Yippee Skippee! I’m having fun!

Woodworking is a ton of fun for me .. most of the time. 😀  The introduction of hand tools and the band saw to what I do has made it even more fun. Not sure I can really explain it, but there’s something about using an old tool or old technique that really makes my socks roll up and down.  Perhaps its about being connected with the past and gaining an appreciation for the work that goes into making something.  I don’t know.

Anyway, I’ve been trickin’ out my tool cabinet (finally!) with door tool holding racks.  (No, I’m not procrastinating about the desk, I’m organizing the shop before the next big project .. OK, maybe a little. 😉  )

Here’s some of what I’ve done.

 

You can right click on the pictures if you’d like to see a bigger version.

I’ve got loose screws .. don’t you?

One of my braces has pretty crappy wood on the pad and the little screws have pulled out.  The only thing really holding the pad on is the threads inside the pad.  So I went to my favorite hardware store, Hardwicks, and asked about a fix.

The answer .. a tooth pick.  Really?  Ok, maybe a really thin dowel that you put into the holes and reintroduce the screw into the replaced wood.

The hardest part of the whole thing was restarting the screws.  Hopefully the picture demonstrates.

One screw went flying into the ether so I pulled out my giant magnet that I originally purchased to clean up after the remodel contractor.  If you’re cat swallows anything metal, it’ll pick him up .. no problem.  ;o)

A cute little squirt

Friday we went on a hike and went through Roslyn, Washington on the way to the trail head.  On the way home, we stopped at the local Grocery/Sundries store.  Inside I found this little guy shoved back in a corner with a lot of other craft stuff.  (I also found a cool unmarked No.  4, but I resisted temptation.)

With a little scrub behind the ears and Evapo-rust bath, here’s how he turned out.

Cute, huh?!

TFE String with Teflon – used to line the inside of the cap.

Ha! The Review gets reviewed

Mark Harrell at Bad Axe Tool Works published a blog roll in his latest newsletter.   I got a kick out of what he had to say about She Works Wood.

What I love about Marilyn Guthrie’s website and blog is the fact that she lives in an old house like me, and everything she blogs, writes, and posts on her website directly reflects her drive to make the time and space she occupies on this Earth into objects of beauty and endurance. Her website is kind of like ‘This Old House’ for the rest of us, because the rest of us don’t have about $2M to throw into a home renovation project. Marilyn offers practical observations and personal experience making period-appropriate furnishings and projects. Sick and tired of a buncha beer-swilling guys manhandling the blogosphere with the ‘been-there-done-that-let-me-show-you how- to-shoot-that-there-gun-Pilgirm attitude? Let Marilyn show you how she works wood.

Check out his saws if you get a chance.  They’re pretty awesome.  Here’s my post about mine.

Making a picture frame with hand planes

I poked around the internet to find information on how to make a picture frame with hand tools.  So except for some information that Shannon Roger provided in his Hand Tool School, I wasn’t really able to find anything.  Everyone seems to be making frame with powered routers.  Que post.

Here’s the final product with Boiled Linseed Oil finish. 

I used my newly sharpened mitre box saw to cut mitres (thanks Matt Cianci)  and my excellent picture frame shooting board (thanks Rob Hanson) for this frame.  More pictures below the fold.

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