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Chris Fitch, senior designer for Woodsmith magazine takes you step-by-step through “building” picture frames. He offers pointers for making a one-piece molded frame and shows how to add contrasting wood to a basic frame. His easy-going style makes the entire process seem so simple.

In less than an hour, Chris manages to rout moldings for two frames, cut the rabbets and miters, glue the frame up (with some great tips for clamping), plus cut the mat and glass to size for a finished frame. Click on the thumbnail (or download the video to your hard drive) and join Chris in the Woodsmith Shop for a close-up view of how he does it.

 

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The Amana Colonies are a National Historic Landmark located in eastern Iowa. Known for their food and shopping, the colonies are made up of seven villages. The Amana Society, Inc. owns over 26,000 acres of rolling hills and farmland along the Iowa river. This land includes the largest privately owned forest in Iowa and that’s where I found the white Oak log that I’m going to use to build a set of dining room chairs and maybe a rocking chair or two.

As you know, I bought the log from the forestry division of the Amana Shops. I drove up yesterday morning and with the help of Larry Gnewikow and Tim Krauss, I had a tree cut down and dragged to a clearing by 11:00 am. Then for the next two hours or so, I tried to put the lessons I’d learned last spring while attending a ladderback chair class at the John C. Campbell Folk School to good use.

I’ve never tried to split a tree of this size before. In fact, except for chopping firewood, I’ve never really tried to split a tree at all. I brought with me the tool box containing all my tools that I used to build the chair last spring. I also brought along a couple of sledge hammers, two 4-lb. steel wedges, four plastic wedges, and two hard maple splitting wedges that I’d made myself.

The first step in splitting a tree this size (approx. 20″-24″ diameter) is to score a line. Well, actually the first step is to find any splits that happen naturally from the stress of being cut down. As you can see in the photo at left, I neglected to do that and had to redo my score marks after I discovered this stress crack. Trying to fight that crack is next to impossible, so it’s best to take the path of least resistance.

Once I’d completed the scoring I switched to my 12-lb. sledge and started in on the steel wedges. It’s kind of hard to see here, but once the wedges start to take a bite, the tree will split perfectly along the scored line. At least you hope it will! This tree wasn’t perfect, but it is pretty close to veneer grade. This means the bark runs straight up and down, there are no visible knots or branches, and the growth rings should be concentric and start in the exact middle of the trunk.

The split veered off just a bit at the bottom edge (photo above), but that had more to do with my crooked scoring than anything. Once I’d gotten the tree to split across its width, I started to concentrate on splitting it across its length. After about a half hour, I’d managed to get the log split in two.

Eventually, I managed to get one half split into quarters. I used an axe to split the fibrous splinters holding the two sections together. Like I mentioned, it only took me about a half hour to make the first split. The second and third splits took considerably longer! But, all in all, I’m happy with the results of my hard days work. I’ll keep you posted on how the chairs are coming along. -Joel

One of the things that I like about woodworking is that there are so many different ways to work wood. So if you’re adventurous, you can use hand tools to do almost all the work. Or even take it a step further and go back to the way they worked wood in the 19th century, and use old hand tools!

I spent most of the day in woods outside Middle Amana, Iowa today splitting a six-foot section of veneer-grade white Oak. Man, was that a lot of work. You may remember that last spring, I took a ladderback chair building class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. During the class, we started out with a small quarter section of a red Oak tree and rived it into chair parts. All of the work of felling the tree and splitting it into quarter sections was done by the instructor for the class, Lyle Wheeler. Lyle is a big, burly guy and now I know how he got that way!

Anyway, I contacted Larry Gnewikow, forester for Amana Society Forestry. Larry manages the largest privately-owned hardwood forest in the state of Iowa and one of the largest in the midwest and he agreed to sell me a 5-6 foot section of white Oak. Larry and forester Tim Krauss were waiting for me at a clearing where they had been logging white Oak for a veneer factory in northeast Iowa. Normally, the factory takes 8-12 foot long logs, but Larry explained that occasionally they’ll find trees with only 5 or 6 feet of veneer-grade trunk that the factory won’t accept. Since that’s all I needed, I took the good stuff and the rest will most likely be sold for pallets. Note the knot about 6 feet up in the photo at left. That’s all it takes to get rejected.

Tim started by surveying the best location to fell the tree. Then he cut a notch on that side of the tree. Next, he removed the taper at the bottom of the trunk so that it wouldn’t roll around when I got ready to split it. Tim knows his work and it took less than 10 minutes (with chips flying everywhere!) for him to drop the tree and have it ready for the skid to pull it out to the clearing.

I’ll tell you how I split it tomorrow. -Joel

Welcome to the Woodsmith Store Woodworking Seminars.

This week’s seminar is “Why You Need Hand Planes in Your Shop.” Your seminar presenter is Randy Maxey, assistant editor for Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines.

 

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A couple of weeks ago we uploaded our first podcast to the internet. The hour-long video explains in detail how to cut dadoes, grooves, rabbets, and laps on your table saw. Ever since then, otherwise media-savvy people here at work, have come up to me and asked, “I don’t own an iPod, so how am I supposed to watch the podcast?”

I suppose the confusion begins with the word “podcast,” a combination of iPod and broadcast. Since Apple mp3 players (iPods) dominate the portable media device market, the name has become synonymous with podcasting. But the fact is, you don’t need to own an iPod to watch our online video.

There are, in fact, three ways to watch our video:

1) Click on the thumbnail (or the “Play it Now” buttons) and watch it on your browser as a streaming video. If you leave WoodworkingOnline while using this option, you’ll have to start the stream all over again when you return.

2) Or, click on “Play in Popup” button. A popup viewer will open and you can watch it there as a streaming video. Leaving WoodworkingOnline doesn’t affect the viewer or the stream.

3) Finally, you can download the video to your computer (in order to view it later) by right-clicking on the “Download” link next to the option of your choice and clicking “Save As.”

We also offer you another way to subscribe to the seminar podcasts by using an iTunes feed. This means that when we release a new podcast, iTunes will automatically download it for you. If you already use iTunes, simply click on the “Subcribe to the iTunes Feed” button. If you aren’t familiar with iTunes, then you ought to be. It’s really the easiest way to stay current and up-to-date.

But there is a learning curve to using the iTunes site.

To subscribe to our Seminar video using iTunes, you must first install the iTunes player. (You can download it for free here.) When it’s installed, click on the “Music Store” in the left hand pane.

Once you’re in the iTunes Music Store, click on the “Search” bar in the upper right hand corner. Type the search word “Woodsmith” in that search bar and you will find our podcast.

Once you find it, simply click on “Subscribe” and the most recent seminar will be downloaded and all subsequent videos will automatically be downloaded. (Note: Please remember that iTunes must be running on your computer in order to download new episodes of the podcast automatically.)

The main advantage is that you can make the most of your time by telling iTunes download manager what content you want to download, and in what order. You can also use iTunes to browse the world of the podcasts by clicking on “Podcasts” button in the left hand window pane.

One of our editors, Phil Huber, sent me a link this morning to this article about a modern shop behind the scenes at Colonial Williamsburg.  It’s a modern shop, but they produce historically accurate reproductions of tools, surgical instruments, and a host of other items needed by the Historic Trades at Colonial Williamsburg.  I found it a fascinating read.  Be sure to check out the “Slide Show” at the bottom of the article’s page.

Once I was on the Colonial Williamsburg web site, I got lost.  There are all sorts of links to information about the tools and trades.  I intend to read them all but, of course, I was most interested in the cabinetmaking trade. 

I hope you get as much enjoyment reading these articles as I do.

Welcome to the Woodsmith Store Woodworking Seminars.

This week’s seminar is Joinery Fundamentals: Mortise & Tenon. Your seminar presenter is Joel Hess, associate editor for Woodsmith, ShopNotes, and Workbench magazines.

 

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The reaction is the same every time. Everyone’s jaw drops when they come into the shop and spot the Craftsman’s Tool Chest. It’s a beautiful piece. Then they have to walk over and run their fingers over it, open the doors, and slip the drawers in and out a few times. If you’ve got some tools that need a soft bed in leather-lined drawers, this project is for you. But it looks so good, it could be a great home for jewelry, too.

If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at bent lamination, but were a little intimidated by all the forms and jigs that seemed to be necessary, here’s a project for you. We show you a great way to build a Curved-Leg End Table with simple forms and techniques. We’ll even show you how to create a decorative epoxy inlay to finish it off.

And this small Desktop Message Center is just the ticket for storing the day’s mail and jotting down reminders with its pop-up note dispenser.

And there’s lots more inside. Like what to look for in Woodworking Chisels and Safety Glasses. There are techniques to show you How to get Perfect Plywood Edges and tips and techniques for Resawing. There’s also a review of the new ProMiter-100 Digital Miter Gauge. And for a unique finish, try wood bleaching.

It’s all there in the current issue of Woodsmith magazine.

I love old wood.  Not only the wood found in antique furniture, but I mean old wood found in old barns and houses.  There are companies that systematically tear down old barns piece by piece just to reclaim their wood.  I once saw some lumber cut from large chestnut beams from a barn.  It was estimated to be at least 100 years old.  It was some of the most beautiful wood I’ve seen.

For me, using reclaimed wood in my projects means I can give new life to old wood and hopefully it’ll be admired for years to come.  Here’s an article I ran across that talks about the demand for old wood:  Race for Rare, Old Wood

I was working on my long “Honey-Do” list this morning.  The joints on one of our dining room chairs had broken loose from the kids leaning back on them.  Do your kids do that?  Anyway, I lugged it to the shop and discovered that one of the corner braces had broken out.

I found a piece of maple to make a replacement brace.  I quickly discovered that the blade in my table saw was in no condition to cut maple.  As I tried to cut one of the angled ends, I had burning on the workpiece.  But, instead of taking the time to switch out blades, I forced the piece through to finish the cut.  Stupid Act No. 1.  Soon my shop was filled with smoke.  My wife came out into the shop and asked, “What in the world are you doing?”  I told here I was cutting hard wood with a dull blade.  “You need some ventilation,” she said.  So I opened the doors to the outside. 

I finally had this piece cut and it was time to drill the four pocket holes for the screws.  So I chucked the appropriate-sized drill bit in the drill press and started drilling.  The first pocket hole went fine.  As I was drilling the second one, my 11-year old boy walks in and asks, “Whatcha’ doin’?”  About that time, the drill bit grabbed the workpiece and made hamburger out of the index finger on my left hand.  I replied, “Well, I’m breaking a cardinal rule of woodworking,” I told him.  “Always clamp the workpiece when using the drill press.”  Stupid Act No. 2. 

So I managed to get my wife to help me bandage my wound.  I eventually made it back to the shop and finished the job.  I delivered the repaired chair back to the dining room.  And took a nap.

Now, I know better than this.  I fell into the trap of thinking, “This won’t take long.”  I was in a hurry even though I had nothing else on the agenda for the day.  Was it stupidity?  Laziness?  Bottom line is that neither one belongs in the shop.