First of the Season

The warm weather is upon us, so the calls for outdoor projects has begun.  A previous customer called me up wanting to make some improvements to the front of their home. I really enjoy working for repeat customers having that past working relation usually makes the process more comfortable for both parties.

Previous to my arrival the homeowners deck was surrounded by a poorly installed and frankly ugly plastic lattice. The homeowners understandably did not like this and asked me to make an improvement.  After some discussion it was decided to install new 1"x 6" vertical pressure treated fence boards.

After removing the lattice I installed a new sub rail to support the new deck skirting. This took a fair bit more work then anticipated as the front of the deck was out of level. After some shimming and shaving and adjusting the new vertical boards were nailed on level and in a straight line.

And this is the final result.  Able to report happy clients again.

The clients also asked for a gate on the side of the deck so that they can store items under the deck during the winter, so of course I obliged.

In the end a simple project that resulted in a dramatic improvement to the curb appeal of the home, and it was nice to be working outside again.

Cheers

Hans Christopher

Photos, Counters, and Noise

Nothing exciting occurred this week at all.  Work on all my projects continues, some much slower than others.

In the shop this week students learnt about cutting all types of joinery commonly used in furniture making; half blind and sliding dovetails, through mortise and tenon joints and even dowel joinery.  Big shout out to the students at Rosewood this week for making me laugh, you guys rock and best of luck to all of you in your woodworking futures.

After this week I have concluded that the extra bench in the machine room is a nice addition (so that I always have a bench to work at), but it means I work in an environment that is very loud and full of vibration (when any of the machines are being run) and after a short while in that setting all I want to do is find a quiet place to escape to, I look forward to getting back into the bench room next week, where the natural light and quiet environment are much more comfortable to work in.

To avoid the noise and calamity of a full wood shop I worked from the office a lot this past week.  I reviewed the designs for the kitchen and found a mistake I had made.  Luckily I caught the mistake before any material or time was wasted and I am now working on a solution to fix said mistake.  Wednesday I drove around speaking with suppliers to get price estimates for granite and quartz counters.  Four stops and four seemingly identical conversations later I found a company I liked and will hope to do business with on the kitchen renovation.

I also spent a fair amount of time at my drafting table designing small wooden objects that I could possibly do in small batch productions this year.  Items such as mirror frames, book ends and boxes of various shapes and sizes.  I will begin prototyping these ideas so and hope to be selling them in the next few months.

Wooden coasters I made this week

I did get some work on the hall table done as well.  After a trip to KJP Select Hardwoods to purchase some walnut, I broke down all the stock in to rough pieces.  The pieces are now going to sit for a few days to acclimate before I begin milling them to final size.

Breaking down all the components for the table except for the top

And Finally I have spent a few hours today re shooting some of my past pieces.  The hall bench and the walnut box I have shoot on a brand new backdrop that I will use for all my portfolio shoots in the future.  A big thanks to my clients for allowing me to come back and re shoot these pieces in their home.

Re shooting the bench and walnut box

Cheers

Hans Christopher

In The Cold

Like much of North America it has been very cold here this past week, and I am sure I am not the only one wishing to crawl back under the blankets and wait for spring to roll around.

None the less work and life continues.  Rosewood has been very busy this week with the eight students learning about machinery, how to set it up correctly, use it and of course safety.  With so many people in the shop and Ron talking it has been hard to work there (no fault to anyone, just the way it goes).  I have been spending time at my computer instead (drinking lots of tea) working on the website, this blog and researching sustainable furniture and business practices, more on this to follow.

Ron explaining how to safely use a router table

My kitchen table has been reassembled, but it is not finished yet.  It is no longer at risking of falling apart if someone sneezes on it, but the top still needs to be re stained and a coat or two or three of finish still needs to be applied.

Kitchen table with one leaf folded up

Work also continues on the kitchen renovation.  The cabinets are now being constructed, I am waiting on a completion date so I can budget time for the rest of the work that needs to be done.  Next week I will be driving about to source lighting, plumbing fixtures and counter tops.

A second kitchen has come on to my plate.  I am helping some homeowners refinish their kitchen cabinets.  We began yesterday by cleaning the cabinets very well with a solution of TSP and water.  This will help to insure the new finish will adhere.

Finally I am working on a piece of furniture at this time.  My hope is that I can get this piece into a gallery so that people can see my work in person, not just on the web.  I am building a hall table out of maple and walnut, similar in design to my coffee table I built last summer.  Pictures and update will follow as I get underway with this project.

Cheers
Hans Christopher

Kitchen Table Re Build

The first week, of Rosewood's winter 12 week craftsmen program, has just ended.  Lucky for me I still had a bench space this week, only 7 students, so I began repairing my kitchen table.  When I got the table as payment for helping a friend clean out his garage (so practically free) it was in very rough shape.  The finish was faded and scratched, the table was wobbly and coming apart and the whole thing needed a good cleaning, and after living with it in this state for roughly a year I figured it was time for some fixing.

I removed the top from the base, scraped and sanded it down, to remove scratches and blemishes.  I was surprised to learn that the top is made of walnut, not surprisingly the top is made up of many thin strips and little to no care was taken to achieve good grain matches, so I will be staining the top to unify the colour of the heart and sap wood before I put a finish on.

Blue tape to keep the epoxy off the wood surrounding the joints

The base of the table was assembled with dowels and glue, and all of the joints on the stretcher had failed.  I separated the joints the best I could and glued everything back together with epoxy.  Epoxy will stick to just about anything so I did not have to remove the old glue.  A few hours later and I had a solid base again, no more fear of my table collapsing in the middle of a nice Sunday dinner.

The repaired table base

Next step will be to stain and finish the table top.  I am not going to stain and finish the base of the table.  The table is not worth the time it would take to protect it with finish and the base will not be seen much so there is no need to make it look any better than it does.  The top will be seen and abused much more so it is worth the time to add protection and improve its appearance.  This will also give me a chance to try a new finishing product.  I am constantly looking for sustainable solutions in my woodworking, so for this table top I will try using a waterborne stain and finish.  Better to practice on a piece for myself then on a client's piece if I like the result and it is easy enough to work with I will use it on other jobs.

Next week is the mastering machinery class at Rosewood, and it is fully booked, so normally I would have no space to work in.  Ron however moved a small work bench into a corner of the machine room and I will be able to work there for the next two weeks.

My other bench space.

Once the table is finished I will be posting photo's here as well as my website http://www.h3designconstruction.com/

Cheers

Hans Christopher

New Year Blues

Two days into the new work year and it is damn cold here.  Bummer because cold brings everyone's energy down which is not what you want when you are trying to began the new year on a high note.

I have begun the planning for a kitchen renovation, same house I replaced the siding on this past fall.  Brand new kitchen in a very old house can be a challenge, unexpected things behind the walls, floors out of level, nothing square and to say nothing of matching a new kitchen to an existing homes style.

To avoid issues in the project forethought and a certain elasticity in the plan help.  Plan for the worse hope for the best.

I've got the scope worked out, the plan is to refinish the floors, paint the walls, install new cabinets, move appliances and set a new tile back splash.  A straight forward renovation nothing outrageous nothing that pushes the boundaries.

Next step for me is to put together quotes from suppliers and other trades to finalize the budget and once that is done I can draft the plans for the work.

In other news I now have a website for my business H3 Design and Construction, check it out at h3designconstruction.  Let me know what you think of the website and the work I've done.  And keep checking back to see new work.

Cheers
Hans Christopher

Round the Bend

Currently on my bench is a bench.  A sitting bench.  This project started last Tuesday with a trip to KJP Select Hardwoods to purchases the cherry for the bench uprights and drawer components.  At the end of two weeks I have both of the uprights constructed.

The uprights are faceted.  Each of the eight staves (per upright) has a 4 degree bevel cut on the edge.  When all put together the have a slight barrel shape.  To get the best glue joints possible I hand planed all the beveled edges to remove the machine marks.  Then I planed the inside faces which will not be possible after glue up.

I then began prefinishing the staves (easier to do now), and this will also help in the removal of any glue squeeze out.

The finish is three coats of garnet shellac, followed by three coats of super blonde shellac and then two coats of wax buffed out with a cotton cloth.

Next week I wont be at the bench much as Adrian Ferrazzutti will be in at Rosewood Studio teaching box making.  With a full class means I give up my bench to a student, I will still be around helping out with the class and may be able to get a little work done.

Cheers 

Hans Christopher

A Much Wanted Item

Yesterday was the bi-annual Tools of the Trade Show in my home town of Pickering Ontario.  If your in the Greater Toronto Area, and even if your not the show is the place to go to find antique tools and other cool things.  Yesterday I scored an Emmert pattern makers vice.

The vice as I bought it

The vice is in remarkable condition, it worked perfectly so all I needed to do was clean it up a little.  So today I did just that, I fully disassembled the vice (carefully) and cleaned off and out all the schmutz (a technical term).  Then I reassembled (carefully) the vice.

The built in metal dogs spring loaded and fully functional

Few things blur the line between beauty and functionality.  This vice really does just that.  It is an amazing piece of engineering that I have wanted for a while.  I cannot wait to get this mounted on a bench.

The thread and cam mechanism cleaned and reassembled

I also made a set of maple jaw liners for the vice, there a little nicer on wood then the cast iron.  I also plan to make some wooden dogs to use instead of the metals ones (again the wood is a little gentler then iron).

I finished restoring a walnut blanket chest recently as well.  A pain in the butt job, but it paid off in the end.

Going up in the World

Looking back a year on my life the picture below is a great testament to how far I have come in a professional sense.

View first thing Thursday morning at work

This is the view from the porch roof of my latest project.  I am currently repairing some fascia and sofit, as well as installing new drip edge, eaves-trough and downspout.  A year ago I would have been doing similar work in the middle of a big city where the view would have been very different.  Now instead of hearing busy streets and car engines I hear birds singing and wind rustling leaves.  And instead of seeing asphalt and row after row of houses I see trees and wide open fields.  For me this is a great improvement and I find that I enjoy the work I love even more in these beautiful settings.

 The job on the farm house has expanded slightly.  Starting Monday I will be replacing the wood siding on one side of the house above the porch.  I have to build a work platform before all the work can begin and that means some demo first.  If the weather holds I should be able to get the work done this week, and have a great time doing it.

The new wood fascia board installed

Being on a site means little shop time.  Classes are still underway at Rosewood Studio students finished up the mastering machinery course this week.  When at the school I am working on a blanket chest restoration.  I began by stripping all the paint off the chest, with scrapers and chemical strippers (as little as this as possible).  

Under the white paint there was green paint and under that there was some very brown shellac.  And under all of that there was walnut, I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to cover up the walnut, non the less the paint is all off.

Though it took a fair bit to get it out of the moldings.

Recently I finished a small and simple project.  A set of coasters for myself, made out of scrap walnut.  Fun to do and super easy.  The set of eight are book matched and sequential from piece to piece.

Cheers

Hans Christopher

New Semester

The Fall semester has just gotten under way at Rosewood Studio here in Perth.  The students for the six and twelve week classes settled in this week and right away began learning about handplanes and sharpening.  While I, at the back of the room, began work on my next piece of furniture.  Still in the design process, I am hoping to receive a commission for a hall bench (should know by next week if I have a go ahead).

Last week I delivered my latest build, a painted blanket chest.  The new owner is thrilled with the piece and while it is not being put where it was initially intended to go it has found a good home non the less.  The chest its self was a great build and rather fun, a much simpler build compared to the coffee table I recently finished.

I wanted the build to be simple and a relatively quick process so I choose not to dovetail the corners of the chest and instead used a locking rabbet.  Much faster then cutting dovetails, and the piece still feels plenty strong enough and should last for years.

The finish is (obviously seen in the photo) latex paint and while I am fairly happy with the final look (the colour is perfect) the paint was a pain to apply.  For my next painted project I am going to try another type of paint and maybe spray instead of brush it on.

My hope is to be able to sell more of these chests, as the are quick to build and can be adjusted in size fairly easily I can build them to order in a short turn around.  And once my official website goes live there will be a way for people to contact me and place an order.  Which brings me to the other project I have on the go right now, a website.  I am still just getting under way with the site, but I hope to launch the site the end of this month, so check back regularly for a link to the new site, and do not worry the blog is staying.

Cheers
Hans Christopher

Slab Table

Busy, busy, busy.  Since my last post I have been working non stop, not all ways in the shop though.  I have been in the office fairly frequently working on improving my social network, the blog and trying to build a web site.  The idea for all of this Internet based work is to help get me more paying work.  Normally word of mouth is a good way for a construction company to generate job leads.  However being new in town means I know few people and few people know me, but it's getting better and people are starting to know me and what I do.

In more exciting news my first designed and built piece of fine furniture is coming to an end.  This large slab coffee table has been an incredibly fun project, challenging and incredibly rewarding.

Getting the table base glued up was a bit of a nail biter.  Even with sub assemblies the final glue up had ten different glue surfaces coming together all at once; which meant working very quickly.

After the base glued up I secured the top to the base and began the finishing process.  I sealed the top with several coats of shellac to help the final polyurethane coats take more evenly.

After four coats of wipe on polyurethane the table is finished and looks fantastic, I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I will post portfolio pictures of it once I've got them, as well as shots of where the table will be located in my house.

And now on to the next project.  Look closely and you can see it lingering in the background.

Cheers
Hans Christopher

Nice Legs Seated Well

My gawd when did I get so busy.  In three days I finished a drywall repair job (yes begrudgingly I did some drywall work), continued with my coffee table base,  received a commission for a coffee table, was asked for an estimate on a deck and a fence, a estimate for a concrete slab and preliminary design and research for a home I am helping to design.  This means I have been spending more time at the drafting table and computer then I have in the shop.

The work in the shop is going very well.  I am currently building a large slab coffee table.  I have designed and engineered it myself (with some suggestions from Ron).  I went through a few design mock-ups, sketches and drafts, but now the solid walnut version is coming together and looks fantastic.

Getting the 12 legs to fit into the trestle stretcher takes a lot of patience and accuracy to get a tight fit.

Cheers
Hans Christopher