A good day for a bargain.

I admit it. I love going to my local markets. Is it the delightful collage of people and languages buying and selling all manner of household bric-a-brac? Is it the thrill of the hunt? Is if the ever present chance of scoring a bargain? Yes, yes, and especially YES!

I am usually chasing tools at the markets. Sure, I have lots of woodworking hand tools. Some might reckon I'm a tool junkie. Teaching woodworking handskills to groups of up to 20 people, I need a lot of tools. Good quality old fashioned tools - not the cheap modern imported crap from the big hardware stores. Hence I have in my head a list of priority tools I am always seeking, and a list of tools I will be opportunitistic about given the right chance. Other than that I am always open to being surprised...


My grandaughter Paree with a bargain $5 wheelbarrow


Run by the local Rotary Club as a fundraiser each Sunday morning, anyone from the public can sell whatever goodies they have (except food) by paying a few dollars for a car bay or two in the local shopping centre car park to set up their wares. It is a cross between a giant garage sale and a car boot sale. I try to go early each Sunday morning, usually early enough that many stallholders are still setting up. This way I aim to beat the crowds and more importantly, beat the tool collectors. Tool collectors are a problem for me, as they help to inflate the prices of good second hand tools. Theirs will live in a box or a display cabinet, but I am seeking tools that will be used for the purpose they were intended. I can't afford to have 20 of everything at tool collector prices. So yes, I try to beat the tool collectors to the bargains.

Bargains. Some days there are none, but other days there are plenty. Ya just never know... that's the thrill of the hunt, eh?

Last Sunday I was there early as usual, at the crack of dawn. It takes me about an hour to cruize the hundreds of stalls, so off I went. I have been doing it for a few years so I have a good visual scanning system operating. I know what I'm looking for.
Sure enough, across several stalls I was to snap up a few good bargains:

A nice couple of 10 point panel saws. Not oldies, but good users just needing some cleaning up. A Disston and a Sandvik. At $2 each, they are a bargain just to cut them up to make cabinet scrapers! However they are worth sharpenning and putting in the pool for my group activities. They can be sharpenned until there is no blade left, unlike the saws with low grade steel and sharp but unsharpenable hard point teeth found in the hardware shops. Do the planet a favour and don't buy 'disposable' hand saws!

A carpenter's mallet. In good condition, and ready for more action. A steal at $3...

A beautiful 12inch x6 inch RICHA speed cramp, also known as an F-cramp. One of the best you can get - like any tools with 'Made in West Germany' stamped on them. I have a heap of cramps, but no cheap and nasty ones. I bought 20 Richa cramps new in the early 80's. Little did I know what a good move that was! This one is a nice big one - and an absolute bargain at the $8 it cost me. Thankyou, Mr. Stallholder!

These old 6 inch vises are on my high priority list, as I use them on the kids benches I make. Nobody seems to make them anymore, so I continue to scour garage sales and markets looking for these. The 12 vices I have found over the last year are a mixed bag of brands, quality and condition. What makes this particular vise so desireable is it's a DAWN. This used to be the best quality brand available in Australia, from the days long gone when Australia had a booming manufacturing industry. This vice is in brilliant condition, so I could hardly contain my face-splitting smile when I shelled out a mere $10 for this incredible bargain!

A Stanley No.110 block plane - not with original handle! Someone had put a nylon bush on the front, but it is otherwise in excellent condition. Lucky I have a spare handle. But hey, I can always turn up  a new handle. This is going to be used heaps in my group activities, remember. It won't sit on a shelf. Block planes are also on my priority list. While these are a pig to adjust for beginners, I confess I have a soft spot for them. My father gave me my first plane, a Record No.110, when I was nine years old. I still use that plane every day. Can you believe the price for this nylon handled tool pictured? I paid $5!! This, folks, was the bargain of the day.  

This week there were no really interesting finds, like very old and desireable planes. Unless a tool collector got there before me and cleaned them out. However the 'users' I scored this week had me leaping with joy.

OK, I'll stop bragging now. True, some days I come home with no bargains. Then there are those other days when I hit the motherlode.

...Is it nearly Sunday morning yet?

Ten Steps to Making Your Own Vee-Joint Lining Board.

I am currently working on an Art Deco Style Break-front Bookcase. My client has supplied all the timber - jarrah salvaged from the recent renovation of her home which was originally built in the Art Deco era. My task is to recycle these timbers and produce what will be a significant feature in the living room. More about the project here.

The bookcase is being made in three sections, each 1100mm (34 inches) wide and just under 2700mm (9 feet) high, and the rear of the whole bookcase will be panelled with Vee-Joint Lining Board, running vertically. All I have to do is make the stuff, polish it, and fix it in the backs! Here's how it is done...

Step 1: Start with suitable timber.
To create lining boards with a 75mm (3 inch) cover, I'll first be making sticks which are 80mm x 12mm. These will be rough cut to 2.7m (9 feet) long. I'll need about 45 of these to panel the whole back of the bookcase. The starting timber needs to be able to produce these 80 x 12mm sticks 2.7m in length.


Don't be fooled by the old paint and grime - it's all quality jarrah under there.

Yes, this material pictured is suitable! They are primarily 4'x2's, mostly rafters and floor joists in their former life. When the original house was built 80 years ago, all of the timber used was green jarrah. That was standard practice. Green (unseasoned) jarrah was heavy, being full of moisture, but was much easier to nail and cut than dry (seasoned) jarrah. Over the last 80 years this timber has been seasoning. So it has been air dried, but the roofing timbers like the rafters and ceiling joists are very dry due to the heat and dryness of their environment. As well as being bone dry, these sticks always have an amazing range of colours within. Someday someone will be able to explain to me how come these old sticks which have seasoned in situ within the buildings have obtained these amazing colours inside. Kiln dried and normally air dried jarrah does not obtain this colouring.

When cutting up jarrah logs, the sawmills used the standard dimensions as nominal measurements. There was always some variation, and further variations later in the shrinkage during drying and the grain orientation in each stick. Hence salvaged 4'x2's can vary in actual width from 3.5 inches to 4.5 inches, and in thickness from 1.5 inches to 2.3 inches. These actual dimensions - particularly thickness - will impact on the recovery rate, as will the straightness or otherwise of each stick! Ideally we want to start out with straight sticks which are also a 'fat' 2 inch. These will give the highest recovery rate.

Step 2: Select and dock the sticks to length.
A fat 2' will enable me to rip three boards out of each stick if it is straight enough. That's ideal. Each stick was de-nailed, checked with a metal detector, and scrubbed down with a wire brush. Then the best 2.7m length possible was docked out of each piece of timber. Too much bow, spring or wind, and it would be rejected for the purpose at hand. Likewise for unacceptable defects like big shakes, shattering, and other bad damage. Nail and bolt holes are OK. They'll add to the character.

Step 3: Machine a flat face on one side of each stick.
Using my trusty old Woodfast buzzer ('Buzzer' is the old Australian term for 'planer'), I machined a flat broad face on each stick. Flat means no wind (twist), bow (bend in the face), or spring (bend in the edge). This flat face would later be placed against the fence of the table saw.

Step 4: Rip the boards from each stick.
Ideally, if starting with a fat stick, and not having to remove too much material in order to flatten the initial face, the aim would be to get 3 boards from each stick. That's maximum recovery. The table saw was set to cut 15mm rips from each stick. Some would give me 3 boards, others would only give me 2.

The pile of 15mm thick boards growing...

The machining process is pretty straight forward, working from the original flat face then off the new cut face, etc. Straightening the edge and ripping to width will take place later.

Step 5: Machine the boards to the required 12mm thickness.
With the pile of sawn sticks machined up, it was then time to dress the sticks to the desired 12mm thickness.


Running the sticks through the thicknesser.

 The machine used for this process is the thicknesser. I have a 15 inch machine which is plenty big enough.

Step 6: Straighten one edge and rip to width.
With the sticks run to the finish 12mm thickness, it was now time to run them to width. An edge was straightened over the buzzer, and then this straight and square edge used against the fence of the table saw to rip the sticks to the required 80mm width. The result was a nice pile of straight sticks ready to get the tongues and grooves machined on the edges.

Step 7: Cutting the grooves.
The fence of the table saw was set up to create a saw cut down the centre of the buzzed edge. A piece of MDF was cramped onto the table up against the fence, and the rotating saw blade wound up through the MDF, to the required height. In this way a zero clearance was throat was created. Additional pieces of timber were cramped in place to create a temporary jig, which would ensure the sticks remained vertical and hard up against the fence.

The jig set up on the table saw for accurate cutting of the grooves.



One of the sticks having the groove machined.

In order to create a groove wider than the with of the saw kerf, each stick is 'end for ended' so that the cut is made from each face on the same edge. This edge being grooved is the buzzed edge on each stick.

Step 8: Cutting the Tongues.
Cutting the tongues is a two stage process. In order to get a nice clean shoulder, firstly a shallow cut is first made square from the faces, to define the base of each tongue.



Set up for machining the base of the tongues.

 The fence is moved and the sawblade set to give a 75mm wide cut. The is MDF re-positioned as well as the temporary guiding jigs, to ensure each stick stayed hard to the fence, ensuring accurate machining. The blade is wound up to the required height, and each stick is passed through twice - once from each face.

With these base cuts made, the second stage is to define the thickness of the tongue, by machining in from the sawn edge. We are effectively machining two mini-rebates from each side! 



Second stage in machining the tongues, cutting from the edge.

 The whole jig set up on the table saw is shifted again to acheive this, but the outcome is some very nice accurate machining. The tongues on these boards are 5mm long, and the grooves are 6mm deep, giving what's called a '75mm cover', from the 80mm wide stock.

Step 9: Creating the Vee Joints.
Vee Joints are a wonderful visual tool. The Vee joint visually hides any variations in the facial planes of adjoining boards, visually hides gaps between the edges of adjoining boards (eg. in shrinkage) and creates a nice tidy look. It is a winner, and has the added advantage of allowing for the expansion and contraction of  timber panelling over big (and small) areas with changing moisture content in the environment. 

The tool for the job is the rusty block plane. I used two block planes, one set fairly course, to remove material quickly, and the other set fine to do a nice clean finishing cut. It's pretty straight forward. Holding the plane at 45 degrees, you cut a chamfer. In order to make the chamfer consistent, work consistently. I did two full length cuts with the course plane, and one full length cut with the fine set plane. Three runs for each champfer. As the back of the panelling will be against a wall, I only did the face of each board - one on the groove edge of the face and one on the tongue edge of the face.



You get a good system going with the plane swapping. A nice pair of No.110 Block Planes.



There it is... a pair of lining boards freshly made. 

 Step 10: Sand and pre-polish the finished boards.
Using a belt sander with a P120 belt is the quickest way to sand 45 sticks 2.6m long! After I belt sanded each face side, I then finished the process by hand sanding each board with 180 grit paper. These boards will be in the back of the bookcase, so there is no need to go finer to P320 or P400 in this case. With the finish sanding done, it was time to polish the boards. 

The importance of pre-polishing each stick is to seal it (it is winter here at the moment) and to ensure there will be no strips of light coloured un-polished timber visible if there is shrinkage during summer. Seeking a nice a low sheen finish, I used Cabot's Danish Oil, brushed on and wiped off - two coats, one day apart. The back must be coated as well to ensure the boards are sealed properly.



A few of the lining boards drying after polishing.

Lucky it was a couple of fine sunny days in the middle of winter! Laying these 45 boards out to dry takes up a lot of room.

 It helps to have a bunch of outdoor directors chairs to act as trestles for drying the boards in the back yard! Some of those 45 boards pictured here. Isn't the colouring awesome!

Following these ten steps is a great way to readily create beautiful Vee-Joint Lining Board from any timber on hand. Starting with that ugly looking pile of floor joists and rafters, you would never know such a thing was possible ... unless you've done it many times before as I have.

Rejuvenating an Old Prayer Desk.

It's such a delight when I get to play with beautiful old furniture. I had an urgent job to do for a customer. An old prayer desk needed some attention. It had spent many years in an undercroft under the Rectory, until my customer had taken custody of it. After looking after the prayer desk for a few years, she felt the time had come to hand it back to the church from whence it had come, as a new priest was coming soon who wants to have use of a prayer desk. Time to give it a serious birthday!

I advised against us trying to strip it back and re-polish it, as antiques lose their value and lose their wonderful 'story' when we remove the imprint of that story. I suggested a good cleaning, and we agreed it would be worth replacing the missing carving on the front. With the task defined and the deadline given, I loaded it into my ute and took it away. Oh, what a nice piece of furniture!

Front view of the prayer desk.



Rear view.



Plenty of built up grime visible in the carvings.

 There is a small brass plaque on the top. I Googled the name to find about this person. It would appear the prayer desk was made in honour of Melina Florence Parnell, who was the Principal (and owner) of the Claremont Girls High School for 30 years from 1895 to 1925. We don't know if it was made around 1925 when she retired or around 1944 when she passed away. When she retired she sold the school to the Anglican Church, who renamed it Saint Hilda's Girls School, which still operated today.

The prayer desk is made from Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), which means it was made here in Perth, Western Australia. That's why it is so heavy! Jarrah is a beautiful material, and I know it well. However, after all these decades it was a bit dirty and stained. My task was to clean it up. I started by cleaning it with orange oil. A toothbrush helped shift the layers of dirt built up in the carvings and corners of the joints. Some 0000 Grade steel wool helped the orange oil shift the spider poo spots and other caked on gunk. The old stains in the original finish on the kneeler, presumably caused by spilt communion wine, would remain, still telling their story. The cleaning process worked a treat. I later applied a coat of furniture wax to rejuvenate it further.


Cleaned up and looking like new!

Yep, it looks good from the side as well...

 The etching on the plaque is very faint now, after many years of being polished (and worn away) with Brasso. The tell-tale sign  is the Brasso stain in the polish around the plaque. Fantastic. This piece of furniture oozes stories.


The plaque is much easier to read now it is has been cleaned.

The piece is in very good condition really, given its age and the fact that it spent some years in the corner of an undercroft before going into the care and custody of my client some years ago.   However, one small carving was missing from the front of the piece. That was the next challenge - to make a replacement carving. It is safe to assume it would have been the same as the existing one on the opposite side.


The missing carving would be the same as this one.

The three carvings across the front edge were originally glued into place. This was a common practice. However at some point the glue has come unstuck, maybe under impact, and the carving long gone.


That's the spot. One carving, gone missing.

 I started the process by cutting a piece of jarrah the right dimension but 'overlong' to aid cramping on the bench. I then drew the centre flower and started carving.


Getting started...



Still rough, but it's taking shape.



The scroll saw being used to cut the outline before carving the outer leaves.

The carving is 2.5 inches long. The back of it had to be shaped to fit into the curve of the scotia behind it. A good fit will be important to obtain a good glue joint, so a contour gauge made that task easy. I didn't expect to make a perfect replica, but to get a close match would be OK. In fact, small variations in a piece of furniture are the hallmark of it being hand made. The completed carving was glued in place, given a coat of shellac, and then treated the same way as the rest of the piece during the rejuvenation. The resulting colour match was pretty good.

 

The replacement carving now fills the void.



Loaded back in the ute ready to be returned - job done.

The photo above shows how good the piece looks now that the missing carving has been replaced.

I'm pleased with the finished job, and so was my customer. It was certainly a pleasure and a privilege to be given the task of bringing this beautiful piece back to life. I confess I'm not that excited about contemporary furniture - especially the modern minimalist stuff. It's the older furniture which bears the marks and sweat of the craftsman who laboured over it which really makes my heart sing...

While working on it, I often wondered about the person who originally made this piece. Saw marks, chisel cuts, and other subtle reminders of the process they underwent to craft this prayer desk all spoke to me across the years. I hope I did 'em proud by my efforts, and acknowledge their skill and craftsmanship. I also enjoyed learning something about the amazing, Melina Florence Parnell, in whose memory this piece was originally commissioned and dedicated. A vibrant woman and educationalist who was ahead of her time.
Yes, and it's nice to know this beautiful piece, so laden with stories, will soon be used again for the purpose it was originally intended...

The mystery No 7 Stanley Plane.

What a beautiful plane!

I had been looking for another No7 Jointing plane for my group participants to use. I came across one at my local markets recently, which I snapped up for AUD $50. A good price for a 'user'- but there was something about this plane which seemed odd, and I just couldn't put my finger on it at the time. There were several indicators which told me this was an old plane.

Stanley bought the patents for the adjustable metal plane from Leonard Bailey in the 1860s. The name Bailey was later cast into the plane bases in front of the knob in honour of Mr Bailey. The name Stanley does not appear anywhere on the plane, except for on the plane iron. The iron (blade) lettering says it was made in Australia by Stanley. The Stanley Works in Australia was located in the southern state, Tasmania.

DATING THE PLANE.

By digging around on the internet across a range of sites, I was able to put together a few clues as to the age of the plane. While I can't claim to be 100% accurate, I reckon the following information is pretty close to the mark.  It may be of interest to you. I am always fascinated with old tools and the stories behind them. Of course, there is no way of knowing that all the parts are the original! Hence it is worth checking out a range of attributes of this mystery plane. Let's have a close look at it...

There are three patent dates on the plane base:
March-25-02; August-18-02; April-19-10.

The frog design and the frog receiver cast and machined on the plane base was Stanleys third design, and was patented in 1902. This type was made between 1902 and the end of WWII. The first two dates relate to this improved design patent.
The third patent date was added to plane bases made between 1910 and 1918.

There is a low profile front knob.

Stanley started making the tall knob we are most familiar with about 1920, so this plane dates sometime before that.

The blade is laminated.

The laminated blades were made for decades right up to WWII. That piece of steel laminated onto the cutting end of the blade is incredibly hard! Re-grinding the bevel on my wet stone grinder took forever. Stanley called these 'composite' blades. This one is of the version where the entire end of the blade was of the hard steel, rather than a thin layer bonded to the lower end of the normal steel of the plane iron.

The lever cap has a key-hole shaped hole.

During the 1930s, the lever cap was re-designed and patented, from the key-hole shape to the kidney shape.
That dates this lever cap before then.

So what is the verdict? The plane was made between 1910 and 1918. Is the iron the original one? Not sure - but I reckon everything else is original.

SOLVING THE MYSTERY.
While I knew it was old when I spotted it at the markets, there was something odd about this plane. When I got it home, I worked it out - when I put it next to my No7 (which was given to my Dad by his Father in 1945 when Dad started his Carpentry/Joinery apprenticeship.) Bingo!


The US made Stanley No7 in the background, and the 'sawn off' No7 in the foreground.

The mystery No7 was over 3 inches shorter than the other No7! I can only assume the plane was dropped on its tail at some stage, and the cast iron base has snapped across the tail. The owner did a fantastic job of re-shaping the end, just behind the 'No 7' cast on the base. Such a good job that I didn't pick it. It's a bit short! That's why there was something odd about it... but it is still an absolute beauty to use!
Henceforth it shall be known as the 'Sawn-off Seven'.

Inspired woodworking.

While travelling, I can't help but notice wonderful woodwork everywhere. Here's some examples of some found in two different locations, inspired by the spiritual and created by talented craftsmen a very long time ago.

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul.
This beautiful building was built for the Sultan Ahmed, and was completed in 1616. Inside this very impressive building are 200 stained glass windows the inner surfaces of the domes and walls are covered with over 22,000 ceramic tiles.

In this place of worship the architecture, colours and details are fantastic. Of course, my eye is always drawn to any woodwork around the place. With so much carved stone and tiles, there was not a huge amount of joinery visible in the area that the thousands of tourists like myself can get to. However there were two pairs of beautiful doors at the back of the rear area that I was able to get near. Identical pairs, I managed to capture some pics of them with my trusty iphone4, despite the low light conditions.

Apparently the tiles have faded significantly over the last 400 years. It must have been totally stunning when it was first built.

One of the two identical pairs of doors at the rear of the mosque.

Closer view of the beautiful carved and inlaid panels in the doors.

Construction details : pegged mortice and tenon joints. Note the border stringing in the frame. Nice.

Frame and panel construction has been around for centuries as a very successful way of building joinery that happily accommodates the movement of timber.  I really wanted to open the doors to check out the panels from the rear to see how they were done... but of course that would have been a no-no...

Exit door hardware.

 On my way out the exit door to the mosque, I noticed the hardware on the massive timber doors. I couldn't get a pic of the doors, but I did snap a shot of the hardware. Love these old handles, locks and fittings. They all tell stories of the life of the doors and the millions of people who have passed through them over the centuries.
While I did not find a lot of woodwork that I could get near in the Blue Mosque, those two pairs of doors were very beautiful and oozed of very serious craftsmanship. They were definitely worth a mention.


The Cathedral, Zagreb.
Like a lot of these ancient European buildings, this huge building has a long history of re-builds and renovations, due to destruction by invading hordes, earthquakes, warfare, and periods of repair. The original cathedral was built in the 11th century. Wrecked by the Tartars in 1242, it was re-built and later had fortified walls built around it to protect it from the Ottoman Empire attacks. In 1880, a huge earthquake significantly damaged sections of it, so it had another major re-build. It is currently undergoing significant repairs on the two spires, as the carved stone is very corroded. The implication of this interesting history is that buildings like these are an interesting mix of styles and artwork. Unless you are an expert in such things, it means that the age of the woodwork inside will vary considerably and that knowledge is sadly not something I possess. However, it sure is fascinating!

A view of the inside of one part of the cathedral

The detail in the carved stonework is fantastic! One part of the entrance way.

Inside the huge pair of outer doors are these four oak inner entry doors.

The carved oak panels in the lower sections of the inner entry doors are wonderful.

These booths were exquisitely made, with linenfold panels, carvings and complex finials. Stunning.

More carved oak panels in furniture with complex inlaid details in both the panels and the frames.

Seriously solid pews throughout, heavily carved - each with the essential huge radiator underneath!

This pic's for my Dad, who has done a lot of organ building. Beautiful woodwork hiding way up there!

One of the things I love about well made functional wooden furniture is the patina and wear from use. The tops of the pew ends had serious wear from countless hands holding them as people went in and out of the pews over so many years. You run your hand on those places and join with those people in a sense of connectedness.  The pew seats are worn from thousands of people sliding their bodies off and on the kneelers in front. I love all that wear and the stories that it tells!

Over the years I have been commissioned to make and repair a range of furniture for places of worship. While I always seek to create the best level of craftsmanship in all that I make, when making these commissions I feel a heightened sense of responsability to do it right.

I am sure that all the craftsmen over the centuries who have participated in the creation of these amazing buildings and their furnishings have also felt the same...
... I reckon there's something in there about giving back to the One who gave us the trees, the beautiful woods that are derrived from them, and the joy of making things of great beauty and function with our hands.