Mon 7 Jun 2010

A Redwood Planter

Posted by kenneth under Design, Projects
[7] Comments

18 mortises, 24 rabbets, 16 grooves for paneling, 4 tongue-and-grooves, a lot of sawing, and we have ourselves a giant planter. Done by hand, it was a lot more work than it looks. It was good practice though, and a great workout for my bench. I mentioned this project a few months ago.

It turned out almost as I had planned, with a few minor modifications along the way. The joinery was a bit more complicated than expected.

At the junctures of all of the rails, there are stopped grooves that open to mortises from 2 directions. Since the legs are relatively thin, the tenons are trimmed at an angle to allow them to mate with the tenons sharing most of the mortise. Lots of geometry in these corners, and in something like chunky and irregular redwood there’s a major risk of blowing structure out. On more than one occasion I found myself right on the edge of peeling entire layers of this wood apart like an onion. I had to glue a chunk of one of my tenons back together when half of it peeled right off. Be careful with this stuff.

There are a few things I would do differently. First off, I’m glad that I went all-in with the hand-cutting of all of that joinery. It was good practice. I was in a weird headspace the whole time though. I chose fencing materials since I could get stock in sizes that were close to what I need. This material is cut to size, but warps and bows quite a bit. So while intending to do this precise joinery, that little voice kept saying: “It’s just fencing, and it’s just a planter, so I won’t bother planing this…” In the end my joinery was a bit less precise than I had wanted, partially because redwood compresses so much that even with a good fit, it won’t be a good fit for long if you’re not very careful.

My angles were slightly off due to slight warping in various pieces, but with slightly rounded edges on the fence stock, I couldn’t plane down much. I used the softness of the wood to my advantage and coaxed things into place when necessary. It all came together though, at about 4mm off square.

One thing that I was particularly cautious about was guarding against water pooling and wicking. For the tongue and groove joints I angled the shoulders of the tongues down slightly to encourage water to run out. I sealed the ends of the tenon shoulders with glue so they wouldn’t absorb so much water. Those shoulders are partially exposed to the elements due to rounding of the stock. I also applied some thinned glue as a sizing to the bottom of the feet, then a coat of full-strength glue over that while it was still wet. The intention here is to get some glue soaked into the fibers where the feet will be in constant contact with the ground.

This project also served as a testbed for some theories about building outdoor furniture. I’ll revisit this in a few years and see what’s still intact. I think having done it all with waterproof glue, mortise and tenons, floating panels, and liberal amounts of sealing should mean that this thing will be around longer than me.

Once the glue dries I’ll put mountains of soil into it and start planting things in my new mini herb farm. It’s Dogfish Head time.

Also, major carnage…

 

Thu 13 May 2010

Hand Tools & Dust

Posted by kenneth under Safety
[3] Comments

In honor of Woodworker’s Safety Week, it’s time for a heart-to-heart. Let’s talk about the magical safety unicorn that is protecting hand tool users from harm.

First off, yes, a big machine with whirling knives is more dangerous than a hand plane. Table saws are very hungry for fingers. Kickbacks can send you racing off to SpleenMart. “Router flour” can cake your lungs in seconds flat. In comparison, a discussion of the dangers of hand tool woodworking might seem like comparing freeway driving at high speeds with a romp in a bumper car with flames painted on the side. Bear with me.

Conventional wisdom recommends occasionally walking away from the big metal beasts and picking up a hand saw for a pleasant vacation in HappyLand. This is definitely “safer” in comparison; that doesn’t mean that it’s “safe.” With hand tools our guard is lowered, and we get sloppy.

When I saw and plane in my office/not-shop, I leave some amount of a very fine dust on everything within a 5 foot radius. Early on, I noticed that dust was being sucked into my wind tunnel of a computer, and it was constantly spewing small amounts back into the environment of my office. I had inadvertently created a dust collection and dispersal box. I would also find dust in my nose, which means that it’s getting into my lungs as well. These things showed me how much dust I was generating, just using hand tools.

I consider the risk of dust exposure to be greater than the risk of mangling a digit. Surely, cutting yourself (or losing a finger) is a horrible thing. But those sweet-smelling clouds of wood aid in the formation of various cancers, and other lung issues. It’s not only the volume of dust that’s a concern, it’s the size of the particles and the amount of exposure. Fineness determines how deeply into the lungs the particles go. The finest particles can settle into lower portions of your lungs, and it’s much more difficult for your body to get rid of them. ”Woodworker’s Lung” was around long before we learned to harness electricity. Some species of wood are directly associated with cancer, and you don’t want any amount of that in your body.

In a power tool shop you might switch on the dust collection system and wear a mask, because you expect it. For hand tools, many people skip lung protection entirely. While it is sometimes reasonable, and currently fashionable, to overlook something as simple as a dust mask, you might be surprised at how much dust can be generated using a hand saw and a plane.

Rip sawing turns each cut into a fine powder, which can easily be seen drifting around, waiting to lodge itself in your lungs.

Planing can also generate some nasty dust clouds. It is not usually associated with dust because you’re aiming for shavings, but a very thin shaving is not like a stable sheet of paper, it’s more like a tight web. Some of that is going to generate dust. As well, some species of wood (generally softer woods) generate more dust than others since the fibers tend to crush before being cut.

At times I feel like I’m an overzealous planer, almost like I’m channeling the Tasmanian Devil. The instructional and demo videos of plane usage on the web are usually meant to show form and technique, at a snail’s pace. This is not how it goes in real life. To really get somewhere (especially if you’re thicknessing a bunch of stock at once) you have to generate a rhythm, and since you have a lot of ground to cover by hand, you tend to do it rather quickly.

When the dust clears, it’s either on horizontal surfaces, in your lungs, or stuck to the mask that you should have been wearing when you first noticed it floating around.

Until next time, may the safety unicorn smile upon you.

 

Thu 22 Apr 2010

Tool Saturation

Posted by kenneth under Tools
[8] Comments

Behold, the formerly vast expanses of my desk.

It’s pretty cool to sit here, toiling away, and glance over at my planes, thinking of what I’d much rather be doing. It’s a bit torturous at times, but it’s better than carefully stuffing my beautiful toys into a box. I consider it character.

I’ve bought and made a lot of stuff. I am on the verge of having too much stuff, partially because of my space limitations. While I’m not naive enough to think that there won’t be more stuff in the future, I’m not… you know… on the prowl anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I likes the tools. I want one of each kind of hand plane that I could stand to maintain. I want at least one more size of combo square. I want every chisel that Lie-Nielsen makes. I want a lot more clamps. I want a spill plane in case I’m ever lost in a cave without any batteries for my flashlight—and happen to have one in my backpack, along with some scrap wood.

I’ve spent a lot of time perusing catalogs. I’ve seen lots of funky and interesting one-off tools, and jigs a-plenty. For a while now, it has been a constant barrage of Stuff. So many options, so many colors—I must leave here with something.

But I really don’t need any of it.

Maybe my enthusiasm is on hiatus because I’m so busy. I like to think it’s because my space limitations have helped me to think in terms of compactness and multi-purpose-ness, to plan ahead, and to set my stuff limit much lower than most. As it stands, I have a decent, yet humble, arsenal. Everything else just increases efficiency.

Then again, maybe I just ran out of space and my subconscious is taking the high road.

 

Sun 4 Apr 2010

The Longest Hour

Posted by kenneth under Tangents
[11] Comments

Snausages was one of the best friends I’ve ever had.

She had a fun name, which was given to her by a neighbor, before my time. She was from the wrong side of the tracks. When she moved in with me she rose to the occasion. I wouldn’t allow her to demand attention of me, then swat at me when I touched her anywhere below her head—water in a spray bottle works wonders with cats. She became one of the most loving animals I’ve ever known. She was adorable of course, and she tolerated my photographic experiments. She was a good subject.

About 18 months ago, she fell from the internal balcony of our townhouse condo, breaking her pelvis in two locations. She was up and ready to walk in 2 weeks. She later went through a number of intense health issues, only to bounce back into perfect friend mode. She was always around when I was sick, and she loved to sleep in my lap for hours on end, preferably in whatever position was most uncomfortable for me.

As many of those health issues slowly wore her down, in the last few weeks she had been on the decline. On Saturday, we had to let her go. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last, but that familiar vacuum is very present today. “The Longest Hour” is that last hour that we had with her before our vet appointment. It was absolutely terrible, but I’m happy for every second of it. She fell asleep on my chest for the last time.

You may wonder why I’m posting this here. Beyond sharing our grief in this now-familiar forum, she was one of the original reasons for my finally taking the plunge into woodworking. After her fall she had trouble getting into the bed with us, so I planned to make a bench that she could use to step up. I made a tiny table for food bowls after she suddenly went blind due to hypertension (a condition from which she recovered); I made a little ottoman/step for her favorite chair because she couldn’t handle the jump by herself; I made a ramp for her litter box as she began having trouble getting over the edge.

This is an example of the many things that affect our lives in unexpected ways—of how a pet can become an unforeseen source of inspiration, or necessity. As well, woodworking improved her life just as it has improved mine. I might go so far as to say that my “hobby” helped to keep her with us for just a little while longer.

So thank you, Snausages, for everything. We love you and we miss you terribly. I will think of you fondly when I am building things, and I can’t thank you enough for that.

 

Thu 1 Apr 2010

Spring Has Sprung

Posted by kenneth under Design, Projects
[5] Comments

Ah, spring! With winter behind us again, all those months of Vitamin D deficiency are but a lingering memory. It’s time for actual sunlight, refreshing breezes, being buzzed by daredevil hummingbirds and getting the grill ready for some serious outside time.

It’s also time for me to take care of that pile of *stuff* that had to be put on hold while I hibernated. I saw the light last weekend, and started attacking a planter project that has been at the bottom of that pile. It’s a 3′ x 3′ (roughly) planter box with a bottom, in which we will grow a range of herbs in our tiny back yard. This one has to be finished in time for early spring planting, so it’s chop-chop time for me.

After some shopping around, I found that buying chunks of fencing at the widths that I needed would do the trick for less than buying and breaking down lumber from a hardwood source. With my now-indispensible keychain tape measure in hand, I headed off to Home Depot for some fencing. I grabbed 6′ lengths of 5.5″ x 3/4″ FSC-certified redwood (not surfaced) for $1.87 a piece. Yes, please.

I also grabbed some 8′ lengths of semi-decorative strips at 1.5″ x 1.5″, something that would have been less expensive to rip down from a board bought at a hardwood dealer. I don’t have a table saw, and ripping long strips with a hand saw isn’t my idea of a good time these days, so prefab wins this round.

On one particularly nice day, my saw bench, my ryoba and I planted ourselves on the patio and started breaking this stuff down. The interesting bit is that I reworked my original plan for the planter based on the stock that I bought, and accurately built the joinery (mostly grooves) into the SketchUp model. After spending a bit of time confirming the accuracy of the model, I then used it as reference for each initial cut. I did some rework on the sizing of the grooves as I went.

This thing isn’t really complicated, but it was the first time I’ve left the numbers up to SketchUp after building the joinery to specs.

For this project I’m going full-bore. For absolutely no reason other than practice, I’m cutting mortise & tenon joinery for the frame and grooving the panels in. I think practice is a good reason, as the next project is the tool cabinet. At the very least, it will be the most over-engineered  flower pot in the history of civilization.

Rain or shine, if you will.

On a tangent, I cleaned up my cuts and did some surfacing on the components with the new workbench and it went very smoothly. I can’t describe how much less fatiguing it is to do face planing on a bench that you don’t have to simultaneously hold down with a foot…

 

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