Jobs at Home

Well I know its always the way, but I have a habbit of putting off jobs at home (the cobblers childred always go bare foot and all). But this year I've been a little better. I fitted a new front door about a month or so ago which makes the house look much smarter in post box red - although I didn't take any pictures (which is unsual for me) It only took me four years to get round to it!

And this week we've had a new boiler fitted, major expense but the other one was so old I'm sure it was costing a fortune in gas. This weekend I had to fix the floor boards back down and I've decided to replace the skirting as its been painted so many times and looks really rough, I'm also going to replace the back door (the only bit of the house that isn't double glazed) and a new door on the much emptier airing cupboard, also going to box all the pipes and wires in with MDF. Should fill a few evenings!

Is there any jobs you've been putting off for years that you should start?

Summerfield Park

Well on Monday I finally handed over the park keepers cottage at Summerfield Park to the Council. The orginal deadline had no bearing on the end date as we unearthed so many problems that had to be taken care of. It went from this:

To this:

I'm really pleased with how the project turned out, on the whole I enjoyed it and made some good friends and learnt a lot in the process. It's a shame that we couldn't render the outside like the oringal plan or paint the whole of the inside but with the extra works we had to do to the roof and other areas the budget wouldn't allow it. That said I'm really pleased they decided to go with a new roof covering as this will last the building many years to come and looks really smart when viewed from the park. The other area I really like is the landing upstairs. The ceiling here was so low you almost had to be hunched up to walk around it. That ceiling pretty much fell down as we were working on it so under instruction we created a "vaulted" ceiling and a much larger feeling landing with the purlins on show, when painted out this area is going to look great.

I've been invited to go back and see how it looks when its all wallpapered and painted out and I'm looking forward to seeing the building in use.

Right next project please!

Moulding planes

I'll keep this post short, I had a rather good time at the car boot on Sunday and bought one or two planes...

You all warned me what would happen!

I'll do a post later on what I've been making or this will turn into just a tool blog! Still restoring this lot will keep me busy over the winter months.

The Top of a Slippery Slope...

I did something rather rash this morning - I brought a wooden moulding plane.

Up until now I've never know enough about these planes to buy one or even give them a second look at the car book sales, but with what I've been reading lately I decided to look out for one and maybe try it out if I found a good one.

Rummaging around in boxes of old tools this morning I found one that looked quite good. The blade was in good condition, the wedge fitted tightly and the whole thing looked well made, the sole for the moulding even having a different timber fitted nicely in the sole of the plane.

It was £2 so I decided to risk it. It looked nice even if it didn't work very well!

Its stamped with the Hibernia Marple's & Sons Sheffield shamrock logo, I'm not great at dating tools but I guess that puts it somewhere from the 1937 (when they started using the shamrock) to when they stopped making wooden planes (anyone know more?)

When I got back from the car boot the first thing I did was to go down to the shed and take the plane apart to look at the blade, it was quite sharp and pretty much ready to go.

So I put the plane back together and adjusted it with a few taps to take a small cut. Pushing it along, two handed, felt great and with two strokes I had created some fine shavings and this lovely little bead.

The trouble is now I want to buy some more moulding planes, I think it will be nicer than using a router on a small project. Just need to do a little more research so I know what to look out for (recommendations of books will be appreciated).

Watch this space!

Making a Carving Mallet

I was looking for a simple project to have a go at during the evenings this week and decided to make a carving mallet.

Traditionally lots of different woods and materials were used to make mallets, from the heavy Lignum vitae (which is now like rocking horse poo to get hold of) to brass, to beech or fruit woods. Some were made from one piece of wood others had beech heads with ash handles (for example).

I brought some locally grown apple wood at a auction not so long ago with the intention of making a few mallets as apple is known to be a tough wood.

And tough it was! I had to sharpen my tools quite a few times during the project to keep them cutting cleanly. Unfortunately there is a little bit of woodworm in the wood and I only realised this once I had turned the basic shape, so I've treated it with woodworm killer and I don't think it will affect the way it is used as the wood is so hard.
I always worry when turning things like this as its difficult to know what shape to turn it as there are some many different kinds out there. From reading different articles about it and using the mallets a little bit, one that stands up is handy (as it wont roll of the bench) and a slight concave in the shape of the head of the mallet helps to land a clean blow on the chisel.

I've given it a coat of linseed oil and now hopefully someone will be able to use this and carve a work of art.

Anarchist's Tool Chest

I know I'm probably the thousandth blogger to mention The Anarchist Tool Chest, but for me - living in England - it was a really decadent purchase to have it shipped from America.

I'll keep this short though so I don't repeat what other people have said.

This book is only for those that have a really keen interest in woodwork, like me, and I loved it. It focuses on furniture making tools mainly and how to choose and use them, with the last section dedicated on how to make a traditional tool chest. The section on Tool selection has already made me start looking a little differently at car boot sales and I might even venture into the world of wooden planes for a bit of fun as well as to start making items in the workshop that require a bit of hand preperation work first.

I realise one of the main principles of the book of keeping tools to minimum I already do. I only buy more when I can't progress further with what I have (unless its a chisel and then I buy everyone I see!). The hand tool only route is something I think a house carpenter like me would struggle with, at least to be productive enough on site (although after three O'clock I'm very reluctant to get more tools out of the van!)

A good read for anyone into their wood and a beautifully made book as well - I've already decided what book I'm next having from the Lost Art Press!

CSCS Test

Well this week I had to take my CSCS test again as my current card is going to expire.

To work on a building site (not on a private job) you now have to carry a CSCS card which is supposed to mean you have basic understanding of health and safety on site and the card also displays your trade and the level you are qualified to.

It's a funny test as most of the multiple choice questions are obvious but there are one or two to catch you out. A few half hours spent reading the book normally ensures that you wont fail but there are a few questions that raise a smile with there stupidity, like this one:

Q: To help keep rats away everyone on site should:

A: buy rat traps and put them around site

B: ask the local authority to put down rat poison

C: Bring a large cat to site

D: not leave scraps of food lying about

I think bringing a large cat to site would work best but I don't think its the answer they're looking for!

Anyway I passed so now I can renew my card for another 5 years (and my supervisors card next year) and keep working on the larger building sites.

How to Fit Skirting

Well the last two days have been spent on my knees.

I've not found a new religion- I've been fitting skirting board at Summerfield Park.

On an old property like this it can be a nightmare to fit. All the walls are out, nothing is square and the floor is as level as the Peak District! All this makes for some slow going if its to be done right, luckily I'm not on my own and another carpenter, "Rocket" is helping me and we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The skirting is fixed to the wall using a grab adhesive (like gripfill) and then screwed and plugged to the wall. All mitres are glued and pinned.

It's funny but its always easy to see when an amateur has fitted skirting (normally you notice this when your sat on someones toilet) and your see that an internal joint has been mitred instead of scribed. The scribe joint means that if the wood shrinks when it drys out the gap wont open whereas an internal mitre would open up leaving an unsightly gap (although I'm sure the spiders would love it).

To cut a scribe (in a modern "on site" sort of way) you first cut a 45 degree mitre on the skirting, sloping so that the end grain you see is where you want your waste to be. You then cut along the line left by the saw (see the picture above) with a jack saw (you can colour this line in with a pencil to make it easier to see). Undercutting this slightly makes it easier to fit the pieces of skirting together.

Next you take your copping saw and undercut round the detail at the top of the skirting (see above picture again).

This should leave you something like this.

Which will slot into another piece of skirting like this - Giving you the perfect scribe joint.

I can't tell you how many of these there are in this house - it seems to be the longest bit of skirting in some rooms it's 2' before you come to another corner! (although I'm probably exaggerating)

Iron Oxide Finish

I've been experimenting again with different finishes and I read in a book that you can make your own finish for oak by mixing vinegar with iron of some sort (I used iron wool and a jam jar full of malt vinegar).

I put this mixture together three weeks ago and I decided it was time to test it out. On a piece of oak I arboteched out I could see the oak change colour slowly in front of my eyes, it ends up almost being a petroleum blue - a really amazing colour.

I then experimented further by turning a strip of oak and leaving the middle its natural colour (finished with shellac) and texturing the rest, then adding the stain and rubbing on a light covering of liming wax, this gave it a nice contrast. In the end I textured it again after I added the liming wax and applied more of the stain as it only reacts with the bare oak and could fill in the gaps.

Does anyone else have recipes for stains and finishes I can try? I've really enjoyed this experiment and I can see me using it in my future work.

Woodturning Tote

Anyone who reads this blog knows how fussy I am about my tools and this extends to all my tools.
For my woodturning lessons it's advised that we bring our own tools in to use (so we can do the same thing when we get home), last term I used an old tool bag I had to take them in each week. Nothing makes me cringe more than to see my tools in this bag with the sharpened ends touching or coming near to touching - to me that's like dragging your fingernails down a chalk board.
So with some scraps of MDF and a length of oak I set about making myself a tote to carry my woodturning tools in before this term begins. I decided roughly on the shape and cut out the sides. I then laid out some of the tools I wanted to take to make sure they'd fit, with space to add more in the future. I turned a chunky handle out of oak and assembled with glue and screws (well it is only MDF!). I also made a tray in the bottom to carry my sandpaper, oils and other bits.
The only MDF I had big enough was 18mm so this does make it quite heavy but this will stop it tipping over in the van when I take it anywhere. I did cut a hole on each side to lighten it a bit.
When I was happy with it I sealed it with PVA and water and filled the screw holes. I then painted it black to try and hide the fact its MDF.

It should be a better way to take my chisels to lessons and make them easier to use and find when I'm there.

Laying a Chipboard Floor

A bit of a different direction from the last post! Can't say I'm not varied even if it is all wood!

We finally managed to get the flooring down in the toilet area of Summerfield Park today. Feels like a complete relief, what with the copper being stolen in the past and having to raise the floor in the first place to avoid the cellar.

Anyhow we got it insulated (insulation held up with battens) and worked our way across the floor laying the boards as we went (I think it's the most pipes I've ever cut round on one floor - got through a whole pack of jigsaw blades).

All the pipe work was on the undersides of the joists so it makes you feel a little better when your nailing it down (we still play the game where you hiss like a leaking pipe when you put the first nail in! - Not good for those with a nervous disposition).

Even managed to get the layout for the studding marked out with the sole plates fixed to the new floor, which means I've got a nice Friday studding - seems like a good way to end the week.

Carved Box Top

Looking at blogs the other day I was inspired when I came across the carved top to an oil stone box on http://villagecarpenter.blogspot.com/.

Kari had made such a beautiful reproduction of the one she saw I decided that I would have my first attempt at carving by trying to make one to my own design (about time I used the 50 or so carving chisels I've collected over the years).

To start with I decided to relief carve a jack saw just to make sure it was within my abilities. This didn't come out too bad (maybe a little like a child had done it) so I decided to draw up a design that could be transferred to wood. I thought that if I used my name on the wood it would make it personal to me, I also chose four tools I use a lot - a mallet, jack saw, level & bevel (in case you couldn't tell!).

Using some spray adhesive I fixed it to the piece of beech I'd decided to use. I know beech isn't the ideal wood for carving (believe me I know now!) but it this has got to survive in the back of my van so needs to be hardwaring and pretty tough.

Happy with the layout I set about chopping round the design then removing the background. It's pretty difficult to get the background smooth (I'd imagine it would be easier with lime or a softer wood) and I got to a stage where I was going to do more harm than good if I carried on.

I then tried to make the tools look 3d and give them detail before giving it a coat of linseed oil.

I'm now going to buy a piece of walnut to make a box for a new(ish) oil stone I brought at a car boot and mount this in the top so it should contrast nicely.

It's never going to win any awards, with so many imperfections everywhere I look, but I'm quite pleased that I managed to have the patience to carve it (and I really enjoyed doing it)