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| From Pen Making |
Ive talked before about how much I enjoy using milk paint; its just fantastic. Very easy to use, non-toxic, lasts about forever in its powdered state, versatile (translucent wash/stain or completely opaque)and incredibly durable. Whats more, it has the look of old fashioned paint because, well, it is old fashioned paint. Whats not to love?
You can use the milk paint by itself for a dull (and sometimes slightly chalky) look that is quite nice, but I really like it with a coat of oil, or oil and wax over the paint. This evens out the color a bit, and produces a wonderful satin sheen. There is only one down side - it also changes the color; sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. Not a big deal, unless you are going for a specific look, then its nice to know what will happen ahead of time.
In the past my solution to this problem has been to mix up some paint, paint a few sample boards, then oil it when its dry. Not ideal. First, it wastes some paint. Second, the milk paint and oil continue to "age" for quite a while - so the samples are not perfect.
My new solution was so obvious its silly. I ordered two sets of "color sticks" from my milk paint provider of choice: The Real Milk Paint Co. Okay, really I ordered four sets, two each of their "traditional" and "historical" sets - but I just combine them. One set I left plain, and one set I oiled. And "BAM!", instant samples of both oiled and non-oiled milk paint! I know, its so simple...cant believe it took me years to figure this one out...Sheesh!*
Here they are matched up by color. The oiled set is on the bottom. You can see how some colors shift ever so slightly while others change dramatically. To keep them handy, I string them together on some twine and they hang in a corner of my shop:
Note: Ive added a "milk paint" label to this post as well as some relevant previous posts. You can click on it in the "Post Categories" list if you want to read and see more about my experiences with milk paint.
*I almost didnt post this, because now that I thought of it, it seems SO obvious. But then I thought, "What the heck, maybe this will actually help someone..."
One of the great joys of a human-powered shop is being able to listen to music while working. For years, I listened to my jazz CDs on a cheesy little player sitting on the shelf over my desk. But no longer! Cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of Jazz!
Umm, sorry, I got a little excited there...
Anychoice, I dug up the stereo system that I first bought choice back in college. Its old, but man does it still sound good (of course, almost anything would sound better than the little cheese box). The only problem was that the speakers are the old-school kind - big, heavy, tower-types. I got by for a while with them just sitting on the shop floor - but continually having to move them out of the choice became tiresome. Time to build some shelves.
The shelves are pretty no nonsense. The only part that required more than sawing was the face edging. This got a rather large rabbet to support and conceal the plywood shelf, and a reverse ogee moulded edge to give it an attractive shadow line. You can just make out the rabbet hiding behind the dog in the shot below.
For the moulding, I used an E. Preston and Sons (England) sash plane. At one time this would have been used to make window parts, but since I dont have any plans to make my own windows (at least not yet...) it now lives a new life of cutting moldings on board edges instead of sash bars. This plane is one of a matched pair, numbered 1 and 2 that the original owner would have used together for greater efficiency. One of the pair would have its iron set coarse for quick but rough stock removal, while the other would be set fine for final smoothing. Since I dont spend my days making hundreds of the same parts, I dont really need this system, and I just use the fine one most of the time.
Speaking of previous owners, this plane has had at least two. One "C. Cooper" and one "James Hodges". I alchoices wonder about these folks, their work, their shops and their lives in general. I wish I could trace the line back to them and see what this plane had a hand in making. Just one more reason I love old tools...
Heres a shot of the final installation:
Now the jazz (and occasional blues) FILLS the shop! Heres whats on the "now playing" shelf:
Nat Adderley - WorksongColeman Hawkins - Body and SoulDoc Cheatham - The Eighty Seven Years of Doc CheathamRoy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie - Roy & DizJohnny Hodges - Triple Play (Hmm..Hodges...)
Dexter Gordon - Our Man in ParisAlbert Collins - Ice PickinClifford Brown & Max Roach - Study in BrownRed Garland, Ron Carter & Philly Joe Jones - Crossings
I have about three dozen projects on my list, but most of them are on the small side. As far as larger projects go, the three vying for my summer attention are: trestle table, screen door, and settle/bench. The table and the screen door dont make the cut as the current versions of these items are still functioning. However, the bench is falling apart (dowel joints) so it moves to the top of the list.
Heres a shot of the bench to be replaced:
I bought this for Celena back in the dark ages before the shop. Its not too bad really, especially considering it came from a big box store. Its real wood (except for the bottom of the storage compartment - which is some MDF/cardboard type stuff)and the design is okay. It has performed well, and I could probably reglue it and get another couple of years out of it, but Ive never really loved it. So its replacement time!
I havent yet designed the replacement bench, but it will address the following needs:
Function: seating for at least two adults, storage space of some kind.
Form: fit in with the style of the rest of the house, fit the space where it will live, be constructed to last (no dowel joints).
Looking at my track recorded, I should have the designs finalized by the end of summer...
We resurrected our Friday coffee group at work and the Galoot Coffee Caddy has been pressed back into service! I made this last year when our group of four became a group of five. Besides accommodating more than the disposable cardboard carriers, it is reusable and much cooler!
This was a fun project with a surprising amount of joinery: dado, stop dado, half-lap, double mortise and tenon, and dovetails. The wood was some mystery "mahogany" which I think is some kind of Philippine or Luan type. I selected only the more dense of the boards as some was too spongy or "popcorny".
Heres the final dry fit:
And a series of the caddy being disassembled down to its separate components:
After glue-up - first unfinished, and then with a coat of mineral oil:
A close-up of the dovetails. I just love the contrast between end grain and long grain after it has been oiled.
And final shot of the caddy alongside its mock-up. I dont usually do mock-ups, but since the sizing was critical, I wanted to make sure I got it right.
A fun project that makes me happy every Friday! Viva Caffeine!
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This is fine wood that is turning very well.
Ive gone a head and cut them to a uniform 4.25" in width and then I cut them down to 12" in length:
Lets arrange them into a possible bowl blank:
It needs to be a little wider in order for us to have a 12" diameter blank. Im going to have to add more wood but what kind and what color? Hmmm....better leave this and think about it over night too.**NOTE: While my shop is pretty much electron free woodworking, this post is all about using electrons directly. Ironic, no?**
I was telling a friend and co-worker about my experiences using electrolysis to remove rust from tools and thought it might be time for a post on this subject.
But before I get started lets just clarify a few things:
1. I am NOT claiming to be an expert on this, but I have had quite a bit of success with this method. Most of this I learned on the Internet - but as far as I know, the "CAT Scan" set-up is my own idea.
2. Be careful - this does involve electricity and water and it gives off hydrogen and oxygen gas. I recommend doing this outside. (Which in Alaska, makes it a summertime only activity, so obviously these pictures are not current - actually, judging from the shop in the background, they are even older than I remembered!)
Okay, lets get started. For this example we will be using a Stanley #65 low angle block plane. Heres the before and after shot:
I probably should have taken pictures of a more dramatic de-rusting. This tool was not too bad to start, and I could have simply went at it with some steel wool or sandpaper. But, the difference is that with electrolysis, you dont hurt the tool at all. No abrasion, no lost of metal (pitting will still be there however). It is a little like magic when you wipe it off after its bath.
Youll need:
Rusty tool
Sacrificial iron or steel
Car battery charger with ammeter
Assortment of alligator clips/leads
Non-metallic tub
Water
Washing Soda (Baking Soda works too, just not as well)
Heres how it works in a very general choice. The tool and the sacrificial metal are attached to the UNPLUGGED battery charger (Important! tool = negative, sacrificial metal = positive) and placed in a tub of water that has an electrolyte (washing soda) added. When the charger is plugged in and turned on, the electric current flows between the tool and the sacrificial metal and a lot of cool scientific stuff happens! Basically, some rust on the tool is physically blasted off by the bubbles of gas coming off the surface and the rest of the rust on the tool is converted back into another form of iron. While this is happening, the sacrificial metal is, well, sacrificed in a slow and painful (okay, not really...) choice as it somehow erodes into the water. Also at the same time, oxygen and hydrogen bubbles are, well, bubbling up.
Now you know why I dont teach science! If you are interested in the exact science of it all there are a ton of sites on this that explain it much better than I do - just google "electrolysis rust removal" and start reading. But seriously, whether you understand it or not, it still works!
On a more pragmatic note, here are some things to keep in mind:
1. Keep an eye on the ammeter - not enough current and the process will take forever - too much current (red zone on meter) and you might fry something.
To increase current either add more washing soda or move the tool and metal closer together (Unplug First!)
To decrease current either add more water or move the tool and metal farther apart (Unplug First!)
2. If the bubbles slow down, but the tool is still rusty, take it out (Unplug First!), wipe it off, and restart.
3. The process is "line of sight", which means you will either have to be patient and rotate things around, or be impatient (like me) and get creative...
4. If the water turns green and foamy, RUN! Just kidding, its normal.
5. When you take the tool out it will start to rust again. Fast. No really, FAST! Be ready to dry and oil/wax it.
To help deal with my impatience I created a "CAT Scan" rig that placed the tool inside a tunnel of the sacrificial metal.
Heres the carrier board that holds the tool parts. It has holes drilled into it to allow zip ties to be used to secure the parts (you do not want them coming into direct contact with the other metal). These holes also allow the current to get to the bottom of the parts.
Now the carrier board and attached parts is placed into The Fully Adjustable Tunnel of Rusty Doom!TM The vertical "tail" on the tunnel allows the battery charger jaws to be clear of the water (so as not to participate in the sacrifice below the surface).
Each part is wired up to a short jumper bar which will be connected to the battery charger (again, out of the water).
And here is a shot of the rig up and running on the back deck.
A last couple of before and after shots.
After plowing the grooves, it was time to cut the sides and ends to length. Which meant it was time to come up with actual dimensions. Since I wanted the bottom and the top to be made without gluing up wider panels (this was supposed to be a quick and simple one day project), and as my stock was 1x10 (actual width 9 1/4") I set the width of the box at 8 inches. This left enough stock for the sides to be 18".
I laid-out the first side, and cut it to length. First problem. I was out of practice, and the cut was pretty bad. It needed to be squared up with a plane.
Second problem. I was using one of my newer planes, a Stanley 62 bevel up jack plane. It cuts beautifully, but I had a dickens of a time getting the end square to the face. Id check it with the square, plane a bit - choice off! Huh. Plane again, and - choice off in the other direction! Now, Im not St. Roy, but this job I can usually handle without really thinking about it. What was going on?
After much frustration, I think I finally figured it out. It was the plane (alchoices blame your tools - just kidding!). I should clarify. It wasnt something the plane was doing; it was something it was making me do, or not do in this case. When I use my regular #5 jack plane, I extend my index finger and rest it on the edge of the iron just in front of the tote. On the #62, the iron is much lower (no frog) and without the iron to rest my finger on, I was not extending it. I was using a full four finger grip on the tote, and without that finger extended, my feedback was lacking; similar to depth perception using only one eye. Its weird how such a small detail can have such a huge, and incredibly frustrating impact. Im sure I could learn to compensate in time, but my solution for this project was to just extend the index finger out into space - it felt odd, but it worked.
Between the sawing and planing fiascoes, my 18" side was now shorter than 18". No worries, I just used that part to layout the opposite side - as long as they were both the same length, the box would be square.
With all the parts cut to size, I needed to create the corner joints. I was tempted to go with dovetails, but I was choice behind schedule (oh so easy to do when your schedule is not realistic in the first place) and decided I would just go with my standard pegged rabbet joint.
First, I marked the rabbets with a gauge:
Then I cut the shoulder with a dado saw - this one is an old Disston and you control the depth of cut by adjusting the bar across the blade:
I could have used a rabbet plane, but on cross grain work they require a nicker to sever the grain, and as the nicker cuts deeper than the iron the nicker cut is visible on the final joint. This isnt a big deal if the joint is hidden, but on this box it will be right on top, and I didnt want that nicker cut detracting from the clean joint.
So, after cutting the shoulder cleanly with the dado saw, I just used a chisel and mallet to split off the wood forming the cheek:
After that it was simple to clean up the cheek with a shoulder plane. Wait! Can I do that? Wouldnt that require a "cheek plane"? Oh English!
I made the floating panel for the bottom by cutting the stock to width, planing rabbets along the grain (rabbet plane) and sawing/splitting/planing rabbets across the grain:
Then, as time was running out, I got the box glued and clamped without major malfunction:
Time was up, and I didnt have a box yet. Although, that was actually very fitting for a "Me Box" - one of my defining characteristics is absolutely no "time reality" as my wife likes to call it.
I was going to have to find more time - hmm, maybe the gutters dont really need to be cleaned...
Concluded in Part III
See ya later,