Just added two more listings to Etsy

Here are a few shots of two new listings… 

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Here and here

My biggest board yet… part 3

Well, the first blank was in clamps over night…

Now a few light passes through the drum sander.

This board is too large just to push against the fence to cross cut the engrain slices and I have not made a sled for my new table saw so I attached a block of wood to the incra mitre guage and used it backwards.  By backwards I do not mean I cut backwards… just had the guage on the other side of the blank as I pushed it forward…

 
To hold it steady I clamped the blank to the block… and used the fence as a way of measuring the 50 mm or 2 inches I decided on for thickness..
After the board was in the right position for the cut and clamped, I move the fence away..

This is done so that the cut piece is not pinched between the blade and the fence… very dangerous..

After cutting all the pieces they were rolled and flipped… here is a sneak peek..

[TIP... run all four side of each piece through the Drum Sander... a little extra work but you will find the fit a lot better...]

My biggest board yet..part 2

Having sourced the timber it was time to cross cut to size and rip to width..

The board is going to be 650 mm by 400 mm [26 in by 16 in] so I cut the pieces to 850 mm [34 in] taking in the 3mm [1.8 in] kerf for each cross cut in the next step….. and sized them to 50 mm [2 in] thick.

This will leave a little extra to hold against the fence when crosscutting and maybe a little left over the make a small herb board to match…

Then each piece was ripped to the desired width… and arranged to give the best pattern… making sure to orientate the grain…

Each board from the right was moved over to the left to see how the patteren would look.

This pattern had to be adjusted to make sure the width of the board was exactly 400 mm.

[The width dictated that more strips were used... to make sure that there was no splitting ... wood movement in larger pieces may eventually cause cracks...]

Into the clamps over night… next step tomorrow…

Happy Australia Day

Happy Australia day to all my friends…

And take a moment to reflect on what it means to you to be an Aussie…

Part of the greatest nation on earth….

Car for sale..

We still have 3 cars… so one must go…

I am selling the 1998 Mitsubishi Lancer…fabulous little car but… only need two…

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Originally bought for Sam, our youngest…I bought it back when she bought a Mazda 3

I drove it around while working on the Black Ute… now the Ute is gone and I have the Holden Calais… just one too many cars…

I am asking $3940.00 and it comes with current safety certificate and 6 months rego…

Central locking, tinted windows, clear rear lights and a JVC stereo…

Silver in colour with 15 inch mags..

Economical and good looking…can be seen at CarSales.com.au

How to simulate being a Sailor

 

I received this from a friend… the source of this rather humorous but actually closer to the truth list is unknown to me… if you are the author I apologise ahead of time and if you contact me I will acknowledge your claim…

1. Buy a steel dumpster, paint it gray inside and out, and live in it for six months. 2. Run all the pipes and wires in your house exposed on the walls. 3. Repaint your entire house every month. 4. Renovate your bathroom. Build a wall across the middle of the bathtub and move the shower head to chest level. When you take showers, make sure you turn off the water while you soap down.

“Buying” the timber…

Many of you have asked where I get my timber…

Well I will let you in on a little secret…

Even though I have nearly 20 tonnes of timber in stock, when I need a special piece I go and see Trevor Gaskiel at Northgate [Brisbane]

Trevor, who is an accomplished and highly acclaimed woodworker, is a timber merchant specialising in Tasmanian Timbers.

All who frequent the Timber shows around Australia, will know  Trevor and most probably have bought timber from Trevor at one time or other… what you may not now is that you can buy timber from Trevor all year around.

Trevor’s woodstore has been likened to Aladdin’s Cave … due to the vast treasures that can be found there… Tasmanian Blackwood, Myrtle, Huon Pine and Celery Top Pine are in abundant supply.

Figured examples abound.. as well as turning blanks of all sizes… this is just a small selection in a shipping container… the rest is under his house in racks.. a veritable labyrinth..

For the eagle eyed amongst you, there are two pieces of Purple Heart in the foreground of the picture above… these came from my very limited personal supply, for a client of Trevor’s….I exchanged these for some Blackwood, Huon and Camphor… shown in the boot of my car..

A closer shot… the camphor was too long for the boot …had to drop the centre of the back seat…

Some of this timber is destined for the Chopping Block I mentioned in a previous blog.

I always think I have got the better end of my dealings with Trevor… while he doesn’t give timber away, you always go away very happy with the deal. Good quality timber at a good price…

So next time you want something a little different for that special project give Trevor a call on [07] 33146816 or try his mobile 0403496 403.  If you are fortunate enough to live in S. E. Queensland, you can arrange to go over and have a butchers at his fabulous store of wonderful timbers.

You will not be disappointed… I never am…

Just remember to mention my name.

Dressing a board…

From the title many of you would assume I was talking about taking a rough sawn plank and passing it over the Jointer… through the Thicknesser [planer] and then using a table saw… to get a dressed all round [DAR] board..

Neverthless that is correct but for this post, I actually meant dressing the board with props for a better photograph… one that shows the board in its best light..

Speaking of light that is a topic for future discussion…

Her are a few before and after shots I have used on my Etsy Store.

XXXX Gold Board....Before

XXX Gold Beer Board... After

Coopers Beer Board... Before

Coopers Beer Board ...After

Tilting at windmills.

I sometimes feel I am tilting at windmills… just like Don Quixote… alas…

I write my blogs…. there are millions of bloggers.

I post my own website …. it is lost in the crowd.

I work in my shop…. as do millions of other woodworkers…

I list on my etsy store…. along with the several thousand other cutting board makers..

I am involved with Twitter…. only one of many..

Facebook ….ditto..

and Linked-in……same…

Oh, there is lots of activity on these sites but this time of year sales are slow… unless you want to have a sale.. and I don’t think my creations deserve that…

With all that going for me…[sarcasm] should I just give up…

Not my style to just give up….

So I think I will keep plugging along…

Recently on Letters and Numbers [shown on SBS television] David Astel was talking about how peoples names have been added to the dictionary… the most famous would have to be Mae West… the actress… and the large lifejacket of yesteryear…

Image via Wikipedia

That lead to the name Steven Bradbury… you remember the short course speed skater who was tail end johnny until the leader of the race fell and took out the other racers…

Steven Bradbury… won gold….and is held up as an example of the underdog winning over great odds by never giving up..

So while I tilt at windmills and make wine tilts…. I suppose I will just have to do a “Bradbury”

And maybe one day the “Lazy Larry” will replace the lazy susan in the dictionary…

Penny for your thoughts.

This is a wine bottle balancer or wine tilt… your choice of name…

It was made from a gorgeous piece of Camphor Laurel and to make it a little special…it has a 1942 Australian penny inlaid…

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I have posted this at Etsy and will be posting more as I get the pics uploaded.