Gayus Wood

Id like to recommend a fascinating book I picked up at the library last week: Old Ways of Working Woodby Alex W. Bealer. The author clearly states his position on modern woodworking in the opening chapter:

"The machine, not the craftsman, dominates woodworking today. The result has been an artistic tragedy."

Those are some pretty strong statements. Are we, as power tool enthusiasts fooling ourselves into believing that we are actually creative, let alone artistic? Are we merely button pushers and no longer craftsmen? Sadly, as a confirmed power tool user, I agree with  Bealer — to a point.

Push-button woodworking

It takes no particular skill to rip a board on a table saw. Im pretty sure monkeys could be trained to do it. My miter saw hacks out 45 degree angled cuts with a positive click stop on its table. I push a button and it cuts with relative precision. My benchtop planer is the ultimate example of push button technology in my shop. I stick a board in one end and it comes out flat and thinner on the other end. I dont even have to push the wood through: rollers pull it through at a constant speed. Its produces a loud, almost frightening scream letting me know whos really the boss. Most of the finesse required to use these machines involves continually tweaking them so that they run straight and keep doing what they are supposed to do.

In todays shop, we solve woodworking problems by making jigs and figuring out countless ways to best exploit the machine. In a sense, we are slaves to the capabilities and limitations of our machines. Moreover, if a certain power tool doesnt provide the results we desire, we go shopping for a bigger or better machine that will. If we want to create a certain router profile, we buy a pre-made bit that will suffice. Or settle for one thats close enough to what we envision. Want to make mortises? There are machines that bore perfectly square holes. At what point are we no longer working the wood, and just cutting out dough with cookie cutters?

Woodworking once required working wood

Bealer points out that all of this has, for the most part, come about within the past hundred years or so. Before the 20th century, a man literally worked wood, starting with the tree itself. He understood the growth of trees and had knowledge of the ones surrounding him. Building with wood began by felling the tree. From there the woodworker would hew and split the wood. Saw it, plane, bore it, chisel it, turn it, and cut joints. A craftsmans imagination wasnt limited to the tools he had on hand or could buy. If he needed, say, a specialized plane for something he dreamed up, he made his own. Woodworkers viewed their tools as highly personal objects and saw them as extensions of their own hands. Each project was unique because the craftsman was intimately involved with the wood.

Each chapter of Old Ways of Working Wood describes in great detail each of these traditional woodworking techniques. It is educational and at times, awe inspiring. Would you know how to correctly fell a tree with a single ax? Ever used an adz? Bealer has learned these methods from people who actually use them and manages to share it all in a lively, easy to read manner.

So where does this leave us?

Using power tools doesnt diminish my joy of building woodworking projects. In fact, power tools increase my pleasure, because I dont have to spend years as an apprentice honing skills that can only be learned through repetition. Power tools enable anyone to become a hobbyist and create things. In the past, I suspect woodworking want much of a hobby. People devoted their lives to it because they needed to. But are we artists? Most of us probably arent. But neither were most traditional woodworkers. They built things they required.

Old Ways of Working Wood makes me want to learn to use hand tools and really get in touch with the materials I use. Its inspiring. But the reality is, I dont have the time to start from scratch. I am a product of the 20th century. And here is where I find disagreement with Alex Bealer. My table saw may not be an extension of my hands, but it is an extension of my imagination. And Im perfectly cool with that.

mini wood lathe projects Wood Turning Projects Turning a Mini Birdhouse On The Lathe 1 OF 2 PDF Download

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balsa wood glider plans

Wow, isnt it crazy that we are already more than a week into January of 2014! With the kids back in school, I sat down to post some new items to my Etsy store and I wanted to share a project.

Over the holidays, I had several requests to make signs for gifts. The fun thing about custom requests is that many times a they turn into one of my favorite items.

This sign is one of those favorites.

This particular sign was for my best friend Tamaras brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Tamara wanted me to create a mile marker sign that listed some of their favorite places. Favorite vacations spots, where they met, home towns...just really personal and special places.

She also wanted to keep it fun, distressed and sort of beachy.

One of the things I loved most about this sign was the paint finish. Using just a simple 2x4 foot plywood board cut to a 2x3 foot, I used an easy aging effect, with a white wash and a simple scoring to create a barn wood effect. This sign is going up in my Etsy shop but its easy to create yourself.

Heres the how-to:

Supplies :
2x3 foot plywood or scrap wood of your choice
aging solution
white paint
chip brushes
yard stick
ice pick tool
water color pencils
sharpie paint pen

                 The finished product is at the bottom of this post......Dont peek now...scroll on down!!

          Here is my latest project. A pretty nice score from CL. I dont think the owners ever once polished, cleaned or even wiped this baby down! She was pretty grimy!!
       Im going to go over some wood finishing steps while Im working on this project. I have been refinishing wood a lot longer than Ive been painting it.
  I couldnt believe what a beautiful top the lower part of this hutch had. I know, youre looking at it and going, "yeah, right." Just wait.  This hutch is solid maple. I couldnt believe my eyes when I sanded off that stain. Pure, solid maple butcher block.  Even those shelves are solid. I sanded those puppies down as well.
                                 
                                    I will be adding bits to this day by day until Im finished.

Filling in a crack w/some wood filler.
                             



This left leg had a some serious gouges and a chunk missing from the molding. No problem.
I will fabricate the missing piece with Plastic Wood. It dries quickly and sands easily. The benefit over the wood filler is that it will not shrink and crack. For really big fill jobs, use an epoxy filler.
                         

Heres what it looks like after sanding and staining.  And heres what it looks like after painting! I dont think anyone would have known. And those deep gouges kind of faded after I hit it with sandpaper.

Ok...So off to the top!  I start with my orbital sander and a 60 grit, then 150, and finishing with 220. Go easy around the edges or youll hog em off! I usually do those by hand.  Um, hello??? Can you say pristine maple?? Like butcher block maple quality??? Its gawjus!  So now comes the fine tuning with a 320 grit that I  use in a block sander, going with the grain. This gets any circular marks the orbital may have left behind and really gets it feeling as smooth as a babys behind!  I used this pre-stain to avoid blotchiness.  I sand again (with a 320 or 420 grit)  after applying this because it tends to raise the grain. Maple takes stain very easily although its difficult to get very dark. I used a dark walnut, which it sucked right up, and then went over it again with jacobean. I use a foam brush to apply it and then a lint free rag to work it in and wipe off the excess. Very important to use a seal coat. This locks in your color and gives you a finish you can sand without stripping your color.  You must sand after this  and all subsequent applications.  From here on out I use a fine steel wool. Last night I put on a poly finish in gloss, water based. I have the oil based too, but since this isnt going to get that much usage, I chose the water. Plus the water base is easier to brush on and clean-up is with, well, water!  I hate cleaning oil stain brushes!  I use a 0000 steel wool. Once the poly dried, I gave the top a once over with the wooly. Go easy and try to see where the streaks are. Yes, you will dull the finish. Thats okay cuz you are going to put on at least another 2-3 coats (sanding in between each one).  You never stop at one coat.   A lot of work you say??? Why yes, it is. But thats why it will look  so good when its done!  This is the inside bottom shelf. I gave it a quick sanding, a once over with some stain and one coat of the poly.  Im calling it a day on this part. It was in decent shape and I didnt take it down to the bare wood.  I think it looks beautiful. Look at that rich color!  Heres a sneak peak at the hutch part. I did the same procedure to the shelves as  I did on the top. They were the same maple quality. I debated about painting.  I hate covering up nice wood and I thought the contrast would work well with colors.  So I just finished the bottom portion and brought this in the house. Ive since acquired a new piece and I need room in the garage! Repeat after me,,,,,, I have a furniture addiction! I came across these vintage knobs at the Re-Store. The pulls came from Lowes. I tried to spray the originals,  but I didnt like the way they came out. I think these suit the  hutch better.  Im so in love with the way this top finished. This is after two coats of glossy brush on water based Poly. I could probably use one more coat.  Ok finally! DUN!  Waxed her up and couldnt find a good place to put her to take photos. The color of my walls in the other rooms do not go at all with this hutch. So its in my bedroom by the  back door!  In case you forgot the before..... I used my home made chalk paint on the white.  Behr "divine pleasure".  The aqua color is regular latex with about 3 different colors I had on hand mixed together.