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.   

Attempted Wood Plane, Camping

I've had my eye out for a good old plane iron for a while, and finally a couple of weeks ago I came across a wood bodied Jack or Try plane that wasn't in great shape with a good laminated, tapered iron.  After I bought the plane and an axe, I gave him back the body and just left with the blade.  Maybe he can sell the body to someone looking for a mantle decoration.

After I ground the iron, sharpened the bevel and got the back into satisfactory condition I started working on a body made from some Red Oak I saved from a house I worked on over the summer.  I've been curious to try a Japanese style setup for some time, so that's where I started with my layout.  The body is about 12" long, with the blade bedded at 45 degrees, or a tad less because of the tapered iron.  I think I might scrap this body, the Oak is really brittle and even being careful I ended up with quite a bit of breakout in front of the mouth.  The shavings aren't too bad, but I don't think it's worth trying to go any further with fettling it.  I might try again with some Cherry or Maple that I have.

In other news, I went camping a couple of weeks ago up in New York, right by the Canadian border with some friends.  The high for the weekend was about 5 degrees F, with nighttime lows close to -20.  A few days before we went out one of the guys that's local to the area went in with a chainsaw and cut several piles of standing dead Ash and Oak for the fire.  I think we went through just about all of it in the two nights we were there.  We walked in a mile or so, most of us using sleds to carry our gear over the 8" of snow.  I took three axes, my Gransfors carving axe, my 3.5 pound Snow and Nealley, and a 3.75 or 4 pound antique on an experimental handle.  The antique ended up splitting all the wood for the weekend, since my S&N is ground pretty thin and would just get stuck in logs, and no one else brought a big axe.  The experimental handle on the antique is Maple, with the growth rings oriented perpendicular to the way traditional wisdom says they ought to be.  My reasoning for trying that is that most wood splits more easily across the growth rings, and the way growth rings are oriented in a common axe handle, it seems that they would be more prone to splitting.  Anyways, the handle did alright, but toward the end a large section split off.  I think Maple is perhaps not the best axe handle material, and the cold also negatively affected another guy's axe handle, so perhaps that was a factor in this case.  Either way, I think it merits some more experimentation.  Maybe sometime I'll put together a proper scientific test.

My camp:

Some Exciting Scaffolding

This house that I've been working on the last two months was originally built in 1769.  The roof was all saggy and sloped and there were ice dam issues last winter.  As we pulled off the shingles (to keep the weight down on the 6x6 rafters joined at the peak with only pegged bridle joints, joined to the sill with only a step lap and a peg) we discovered that whomever re-roofed this last (sometime in the last 20 years I believe, shortly before the current owners moved in) they didn't even use tar paper.  Ice dam issues are really an issue that comes from keeping warm air from getting to the surface of the roof, melting the snow, and letting it run down to the gutter where it re-freezes into ice, building up and working under the shingles, melting again and dripping into the house.  So if you have an ice dam, step one is to add more insulation and air-blocking between the house and the attic.  If that's not an option, or you're looking for a quicker fix, you can use something like Grace brand roof underlayment, essentially a sheet of rubber with super sticky tar on the back.  This stuff clings like crazy to plywood, seals any places water can get in (when applied correctly), seals around nails, and keeps any water that can get through from migrating.  We have frequently stripped the bottom three or six feet of a roof to apply the underlayment and then re-roof that part.

In the case of this roof, it was so badly sagged and wonky we decided to strip the shingles and create a new roof plane.  This house is big and tall, with the field being about 37 feet long and 20 feet up the rake, with roughly a 12 pitch (45 degrees).  We pulled off the old trim around the two rakes and the drip edge, replaced with all new trim built up to more appropriately suit the scale of the house.  We then strung a line on the ridge, which created four edges of a flat plane.  Using vertical strings, we blocked and shimmed horizontal battens into a nice base for new 1/2" plywood.  With that done, underlayment on, and shingles nailed solidly down, it's done!  At least until spring when we tackle the back half.

This house was really neat to work on.  When we opened up the trim, I was fascinated to see that the ends of the floorboards were all trimmed to length with an axe.  Most of the timbers were hewn, and it was interesting to compare those hewn by novices and those by the experts.  It was also interesting to see how much some of the rafters had twisted and moved, one in particular was twisted almost 45 degrees from end to end.

I've never really liked heights very much, but over the last two or three years have become more comfortable working at moderate heights through practice.  In dangerous or really high places we wear safety harnesses and fall ropes, but they always get in the way and in many cases I feel that they make the situation more dangerous.  Starting this project, which was particularly high and steep compared to many of the houses we work on, we were both really quite uncomfortable even walking around on the scaffold.  After a couple of weeks though, we were regularly playing catch with sawzalls, sheets of plywood, dashing up and down the ladders with hardly a care in the world.  Heights, though potentially a very real danger, are largely a mental block.  Once you can get comfortable, it is much easier to focus on the work and actually get things down in a timely manner.  If this roof had been on the ground, and especially without the need to manage the lead paint, we could have had the whole thing done in a week.  As it is, though, it took about 150 hours spaced out over two months to accommodate the weather (which was thankfully quite mild this year). 

Mahogony Square

A couple weeks ago I was at the lumber yard picking up materials for work when I spotted an unusual piece of wood in the box of bunker wood (the junk wood used to keep good lumber off the ground).  My suspicions were confirmed when I picked it up and looked closer: a 3x4 of Mahogony (I can't tell which sort)!  I could see it was glued up of two pieces, but still respectable pieces.  I have been curious to see how it works, since I've heard that it's a good handtool wood.  The piece I have is quite light, maybe lighter than a similar piece of White Pine, and the grain is pretty distinct.

I first ripped it down the glue line, leaving me with roughly a 2x3.  A  square seemed like a good simple project to get a feel for the wood.  I ripped off a vertical grain piece for the blade, and used the original rip for the stock.  I sawed out the sides of the bridle joint, then chiseled the waste.  This wood is pretty soft and easy to saw, but the end grain also crushes fairly easily with chiseling and even planing.  It's hard to get a good polished finish on the end grain with a plane like I'm used to with the other woods I've worked.

I did a better job of laying this one out than my old one, so it was really square right away, without any fiddling.  I ran out of time so I didn't glue it, that will come later.  The proportions look funny to my eye, but as long as it works I don't really care.

I also bought an inexpensive micrometer a while ago, and I have been measuring some of my plane shavings.  I can get my block plane to take a shaving as thin as .001 (one thousandth of an inch) but no thinner.  I haven't seen the thinnest I can make with my #8 yet, but I bet I can match the block plane.

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!

TFG Eastern Conference

I realize that I haven't posted anything recently, part of that is due to not having internet at the house for the last two weeks due to the freak Halloween weekend snow storm here in CT.  Part of it is due to the fact that I am running out of original topics to post on.  I've carved a bunch of spoons, carved and fitted a couple of axe handles, and done some other misc woodworking.  But this is all stuff that I've posted on before, and how many spoons does everyone really want to look at?

Last weekend I took a road trip with a couple of friends down to Leesburg, Virginia for the Timber Framer's Guild Eastern Conference.  This is an annual event that brings together hundreds of timber framers, enthusiasts, and businesses for a weekend of learning and socializing.  This was my first conference, and I was not disappointed.  Not only was the venue very good, thought a bit confusing, but the entire event was everything that it is reported to be.  Most importantly, incredibly fun and educational.  I understand that in years past, this event has attracted upwards of 800 participants.  This year's event was a relatively modest 200+ participants, but it still felt like quite the gathering to me.

I attended a number of lectures including Vicco Von Voss's presentations on joining natural edged timbers and theory of craftsmanship in furniture and timber frames.  I also attended John Libby's presentation on the history of his company and some key pointers for running any business, but naturally geared toward timber frame companies.

Mez Welch demonstrating hewing in the front yard of the conference center.

Equally important and engaging were all of the hundreds of informal encounters I had at meals and in the halls, discussing anything from philosophy to the best joint under tension.

An entertaining aspect of the weekend was Fire Tower Engineering's joint buster, in which they tested several joints joining two pieces of wood orthogonally under tension.  It was interesting to see, in real time, how much force it took to break various joints from butted and screwed timbers to finely cut mortise and tenons.

All in all, it was a really great weekend.  Well worth the admission price and the 9 hour drive each way.


In other news, here's a before and after of the deck that I've been working on.  This one is wrapped up and we're moving on to the next job.

Wason Pond Covered Bridge Ribbon Cutting

Today was the ribbon cutting at the Wason Pond covered bridge in Chester, NH that I posted about back in July.  I drove up yesterday after work, stopping in Boston to pick up my friend Emma who also worked on the bridge for a time, as well as spending a good chunk of time in Poland .  We arrived at about 11, set up the tent and crashed.  The ribbon cutting was only announced earlier this week, maybe Wednesday, so we weren't sure how many of the framers, or locals for that matter, would show up.  There was a pretty good turnout, and it was good to see some of the friends that I made on this project.  It was also nice to go for a dip in the pond again, though the water was quite a bit icier than the tepid bathtub water it was in July.

Chuck Myette, the local that spearheaded the bridge, saying a few words of appreciation for all those involved.

It was also great to see the bridge 100% done, with the portals enclosed, siding up, and the end posts enclosed against the elements.  For more information on how this went down, head on over to the blog of the man in charge, Will Truax.  Its really something to see a project like this standing in place, where it will most likely be for the next hundred years at least, and know that I played a part in putting it together.  A bit of a different feeling from replacing someone's back deck, which is what I'm working on now.

In a case of "Its a small world after all", my friend Emma from Boston was telling me about someone she knows that started following this blog, and noticed that some of the events I am writing about echoed those that he was hearing about from her, so put two and two together.  Its amazing how small the world is getting these days.