Sunday, September 27, 2009

Updates and Appreciation

Fighting with Flu Bugs














I want to start off with a big THANK YOU to everybody that has pre-ordered a copy of Made by Hand:Furniture Projects from the Unplugged Woodshop; the response and positive feedback has really made my week and I wanted to say again how much I appreciate the support. :)
That said, I've been feeling like a bag of s**t for the past five days! Been battling a flu bug all week so the door production has been pretty slow. I did manage to get a good bit of the window mouldings completed yesterday and today. I must be getting the upper hand on the little buggars!

It's funny, all through the building process I'd been sort of thinking that the 'hard' work was over with but as it turns out (and isn't this always the way?) the window treatments have been more work than I planned. It's not that they're exceptionally difficult but there's alot of them and they're thin mouldings so working on them is a bit of a juggling act. I built myself a 'sticking board' when I started the panel mouldings but it's just a little too wide and too short for these ones. I should have made another for the smaller mouldings but instead I've been placing side batons and clamps to hold things in place...not ideal but it is working.Lots of jigging and fussing and cussing about! If I were feeling better this past week I would have made a new one but everything gets amplified when you're trying to fight off a cold.
So I had hoped by this point tonight I'd be showing some pictures of all the door elements completed but it wasn't in the cards. I do only have a few more pieces to finish so hopefully by weeks end. Then it'll be on to the finishing and glue up.
Notice the order? Yup finish first...well most of it anyway. I'm going to pre finish the mouldings, the panels and all of the other 'rick-rack' before assembly. Less chance of runs and the like. Also, as far as the panels go I'll definitely finish them so in the event they do somehow shrink and expand the 1/2" I've allotted then you wouldn't see any unfinished wood showing on the edges.
With that, I'm going to go make a cup of tea and sit down to listen to the last episode of Wood Talk online...Marc Spagnuolo (the Wood Whisperer) just informed me that they gave the blog a plug! Check it out here: http://thewoodwhisperer.com/wood-talk-online-59/















Tomorrow I'm going to be breaking out the 'ol bow-saw...you can see the shape of the window sill decorative treatment in the shot above; should be fun!
Stay tuned.

Monday, September 21, 2009

A first look Inside Made by Hand:

Furniture Projects from the Unplugged Woodshop

The following images are excerpts from my new book. The introduction as well as a sneak peak at three of the six 'furniture project chapters'.
The book also features five more plans for workbench appliances; a shooting board, bench hook, miter hook, winding sticks and Krenov inspired saw horses. Take a look inside and see what you think. You'll also get a free DVD that will walk you through all of the hand tools I used in these projects; from Lie Nielsen to Lee Valley we'll take a close look at the more popular manufacturers on the market today and I'll discuss the pros and cons of each. This will really help out the beginner who can sometimes feel overwhelmed when starting the journey into wood working.

I'm more than willing to help you out along the way when you start making these projects yourself through e-mail as well as my blog.

Thanks for reading and happy shavings!

Tom