April 3rd, 2009
For the last couple of months, I’ve been volunteering 2-3 half-days a week at the Ashland High School woodshop. I’ve learned a lot working with the kids and I’m amazed at what they can get done in just 90 minutes 2-3 times a week.
Of course they aren’t all superstars churning out amazing work–some of them are just in woodshop because it’s a great place to coast and an easy A. Hey, I remembering being that kid–although I coasted in technical theater production, not woodshop.
It’s sad to find out that most high schools no longer have a woodshop program and of those that do, many face the budget axe in the near future. I guess it’s hard to justify woodshop when there is no woodshop section on the No child Left Behind tests.
Anyway, it’s been fun working in the high school shop. I only hope it’s around for future generations of students.
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August 20th, 2008
Just unloaded a few photos from the camera and thought I’d post them to the blog. Here’s one of our class at our last lunch. We’re eating leftovers from our graduation dinner the night before.
And now with a bit of perspective I ask myself would I do it again? Yes, without question. The time for me in Maine was exactly what I needed–I don’t know if I’ll become a designer/maker of furniture as my sole source of income, but I hope it will definitely be a big part of the rest of my life.
A note to the guys in my class:
Thank you for all of your support and encouragement. Your work was inspiring and your wit and energy made the class what it was–great.
A note to the CFC staff and instructors:
You guys are fantastic. Everything about the school is top notch and the love of teaching this stuff shows in how well the school is run.
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May 30th, 2008
Nine months gone in a flash.
A bitter-sweet parting of ways.
A long drive ahead.
Would I do it again? No thought required–a definite yes.
See you back in Ashland.
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May 20th, 2008
Wow, it’s gone by so quickly. Counting today, there are only 9 days of school left and then it’s time to head home.
This past 9 months has been jammed packed with woodworking and learning all things wood. In fact, I would have to say that for me, it’s been too much. It seems almost every student was behind on almost every project. I think there were only a handful of projects that were 100% done when they were supposed to be done. And that’s with many students working nights and weekends.
For me, this past 3 weeks has really been a time to catch my breath and relax. I know I’m supposed to working on a ‘final’ project and I have been, sort of… but man, I’m cooked. I have been working on a couple of boxes and built a wall cabinet for Jim and Misty (my friends/landlords)–but I’m having a hard time keeping the motivation up.
On another note… I met my cousin Herb Smith on Sunday. He’s my dad’s cousin (not sure what that makes us) and I grew up hearing about him from my Grandmother (his aunt). He’s built 6 wooden schooners (all 40ft or larger) and sailed 2 of them around the world. He wrote 2 books about those trips. His current boat, the Eastwind is in Boothbay Harbor and is two masted 68ft schooner. The 2 hour sail was fantastic! and Doris and and Herb are two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.
I should probably get back into the shop (I’m in the CFC library avoiding work as I write this). Oh, and hi Brycen.
Posted in Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, camden maine, cfc, woodworking | 2 Comments »
April 23rd, 2008
Here’s a shot of the the drawer in the tall cabinet. I had it photographed on Saturday along with the demi-lune table. All of these shots will go into my furniture making portfolio.
This week in the shop we are all furiously working on our chairs–which are supposed to be done on Friday. I think mine will be 95% there so I’m not too worried about it. Although I seem to remember saying that about each project so far and missing the mark.
Also, this Friday the 9 month students are have the opening to our show in the Messeler gallery. My demi-lune will be in the show.
-mj
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April 23rd, 2008
After months of delay, here is the final professionally done portfolio picture of the demi-lune table. There are a number of detail shots out on flickr. Let me know what you think.
Thanks- mj
Posted in Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, camden maine, cfc, woodworking | 2 Comments »
April 1st, 2008
After a fair amount of delay, here for your viewing pleasure… the demi-lune gate-leg card table.
The last few days before the show were very busy! I spent a lot of time on the finishing (French polish). I also mortised in the hinges and applied the suede to the playing surfaces.
Here you see the card table with the top 1/2 opened to show the playing surface details.
I’ll post more photos soon of the booth and such. Of course you can always hop on over to my flickr account to see them there.
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March 4th, 2008
We’re in the last week of our multiples project here at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship and I’ve been alternating working on my multiples (carved wooden spoons) and finishing the demilune table.
On the spoons… for me, I’ve pretty much determined that unless I can automate/mechanize much of the carving or get much better/faster at carving, the spoons are not going to be a profitable item for me to make. As it stands it takes me about 40 minutes to make one spoon with a materials cost of about $1.50. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t often spend $30-40 on wooden spoons so I’m thinking that the most I could charge for them is around $20-25.
With the lesson of shop rates still fresh in my ears, the spoons just aren’t going to cut it as a multiple for me. Oh well, I still like making them–I guess they’ll just be gifts.
On the demilune front:
Here is a nice shot of the banding that wraps around each of the table legs about 5 inches above the ground. The table itself is finaly coming together… both tops are now veneered top and bottom and now just need the ultra-suede playing surface applied.
That will involve routing a slot around the short grain edging and I’m a bit worried about break out. I may apply a bit of hide glue to the surface of short grained edging to help prevent that. I recently read that hide glue doesn’t inhibit the absorption of finishes and if that’s true, it could be a huge benefit–I’ll try it and let you know.
I keep saying “I hope to have it finished by x-date” so I’ll just say it’s still coming along and leave it at that.
Oh, BTW I used the vacuum press I made to press the veneer on the 2nd top and I’m happy to say it worked perfectly. I’ll post some pictures of it soon. I just added up the cost of the system at $370 (without the price of the bag) which is quite a savings over commercial systems. I’m happy I built it and look forward to working with it for years to come.
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February 26th, 2008
I thought I would post a brief description of the method I used to add the banding to the bottom of the demilune table.
What I didn’t do:
I was considering using the router and making a curved jig to fit the table curve, but the thought of that much power at 10-14k RPM made me a bit nervous–any little glitch would quickly remove wood that I’d rather have still attached to the table apron.
Another approach I considered was using the shaper–but that would have required too much time making a jig–since I wasn’t planning on making a dozen of these tables, I didn’t want to invest the time making a single use jig.
So I settled on a handtool approach that worked wonderfully. Using a Tite-Mark marking gauge, I scored a line around the bottom of the apron that matched the width of the banding I was going to use.
I then set the fence on a Lie Nielsen skew block plane to cut to that line and after that it was a trouble/stress free process of planing down to the depth I wanted. It was actually kind of meditative and I was never worried about things going wrong.
If you are ever searching for a method of adding banding to a project, I would highly recommend you give this one a try.
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February 8th, 2008
The last bits of the demilune table are coming together. I’ve just started to apply the inlay to the legs. Here you can see that the holly is going to contrast nicely with walnut.
The top veneer has been glued down.
Still to do:
- Veneer the playing surface side of the primary and secondary tops
- Scratch the bead and cove into the edge of the tops
- Hinge and attach the tops
- Finish the inlay on the legs
- Apply the lower bands to the table legs
- Glue the legs to the apron
I hope to have it all wrapped up by the end of the weekend–but the toboggan races are this weekend and we’re competing!
-mj
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