Ian shoots the edges of his beech veneers for the interior of his teak sideboard. With much of the machine work for this piece already complete he will enjoy the serenity of the benchroom.
Side construction detail of Eric's cabinet. Construction details such as this are never seen but gives the maker the peace of mind the furniture made will be enjoyed by generations to come.
Nicole scrubbing local cherry plank for a closer look at the grain before cutting edges and veneers. Nicole has selected local cypress for the interior of her night table. The cypress has many of the tones in the cherry and will lighten up the interior of the cabinet. The smell of the cypress coming off the saw reminds one of citrus. Since this photograph was taken she has cut stacks of veneers in both the cherry and cypress.
Bruce's entry desk parts veneered and ready for applied edges. Bruce has done a fine job selecting the material for his piece and practices a sensible balance with hand and machine tools.
Robert and Federico discuss the construction details of his parquetry cabinet.
Stephen shaping the leg for mockup of hall table. On his bench "ducks", used in lofting in wooden boat building were donated to the school by Ejler Hjorth-Westh and are used to layout curve of leg.
Robert vacuuming out the interior filters in dust collector. Dirt jobs at our school are shared by all.
Pete working out the details of humidor to be made of kwila and pau ferro. Pete's kwila chair is nearing completion with only the Danish cord seat left to wrap. Pete will enjoy a break from laminations and compound angles while he dives into veneers, and drawers.
The Benchroom this week ...
March 6, 2006
Todd Stockner and Jason discuss veneer. Todd, a graduate of the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program, visited our school this week. We look forward to Todd's return when he takes part in our journeyman program this fall.
Brent's mockup of demilune hall table to be made of curly western maple and beech. One of the most difficult design considerations in a table like this is leg placement. Brent has the working drawing complete and has begun looking at the wood.
Robert uses a simple honing jig to touch up jointer and planer knives after Ian's teak veneers. The knives are fit into slots that are cut at one degree less than the bevel angle on the knives. A diamond stone is set across both knives and a scrubbing action is used to raise a burr followed by a 8000 grit water stone. After removing the burr this process produces a micro bevel edge capable of a producing a very fine finish. This allows us to get a couple of honings out of each grinding.
Walkaround this week with special guest John Barton (seated on far left). John was Doug's woodworking teacher in Nelson British Columbia back in the nineteen seventies. John was joined by Ted and Francis two of Doug's classmates.
Doug shares with the class a photograph taken of John Barton and Jim Krenov taken in 1982. John is considered by many as one of the pioneers of craft education in Canada.
Michael's doussie and spalted western maple veneers for doors of linen cabinet. The live edge of the spalted maple veneer will be kept and will be inset into the kwila using marquetry methods. These veneers will also be kept slightly proud of the doussie, just another one of those details...
Stephen presenting his cabinet to the class. Stephen has learned a great deal from this piece. The drawers fit with the precision of pistons. As each one is closed a flow of air at the back of the pocket causes the other to open.
Caitlin presenting her cabinet of muhuhu and zebrano to the class. Many lovely subtle details in this cabinet made of two complementary and sustainable African woods. The cabinet will be used to hold handmade necklaces her partner Ellen has collected in their travels.
Brent presenting his cabinet of anegre and olive to the class. A fine piece of work made by a fine member of our community. Brent shared a passage from A Cabinetmakers Notebook which described his journey.