Free Plan: Shaker Rocker

Given all the time in the world, one project I'd like to tackle is the Shaker Chair/Rocker. Fine Woodworking has published free plans for just such a chair on their website. I'll file this one away for later...

CLICK HERE to download the free PDF article and woodworking plan for Conover's Shaker rocking chair.

Site Statistics

I noticed today the site counter clicked over 25,000. In the past twelve months there's been a steady increase in visitors to the blog and I'd like to thank those people for supporting the site. 

The most popular posts in that time are the 6 Piece Burr Puzzle Jig, the Blackbutt Roubo, the Blog Roll, How I sharpen, various tool reviews and reports on wood shows. 

In this period although search engines became a prominent source of visitors (18%) the bulk of traffic (60%) came from referring. The most popular search was for 'table top construction' pointing to one of the earliest blog posts on the Blackbutt Table. Referrals from other sites included Lumber Jocks, Woodwork Forums, Woodworking Magazine, Cornish Workshop, Boutique Timbers, and the Flowering Elbow.

Once again thanks for the support, comments and feedback. Any suggestions or comments are always welcome. If you haven't so far, check out the The Love of Wood @ Facebook.

Up close with a pew: Joinery

Just a quick blog post to show some of the simple joinery that goes into making a pew.

With the seat removed you can see a stretcher that runs below. This stretcher joins the legs with three half-lap joints. The stretcher prevents racking (the legs rotating on the seat) and strengthens the seat.

The edging is combination of decorative curves and natural edges.

Around 1 cm of material is removed from the leg piece for the back rest to sit in. This is deliberative left short to allow the back rest to run the height of the round over above the leg.

The last few days have been spend filling in checks and cracks with epoxy. After final shaping and sanding the pieces will be connected with glue (titebond III), screws, and ebony plugs.

Wax Melter: Operational

The 8 Frame Wax Melter has been delivered and is now sitting proud next to my Dad’s vegie plot. The wax melts by the sun’s energy and drops through a filter into a collection tin below. The filter and tin can be accessed by a back door. The top is two layers of 1/8” plate glass. The timber is 3/4” Radiata pine. Up to eight frames are hung vertically. Due to the weight of the lid the hinges need upgrading.

Further thoughts on the lumber rack...

The idea of a new lumber storage rack has been revolving and evolving in the back of my mind for a while. To make it capable of holding medium to large slabs the current design is sizable - 0.9m deep, 2.0m tall, and 2.4m in length.

In my original post I was using Radiata Pine based on a design by Daniel Klauder. I'm now considering using Blackbutt Decking (65x19mm) to provide a thinner material and of course match the workbench. For a project this size around 100 linear meters of timber would be needed.

The main structural change to the design is the use of a second vertical post. This allows greater resistant to vertical pressure and spaced at ~165mm allows 150mm (6") ducting to be tunneled for dust extraction. In addition to this it will allow me places to mount electrical and lighting connections. 

The rack will be made in 4-6 vertical sections which will be glued and screwed. The vertical posts are made with spacers between the racks then sandwiched between two straight vertical pieces. These will then be bolted to lateral supports (4 in the current design, 3 and cross beam in the previous design.) This would allow it to be reduced to transportable parts.

Any feedback welcome.

Inspiration for the project on Daniel Klauder's Blog.

Another style rack from Julie's Blog.

Would you like a pew with dinner..

Serious progress is being made on the bench seats... which strangely look like pews... The main joinery is complete. Plenty of work to go however, final shaping (mainly on the back rest), sanding, gluing (with screws and ebony plugs), and then finishing... 

Chairs/benches are always a little tricky to get the right feel. (Especially for someone with limited experience). The benches a tad low but this will be corrected with the a cushion/upholstery over the wood. The backrest is posture correcting at the height I wanted to support the lowerback. Once the round over is completed this should be even more comfortable. I'm surprised at how narrow the seat is (forwards to backwards direction) meaning that my thighs are only supported between 1/2 and 2/3 the distance. The size was limited by my planner capacity but next time I would bring it forward or make it wider.

Roughing out the stretcher details...

The stretcher or cross member is essential to hold the two trestle legs securely. Using a jigsaw and belt sander I thinned the center producing a gentle curve. Looking at it now it could be thinned further at each end. 

The through tenons are secured using a solid ebony 'key'. At present they are functional but also need some detailing work with the rasp. 

Overall... average.

Auriou: Hand made by the French!

At the Forge De Saint Juery a team of eager Frenchmen hand form Auriou Rasps. Hand made includes each notch is hand tapped. On the Lie-Nielsen site there is this interesting video showing how this fine hand tools are produced. 

At $150-180 a rasp, I don't think I'll be adding one to my collection any time soon...

Sturt Short Courses in Woodworking 2011

As a follow up from my trip to Sturt I'd like to mention some of their courses. In addition to their 1 year Cert IV in Fine Furniture Making they also offer a series of evening courses, 12 week courses and weekend courses. Info for the weekend courses is listed below with a link to their site for more details.

Basic woodwork with Paul Nicholson
2nd & 3rd April 2011                                   $260 including GST

Paul Nicholson is a furniture designer/maker and has been a member of the Splinter Workshop for 8 years. Paul is a graduate of the Sturt School for Wood and has a special interest in traditional wood working methods and the use of hand tools.

This course is designed for  absolute beginners providing an introduction to woodwork by exposing participants to some basic methods including marking out, sawing, planning, paring (chiseling), assembling, sanding and finishing.  The project is a serving tray with a dovetail joint at each corner and hand shaped handles. There will be some scope for personalisation if time permits.

Please bring with you writing materials, dust mask and wear closed shoes. An apron is optional.  All working materials will be provided (wood, glue, finishing oil, rags, sand paper and disposable gloves). All tools will be provided but if you have any or all of the following please bring them (and please put your name on them): dove tail saw, small cross cut saw, marking knife, pencil, tri square, bevel gauge, block plane, rasp, small chisels (6-12mm), card scraper.

Making joints with Jim Littlefield
18th & 19th June 2011                              $260 including GST


Jim Littlefield is a professional cabinetmaker of 35 years experience, teaching apprentice cabinetmakers for the past twenty and playing a large part in the restoration of the 100 foot steam yacht Ena in the 80s. At this time, Jim exhibited his work with the NSW Woodworkers’ Association,  editing their newsletter as well as being technical editor of Australian Woodsmith magazine. Jim advocates the mastery of traditional hand skills and traditional construction as the foundation of good and satisfying cabinetmaking and joinery.

Learn to use sharp, quality hand tools to produce a range of traditional cabinetmaking joints that may include housing and rebate joints, tongue and groove joints, halving joints, mitre joints, mortise and tenon joints and dovetail joints. A small project such as an instrument case will be produced using some of these joints.  Beginner and intermediate level.

Please bring with you writing materials, dust mask and wear closed shoes. An apron is optional.
The  course fee is $260 (including GST). Payment and the completion of an enrolment form are essential to book a position. Enrolment forms are available at www.sturt.nsw.edu.au or from Sturt Gallery: 02 4860 2083. These courses will be held from 9.30 until 4.30 in Sturt part time wood workshop. Tea and coffee are provided.  Students bring their own lunch or order lunch from Sturt Café.

Cnr Waverley Pde & Range Rd Mittagong NSW

Ph 02 4860 2083   www.sturt.nsw.edu.au

Oh, so that's what it will look like....

The Anniversary table has been a long time in the coming. To check proportions and decide on final sizing and shaping I assembled the piece in our small courtyard. The shaker inspired modern table is a 2x1m trestle table with two benches capable of sitting eight comfortably. 

The benches will be assembled with long screws covered by ebony plugs - keeping the detail of the top.

In the shaker design which uses 3/4" timber (cf. 1 1/2" timber in my piece) there is a stretcher beneath the benches to prevent racking and increase strength. Although this is not needed with the thicker timber I plan to add a smaller stretcher for aesthetics. 

The top I've had completed and finished for nearly 6 months. Given the heat we've had lately the top has shrunk about 1.5cm across it's 1m width. The breadboards were designed for 2cm of movement so this isn't a problem (other than needing to tidy the breadboards).

Since this last photo was taken I've shaped the stretcher supporting the two legs. In keeping with the rest of the piece. It now has a gentle curve thinning the mid section. The ends will be tightened with keyed m&t joints which need to be shaped and sanded.