The Garden Of Ideas By Richard Aitken

The Garden of Ideas: 250 Years of Australian Garden Style ...The Garden of Ideas. View larger images. Richard Aitkenhqdefault.jpghqdefault.jpg

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The Bulbs of Summer

How to plant and care for summer bulbs - Sunset.Some summer bulbs, however,Pesches Flowers Garden Rx Winter Jump Start Your Summer BulbsJump Start Your Summer Bulbs

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Flowers of Japan

japanese flowers Tumblr#pink · #flowers · #japanFlowers for Japan - KubeFlowers for Japan

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The Art Of Woodworking

Today, i will say sometings about the art of woodworking.
People who grow their own the art of wood projects. If you are one of those people who want to try your hands on the art of woodworking custom wood work, you need a few things to know about him.
You need some tools, the first place, as you probably know already. The art of woodworking you start to finish, would be a hammer, screwdriver, tape measure, spirit level and a good saw or a hand or a table saw, or both, depending on how much you want to output. If you used a table saw, what works could be found, then it is to take a good route.
I hope you have a place where your wood work, nobody bothers you or break you. Distractions should be kept to a minimum, how easily accidents can occur when sharp objects are treated. If you can not be a corner in the garage or small barn, a perfect place for your wood would be. Set up your device and you can start after you have selected the plan and the wood you need.
Good woodworking plans do you keep focused on doing the work, then the direction to take when you measure and cut. Take time and go slowly until you experience under your belt. Be patient with yourself about your work if you want to improve your skills, all the incentive you need to keep things on an even keel.

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Wish I Could Think of a Witty Title

I was struggling to bring together a pun involving the fact that the package that arrived today contained a massive #7 Stanley plane and that Boeing 7*7 series airliners are massive planes. Anyone have any suggestions?

Well, Ill get right down to it. I did a rough tune-up on the plane to get it in working order and am happy to say it seems to be properly functioning now. Heres the glamor shot:

For those not in the know, the #7 is a jointer plane made for flattening surfaces. The length of the sole provides a large reference surface off of which the iron tracks.
If you want to find some real nut-cases out there, search around the internet for vintage plane enthusiasts. In the parlance of that particular group, this specimen is what is known as a "user." In other words, its in decent shape but not exactly pretty. Thats fine with me; I cant afford to buy stuff for show. It certainly is manly, isnt it?
This picture showing how the plane iron and chipbreaker came reminds me of an anecdote:

Note how the bevel--if you could call it that--is oriented up, towards the chipbreaker. 

I forget the context of the story, but a man is visiting California for the first time and has been just dying to try out surfing for the first time. On the last day of his trip he runs out to a surf shop, buys a wetsuit and board, throws them in his car and drives down the beach. To his dismay he see signs up informing him that there are rough conditions present and only advanced surfers should be out there. Im not going to let that stop me he thinks, Ive come too far and spent all this money and there is no way Im not going to try surfing. So he gets suited up and is carrying his board across the beach when suddenly, from 200 yards down the beach, the lifeguard blows his whistle, points directly at the man and yells, "Hey! You! No beginners!" The man walks over to the lifeguard and asks, "How in the world did you know that I was a beginner?...I didnt even get in the water." The lifeguard: "Your wetsuit is on backwards."

There are just certain things that so glaringly obvious to those in the know that they can be seen from 200 yards away. 

Bench planes have the iron bevel-down (yes yes, I know there are exceptions.) No wonder the seller was ready to get rid of it, it probably didnt work so hot this way. Anyway, I noticed this before I even got it out of the bubble wrap.

Other issues:

The knob is chipped. No big deal.

The tote is chipped and cracked...

...but the crack is repaired now. I can live with it.

This is about 10 seconds worth of lapping the sole. Yeah...there was a little oxidation. My mouth still tastes like pennies; I should probably pick up some dust masks from work on Friday. All told I spent about 30 minutes and maybe seven yards of PSA-backed sandpaper flattening the sole and sides. 

The blade also needed a fair amount of work but its shaving-sharp now and the whole rigs works really well.

In other news, I routed the rabbets on the underside of the tabletop today. These will provide a reference for the tool tray. Heres a picture of the underside of the assembly:

For the record, I have experienced no diminishing returns in owning two Workmates. In fact, I would say that owning two is more than twice as useful as owning one. Three is probably overkill, although there have been times...

I think that will do it for today. Scary stuff starts happening tomorrow when I start the process of pulling it all together. Mistakes will be made, of that I am sure.

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State of Craft Show The Bennington Museum

State of Craft ... Exploring the Studio Craft Movement in Vermont: 1960-2010. Runs from May 22nd to October 31st at The Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont . Curated by Jamie Franklin and Anne Majusiak, it displays the work of 85 craftspersons, (is that how we call us?) 125 objects, oral histories, studio interviews .... I dont generally look for shows to be in, but this one found me and Im glad it did .... Click the pictures to enlarge them ....
"Bridges", our piece, is a collaboration between Dan (b. 1947) , Sam (b. 1982) and Will (b. 1984) Inspired partly by my grandfather, Irvin Seeders, a bridge riveter for Bethlehem Steel for 52 years (b. 1902), BS from 1916 to 1968. For the show, I thought it would be good if his generation, my generation and the next generation were represented. You know, a 100 years of craft or something .... just a thought ...Our piece started as a couple of different ideas, based on other designs we had created, but took on a life of its own. For a while it was going to be gold leaf and bubinga, then high finish walnut and blued steel, but in the end, it came to be made of recycled oak (heritage and tradition) and painted steel, with the rivet connection to my grandfather the coup de grace. Sam did the steel work and the green paint; Will did the burning and finishing, and I did a little roughing out of the wood and assembly and helped with the conceptual stuff. On the whole, a lot of fun. The show opens next Saturday and I am really looking forward to it ... Should be a good party ...
Early on .. after we decided on the recycled oak, but before the rivets ... The burnings seemed unrelated ...
The initial paint job, which was later toned down by sanding through to the red primer and glazing ...
The rivets ... I forget exactly whose brainstorm that was, but it was a good one ...
Will, burning the oak prior to staining and glazing ....
After the burning and stain, before the sanding and glazing ...
Its a bridge ...
A rusty one in Shelburne, MA
A soaring and inspirational one in New York, the GW, which Im pretty sure my grandfather worked on ...
Some of the other pieces in the show .... this is the underside of the quarter bench below
There was no label and I dont know the artist, but hes from Brattleboro.
Other objects ready to go ..

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20 years of open studio

 

 this weekend marks the 20th anniversary of vermont open studio weekend.  we took a couple years off when we moved from arlington to dorset, but i think this is the 16th or 17th year for us.  its a great event.  there are over 250 artists across vermont who will be opening their studios to the public saturday and sunday, 10-5 both days.  look for the yellow signs.    there will be a lot to see at our shop:  kit will be there with her handmade jewelry, penny viscusi will have her locally inspired pastels, sams metalwork, wills banjos and for one reason or another, a large collection of our furniture, both completed and in process.  there are two pieces left from our winter show, the mirror and the bureau, an unusual 11 copper top table, waiting to be delivered to connecticut next week, and the square mahogany coffee table in the previous blog post.

 this figured cherry bureau measures about 36 wide x 39 high by about 23" deep.  all items will have special open studio special reduced prices.

and the mirror has a stand from the show or can be hung directly on a flat wall.

well also have a claro walnut slab table with the rebar base with six chairs.  we are planning to have that all finished friday so that it can be delivered to the guilford, vermont welcome center where it will be on display for the summer months.

 

 and a copper top porch table which is a new concept for us .. above is an early view, before the copper was nailed on and the base completed ...  this post will be updated with new photos as we approach the opening bell saturday morning ... come on by if youre in the area .. this saturday and sunday 10-5 both days.

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