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Furniture School

20K views 40 replies 16 participants last post by  a1Jim 
#1 ·
The enrolment

Well I enrolled in a 10 week furniture making course here in Mississauga. It is offered through the Living Arts Center by Matthew Agostinis. The first class is on April 22nd and will run until June. I will post the progress I make on the yet to be determine project I will be working on. I would like to hear from anyone who has taken this the course or heard of Matthew his link is attached ":http://mafurniture.com/
 
#3 ·
I fished Lake Mississauga just south of Chapleau, is it anywhere near there? We also canoed down the Mississauga River in Southern Ontario just east of SS Marie. Is it near there near Bruce Mines? Good luck to you
 
#4 ·
Nah! Mike man the only lake near this city is lake Ontario and you don't want to be fishing there !!! Thanks I am the city just west of Toronto the poor cousin to the west or the arm pit of Toronto and to quote T- Chisel "whatever" As for Proudtobecanadian look it up on their web site www.livingartscenter.ca I saw some of his work it looks nice.
 
#5 ·
being from rural country, even further west of Toronto, Mississauga IS Toronto, in my books ha :)

Looking forward to hearing about your experience and watching your project take shape.
Pretty exciting!
 
#6 ·
First Class in 2 days. What should I wear...

Well folks it is getting nicer outside ( here in the great white north eh!) and the shop is now thawed enough to start some serious work. I just finished a series of skill building project and start furniture design school on Wednesday night . Not sure what to expect at this point but I am excited. Oh !I also just purchased a 12 ½ inches thickness planner and am loving it(Review to come.) Goodbye big box store over priced pre dressed lumber. I still do not have a project in mind for this course but I am leaning toward a Green and Green style something or another. I will keep you posted.
 
#7 ·
Jacques, it sounds like the fun is just beginning. Once you get the opportunity to work with rough lumber a whole new woodworking world opens up for you. And getting to a take a course like this is another wonderful opportunity. No wonder you are on an adrenaline high right now!! I just hope that you can get some rest tonight so that you will be in prime shape for the course tomorrow night. :)
 
#9 ·
The first class.

Well… last Wednesday night was my first class. I was not sure what to expect since I was in high school the last time I was formally instructed in woodworking. The course is being held at the Living Arts Center here in Mississauga, Ontario. We are 10 students with a wide variety of experience and different background. A great bunch of people and the atmosphere was relaxed. I had already decided to leave my past knowledge in my shop and walk in with an open mind. It is a good thing because the first few hours were pretty basic. We went over shop safety and used most of the tools to cut and dress a 6×12 board. It was fun and I did learn something about thickness planners.

We are provided with enough rough lumber to make a small table or something with 4 legs, aprons and a top. I have decided to make a piano bench. I made one about 3 years ago out of pine and with pocket holes and screws ,it still is fine but I am not happy with the construction and all the mistakes I made. I finish the design and drawings yesterday and my conundrum right now is should I bring in my own wood. I should mention that the lumber provided is poplar. (It is free) I know poplar takes stain well and this piece needs to be dark brown to match the antic piano it will be used with.

The instructors are both skilled craftsmen's with great designs in their portfolio. I know I am going to learn lots and get to work in a" really well equipped shop" for 10 weeks what more can a lumberjock wants. I will take photos and post the progress. Thanks for reading comments always welcomed.
 
#10 ·
I am pretty jealous that you are attending a formal class in woodworking. Other than business lectures and lectures on design at some furniture conferences I have not had this opportunity.

I hope they will let you take pictures during shop class.

Who are the instructors?
 
#15 ·
2nd class

Well the second class of my 10 week course is behind me. I somehow had it in my mind that we were going to make sawdust last night. Well what I forgot is this is a structured course and we needed to have a design and drawing done before we take the wood to the tools. I had mine done but once the instructor reviewed it I had to make some changes. Also there was a review of the safety and operation of the tools. We did however split the 12X6 piece we dressed last week in half and re glued it. This exercise was to teach us about clamp pressure and grain direction. It sounds basic but you have no idea how often a table top has buckled on me. Since I was not satiated with my shop time today I went into my shop and did a thorough cleaning and installed casters on " ALL" of my tools which was way over due. The funny thing is that I was wearing my respirator mask when the guy who deliver my mother in law's ( who lives with us) meals on wheels showed up he thought I was a freak afraid of the "swine flu"… he actually said "I am not sick". I laughed and tried to explain but "whatever" he took off. There was really nothing to photograph this week so I have tried ti add pictures of my plans hope this come out OK and is not too boring for a blog.

Thanks for reading and I promise next week I will have made sawdust and there will be pictures.

http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt115/traumajacques/IMG_1531.jpg
http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt115/traumajacques/IMG_1533.jpg
http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt115/traumajacques/IMG_1532.jpg
http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt115/traumajacques/IMG_1531.jpg
 
#16 ·
I know very well about clamp pressure and causing the top to buckle. I just built a table top and had to manipulate the clamp pressure to insure a flat glue-up.

I am enjoying this. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us!
 
#19 ·
3rd class saw dust and sexy legs

Well!!! we are finally making sawdust!!! After a quick safety review, we were given our lumber. I could hardly contain my excitement when I was handed a 6" x 40" x 8/4 board. Since the 8/4 stock is limited and my project requires only four 18" legs I was the first to get my board this was good news for me since there was no wait for the equipment. I took the board to the jointer and surfaced one face and the two sides. The board was slightly cupped so I was instructed (see I learned something every class) to rip it in half and then take it to the thickness planer, this allowed me to reduce the amount of material I needed to take off and I ended with 1"7/8×1"7/8 blanks for my legs. Otherwise I would have had to take it down to 1 ¾ or less. Once it was dressed I started to examine the grain pattern and as you can see in the pictures I was pleasantly surprised with what I had to work with. There is a little green sap wood but with careful layout of my taper I can get it almost all off. The rest will be on the inside anyway. I laid out my mortises and called it a night. This class is teaching me to pace myself and think ahead to your next step. Had I been in my shop, I probably would have started the mortises and made a mess of them. I do not have my aprons and tenons cut so I will wait until these are done to cut the mortises to size.

Poplar

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Did you see the lumber in the background ? OMG there is a 100 year old reclaimed Walnut Fritch that I would die for… It all belong to the " RESIDENTS" who pays good money to use this shop during the day. It is absolutely out of bounce for us we are not even allowed to touch it for fear of leaving fingerprints on the finished product . Polar is for the "community craftsman" ( aka second class citizen wood hackers) LOL. All jokes aside it is a great environment to learn basic but essential skills. I am having a blast.
 
#25 ·
4th class and a "little "progress

When I signed up for this class I had a plan ( in my mind) that would have me 3/4 way done by the 5th class so I could spend the rest on finishing touches. Well what I did not factor in was the wait time for tools. Since I was the first on the jointer and planer last week and many guys did not even get their wood yet, there was no way I could start on my rails and top.

So we spent about 45 minutes going over mortise and tenon jointing at the router table and about 15 minutes on the mortise set up on the drill press. That was fine I had already made up my mind to use the mortise machine anyway. Mostly because dropping wood on a bit I can "not "see going 21000 RPM freaks me out a little. (I would like to hear your thoughts on this actually.)

I was able to cut my mortises and clean them up "somewhat" with the chisels they had on hand. Lets just say they had seen better days and needed a good sharpening. I was kicking myself for leaving mine at home. That fine too because I was able to relax and chip away at the mortises ,chat with the guys ( and one girl, I keep forgetting her) Once my tenons are cut in the rails I will ( with my own "scary sharp" chisels) trim the mortises to fit.
Hey one bad day in the shop is better than two good days out of the shop right.

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Mortises

I did not accomplish what I had in mind but oh well the best laid plans right! Now that most people have their legs done I will be able to get my rails and top out of that lumber pile.

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Thanks for reading.
 
#26 ·
Good start , as far as the dropping thing on the router table I've done it hundreds of times it's a controlled drop. But anything that freaks you out should be avoided.Your Own sharp chisels is always the way to go,
good luck on your project.
 
#27 ·
Week 6 and far behind...

Well week 6 is behind me and so am I on this project. Last night I glued up the boards for the top and cut the tenons in the aprons( the blue tape was a big hit even with the instructor). There was another event tonight but they did not appreciate all the noise that was coming out to the lobby. Too bad we kept going. When I put the rails and legs together I realised how ugly the 8/4 poplar was and that I could have easily designed something nicer in my own shop. So back to the drawing board and I thing I will incorporate a contrasting wood for the legs. I am fortunate in a sense that if I do not finish in the next 4 classes I can take it home and work on it in my shop. A lot of the other guys only own the minimum homeowner tool set. Hey! I could rent out shop time hummm! Maybe a "COOP" of some kind hummm!. Ok! back to reality, this week was non instructional so not much to talk about there,I did cut the top to size on an "amazing" General pro panel saw,man what a tool! I have got to get a bigger shop! well got to get some sleep i worked last night.

Thanks for reading.

Glued up top

tenons cut not fitted
 
#30 ·
Caught up with the new legs

Well fellow jocks, I am back on track with this project. I pondered the leg issues and decided to go with a contrasting wood. I recently found a lumber yard in Toronto ( message me for more info) that is incredible for a city yard, so I had to buy something and one of these something was 8/4 walnut.

dry fit the rails and legs

I milled and tapered the legs in my own shop which was a great time saver , I mortised them in class and dry fitted the whole assembly. My phone died after 2 pictures. Sorry.
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The instructor was impressed with the legs and asked if I wanted to veneer the rails and top with shop cut walnut Hummm! What to do what to do? this is an advance skills and I know he has a vacuum press…

Anyway I had to work again last night and can barely form a coherent sentence never mind write a blog so thanks for reading and good night.
 
#33 ·
It's beginning to look a lot like a piano bench!

Well fellow LJ's this project is beginning to take shape. Last night I glued up the frames and fitted the top. I realised I had enough lumber to make a shelf. So I quickly designed a shelf that could be added after glue up.

bench it is.

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The instructor had a Kreg Jig® Master System so I took advantage of it to learn a new skill. After a few test piece I managed to drill holes to secure the shelf after glue up.

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I want to cut three slots in the centre piece to add visual interest to the shelf. I am unsure how I will accomplish this yet . My options are to drop it on a router bit ( not my idea of fun) or to set up a dado set and raise the blade into the piece. I think I will go with my second option but have all week to ponder this so I may even come up with another solution.

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Thanks for reading
 
#34 ·
Jacques, this is looking pretty good. It is nice to see you taking full advantage of the resources available to you in the class. The completed bench is going to be an interesting project.
 
#35 ·
I could have sworn I had posted this ...well maby not. Better late than never!

I really thought I had posted the final product. Anyway here it is almost a year later. I am pleased with the results and will likely take the second part of the course comes April. I have been busy in and out of the shop but since the holidays season is upon us I have a bit of time on my hands. I will likely post a few project this evening.

The finish is dark walnut water base satin with sprayed lacquer top coat (5 coats) then buffed. The bench had to match an antique piano (100 years old) I think I matched it pretty well.

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Installing the hinges posed a challenge since there is an overhang of about 3 inches from the apron on the back.

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I am glad I cut out the details on the shelf it adds visual interest and the shelf itself is very functional.

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Thanks for looking and Happy safe holidays to all of you.
 
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