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The Woodworking Thread

I am going to be in the market for some 8/4 birch sometime soon.

Anyone in the Maritimes with some knowledge of sourcing?

I have a line on some in Dieppe (close to me) but at $64 for an eight footer ($8/fbm!!!) it kind of made me stop a second. It's kiln dried #1, but 8 bucks a board foot? Maybe I am out of touch.

End of the day, price is price for this sort of stuff from a storefront type. I know I can start searching sawmills, but many do not have an internet presence so I am kind of in the dark.

Preferably I'd drive no more than 100 km to source the stuff. I'd also buy maple - curly, whatever, if I could find the right mill.

Thanks for reading
 
Years ago I bought some 12 ft ash for the tongs on a one horse sleigh I got from my father in law. I got it in a dinghy little mill on a side street by the bank in Port Elgin. The guy has some beautiful wood there.

when it came to price it was right out of the movies.....looked down, spit in sand, covered it with his boot, drew out a stub of a pencil and added up some numbers and charged me $16 for two twelve foot by 8 inches by 2 inches boards planed.....
 
Haha. Yeah, not too much of that stuff left.

I did find a guy somewhat local who was charging me $2/fbm for rough maple, air dried. Nice stuff. After the calculations were done and I paid him, he proceeded to fire another bunch of smaller boards in the back of my truck - he was blown away that I didn't try to dicker.

Perhaps my best story was the guy who I later found out was going to hit the provincial pen on weekends for fraud. He sold me a crapload of nice birch and some smaller chunks of cherry and maple for next to nothing. I think he was cash light and didn't want a potential sale to walk away ;D
 
The talk of speciality wood made me remember a trip down to Amish country in Ohio. They have a very modern lumber/hardware store there called Keim's which had the best specialty wood section I've ever seen bar none. It's a bit out of the way but if you live in Southern Ontario and want to have a nice road trip and pick some up it's well worth the trip (not to mention all the other things they have down there.

http://www.keimlumber.com/

Chocolate http://coblentzchocolates.com/

Cheese https://www.babyswiss.com/

Berlin Ohio http://heartofamishcountry.com/

:cheers:
 
I'll be helping my father to refurbish a rocking horse that my uncle made for my brother as a Christmas gift when he was a year old. As that same brother has a daughter who will be celebrating her first birthday in December, it's something of a point of pride in my family that it's come home after passing through the hands of each household in my immediate extended family, ending where it began.
 
Here's something a little different that I think most of you might be interested in. It concerns the construction of an ancient Egyptian ship called a baris that was described in some contemporary Greek literature which left historians somewhat puzzled ever since.

Archaeologists have found a relatively well preserved one from around 416BC and have analysed the construction techniques and in particular the extensive use of mortise and tenon joints in holding the whole thing together.

The research paper on this can be found here:

https://www.um.es/cepoat/arqueologiasubacuatica/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/A_new_type_of_construction_evidenced_by.pdf

The paper is a bit slow to get into the meat of the thing but if you want to skip forward to the "executive summary" there are some excellent diagrams at pages 7, 10 and 11 that sum it up nicely. In fact if you start there and then read the rest of the paper the whole thing makes more sense.

:cheers:
 
Hello,

Have any of you ever built (or attempted to build or thought about building) the Lee Valley tool chest

It is described here:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32761&cat=1,46158,46165&ap=1

Holy heck!  I thought I was a sort-of handy guy that put something like this together.  Was I ever wrong.  I have been at this for almost three years (puttering on and off).  I have been humbled.  Building this tool chest requires making a huge number (maybe 200) parts with very tight tolerances.  One single part requires the correct length, width, thickness and probably a notch in one side, a groove in another and a tongue on the end.  Each of these has to be very accurately measured and cut (+/- 1/32" or better) for the dimension and the locations.  That is, not only does, say, the groove have to be the exact right size, it has to be located in exactly the right spot. 

I am about 90% complete and have taken a few short cuts to speed things along (e.g. making simple joints where the plans call for rather complex joints).  It is less than perfect. 

If you even think about building this, be sure you don't just have the right tools, but the tools that can support the required accuracy. 

Anyone else tried to build this monster? 
 
Wow, that's pretty tight tolerances.  I'm reasonably confident to get with 1/16" with my ad hoc setup but would want a much bigger cutting surface for the table saw to get that close.

Guess it's good practice though; but I find the Lee Valley stuff kind of assumes you have a pro workshop setup and are already a pro carpenter.  Joinery is fidgety, and find it's one of those things I need a lot of practice to get competent at.  A lot easier with some of those fancy jigs for the routers or dado blades, but those can cost a fortune.
 
stoker dave said:
Hello,

Have any of you ever built (or attempted to build or thought about building) the Lee Valley tool chest

It is described here:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32761&cat=1,46158,46165&ap=1

Holy heck!  I thought I was a sort-of handy guy that put something like this together.  Was I ever wrong.  I have been at this for almost three years (puttering on and off).  I have been humbled.  Building this tool chest requires making a huge number (maybe 200) parts with very tight tolerances.  One single part requires the correct length, width, thickness and probably a notch in one side, a groove in another and a tongue on the end.  Each of these has to be very accurately measured and cut (+/- 1/32" or better) for the dimension and the locations.  That is, not only does, say, the groove have to be the exact right size, it has to be located in exactly the right spot. 

I am about 90% complete and have taken a few short cuts to speed things along (e.g. making simple joints where the plans call for rather complex joints).  It is less than perfect. 

If you even think about building this, be sure you don't just have the right tools, but the tools that can support the required accuracy. 

Anyone else tried to build this monster?

Crazy cool man!  My grandfather used to make stuff like this but he had an absolute boss woodworking shop with thousands of $$$ of really expensive equipment.  He also made lots of custom wood art and furniture that he sold to people as a hobby.  His specialty was animals and he had an affinity for birds which he would photograph and then carve to sell at the local Farmers Market.

A lot of this stuff is becoming a bit of a lost art.  I've done a bit of wood working myself but the proficiency and skill that my grandfather displayed takes years to develop, so good on you for having a go at this.
 
Dave would you care to share any pics of how it turned out?  The design looks interesting but doubt it does it justice.

Agree though, good on you for giving it a go; I've avoided the Lee Valley plans for years specifically because of the level of difficulty/assumed expertise required.
 
The below is stolen shamelessly from Craig Bridgeman's Mess Tent Facebook page:

TOOLS EXPLAINED

DRILL PRESS : A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL : Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, 'Oh sh*t'

DROP SAW : A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS : Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER : An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW : One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle... It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS : Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH : Used almost entirely for lighting on fire various flammable objects in your shop. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW : A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK : Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW : A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST : A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER : Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER : A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR : A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER : A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER : Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE : Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

ADJUSTABLE WRENCH: aka "Another hammer", aka "the Swedish Nut Lathe", aka "Crescent Wrench".  Commonly used as a one size fits all wrench, usually results in rounding off nut heads before the use of pliers.  Will randomly adjust size between bolts, resulting in busted buckles, curse words, and multiple threats to any inanimate objects within the immediate vicinity.

Son of a bitch TOOL : Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling 'Son of a b*tch' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/348410141858743/user/100008091271788/

;D
 
Volunteer woodworkers needed - Ottawa

Perley Health is a unique and innovative campus of care: home to more than 600 Seniors and Veterans living in independent apartments or receiving long-term care. It is located in Ottawa. See www.perleyhealth.ca.

One of the activities offered to all residents is woodworking. The residents assemble various small items (bird houses, bird feeders and toys for grand-children and great-grand-children) are popular items to make. The 'kits' for these items are prepared by a group of volunteers.

There is a need for additional volunteers in the very well equipped Perley woodshop. The role is primarily to cut, drill, router and otherwise prepare all the parts needed for the items assembled by the residents. Instructions and examples are provided.

Some assistance may be provided by volunteers to residents who are building their projects. This is an opportunity to sit one-on-one with residents, many of whom are veterans and have much to share.

Volunteers in the woodshop should be comfortable with basic woodshop tools but no particular skill is required. This is not fine woodworking or cabinet making! Hours are generally flexible.

For additional information contact me or the volunteer coordinator at the Perley. Perley Health - Volunteer Opportunities
 
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