I turned a small bowl today out of Curly Birch. To make it a bit different I added a base made out of Purpleheart:

Both the Birch and Purpleheart blocks were cut round and then glued together. I also glued on a tenon made of maple but this didn’t work out so well. It broke off while turning and I had to turn a tenon in the Purpleheart which led this layer to be a bit thinner than I planned. However, once completed the base was of a more pleasing size. I guess it knew better than I.

Continue reading 'Birch Bowl With Purpleheart Base'

I believe I mentioned earlier that I had never done mortise and tenon joinery before. However, so far it has been pretty straight forward. The biggest concern in creating mortises and tenons, especially with the tenon, is the measuring. Since you are looking for a snug fit, not too tight, not too loose, it is imperative that your measurements and cutting be precise.

I made the tenons on the tablesaw using the dado blade. I had looked at tenoning jigs, the bandsaw, etc. but this seemed to be the quickest and easiest way. It was just a matter of repeated passes over the blade to remove the unwanted wood:

Continue reading 'Craftsman Style Coffee Table – Part 3'

At last night’s meeting of the Atlantic Woodworkers Association we were brought back to our ‘Atlantic’ roots with a glimpse into the work of John Green, master model shipbuilder.

John started model shipbuilding at the age of 8 and has been actively building for the past 61 years. He enjoyed model shipbuilding so much that he retired at the age of 52 to do his passion full time. Although he says that he has retired it can be seen more as a positive career change since his ships sell for between $10,000 and $20,000 each with some commission pieces commanding even more! He also does repairs and restorations.

He is presently building several scale models of the Nova Scotia icon, The Bluenose which he plans on giving to his daughters.

John gave an overview of the intricate work required to create such a scale model, including the background research he does to ensure accuracy:

Continue reading 'I’se The B’y That Builds The Boat!'

I got around to using the Plunge Router Mortising Jig this morning to create the mortises in the legs for the Craftsman Style Coffee Table that I have under construction.

There are 3 mortises per leg, 2 at the top and 1 near the bottom. The 2 at the top are for the skirt that will go around the table, under the top and the 1 near the bottom is for a stretcher that runs between the legs on the short side.

Continue reading 'Craftsman Style Coffee Table – Part 2'