Ovalling the exit hole for the tenon to be wedged open is a new one for me, and suits the stout wedges well. Very elegant. I just finished a staked bedside table, so wedges and glue are fresh in mind (and on fingers).
Hmm... not so sure about those wedges on the tablesaw: I've nicked a finger on a spinning blade – and I can't say that was elegant. Let there be no lacunae in the tips of yours!
The clear photos and even clearer description of work in progress is much appreciated.
The devil is indeed in the details - the two surfaces mating correctly is easy in principle. Very hard in practice. I've ruined more than one axe handle in that part of the build.
Yes, fitting axe-handles and hammer-heads (well!) is fiendishly difficult! I think it's because the internal hole/shape is irregular; the mortises in my chair seat are perfectly round holes, so much easier to deal with.
There are two types of chairmakers. The first, John Brown and Chris Schwarz, make chairs by hand and eye, so no two chairs are alike. Others, like Brian Boggs, try to do all the work with clever jigs, making the parts repeatable and neat. And then there's Peter Galbert.
One of my favourite things to teach new guys is 1) how to freehand cut wedges from a 2X block and then 2) use those wedges to separate the plies of the header or beam that they just laminated together with about 500 3-1/4 coil nails. Usually because the nail gun was too fast and too much fun for them to pay attention to whether the plies were lined up properly
Yeah the Substack just started because my camera roll was full of pictures of rocks from jobsites, road cuts near job sites, islands I worked on, etc. I tried to learn geology fundamentals but quickly realized that the more effort I put into learning about it, the less I enjoyed it. So I chose this as one thing I refused to ruin for myself by trying to attain expert mode. I just really like the way they look, not knowing why is a limitation I need to accept in this case
And yes, framing carpenter, nothing fancy like what you do. I’ve done just enough furniture making to know that it’s not my wheelhouse. I do love framing houses though for real
“Sometimes, the difficult part is not shaping the wood, but understanding how the wood ought to be shaped.” What a way with words!
Ovalling the exit hole for the tenon to be wedged open is a new one for me, and suits the stout wedges well. Very elegant. I just finished a staked bedside table, so wedges and glue are fresh in mind (and on fingers).
Hmm... not so sure about those wedges on the tablesaw: I've nicked a finger on a spinning blade – and I can't say that was elegant. Let there be no lacunae in the tips of yours!
The clear photos and even clearer description of work in progress is much appreciated.
I always try to keep my digits away from the spinny things :-)
The devil is indeed in the details - the two surfaces mating correctly is easy in principle. Very hard in practice. I've ruined more than one axe handle in that part of the build.
Yes, fitting axe-handles and hammer-heads (well!) is fiendishly difficult! I think it's because the internal hole/shape is irregular; the mortises in my chair seat are perfectly round holes, so much easier to deal with.
There are two types of chairmakers. The first, John Brown and Chris Schwarz, make chairs by hand and eye, so no two chairs are alike. Others, like Brian Boggs, try to do all the work with clever jigs, making the parts repeatable and neat. And then there's Peter Galbert.
May your mother be healthy and live a long life.
"And then there's Peter Galbert."
Indeed :-)
One of my favourite things to teach new guys is 1) how to freehand cut wedges from a 2X block and then 2) use those wedges to separate the plies of the header or beam that they just laminated together with about 500 3-1/4 coil nails. Usually because the nail gun was too fast and too much fun for them to pay attention to whether the plies were lined up properly
You’re a carpenter? Not a geologist?
Yeah the Substack just started because my camera roll was full of pictures of rocks from jobsites, road cuts near job sites, islands I worked on, etc. I tried to learn geology fundamentals but quickly realized that the more effort I put into learning about it, the less I enjoyed it. So I chose this as one thing I refused to ruin for myself by trying to attain expert mode. I just really like the way they look, not knowing why is a limitation I need to accept in this case
And yes, framing carpenter, nothing fancy like what you do. I’ve done just enough furniture making to know that it’s not my wheelhouse. I do love framing houses though for real