03 January 2009

Grey Cells and the Woolly Hat

My little project in American Oak is drawing to a conclusion and I have to say, I think it's going to turn out quite well. As always there's always the odd slight niggle with any project but generally it's coming along quite nicely. The backs have to be fitted...yes, there are separate backs for each little space (worry not, all will be revealed in the fullness of time) and I made the drawer base in the AirPress last night, a combination of English Walnut and teak veneers to make a plywood of a sort. The main problem was the glue...it's been so bloody cold in the 'shop that the stuff hasn't gone off so I've had to bring 'd'project' indoors for it to set. Interestingly, I decided to use a combination of glues during the main gluing stage, slow setting epoxy for the wedged stub tenons and my standard white PVA for the dovetails. I did that 'cos the slow setting epoxy gave me a much longer 'open time' in the 'shop...not that it mattered much as the temp has never been much above bloody freezing so thermals and woolly hat have been the order of the day. The next major task however, is to make the drawer, easy enough you might say, but this one's got a curved front, so it'll add a little bit of complexity to the making process. I mentioned a while back that 'flat and square' is easy enough to make...as soon as a bit of curvature is introduced anywhere the whole job becomes a lot more taxing to the little grey cells, so it's a good job I've got the woolly hat to keep 'em warm ('specially after I've just had the New Year shear up top...)
My main Christmas present this year from SWIMBO was the leather apron from Axminster and after a couple of sessions in the 'shop it's definitely a sound investment...I'll just have to make a real effort not to use it a glue rag, which is my normal habit for any item of clothing that I wear in the 'shop.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rob,

Looking forwards to seeing pics of your latest project. Will it be appearing in F&C sometime soon too ?

All the best, Paul M

Woodbloke said...

Paul - this one's not going into F&C as it's only a small 'fun' peice made from some odds and ends of American White Oak, but it's given me a chance to play around with some new techniques, 'specially in the drawer making dept - Rob