Laptop Desk: Episode 3
Posted 12 July 2017
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There are a couple of mortises to layout, and then the curves can be marked onto the frame in preparation for shaping. With those laid out, Paul makes the initial angled cuts, chops the sideways mortises, then continues the leg shaping. This includes rounding many of the faces.
Dear Paul I have learned so much from you but if I may comment, I think you should consider some parts are repetitive. For example, chopping one mortise is enough, as well as rip sawing a board.
Those basics are covered in every project.
Of course I have to watch because I never know when you will slip in a hint like using the wedges to hold the arc.
With all due – and every other known apology – I would like to disagree. The mortising commencing at around 20:20 shows how to chop when the grain isn’t running parallel to the mortice. Precisely the kind “outside the ordinary” teaching that I, and perhaps others, value the most. Then also, Mr P. Sellers is never being better as presenter than when there are issues: a delight to watch.
/soj
Besides, if you start cutting out everything that seems repetitive, the projects are going to be awfully short. Paul will have to come up with more projects and I don’t have enough time for the projects as it is. And, he always has something interesting to say.
Without seeking to appear controversial, seeing Mr. Paul Sellers working in real time, without cuts, while he comments *absolutely* everything about his work is, at least for me, a wonderful experience. I’m sitting here at night, in my workshop in a really small village on Catalonia, seeing through the hole of a lock (alias internet), a real master craftsman working, and I’m learning and enjoying everything like a child. It’s like a dream come true.
His woodworking master classes are not like edited documentaries or commercials about the craft. For me are *real* teaching sessions, and I only sit, listen and learn. Silently.
I never, ever, will be thankful enough for his generosity.
Learning by doing is the old, and now new again, revolution of education (worth it know more on this subject listening some Sir Ken Robinson conference).
Only my two pennies and with all due respect with contrary opinions.
–Óscar
Well said sir! I couldn’t agree more.
Well said Oscar! I think many of us feel the exact same way! This is a wonderful resource, and I am very grateful to have it. For lack of a better term, this is a way for us to obtain an e-apprenticeship, at a very reasonable cost. As an added benefit, there is no problem if you are younger or older- there is no judgment here. There are many benefits to us. Each can work to his or her own speed (you can skip ahead, or repeat, without losing anything), and this community is very supportive (the free exchange of ideas is refreshing). Thanks for posting this, Oscar!
What to edit out, what to “time lapse” past, etc — these can be tough choices.
Maybe it’s a viable option for WMC to simply not make those choices, and not making those choices might even reduce the workload in creating these videos. Consider just leaving everything in, and instead adding something akin to a “table of contents” — the video is comprehensive, but the ToC says (e.g.)
“3:01 – 4:34 — discussion of mortise layout
4:35 – 6:55 — laying out of mortise
6:56-9:19 — chopping of mortise”
So if I don’t want to hear any discussions on mortise layout, I can skip to 4:35. These means each of us can tailor the experience to our own taste, WMC will never have removed or de-emphasized something that some of us might value quite highly, and WMC is freed from the headache of making a great many include/discard/time lapse/etc decisions in every single video.
I imagine producing / editing / etc the videos is seriously demanding work in and of itself, and when combined with difficult choices such as those we’re discussing about the relative value of a particular bit of content, it might become an insurmountable obstacle. I think something like a ToC (or similar solution) can help WMC avoid that obstacle.
Just throwing the idea out there for discussion…
Hi rwe2156
Keep in mind that not everyone has watched every video. But even so, for me the repeating of all the work involved is good for me. Many times I over look something, or just plain forget. So much info in his lessons that it’s easy to miss things. If your a fast learner, that’s great, but I’m a little slower. Memory just ain’t what it used to be.
You know what I do for the bits I don’t want to watch… Just move the play head forward. Jobs a good’un.
Adding a TOC or any other enhancements to these videos to make it easier for viewers to watch the WMC videos would add time and labor to creating this content. That would add cost to these videos and I’d hate to see these videos cost more, likely putting the cost of these videos out of reach for some. Most video players can fast forward or fast reverse the video. Try using those tools and techniques instead. I sometimes fast forward a video while noting on a notepad what times certain procedures start/stop. That also lets me calculate how long it takes (for example) for Paul to chop a mortise or cut a tenon. This gives me a time value to use as a goal to improve my own skills. Just a thought.
Very well don again Paul and crew. I’ve got another project ahead of this one but I can see a new desk in my near future…. Maybe more than one!
I am a wee bit behind the curve commenting here. To me, at least, skipping over or fast forwarding through the fundamentals does not seem right. If you are doing a sport or some other endeavour the fundamentals and basic needs to be solid. Schools, teachers, senseis, parents, etc have often repeated the same thing over and over to us in the hope we will remember and practice those fundamentals. I would believe that by showing those elements in the videos consistently it is a constant reminder to know the basics. Every project, every piece of wood is different, but knowing the fundamentals and learning to apply those as a foundation for other work and adjusting them to suit challenging grains and woods is key.
For me it is about the process and the journey until something final is revealed.
Just leaving this info for others. The depth of the mitered mortise is 15/16″ (24 mm) as Paul explains at 23:08. The drawings didn’t explicitly list this out, as all the other mortises were 1 1/8″ in depth.
I just cut my mitered mortise and was curious on if the mitered one would extend past the side-wall of the other mortise, but luckily I came back and watched the video again to confirm my believe to stop short.
Also to others, I had a little tear out on the inside wall of the other mortise when cutting, it won’t be seen so that isn’t an issue, but does reduce the surface area the tenon will engage in. So just go a bit gingerly at that part.