RangerJay

Thanks again everyone for a slew of good ideas - think I've decided on a bit of a two prong approach to try to recover and maintain usable "space" . The first is a simple clean-up and organization - underway now - amazing the transformation it is making already - started yesterday and should finish today (but maybe tomorrow) - one trip to the landfill coming up ....... and a few items directed towards the next church yard sale. The second is mounting casters on 3/4 plywood on one machine - think I'm going to go with a set of locking stationary casters on the back and locking swivel casters on the front. Really appreciate all the great ideas and advice. Jay

Thanks for the ideas and thoughts - may have already been done but a thread devoted to space-saving ideas might be one well worth doing - I've posted before about a "lazy susan" I have that hosts 3 benchtop tools - wouldn't give it up for the world - but otherwise my workshop competes with equipment needed for snow removal, grass cutting, gardening, camping, boating and the provision of emergency power - I guess in truth my "Shed" has a tough time calling itself a "Workshop" - maybe its more suited to the title "Garage" ....... Thanks, Jay

The purchase of a lawn tractor with a snowblower attachment has meant that my workshop has gotten a lot smaller - and meaning that it would be really helpful if a couple pieces of machinery could be moved out of the way from time to time. Both of them are heavy and awkward to be dragging around - a standing drill press and a 12" planer on its own bench. Any thoughts on the use of locking casters for these kinds of tools? Mount the casters directly onto the machine? - or on a frame that the machinery fits into? Any thoughts on what has worked for others - or what to avoid - would be really appreciated. Thanks, Jay

I like working with Ash in the same way I like working with Oak - love the grain and the look it can create in your workpiece - but having said that - I always do a bit of pondering before deciding what woods to use on any project. I usually leave the heavy grained woods to those projects where the grain will be shown to best advantage and it will complement the pattern. Way back in the beginning of time I recall using some ash in a few crosses (simply because it was there) with very elaborate fretwork - no more - just doesn't show off the grain. Projects where it has worked well for me have been in framing portraits or possibly in the portraits themselves (e.g. wildlife or landscape pieces) if there is ample background space to show off the grain - and if that "showing off" actually enhances the overall work. Jay

Beautiful, beautiful work. Jay

Great! - that is exactly the kind of project I love to do. Jay

All great pieces - I'd buy O'Holy Night in a heartbeat ..... Jay

I would have thought a dog show would be the perfect place to sell as well ..... your hard learned lesson is a lesson for us all ...... And as for the RV??? ...... .... well ..... ..... don't give up on it ..... ..... a great way to see the country!! Just doesn't get any better!! Jay

Thanks folks - I really appreciate your kind words. Jay

A Hummingbird project has been on my to-do list for a quite a while. Had originally thought of a wall hanging but after doing a set of golfing bookends a while back using this same burl I thought I would try it again. These will be donated to the Hospice that cared for our mother in her last weeks. As a family we have wanted to tangibly thank this marvelous facility and its staff and volunteers for their incredible service - and hopefully contribute to their fundraising efforts. Their logo is a Hummingbird. After looking at literally hundreds of images of Hummingbirds - photographs, artwork, line drawings and existing patterns - we ended up with a shortlist of about 1/2 dozen to choose from - but this simple pattern from Sue Mey was one that kept bubbling to the surface - seemed very representative of a lady who lived a quiet, humble life with a lot of elegant grace. The main wood species are African Padauk, Panama Rosewood and Australian Red Mali Burl. The accents are Walnut. The finish is polyurethane buffed out to a semi-gloss finish with 0000 steel wool and wax. The area immediately around each hummingbird was further buffed to a high gloss with polishing compound. Comments welcome. Jay

Those are really nice pieces - I especially like the first one - and agree that it is not too late to save the piece if you are going to use a backer - by cutting out a new centre of the "O" and gluing it on the backer. If I remember right I think Charles Dearing has at least one video on You Tube that talks about this as an actual technique on some projects. Jay

Thanks again for the very welcome comments. In answer to a few questions: The Greene and Green style frame: anyone who is interested might want to just Google the phrase or do a search on YouTube. In particular here is a neat YouTube video of a historical home made entirely in the Greene and Greene tradition - if you like woodwork (and I know all of you do) then you'll enjoy this: Buffing: All buffing is by hand - I was careful over top of the scrollwork - but not too worried. Gentle sanding with a sanding mop in each direction removes pretty much all the sharp edges and there are enough coats of polyurethane built up on the piece to round over the edges even further. Regardless I was careful to fold the buffing cloth in a way that didn't offer up any loose pieces of cloth that might catch. Finally - I'm a lot more gentle over top of the scrollwork than on the adjacent wood. On this piece I started buffing with just wax impregnated into 0000 steel wool then changed to polishing compound which brought it up quite a bit more - then wax. Trim: The black trim is made of Cherry that has been dyed black. This little piece of trim does a lot to make the whole project pop - without it the piece looks pretty bland. Where we live: Yes - Northwestern Ontario is a pretty big place - we're from the little town of Atikokan - just north of Quetico Park and 200 KM or so west of Thunder Bay. Thanks again - it's really great to get such positive feedback. Jay

Thanks for your kind comments. The frame is fashioned in a Greene and Greene style which - I believe - is traditionally made with mortise and tenon joinery and accented with square and raised ebony pegs - I cheated - my joints are made with dowels and the visible accents are flush walnut plugs. Thanks again, Jay

This lighthouse is on the Georgian Bay shoreline of Lake Huron just down the road from a friends long-time family cottage that is now hosting its 4th generation of kids during the summer months. One of those "kids" is getting married in a couple weeks - at the cottage - and this piece is destined as a wedding gift. The cutting is 1/2 inch walnut backed by 1/8 inch baltic birch that has been dyed black. The frame is cherry. The finish is polyurethane buffed out to a fairly high polish (bit of an experiment - have never buffed a project out to this degree before). Learned a serious lesson about dust with this project - have always vacuumed, wiped and taken a tack cloth to every project between coats - but this time I also learned it is important to vacuum your clothing as well - ended up with 6 very visible dust nibs when I passed my arm over the piece during spraying - I did sand them out and completed an additional spray - but they are still faintly visible if you know where to look - my saving grace is that my wife couldn't find them till they were pointed out ..... meaning ..... if she couldn't find them then it's unlikely anyone can find them ..... Comments welcome. Jay

Great union between a superbly designed pattern and perfect cutting. Beautiful work. Will you be framing it? Jay

That is a tough one. You're right - cedar is a hard one to beat - we built a sauna into the garage over 20 years ago (at the expense of workshop space .....) - the smell of the cedar has never faded and continues to welcome us to that room every time we go in. Pine and walnut are both woods I look forward to cutting because of the wood smell they give the workshop. But one of the oldest and most "family" smells comes from fresh cut fir - when I was a young kid my grandfather used a lot of fir and fir plywood in his workshop and to this day I cannot cut a piece of fir without thinking of him - have to admit that I don't seek out fir as a species but do get the odd piece when recycling an old cupboard or come across some used lumber. Jay

Pretty tough to beat Kevin - a great piece of work. Jay

Check Amazon for clear plastic test tubes with caps - there are a number of different lengths and diameters - all very inexpensive.

Very nice looking work for all the trouble you had doing it! Jay

A meaningful gift of appreciation - emotionally appreciated - undoubtedly destined to be proudly displayed in her home and forever cherished - what a neat story - doesn't get much better than that. Jay

My own first saw had a stationary arm .... that saw is now retired ...... but having said that I did get used to it and cut a lot of great projects. In addition to what has already been mentioned I found it helpful to round out the bottom entrance hole with an awl before trying to thread the blade. And you didn't mention the thickness of your stock - trying to thread a blade through a tight hole in 1 inch stock is a lot tougher than trying to thread a blade through 1/8 or 1/4 inch stock. Also - at least till you get the hang of it play with smaller projects - they are much easier to handle on that type of saw rather than larger projects (i.e. ornaments over landscape scenes). Finally, select relatively uncomplicated patterns - ones that allow you to use a larger bit for your holes - and ones that minimize the number of holes needed. And just one more "finally" - work hard to keep your blade straight - if you get a bend in the blade it can be tough and sometimes impossible to thread - I keep a set of pliers beside the saw for just the reason - as the blade "ages" those pliers get good use. Good luck. Jay

Wow - doesn't get any better than that!! - stunning piece of work!! Jay

Thanks everyone for your responses and very kind comments. Rob: I did pretty much my normal finish which in this case was 6 coats of Minwax polyurethane spray (semi-gloss) followed by furniture paste wax that is applied with 0000 steel wool. I sprayed the piece with the burl face flat - I did not want to create even the hint of any opportunity for the polyurethane to slump or run. The only other thing different that I did was add a coat of Claphams Beeswax Polish to all - first time I've done this - I don't really think it made any special difference to the walnut or elm - but (at least in my mind) it did seem to make the colours and swirls of the burl a bit richer. Wombatie: I had never heard of Red Mali before but was really taken with the look of the grain - once I started working it I was surprised at how hard this wood was - my only other experience with a burl was on Maple but it was nowhere close to the hardness of this Red Mali. I also have a burl slab from a Yellow Box tree which is heavier and feels even more dense than the Red Mali - I'm guessing it will also be difficult to work with - any hints?? Thanks again everyone, Jay

Here are a pair of bookends I just finished up for a Charity Fundraiser Golf Tournament in September. It is the 2nd Annual Presidents Golf Tourney and Auction put on by the Canadian Hearing Society to raise scholarship funds intended to support Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students in their post-secondary schooling. The burl is Red Mali (Australia), the backing is Red Elm, and the base is Walnut.. The patterns are re-purposed from from Sue Mey clock patterns. The burl was a bit of a challenge - I had originally wanted it to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of an inch thick - didn't take me long to figure out that wasn't going to happen - I did try an experiment at 1/2 inch and was steadily breaking drill bits and blades - so finally settled on 1/4 inch - which went OK - but still broke a couple of drill bits. Anyway, I'm reasonably pleased with how it turned out - the grain of the burl is stunning (the pictures do not do it justice) - but I think I would do a little more pondering on how best to cut the golf shaft - and pretty sure I'd do it a little differently ..... Comments welcome, Jay

Not sure about others but I have always stayed incredibly loyal - (others might say obsessive) - to my finishing products and processes. Think that grows from the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy of life ...... and a literal fear of experimenting with something different on a piece of work that I have spent a lot of time and effort on ..... Having said that .... My own go-to finish is Minwax semi-gloss rattle can polyurethane. I do not adhere to the 72 hour rule. If I can I do work to apply at least 2 coats within a two hour(ish) window (no sanding between) - if I can't hit that window (usually because it's time to call it a night) then I wait till the work is dry and hard enough to be sandable - this is usually just overnight and is easy to determine. To help the drying effort I have adopted the habit of turning a small fan onto the drying table as soon the finish is sprayed - I do not recall ever having to wait more than overnight (the exception to this may be when the first spray coat is applied over stain). Sanding effort is thorough but very light. My sandpaper between coats is 220 and on the last coat I will use 400 before the final spray. Each coat is applied with 4 passes from 4 directions. I will use between 4 and 6 coats of finish - the number dependent on the species of wood - less for closed grain (i.e. maple) more for open grain (i.e. walnut). Not sure whether this has any great bearing on drying time - but I also keep a de-humidifier going in the shop during humid summer times - this is more for my own comfort and that of my tools - but I think I can imagine that a drier shop environment is also better for drying finishes. Should also add that I "finish" the "finish" with a top-coat of furniture wax that has been applied with 0000 steel wool - this gives the piece a very smooth, soft lustre. With the exception of a switch from a brush to a spray can about 5 years ago I've followed this process for decades and I do not recall there ever being any subsequent issues with the finish. Jay