Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
31 July 2013 at 5:14 pm #15654
An analogy…
I was an accomplished martial artist in the art of Hapkido. Unfortunately, my Grandmaster was required to return to S. Korea to train military units. So I went looking for another school where I could “play”. I went to a Shotokan karate school. As I watched the class, the students were doing forms. In the one form, the foot position is very awkward. A woman was doing the form and the instructor kept on harping on her about the angle of her foot placement. Physically, she was not able to place it exactly the way he wanted. It was sad to watch and left a deep impression on me as I still remember it after many years.The point is that you can watch the videos. However, Paul is not you or me in stature. Don’t get hung up on matching him exactly. See what he does. Try it yourself. Figure out what works for you based on your physical stature. Watch his videos again and again but make sure there is some actual doing between viewings to better assimilate the concepts, but, adapt them to yourself.
One last example,….
I watch Paul cut his dovetails. I used to shoot a lot of pool/billiards. My stroke was straight as could be. It took me awhile to develop the body mechanics to make my stroke straight. When I wacth Paul and, I understand what he says about the piston wheel effect. However, standing the way he does, too much wobble for me. His body mechanics are not my body mechanics. Each of us has to figure out how to use our own bodies.
Sure, the techinique is the same. But, How you “physically” do it oftentimes can be different. it is not something that you can watch onetime and then go out and do it perfectly. It takes study and practice and if you are “thinking” it doesn’t take that long to figure out what works.
3 June 2013 at 3:58 pm #13012Very nice Greg!
My wife leans towards pastel colors when she paints. I am trying to get her to try milk paint but she likes to go with what she knows and since I have never used milk paint, well…. Maybe, this will convince her to give it a try. 🙂
Also, loved the knobs. Another option might be #550 paracord tied into knots. Just another idea.
Jim20 May 2013 at 5:50 am #12198I have taken a liking to the French cleat system. Check out this video:
I use them now as a first choice whenever I want to hang something if at all possible instead of the other “picture” hanging or hard/permanent mounting choices. I live in an apartment and added cabinets in the kitchen using the French cleat system. I also added bookshelfs in my spare bedroom. The bookshelves are jammed full of woodworking/carving/investmen/gardening books. Very heavy when full.
One thing though, be sure to include “spacers” toward the bottom of the bookshelf/cabinet.
18 May 2013 at 4:21 pm #12174Everyone is at different levels. This coffe table to me is not that far off from the shaker table in terms of technique (and cost) yet adds a bit more complexity as far as moving parts and seeing the shaping of the sides. I personally, eagerly and patiently await the rockng chair build which to me appears to be much more advanced. I felt the same way about the coffee table versus the shaker table but now I see it is not that much different and within the realm of my skill level. However, something with wood carving such as acanthus would be over my head yet I would definitely enjoy watchnig it and giving a try at it. The teacher knows best how to bring a student along.
I built the candle box from the Woorkng Wood book and DVD’s. The dovetail boxes series opened up my mind a bit more with the sliding lid and inset lid. Now I tinker and play with the ideas such as how can I inset the lid yet have it hinged?. It seems like everything I look at I am applying those techiniques and my wife provides me with an endless “Honey Do” list to work on. LOL The point is that whether I build the coffee table or not, I think about how to apply what I am learning to other things within my realm such as seeing how Paul designed and created the sides and applying that thinking to designing and creating different sides to the shaker table.
I eagerly await the rocking chair build. One of the first thinks I want to learn from it is how he creates the leather seats. I will attempt to build the chair and make a pair for my wife and myself, yet, even of I don’t I have a much more practical application for doing the upholstering on other things I am working on.
So for me, the teacher knows best. It is up to me to apply what I have learned and when I do I will gain a whole new level of understanding which can be applied to whatever size project I wish to build.25 April 2013 at 5:13 pm #11378Hey Everyone,
I know that this thread is a bit older from February 2013, but, I remembered reading a posting just a few days back about using steel wool. I looked around and couldn’t find it so I decided to use this thread.
I was online at Gramercy Tools and came across this Norton-Bear-Tex Nylon Hand Pad.
http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/dept/TFA/item/NO-BTPAD.XX/Norton_Bear-Tex_Nylon_Hand_Pads
I also came across the Liberon Oil Free Steel Wool both of which I am purchasing and will give a try.
http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/item/LB-0440.XX/Liberon_Oil_Free_Steel_Wool
In reading about the steel wool, a tip says that you should cut the steel wool with scissors and not tear it apart like I always do.
Funny, when preparing the vegatable lettuce, chefs recommend you tear the lettuce when I always cut it with a knife which is just the opposite of steel wool so I am doing both incorrectly! lol
Jim
20 April 2013 at 5:40 pm #11179Hi All,
I dislike the shedding of the steel wool also in corner’s etc… the first time I used it. Works great on a long, flat surface. So I gave it some thought on my next attempt. I tried not to be so “rough” especially in the corners. If you notice Paul applying shellac, sanding or using the wool, he uses a very light touch in my opinion.
Scott, I purchased several hake brushes on Ebay. The first use was a 2″ brush.My second use was a 1″ brush. I liked the 1″ much better for the corner/edge work. However, regardless of which brush I used, if I did nto use a very light touch on the edges/corners, I had pooling or runs/drips too. Now I use that very light touch and double check corners, etc… immediately while the shellac is still wet in cash I over did it a bit and can correct the error by taking some off.
The same with sanding and steel wool. I would sand through the shellac or paint. Lighter touch and not so much worked much better. A lot less sheding with the steel wool too. If you have sharp tools, woodworking should be effortless. I am finding this to be more and more true in all aspects of woodworking.. If I am straing/struggling, I am intuitively thinking that I am doing something wrong. When I lightened up on the steel wool, almost perfect results.
As a last bit here, Robert Lang published and article in Popular Woodworking about something called Siawool. I am sorry, I do not remember the article, but, he provided a link to Lee Valley (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=69024&cat=1,190,43040) in the article. It is made in the UK and unfortuately the fine grit is not avaialble currently. I tried searching and found places in the UK that have it but due to shipping it is either too expensive or the companies will not ship to the US. I will keep an eye out for it, but, currently, I will go with the Norton that Scott suggested since it seems to be the only one available.
Hope that helps everyone.
Jim
16 April 2013 at 4:04 pm #11000Hey Joey,
I went to Home Depot and bought a couple of short overhead lamps for $10 each which I mounted to the underside of the shelf over my bench. But, more importantly, I think a good bench light (or two) helps me alot due to my lighting conditions. Here is the link for one I purchased from Amazon and am happy with:
Hope that helps.
Jim
8 April 2013 at 11:53 pm #10626Hey Nathan,
I’ve found anything by Jim Tolpin to be of value. His The New Traditional Woodworker: From Tool Set to Skill Set to Mind Set (Popular Woodworking) by Jim Tolpin takes you through making different tools like a straight edge, winding sticks, try square, etc… for your workshop so that you cna build your skillset by making something usefull using only handtools. However, just be aware that he provides an explanation of how to make the tool but does not give step-by-step instructions whihc is fine by me.
Hope that helps.
Jim
5 April 2013 at 3:39 pm #10523Very nice work Serhiy! I see you have Paul’s wall clock hanging on your wall. How did you get it??? !!! lol just kidding!
22 March 2013 at 3:21 pm #9726No offense taken Jeff or anyone else.
I posted the link for what was meant to be a video comparison to Paul shaping the legs on the coffee table.
George is absolutely right that if I had many tables to make, once the jig is made, cutting them all would go much easier.
And yes, to each their own.
Food for thought. Not right/wrong, above/below, should/should not…..
20 March 2013 at 4:50 pm #9661One item that was not mentioned is that the edge you are registering against, is it flat? If it has a bump in it and you just quickly place the square, you will get inaccurate readings both ways which could account for the error. But, like everyone else, if the edge is flat, I would trash it unless you can lap it and correct it in order to have confidence in it.
I purchased a Starrett combination square. I found the 12″ combination square to be cumbersome especially when marking a knife line/wall on the edge of a board. I would always be putting the wood in a vise. I decided to purchase a 2″ and a 6″ PEC engineer square on eBay. I find myself grabbing those to make knife walls. I would recommend the 6″ along with the combination square for the projects presented so far, but, I decided to spend the $14 for the 2″ which is nice for marking the edges and checking for square. I think the 4″ might be a bit redundant.
Interestingly enough, at the Somerset, NJ wood show, Paul was using his well-used Craftsman combination square.
I have come to think that Paul recommends tools so that the average person can have access to tools in order to be able to work wood. You can spend a lot for a tool, as in the case of Starrett, or spend not as much like Craftsman. The question is “What is good enough?” Maybe, down the road, if my skillset develops to the point where I would be able to recognize the difference in the quality of my work, I would then purchase a Starrett. But, for now, I don’t think it is all that necessary. That is why I purchased the PEC engineer squares. Less expensive, does what I need them to do and I will get use out of them until I “need” Starrett quality.
18 March 2013 at 2:28 pm #9510I find it interesting how other areas/endeavors of my life come into play with woodworking. In the post for hand tools vs. machines I wrote a little about the contraversy of hand painting art vs. digital painting art and technology applied in that area.
Here too with eye dominance, my experience as a pool (billiards/snooker) player comes into play. Many people start playing pool, but, never really think about eye dominance. To get better, they just learn to adjust through trial and error for what works. If they knew about eye dominance, they would cut down on their learning time. The major difference as I see it between pool and sawing (or even things like cutting dovetails for that matter) is that when playing pool, you have shot after shot after shot…. each being only a few seconds apart. In one hour you can get in a hundred repetitions easily. Not so with sawing. Therefore, you need someone who has pointed it out to you and you need thought and focus to cut down the learning curve otherwise you may never correct this especially as a part-time woodworker.
-
AuthorPosts