November 2012

Another November has come and gone.  Another busy month in the shop.  There were several small projects: candle holders, a sign that had to be carved and painted, and a few odds and ends.  The big project of the month was a pencil post bed, queen size, in cherry.  It’s quite a chore hauling 12/4 planks  and band-sawing, tapering and routing and finally hand sanding the raw wood into four graceful tapers.  I try to improve each item over the last one , and in this case, found a new way to bury the nuts in the rails to receive the bed-bolts.  I used to drill a 1″ hole, shim and hide the nut with a 1″ plug.  Now, I make a 1/2″ x 1″ slot, shim the nut and cover the hole with a rectangular insert.

November is also a month of  a few shows.  For the second year, I was in Northport, ME for the Artful Gift show.  A successful show at my favorite venue.  We also had a small show right here in New  Gloucester.  And there were the usual getting ready for winter chores: firewood, snow tires,  getting the snow blower ready to work, and cutting balsam fir tips for wreaths.  This fall we were spoiled by mild weather, but November changed that.  The pond up the road is now solidly frozen, and last night brought the first snow.  C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

A Great October

October is always a month to look forward to. The leaves turn, the asters bloom, the bugs disappear, and in Maine, the tourists leave.  The roads become less crowded, and life returns to a slower pace.  This month was not so slow, and brought a variety of activities:  a delivery to Virginia, Shaker work weekend, getting rid of seldom used tools (see SPECIALS), a sex-change for a pencil post bed (from queen to king), a chandelier, and…

… an invitation to appear on Parks & Recreation.  Nick Offerman, fellow woodworker (and cover boy for the Dec. 2011 issue of FWW) , wanted Asa Christiana (editor at FWW) and me to appear as walk-ons for a December show.  It was quite the experience, flying to LA, meeting the stars, and shooting the same scenes over and over.  Everyone involved with the show was friendly, efficient, helpful and very professional.  We even had a chance to visit Nick’s shop, and have a few beers.

Quite the change from life on a dirt road.  The show aired December 6 on NBC.   The out-take can be seen here  .

C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

September in the Shop

Yet another summer has come and gone in Maine.  After Labor Day, the weather seems to change noticeably, and fall is definitely on the way.  We’ve had three frosts this month already, and the leaves are turning; white ashes are starting to loose their leaves, the red maples are in full color, and the sugar maples are showing the first hints of orange.  Each morning Spirit and I go for our 2 or 3 mile walk, and the sun comes up a bit later each day.  Goldenrod has given way to pink, purple and light blue asters.

In the shop I’ve had a variety of small projects and a few bigger ones as well.  Friends, restoring an old cape, asked me to make a built-in for their front hall.  Its a rather narrow space, about 30″ wide, and from floor to ceiling.  It is on the side of a chimney, the bottom portion being the fireplace,  while the top is only the flue, off to the far side.  Stairs come down behind the chimney.

The unit has a small cupboard  with two adjustable shelves behind the upper door, while the lower section is a fake paneled door where the fireplace is located.  The entire face was measured and laid out in place, made in the shop and installed in under a half hour.  The face frame and door frames are quarter sawn white pine, while the panels are  18″ boards of clear, New Gloucester white pine.  Finished with just boiled linseed oil, it will turn a nice pumpkin color in a few months.  The small triangle under the stairs will have a face frame and access door for storage in the near future.

The big project this September was a cherry corner cupboard, made of some really fine boards from Kane Hardwoods, my cherry supplier of choice.  The back is a single board, while the 45° corner frames are V-kerfed and re-glued, so that the grain folds around the front and the sides.   There are three adjustable shelves above and and one below.  The door panel is book matched and figured.

The best part was figuring the lighting in the upper section.  I settled on four LED strips, recessed into the back of the face frame, facing inward, with a small switch in the corner.  All the wiring and the small transformer are in the back, invisible once the cabinet is installed.    C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

August !

August is one of the best months of the summer.  The Farmer’s Markets are overflowing with fruits, vegetable and other edibles.  It is also a busy time in and around the shop.  This year, especially was filled with a variety  of happenings.  The biggest event was Fine Woodworking Live! in New Paltz, NY.  The magazine put on an amazing weekend of lectures, workshops, slides and discussions by the contributing editors and staff.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but the weekend was most enjoyable for all concerned.

It was also a good month for music.  We had a chance to see the Cowboy Junkies three times in a week.  I’ve enjoyed their music for a long time, and have seen them in Maine, NH, MA, NY, VA, and Canada.  After a year of no touring and recording four albums in 18 months,  we saw them in Waterville and Brownfield, ME and at Prescott Park in Portsmouth NH.

In the shop I’m just starting a cherry corner cupboard.  More about that next month.  The past two weekends I’ve had workshops at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community here in New Gloucester.  The first workshop was learning to cut dovetails.  It was well attended, and most of the participants returned the following weekend to build a Shaker two-stepper, a two level stool with dovetailed steps and braces.  Everyone finished theirs in record time, and I must say, they turned out very well.  Although the Shaker maintenance shop lacks the usual shop amenities, it is a favorite place to teach, and close to home.  Well worth a visit.                                    C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

July News

The highlight of July 2012 was definitely my trip to Germany.  I was invited to teach a woodworking class for Dictum, a German tool supply house. http://www.mehr-als-werkzeug.de/page/homepage.htm?lang=en The company offers a variety of high quality woodworking tools, and tools for instrument makers, as well as such hard to find materials such as boxwood, reindeer leather, Damascus knife blanks, and bone.  the store is located in Metten, while the school is in the town of Niederalteich along the Danube.

The shop, located in part of an old monastery, was well laid out, spacious, light, and well equipped.  The entire south facing roof of the old converted barn, was covered with a solar cells.  Inside, twelve individual benches with tool boxes, and a power tool room, sharpening room and break room, with automatic coffee machine (your choice of latte, cappuccino, hot chocolate).  Every afternoon at 3:00 cake or pastries were served.

The class went very well.  I was a bit nervous about the tools available, shop facilities, student skill levels and the language barrier.  Turns out that none of those were a problem.  The shop assistants, Matthias and Wolfgang were extremely helpful in machine set-ups and finding the right tools and supplies.  I taught mostly in English, with an occasional lapse into German. The students were a great bunch, very willing to learn, not afraid to ask questions or try new techniques.  During the four day course, all students completed their Shaker side-stands, with dovetailed drawers.  Several even managed to get them oiled.     C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

June Around the Shop

June is an amazing month in Maine.  Just about everything is in bloom: clover, daisies, peonies, Siberian iris, and lemon day lilies.  the best part is the light.  We get almost twice as much daylight at the summer solstice as we get in December.

This summer, for the fourth year, I had a chance to teach at the Carpenter’s Boat Shop in Pemaquid, ME.  The shop is amazing, a huge three story post and beam building with a fully stocked machine room and finishing shop downstairs, benchroom on the second floor, and a gathering room and library upstairs.  Add to that wonderful people, great food, and sailing after class, it’s easy to see why I enjoy teaching there.

In the shop, the highlight of the month was a replacement gate for the Shakers at Sabbathday Lake.  I replaced the one in front of the meeting house some years ago, but this summer the gate in front of the Ministry shop fell apart.  I made the frame out of seasoned pine, pickets out of white cedar, stainless steel nails and screws and white paint.   All of the original hand-wrought hardware was salvaged, cleaned and re-painted.  Hanging it was a real chore, but it was finished and touched up in time for the American Music Festival with the Portland String Quartet on June 30.

Lastly, June is the traditional time for Strawberry Festivals in Maine.  We’ve been to several, but I wasn’t sure about this Benefit.  Seems to me that there is lots of room on the second line for one or two more letters… leaves you wondering.                       C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

May News

Spring came early in Maine this year.  Most of the bulbs have gone by, lilacs are fading, and all the trees, except white ash are in full leaf.  Spring peepers, tree frogs and bull frogs are making themselves heard, as are the returning birds.

In the shop, there was only one project of interest.  I was asked to make 24 picture frames.  I used pine, milled to 3/4″, then ripped to 5/8″, and rabbeted to accept the art and the glass.  Then I mitered 48 short sides and 48 long sides, taped them alternately end to end, glued the miters and taped the last corner.  Once the glue was dry I cross nailed each corner, countersunk and filled the holes.  Then each frame had to be sanded, and finally painted.  Two coats satin black, with a brush, not sprayed..  They turned out quite well.  Fortunately, they were all the same size, which made it much easier.

The rest of the month was spent typing the book, taking photos and arranging everything in order.  I needed 30 photomicrographs of end-grain wood samples, and the good folks at the University of Maine School of Forest Resources sent me samples from their collection.  At left is my wood of choice, black cherry (Prunus serotina) magnified about 25x.  The wood is diffuse porous, meaning that the pores are distributed more or less evenly throughout the growth ring.  The pores are small and consistent in size, making the wood a joy to work with.            C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

April News

Spring is on the way, finally.  Daffodils, quinces and forsythias are all in bloom. A few more weeks and the lilacs will be out.  And so the spring chores begin:  the garden was tilled by a neighbor, the screen door was put in, and after a soaking rain, the lawn needed its first mowing.  The first time is always fun, after that, it gets tedious.

I’ve spent more time at the computer this month than in the shop.  As I mentioned previously, I shot a DVD at Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, which should be out soon .  In the process, I also had to build a teaching cabinet, showing how a typical solid-wood case goes together:  two different backs, two different tops, removable web frame and inner shelf, removable mitered base, and drawers, panel door with inset spinner, etc.

While doing the DVD, I decided to have my 30 year old book re-printed.  I got in touch with John Hoffman and Chris Schwarz at Lost Art Press, and they agreed to re-publish it in hardback (printed in the USA).  So the entire book had to be typed onto my Apple.  Of course, a lot has changed in 30 years, so every chapter needs updating.  And the last chapter on Working with Solid Wood had to be completely re-written.  Its keeping me busy.  Lastly, the 30 photomicrographs of wood end-grain were not returned by the original publisher, so they will need to be re-shot at the Univ. of Maine wood lab.  If all goes well, it should be off the press in early fall.  Stay tuned.     C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

March Shop Notes

March has been an interesting month, weather-wise, and in the shop.  Maple buckets (and now tubes as well), have been out for a few weeks.  All in all it’s been a rather mild winter: below average snowfall, lousy snowshoeing and very limited skating.  March started with an 8″ snowfall, but quickly warmed up, to the point where we had two days of above 80° temperatures.  Not normal for Maine.  This is the earliest that I can remember having the return of the first woodcock, phoebes and even ticks.  Crocuses are up and blooming, and even daffodils are about to blossom.

In and around the shop, I’ve been busy with variety of jobs and chores.  As I  mentioned in Dec/Jan., I designed and built a new coffee table, complete with Freshwater Pearl granite inlay.  Very handsome, shown below with the chairs.

And the aforementioned new chairs designs were finally completed.  This is what resulted from the prototype (February Shop Notes) that was kicking around the attic for about ten years.  Yes, they are definitely of Danish influence, and no, they are not cutting edge. But they are comfortable, and well made:  a bentwood seat with a dense foam core,  oil-tanned leather upholstery, steamed cherry back and cherry frame. Comfort and structural integrity are my most important criteria for chair designs.  There are a lot of good looking chairs on the market, but only a few you’d want to spend time sitting on. Mine are available as armchairs and side chairs.  A professional photo, and prices will be posted in the New Work, Prototypes & One of a Kind section of the site soon.          C. H. Becksvoort © 2012

February Shop Notes

February has been another slow month.  I’m managed to keep busy with a variety of chores.  First, I had to make a run of 20 dogwood dovetail markers, something I do once a year.  I also added a new saw rack into the toolbox.  The major event of the month was the filming of a DVD at Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, tentatively titled “A Guide for Woodworkers: Understanding the Material”.  The actual shooting took only two days, but the prep work was close to three weeks: the script, graphics, a corner of a table top model,  dozens of wood samples, and a small display cabinet, the parts of which disassemble to show the construction process.

The rest of the month has has been taken up with a chair design that has been sitting in the attic since around 2002 (notice the darkening of the seat, which had a few things placed on it).  This mock-up was made with fir 2 x 2s, bent plywood and drywall screws.   I added arms (not yet shown), and discovered that the chair is really quite comfortable, which beside structural integrity, is most important. I plan on a side chair and an arm chair, cherry, with formed lumbar support and a padded leather seat.  The lower side rails will be moved up, under the seat.    Definitely a Danish influenced design.                     C. H. Becksvoort © 2012