Working Wood

Autumn Classes Available

2011-09-15T07:24:00.000-05:00

At the Unplugged Woodshop

I wanted to post a quick note about classes this Autumn season.
I offer 3 hour private classes here in my work shop and topics can range from a basic hand tool introduction to more advanced sharpening skills and onto hand planing and sawing.
You never need to bring anything with you but I usually encourage students to take along their favourite hand plane or saw. I think it makes more sense to go through a class using the tools you’ll be using once you leave my shop and get back into yours.
If you have a hand plane that needs tuning up then perhaps a session dedicated to setting up, sharpening and using the tool would benefit?
The beauty of private classes is I can arrange the times and topics to suit your specific requirements. That in turn allows students to get the most information in the allotted time or an easier way to say it is more ‘bang for your buck’.
Classes are offered on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and start at 10AM.
If you have any special requests, needs or would just like to talk about a certain aspect of the craft then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
tom fidgen at yahoo dot ca
I still have openings but the month of October is filling in very quickly so don’t delay.
Cheers!

Downtown Train...

2011-09-08T08:41:00.001-05:00

‘Outside another yellow moon
punched a hole in the nighttime,
I climb through the window and down to the street
I’m shining like a new dime’

Downtown Train by Tom Waits…from the album Rain Dogs, 1985.

Kerfing plane R&D.

Hello to all-
I’m back in the big city and almost through the first week back to school. iTunes is singing me some Tom Waits this morning and I’m almost enjoying the cool air coming through this September window.
Almost like we never left !
With the summer but a still on an iPhone I’m ready to get back to the Queens Wharf cabinet as well as continue working out the details on the kerfing plane designs. I’m excited to get back into those projects and will keep you in the loop as they unfold.
Funny, leaving the city two months ago it was my intention to get to the East Coast and spend a few weeks working these things out out there. The Gorman Bench commission came and just like that, to the back burner they go. Paying customer comes first right?
With that I better get back it-
This next shot shows a view from the top of my brace.
I’m boring out the waste to rough shape the plane body in some 4/4 cherry wood.

Kerfing plane in cherry- brace view.

Until next time...

Cheers!

Edit

The Gorman Bench Final

2011-08-31T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hand Made Modern

Main frame joinery complete.

In my last post I finished bending the arms and the main double tenon joinery complete on the cherry bench.
The good thing about this design is that there is really only 6 major joinery ‘intersections’ on the entire piece and the double tenon method worked great for what I needed.
The bad thing was every joint on this bench is a compound miter!
Patience, patience.
The arm to leg assembly not only splays outwards to add an inviting out-stretched arm feel but they also spread towards the front of the bench making the seating area a welcoming trapezoid shape or better yet, an Isosceles trapezoid depending on your geography-
; )

Seat to crest rail slats...green wood would have been better here- I would have used a froe and split them out. we need to work with what we have and that's what I did. It worked out in the end.

Now my next challenge was to decide what to do about the 27 upright pieces that needed to join the seat to the crest rail and that’s where I’ll pick it up again today…
I had the 1″ square pieces of cherry all cut and planed and needed a solution to attach them without having to chop out and saw fifty-some mortise and tenons.
Enter the Veritas Power Tenon Cutters,
( don’t let the name fool you, they can easily be used with a hand brace )
I was excited to add this ‘rustic’ detail to the bench. Not only for the added speed of cutting that many tenons but for the irregular aesthetic it would bring to the piece.
I say irregular aesthetic but truth be told you won’t see this detail once the cushions are in place. Another one of those discoveries to be made in custom furniture.
The shoulders would be a dead give away that this piece was hand made and after the week of hard hand sawing and sweating I wanted the whole world to know that that was exactly how it was made; a big ‘ol plank of cherry wood, a few hand tools and some determination.

A Brad Point bit into the end of some dowel will make a reliable depth stop in the cutter.

Once the hole is drilled the Rare Earth magnet that came with the jig is inserted.

The dowel is cut to length and is inserted into the jig for a depth stop.

Perfectly imperfect. Modern rustic ?

Alright, a quick pause for station identification.
The main frame joinery is almost complete but not yet final shaped.

Joinery Flash...

The arms are bent but also still only rough dimensioned and no joinery to the legs yet….
The back slats are ready for some shaping and smoothing and finally, the crest rail is in need of joinery and a couple dozen holes drilled for those tenons! But before that, a dry fit to check the splay of the leg assembly thus far.
Seeing as I’m on vacation I didn’t bring any large clamps. A second of panic turns into ideas and I find some old rope and with a 24″ length of 1″ cherry I began turning and watch the rope tension ever so slowly and draws the joints into place.
The creaking and moaning as the tenons find their way into their mortises.
Mornings like this are why I love working wood.

With the Spanish Windlass working it, who needs clamps?

With a dry fit complete I’ll take a quick break from the grind and shape a little.
One of the most relaxing parts of the job.
; )

Shaping the arms with a card scraper after the spokeshave work is done. Photo by Don Carstens.

Speaking of joinery, not all of it is glamorous and it really needn’t be.
The seat frame on the bench will be wrapped and woven with 1 3/4″ cotton webbing. This part of the frame will be doweled together. Dowel centers assist and the frame comes together. The front corners will be exposed end grain so I sharpened up a chisel and pared it fine and smooth.

Dowel placement dances around the rabbet in the front stretcher of the seat webbing frame.

Working the end grain down to my scribe lines with a freshly sharpened chisel.

This never gets old. Incredible.

A dry fit and then into a frame for glue.

A quick side note for one of the unsung heroes of the summer time wood shop- allow me to introduce a hand tool that has served me well through the years, always gets me out of a jam when I need it and never gets the credit it deserves.
I’m sure everyone of you have a set of these somewhere and for me I use them to check my dowel hole depths and clean out debris in the holes as I work.

Yup...one of the orginals in the tool box and brother is that not a heavy logo? The hand shake. Sweet.

A million and one uses. The mighty Vise Grip always lends a hand.

As mentioned I didn’t bring any large clamps along so again the glue-up process is one of a kind.
Here two batons are nailed to the floor and wedges are used to push the pieces firmly together.

The mighty wedge prevails.

The crest rail tenons are carefully laid out and followed by the brace and bit work out….

Compound joinery where the crest rail meets the arms.

The tenon locations are considered and transferred. You can really see the splay on the side arm assemblies here.

Deep mortises are cut into the arms. This was a little stressful seeing as the piece is bent lamination. The brace and then the mortise chisel to clean up. An easy and reliable method for making mortises. Even double ones!

The crest rail is bored...this became a work out. photo by Carolyn Fidgen.

Over my shoulder...

Drilled and beginning to take shape.

Edges are broken, corners are softened and the piece is again ready for a dry fit.

Individual pieces are finished with oil and set in the sun to advance the patina process and 'age' the cherry wood. They're hit again with super fine abrasive paper and oiled again the next day. Every chance I had I placed them in the sun. It's amazing how quickly cherry wood deepens in tone.

Did I mention you should never use the Green tape in wood working? Splurge and buy the blue stuff- ( hey Vic ? ; )’
Seriously, the green breaks down too quickly and you’ll be cursing ever using it. Go blue. Really.

Green tape residue. I hate green tape.

This is what green tape is good for.Oh, and for painting...yeah, sure. painting. on drywall. ; )

With the finish set it’s time to glue up the main frame and again the Spanish Windlass is key.
While the glue sets I drill and drive cherry dowels through all of the joinery and go back to trim flush and finish the area around them.
Here are some frame detail shots after glue and dowels :

Keeping the bent lamination in sequence is vital to insure proper grain re-alignment after finishing. The rays in the wood would be all over the map if the pieces were out of sequence.

My favorite scratch bead is added almost as a kind of signature across the front beam. Granted you'll never see this once the seat is in place. Maybe someone will find it when they wake up on the floor some day in front of the bench after a great party the night before?

This view from the arm to leg is sweet. Notice the cigar shaped tapers to the pieces. Those little details add up. They could have been left square like the original sketch but this gives the piece more dynamic lines.

Meanwhile, back inside my wife and 5 year old daughter are busy weaving the seat frame. A real family affair.
The webbing is a heavy cotton and my client is having full cushions manufactured. They’ll hide some of these details but we’ll all know they’re there and that’s fine with me. The little details are a sign of quality.
The webbing is attached with bronze ring nails and batons are added to insure a long life of heavy use.

Piper weaves at the kitchen table while Mom watches over with a mindful eye.

Detail.

Inside with Piper and Carolyn while the webbing is woven.

Once the webbing was complete the seat is attached with a few screws to make it removable for maintenance like re-oiling or in case a future repair is needed.
Some final shots in the yard before delivery.

Webbing detail.

The Gorman Bnech. front view

The Gorman Bench. Summer 2011. Cherry and cotton.

Gorman Bench side profile.

Well that about covers it.
Next summer I’ll try to get a shot of the bench with the cushions in place. I’m very happy with the outcome of this project and hope my client is as well. It started with a wish to use local materials and take the modern rocking chair as inspiration. I think we managed to do just that.
A few hand tools and a big plank of cherry wood, about 120 hours and some good old fashion hand work.
Until next time.
Cheers!

The Gorman Bench

2011-08-30T18:50:00.000-05:00

Part Two

Now where was I ?
oh yeah, Cape Breton Island.
Summer time.
‘The Gorman Commission’

Sounds impressive no?

; )

It’s a bench in cherry I made during my so called summer ‘vacation‘.
Inspired by an authentic Danish made, mid-modern rocking chair.
The two pieces will share a space in my clients living room so they had to be able to sit well together.
The first photograph shows my ‘final’ sketch after 37 previous drawings and design considerations.
( yes, I counted )

Full size drawings are extremely helpful in furniture making.

The parts can now easily be measured and manufactured with confidence working from my diagram.

Leg blanks are laid over the diagram and joinery options and decisions become apparent.

Full scale drawings assist in joinery lay out.

Tenons are first.

'Make mine a double...'

A careful lay-out to mortise.

My weapons of choice to begin.

Two sliding bevel gauges and some carefully placed tape for a depth 'suggestion' ?

The chisel follows. A quick jig out of scrap wood keeps my angle in check.

Tenons in the morning.

A dry fit and then onto the next one.

Once I had the leg joinery complete it was high time to address the arms and more specifically the bends. I’ve steamed a lot of wood through the years of boat building and wanted to attempt bending this 8/4 cherry wood. Not knowing the history of the wood I knew it could turn out bad in a hurry.
I gathered my kettle and steam box and put in a trial piece of cherry.

Steam box, pipe and kettle. The pipe is a snug fit into the kettle spout and then into a mating hole in the box bottom.

CAUTION HOT !

While it was ‘cooking’ I made a quick bending form from some 8/4 stock..

Shaping a bending form from 8/4 plank.

SNAP !!
So, long story short…the moral of the story is this: if you’re not sure if your stock is air or kiln dried then steaming may not be an option. Kiln dried wood doesn’t bend very well. It’s brittle and tends to crack like my test piece did.
oh well….
Back to the path of bent lamination and not long after, success.
; )

Bent lamination is sometimes the only option.

spokeshave to refine the shape.

TOOL CHEST SPACE SAVING TIP: I only carry one set of arms for my three spokeshave bodies.-; )

A card scraper compliments the curves.

A diamond stone is the perfect medium for card scraper sharpening. This is one of the new Diamond Whetstones from Trend.

With the arms roughly shaped I can move onto the crest rail joinery and 'dowels'.

STAY TUNED…

Mid-Summers Update

2011-08-02T15:52:00.000-05:00

A Modern Bench in Cherry

August already.
Sorry for the delay in posts. I’ve been happily ‘out of range’ for the past 4 weeks and trying my best to squeeze in a few days vacation.
Summer time 2011.
I brought the Queens Wharf project along with me from Toronto figuring I’d have lots of free time to work on it out here in the shop. I also thought I’d have some time to continue developing some of the new hand tool designs I’d been working on as well…wouldn’t you know it?
; )
Once we arrived in Nova Scotia I was commissioned to build a ‘bench’ for a local resident here on Cape Breton Island.
Now I’m saying ‘bench’ but it’ll be used as a couch or a sofa.
A six foot long, solid cherry piece made to compliment and/or reflect a similar look and feel to my clients Danish made, mid modern rocking chair. He purchased this well made rocker a few years back and asked me to come up with a couch version to match it.
My original thought was to take the existing design and simply stretch it to three times it’s normal width and call it done but once the design developed I quickly realized I’m basically re-designing a new piece from scratch using the Danish made chair for influence and inspiration only.
The first and perhaps most difficult task would be to locate suitable material that would be dry enough to work in my extremely limited time frame here on the Coast. Thankfully after a few phone calls and a few miles I was able to locate some 8/4 cherry planks in the neighborhood and had my ‘essential’ tools with me to begin the project. A local cabinet maker agreed to part with some of his own stock to help me out. Big thanks again Ranald Ross!
Once I had the cherry wood in my shop it’s been about a week of scrub plane to rip saw to jack plane to cross cut back to rip saw and onto smoothing. The bench has many pieces and that meant a hell of a lot of rip cuts!
I had just ordered two ‘new’ reconditioned Disston panel saws from Mark Harrell at Bad Axe Tool Works and my timing could not have been better! Here are some shots thus far. All of these components were dimensioned from plank using a scrub plane, a jack plane, a smoothing plane, a rip saw and a x-cut…a very basic kit but all I needed to make some shavings.
I’ll be putting together a more complete post when I get the piece finished but until then-here are some pics…not much to see really, just a hell of a lot of wood shavings and saw dust.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot…make sure to check out ‘the cover’ of Canadian Woodworking Magazine this month…
you may just see a family face! ha-; )
and finally,
I managed to squeeze in a few tunes here in Mabou, Cape Breton at the Red Shoe Pub last week.
It was a great night of music, food and drink. Thanks to all who made it out.
Here’s a link to a YouTube clip.
Cheers~

Rough planks of 2" cherry wood. Thanks again Ranald.

hmmm.....a bigger bench perhaps?

Scrub-a dub-dub.

Two antique Disstons.Thanks again Mark~

Lots of ripping and hand planing to do...

Scrubbing, smoothing, ripping and final dimensioning.

This Disston has seen a hell of a lot of cherry this week.

Onto the bench hook for small stock dimensioning.

Sally enjoys the ever growing pile of wood shavings!

Piper picked cherries in the yard. Must be cherry week here!

The 46 bench components are dimensioned and ready for joinery. Stay tuned for that.

Two gulls taking off from the early morning roof top.

Edit

Bent Laminations and the Path of Least Resistance

2011-06-29T10:43:00.000-05:00

Introducing the Kerfing plane

Resawing just got easier ?

In my last post I made a coopered door for a new cabinet I’m building. The design features two curved doors, the one coopered and the other a bent lamination and mirror image, although taller version of the first. ( coopered on left hand side opening out and away from center )
They’re both absolutely and over the past four days, painfully concave! ; )
The shape of this piece, once complete, may or may not reflect the inspiration I’ve taken from a famous building here in ‘down town’ Toronto. Seeing as the wood itself was unearthed from this urban graveyard I thought the shape should instantly reflect this unique city where I live and work.
‘Center of the Universe’ or so I’ve been told.
As for bent lamination work, you don’t find much in hand tool shops and I’ve strayed away from it over the last three years in my own ‘hand tool only’ wood shop for the reason of the labor involved and the accuracy needed in manufacturing. Veneer work is another example. Whenever I use veneers I prefer to use my own shop made veneer and again the challenges are wrapped up in what boils down to sawing and accuracy. The power tool shop can resaw boards on a band saw and I’ve done my share using my ‘ol Corporate Kangaroo, 28″ rip saw. Not ideal but I’ve done it.
Stock used for bent lamination or ‘real’ veneer work is a different story and generally in the area of 1/8″ in thickness. It can be a challenge to keep an accurate and consistent saw kerf while working with thin dimensions like these so I’ve been working on a system to achieve better results.
The first and obvious tool involved is my new frame saw.
I’ve been experimenting with different forms and saw blades but soon realized the problem wasn’t entirely in the saw I was using but a missed step in the process. I’m saving my new frame saw design for a little while longer but would like to give you a ‘sneak peak’ at another new hand tool I’ve come up with that will really help in the resawing process.
I think we can all agree that the saw, assuming it’s properly set and sharp etc… will follow the path of least resistance. For the sake of resawing, while trying to maintain absolutely consistent results ( 1/8″ in this case ) and not drifting and wandering off and sometimes out of the face of the stock, I realized that if I could first establish a deep enough scribe line all the way around the perimeter of the board then the saw should in theory follow it. My first instinct was how can I make this scribe line wider and deeper.
I looked at my small plow plane from Veritas and tried plowing a groove around the perimeter of the stock for the saw blade to follow. The path of least resistance remember?
It worked but I was left with a wider groove than nessecary. All I really wanted was something the saw plate would track into.
I thought briefly about filing the narrowest iron I had for the plow and trying that to achieve the thinner kerf I was after but it would be incredibly thin and potentially dangerous to both the tool, the wood and the user. The fires burning as I thought the problem through and as I glance across my moulding planes it hit me.
I could make a moulding plane style hand tool and instead of an iron I’ll install a saw blade.
With a pre-determined fence built into the profile of the tool I’d be able to saw/plane a kerf exactly where I want it from the board face working down to a set depth, again the profile of the tool, and give myself this perfect ‘track’ for the frame saw blade ( or large panel/ back saw ) to follow. Guess what- it works!
I made a stair saw about 7 years ago as well as another small tenon saw with adjustable depth skate and this seemed like a natural evolution from the two previous designs. Having the idea burning and the earlier experience making the other special purpose saws I started messing about.
What I’ve come up with is something I call a ‘Kerfing Plane’.
Now before you email me for specs I’ll tell you that they’ll all be in my new book. The plans, the procedure to make one with multiple profiles and yes, even a resource to purchase blades! ( I’ve got kids to feed ~ ; )
In this bent lamination I’m working with a stock 1″ thick and only 3″ in width. The same procedure can be done with larger stock as well but resawing will covered in another post down the road. This series of photos will continue along the slippery slope of working with ’round’ furniture.
Both of these articles are only a quick look into the world of building curved furniture using only hand tools but both topics, coopered doors and bent lamination ( as well as bending wood, shop sawn veneer and all the shop made tools to go along with those techniques ) will be covered much more extensively in my new book destined for 2012.
Here’s a brief run down on my bent lamination process and of course, using only hand tools.
Cheers!

start with a kerf at both ends.

continue down both board edges.

This is perfect for bent lamination and shop made veneer work but you'll have to wait until the new book for more...

After sawing I plane the strips to remove any saw marks. I use my 'sticking board' to hold the thin pieces in place.

Slice to desired width.

At this thickness they easily break along the scribe lines.

Put the pieces in order and mark with a builders triangle.

The offcut from the coopered door, make a bending form.

Assembly time.

Glue Bear refill first.

TIP: A wipe and some wax for easy open next time.

Into the clamps they go. fin!

A Coopered Door

2011-06-27T09:11:00.000-05:00

or curved if you'd prefer.

two becomes four...

Thanks for the comments and questions on my last post,
the following series will chronicle the process in making a coopered door.
This is not the only way to make curved furniture parts and in my next post I’ll show you how I made the match to this door using a bent lamination process.
I’m working with six pieces approx. 7/8″ thick x 1 1/2″ to 2″ widths. These are random as the hemlock has many checks, cracks and splits making much of it unworkable for cabinet making but great for wall paper!
The overall length is about an inch longer than needed on paper although I honestly don’t know that exact final measurement at this point nor do I need to. It’s all about the curve right now and to achieve this I need to bevel each of the six pieces. Once glued they’ll become the convex shape I’m looking for.
It’s funny, as one composes a cabinet in this manner instead of working off a cut list, whenever the wood pile dwindles the over all size of the cabinet does as well. ?? Hmmm..
Proportion is essential to maintain but I have no worries about the over all size being effected.
I liked the shape of this design when I first scribbled it into my sketchbook a few weeks ago and that was only a few inches tall!
So back to the coopered door~

full scale drawings. parchment paper works great.

...additional uses on bottom of box. ha !

a suggestion?

scribe the lines.

plane down to scribe lines to establish bevel

glue bear says, 'that's half a dozen if anyone's-a-countin'.

out of the clamps it needs some love.

getting closer.

marking the length. yikes!

scribe line set up

finest x-cut. 24" saw. 11 ppi. perfect for this application.

hold fast. deep breath.

'just' to the line.

fair the curve.

Edit

Hemlocked

2011-06-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

£ 4600

Reclaimed Hemlock planks and planing beam mock-up.

These reclaimed planks of Hemlock were once part of the Queens Wharf here in Toronto, Ontario.
The original structure was built in 1833 and cost then, the town of York about £ 4600. Incredible.
Named for Queen Victoria, it stood for generations until quite literally, the city landscape grew up and out of the shore line itself, leaching out into the shallows of Lake Ontario until the wharf all but disappeared through time.
In 2006 while digging a massive sub-structure development, a graveyard of these precious beams were unearthed, dismantled and eventually salvaged. Perfectly ‘pickled’ due to the minerals found in the shore line soil.
Grey and green hues with wonderful old growth rings and grains. What an honor and privilege to work with this truly unique material. Over the past four days I’ve managed to finally make some shavings and wanted to fill you in on my progress.
This new design will be my attempt to reflect the story of this Southern Ontario shore line while capturing the modern, urban silhouette that only can be Toronto. A truly unique opportunity to create a truly unique piece of furniture.
The cabinet once complete will be displayed here in down town Toronto and will be available for sale. Details to follow.
Here are some quick pics from the week.
cheers!

Straightening the grain.

panels glued

side panel

between the lines

coopered door

Two by two they're glued...

monday morning

2011-06-20T09:12:00.000-05:00

times a tickin'

When your weekend begins in Utopia, ( seriously, have a look for yourself )
and ends in a Fathers day on Sunday, you’ll find that life is good indeed.
But man if an extra hour would fall my way this week I’d be grateful.
Sometimes Monday comes too quickly and I’m into the wood shavings again with the old salvaged elm 8″ x 8″.

Winding it Out.

What a difference you’ll find working with old growth wood.

So much heavier and denser- I think of it as the real McCoy in a harvested tree from a hundred and then some years ago!

Sounds like a tune eh?

; )
The elm has been downstairs all week in the wood shop and it seems to be getting along quite well with its new neighbor, namely the 2″ x 8″ quarter sawn white oak.
They’ll be working with one another for hopefully the next few hundred years.
In other wood shop news I’ve been drawing a hell of a lot lately and the pencils are shortening at a rapid rate.

So much to do in June I must run now…cheers!

Scribe Lines.

A Toolchest from Estonia

2011-06-12T07:27:00.000-05:00

when form and function meet

I received a letter from Tõnis Arjus in Estonia this past week and included were these great shots of his new tool chest.
I absolutely love what Tõnis did with the design. It looks like he took some of the aesthetic elements of my Cabinetmakers Toolchest and mixed it with the size and storage options of my widow maker with drawers, tills and a deep lid to house some hand saws. Excellent work Tõnis and thanks for sharing.
Here are some of his comments:
Hi Tom,
I’m writing from far away Estonia and sending your way some pictures of my version of a toolbox. I was inspired by your design but reconstructed it to satisfy my needs… I added a drawer, two tills hanging above my planes and also a deep enough cover to place some saws. I still have some details to make, like the saw and chisel holders… I used American oak and local birch. I really like how similar in color the birch’s end grain and oak are. The finish is teak oil and wax, giving it an extra silky touch.

I started woodworking in January, setting up an extra space I found in the basement of our apartment building.
The goal has also been to use hand tools only, mostly because I needed some analogue, smaller scale work to be done, to balance my everyday job as an architect….Y
ou can see my first two tables along with my latest architecture stuff here on my blog: www.tonisarjus.wordpress.com
Cheers and thanks,
Tõnis Arjus

Cross Cuts

2011-06-07T08:55:00.000-05:00

so yeah, the timber…
Canadian Salvaged Timber to my own back yard.
two cross cuts, no big deal, what? 20 minutes work…make it 35.
I wasn’t doing anything anyway.
; )
happy Bang 7 ~ peace out.

TIMBER

2011-06-06T13:58:00.000-05:00

CANADIAN SALVAGED TIMBER

Inner city lumberjacks?
Purveyors of history using wood as their medium?
Sure, that sounds about right and will suffice as an introduction for now.
I’m sure I’ll be mentioning them more often now that I finally found them and stopped in !
If you frequent the King st. West, Lee Valley Tools store here in down town Toronto, ‘my local’ if you would, then maybe you’ve noticed a sandwich board on occasion out front on the side walk?
It says something like ‘timber and slabs for sale’ and has a picture of some seriously large pieces of wood along with a map to the location of this reclaimed wood shop.
Well, to make a short story longer, every time I noticed the sandwich board would be a day when I was too busy to get somewhere else!
I’m happy to say I finally found the time to visit this inner-city mecca for salvaged wood here in Toronto.
Canadian Salvaged Timber I say it’s damn good to meet you~
Finally, a convenient location where the sky is litterally the limit for salvaged and reclaimed material.
‘Every stick has a story‘ and if that’s not their motto then it should be ! ; )

I picked up some 8″ x 8″ elm that came out of an old timber barn here in Southern Ontario. I’m planning on using it for a work shop project and will keep you posted as it unfolds.
Added to that was an arm full of 4/4 Hemlock that was literally dug-up from the Queens Wharf area here in down town Toronto. This wood is truly unique because it has been ‘pickled’ through the decades, sitting for the better part of 100 years and ‘stained’ by the minerals in the local soil.
It has this incredible naturally occurring patina of silver clay tones and earth-green hues. One of a kind wood for a new cabinet design. The Hemlock will be a nice mild wood for working with hand tools and I’ll keep notes as I go once the project gets underway.
I think a misconception about working with reclaimed timber is consumers tend to think the final designs have to be large and/or heavy pieces suitable only for enormous living spaces.
A thick slab with ‘live edges‘ used in a dining room setting or in an office board room would be a perfect example where this large scale furniture really excels. Now on the opposite end of the spectrum, I’ll be using it in my own small work space and offering a piece of furniture that would suit an urban live or work environment where space is a consideration.
As the designer and builder it’s my job to find a way to use this precious material to the best of my abilities while celebrating both the history of the wood itself while trying to bring forth the ‘real life’ story that gets written through the wood and my own hands and heart working together.
If you build furniture or you’re just on the hunt for a ‘one of a kind’ piece of wood, try Candian Salvaged Timber, you may be surprised at what you’ll dig up.
Cheers!

Squarely

2011-05-30T07:24:00.000-05:00

NEW FROM LEE VALLEY TOOLS

New Precision Square from Veritas

Do you keep a 6″ inch metal rule close at hand while in the wood shop?
I do, every minute.
There’s one in my tool tray, one in my apron pocket, another one over on the sharpening bench for the Charlesworth ‘Ruler Trick’. Point is I have more than one and I keep them handy for all sorts of quick little measurements and the like.
This week I started using the new Veritas Precision Square and I think it’s my new favorite steel rule. ( er, square..)
It is milled with the same accuracy of an engineers square (0.001″ per inch of length).
All four edges are ground, and both faces are graduated on the inside and outside edges. The Imperial version which is the one I have is graduated in 32nds on the 3″ leg and in 16ths on the 6″ leg.
It’s convenient to keep close at hand and would imagine it convenient for setting up or adjusting power tools.
If a small steel rule was on your list of things to get then you may want to consider this one as well.
Available from Lee Valley Tools for $24.50.
Cheers!

To the Teeth...

2011-05-24T14:01:00.000-05:00

in the hand saw valley

5 1/2 rip tooth on the left and an 8 point x-cut on the right. The Disston D-8 duet.

This week I’m shipping saws and receiving saws, some for review and some for wood class work and student aids. I’ve been teaching sawing techniques this week and last, ( thanks again Dave ), reading about saw design through history and into more recent years, speaking at lengths on saw design with actual hand tool manufacturers and if that wasn’t enough I’m working out details on some new hand sawing ‘items‘... ( more on that over the summer )
You could say I’m up ‘to the teeth’ and enjoying every minute of it.
The shipping portion of my week involves panel saws destined for Southwestern Wisconsin.
I did an over haul on these two beauties last week and thought I’d share it with you. After putting in the elbow grease I’ve decided their worth sending out to get ‘dressed by a professional’.
I do enjoy ‘putting the file to the plate’ and sharpening my own hand saws when they need it. My rip saws aren’t too bad ..??.. but cross cut tooth geometry is a little more complicated and I’m the first to admit my saw sharpening isn’t my strongest point.
It’s something I practice but felt these two worth the extra effort.
They’re antique Disston D-8′s and both family saws. They had fallen into that dark place under the stairs and in bad need of some work. They’ve been on my to-do list for years and years and I’m happy to finally see them again and anxious to get them back to work. I’ve held onto them as ‘family heirlooms’ but never took the time to set them up. That changed.

Disston D-8 after 3 decades unused. Rusted and tarnished but lots of life left in it.

The 5 1/2 ppi rip saw was my Uncle Johnny’s. John Pier who lived on Keltic Dr. in Sydney River, Nova Scotia. He was a WWII veteran and growing up we were very close to him and his wife, ‘Aunt Ivy‘. When I was young my father and I would visit Uncle Johnny’s basement work shop and now thinking back you could have filmed horror movies down there!
The low ceiling clinging cob webs on bent nails, a few bare light bulbs to accent the jars of food preserves, empty and now recycled into storage containers nailed to the floor joists above holding ‘sets’ or ‘collections’ of nails, fasteners and other unimagined horrors. Uncle Johnny and Aunt Ivy both died during my first year of middle school. Johnny died one night while I was at a ‘social event’ on Argyle st. in the Ship yard area of Sydney. It was Grade 7, I still remember that night like it was yesterday.
He used to wear a Tartan vest, a nice old guy with a big belly and big smile to go with it.
Funny, I had a Tartan vest for a few years…

The second hand saw is also a vintage D-8 but filed at 8 ppi, It’s a bit of a mystery in that it either belonged to my Grand Uncle, Stan Wadden from Matilda St. in Whitney Pier, or it came from my wife’s side of the family who also had Wadden’s. I don’t remember when or where I got this one. The initials almost look like FW. ?

A second Disston D-8 from a family member. I'm a lucky man indeed.

Nelson Wadden, ( my son’s namesake) was my wife’s grand Uncle from Wadden’s Cove on Cape Breton Island. This was where a couple of my old hand tools came from. He was a fiddle player and lobster fisherman. I got to meet him a couple of years before he passed away in his little work shop in the back yard next to the vegetable garden. You can see the initials end in W but I’m not sure about the first. Looks like an F but still need to figure out the origins.
Interesting that Johnny’s was made at Disston Canada and the other in Philadelphia, USA.
That is what’s leading me to think my wife’s side of the family due to her connections in Massachusetts. The mystery will continue for now.

Here’s a photo journal from last week. I’ll call this bit,
‘How to prepare an old hand saw for another generation of work.’
Isn’t that just the best feeling in the world?
; )
A hand saw resurrection.

Cheers!

Rust Never Sleeps while I'm confident the 'green slime' took a few years off of my life, it did a wonderful job at removing the rust and wear from the saw plate.

Creeping along through the green and the grey.

Shining like a new dime.

5 1/2
Close to home.
8 ppi
Brotherly love.
The toxic avenger.
Made in the USA
After a little brushing and sanding I trace my fingers to fine tune the fit for my hand.
Both sides.
Lest we forget. I carefully deepen the initials using an awl before the final finishing.
ACHTUNG ! Purists close your eyes-; )
One for Uncle Johnny
Working through the oil and wax.
Ready for sharpening.
The resurrection.
Still there after the rusty vinegar bath.
Ready for another generation working wood.

In Stages

2011-05-19T18:18:00.000-05:00

a sharpening system

these are my Norton water stones I've been slowly wearing away to nothing over the last few years. I keep them flat and have never had a problem with them. The tool marks and water tracks left after use are like artwork.

I received this letter from a reader asking me about my experience with the Shapton Ceramic/Glass water stone products.
Tom.
I was wondering what sharpening kit you use? I have the shapton glass-ceramic stones and although I love them I have gone through two of the 1000 grit stones in the last few years. Do you use or know anyone that use the professional shaptons? Thanks…

Unfortunately I’ve never used them but have heard that they work really, really well. Two 1000 grits in two years sounds like alot but maybe you do a ton of wood working.
I see how this system may be out of reach for some wood workers due to the expense of the lapping plate that keeps them running smoothly. But if value means what you get back from a tool and not how much the price tag says then these seem to be the bomb. From 1000 grit up to 30000 I think ?? I should go and check but keeping it short for today….
Some thoughts?
If the reader has gone through two 1000 grits I’d say use a less expensive method of removing that initial metal. Grind it, sand paper it, heavy grit oil stone what ever…there are cheap methods to get rid of metal.
To budget the sharpening kit try keeping the super fine ( and higher priced ) water stones for the sweet spots. Just for the final polish or maybe use the 1000 for the secondary bevel and a grinding wheel or coarse stone for the initial removal.
Well that’s my two cents…hey, it’s Thursday afternoon on May 2-4 wekend in Toronto.
I have classes all weekend ~ no rest for the wicked !
cheers and play safe where ever you’re at this weekend.
you know, just in case…… ( cue Science fiction music)

; )

'Arts Weeks' in England

2011-05-18T07:13:00.000-05:00

FROM ACROSS THE POND

This is a letter I received from a friend in the UK and thought I’d share it.

Hi Tom,

I’ll be fascinated to see how all your shop changes materialise in time, new bench and tools etc, good to hear.

On my own front I’ve been making a few visits in the Cotswold hills and villages to a selection of furniture makers, one particular being Waywood Furniture Creation.

I’ve been meaning to visit and meet up with Barnaby Scott for some time and ever since I heard that his company were producing some lovely work and also since Charlesworth mentioned them as excellent furniture designers when I met him at Ryecote Wood Furniture College over a year ago.

‘Arts Weeks’ in England, this basically means any artists or crafts people can open their doors to the public for a limited time to see their work and sometimes their actual workspace.

So off I went to Chaddlington in Oxfordshire and only about half an hour from my home to see if I could have a look around Barnaby’s shop. I arrived at a lovely group of buildings nestled at the outer edge of the village surrounded by typical rolling Cotswold fields woodlands and hills. I parked and walked up and into Waywood’s showroom which was flooded with light from one side of the stone building, this lit up a selection of finely made furniture in mainly native hardwoods, while a couple incorporated some exotic woods that were responsibly sourced. After a couple of minutes Barnaby came down from the office upstairs to meet me and have a run through each piece.

It was a real treat to get the low down on a few of the many techniques used in some of the more unusual pieces including some particularly unusual veneering methods. All useful to understand and not straight forward at all.

I was then invited to have a look around his very commercial shop, which was almost entirely kitted out with pretty big machinery including a massive planer thicknesser, this wasn’t to say that Barnaby doesn’t favour handtools when the moment comes, mainly for finishing but none the less beautifully executed.

I guess it was a kind of reality check on where the spirit of Arts & Crafts currently sits in the Cotswolds, Barnaby very much loves the work he produces and the whole point for him is that the furniture is still individually made by a very small team of often four people. The client and what they want from the crafstman is still very much on a one to one and therefore there isn’t the slightest hint that machinery has in any way compromised the woodcraft one bit, in fact it’s helped to keep it very much alive, yes there was perhaps less handtools used from beginning to end, but when they were used they were used lovingly and with deep knowledge and appreciation.

I took a couple of pics of Barnaby Scott at the side of one of the benches, all manner of kit was scattered around, but everything looked as I guess you’d expect from a very successful and very fine furniture maker’s busy commercial shop, innovation, design all intact and he was on the look out for another craftsman to join the small team in the near future….it was all very gratifying to see that man, machine and handtools has a very good balance here in the Wolds of England.

I’ve attached a pic of Barnaby and a link to his site.

www.waywood.co.uk

A most enjoyable visit

P.S. ….Oh yes just a little pic too of the finished Oak plinth for Sue’s Horses head sculpture, which look like it’s already got a buyer on the opening day of her exhibition….i went for a very natural finish in the end, choosing to refrain from filling in the cracks and just oil and wax it, simple is sometimes best eh!

Cheers

Steve

SUNDAY SUNRISE

2011-05-15T13:26:00.000-05:00

Sunday Sunrise

A WORKSHOP WEEKLY UPDATE Now where did the week go again?
I know I have to write a post about the guitar set up but couldn’t steel a single hour so far.
The week, right.
It began at the bench with new hand tool ideas and designs dedicated to the sole purpose of working and sawing shop veneer;
‘real veneer’ as JK wrote.
The wood shop is in desperate need of an over haul and that starts at the work bench.
Four new designs for shop made hand tools and a new bench design to go along with it !
I’m just at the mock-up stages and getting things planned for September. September you may say is still 4 months away.
Well indeed it is but this is where it begins, on the page in form of an idea, an interest and then maybe a gut feeling.
Some trial and some error and then some more thoughts and scribbles to hash through.
; )

Suddenly I was into Wednesday and refurbishing two old panel saws destined for Wisconsin to have the final touches done by a professional. Two sweet old Disston saws, one rip and one cross cut.
Friday and Saturday came and with it a student from Montreal. He brought four large cans of Quebec Maple Syrup ! Giddy-up…
We spent two days in the shop covering everything from furniture pricing and one-man, work shop solutions to hands on sawing techniques and finished off with half blind dovetails.
Two days of Maple Syrup and then the play offs resuming again last night.
Hockey eh? What can I say?
I wouldn’t want to be waking up in Boston this morning…
Today is Sunday and Nelson and I are working out some shelf and storage solutions for his Transformer collection and this evening I’ll be at Clinton’s Tavern here in Toronto playing my new album, a boy called fish front to back.
If you’re in the down town area this evening stop by for a pint.
It’s an early show starting at 8pm and I hear they have some good food there as well.
A review on Yelp says this:
“Another spot where vegetarians and meat-eaters can dine in harmony!”
Who can argue with that?
Cheers!

It's in the Intonation

2011-05-09T08:01:00.000-05:00

this is just an observation...

Most of the woodworkers I meet know how to play a musical instrument.
From string to wind and wind to wood, what ever.
Point is most woodworkers seem to naturally have or gain through repetition, a sense of rhythm while we work with hand tools, we’re musical even if we don’t actually play instruments.
Nestled in the saw dust lies the rhythm and the rhyme.
And with all that in mind…

'The Recording Model' by Brown Guitars. Photo from Soundpark Studio website.

This past winter I traveled to the East Coast of Canada on two occasions, once in February and again in March to play some live music and promote my new album. ( shameless I know )
On both adventures one of my closest and oldest friends, Scott Brown joined me for the shows playing bass guitar. Scott also gave me some insight into guitar set ups and I finally got around to setting up one of my own guitars on my return back to Toronto.
I bought a OOO1R, USA made Martin in 1996 but it was actually made three years prior to that making about 19 years old..? This is a sweet little guitar and has been my faithful ‘road warrior’ over the last couple of decades give or take.
Funny enough though it didn’t make either trip this winter because Scott is a wonderful luthier on Cape Breton Island and he offered me to leave ‘my axes’ here at home ( no stress flying you know ) and invited me to use some of his custom built guitars during the performances. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity.
Scott is the man behind Brown Guitars in Bras D”Or, Nova Scotia. He builds custom electric and acoustic guitars in his home work shop about 20 minutes from down town Sydney and will ship his work ( as stressful as that may be ; ) internationally. Another close friend of mine, Jamie Foulds owns a studio in Cape Breton and recently posted some sounds clips of Scott’s latest and finest. Follow this link…
Now back in the wood shop we wood workers are all well aware of wood movement. ( say that 5 times fast )
Take all of those elements and multiply them by 10 and you have ‘luthier wood movement stress‘ !
I’m exaggerating a little but you get the idea.
Wood movement in guitars = bad intonation, a neck that may need to be set up seasonally or at the very least annually. Even a brand new guitar shipped from a music store on the West Coast to a musician on the East Coast will need to be set up to perform as it should.
With humidity changes, the neck on a guitar can move and cup and the differences between CB Island and Southern Ontario are pretty drastic. I realized that not one of my guitars had been set up since moving back from the East Coast 3 years ago and it was time to do something about it. Yikes!

Brown Guitars

Returning home after playing Scott’s guitars all perfectly set up and tuned, I could feel and see how high the action on my little Martin was getting. Every guitar player should know how to go through the steps of checking to see if an instrument needs an adjustment and then decide whether to carry out those adjustments or have a professional like Brown Guitars make them for you.
After my crash course lesson in guitar set up and light maintenance by Mr. Brown himself, I decided to take up the challenge and can happily say my guitar feels and plays like it did when it was new.
It was in bad shape although I ignored it for three years and learned to live with the high action on the strings. I knew it was getting harder and harder to play with each winter passing and I suspected the intonation was starting to get out of whack as well.
Three years can really make a difference.
It’s a wonderful feeling setting up your own guitar to suite your own tastes and I encourage you to take a close look at your own instruments at home.
I’ll walk you through the steps Scott taught me in another post.
It only involves a hand full of tools that most of you already own. This is what you’ll need:

guitar tuner
new set of strings
capo
feeler gauges
small metal rule in 1/16″ increments
reliable straight edge
Allen or Hex keys
wire cutters

For now, follow the links and check out Brown Guitars.
Cheers!

When the Bow breaks

2011-05-05T23:01:00.000-05:00

I bought a Gramercy Tools bow saw at Tools for Working Wood in NYC a couple of years ago and it has turned into one of my very favorite tools.
It’s a nice gentle shape, really light weight with well made parts that work really well.
I use it for all of the typical bow saw tasks like sawing curves, pierced work and the like. I soon realized it was also perfect for waste removal. Using the bow saw much the same way you would a fret saw or maybe a coping saw removing the waste in dovetails.
Not so long ago I took it apart for transport and when I reassembled it and put tension back on the bow-

SNAP !

; (

Damn…
always right in the middle of a project isn’t it?
Well, I better fix it.
Nothing fancy, no time for that, just a quick fix with some quarter sawn Ontario white oak.
The straight grain will be perfect for this application.
It went something like this…

this is the worst noise ever- the crack of hickory.

On an off cut of white oak I trace the one good arm.

scribe the width and grab my favorite rip saw.

check for length and scribe.

clean and square with the jack plane.

x-cut at the bench with 14" back saw.

the top tapered area is marked.

mark the mortise location and drill for turned handle pin.

brad point bit exact width of mortise.

two chisels- exact width and length of mortise...

makes for quick work.

x-cut profile- saw kerf establish depths.

bust out the waste and quickly clean with rasp and file.

back to work !

NOW AVAILABLE

2011-01-23T18:00:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post to let you know that my new album, 'a boy called fish' is available for purchase at iTunes. Follow the link and enjoy!

Album Artwork- a boy called fish

2010-12-01T12:07:00.000-06:00

'to the ocean' an original piece by cristina venedict

Well here it is- my new album cover. I really wanted to keep this 'in the bag' until the album was ready but made the mistake of using it as my profile picture on Facebook this morning-!! People are already commenting on it so I thought I should let everyone know where it came from.

It's an original piece by Cristina Venedict, an amazing artist in Botosani, Romania. A few months ago I stumbled on her work and eventually contacted her about using this piece titled- 'to the ocean' as my album artwork. She checked out my work and after some corresponding agreed to let me use it for the album cover. (thanks again Cristina!)
Click the link above to visit her website. I think her work is some of the most original I've seen in years. A true talent. She sells all of her pieces and ships world wide. Cheers!

www.tomfidgen.com

2010-11-10T19:02:00.002-06:00

Hello to all out there in wood land- just a quick note to say I’ve started a new Tom Fidgen Music blog over at www.tomfidgen.com for anyone interested.

the genius of mingus

2010-04-27T18:37:00.001-05:00

27/04/2010

2010-04-27T18:29:00.001-05:00

craft
conceive
concoct
construct
compose
devise
fashion
sculpt
shape
model
make
produce
assemble
form

design.

The Unplugged Woodshop.com

2010-01-20T06:56:00.003-06:00

New Web Site

Just wanted to let everyone know that my new site- www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com is now live!
I think readers of Made by Hand will be especially happy to hear that the new site features dedicated areas for all six of the book projects. Each area has FREE Sketch-up Models, and complete down loadable bench plans with expanded galleries and afterthoughts on each of the projects. Books have space limitations and a web site doesn't so I'm happy to include lots of additional pics and information that never made it into the book- I think these will prove very useful when you start making the projects in your own shops at home.

There is also a 'Readers Gallery' and I encourage anyone building any of the projects to send me some photos of their versions of these designs. It'll be a great way to see how design ideas can change and evolve from one shop to the next. You'll also be happy to know the new site is equipped with email subscriptions and RSS feed so it's easy to get the all of my latest posts sent directly to your email.
The gallery section features some of my other work and will be getting some more fine tuning with additional pics and text in the coming weeks.
And for those who don't yet have a copy of Made by Hand, you can order your signed copies there as well with a new section still being prepared with reviews and feedback from readers from around the world. This is always nice for people who are still debating whether they'd like to buy this book or not- some honest reviews from actual readers. I'm also working on a few updated posts that will clarify a few mistakes I made in the writing process. Sometimes writing about wood working procedures is far more difficult than the actual building goes and my book is no exception. I missed a few details here and there and found at least two areas I'd like to re-write...I find them a bit confusing when I read them so it'll hopefully help out others as well!
I'm very happy with the new site and I think you'll appreciate how much easier it is to navigate through. All of my past blogs and posts are there in an easier format, keeping themes and topics together in a well thought out manner.
I welcome you to stop by and have a look around- let me know what you like and what you don't like and as the weeks progress I'll do what I can to make it as good as it can be. I'll slowly be working towards having that as my only web site and will try my best to make the transition from this space to the next as painless as possible. Please update your bookmarks and links when you can.
In closing, I'd like to take a moment and thank Luis Martins (aka 'The Dovetail Kid') for all of the hard work and countless hours you've spent building this new site for me- I would never have been able to do it without you and you have my deepest thanks-

Keep well and I hope you enjoy the new site-
cheers!