'Shed pine...who'd have it?

Over the last couple of evenings I've been making progress with Meg's computer table and last night I was sorting out the drawer. It's been made in the usual way with lapped and through dovetails but cutting the sockets is proving to be a bit of a 'mare as the pine I'm using is soooooo soft and mushy it's proving a tad tricky.

True, the sawing is easy enough as as the stuff is so soft there's no difficulty in mushing the joints together...it's the chisel work that's awkward. I'm convinced that to do any long term work in this sort of stuff a separate set of chisels should be bought that can be honed at about 10deg so that it'll cut cleanly through it...either that or use a razor blade! My LN chisels are honed at 32deg which is just too great a pitch for very soft timber, so it's a really a bit a thankless task trying to use them on 'shed pine.

I did though try out a new (to me anyway) method of removing the waste from the sockets...rout it out! I set the router to the exact depth of the socket using the Axminster gauge blocks that I had for Christmas (and very useful they've proved too) and then set the fence so that the cutter just kissed the shoulder line. This meant that with a series of vertical plunges the waste was cleared out precisely to both scribed lines. It seemed to work quite well and left just the corners to clean out. The LN fishtails were particularly good here, but I came up against the same old problem...

...crap wood!!

I finished of the evening's activities by doing a little bit more on the shooting board project that I'm making for a good pal. To answer one specific question though, posed by a reader from far distant lands, the 'shute consists of two main large flat boards (made from mdf and ply) and the piece that can be seen on the underside is in fact a rectangular block of hardwood, so that in use it's hooked over the front of the bench (or secured in a vice) in much the same way as an ordinary bench hook.

I sorted out the first of the mitre attachments by planing it to fit onto the main 'shute. The next thing to do is to plane down the 45deg slope so that it makes a dead accurate mitre, which ought not to be too onerous, after which it's the slightly more adventurous long mitre jig...

Go west...

Activities in the workshop were suspended for a while over the weekend as SWIMBO and I spent a very pleasant weekend with some friends in Torquay. Shortly before Christmas, we had a new computer system installed at work (to cut a long story sideways, it's going in across the entire MOD) and one of the 'floorwalkers' came to stay with us for a few weeks when it was being put in so Carol subsequently invited us down to Torquay for the weekend.

We arrived at Carol and Chris's place around 830ish on Friday evening and after a brew got down to the serious business of catching up with all the gossip and after a couple or three bottles of very pleasant vino we retired at around midnight.Saturday was spent having a look at Chris's kitchen showroom and I was totally amazed by the demonstration of the induction hob...now that really is a very, very swish piece of kit (as well as being free and gratis if you spend over £3.5K on furniture) ...I wonder if there's an application for one in the 'shop?..probably not. I was also impressed by the very high standard of the kitchens on display coupled with the care and attention that clearly goes into making sure that the customer obtains exactly the specification of kitchen required.
We then had a walk round Babacombe ( stopping off for a brew and chips on the sea front) in typically English summer weather of grey sky and light 'mizzle' that seems to soak every inch, but as we were togged out in our Gortex coats, it didn't make much impression...still, it would have been more pleasant to see sunshine at the seaside!
Chris took us all out for a run out to Dartmoor on Sunday as the weather had cheered up somewhat and was much sunnier. After stopping at Haytor, we drove through Widdecombe-in-the-Moor and stopped off for a Devon cream tea (what else can you have in Devon?..except I didn't have any cream) at a rather nice 'oldy-worldy T shoppe' situated just by the rather impressive church in the centre of the village.

The innocuous looking concrete slope is one of many along the south coast of England that were used as embarkation ramps for the troops on 'D' day. This one was used by American GI's and is called 'Vanishing Point' which is what the lights spell out in Morse Code. The troops stepped into the landing craft on the ramp and many vanished, never to return...although the vast majority of listless holiday makers innocently sucking on their ice creams had no idea of the significance of the lights at their feet.

All told, a very pleasant weekend away...but I'm sure we didn't get through that much vino!

That which is lost...

After searching fruitlessly in all the odd corners of the 'shop over the last couple of months, my long treasured pot of Vaseline has finally re-emerged, having been lurking undisturbed in a cardboard box in the house. How it got there, I have absolutely no idea, but it's now been restored to it's rightful position in the drawer under the honing bench.

So it's appropriate then, that I offer the most 'umble and sincere apologies to anyone remotely under suspicion of tea-leafing it...but I'm sure there was a bit more in it a few months ago!

On an entirely different note, it's amazing how different jobs crop up that need one's immediate attention. My daughter is going to do an MA in the Autumn in Forensic Archaeology (that's studying old skellingtons) and has just bought a very tasty MacBook computer, so I'd said that I'd make her a desk for her room. "When do you want it for Megs?" says I...hoping that some time in the next couple of months would suit.

"Next week will be OK, ta" replies Megs.

What can you say except...

"fine, no worries, I'll crack on with it"

...so me and SWIMBO had no option but to have a run out to In-Excess in the Landy at the weekend and pick up some decent 25mm laminated pine boards that were going for a song...certainly a quarter the price of similar stuff in the 'sheds' in town. I don't mind using it for these sorts of projects 'cos it saves all the hassle of preparing the timber stock and means that a reasonable job can be knocked out relatively quickly. By the close of play on Sunday night I'd managed to sort out the main unit, top, dovetailed plinth and end frame. The next bits to do will be to make the drawer and the stand for the printer, which ought not to take too long. Construction is pretty fundamental as most of the timber was squared on the K419 tablesaur and then banged together with biscuits, so a lot can be achieved quite quickly.

On a more sombre tone, speaking of things that are lost, I had to have one of our cats put down last night at the vets. We'd had Smokey (a pedigree British Blue) since she was a kitten in 1994, so she was over 15 years old, which is a good age for any cat. She'd developed a urinary infection and was continually passing blood mixed with urine (caused by a large stone in her bladder according to the vet) and that particular area was just starting to get infested with maggots. She also had a heart defect and was starting to become seriously arthritic. The vet clipped all the fur away and after some discussion agreed that she was suffering and the kindest thing to do was to put her down, which I agreed to. Megs was with me in the surgery and was fairly devastated, but she also said that leaving her with the vet was the best and kindest thing to do. Decisions like this are never easy and I was pretty choked as well, but logic has to prevail and the right decision has to be taken, which I think I did.

So all in all, a fairly crap evening had by all...c'est la vie, ne'st pas?

Doors close...and open!!

What a week!..but to set matters a little straighter, let me explain. As I said earlier, we were delighted that Gareth had got a good honours degree in Maths from an excellent university, but not quite so enthralled with the prospect of seeing him unemployed, along with countless other graduates, for what could have been a very long time. The idea of him kicking around Salisbury for months on end with nothing to do wasn't the most appetising of thoughts and quite frankly one that Alyson and I were not looking forward to, and if truth be told, neither was Gareth.

However, events turned out a little differently, as I'll reveal in due course...

We motored up to Newark-on-Trent to see my brother (and what a crap drive it was too) and as promised, an extremely pleasant, booze induced evening was had by all. Round about 1030ish, in some sort of alcohol fueled haze I decided to check my mobile 'fone, something I rarely ever do as I hate the bloody things with vengeance (but that's another story). There was just one message on it from Gareth, consisting of just one word...
"Employed!!!"
I was so knocked out that it cost my brother the better part of a bottle of malt whisky and a 'fone call to Gareth enquiring after his health, more precisely, if ...'he wasn't pissed by now, why not?' (to which he replied that he was working on it) confirmed that he did indeed have a job with Blackrock investments which had been confirmed only that afternoon, having been interviewed in London the previous day.
That really set the tone for the rest of the break, which as it transpires was very enjoyable.
We continued round to Edinburgh the next day (no time unfortunately for Lindersfarne) and sorted ourselves out with our accommodation at Chancellors Court which was very good. Sunday was spent on the Isle of May, a wildlife sanctuary in the Firth of Forth, with vast numbers of puffins and other bird life. Monday was spent having a look round Edinburgh, in particular the Scotch Whisky Experience which I thoroughly enjoyed and later on that day we had a historical trip to visit the Real Mary King's Close. I didn't realise at the time, but there's a whole subterranean labyrinth of ancient streets (or closes) beneath the Royal Mile that have over the intervening centuries been built over leaving just the lower stories, complete with ghosts and goulies...the description of the occupants living conditions, particularly their hygiene habits are not pleasant, especially at meal times!
Tuesday saw the graduation in the university's very grand hall, which was uplifting, if not a trifle hot on the day...my sympathies went out to the students in the 'cheap seats' whilst those of us in the 'Gods' were at least a little cooler. The evening saw us all go out for a fantastic graduation feast at Gusto's which was one of the most enjoyable meals I've had in a restaurant for a long time.
Wednesday saw me packing up all Gareth's assorted crap into the Landrover ready for the long haul home the following day (which also happened to be the hottest day of the year so far)...good job the Landy had air conditioning!

Holy Illustrations

Any reader(s) of this slightly irreverent missive will have to forgo their undoubted disappointment for a few days as I'm off on my travels again tomorrow...specifically we're off to Edinburgh for about a week to see Gareth's graduation from the university. He was hoping for a 2/1 but achieved a very creditable 2/2 in Mathematics. As I pointed out to him, the classification of the degree isn't really important, it's what it's in and where it came from that counts. Future employers won't be interested in whether it's a 2/1 or a 2/2...the mere fact that it's a BSc. Hons in Mathematics from one of the top universities in the country will be enough to open any future employment doors.

We hope to set off at around lunch time on Friday to stay with my brother overnight near Newalk-on-Trent, so no doubt we'll have a few scoops in the evening and then next morning it's up early as we need to get to Holy Island at Lindersfarne by about midday in order to catch the safe crossing times across the causeway. After that, it's only about 90min drive round the coast on the A1 to Edinburgh, so I'm hoping to arrive there sometime round about 1800hrs.

In the meantime, I've been beavering away in the 'shop...the pic shows the progress of Tony's new 'shute. For me, a decent shooting board is indispensable in the 'shop and this one is pretty standard, apart from a few uber-cunning improvements that make it almost impossible to use inaccurately,but also that make it easy to fix...always useful!

First and foremost, the 90deg fence pivots slightly...the hole at the runway end is a tight fit on the screw and the other end is a loose fit, the fence being tightened using a big screw and washer once 90deg has been set. The fence also has a piece of long grain timber biscuited into it so that if the 'shute plane be inadvertently tipped, it can be easily replaced by simply gluing on another small piece and planing it in.

Second and foremost, the runway has a wear strip of acrylic plastic which makes moving the LN No.9 along it almost child's play, but the really clever bit is the small additional wear strip down the side of the plastic which bears on the sole of the plane just underneath the cutter...so it's bloody hard to damage the side of the 'shute, even if you do manage to tip the plane. Cunning or what?

Should you happen to dip into future issues of Furniture and Cabinetmaking, you might notice the inclusion of one or two hand-tinted, colour washed illustrations. When Michael Hunltley was the editor I offered to do a couple, very much in the style of the drawings in FWW (which we both like a great deal, particulary the layout and graphics) so I did some and sent them off the mag. The response was positive and they seemed to like my 'colouring-in' renditions with the result that I've been asked to do a lot more...winner!

There are a couple of additional features that will be built into the 'shute when I return, so you're just going to have to curb your impatience and wait 'til I finished my wanderings...

Wheeling and Dealing

Pete's recent Bash last weekend was a huge success, enjoyed by all (I don't think I had anything to eat for the next couple of days though) but one of the things that came out of it was a deal that I struck with Tony (Waka) regarding one or two small items that he wanted made. I'd long coveted one of his tools which was now surplus and as bartering is the oldest form of trading...why not?

Tony's shute is a very desirable jig made in a combination of Cherry and Rosewood. A couple of things he wanted were some additions to it, namely a mitre attachment and a 'Donkey's Ear' for box making. The other things that rather caught his eye at the Bash were my projection boards for the Eclipse honing guide and my rather natty little jig to hold the LV spokeshave blades, all of which he's asked me to make for him.

Having looked at the shute, I think it'll be far easier for me to make him a new one based on my design where I'll be able to incorporate the two additional attachments...it won't be in Cherry and Rosewood but it will work just as well. I think I'm also going to modify his Eclipse honing guide as well as it makes it far easier to hold chisels...in fact this is what all the chisels were held in for honing in the recent chisel test for F&C.

But what was the deal, what's going to be traded, I hear you a pondering?

To find out the answer to that one, you'll just have to keep dipping into the Blog.....

The Bigger Bash

The great and the good from UKWorkshop converged at Pete's place yesterday for the annual Salisbury Bash...and a great day it was too. The food, as ever, was just fabulous so a huge thanks to Pam who must have slaved long and hard over a hot stove to provide it all. Around the table in a clockwise direction are Paul, Tony (Waka) Rod (Harbo) theTiddles (Aiden) Bob (9Fingers) Paulm (Paul) and Pete...yours truly with the camera.
The theme for this years event was sharpening small blades and 'shave blades, so I set up my stall in Pete's shop and sorted out all the blades provided. Paulm brought along a particularly interesting collection of pen knives and I was impressed with the Spyderco triangular stones that are used to hone them.
I was also interested to compare the Auriou rasp that Paul bought at West Dean a couple of weeks ago with my Chinwanese offerings from Workshop Heaven. The test was a little unfair as we didn't have a 'like for like' rasp so the jury's still out on that one...

As an aside, it's Fathers Day today... I'll have on of these please!