Toronto return

We were in Canada the past few days visiting my family.
My Brother recently retired. He and his wife have bought a new home and will move in it in June.

While visiting him in Toronto I thought I would take some pictures of his kitchen. His kitchen was the first kitchen I had ever done. The cabinets are plywood and the doors and trim are solid oak.
I like how it turned out. I did learn some things along the way- such as where to put the door pulls. The upper cabinet door pulls should be lower. I centered them, they should be at approximately eight inches from the bottom of the door. Oh well- he left them centered and everything still works fine.

I hope the new owners enjoy the kitchen.

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Roadside Attraction

I like whimsy. I appreciate it when people try to add a little sense of humor to their yard for passerby's to see.

I saw this charming bit of woodworking whimsy on a front lawn of a house in the lakeside community of Port Dalhousie, Ontario Canada on Saturday.
The entire stump was about four feet tall. It had a nicely carved door and a tin roof. It made us smile as we walked by, which I think is the intent of the project.
Perfect'

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Best
Steve

Sewing chest

Yesterday i applied a thin coat of wax to the chest. I waited a few hours and then buffed it out with a piece of denim cloth.
I reassembled it and showed the final results to my wife.
I guess it was a hit. She instantly claimed it as her new sewing and fabric chest.
A successful project'

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Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Hancock continued

Here are some more images of pieces from our visit to the Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, MA.
No matter what style or aesthetic you're into these pieces have to inspire. So much thought went into their function and they are incredibly well crafted.
The Shakers used a lot of cherry wood in their work as well as pine. The pine pieces were usually painted with milk paint and they cherry would be left to darken naturally.

Enjoy

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Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Milk paint

After painting the chest I waited a couple of days. Today I applied a coat of oil to the chest. I scuffed the parts first with a scotch brite pad. I'll wait a day or two and then I'll put a thin coat of wax on it. I love how the paint turned out and I especially love how the oil brought out the richness in it.
The coat of wax will deepen the patina and add more richness to it.

As always - Thanks for following.
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Milk Paint

I started mixing up the milk paint yesterday.
I bought a six ounce bag of 'Marigold yellow' paint powder from the Old Fashioned Milk Paint Factory in Groton, MA.

You mix equal parts of water to the paint powder. My paint rendered me approximately a pint of paint. You van leave the mixture covered in the fridge for a few days after you mix it. The paint dries quickly and leaves an opaque finish. If you're trying to cover up a mistake with paint, then don't use milk paint. It shows all of the details. After a day you can burnish it with a scotch brite pad and then apply a coat of oil or wax to bring up the sheen.

I love how the paint looks with a coat of oil on it. Try it on a sample piece first. Milk paint is made with milk, pigment, and lime. You should still wear a dust mask when mixing it, and gloves when using it. It does clump up easily so I suggest pouring it through a strainer or nylon cloth first.

As always - Thanks for following.
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Shaker wood shop

Here are a few images of the wood shop at Hancock village.
Check out the width of the two boards leaning against the wall.
Amazing
I love the workbenches, crazy. I wish I had enough room for one.
Inspiring.

As always - Thanks for and following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Hancock Shaker Village

We spent the weekend in the Berkshires and visited one of our favorite places. The Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, MA.
Saturday was the opening day of the village for the season, and the weather couldn't have cooperated any more. It was perfect'
The village is also a working farm and the animals were showing off their babies.

I found my bench that I donated. It sits in the entrance doorway to the great brick dwelling house. The bench is stained brown in order to separate it from the original shaker pieces. This way the public is aware that they are meant to be used as public seating, and not something that can't be touched like the originals.
As usual I took a lot of pictures so I'll be posting more in other posts. The village store sells wares in the shaker style and tradition. I was lucky enough to find a shelf with milk paint for sale. I purchased a bag of 'Marigold yellow' . I'm going to paint the other coopered chest with it. One small bag renders approximately a pint of liquid milk paint.

If you like history and living history museums, especially if you love shaker furniture then you definitely should add this place to your list to visit.

As always- Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

That's a wrap''

We just finished wrapping up another episdoe today'
We made it through another.
I'm happy with the way the chest turned out.

We are still editing two other episodes so you won't see this one for a little while.
I think I'm going to use milk paint and paint the other chest. I haven't decide which color.

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Sanding weather

Sanding weather

Yesterday was a great day to do a little sanding outdoors.
After I finished sanding the coopered top for the chest I cut and made some hinges and a hasp for it out of an old leather belt.
You want to make sure the belt is a thick solid piece of leather and not two pieces laminated together.
When I made the original chest I was able to utilize the grommet holes in the belt. This time I had to use a punch to create the holes. I then attach them to the lid with some pan head screws.

The pan head screws have a larger top so they are better to use to attach the hinges, making them more secure.
I shaped the leather hasp and now I just have to punch holes in it and attach it to the lid and the chest.
We should resume shooting on Wednesday and get this episdoe in the can'

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Ol' No# 3

Speaking of my Old Stanley bailey No # 3 hand plane.
If you'd like to try one on for size for yourself then you need to check out vendor BC Antiques and Collectibles, downstairs at Bernat Antiques.
I love this booth. I took a break from working yesterday and went to Bernat to peruse through the building.
Thanks folks. I'm never disappointed.

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Rounding over

I did a little work on the curved top of the chest last evening.
I clamped a couple of strips of wood to my bench, creating a cradle so I could work on the top without it sliding and moving around.
I then used my Stanley Bailey No # 3 plane and knocked off the points and tips where the staves meet, creating a radius.
I use the no # 3 whenever i get a chance, it just feels good in the hands.
It worked well. Now I just have to sand it smooth.
I them turned the top over and trimmed the excess off from the side staves , using the same plane. I took a square and drew a line parallel to the sides and trimmed into it was level with the sides, and down to the line.
This is all in preparation for Mondays shoot. There's always a little behind the scenes work to do in order to make the shoot go quicker, but there's still plenty of on camera work left'

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Put a cork in it'

Have you ever wondered what to do with all of those wine corks you've been saving?
Some grocery stores have areas where you can recycle them.
We keep ours and turn them into bulletin boards.
You simply take a piece of plywood, thicker than 1/4 inch thick. 3/8 inch will do. It has to hold the weight of the surrounding wood and corks. You can buy smaller pieces of plywood at your local home center. Take some thin pieces of wood, molding, etc, and glue them to the perimeter of the plywood board.
Now just take some wood glue and glue the corks to the board. You can have fun with your kids with this project. Lay out the corks any way you want to, it;s your design.

If you're going to paint the board do it before you glue on the corks. Leave the board for a day too make sure the glue has fully cured, or else the corks can pop off.
This project takes only a short time too make and is a great rainy day project. I have one on my wall of the garage and my son has one in his room.
Enjoy ( especially the wine )

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Crepes anyone?

Yesterday afternoon I was doing a little prep work for this weeks shoot. I was sanding some pine pieces using my bench top disc/belt sander. Pine has a lot of pitch in it and can gum up the sanding belts and discs quickly so you have to use a sanding block to clean them more often.

People thin I'm crazy when I do it but I go to my local thrift store and buy shoes with soles that are made out of crepe rubber. If you don't know what crepe rubber is you'll know it when you see it. Crepe rubber is used in the shoe industry to make soles with, but it is also used in the woodworking/abrasive industry to make sanding sticks(blocks) with.
When a sanding belt gets gummed up, making it useless to sand with, you simply rub the stick against the moving belt and it cleans the pitch off of it.

So- when I purchase a pair of shoes or boots that have crepe rubber soles I tear the soles off and just keep them. The folks at the front desk think I'm crazy. "Why would I pay for a pair of shoes and tear the soles off?"

The soles work perfectly. The last pair of shoes I bought cost me .99 cents. Much cheaper than buying a sanding stick. Why spend money when you don't have to?

As always - Thanks for following.
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Influence

Over the years I've subscribed to Fine Woodworking magazine published by the Taunton press. The magazine hasn't changed much, some years have been better than others but overall I've been happy with the content. In the past, as a teacher, I've used the great photos and illustrations in the magazine as teaching aids, including them in my handouts to students.

I've collected enough of the magazines that now I have a complete set. The set takes up a lot of room in a closet in the garage. The magazine is available in digital form but I, like most makers prefer to look and hold the magazine. The best thing about the magazine is that there is an article index that is available through the publisher. Recently I used this index to help me with the coopered top of the pine chest I just made.
I simply went to the index and looked for articles relating to 'Coopering' and it gave me the dates and issue of the magazine.
I went to the closet and sifted through until I found the issues and the corresponding articles.
I love it. It gets expensive at times but I think I'll keep up my subscription.

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve