Descending Ashtray

I have been playing around with a burnt finish on the bases for flowers.  Although I have been burning the bases for awhile but I have never tried lightly sanding afterwards and I am really happy with the results.  I just took some steel wool and sanded in a circular motion until the surface of the wood was a nice even brown(base on the right).  The I used General Finishes Clear to finish it (base on left in above picture).  By sanding after the burning I feel that I get softer, smoother finish.  I was also getting some cranking along the end grain, so I took some black acrylic paint and mixed it with wood filler.  That solved the problem nicely.

I spent the better part of the weekend working on the new overhead circle jig I dreamed up. While it has its issues (definitely a version 1), it worked pretty well and I am eager to continue using it.

Here’s a wall piece I did yesterday with a 10-inch square of cedar, burnt with a torch, then routed using the new jig. The main advantage over my earlier circle cutting jigs is that the pivot point for the router is under the work being routed, so the center doesn’t show on the front. I much prefer this cleaner look. It’s somehow more mysterious and powerful.

Another idea I had was to rout rings in a panel, paint the insides of the newly-routed channels, and then use the planer to remove any excess paint from the top surface, leaving paint only in the channels. It’s a crisp look I really like, especially the softer, more harmonious relationship between the red paint and the raw red cedar. The contrast will increase as the raw cedar silvers over time through UV exposure. This panel is 9.5 inches square.

Lately, I have using materials that reference the Pacific Northwest, and the red cedar, burnt wood (forest fires), and red color common to totem poles are good examples. A lot of my work is set in a post-industrial time, and I imagine myself making the work in this (hopefully) distant future. I believe I’d use materials common to the area I live to express myself, as those that went before certainly did. I really appreciate the visual simplicity in NW Native Art, and if I capture some small piece of that power in material selection …

Enough jibber-jabber - on with the power tools. Here’s a short, hastily-edited video of the new and improved jig in action. It could use some narration, but I think you’ll get the gist. Might want to turn the sound down on this one. Routers are noisy. I should also note that, though it doesn’t look like it in the video, I am wearing hearing protection.

Wow, I can’t believe I let it get that bad. “How bad WAS it, Dave?” So bad, I hadn’t worked out there in a few weeks, that’s how bad. 5 hard days of cleaning, and two full trash cans later … it’s done. And I’ve been out there tinkering two nights in a row. Tomorrow begins production on the Labyrinth project. It’s really a pleasure to work in a happy shop. Hopefully I can keep it that way! I realized I’ve never done a proper shop tour, so here’s a quick one.

Front and center is the Jet table saw I got used from Leif before he moved. It’s pretty heavy, and not going anywhere anytime soon. Above that is the Jet air filter, which really works great. I got this before I got the dust collector (Craigslist purchase, not pictured), and this did a pretty good job filtering the air that passed through the shop vac. Now that I’ve got the dust collector with the 1 micron bag, it doesn’t have to work as hard.

The white table next to the table saw holds a Bosch 1617 router. Next to that is my Delta 22-580 planer. Both have been great tools, although for some reason, the dust hood for the planer is not included in the box. It is a very neccessary accessory unless you like sweeping. The walls hold all manner of hand tools, from spokeshaves and chisels to pipe cutters and other metalworking tools. On the back wall is my drill press (my first power tool) and some utility storage that holds finishes, my toolboxes and misc. projects, templates, etc.

To the left of the drill press is the area I call “the gallery.” Here, I keep sculptures and artwork in progress, and odd rusty bits (washers, springs, bottlecaps, bolts, house numbers, glass fuses …) for use in my flowers and other art projects. The “ART” sign above was “borrowed” from Waveland Golf Course in Des Moines by one of my friends from high school. The “C” and “S” in “CARTS” were scratched off and the sign has always pointed the way to my workshop studio.

Every workshop needs a dart board, and mine does more than most, being unofficial headquarters for the Fart Duckers. I have a strict rule against alcohol and power tools, so these kegs are a bit of an aberration. Long story short, they are leftovers from my friend Bruce’s wedding. There’s another keg in the beer fridge, which gets used at backyard parties, mostly. To the left of the kegs is my newest toy, the big 18″ Jet bandsaw. It’s really overkill for my current skills, but the old one I had wasn’t cutting it (and by “it,” I mean almost anything) anymore. In the foreground is one of many Craigslist Tool purchases, an old 6″ Powr-Kraft jointer, which still works beautifully (and includes a 1HP motor someone before me added!) almost 60 years after its production.

I think that’s enough Tool Talk for now. Suffice it to say, the shop is making me very happy right now, and it’s been a joy working amidst so little clutter. Here are a couple of cutting boards I whipped out in my jubilation! I’ll mail one to the first reader other than Drew or Gabe to comment (be sure to include your e-mail address). Unknown species-es, probably 7×10 inches, with a foodsafe oil finish.

Well, I finally finished the big shop cleanup on Sunday (pics tomorrow), and I was glad to get out to the shop tonight for some fun. Before I start any new projects, I wanted to try a new circle-cutting jig idea I had for my small laminite trim router. The first circle jig is nice, but a little bulky, and can only work with fixed diameters. I was hoping for something a little more manageable and adjustable. I think I’ve got it.

As you can see, there is a sliding machine screw which can be inserted into a hole drilled into a workpiece. The radius is determined by the screw’s distance from the router bit, and can be adjusted by loosening the thumbscrew and sliding the screw closer or further to the bit. Here’s a shot showing the bottom of the jig and how it’s attached to the router.

A little closer view shows how the machine screw is tightened - by a small nut which slides in a routed channel in the jig. Works great.

I’ve been cleaning. The shop has been intimidatingly messy since I got out all the materials with which to make flowers, and I haven’t been able to do anything else. Monday I decided to start cleaning the shop, and that’s what I’ve been up to each night this week.

And no, I’m not nearly done yet! At least half of the shop is still a disaster in progress.

I’m really happy with this quickie clamp rack I made out of an old shop-made router fence I no longer use. I am normally loathe to throw stuff away, but am trying to be a little bit ruthless in this cleaning. I like re-using stuff best of all.

I also unpacked a carving clamp I got recently thanks to a gift certificate I received. Haven’t used it yet, but it seems like just the ticket. I clamped up this sculpture in progress, but couldn’t bear to put wood chips on my just vacuumed floor.

I spent the last 10 days or so working on this new drawing, which was inspired by the yellow cedar carving I’d been working on, with its alternating tool marks. Above is a much-magnified look at a drawing that is about 15 inches square.

Above is a pretty terrible photo of the whole drawing. I think I can get a better photo once it’s framed under glass.

One funny thing that happened when I was working on the vertical areas: I used the horizontal sliding bar on the drafting table (bottom of second image) as a reference on the horizontal lines, and a the vertical side of a 45-degree aluminum square rested on it for the vertical lines. After hundreds, maybe thousands of vertical lines, the aluminum square literally cut the pen tip on the left, causing the tip to eventually bend over. Thankfully, it fell apart gracefully and I replaced the pen before it caused a drawing accident. Entropy at work, I guess.