| This blog is written by shipwright | 275 entries so far |
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Marquetry School #14: Home School success!
My first student has just finished his level one interactive video course and it was a big succes...
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Marquetry School #13: New Direction: home classes
It is time for a change at CSFM. I have decided to stop offering in shop classes and start offeri...
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Living in Two Worlds #2: Life Change - Closing up shop in Az.
Just before Christmas I came down with my second attack of pancreatitis, that first having been o...
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Marquetry School #12: Week Two, fall classes
Sorry for the delay in this post. I went sailing for a week after classes ended. Just a few pictu...
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Marquetry School #11: This session is different!
I haven’t posted on this blog for a while because as the classes pass it’s really just more...
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Colourfastness #4: Three Month Check In
This will be my last report on the sample finishes in the Az. sun. I’m heading home to Canada thi...
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Colourfastness #3: Two Months in the Sunshine
Well it has been two months now since I put my test piece out in the (winter) Az sun.Not a lot ha...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #15: Hot Pipe Bending
I’ve read about this technique in Pierre Ramond’s books but never had a need for it before....
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Colourfastness #2: One Month Check-in, .... some surprises
Its been a month since I put my test panel out in the Az (winter) sun and there have been some ch...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #14: Fast Accurate Louis Cubes
Louis cubes have been around for ever and with good reason. They are just a great 3D illusion.I w...
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Colourfastness #1: A Little Experiment ...
All woodworkers know about and battle with the issue of colourfastness but in marquetry it is mor...
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Oeben Boxes #5: Box #1 Finally Glued Up
There were lots of details to see to before the actual glue up could take place but at last it is...
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Oeben Boxes #4: Assembling the Parquetry Panels
I left off yesterday with a peek at the parquetry pieces being cut for the sides of the box. The ...
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Oeben Boxes #3: The First Actual Box Begins
I’ve been spending way too much time enjoying my fine little sailboat this summer and reall...
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Marquetry School #10: Spring 2017 Classes underway
First of all, last fall we left for Europe about two days after classes ended so I didn’t p...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #14: Small Boat Rendezvous at Montague Harbour
I started going to this rendezvous in 2010 and this year’s was the best turnout I’ve ...
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Thick Veneer from France...and other places #6: Gold in the Garden
For the past few months I have been tracking down members of the Barberry family (Berberidaceae) ...
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Oeben Boxes #2: Shading and Border Assembly
In the first segment I covered a few months work to the point of assembled top marquetry. Things ...
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A little repair story in pictures
A little repair story in pictures. My wife bought this dresser last year for $80. It isn’...
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Oeben Boxes #1: Getting the top marquetry done
My latest project will be a set of four boxes that may be used for collectables, silverware, or j...
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Hide Glue for Beginners #8: Reversible is Good
I’m doing a little make work project in the shop while some veneer I recently dyed dries co...
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Plywood Chevalet #6: The Cruising Chevy Finds a Home
A couple of weeks ago I delivered the first plywood chevalet kit to a cruise ship that was visiti...
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Plywood Chevalet #5: CNC Kits are Ready to Go
It’s been a quite a long haul getting all the bugs worked out but the first CNC cut chevy w...
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Marquetry School #9: Prepping for Piece by Piece Course
Fall classes are rolling around in a few weeks and there’s something new. I now have studen...
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Plywood Chevalet #4: The Build Blog is Up
I have finally finished the build blog to go along with the plywood chevalet. I only covers the p...
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Chevy II; The Canadian Cousin #6: Repairs / Transplant Complete
The replacement of the warped main column of my old chevalet is all done and dusted and it won...
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Chevy II; The Canadian Cousin #5: Repairing "Curvature of the Spine"
Chevy II is five years old now and has never missed a beat. It still cuts perfectly square with t...
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Plywood Chevalet #3: Hammer Veneering .... Won't be long now.
The plywood version of my chevalet design is officially a success. It cuts really nicely, is soli...
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Plywood Chevalet #2: Working class chevalet, now operational
The plywood version of my chevalet de marqueterie is now functional and the new owner loves it. I...
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Plywood Chevalet #1: Sketchup is ready for proofing
I spent several hours today measuring and inputting to SU to come up with a workable set of plans...
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Marquetry School #8: Spring 2016 Level Two Wrap-up
Well, the spring 2016 classes are all finished up now. Everyone completed two études in painting ...
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Marquetry School #7: Level Two, Painting in Wood ....first two days
CSFM’s first level two class started Monday with five students. Three have just completed l...
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Marquetry School #6: Level One Class is a Wrap
It’s been a few days since I checked in but they have been busy days around CSFM. On Wednes...
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Marquetry School #5: Level one Day Two, Self Portraits
A few photos from today at CSFM. We’re all still having a good time. ...
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Marquetry School #4: CSFM: New Class, New Students, New Facebook Presence
The level one class / spring 2016 started today with four new students. We all had a great time a...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #13: Final Update: Friendship and Belle Starr together again at anchor
No words required here….. just smiles. One more of the beautiful area I get ...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #9: Rebranding, a Hide Glue Story
When I originally built the four new chevalets the school didn’t have an official name so I...
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Hide Glue for Beginners #7: Another Inexpensive Hide Glue Heater
I already have an electric glue pot (HoldHeet) for heating my glue and an electric kettle with a ...
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Thick Veneer from France...and other places #5: Ever Seen $500 Worth of Cow Bones?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well this one is more like half a thousand dollars....
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #12: Best Belle Starr Update Yet!
Don’t need many words here. September Now Lots of hard work by my friend M...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #11: Belle Starr repairs ... Update
The weather has been good in th e Pacific Northwest and Micheal has been able to get all the rest...
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My Take on the Restricted Space/Budget Shop. #5: We've Moved ...... My New Smaller Shop
The low Canadian dollar made this year a great time for us to downsize our investment in Az. real...
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Marquetry School #3: CSFM, New Website and Enrollment Update
It’s been a while since my last blog but I’ve been busy. Among a lot of other things ...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #13: Making Fine Dust for Marquetry Mastic
This is a little videoI did last summer after having a “Doh!” moment. Very fine sandi...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #10: Belle Starr Update, Progress on the Repairs
Winter is not the best time to be repairing a shipwrecked sailboat in the Pacific Northwest but m...
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Dust Collection Issues. #4: A re-vamp of my Green Valley HF setup with truck filter.
I have had my HFDC for several years now, originally stock, then with the Wynn 35A canister, and ...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #9: Repairing Belle Starr
When Belle Starr was driven onto the beach in a fierce storm last month many would have written h...
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Vancouver Island Woodworkers Guild 2015 show
Just some photos from the “Visions in Wood” show put on by the Vancouver Island Woodw...
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Marquetry School #2: School's Out, a Learning Experience (good)
Well, it’s over. my first course in French marquetry, level one, ended yesterday and the co...
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Marquetry School #1: First Students Tomorrow
My first marquetry course starts tomorrow morning. I’ve been preparing for a couple of week...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #12: Locating Critical Insert Nuts
This is pretty simple but I hadn’t thought of it before. Maybe someone else can use this li...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #8: More To It Than Just Pretty Chevalets
When I last posted in this blog, I had almost finished the chevys and was feeling about ready for...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #8: Shipwreck
Last Saturday we had a huge wind storm around the BC / Washington coast. BC hydro had more people...
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Chevy II; The Canadian Cousin #4: New Blade Clamps
Since I built my first chevalet back in 2011 I have redesigned the blade clamps at least three ti...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #7: Saw Frames, Clamp Springs, and Adjustable Height
Just a bunch of photos from the last few days to bring the project up to date. When I left off I ...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #7: Cowichan Bay Regatta from My Deck
(That is the front deck of the house not my boat.) Every year on BC Day weekend we are treated...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #6: Slow Progress ......but progress none the less
When I left off last time I said that the “furniture” was done. That wasn’t qui...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #5: "Furniture" Complete, Done for Now
Today I got the “furniture” pretty much completed. What remains to be made are the wo...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #4: Day Four ....... Seems Longer
Just a few pics today. I started off by cleaning up yesterday’s glue-ups on the column chee...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #3: Lots of Parts,Lots of Joinery
I guess I got lots done today although I didn’t get as far as I wanted to. (Do we ever?) Th...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #2: Making Hand Tools with Power Tools
I would love to have the time to work on these chevys with hand tools without the noise, dust, an...
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Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action #1: Wood Gloat and a Little Glueing
OK, I’m a little impulsive but I work quickly so maybe I can pull this off. I’m showi...
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Shipyard Memories #25: Harbour Ferries .... 25 Year Anniversary
I sold the Victoria Harbour Ferries in 2004 after fourteen years. (See blog segments 20 – 2...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #17: Home Stretch- French Polish and Pig Suede
Well I’m back home in Canada and after getting a bunch of household maintenance jobs out of...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #16: Glue-Up and Details
With the marquetry all done and mounted the focus turns to getting the carcass finished and glued...
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Scraper Plane #2: Hayward part two
I’ll let the handle shaping pictures speak for themselves. This one ...
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Scraper Plane #1: Charles Hayward Scraper Plane Build
I love card scrapers and I use them a lot. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that I now have ost...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #15: Top Sand Shading and Assembly
Warning: Lots of photos! Here’s my setup for sand shading one piece at a time. The marqu...
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My Take on the Restricted Space/Budget Shop. #4: Garage to Shop in 2 1/2 Minutes
This is a fun little video I’ve been meaning to do for a while now. It is what I do every m...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #11: Modular Veneer Press Build
Just a few more pictures and explanations than the project post had room for. The concept is simp...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #14: The promised pretty pictures
Last entry I had just started cutting the top marquetry. This is the most complex piece I have at...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #13: 21st Century Painting in Wood
Up until now I had been laying out my painting in wood layers by hand using lines that extended b...
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A Gift From kiefer
A couple of weeks ago I got an unexpected package in the mail from my good friend Klaus (aka kief...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #12: Bump-out Verticals
I left off last time with this photo from “Masterpieces of Marquetry” that I chose to...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #10: Easy DIY Safety Straightedge
Today I had a little knife and straightedge work to do and I know how (painfully) easy it is to s...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #11: Mounting the end motifs
First off, here’s a photo that shows why I like to use self adhesive shelf paper for initia...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #10: Ten days of cutting .... but the end motifs are done
With the design decided and the drawer front marquetry installed the time finally came to tackle ...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #9: Just Some Pretty Pictures
Once the drawer mechanics were sorted out to my satisfaction, I was able to apply the marquetry t...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #8: Tuning the Cantilevered Drawers
Now that I have the plan in place for the end marquetry there is a little housekeeping to be done...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #7: Messing With a Master
My last entry here was almost a month ago and I was about to leave for Arizona for the winter. We...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #9: Table Saw Sled Mod for ShopSmith
I just posted my new table saw sled, inspired by Kiefer's versatile version. There is a problem, ...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #6: Drawers, Dowels, and Dovetails
Well all the colour decisions have been made and the flowers are glued in. The next job is to bui...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #5: Drawer Front Marquetry Assembly
With all the cutting and sand shading done and all the pieces properly organized, it’s time...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #4: Sand Shading and Organization
With my colors mostly decided I went about cutting the pieces and dividing them into two groups. ...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #3: Reality Check
This entry is a little on the philosophical side. It is about expectation and reality (one of whi...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #11: Wedge Vice Upgrade
I’ve been doing a bit of repetitive hand cutting (dovetails) in my leg vice (or vise if you...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #2: Beginnings
I put a lot of thought into what the first project would be for my fine sawn veneer before I deci...
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OK, The French Veneer (at last) #1: A tribute to my mentors
It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #8: Chevalight
As I get older my eyes seem to require more and more light to see fine detail. That is a problem ...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #6: Art that Floats: Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2014
Fine woodworking is not all about beautiful boxes and handsome furniture. Some of my favourite ex...
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Open Apron Nesting Tables #4: Assembly and Finishing Up
Oops! Double post.
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Open Apron Nesting Tables #3: Assembly and Finishing Up
I can heave a sigh of relief now. The client just came and picked up the tables this afternoon an...
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Open Apron Nesting Tables #2: Ebonizing and Burl Matching
I didn’t take any photos of the ebonizing process originally, but since several people expr...
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Open Apron Nesting Tables #1: An Interresting Commission
Last fall I entered my “Music” table in the Sidney Fine Arts Show on Vancouver Island...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #5: I'm Ba-aaack. Part one: The Desolation Sound leg
The trip to Desolation Sound actually took only eighteen days, due largely to good weather and so...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #4: Time For an Adventure
I’m going to be away from LJs for about three weeks if things go as planned. For several mo...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #7: Veneer Matching Mirrors
There’s certainly nothing new about using mirrors to check veneer matches but this week, wh...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #3: A Quiet Moment
I’ve been almost invisible here for a couple of weeks but I have an excuse. There hasn̵...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #6: Fresh Air Supply Without Breaking the Bank
Back in my boat building days I periodically had the need to spray some very toxic paints. A fres...
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Step by Step Three Legged Shop Stool Build
I dug back in some old photos today to find a picture to illustrate my results with ferrous ion e...
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Living in Two Worlds #1: Adieu Az. / Winter 2013-14 Review
We’ll be leaving Az. on Friday to head back home to Vancouver Island for the summer. It rea...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #5: All Wood Button Catch
I have had several requests for a blog on the construction of my Chart Box but I don’t real...
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Hand Tool Finds #2: My First Estate Sale
Last night, when I checked the forums I couldn’t help noticing this one posted by poopiekat...
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Hand Tool Finds #1: An Old Plane with a Story
In my corner of Green Valley Az., I am the woodworker, the guy who always has the garage door up...
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Thick Veneer from France...and other places #4: Completing the Inventory
When I decided to make the change to thick (1/16” or 1.5mm) veneer for my marquetry I knew ...
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Thick Veneer from France...and other places #3: Shop Sawn Pepperwood Veneer (not fron France)
A while back we had a dead pepper tree (Schinus Molle) removed from our Az. back yard and I saved...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #4: Veneer Press Screws for $4.50
When I built my small veneer press in Green Valley I made six holes for screws, like my bigger on...
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Hand Tools Adventure #6: Finishing Up and the Top Marquetry
This is a bit anticlimactic after the project has been posted but I wanted to keep the “pla...
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Hand Tools Adventure #5: Assembling the Box
With the hinge out of the way, one of the tricky fits is history but getting all the corners to m...
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Hand Tools Adventure #4: The Stealth Hinge
With the grooves made and the bottom fitted (1/4” plywood hammer veneered on both sides) th...
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Hand Tools Adventure #3: Sidetrack, New Tools to Make.
When I ended the last segment I had just tried out the router plane. It needed a little tuning so...
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Hand Tools Adventure #2: Full Blind Dovetails
So it turns out that the historically correct way to make a marquetry covered box is with full bl...
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Hand Tools Adventure #1: A Box of Tricky Fits.
This new project is an experiment in many ways. It is my first real venture into hand tools as th...
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Marquetry Cutting Styles #6: Repeating Patterns : Guilloche in Piece by Piece
I was doing a piece by piece experiment today with an eye to a new project I have in mind and tho...
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Workbench Challenge #9: Final Accounting and a Few Details
At the outset of this project I challenged myself to make this a “best bang for the buck...
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Workbench Challenge #8: Lipstick and Vices
OK, time to put some lipstick on the pig. She may not be much but we can still tart her up a litt...
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Workbench Challenge #7: Gluing up all those dry fits.
Here we go with another photo heavy blog segment. I’ve explained the reason for all the det...
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Workbench Challenge #6: Assembling the Legs
This one will be quite long but mostly photos because I want to make the process as simple to fol...
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Workbench Challenge #5: Assembling the Top
OK, I’m back from golfing and still have some photos left from yesterday. When I left off w...
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Workbench Challenge #4: Fitting "from the work" and cutting the notches
While I have given quite accurate dimensions in the plans, I would never recommend that you take ...
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Workbench Challenge #3: Ripping the Pieces Without a Tablesaw
Warning, entry level instructions. Additional note Of course if you have a table saw, ..... us...
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Workbench Challenge #2: Getting Started and the Plans
I know that I said I would post the Sketchup at the end of the build but after some thought I hav...
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Workbench Challenge #1: Best bang for the buck
I have just arrived back in Az for the winter and have decided I need a good workbench. The one I...
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A Few Holiday Photos #5: Flanders Fields
I was in Belgium a month ago and took these photos near Ypres. IN FLANDERS FIELDS I...
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Thick Veneer from France...and other places #2: The "Good Stuff" is here... the second package
I’ve been patiently waiting for the rest of my veneer to arrive from France so we can leave...
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Thick Veneer from France...and other places #1: The First Half has Arrived
In a previous blog I wrote about my visit to Les Fils de J. George in Paris and included a video ...
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A Few Holiday Photos #4: A New Friend in England and a Sailing Regatta
One thing I would strongly recommend to any of you who travel is to make the effort to meet some ...
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A Few Holiday Photos #3: Buying Sawn Veneer in Paris (with saw video)
I recently returned from a trip to England, Belgium and France. After leaving England and the his...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #1: A matter of scale: Friendship vs Warrior
I had the opportunity a couple of days ago to visit the historic naval dockyards at Portsmouth an...
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Taking the Chevalet (no not Chevrolet) for a Test Drive. #4: Looking Back
I just re-read this blog 900 odd days after originally posting it. I was taken by how far I’...
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Watercolor Dye Technique #7: Flip, Flop, and Press ... protecting the dye.
Warning: boring content. ............ This is technical junk about a sequence of events that w...
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Watercolor Dye Technique #5: Toscana, cutting and assembly
As this blog is supposed to be about hand dyeing and not marquetry, I’ll try to cover the c...
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Watercolor Dye Technique #4: Toscana, My most intricate dye job to date
I have done a few dye projects since the last post to this blog but they have been small and not ...
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Watercolor Dye Technique #6: Toscana, Disassemble, Dye, Re-assemble
The general method of applying the dye is with an artist’s brush as seen in the first segme...
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A Surprise from Across the Pacific
A few days ago, just as I was heading out the door for a few days away, a parcel arrived and I ju...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers #2: Ghost Ship, (why I've been away from the shop)
I’ve been playing a fair amount of hooky from the shop recently and these videos will stand...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #3: Matching Short Grain Veneer Border
As the series title says, this is a simple technique but when I discovered it it was a “Doh...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #10: Update on the Four Friendship Motifs plus a Video
When I left off (over a month ago) to chase shiny things and re-do a couple of real boat issues, ...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #9: Clearing up the Distractions /Back to the Project.
Well the wind was blowing and I did go sailing but it was somewhat spoiled by having to look at t...
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My New Hatch Cover #3: Getting it Done and Installed
My spring shop project is supposed to be a set of marquetry panels of Friendship under sail for t...
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Hide Glue for Beginners #5: Pressing with Hot Cauls
Today I was pressing some marquetry that was 26” long. That’s not necessarily a probl...
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Shipyard Memories #24: Some Old Tools of the Trade - Bevels
I was doing a shop cleanup today and ran into some old friends that I thought some of you might l...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #10: Offer Extended
Tomorrow morning the extra V8 degree marquetry logo that I had left over when I made my bench wil...
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My New Hatch Cover #2: Cosmetic Veneering
You may have seen this video before. It was made for this blog but I added it to my “Hide G...
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My New Hatch Cover #1: Cold Molding a Curved Panel
I just got Friendship back in the water for the summer last week and when I was getting her rigge...
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Hide Glue for Beginners #4: A Little Hammer Veneering Video
I’m working on a new top for the sliding hatch on my sailboat to replace the $136 piece of ...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #8: Remember the Shiny Thing ? ... the saga of a senior moment
This is not a pretty tale I tell today. I am calling it a “senior moment” but in fact...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #7: Shading and Assembly
Sorry to keep you in suspense Mike but I got a little busy with preparing the real Friendship for...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #6: Look, .... a Shiny Thing !
Disclaimer: I realize that I am digressing from the project today but not, I think you will agree...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #5: Cutting and mounting the backgrounds.
The last segment ended with the background pattern glued to the packet for the lower part of the ...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #4: Choosing and Preparing the Background
One of the advantages of pre-assembling on clear shelf paper is that you can pick up the whole m...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #3: More Pieces,... Hull and Sails
Not a lot to say today. Just thought I’d bring you up to date on the progress. I’ve h...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #2: Tiny Pieces, Cutting and Management
Whenever I post one of these blogs people ask how I cut, handle and keep track of the tiny pieces...
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Combining my Passions: Friendship Marquetry. #1: Upgrading my Desk Doors
Back in 2009 when my “woodworking as a hobby” life was just getting started I became ...
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Playing with Parchment
A few months ago my buddy Gene (vipond33) posted a superb desk featuring parchment and ebony. He ...
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Eye of the Tiger (how to)
Eye of the Tiger represents the second time I’ve tried the erosion or fusion technique of (...
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The Black Rooster, My Latest Marquetry Project #3: Assembling the Serving Tray
With the marquetry complete the next job is to find a place to display it, in this case a round s...
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The Black Rooster, My Latest Marquetry Project #2: Sand Shading, Assembly and Some More Cutting.
There is not a lot of sand shading on this project, but it is an essential element that will real...
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The Black Rooster, My Latest Marquetry Project #1: Cutting Letters in Marquetry
I am a lover of travel and of Italy in particular. Toscana is my favorite province and Chianiti m...
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Marquetry Cutting Styles #5: Conical Cutting on the Chevalet
In the segment on conical or double bevel cutting, I was using the scrollsaw as it was before my ...
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How to Build a Chevalet From Scratch #6: New Improved Chevalet Sketchup
I have improved a fair bit since I posted the initial SU of the chevalet. In fact it was my very ...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #9: Logo Offer
When I made the logo for this bench, I cut the marquetry in Boulle style which means that there i...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #8: The Sketchup ....Worth Waiting For
When I started thinking about this bench I did a sketchup to organize my ideas before I started b...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #7: Installing the Leg Vice and Finishing up.
The leg vice is so simple as to be self explanatory and its installation likewise, to the point t...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #6: Mounting the Wagons and Cosmetic Top.
As a boat builder I worked with epoxy A LOT… so for me it was a no brainer that the vices ...
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Dust Collection Issues. #3: Some different blast gates
My blast gates are nothing special but since some of you wanted to see them here are a few photos...
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Dust Collection Issues. #2: Make your own big PVC "Y's" ... Cheap !!
Have you ever looked up the price of an 8” to 6” PVC “Y” fitting? These a...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #5: Assembling the inter-laid legs.
Ok, lets get into the leg assemblies. This is one of the really interesting parts of my bench. T...
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Dust Collection Issues. #1: 100% improvement for $100 and a couple of hours.
Last winter Steve (kizerpea) posted this home built canister filter. It caught my attention becau...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #4: Fitting the top edges and ends
I know that I have said that there is no “fancy joinery” in this bench and there cert...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #3: Building the Plywood Bench Top
NOTE: Most of this page can be avoided if you want to just drill your dog holes in the layered pl...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #2: Building the Wagon Vices.
OK, lets get started. I will go through the build process in the same order that I built the benc...
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V8 Degree wedge powered workbench #1: Some Features and Operational Videos.
While this is the beginning of my construction blog for the V8 Degree bench, I’m not actual...
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Hide Glue for Beginners #3: A Bigger Glue-up
I know that some of you are interested in trying hide glue but think it is messy or inconvenient ...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #11: Finishing and Polishing to Music
This will be the last part of this blog until after the project is posted. I wasn’t even go...
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Hide Glue for Beginners #2: Some myths, some Pictures and some Videos
There are lots of myths around hide glue like it isn’t very strong, won’t last as lon...
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Hide Glue for Beginners #1: Take it From a Real Expert
I promised in a recent construction series about my current project to do a ”how to get sta...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #10: Delicate Moldings
I always knew that the scrolled edges of the aprons were going to need some kind of trim to defin...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #9: A Couple of Chevalet Videos.
A couple of segments back Rance asked in a comment if I could do a close up of the chevalet makin...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #8: Finishing up the Aprons.
There will be a little flashback in time here as some of this was done before the legs were finis...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #7: Pretty Apron to go with the Nice Legs
I guess we all probably agree that what this table needs to sharpen it up is a little more marque...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #6: Oooooh, Nice Legs!
Ok, next step is to get some leg blanks out and prepare them to accept the ringed balls. This was...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #5: Getting the Legs Started.
Back in the first part of this blog I posted this photo and said that the project was going to tu...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #4: The Marqueteur's Nightmare
At the end of the last segment I said that I would do this one on the thing that we who do marque...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #3: A Sidetrack and finishing the Tabletop
When the last episode ended our fearless hero was in a quandary. He had ditched the purpleheart g...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #2: More Marquetry for the Top.
The first photo here is the one the last segment finished off with. I re-post it here because it ...
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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure #1: Where it all Started.
Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #2: Precision Router Jig for Straight Lines.
This is basically the same as the arc jig in the first segment but for a straight line rebate in...
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Simple Jigs and Techniques #1: Simple Precision Arc Inlay Jig
I had the need this afternoon for a way to cut a curved groove for a veneer inlay. It needed to b...
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Marquetry Cutting Styles #4: "Painting in Wood"
At last I have photos to describe one more saw cutting marquetry style. I’m new to this one...
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A pressurized board steamer you can make quickly
This entry was prompted by this forum topic. I thought it would be of interest to look at a diffe...
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Quick, Cheap Thickness Sander for ShopSmith or Lathe #6: Sander in Action Video.
I finally got around to doing a video today for those who wanted to see this little sander up and...
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My Take on the Restricted Space/Budget Shop. #3: What Can You Turn Out in a Shop on the Cheap?
All of the stationary stuff that I described in the last post cost around $1500 or less with a li...
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My Take on the Restricted Space/Budget Shop. #2: The Beating Heart of the Shop
There are two institutions to be given credit for how well I have been able to equip my shop for ...
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My Take on the Restricted Space/Budget Shop. #1: The Space and the Tool List
When we bought a winter home in Green Valley AZ. in 2007 it didn’t take me long to realize ...
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Quick, Cheap Thickness Sander for ShopSmith or Lathe #5: Test Drive.. She works a treat
Well, the velcro kit arrived yesterday afternoon but just as I got it installed a friend showed u...
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Quick, Cheap Thickness Sander for ShopSmith or Lathe #4: Tuning Up
So I went out to the shop this morning, all set to get the sander all tuned up and ready for the ...
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Quick, Cheap Thickness Sander for ShopSmith or Lathe #3: Finishing up the build
When I left off yesterday I needed elevators and the skirts for the dust collector. I decided to ...
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Quick, Cheap Thickness Sander for ShopSmith or Lathe #2: Structurally Complete - down to details
OK, I’m about 10 hours in now ( maybe 8 productive and two wasted on one bad measurement...
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Quick, Cheap Thickness Sander for ShopSmith or Lathe #1: How little can I get away with building?
I’ve just returned to my winter home / shop in Arizona. At home I have all the tools and lo...
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Some Epoxy Handling Tips #3: A Little Trick with Cloth
This is maybe my best epoxy trick. The example here only scratches the surface of the appilcation...
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Some Epoxy Handling Tips #2: Mixing and Additives
When I posted the first blog entry here some questions about mixing and additives arose. I find t...
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Some Epoxy Handling Tips #1: Don't get any on you !
The first rule I try to follow when using epoxies is “Don’t get any on you !” a...
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Easy. Elegant Wooden Box Hinge #2: A Sketchup Model to Make it Easier (I hope)
I have had several people PM me who were having trouble with the details of the integral hinge in...
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My New Website #2: It's a Wrap, Thanks for the Help.
I’ve done the final adjustments to the new site and am pleased with the way it turned out. ...
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My New Website #1: Second Generation Website (with a lot of help from LJ's) Does this look better???
A few days ago I posted my first attempt at building a web site and asked for LJ’s feedback...
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How is it displaying on your browser?
Hi LJ’s. I’ve decided to follow many of you and build a website as a tool to displ...
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A Few Holiday Photos #2: Lots of good figured olive veneer here !
We hopped a bus today to check out the old town of Roquebrune (France). I was intrigued by one of...
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A Few Holiday Photos #1: A gelato bar with marquetry
We were at the Friday public market in Ventimiglia, Italy today and happened into this little gel...
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Shipyard Memories #23: Finishing The Build
I’m afraid that the photos are a little scarce from here on but I’ll do what I can wi...
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Shipyard Memories #22: Closing Up the Hull
Time for the trickiest part of this round stern hull, fitting the stern panel. Here we have ca...
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Shipyard Memories #21: The Jig, Patterns, and Hull Glue Up
As these boats are a little larger than the usual stitch and glue hull and because some of the be...
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Shipyard Memories #20: The Harbour Ferries: Stitch and Glue Construction.
This is the fourth and last blog on the different styles of construction that I have used in wood...
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Retooling the Shop to Acommodate Marquetry #1: Creating new kinds of storage.
It all started when I got my first “Pizza Box of Veneer” from Lee Valley. It&#...
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Hide Glue for Beginners #6: Perfect Splined Mitre Joints in Five Minutes Without Clamps
When I posted “Arnie’s Tea Box” http://lumberjocks.com/projects/50187 one of th...
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Easy. Elegant Wooden Box Hinge #1: I could kick myself
A few months ago I spent many many hours trying to perfectly align a set of “box joint hing...
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Marquetry Cutting Styles #3: Classic Style
The Classic Style is the most difficult of the saw cut styles to master. It involves cutting each...
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Marquetry Cutting Styles #2: Boulle Style
This style is named for one of the great masters, Andre-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) and it differs...
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Marquetry Cutting Styles #1: Double Bevel or Conical Style
When I posted the clipper ship marquetry for my Canadian chevalet, there was some confusion about...
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For the Sailors and Boat Lovers
I just posted a couple of short videos of “Friendship” under sail, taken from on boar...
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Chevy II; The Canadian Cousin #3: The Handle, an Adventure with Cocobolo and Hide Glue.
I know I kind of wound this blog up last time but this little adventure was enough fun to warrant...
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Chevy II; The Canadian Cousin #2: Operational but not "Finished"
Chevy II is now a working chevalet de marqueterie, but she’s not “finished”. Th...
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Chevy II; The Canadian Cousin #1: Garry Oak Slabs to Basic Framework
I’ve already blogged my AZ chevalet so this will be a simple “keep you up to dateR...
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How to Build a Chevalet From Scratch #5: Finishing Up, Refining the Prototype
When I started to build the chevalet from a few photos on the internet, I wasn’t at all sur...
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How to Build a Chevalet From Scratch #4: Another Little Modification
This is a bit of the fine tuning I knew awaited me once I started getting into the chevalet. My o...
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Grinder Dust Control on the Q&D
I wanted to do some grinder shaping on a seat for my Chevalet this morning and needed to control ...
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How to Build a Chevalet From Scratch #3: Some Chevalet Modifications A New Friend
There are two stories here that can’t be separated from each other so I’ll tell them ...
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Taking the Chevalet (no not Chevrolet) for a Test Drive. #3: The Requested Video, Part One.
I had two LJ friends over today to do a test drive and we managed to shoot a surprisingly passabl...
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Taking the Chevalet (no not Chevrolet) for a Test Drive. #2: Dying Veneers, More Practice and the Chianti Black Rooster.
As I am using green and red veneers here I thought I’d answer the “Did you dye them?&...
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How to Build a Chevalet From Scratch #2: Blade Clamps, Sliding Mechanism and Adjusters
IMPORTANT NOTE: Almost everything on this page has been improved and updated in my second build ,...
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Taking the Chevalet (no not Chevrolet) for a Test Drive. #1: Layout and Cutting... and a senior moment
So the chevalet is finished and it’s time to take her for a test drive. Like any test drive...
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How to Build a Chevalet From Scratch #1: How hard can it be?
Update: See also Chevy II, The Canadian Cousin. and Building Some Chevalets, a Class Action I ...
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Shipyard Memories #19: Something Really Cool Just Happened to Me on LJ's
This morning when I checked the “pulse” section here on LJ’s, I had a very cool...
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Shipyard Memories #18: Finished, Launched and Sailing
Time to wind up the Cold Molded Construction edition of this little trip through my old shipyard,...
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Shipyard Memories #17: Keel Bolts
To answer some of the questions asked about the keel bolts after my last entry, here are some pho...
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Shipyard Memories #16: Boring Bars and Custom Castings
One of the interesting tools that find a regular use in building boats is the boring bar. After t...
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Shipyard Memories #15: Rolling Hulls Over and Pouring Lead Keels
Once the hull is planked, it is skinned with 6 oz. fiberglass cloth set in epoxy and faired using...
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Shipyard Memories #14: Cold Molded Planking
I have to apologize for my lack of a lot of photos of this stage. I guess it just seemed to borin...
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Shipyard Memories #13: Two Cape Scott 36's: Cold Molded Construction
This is the third in a series of blogs on the different types of wooden boat construction I’...
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Watercolor Dye Technique #3: Tips and Tricks I've Learned
Time to wind up this little blog about my venture into hand dyeing marquetry. Most of what’...
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Watercolor Dye Technique #2: New Lessons Learned from "Facets"
The biggest and most dramatic new lesson I learned from the “Facets” project’s ...
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Watercolor Dye Technique #1: General Concept
This is the blog that I promised detailing my experiments in what I call “watercolor style...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #10: Finishing Touches and a Few Extra Photos
Finally everything is finished except to finish it all. This project, like the last one had speci...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #9: Gold Leaf Accents
Back in the entry about planning the base I had decided, after some discussion, to finish the bas...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #8: Hinge Assembly and a Little Detail.
It’s been a while but the project is moving along. I don’t want to spill the near fin...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #7: Gluing Up the Dodecahedron
The original segment here asked “How hard can it be to make a dodecahedron? Well the answer...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #6: Dying the Veneer...... (Again??)
God hates a coward, I’ve always said so with only a little experimentation , I decided to d...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #5: Alignment and Trimming the Marquetry
The dying has been postponed.. As of the events discussed in my last entry, the gluing bacame the...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #4: Dying, Part 1: I don't believe what just happened!
This is a “special segment” that I just had to post because I had an amazing emotiona...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #3: Veneering and Marquetry, (What was I thinking?)
OK, so we have a box and we have a base. The easy bit is over. On to the scary as hell bit. As I ...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #2: Planning the Base
This entry is, as much as anything, a look into my somewhat chaotic design process. I never commi...
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Facets, the Next Logical Step #1: How hard can it be to make a Dodecahedron?
The next box in the series Oops!, A Llittle Cabinetree, and now Facets is on the build. It had to...
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Shipyard Memories #12: The Catboats: Framed Plywood Construction, Finished Photos and Sailing.
Well, the construction part of this blog is over such as it was, so it’s time for a few sh...
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Shipyard Memories #11: The Catboats: Framed Plywood Construction, Fitting Out
Completion of the hull is a milestone in any boat building project, but while many think of it as...
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Shipyard Memories #10: The Catboats: Framed Plywood Construction, Backbone and Structural Components
Before going on to the backbone and structural components of the cats, I found a photo today that...
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Shipyard Memories #9: The Catboats: Framed Plywood Construction, Scarfing and Setup
Plywood construction probably presents the easiest method for an amateur to build a good boat, bu...
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Microcosms, a trip to a smaller world #2: Micro-Banding
Well, the banding actually sliced and attached to the box so I guess we’ll chock it up as a...
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Microcosms, a trip to a smaller world #1: Tiny Home Made Plywood and Banding.
I started this as a forum topic http://lumberjocks.com/topics/22441 but the way it’s goi...
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A Little Cabinetree #6: Some Pitfalls in the Process
I do hope that some of you will take up the challenge and improve this technique as I think it ha...
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A Little Cabinetree #5: Assembly (and a little setback)
Don’t you just hate it when this happens !! Today was supposed to be the day I finis...
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A Little Cabinetree #4: Leaves to Dye For (From)
About the same time as I started this project I found a source for aniline dyes that came in conc...
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A Little Cabinetree #3: Scroll Saw Marquetry.
Supporting a box in a tree was one of the original design ideas but a look at the “plans &#...
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A Little Cabinetree #2: The Box and the Branches
OK so we’re going to make a tree and set a box in it. Sounds pretty simple, just a differen...
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A Little Cabinetree #1: The Concept, the Goals and the Challenges.
When it comes to building boats, I guess after 30 years of it I am a professional, but as a hobby...
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Shipyard Memories #8: The Smaug Blog: Wood Boatbuilding 101, Under Sail
The only sailing photos I have were taken before the square rigging arrived, too bad. I say arriv...
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Shipyard Memories #7: The Smaug Blog: Wood Boatbuilding 101, Interior and Stepping the Mast
The interior of the boat was completed before launching, unfortunately without any progress photo...
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Shipyard Memories #6: The Smaug Blog: Wood Boatbuilding 101, The Big Day: Launching
Now we are nearing the big day, launching. The hull has been faired and sanded and is ready for i...
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Shipyard Memories #5: The Smaug Blog: Wood Boatbuilding 101, Decking and Casting the Keel
One of the more common complaints against wooden boats is leaking decks. With a traditional caulk...
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Shipyard Memories #4: The Smaug Blog: Wood Boatbuilding 101, Planking
Probably the most anticipated part of building a wooden boat is the planking. The old boat builde...
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Shipyard Memories #3: The Smaug Blog: Wood Boatbuilding 101, Bending the Ribs
OK, the time has come to explain the reasons for the jogged frames and the inside and outside rib...
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Shipyard Memories #2: The Smaug Blog: Wood Boatbuilding 101, Backbone and Framing
Besides the yellow cedar which will be used for planking, deck framing and various timbers and kn...
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Shipyard Memories #1: The Smaug Blog: Wood Boatbuilding 101, A Trip to the Sawmill
To those of you who have requested more photos and explanations of my boatbuilding days, thank yo...
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Router Marquetry
I hope this hasn’t been covered before. It is a technique that I designed myself but it can...
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Creating Oops! tutorial
Oops! began as an idea about outside the box hinges. I’ve always liked the “box on st...
