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So go on, throw your name in the ring…just stick around for that prize drawing.
Filed under This Week In the Shop, Workshop
To end the year, my students have been making simple marking gauges. My students learned to create a mortise and use hand planes to fit a tenon in this particular project.
Here’s how we did it.
1. Cut a 1″ or 3/4″ square oak strip into 8″ lengths.
2. Cut a 2″ length from a maple strip about 2″ wide, giving you a 2″ x 2″ square.
3. Use the oak strip to mark your mortise in the center of the maple square. We did this by marking two diagonals across the maple square and then eye-balling the center. Mark the square with a mechanical pencils. If you feel really competent, use a try square to wrap the edges of the mortise around to the back side of the maple square.
4. Drill a pilot hole through the center of the mortise (in the waste section).
5. Use a coping saw with the blade threaded through your pilot hole to cut out the mortise.
6. Clean up the mortise with a sharp woodworking chisel.
8. Fit the tenon to the mortise – use a plane to trim the tenon enough to slide with some resistance.
7. Drill hole for the thumbsrew with a 7/16″ twist bit. Move the drill in a circular motion, widening the hole slightly.
8. Hand tighten the thumbscrew into the tenon.
9. Use a nail to drill a pilot hole through one end of the tenon.
10. Hammer a nail into the pilot hole. Clip the nail short.
11. Use a file to shape the pin into a blade shape. Do this by filing one side flat (the side towards your fence) and angling a mill file to make a spear point pin.
Filed under Classroom Project, This Week In the Classroom, Workbench, Workshop
In the late 1800′s and into the early 1900′s, a number of furniture makers, craftsman and artisans reacted against the massive mechanization and industrialization of (their) modern world to create a type of furniture called Arts & Crafts, Craftsman or Mission style furniture. Gustav Stickley in New York, the Roycroft community and others created furniture, which to my eyes, can’t be beat by anything that’s ready-to-assemble.
While I find my heart and soul called by Mr. Morris’s chair, other artisans were getting in on the action. With so much intellectual rebellion running about, some energy had to flow into pottery, right? I’m not a big pot fan (yep, that reads differently than it did in my head) but I do appreciate the art tiles. I just had to find a way to make one without using actual clay. I don’t have the sculpting skills, tools, a kiln or materials for such work.
So how did I do it? I used some of the latest and most innovative prototyping methods known to man.
Filed under This Week In the Classroom, Workshop
Of the three or so classes I’ve taught at TX/RX Labs and the twenty to thirty projects I’ve taught at work, the simple bench project remains my favorite. It is an intermediate level project which can be reached by absolute beginners, it’s cheap to build (approximately $15 w/ finish) and it lends itself to multiple machines (tablesaw, bandsaw, drill press) and hand tools.
I present the latest and greatest class yet:
Special thanks to Pratt for building extra supports for himself and everyone else, shout out to Sean for the intense questions, my teaching assistants, and everyone else in the class. Sure made my weekend.
I will be walking you through how to build the simple bench project, start to finish. As TX/RX so elegantly put it:
Build a simple bench using both hand tools and power tools. A perfect intro to woodworking, we will cover basic tool usage both hand and power along with learning the basics of crafting with wood. All participants will complete a handsome rustic bench as part of the class, theirs to take home upon completion.
You’ll become familiar with the bandsaw, powered miter saw and all the hand tools stuffed away in the tool chest. I’ll run you through stain, varnish and paint as finishes for pine. If you take your time, I’m hoping yours will outshine mine.
Make it safe & keep the rubber side down.
Filed under Community Watch, Workshop
Last Saturday I had the chance to introduce ten students to woodworking tools – great bunch! If you are interested in learning how to use power tools and are in the Houston area, why don’t you sign up for a class over at TX/RX Labs?
Intro to Woodworking Tools behind the tablesaws. 110 fingers.
Join me for a second class in June!
Make it safe & keep the rubberside down this weekend.
Filed under Community Watch
In the next two Tool Primer articles, I will discuss my process for finishing a woodworking project. The finishing process is the difference between a good woodworking project and a heirloom piece of furniture. When I want to really knock a project out of the park, I focus much of my energy on choosing and creating a proper finish.
Boiled Linseed Oil, Shellac, Paste Wax
So here’s my advice: sand it well and thin it as well.
In this article, I’ll focus on sanding. More after the jump!
Continue reading
Filed under Tool Primer
For those readers who are looking to get into woodworking and live in the Houston area, consider joining me for Intro to Woodworking Tools on Saturday, April 13, 9am to 12pm at TX/RX Labs.
This summer’s selection @ TX/RX Labs
I will be focusing on safety procedures for a number of common hand power tools, the table saw, router, oscillating sander, miter saw and others. Check out the link above for more information!
Filed under Community Watch
Every year, I celebrate a my student’s success (and my survival) with 250,000 of my closest friends. How do I do that? I take a van filled with students and covered in wood butterflies downtown for a little ride.
A little ride in the Houston Art Car Parade.
If you are a Houstonian maker, teacher, artist, mover or shaker, you need to fire up the welders, put on the mechanic’s gloves, break out the oil paints and get creative. It’s Art Car season!
Make it safe and keep the rubber-side down.
Filed under Community Watch
Some tools do only one thing well. Some tools do a lot of things well if you know how to use them. The jigsaw (or sabersaw), in my opinion, is unique in the pantheon of modern woodworking tools as it does nearly everything with equal parts of ineptness and frustration. So why keep it around? It’s the only portable tool that cuts curves. And that makes it invaluable in the shop when the project calls for it.
D Handled Jigsaw
Filed under Tool Primer, Workshop
This weekend I got the opportunity to enjoy a some beautiful weather & check out Houston’s Sustainable Living Fest held at Market Square Park. Houston might be the epicenter of the oil & gas industry, but it has a wonderful green and sustainable environmental underground. There’s a lot of cross-pollination too. For example, the Galveston Bay Foundation raises salt marsh grass in donated space inside a NRG power plant. The City of Houston has a number of big corporations headquartered here and its also funds the Houston ReUse Warehouse.
Lots of companies, non-profits and government agencies were represented yesterday. Hope to see you there next year!
Make it safe & keep the rubberside down this weekend.
Filed under Community Watch, Education, Outdoor & Environmental
