Cherry Tree

Last week I discovered a decent size Cherry tree out back while looking for something to chop with my new axe (more on this later).  I came upon the top of the tree, which was knocked down in the October snow storm some months ago.  When I realized what I had found, I went and fetched the chainsaw.  I cut the tree trunk down, and cut the smaller diameter branches and trunk sections (many of which were twisty and bent-good for ladles).   I cut off a section of the base of the tree and split it into planks radially.  Most of them came out fairly twisted, but the few that were quite straight I planed down one face, leaving the back axed or scrub planed roughly. 

The planks that were more twisted became axe handles.  I have a couple of nice vintage handles that are superbly elegant and feel great, but the wood in the eye was in bad shape, so they had to come out of the heads they came with.   I saved them for patterns, they've become my goal for axe handles.  Below you can see three of the four I've made up so far, I already hung one in a head.  I've tucked these away to dry out, it's good to have handles ready for when one breaks or if I get a new head.

I've made a few spoons from the Cherry so far.  It's definitely harder than Birch, I would say it's roughly as hard as the Maple I use sometimes.  This spoon I'm particularly pleased with, I feel that it's very successful in terms of visual balance and form, as well as feeling fairly elegant.

I didn't get any pictures of the rough work, cutting and splitting, but it's not too exciting to look at.  I will make sure I get some pictures of new axe though.  I'm very excited about it.  A week and a half ago I traded for a racing axe (one of the inexpensive made in China ones), and have been really pleased with it so far.  I forget at the moment, but I believe it's a 6 pound head, with a very aggressive grind.  It practically chops by itself!  It seems to prefer a slightly different technique than my other big choppers, the 3.5 Snow and Neally and the others.  Or maybe the heavier head is just forcing me to use better form...
 

Frame and Panel (and spoons)

 Here's a photo of a frame and panel that I've been working on the last couple of days.  The frame is Cherry with the panel in Curly Maple with bug stains.  The Maple came from the pallet stack at the lumber yard about a year ago, I don't know whether I posted much if anything about it then.  It's been sitting in my basement since, and is dry enough to use now.  I chopped the 1/4" mortises with my Narex mortise chisel and used my Ryoba to cut the tenons, and I got quite a bit of use out of my Veritas plow plane for the grooves and rebates that allow the panel to sit flush with the top of the frame.  For the cross grain rebates, I scored deeply with my marking gauge (pin filed into a knife edge) and ran the first dozen passes carefully to preserve the visible edge.  This worked out fine, and saved me have to make or buy a rebate plane.  The Veritas only works for rebates up to about 3/8" wide (the widest blade), but that was fine for this application.  For a wider rebate, you could simply plow a groove and then use a bench plane to remove the relish. 

On the panel is a collection of spoons I've been accumulating the last couple of weeks, most in Black Birch.  I've been building up a collection to bring to a couple of stores, and after reviewing the terms on Etsy again, I'm considering selling some there as well.  This was my first time using Black Birch for anything but walking sticks as a kid, and it's interesting to work.  It's harder than the Paper Birch I'm also using, and the grain is a little more distinct.  Most of these spoons are made from vertical grain wood, split radially from a small log.  A couple are made from bent or straight branches.  I found one branch that worked nicely so that I ended up with some curly grain in the bowl.  Overall I'm pleased with where the spoons are going.  They're getting closer to the spoons I've been trying to create from the start.  A new hook or two would help me get the inside of the bowl right, I still only have the small radius Mora hook.  I'm talking to a blacksmith friend of mine about a couple of ideas.

Here's a picture of me with the panel, to get a feel for the size of it.  It's about 18x18", not including the untrimmed ends.  I'm thinking this would make a nice little tabletop.  Some finish will help the grain really show up, and I'll probably let it sit in the sun to darken the Cherry up a bit.

The Spoon: Further Developments

 In retrospect, most problems or challenges seem trivial.  I have been struggling on and off to create an elegant scoop to the top of the bowl of my spoons.  Until today, I was unsuccessful.  The difference in today is that Barn The Spoon posted up a short video on his blog in which he carves one of his octagonal handled eating spoons.  Watching him carve, everything clicked (or at least in relation to this particular issue). 

In order to achieve the scooped top to the bowl, Barn creates a convex top first, then when everything in the middle is carved away, only the perimeter of the bowl defines the topography.  It's much easier to see in the video than try to understand by writing.  The reason I couldn't work out how to create this effect is that I was thinking too much in two dimensions; top view and side view.  To create this effect, it must be approached in three dimensions.  Once it's clear in the mind, it's very easy to achieve. 

An interesting side effect of creating this scoop top to the bowl is that hollowing the bowl seems much easier.  I am having fewer issues with fibers tearing and running out, and overall am getting a pretty smooth finish in there.

The two spoons shown here (and I also carved a third) are fairly crude overall, but my main focus was on that one aspect of the bowl, which with a little refining will be exactly what I have been seeking.  In short, this is a public thanks to Barn The Spoon for helping out fellow spooners around the world refine their craft, and for acting as inspiration to anyone that thinks they can't be successful in pursuing their dream.

Breaking In a New Knife

Mora #106 Review

I decided that I should give one of these Mora carving knives a shot, usually what I use is a wider, slightly longer knife like the Mora #2 I have, or the #510, or a Woodjewel.  Still all narrow compared to many of the poplar bushcraft and outdoors knives, but quite wide feeling after using this new #106.

I ordered this one from bensbackwoods.com, he has a really wide selection of a lot of bushcraft gear, good prices, and quite unparalleled shipping prices, especially for how quickly he gets things out the door.  I buy from him whenever I get the chance.

These Mora knives are great deals, most being between $10-20.  The steel is quite good, the handles comfortable, and because of the low cost I'm not afraid to use them quite hard, which means they get more use than the expensive knives I used to own.  The biggest issue is that the sheaths they come with are not amazing.  The sheaths with the wood handled knives don't retain the knife very well if you do much moving around.  The plastic handles all click in fairly securely to their sheaths, but can still be a tad bulky and a tad ugly.  The Mora #1 would probably be my favorite knife except the handle is too small for the meat paws that pass for my hands.

The other drag about Mora knives is that they require a bit of a break-in.  The very edge is apparently not kept cool enough during finishing of the blades (leading to the steel at the edge being annealed), so until this is sharpened through the edge is fairly fragile and prone to rolling.  Normally on Mora knives when I first get them I grind the angle a bit thinner, and very slightly convex the edge on my 1x30 belt sander, in the process being sure to take off enough metal to get to the good, hard stuff beneath the initial soft layer.  I hesitated to use that process on this knife because of the narrowness of the blade and the illusion of delicacy it presents.  I instead chose to repeatedly cut into some various hard woods like seasoned Maple, Birch knots, and across the growth rings of a few different species of Pine, using both push cuts and draw or slicing cuts.  After making feather sticks and some various other cuts, the edge is rolled and visibly dull in several spots, so I lay it on the stone real quick and sharpen them out, and go back to cutting.  I did this a half dozen times or maybe a couple more, and it's still rolling.  I guess I'm not taking off that much metal when I really think about it, so this one may end up on the grinder yet.

In the meantime, I've been pleased with being able to cut tighter curves using more of the blade, because previously for tight cuts I would have to choke up and use only the very tip of my other knives.  The larger barrel handle is pretty comfortable so far, it's about the same as the handle on the #2.  Overall I'm quite pleased with this knife, I imagine I'll be using it quite a bit in the future.   

Ad Nausem...

Last night when I dropped off my spoons, I sold one before I'd left the gallery.  I took this as a good omen, so I came home and carved out 7 more.  I finished them this evening, and I'll drop them off in the morning.  This weekend is the highest traffic weekend at the gallery, and I don't want to miss out on my chance.  My fingers feel like ground hamburger after two longish carving sessions on consecutive nights.

Spoons Again

Today I met with the owner of a small art gallery here in town, the Gallery 101 in Collinsville, CT.  We discussed him carrying my spoons, and he likes the idea.  I donated all the spoons I had to the Timber Framer's Guild for their auction in Virginia at the Eastern Conference (and they went nicely, which felt very good), so I had to carve out some more to take in today.  Carving that Birch is always so much easier than I remember, since I don't get my hands on it too often.  It really feels like butter after all the Maple I use, even though I carve it green.  I finished up three to show him, he liked them, so I came home and got started on a batch.  Some eating spoons, a serving shovel, and a small bowled tasting spoon done from a crook.  The Cherry spoon I started carving this morning out of a piece of firewood waiting for someone, and also finished roughing this evening.

You might notice my bench in the background instead of a log or grass.  I've moved back inside for my woodworking.  It's been getting a tad chilly (though incredibly warm for the time of year), but more importantly it's dark so early I can't sit outside and carve without a light. 

Spoon Club

I don't really like to repost others' blogs, but I really like this post so I'm going to go ahead and do it.  Barn the spoon has a great blog, he's one of my top spoonspirations.  I am really drawn to his philosophy on what spoons are all about, in a simple and literal sense as well as what they stand for as a symbol.  He posted this drawing up the other day and I totally dig it.

I also really like the idea of people coming together and spending some time together unplugged, enjoying some manually engaging activity that leaves the mind free to socialize with those around.  In the aftermath of the Halloween weekend storm we were without internet here in my house for two weeks, and frankly I quite enjoyed it.  I went over to the library every couple of days to maintain my email, and beyond that I didn't miss the urge to aimlessly waste time surfing the internet because I couldn't come up with anything better to do.  Sitting at home in the evenings we spent much more time talking, goofing around with one another, and doing some slightly more active and productive things (vs the more passive and unproductive things like watching movies, surfing the net, etc).  I really appreciate technology, and it constantly amazes me to think that in my own mother's lifetime microwaves were invented, and that my great grandmother would get summertime treats of icecubes from the horse drawn ice carriage in NYC during the great depression, less than 100 years ago.  In the span of less than half a lifetime we have gone from a computer taking up an entire office building to fitting in the palm of our hands, with ten times the capability.  As a communication tool the internet is entirely unparalleled in the history of the world.  However, as with any tool, it's all about how we use it.  It's very easy to get sucked into letting technology substitute for more concrete activities, crafts, and even interactions between people.  I find that I must remain vigilant, and even then I sometimes find myself zoned out staring at a screen with my brain and body less active than if I were asleep.

I suppose this is all more or less to say that I think this is a cool poster and a cool idea.

Birch Find

For those not near me geographically, I'll note that we had an apocalyptic snow storm Halloween weekend here in CT that resulted in a lot of trees coming down.  In the last three weeks I've seen plenty of people loading up wood laying on the side of the road for firewood, most of it is free for the taking.  The other day I was driving around and noticed some Birch on the side of a small back road, but I didn't have time to stop and collect it.  Today on my way home I did have time, so I quickly sectioned the larger branch pieces into three foot lengths with my folding saw, and found one larger log piece hiding in there too.  The rest of the larger pieces were taken for firewood, I assume.  If I get to use all of this before it gets too dry, it'll make a lot of spoons!

Spoon Crazy

 I've been loving the spoons lately.  Above is a pair of Cherry spoons I carved (along with two others) while visiting with family last weekend.  The week before I had finally stockpiled a handful of completed spoons, and was quite enjoying fondling them.  There's something about multiples of items like that I so enjoy.  Then my hip aunt got her eyes on them and took custody of several, including the other two Cherry spoons, which were fairly similar to the two pictured.  Oh well, back to carving.

Below is a pair of Maple spoons that I roughed out tonight.  I'm attending a wedding this coming weekend, and I think a few spoons will make a suitable gift.  I have to carve at least one more, because I realized too late that the groom is a lefty, and I made these both righty.  These are pretty good sized, that's about a 4" knife blade.  Perfect for cooking or serving.  I'll let them dry out for a couple of days and then finish them up.  You may notice the funky handle on the one-sometimes, despite my best intentions, the wood is just too stubborn.  It will get some more shaping when I finish them, so it looks less like I cut off a chunk by accident and more like a cool, funky handle.

Spoon-spriration:

Spoon Carving Video

Finally got that video I mentioned about spoon carving up.  I was having some trouble with youtube, but it's solved now.

Spoons

 I can't get blogger to orient the photos correctly, so we'll just have to make do with them the way they are.  These are a few spoons that I've carved out of Maple the last couple of days.  I roughed them all out with the axe at once, and I knifed them in a couple of sessions.  Once they have a few days to dry out, I'll give my knife a fresh sharpening and finish them out.

Below I included a picture to show the variations in side profile I tried with this batch.  The deep one is the flat front scoop pictured above, and the straight is one of the small spoons near the hook knife.

For these spoons I took down a small Maple sapling, maybe 3-4" diameter at the base, and roughed out this batch within the first hour of having it down.  Sometimes I forget how much easier greenwood is to work than the dry or semi-dry stuff I have laying around.  With these small, fairly straight spoons I can get close to the 10 minute mark for a halfway decent spoon.  I might do a video later today in real-time of carving one.

When It Rains

The trouble with working in an outdoor "shop" as I prefer to do in the summer is that it's hard to get much done when it rains.  I could buy one of those cheap pop up tents, to keep the sun and rain off, but that just doesn't appeal to me that much.  And it's not critical that I can keep working on my little projects day in and out, since they're not making me any money.

So, because I have no pictures and only unedited video of the thing I've been working on the last few days, here is a great video of (I believe) Swedish woodworking in the late twenties: Link  This includes a clog maker, spoon carver, and chair makers.  They all work with a great deal of efficiency and precision, and with a fairly small tool kit.  Enjoy!

Finishing Up

Sorry for the gap in posting.  We started to get down to the wire, working upwards of 12 hours each day, and I didn't have the energy or the particular inclination to get on to post.  So I'm going to put up the last few days in one post.

We assembled one truss, got it upright and stabilized, then assembled and righted the other truss.  The trick to these was making sure they went up on rollers on the timber track that some of the crew constructed earlier in the week.  Once they were both up, we could install the tie beams with the knee braces, install the floor joists and decking, and finally install the rafters.  We got the roof sheathed in 1x, and got some good bracing in place for the locals that will roof the bridge.  All of this done, the riggers Grigg 2 and Grigg 3 prepared to roll the bridge over the falseworks and drop it in place.  Stable on the rollers and rigged up to a Tirfor, a large winch-like device, it slowly crawled into place.  It was jacked up, the falseworks removed (the timbers from which became a raft and a log rolling game for me and a few others), and it was settled into place on some Black Locust blocks.

My sharpening setup that I kept in my toolbox.  A 6x2" 220/600 grit DMT, and a two sided strop with black and green compound.  With a little spit or a dribble from my water bottle, this system allowed me to quickly and easily keep the edges on my tools sharp without having to walk back to the sharpening station at the other end of the site.

Cancelling the wind in a stick of timber using framing squares as winding sticks.

Will Truax, professional bridgewright, trimming a joint with a Gransfors forest axe.

This young man jumped right into planing, using my Stanley #8 with no problems.  He both pushed and pulled it, not seeming to have a preference.

Baron mean-mugging while trimming the roof sheathing.

My new friend Emma having fun with the camera.

Consulting with Bruce.

Grigg 2, the senior rigger.

Trimming decking made of 8/4 White Oak.

Joel McCarty, executive director of The Timber Framer's Guild, looking on.

Pulling the bridge into place.

Pirates trying to capsize my raft on Wason Pond.  Below, a spoon I carved in small increments in between the three primary activities: working, eating, and sleeping.  It's made from a hunk of White Birch I got from Dick Lewis, the sawyer that cut all the timber for the bridge.  I think it might be my favorite spoon that I've carved.

Cutting!

Today I moved up to the cutting tent following the pieces that we laid out, and began cutting.  Many of these joints on the bridge need to be really precise because of the huge forces being exerted on them, so the cutting needs to be very precise.  All of our cuts are knifed along the drawn lines, and then I ran my saw right down the line.  Occasionally the saw (I'm using Japanese saws) would wander a bit in some of the deeper cuts, and I would have a belly on the face to chisel or plane flat. 

My cutting was periodically interrupted for the sake of moving some of the larger timbers for the second lay up, as well as for the false works (aka cribbing or trestles) that we will use to move the bridge in to place.

This is Bruce drilling some holes with a precise jig he built earlier.  These holes need to be pretty spot on to line up with the corresponding points on the top of the bridge.  These will hold the tension rods that connect the top and bottom chords, which are the long single sticks that run along the top and bottom of the truss.

Baron enjoying the big square mortise machine.

Me using my new saw to cut a joint, and the pile of sticks with completed joinery.

This evening I took some time and roughed out a couple of spoons from an Apple tree that we trimmed when setting up cutting stations.