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Gent Saw swedish firewood Birch

Two Lawyers Toolworks -

Gent saw8" long45mm deep0,4mm thick blade17 TPI RipThe wood is a piece of rippeled swedish birch, I took from the fire wood stable in a Stuga near Alingsas we rent in sommer 2019.  Pedderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12692353908068506678noreply@blogger.com0

What Is It?

Journeyman's Journal -

I received an email enquiry about a particular desk, which has left me puzzled. The desk’s unique feature is its back, which is designed with three panels adorned with ripple mouldings, a detail I’ve never encountered before. The intricate ripple mouldings, which require a significant amount of time to create, suggest that the desk was not intended to be placed against a wall but to be viewed from all angles. Another peculiar aspect is that it has a single shelf without any dividers, ruling out the possibility of it being a postal desk. Given the number of history enthusiasts who follow my blog, I’m hopeful that someone will be able to shed light on this mystery.

getting a cold.....

Accidental Woodworker -

 I sure hope that I'm coming down with a cold and not something alpha numeric that starts with a C. I woke up last night at 0130 not for a toilet trot race but to sneeze. When that happened I thought my eyeballs were going to pop out it was so strong. That was also the start of having to continually empty out my snot locker (nose). So far I have sneezed a bazillion times since 0130 and I have emptied a snot rag box blowing my nose. Fun times are upcoming it looks to be.

glamour pic #1

Waxed the two drawers and it was time to ooh and aah. Not too shabby for a pile of wood from something I can't remember. I do remember the outside carcass was made of formica and wafer board. The oak was shelves and dividers?

 side/back view

Not much to see here but I am happy with the overall color of this. I am not a fan of dark things but this (IMO) looks good.

 the top

Probably overkill using 5 screws to hold one half of the french cleat to the shelf unit. I used brass round head screws and filed them flat. I don't know why the center one came out a wee bit smaller but it is balanced by the other 4.

 the new kitchen organizer shelf

I went over this again trying to squeeze out the second idea for this that I had. I still couldn't get it work for me. The expresso machine is what is killing it now - it is almost 14" high.

 first dado

Self supporting and it isn't too snug. I tried to shoot for the shelves to fit without having to plane the ends. The other dado on this board is a slip fit and not self supporting.

 get use this clamp

I bought 4 of these clamps several years back and this is the first time I'm using them. They are designed to be used with 1-2-3 blocks.

 90° guide

Turns out I didn't need this for any of the mortises. I chopped all four walls on them almost dead nuts at 90°.

 sides are done

Only the inside gets a dado from end to end. The show face has through mortises for the tenons only.

 final layout

Marked the tenons and this is it for layout. Got a little confused on how deep to make the tenons. Finally got it straightened out by playing around with the scrap - I got see what I had to do visually.

 chopping the waste

Sawed the shoulders and chopping between the tenons was in the batters box.

 wee bit tight

The sides fits in the dado but the tenons are too tight for their respective mortises. I had to plane them before they fit.

 good fit but still too tight

I was prepared to use wedges to close up the tenons fit in the mortises. Looks like I might not have to do that. This is most likely going to get painted and stenciled by my wife but I am shooting for all 8 to fit snug.

2 mortises and one dado fitted

I had to plane the end 3 times before it fit. I think I might use hide glue on this because it won't swell the mortises before I can seat the tenons.

checking the side to side

I have a couple of inches to play with but I don't want this to be too close to the edge of the cabinet it will be on. This should come in at around 21" and I have almost 24" of real estate.

 went smoothly

I don't have a good record reading the grain on this New Zealand pine. I usually get ugly looking tear out but today was my lucky day. 3 plane runs and nothing but fluffy shavings. One fitted and 3 more to go. I should be able to glue this up tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

Exploring Japanese saws (iii) – saw types

Working By Hand -

So with some background on Japanese saws, which one should you choose? Like Western saws, some are better at some tasks than others, but there are likely more types of saws than in Western woodworking. Now let’s consider some of the differing types of Japanese saws. There are a number of different forms of saws, some of which are for rough cuts and dimensioning lumber, some of which are for construction, and others for fine cabinetmaking. Toshio Ōdate discusses most of these in his book. The saws described below are perhaps those most commonly used in Japanese woodworking (at least in a Western context).

First there are the Ryoba, which apart from being a style of saw, is a term used in the context of a specific genre of saws. Basically when companies describe a saw as a Ryoba, they mean a two-edged saw with one edge crosscut and the other edge rip.

Ryoba

These saws are suitable for everything from rough carpentry (dimensioning or re-sawing wood) to fine furniture. In many ways Ryoba saws are the equivalent of western rip and crosscut panel saws. Ryoba are generally used with two hands, and the saw is held at a steeper angle for an easy cut, of a low angle to gain more control.

Name: Ryoba - dual purpose, with two cutting edges
Style: Ryoba
Teeth: cross-cut and rip
Suitability: deep, rough cuts, dimensioning wood
Blade length: 20-36cm

The largest category of saws is likely the single-edged Kataba style saws that are not Dozuki. The blades on these saws do not have a spine, and come in various different forms, with crosscut, rip and hybrid teeth.

Kataba
Name: Kataba - dual purpose, with a single cutting edge
Style: Kataba
Teeth: cross-cut and rip
Suitability: working cuts, dimensioning wood
Blade length: variable cm

The Dozuki or Douzukinoko is a single edged saw suited to fine detail work. These saws have a very thin blade which is supported by a steel or brass spine. The teeth are very fine (typically 24 tpi), and have very little set, and the saw leaves an incredibly smooth surface. One limitation of course is that the depth of cut is limited by the spine. Most are crosscut, but Dozuki rip saws exist as well.

Dozuki
Name: Dozuki - very thin blade + spine
Style: Kabata
Teeth: cross-cut and rip
Suitability: tenon shoulders, dovetails, precision cuts
Blade length: 20-28cm

There is one issue in that the saw typically used by Westerners to cut dovetails is the Dozuki which is a cross-cut saw, however cutting dovetails is a ripping operation.

The Azebiki can be single or double-sided, and has a curved blade that allows a cut to be started or stopped in the middle of a board. The blade is usually quite short, and therefore requires a guide block. These saws are exceptional for cutting things like sliding dovetails.

Azebiki
Name: Azebiki - short blade, curved edges + long neck
Style: Kabata and ryoba
Teeth: cross-cut or rip
Suitability: starting centred cuts, sliding dovetail joints
Blade length: short

The Kugihiki is a flush cut saw used for dowels or trim.

Kugihiki
Name: Kugihiki - flexible blade, no teeth set
Style: Kabata and ryoba
Teeth: cross-cut
Suitability: flush cutting dowels
Blade length: 18-20cm

Anahiki saws typically have a curved blade. Prior to industrial times, saws with curved blades were quite common, which is likely because the back and forth movement of the human arm tends to trace a curve rather than a straight line and this curve will be followed by a saw. Today it is easier to produce straight lines rather than curved ones, so they have fallen out of favour.

Anahiki
Name: Anahiki - long blade, rough work
Style: Mostly kabata
Teeth: cross-cut
Suitability: large timbers and beams
Blade length: 31-46cm

A commonly overlooked but very useful saw is the Mawashibiki, keyhole saw for cutting a curved or circular hole. The blade is usually tapered from front to back and top to bottom. The blade is typically made of softer steel to allow for more flexibility.

Name: Mawashibiki - keyhole saw, long, narrow blade
Style: Kabata
Teeth: any
Suitability: cutting curves
Blade length: 31-46cm

Infill Planes

The Barn on White Run -

A few weekends ago I attended the PATINA monthly gathering, as always getting my tool-flea-market fix (I bought only a few small items) before going inside for the presentation on infill planes by Lee Richmond of The Best Things tools, towards whom I have sent very many dollars over the years.

The talk and Q&A were excellent and very informative and I learned a lot, particularly the history of infill plane kits that were available to craftsmen, and the prevalence of planemakers making tools to be marketed under other branding than their own.  More about both points in a minute.

It got me wondering about my own inventory of infill planes which, when compiled, was more numerous than I initially thought.  I don’t know why as these are tools I use regularly.  I guess I just never thought of them in that way.

Here is my own collection, presented in no particular order.

The prize of my collection is my Robert Towell miter/shooting plane, probably from the second quarter of the 19th century.  Towell was one of the makers who produced tools bearing his own imprint and sold from his own shop, along with unmarked planes sold by other purveyors.  Mine is one of the latter, devoid of any maker’s marks but with all the hallmarks of his work.  His planes were apparently of this form and are highly desirable by collectors, provided they bear his mark.

This image from the interwebz shows the maker’s mark that is missing on my plane. That lacunae is what made this plane affordable, otherwise the $5k price tag would have been beyond the realm of consideration for me. And, Mrs. Barn would have probably killed me…

Since mine is unmarked, it was “affordable” to me (still pricey by my standards but only 10% of the price had it borne his stamp) and I bought it from a flea market session at Martin Donnelly’s about 20 years ago.  The throat is so tight (about 1/3 mm) I find the only useful purpose it has for me is trimming the end grain of boards on a shooting jig.

Contemporary tool maker Raney Nelson of Daed Tools made a series of Towell-inspired planes maybe 20 years ago and I got it through trading some other materials and tools for it, otherwise I could have never afforded it.

Like Towell and Raney’s friend Konrad Sauer the construction is hammered dovetails, with I think African Blackwood as the infill.  I really should ask him more about this tool the next time our paths cross, as they do occasionally.

It’s just a bit too small to use as a block plane, but perfect for small shooting tasks.  This plane might have evolved into the “collectible” realm as I am not sure how much plane making Raney does any more since he and Chris Schwarz started Crucible Tools.

This still-under-restoration smoother is one of those Richmond said was probably a kit of sorts, with the metal shell being sold as a chassis for a woodworker to make the wooden infill components.  I got this late 19th century tool in a box lot of other derelict tools at a flea market, devoid of iron or wedge, looking like at had a stint inside a concrete mixer.  I cobbled it together as a functioning plane after restoring the totally trashed wooden infills, ebonizing them and leaning the steel shell.

I was never really happy with the wedge or the iron I dug out of my spare parts drawer, so I asked my friend Josh Clark to look through his inventory to see what he had.  I soon received a really nice double iron in the mail that fits the sole mouth very tightly and have been puttering on making a wedge off and on ever since.  If I have success with a wooden wedge I just might make another out of ivory.  Just because I can.

For many years Ron Hock used to sell kits to make planes, and this started as one of those.  The maker in this instance was my friend Joe who gave it to me 15(?) years ago for reasons I can no longer recall.  It was a very nice plane but underweight for what I wanted.

During the first Roubo manuscript I modified it with heavy brass cheeks and a bit of stylizing to use it as a veneer/parquetry shooting plane.

Some years ago at a Lie-Nielson event I bought this infill plane from Mateo Panzica of Lazarus Planes in Louisville KY.  His fabrication approach is almost 180 degrees opposite from Towell and Nelson but you cannot argue with the results.

This weighty smoother is simply superb and gets regular use at my bench, perhaps more than any plane (other than my sleigh-style block plane that is going into the grave with me, unless of course it goes to L’il T or his brother).  If I needed more new planes I would probably divide my money between Lazarus and Steve Voigt, although the Lasso of Truth would reveal I do not really need any more.  (Other than a toother from Steve Voigt, if he ever gets them to market).

An infill I made all by my lonesome is this plane designed specifically for, and not useful otherwise to tell you the truth, shooting the edges of sawn parquetry elements.  I saw Paterick Edwards demonstrate a vintage version of this plane at Williamsburg several years ago and decided I had to have one myownself.

I started out with a derelict one-inch rabbet plane body and beveled one side, then silver soldered the brass shell.  I am really pleased with its performance.

started the next one.....

Accidental Woodworker -

 Hit a speed bump with the oak shelf unit. The handles didn't survive and both took the express south on me. Fixed that and started the next project which is for the kitchen. That one went dead in the water after the layout. Had to take a step back and sharpen the chisels I need to use on it. I'm hoping that this one doesn't take more than a couple of days to whack out. 

 still sticky

The stain was coming off on my fingers when I dragged them over the carcass. Before I laid down any wax I wiped down the entire carcass and drawers with a rag soaked with mineral spirits.

 time out

This door is hinge bound and won't stay closed. I fiddled around with the magnetic door catches but that didn't work out. The door can't lay flat and it is tight at the hinges and on the other end it is a good 1/4" off. I stopped working on the shelf and addressed this headache.

 16th inch shim

The gains (mortises/notches for the hinge leaves) were too deep along with the bottom one being tapered. I tried using a couple of layers of thin cardboard but it wasn't enough. I filled in the gain on the door with a piece of pine and that worked.

 oops

I made the same me-steak with both hinges. I put them in upside down. The barrel pin could fall out with it this way. Spent the additional calories and reversed the hinges so the barrel pin cap was on the top.

 applying the Briwax

I made one swipe with a paper towel and shitcanned it. I took a 1" brush and cut 3/4 of the bristles off. What a game changer, especially so on this grainy open pored oak. Did the back and outsides first and then the inside.

 it has a shine

The outside has a definite sheen to it from the wax. The drawer is dyed wood sans wax. The handle still was attached here but not for long.

 came right off

I had the drawer as is and when I pushed it forward the handle immediately said No Mas, No Mas.

 2nd one was history

I snapped the 2nd one off with my fingers. I think the the finish/dye on the box put up a barrier to the glue. It looks like I will be dealing with the handles a lot quicker than I expected to.

I scraped the drawer fronts down to clean and smooth surface removing all traces of the dye and finish. I also scraped the backs of the handles of the old glue. I put a couple of nails in the back (snipped them short) and used them as my registration. Mixed up some epoxy and glued the handles on. They got to cook from lunch till when I get back from my post lunch walk about. Also thought I had snapped at least one pic of this but didn't.

 august and september

These are the two sliding lid boxes I made in august and september of 2021. The 8/2021 looked like 3/2021 to me yesterday. I made these for the shop but never used for that. I applied the Briwax over everything - glue squeeze out and putty. I didn't go nutso on cleaning up either one.

 plywood bottoms

The wax finish feels smooth to the touch even on the plywood bottoms. It doesn't have the sheen that the oak shelf has but I intend to slap another coat of Briwax on these two to see what that does for a shine.

 5min epoxy

I didn't want to make new handles and chop mortises for them. Instead I opted for 5min epoxy and two hours later it is holding strong. I shook both boxes by the handle like a madman and nada.

 24hr wait

Stained the drawer fronts and tomorrow in the AM I'll apply Briwax to the front only. I am thinking of applying shellac to the interior. I like the look of the drawers in the 15 drawer dresser with 3 coats of shellac.

 next batter

This is going to be a simple shelf storage thing for kitchen appliances mostly. A waffle iron will be stowed under the bottom shelf, The first shelf will hold the toaster and the expresso machine (why it is so tall 1st to 2nd shelf). The top shelf is for the radio or maybe not. That will depend upon whether or not my wife can reach it - she is 5 foot nothing tall.

I thought of doing this differently to lighten it up. I liked that idea but I had already cut this stock to width and length. The alternate was to make the ends with stiles and rails with thin pickets to fill in between the stiles. But I wouldn't have enough wood to make it - I'd be short on the rails and pickets.

1 2 3 blocks

These blocks are great for layout on 1, 2, or 3 inch multiples. The shelves will have two tenons that are 1" in from either edge and 2" wide.

 story pole

This is basically what I am doing. There is a dado on the inside that goes from edge to edge and the opposite face just needs a through mortise for the tenons.

 chisels for the shelf

I will use the 2" chisel for the dado on the inside. The other two are for the through mortises. I started sharpening the 2" one but stopped. My hands started aching and I killed the lights here. I'll pick back up on this in the AM.

accidental woodworker

almost done......

Accidental Woodworker -

 The current shelf thing is done woodworking wise. When I killed the lights at 1530 I finished the last woodworking needed. Or at least I thought I had. If there isn't something that pops up tomorrow, I will wax it and call it 100% done.

 not a good start

I forgot that I had already sawn the sides to width yesterday.  These will work and I saved the off cuts. The plan was to glue them back on after the drawer was glued up.

 2nd brain fart

The side drawer slips are handed - there is a right and a left. I made two rights and I didn't have any more slips left. So I cut off the offending piece and fit the slip as is. This side won't have the slip extended underneath the back bottom of the drawer.

 stained

The pic shows a difference between the shelves in the four outside faces. Up close and personal I can't see the difference. I am pleased with how the color seems to be consistent throughout it. 

 first drawer fitted

I was surprised that I had to plane this to get it to fit. Yesterday just the drawer front was fitted with a 32nd gap all around. The assembled drawer was wider than the opening (R-L).

 glue and nails

Lightweight construction but I have a lot of confidence in this type of joinery. I made rabbeted boxes and drawers for years this way and they have all held up. I have a drill bit box that is nailed and rabbeted that I made over 40 years ago. It is still together with no hiccups with it at all.

 only two slips

The front of the drawer bottom fits in a groove in the drawer front. Because of that I only needed slips on the sides.

 new ones

The off cuts were too thin and shy of the top edge of the drawer. I had to make a couple of new inserts to glue in.

 drawer pulls

I have some knobs I could put on this but I am liking the idea of making my own pulls. I think have wooden ones made of wood like the rest of the shelf will blend in better. I'm shooting for something simple to match the rest of the shelf unit.

#8 round

The first attempt (on the long piece in the above pic) didn't go so well. I tried to use my fingers as a fence and that got flushed real quick. Nailed a fence to a wider piece of stock for the 2nd attempt and that worked well. The groove is to facilitate pulling open and closing the drawer.

2nd drawer, 3rd mind fart

The 2nd drawer is a 1/4" too long on the front to back. I screwed up on the width of the sides and I thought assumed they were ready to go on the length. I was wrong.

 up against the stop

The 2nd drawer wouldn't fit neither initially and I had to plane some off both sides. I looked at it from the back expecting to see maybe the top back edge or the sides were binding. Instead I found my mind fart as the back of drawer is up tight to the drawer stop. On a positive note, the drawer stop worked a treat.

sawed the back off

No problems sawing the back off the drawer (tablesaw). I glued up two thinner pieces to get the width needed for a new drawer back.

 cooking

I took this out of the clamps after about 45 minutes. Once the joinery on it is done it won't be subjected to any more stress as the back of the drawer.

 while the glue dries

Used the chisel to knock the corners of the handle off. I drew a 5/8 circle and after the chisel got it close I finessed it on the sanding block.

 fingers crossed

I am hoping that tomorrow I can get this wax on and call it done. The guy on the Epic Upcyling uses Briwax on everything he makes. I used it once in 2021 on two sliding lid boxes. Today they look good and they aren't greasy or sticky to the touch. Definitely doesn't look like a shellac finish but they do have a soft satin sheen to them.

new back

Glued and nailed again. I wanted to cut out the pitch pocket but I couldn't work around it.

 drawer sneak peek

As of now the handles are only glued on. I don't have room to get screws in from the drawer front into the handles. If the handles don't survive I will come up with a plan B. Mostly likely it will be the same handle but with a tenon to fit in a mortise.

accidental woodworker

medical appointment......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Had a medical appointment today and it wasn't for me. My wife had breast scan done today to check out a suspicious lump. Good news is that it is a cyst according to the radiologist. He said it was smooth and not irregular like cancer lumps. She has a follow up in 6 months. That was a relief because her mother had breast cancer and this disease is a mother daughter thing. Like prostate cancer is a father son thing.

no stupid wood tricks

The stock is over length and width. It is still flat and straight the next day and it will get a few more days to sticker before I work on it.

 the warm and fuzzy worry

This is the vertical divider and when I glued it up it was tight. The top and bottom opened up a wee bit from me moving the shelf unit around. 


 

french cleat

I used super glue to hold it in place temporarily. Because of the angle I couldn't use a clamp on it.

 ran out

The pilot hole wasn't centered on the cleat. It must have grabbed the grain and it punched out on the face. I used a golf tee to fill in the hole. As an aside these unfinished golf tees are almost a perfect match for a #8 screw. I had to whittle this one down some to get it to fit.

I put 5 screws through the top into the french cleat. I drilled a new pilot hole for this one after the med appt.

 belt sander action

I wasn't getting good results trying to plane the sides flush and smooth. Less than 5 minutes with the belt sander and all was well in Disneyland again.

 yesterday's bridle joint

Got it planed smooth and this is good enough to leave natural. There is a slight gap on the right top but for something off the saw, I'm happy with it as is.

 dated and labeled

I like to keep these so when I do another one I have something to compare it to. I have 5-6 of these sample joints gathering dust on the gas meter.

 comparison

The top one was done with a Ryobi saw and jig on 3/29/2020. They both have good tight joints but I would give a slight edge to the bottom one. Its gap is a tad smaller than the Ryobi one.

 shelf unit drawers

Decided to go with rabbeted joinery for the drawers. I also will be using drawer slips on the sides. Because of the rabbets I was able to plow a 1/8" groove in the drawer front bottom which won't show on the ends because of the sides. This is as far as I got for today. I should be able to finish the shelf unit thing tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

Did the ancient Egyptians invent plywood?

Working By Hand -

We think of plywood as a modern invention, but is it? it is surprising to learn that the ancient Egyptians were already using plywood. In the 1933 edition of Annales du Service des Antiquités, there is a description of a coffin whose walls, and bottom were made of plywood, found at Saqqara and dating from the Old Kingdom (ca. 2700–2200 BC). There are six layers of wood, each 4mm in thickness, placed with the grain alternating in each direction [1,2], just as you would find in modern plywood. The first layer of the interior side made of vertical boards, and the outer layer of horizontal boards. The boards were anywhere from 4-30cm in width, yet none of the pieces of wood was broad enough for the height of the sides, or long enough for the length of the coffin [3].

Fig.1: Diagram of the plywood from [2, p.164] showing the side and bottom layers of plywood joining.
Fig.2: Layers of wood forming the bottom of the coffin.

In certain places on the boards there are small holes, generally paired, which pass through all layers of the plywood, intended to help bind them together. Between boards of the same layer, connection was ensured using small independent tenons engaged and dowelled in corresponding mortises made in the thickness of each board. The joints of the boards a the corners of the body were reinforced with wooden sticks. Due to the scarcity of large wood pieces, it seems the ancient Egyptian carpenters were very skilled at the technique of “patchwork” construction, joining irregular pieces of wood “by means of flat tongues or dowels, butterfly cramps, various forms of lashing and pegging, and sometimes in fine work by tongue and groove.” [3].

Further reading

  1. Eric Marx, “Ancient Egyptian Woodworking”, Antiquity, 20, pp.127-133 (1946)
  2. Annales du Service des Antiquités, (1933)
  3. D.M. Dixon, “Timber in Ancient Egypt”, The Commonwealth Forestry Review, 53(3), pp.205-209 (1974)

Bending Dry Wood – Testing the Noumenon

The Barn on White Run -

I took a 10-foot piece of 3-inch PVC pipe and cut it into three 40″ pieces and glued on end caps to use as my re-conditioning chambers for the dried wood in preparation for steam bending it.  I filled each of the three with “modified” distilled water.

In the first case I added 1% Everclear 151, if you recall I have a lot laying around, to do nothing more than reduce the surface tension of the water and induce greater and quicker penetration.

For the second tube I added 1% of a mild detergent to act as a surfactant.  I would have used some Kodak Photo-Flow, an artifact from ancient days when photography was a film-based process rather than the electron aggregation it is now.  I could not find my bottle of Photo Flow (ordering more now) so I added some mild soy-based detergent, fairly neutral in its properties.  Were I being anal retentive I would have used Triton-100 pH neutral detergent but I don’t have all that much of it left and it is pricey.  Like the ethanol the purpose of the detergent is to act as a surfactant “wetting” agent and induce greater and quicker penetration of the water.

The final tube of distilled water was enhanced by 1% Downy fabric softener, to impart lubricity to the wood fibers.  I have to assume that the Downy has some portion of surfactant/detergent in it for the same purposes I am using, namely penetration and induced lubricity between the wood fibers.

I added one more of the modifications to this exercise, namely the increase of the wood surface area via a toothing plane.  Using one of my toothing planes I worked the flat sides of the wood strips until they were completely toothed, thus doubling the surface area.  Combining the expanded surface area with the surfactants in the modified water I can envision excellent penetration and wetting/re-conditioning.

I prepared a couple of each of the bent wood elements, serpentines, arms, and uni-splats, and stuck them into the tubes of wetter water.  To make sure they were completely submerged on the top end I cut and stuffed pieces of hardware cloth into the ends then topped off the tubes.  What I’m reading from the interwebz and private correspondence the pieces need to stay submerged for a week, so it’s looking like Friday morning will be Steam Bending Day.

I await the event with anticipation.  Even if everything is a complete failure I will have learned something important.  But, if everything is successful I will have the necessary parts in hand to begin L’il Gragg.  Probably not in time to finish before L’il T’s birthday, alas.

Endeavour......

Accidental Woodworker -

 This is the name of the current crime series I'm watching on Amazon. It is the prequel to the Inspector Morse series. This one is about a young Inspector Morse in the early 1960's. So far it has my attention unlike the 3 others I didn't make it through the first episode. This one is interesting and with the volume jacked up I can follow 80% of it. The accents aren't that bad to decipher and this series has 9 seasons. I think after I've watched all of these I'll check the Inspector Morse series.

 no surprises

No creaks and groans when I took the clamps off. I don't have a warm and fuzzy with this shelf thing. None of the shelves seemed to have seated fully in the dadoes and the oak especially gives me doubts. It is brittle and dry and the glue didn't soak into it readily. I'll keep an eye on this as I finish it up.

 this is history

I ordered a 5 gallon shop vac from Home Depot - they didn't have the one I wanted in the store. It is being shipped to the Warwick Home Depot and when it arrives I'll get an email to go pick it up. Until then I'll leave this alone because I haven't told it yet of its upcoming demise.

 ?????

The left vise face shouldn't be toeing in at the bottom like it is. This is why the mortise jig wasn't working for me a while back. It has been getting worse especially when I clamp something like this only at the top.

 french cleat

I did consider sawing it on the tablesaw. I don't like sawing angles on it but I did think of sawing it into two and then planing the 45s. Nixed that idea too and put on my big boy pants and sawed it by hand.

 happy face on

I have tried to saw 45s before this and they have all came out crappy. I have no problem following the line on the face I'm looking at as I saw. The hiccup is the back face, the saw wanders off the line into La La Land like it has a mind of its own. 

wow

The saw isn't dead nuts on the back face line but it is close. It is almost parallel to it and it is the best I've done so far. I scraped both faces clean so I could see/follow the pencil lines.

 done

This cleaned up easily for me. The shorter cleat was almost dead on 45 and straight and even end to end. The larger one I had to fuss with a bit more to get its 45 running straight and parallel end to end (had a slight taper to it).

 end on view

This should work ok and support the shelf unit with no hiccups. I am going to put the smaller part of the cleat (on the left) in the shelf unit. The larger part (on the right) will be secured to the wall. I chose the larger part for the wall to facilitate attaching it.

waiting for glue to dry

While the glue was cooking I sawed out a bridle joint. I wanted to compare using the jig to doing it without it. Layout was dead simple and the oomph part is next.

 so happy I could wet myself

I wasn't expecting this bridle joint to come so nice. My past attempts doing it by hand were nightmares. I sawed the mortise first and then the tenon. Sawed off the lines on that and used the router (on the tenon) to sneak up on the fit. I glued it and labeled as being done by hand (I'm saving it for future reference). The trick now is to repeat this 3 more times. I have one more painting to frame and it is going to be 33x34 on the inside dimensions.

 drawer stops

Glued in two strips of oak to act as drawer stops. The drawers aren't overly deep but will still manage to be about 3 3/4 to 4 inches deep.

 next project

Broke down the 8 foot pine board into the 4 component parts. PITA sawing it out because the board starting pinching the saw after the first 5-6 inches.

 stickered

It will probably be a few more days before I will be able to get back this. For what I have in mind for this, it shouldn't take too long to whack it out neither.

 drawer parts

The fronts are 1/2" oak and the sides and back will be 5/16" pine. Initially I thought I would do half blinds at the front and through at the back. Because of the thin sides/back (and the dry oak fronts) I'm thinking that maybe rabbeted might be a better choice. Either way the drawers will be lightweight.

Got the truck back from the garage just before lunch. No problems with the state inspection and it is good for two years. The registration is only good for one year because it is a truck.

accidental woodworker

glued and cooking......

Accidental Woodworker -

 The current shelf/cabinet thing is almost done. I got the shelves fitted, glued and cooking by 1500. I still have the drawers to do before I can put a check mark in the done column. Stilling mulling about what kind of drawers to do. Half blinds are on the pole position but through dovetails and even rabbeted drawers are clamoring for some love too. I'm thinking that maybe wednesday it will be complete. Most likely I'll give this to my sister Kam.

 last night

After dinner last night I came back to the shop and glued the carcass. This was a better way forward with this. If I had waited until this AM I would have glued it up and then what? This way it was ready to work on when I turned the lights on this AM.

 new shelves

I had a 1/2" thick oak board that I used to make 3 new shelves. The 3 I did yesterday I made all too short. This oak board is a wee bit thicker than the original oak shelves. I didn't want to taper the ends to get them to fit the stopped dadoes so I planed a rabbet until they did.

 last two dadoes

This oak is too loose for the dado. I had planned on using new oak for the vertical divider but the largest left over piece was too short. One option I looked at was gluing a piece of veneer on this oak piece.

 frog hair too wide

This piece is tall enough but the grain orientation is not correct. It is also too thick to fit the dado but a couple of strokes with a plane would cure that.

 bottom shelf

I only need a dado fully across the the bottom of the shelf . On the bottom of the first shelf I only need a small notch to hold the top of the vertical drawer divider.

hmm.....

I didn't think this all the way through. Before I glued this up I had thought about chopping this dado. No problems swinging straight down onto the chisel but I missed that I would need to swing from the side at an angle. 

I got it done but it was slow going and awkward. I had to chop it with the bevel down. There was just enough room to whack the chisel and pop out a chip. Thankfully there was only one of these to do.

 drawer divider

There isn't any need to have a horizontal drawer runner at the top. I notched the vertical divider so the dado wouldn't need to come out on the front end.


 top notch

I wasn't sure if I could get the vertical divider in place at first. The top had to be in the notch as the shelf was put into the side dadoes. I got it fitted on the first dry run and on the next couple I tried to make sure I had a handle on it.

 dry fitted

The vertical divider between the 2nd and 3rd shelves is from two pieces I glued together. It is only about 2/3 of the width of the shelves - I think it looks better than if it was the same width as the shelves.

 gluing the shelves

I will glue the vertical divider tomorrow after the shelves have cooked overnight.

 french cleat?

This shelf isn't getting a back so using a french cleat to hang it makes sense to me. This way the back of it will be the wall it is hanging on.

 the french cleat

This is wide enough that I can get both parts of the cleat from it.

 0 for 2

The first two stains I tried were walnut and special dark walnut. Neither of them were close to the brown of the cabinet. Sanding the cabinet is out of the question now that it glued up. I was trying to find a stain that was kind of close to the color of the cabinet. I just need it to be similar enough so the wax coat will blend it all together.

 raw and finished look

This is red oak stain and I'm going with it. The stain on raw wood is brownish and kind of looks like the original stained oak. It is wet looking on the stained oak but that should change as it dries. I'll take a peek at this after dinner but fingers crossed the red oak is the winner.

accidental woodworker

Revelations in Snow

David Fisher - Carving Explorations -

Out of the bosom of the Air,        Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken Over the woodlands brown and bare,        Over the harvest-fields forsaken,              Silent, and soft, and slow              Descends the snow.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Snow-flakes” (1863) Yesterday … Continue reading

2 for 2.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 

 $81

That is the cost for the conservation glass, the teal matting, and the backer board

I went and got the watercolor from the Frame it Shop today. Wow. Even I was impressed with it. I was a little concerned about how the frame, the mat, and the watercolor would interplay with it other. I thought the frame and mat might have been too busy for the watercolor but I like the interplay between them. Not only did I like it but my wife liked it too.

I learned that this watercolor wasn't from her mother but her aunt (her mother's twin sister). My wife liked the frame and the mat but not the water color. She is freaked out by sea creatures. I tried to explain that loggerhead turtles are harmless but to no avail. I was gaga that my wife had expressed liking two things in a row that I had made but it lost a wee bit of shine because she didn't like the pic. She is going to give it to Amanda's husband for his birthday.

 this is history

This is a space taking hog. I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now and its days in the shop are numbered. 99% of what I use this for is to vacuum up shellac dust and steel wool debris. I never use it to vac the deck or hardly ever to suck up saw dust from the tablesaw. I'm thinking of down sizing to a 5 gallon unit that has almost as much HP/suction as this one does or doesn't have. It is an old vac that I got in the early 1980's. She is ready to be put out to pasture.

 all seated

I don't know what I did but I took it apart after looking at the corner that wasn't seated. I looked at the tails and pin sockets and saw nothing glaring. I did another dry fit and nada. All the tails were seated and gap free. Still scratching my butt giving it goofy looks trying to figure out what was wrong and why it is now ok.

 not easy

Routing the dado went in dribs and drabs. It would remove some and then hit something and it wouldn't move forward. I had to switch between chiseling it and using the router to get to depth.

 one side fitted

None of them fit after plowing the dado. I used the skew rabbet plane to shave a wee bit off the end doing that until I got a snug fit.

 1x12x96

Road trip to Lowes to get this -8bf for $49. I wanted to go to Gurney's but it was snowing this AM so I nixed that. I have a project in mind for this that needs two boards 11" wide by 24" long and two boards 11" wide by 21" wide. I'll start on this after the oak cabinet is done.

 frustration highway

What a PITA getting the shelves dry fitted. The bottom kept coming off as I tried to fit the shelves. Even with a clamp on the bottom it was still mostly a hit or miss operation. I should have paid attention to that but it sailed over my head.

 doesn't fit

I was struggling mightily not to give this flying lesson. This was the third time I was fitting/trimming the the shelves. On the bright side each fit was too long so I had to shave them each time to get it to fit. The fit was giving me fits and I was getting frustrated. When I get frustrated with headaches like this I start searching for my 3lb sledge hammer.

 the cause

It finally penetrated my thick walled brain bucket that it was because I kept changing the clamps. Quick and F clamps weren't cutting it and closing up the tails and pins tight. The besseys did it and that was what was changing the fitting of the shelves. I shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't use besseys from the git go.

I quit here for the day and killed the lights. Tomorrow I will glue the pins/tails and let that set up before fitting the shelves again. All three were longer than the carcass as is in this pic. After the shelves are fitted I will plow the final dadoes for the drawer divider/runners and the shelf separator between the 2nd/3rd shelf.

accidental woodworker

Pop the bubble wrap – let kids play with tools

Working By Hand -

If you grew up in the 1980s, or before, you likely remember a time when kids were allowed to take risks, I mean our whole childhood seemed to involve a risk of one sort or another. I remember being able to buy potassium permanganate (from a chemist in Australia, the equivalent of a pharmacy), and adding a second ingredient to make it spontaneously combust. We use to carry knives when camping, and learned very early the dangers of fire. Yet we played with all these things and survived. I don’t ever remember anyone getting majorly injured, and if they did, they lived with whatever scars they had… most of which we patched up with some disinfectant and a band-aid. If someone broke their arm acting stupid on a play structure, they didn’t seal off the play structure. People that grew up in the atomic era of the 1950s had it even riskier – dangerous toys like chemistry sets, physics sets with real uranium samples, and rocket kits.

Fun and dangerous toys?

A recent article on this subject talked about letting kids take risks… including “supervised play involving tools, like using an axe and hammer to build a fort”. But instead some parents continue to dump their kids in front of a screen of some sort – I mean it’s easy right? Kids use to be outside, building forts, climbing trees, and damming creeks. These days when you walk through a neighbourhood there are few if any kids outside. There are ravines close by to where I live, which in the 1970s I imagine would have been filled with kids in the summer… today they are mostly empty. Sure the difference is that anyone born before 1980 had to amuse themselves as kids. The adage “children should be seen and not heard” rang true, although I kinda believe it was more “children should be neither seen nor heard”, at least until dinner time (when they could be seen).

Stanley Tool Chest No.904½
Children’s play-tools from Bonumwerke Tigges & Winckel (Germany, 1935)

Look, I’m not advocating for dangerous toys, but iPads and gaming platforms likely do more damage to young people than any of the 1950s toys ever did. What we have managed to do is raise a couple of generations of kids that have no perceived skills with tools, few ideas about building things – whether that be tools in the kitchen, in the workshop, or outdoors (Lego sets are not really that imaginative these days, they really are just follow-the-instruction type toys), and little in the way of problem solving skills. Hammers are not dangerous, if kids are taught to use them properly, and that’s the key here, learning to use them properly. Already in the 1930s it wasn’t unusual for tool companies to sell “children’s tool kits”.

Building models from scratch or using building kits?

But it isn’t even woodworking tools. Kids from bygone eras built models, like ships, or aircraft, and whole model railroad systems, from scratch. There were magazines dedicated to building things, like the British magazine (and store) Hobbies, and systems of building like Meccano, Minibrix, or Fischer-Technik. That is to say there were also methods of learning to build things that didn’t involve axes and chisels. Meccano Magazine for instance included articles on building things with Meccano, but also articles on engineering things, and new concepts in transportation, aircraft, building.

You had to teach yourself basic tool skills, because if you wanted a go-cart, you had to build one yourself. Maybe you got hold of some lawnmower wheels, and salvaged some lumber from the neighbourhood somewhere, but basically you had to build the thing yourself. All these skills, often self-taught boosted your problem-solving abilities, and likely had an impact on developing fine motor skills as well.

The bottom line is that we have somehow concluded that all these skills can be learned in a virtual digital realm, and that just isn’t true. Because what we end up with is people who grow up with few if any real skills, i.e. they can’t even use a hammer, all because parents (and schools) feel like everything is too dangerous. Again, I’m not advocating for kids to walk around with pocket-knives, and whittling branches in the school yard, sadly those days are gone. But what about advocating for more summer camps where kids can learn some basic tool skills? It is time to pop the bubble-wrap and let kids actually learn to play with tools and build things.

DMV.....

Accidental Woodworker -

 I think these 3 initials strike dread and fear in whatever state you live in. My living hell was today. I need my state inspection but I also need the current registration which I did not have. Couldn't find it in any of the holes I checked. So I made an appointment with the DMV to get a copy of it. Unbeknownst to me the appointment I thought I had for today was actually made for monday which was too late for me. How does someone confuse today with monday? At least I have a good excuse with being partially deaf.

My wife told me to go to AAA and get it there. I called ahead, got an appointment for today, and I confirmed it. I got there a half hour early, filled out the paperwork, and I got called early. That made sense because I was the only customer waiting for service. Instead of getting a copy of my registration the rep told me I should renew it because it was due for renewal in march. So I spent $65 earlier than I thought I would but I'm good for another year. State vehicle inspection on monday and I think that one is good for two years. 

 it was rocking

The base was a wee bit twisted - the bottom left and top right corners were high. I wanted to get this started with shellac but I'll put it off until tomorrow.

I checked the date on the bottom and it is 10/2023 which I find incredibly hard to believe. I know I made this at least 4-5 years ago. I think this date is for when I fixed the hinge issue even thought I don't recall doing that.

 another no mortise hinge experiment

I got a comment from Kevin about these hinges that Sylvain commented on and clarified for me. It got my curiosity piqued and I had to try it out. I'll be using the same two scraps of pine I used on the first hinge experiment.

 inset door

In the first experiment the door over laid the edge. This one will have the door inset on the inside face. First step was squaring a line across the two pieces.

 small leaf first

Like I did the first one, securing the small hinge was done first. With the hinge as is here I used a vix bit to drill the two pilot holes first (counter sinks facing down). Then I flipped the hinge and screwed the small leaf in place.

large hinge next

I didn't have to flip the large leaf and I drilled pilot holes and screwed it in place. I used the reference square line I drew first to align it.

 sweet

Flawless and awkward free installation. I had the square reference line and I was able to use the barrel to align the hinge for the small and large leaves. Doing a inset door like this also means there is no headaches with the screws poking through to the face.

 mystery solved

I believe the key to installing these no mortise hinges is to get the small hinge screwed on first. It doesn't matter if the door is an overlay or an inset one. If I had done inset doors on the carved leaf cabinet I wouldn't have any problems with the screws being too long.

 off the saw (oak cabinet)

These are not my best tails/pins but I am ok with them. I was expecting this to be a whole lot worse than this. The half pins have gaps but too small to throw a dog through. The slopes of the tails are pretty close considering I sawed them with muscle memory rather than following a pencil line.

second set

Went together off the saw and the fit is lot better. I'm pretty sure once glue is applied the pins/tails will swell shut and tighten up.

 tail side

The tails aren't seating tight in the pin sockets. This is the only corner that is doing this. This end is also one of the wonky ends of the two sides. The other wonky side is nice with only one half pin gap.

 nope

It didn't close up boys and girls with moderate clamp pressure. I'll have to check into this and see what is holding the pins and tails from fully meshing.

 dry fit

The carcass is square within +/- a 32nd and I am laying out the first shelf visually. It ended up being 3 1/2" up from the bottom.

 the final layout

No adjustable shelves in this cabinet. The drawer opening is 3 1/2" and there is 7" between the first and second shelf with the distance between the other two shelves at about 6" each. I was thinking of making the drawers different widths and I still might do that. For now the plan is two equal, centered drawers

The dado work for this should be exciting. Chopping the dovetails was an adventure. They splintered, cracked, and it was not like doing them in pine. I'm not sure what is going to happen chopping the dadoes or how hard it will be using the router on them.

accidental woodworker

Small Dresser 4: Dividers & Carcase

JKM Woodworking -

At the end of last session I had two squared up sides and eight dividers of equal length. I first thought to pocket screw the dividers to the sides. Long term I would like to try dovetailing dividers into the sides. Dadoing the sides would also be a good idea, but I didn’t feel like chiseling and router planing out all that waste. For now I’m just trying to get things done. Better looking dividers will have to wait for another project.

I decided to domino the dividers in place. I bought a domino a couple months ago and this will be my largest project to date using it. I marked locations for the dividers on the inner sides and glued dominos in place. Then I dry fit the rails, set it upright, and clamped it to keep it from falling apart.

dry fit

In this position I marked and fit the remaining pieces—the drawer runners, the toekick, and the middle dividers for the upper section that would have two drawers side by side.

For the bottom I made a three piece toekick with mitered corners. This caused me a few problems as I don’t have a miter box, a miter shooting board, or any good way to make perfect 45° miters. I tried just carefully laying out and cutting the line. I was unhappy with the gaps on the first miter so I tried to saw through the joint to minimize the gap. It didn’t look much better afterwards.

1st miter

So for the second miter I glued it up straight from the saw cut. It didn’t look any better, I just wasted less time getting there. Luckily this project only had two miters and they’re finished. Also luckily, they’re at floor level.

2nd miter

After gluing the toekick and fitting in place, there were some gaps at the outside edges. So I glued on some thin wedges and planed them to fit the gap.

Gluing on wedge

I saw this mitered three piece toekick in Christian Becksvoort’s Shaker Legacy, and have since seen it in other pictures of Shaker furniture. At first I thought I would curve the toekick since I curved the sides, but I later decided the curve didn’t fit with the squareness of it. So the dresser front will have a square blocky bottom, and the sides will have curves.

fitting into place
Runner, twisted

For the runners, I ripped lengths of 1.25-1.5 inch wide poplar the same thickness as the front dividers or rails. They are dominoed and glued to the front divider to create a U or horseshoe shape. Some of the runners will run all the way to a back rail, and some will be fastened to the case sides.

notches for screws

I cut notches for the runners that will be fastened to the side. This allows using shorter screws.

Before gluing-up I did some minor cleanup of the case sides like planing the glue lines, scraping, and soaking dents and dings.

preheating

The titebond genuine hide glue recommends a minimum temperature of 50 degrees, so I had to heat the garage for a while. I could have taken everything indoors but then I would have to run back and forth everytime I forgot something.

Glue-up with clamps

During glue-up I had three incidents. In the picture above you can see the middle of the top back rail has a lonely mortise without a tenon. I had to replace that quickly. And while fastening everything I found one drawer runner that was installed upside down.

runner, flipped

This was less critical to fix quickly, as it was glued only at the front. I waited long enough that I had to soften the glue. I use a clothes steamer for this.

steamer

I place it under the joint and lock it into the on position so steam pours out. It takes 30-60 seconds to loosen the joint.

The third incident was I heard a CRACK while tightening a clamp. So far I haven’t found out what made the noise, so I am thinking it was a “good luck” CRACK.

runners, expansion

This picture shows the two types of runners and how they account for movement. At top a runner is screwed to the side, with a slot (domino mortise) to allow for movement. The blurrier runner at the bottom is loose tenoned into the back rail. This tenon is free to move in and out as the side moves. The front and back rails are tenoned and glued to the sides. The runner is glued to the front rail but not the back rail or case side.

clamps off

Glue-up complete, the next big part of the project will be to make and fit drawers.

Bending Dry Wood For L’il Gragg – The Noumenon Phase

The Barn on White Run -

Over my many years of teaching furniture conservation, essentially an amalgam of materials science and aesthetics with a dash of esoteric problem solving, I always emphasized my conception of Synthetic Thinking.  By that I meant employing/combining, or synthesizing, both the observable physical effects of doing this-or-that, along with the unobservable — ideas, knowledge, speculations, hunches, theories — roaming around inside our heads.  In bringing both to the problem we would be synthesizing the Phenomenon, that which can be observed, with the Noumenon, that which can only be contemplated.  I am reminded of the opening lines to historian Paul Johnson’s monumental work Modern Times, a history of the 20th century.  As Johnson remarked, as I recall but it’s been a number of years since I read the book, Hiroshima and Nagasaki proved that Einstein’s theories were no longer just theories.

For now I am in the “Noumenon” phase of addressing the problem of steam bending dried wood.  The Phenomenon phase will come soon enough as I put those noumenon contemplations to the test in reality.

For starters, there is great doubt as to whether kiln dried wood can be re-moisturized exactly as the wood was before it got dried, or whether it can only be conditioned to mimic green-ish-ness for the purposes of bending the wood.  I suppose the chemical thermodynamics of re-integrating water molecules into or in between the wood fiber molecules could be accomplished, as my late friend and colleague Mel Wachowiak used to comment, “With enough force you can pull the tail off a living cow.”  For now all I am trying to imagine is mimicking the effects of that integration.

So, how do I best get water into the wood to make it “green” again?  (This may be the only time I will ever utter any desire to make things “green.”)   There are many considerations to test out, but the point is how do I, or can I even, get water back into the wood to affect its behavior under the conditions I want, i.e. steam bending dried wood?

Merely soaking the wood in water is a place to begin conceptually, but by itself I surmise this to be a low efficiency way to approach the problem.  Example: when I was trying to ebonize some tulip poplar to see if I could use it as banding for my tool cabinet, I soaked some 1/4″ pieces of the wood in a bath of India ink.  Since the ink was waterborne shellac with a carbon black colorant, I could discern the effectiveness of the penetration by simply sectioning the wood and see what happened.  What happened was that two weeks’ soaking submerged in the bath yielded a penetration of less than 1/16″.  Though the objective was entirely different then than now, the memory of that exercise makes me less optimistic about that approach for re-moisturizing wood as a precursor steam bending.  True, moisture diffusion in tulip poplar is not the same as with oak, whose moisture transport is much more dynamic.  Even the oaks are dramatically different in their moisture transport, with red oak being much more transparent to moisture transmission than white oak due to the comparatively open cell/fiber structure.

Even so I considered several ways to enhance the introduction of moisture and came up with a few ideas to test out.

Modifying the Water

What could happen if I could make the water into something better?  How about if I —

Make water wetter?

If I could make water wetter, in other words to increase its capacity for infiltration into the wood, I just might have something.  Well, the two methods I have at my disposal for making water wetter involve reduction the surface tension of the water, to make it wick or flow better into the substrate more aggressively than it would on its own.  The two methods are to 1) add surfactant, and 2) add solvent.  In the first case simply adding some detergent or soap would greatly reduce the surface tension of the water and let it soak in more deeply and more quickly.  In the second, adding water miscible (compatible) solvent like ethanol or propanol would do the same thing.

Increase surface area for better penetration

Regardless of how the water is modified, it is, I think, an undeniable proposition that giving it a greater surface area in which it does its penetrating magic is a winner.  The question is, how do I go about that?  I could easily multiply the surface area by dragging the surface over a bandsaw blade but that simultaneously imparts a multitude of cross grain irregularities, which would serve as a focal point for fracture origination.

But, how about increasing the surface area with along-the-grain striations?  Something as simple as quickly working the surface along the grain with a toothing plane would increase the surface area by some factor approximating 2X.  I think I’m liking this noumenon.

Or, changing the chemistry/structure of the wood on hand – ammonia gas at pressure, surfactant/fabric softener lubricity

I do not have either a pressure/vacuum chamber adequate for the chair pieces, so that isn’t even something to really contemplate.  Maybe some day, but not this day.  Besides, I do not expect to ever possess gaseous ammonia.  Because.  Besides, when using ammonia to facilitate bending wood there could be a lengthy off-gassing period.

On the other hand I do have fabric softener in the shop.  I cannot pretend to possess a full understanding of how that would work but the product’s main functionality is to “fluff” fibers through ionic interactions, but also, more importantly, penetrate into fiber bundles and impart lubricity.  Sure, wood fibers are not identical to textile fibers but they just might be close enough to do the same trick.

Quote David Bowie

How about some p-p-p-pressure?  Or its inverse?  As I said earlier I do not possess a vacuum/pressure chamber to force the water in or suck the air out, resulting in the wood sucking the water in, while this is a definite winner it requires technology I do not possess.

Use bending straps

Bending straps are a routine part of the equation when I’m bending full-scale Gragg parts, generally somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-1/8″ x 5/8″ in cross section.  Since the Gragg chairs are always painted I just screw plumbers’ straps in the necessary places and get going.  But for the L’il Gragg the pieces are only 1″ x 3/8″, with a bending cross section only half as much.  I really hope to bend these without straps but will use them if needed.

Exploit Thermodynamics

In its most basic and fundamental applications, thermodynamics is the study of energy (applied to some function) x time (that the energy in applied).  At our level of work we can assume some general inverse relativity; more energy means less time, more time means less energy to accomplish the same task.  This may or may not work here as there are activation energy thresholds.  But what about changing the formula for steam bending from 1 hour per inch of wood to 2 hours, 3 hours, X number of hours?  It might just work, but my steam generator only holds about 1-1/4 hours of water.  If I take a lengthy trip down this theoretically sensible route, I would have to devise a whole new water heating/steam delivery system.  That strikes these lazy bones as non-optimal.

Using different wood (harvest new trees)

It could be that in the end none of these options, individually or in concert, will do the trick.  In that case, fire up the chain saw and reach for my bag of wedges and the froe.  It’s about time to continue work on next winter’s firewood harvest so maybe that’s the route.

But not until I gather some phenomena.

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