lawyer.

Also... By no means am I trying to say my methods are the best, correct, or not crazy. There are 10 ways to do everything in this business and thousands of years/ people doing them. This is just something I do. If it helps you... I would be elated!

Quick and Accurate Way to Measure Blade Height on the Table saw.

Measuring blade height on the table saw with a rule can be frustrating and sometimes inaccurate. The top of the blade arc is sometimes difficult to find and the eyes can often play tricks. I use a sacrificial strip of square stock to very accurately set blade height while wasting little time.

I generally use this method with the dado blade but it would work equally well with a single blade.

1: Find or make a square piece of 2' x 3"x 3/4" stock that you can sacrifice. I always use a piece of 3/4" plywood with at least 1 jointed edge. This is your sacrificial strip. Plywood is generally very strait/ stable, and I always have lots of cutoffs that I will never use.

2: Make 3 marks at the desired height in the middle of the sacrificial strip about 1' long. Connect the dots. I always make 3 marks because with only 2, 1 could be off and give you an nonparallel line. The 3rd mark keeps everybody straight. You could also use a marking gauge here.

3: Attach sacrificial strip to your saw fence. Make sure the clamps are TIGHT SON!!!

4: Make sure you have the correct throat plate in your saw. Drop your blade below the table. Place the sacrificial strip over half of the blade (make sure you don't go too far over and cut into your fence! Disaster.) Turn on the saw and slowly raise the blade until its highest point touches your line.

Now your blade is at the perfect height. Sweet!

Workin' It

Lots of cool projects coming up. Tables, beds, crib?????

Milo and I hit the lumber yard (not necessarily a real yard) this afternoon to pick up a little extra poplar for cabinet face frames and cherry for another project. Miss Rhonda from Wall Lumber up in Madison came out to the truck to get a hug from Milo. He told her he went to Spanish class and told someone to "Back Off Son!!!" He's been assured a job as soon as he turns 16. Love it!

Plugging away at cabinets. Even if they will be painted, I still like to treat cabinets as if they were to have a clear finish. Takes a little more time, but they always turn out better. Got all the face frames attached. Doors are in progress, along with the trim which will be a 1 1/2" cove moulding underneath the natural cherry tops. The cherry tops are going to get one of my favorite finish treatments. I'll post on it later this week. Here are some shots.

My homeboy

Hole at the bottom of the far one is for an air vent.

Baseboard and base cap will come up to the bottom of the

face.

Face frame is attached with biscuits and glue.

Used the Domino to glue the face frames.

People You Should Know.

Two of the titans.... or legends.... or icons.... these don't do justice, passed this year within months of each other. Sam Maloof and James Krenov arguably laid the foundation for "modern" woodworking (modern= strange for a craft spanning 1000's of years where the basic tenants remain fundamentally the same). Both lived long lives, Maloof 93, Krenov 89, both emigrated to the US, both lived and worked in California. Totally different styles. For me their influence was less about design, technical skill, or aesthetics. In fact I may go as far to say that I never really cared for their particular styles, although its hard not to love the lines of a Maloof rocker. More so they articulated, for me, the essence of the process. Krenov's "The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking" was the first woodworking book I picked up. I was lucky enough to work at a fantastic contemporary art gallery where it rested in the library. I knew nothing - absolutely - ... might not know much more today... and was, to say the least... intimidated. Krenov hit me like bricks:

"This book is not intended for professional cabinetmakers. It is for amateurs in the true sense of the word: those who love the material and the work of their craft more than anything else about it.... What some of us find is an enjoyment we can't weigh against money, recognition, or artistic aura. By whatever term others call it, it is the feeling of doing something we want to do-and doing it well, by measures both honest and sensitive." -James Krenov, The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking

Maloof was the guy I wanted to be. California lemon farm, shop with his sons, super cool glasses. If Krenov was about philosophy, Maloof was about lifestyle (at least for me.) More so than any traditional woodworker, Maloof broke through the "craftsman" barrier and became a design icon. His lines are echoed everywhere. Sculpted and new, his methods were a revelation to many... me included.

These were some of the guys that inspired me in the beginning and continue to today. I go back to their books sometimes frequently and other times infrequently, not necessarily for technical know how, but more for reassurance or comfort. They are like mashed potatoes or chicken soup. Always good, always comfort.

So I was very sad when I learned they were both gone. Not that I knew or met them or ever would. Just that they were gone.

Maloof on the cover of the 25th ed. of Fine Woodworking (the periodic bible you might say)

Don't Front...

And never half-step either... by all means.

My continuous foray into the art of fronting and half-stepping is evident in the photo for the header of this blog. This photo was the amalgamation of 2 parts laziness and 5 parts procrastination. While building a set of 8 dining chairs a few years ago, I spent an entire day (entire day I said) putting off actual work to set up a photograph of my progress. Tried my best to make it look like the cover of an ad for Williamsburg. Even covered the table saw with rough sawn lumber and shavings for effect. Busted out the 3 megapixel camera and went crazy. IPhoto edit and effects.... done. Scandalous. 

Sadly I lost all the photos of the completed chairs so this is all I have now. They were good too.

Photography be damned... I'll stick to other things

Here are some that didn't meet my high standards.

Unleashed

Gonna get nuts on the first day and post like a wildman!

Below: what is currently happening in the shop: more cabinets!

These are cabinets that will house china, crystal, and have a small section for wine. The wine section is similar to a wine cellar I built years ago for a client out of walnut (posted below). These cabinets will be painted but the top was requested to be some type of hardwood. They decided on Cherry. They should look nice when done. Classic.

How it all gets started.... 

Coffee: Check

Intricate drawings on a piece of plywood: Check

Carcass pieces after cutting and dados

Gluing up a box...

Wine cellar from years ago. Will do a similar, yet much smaller, wine storage system in these.

Coming along. Some preliminary fitting of the wine storage. Will hold 12 bottles.

If I Build it...

Finally succumbed to the pressure of blogging....

Well.... there has been no actual pressure... nor any requests to start a blog. In fact, I am confident that no one has ever wished that I would start a blog. So in reality, I have convinced myself that documenting and making public the rambling exploits occurring in my dirty little shop is an exercise that can potentially be terribly mind numbing for someone stumbling across the content, or..... it may hold a tiny bit of fun and interest for someone special. Are you special?

I plan to post on current, future and past projects coming out of the shop and the processes I go through to get to the end. For some reason I love to build things with wood. I love the smells, the sights, the feeling of being in the shop, fluorescent lights, and the occasional Nat Sherman...

I won't pretend that the content is to be "educational" or of "proper execution." Just how I have learned things along the way. I will be honest, show mistakes, and use self deprecation as a defense mechanism. Feel free to comment or ask questions... but if you're mean... I'll delete it (being honest)

Here we go.....