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Custom Woodwork : Furniture : Cabinets : Millwork

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This is about all my family will see of me for the next undetermined amount of time. My wonderful wife, @mindfulmamatoronto, bought me @pekovichwoodworks' book for my birthday, and I now understand what all the hype is about. It is incredibly well written and engaging, and the photography is beautiful. I've just started reading it, and this will definitely be a book I return to tips for years to come. Thank you, Mike, for creating such a well thought out book. #thewhyandhowofwoodworking #birthdaypresent #mywifecheckedmywishlist #woodworkingbook

With @jjjjayhawk's help, I rearranged the handtool cabinet. By moving some shallower tools to the side wall, there is now much more room for the Kunz 112 scraper plane, and some other bits which have yet to make it into the cabinet. Made a holder for the Veritas pocket plane, to match the one for the apron plane. #pocketplane #apronplane #veritasplane #veritaspocketplane #veritasapronplane #planeholder #handtoolcabinet

So, I'm working on some white oak stair treads, and my first cut is wrong. So I use that tread elsewhere. My first cut for the new location is also wrong. This tread wraps around a post, and I marked my line about 10mm off. Here's how I fixed my error. Taking a tip from @philipmorleyfurniture, I cut a shallow groove (which also allowed me to get rid of the knot hole) the entire length of the tread. Cut a mating piece of white oak, glued it in, planed and sanded it flush, and attached the nosing return. #stairs #woodworking #fixingamistake #10mmhandoff #whiteoak #stairrefacing

So, I may have picked up another plane. This is the Veritas pocket plane (not to be confused with the Veritas apron plane, which is slightly larger). This is straight out of the box (gonna have to make a blade holder for my honing guide). It's nice and light, and very nimble. It will definitely see a lot of use, especially on some of my smaller projects. With the latest additions (Bill's Record low angle block plane, Kunz 112 scraper plane, and the pocket plane), I've decided to sell off some planes. I have the both the standard and low angle "made in England" Stanley block planes sold by Lee Valley. Both have been super tuned, and the LA has a PM-V11 iron. Neither is seeing any use, so they should go to maker who will use them. They also have some pretty sexy walnut holders. #pocketplane #veritaspocketplane #smallplane #blockplane #handplane #woodshavingwednesday

My smallest Whackamajig yet. Mark from @woodchuckers_artistic_wood gave me one of his stabilized and dyed curly maple blocks, and a stick of African blackwood, and asked me to make him a mallet. In exchange for making my shop look like I skinned a muppet, I got a block of verawood. And a rather colourful offcut which has already been claimed by my daughter. #Whackamajig #mallet #tapamajig #malletmaking #verawood #stabilizedwood #curlymaple #blackwood #africanblackwood

Working with stabilized wood is... interesting. More akin to working with plastic with grain direction. And it leaves a rather colourful mess behind. Thought of your work the entire time, Konrad @sauer_and_steiner. #stabilizedwood #dyedwood #whackamajig #whilethegluedries

Close up of the grain on my latest #Whackamajig. This one is in #verawood, purchased @woodchuckers_artistic_wood. Wasn't sure about the colour at first, but now I absolutely love it. The feathering in the grain reminds me of pine needles. Bulnesia arborea is a flowering evergreen canopy tree which is native to Central and northern South America. It grows to an average of 50 feet, with a trunk diameter of 1 to 2 feet. It related to lignum vitae, and shares many of the same characteristics, and uses. Not quite as hard (3700lbs on the Janka scale compared to 4400lbs), it is a waxy, oily wood with interlocked grain with phenomenal rot and decay resistance. Due to its self-lubricating properties, it (and lignum vitae) have been used as propeller shaft bearings in ships, bushings, pulleys, bandsaw guides, and mallets and other tools. It polishes beautifully, and due to its natural oil content, feels silky to the touch. It has a very distinct flowery perfume. It is listed in the CITIES Appendix II, and without proper conservation, would become endangered. Third photo of flowers and leaves from toptropicals.com. Information from toptropicals.com, wood-database.com, and wikipedia.com.

Problem solving with magnets. #magnets1001uses #Whackamajig

Just an old "made in England" Record block plane. To you, perhaps. To me, it is a treasured gift, from a very good friend and mentor. I've posted about this plane before. Well, its mate - Bill has two. One is still in Bill's tool belt, while this one went into a drawer because the adjuster knob popped off. This may be the (but it is probably the other) one which I first saw him magically fit casing with. Magical at the time, because I had zero experience with planes, and the way he was able to quickly make micro adjustments to get a perfect fit was magic. Honestly, watching him work is still magical. Since he gave it to me, it has been sitting in prominent view in my tool cabinet. I was spurred to clean it up after the Bill asked how the plane was doing. I soldered the knob back on (if it pops off again, I'll pin it), flattened the sole, sharpened the iron, and gave it a cleaning. As much as I want to keep this plane in the shop, it is going to become my on-site plane. It is a constant reminder of Bill, his lessons, his stories, his craftsmanship, and his friendship. #keepcraftalive

Saturday morning I traveled north of the city to pick up some handtools. What I didn't realize was that they were all new, old stock. Never used. Properly stored. This Kunz 112 scraper plane was one piece in the lot. It came with two blades, and a Stanley 3 x 5 OHS card scraper, all unused. I took a few minutes (okay, about 30) to polish the back and turn a burr on one blade. This is my first go. I have no idea how to set this up (I've been too busy to even research it yet), but I wanted to show it off (as a good tool geek should). The gentleman was selling his recently deceased uncle's tools for his aunt. His uncle was a cabinet maker, who also taught at the local high school. He was happy to see the tools go to someone who will care for and use them. Any info shared is very much appreciated. #kunz112 #kunz #scraperplane #kunzscraperplane #onedaylatefor #handtooltuesday

Slowly working on a new Whackamajig. I can't ship blackwood internationally due to CITIES restrictions (it is part of the Dalbergia genus, and falls under the same restrictions as rosewood), but I wanted a black handle. Enter Peruvian/tropical walnut. Rich in tannins, it reacts incredibly well to a vinegar/steel wool solution. Once the oil hits it, it will be exactly what I want. #malletmaking #Whackamajig #peruvianwalnut #tropicalwalnut #mallethandle #steelwoolandvinegar

One of the projects I've been working on has been refinishing and changing this set of stairs from an open to a closed stringer. The last picture shows what I started with. The red oak of the treads and risers had to be bleached after stripping to better match the new floors. Yesterday, I finally got the faux stringer installed, and today I get to paint it. The new steel handrail is to be crafted by @adam_fullerton. The one side of the newel post base will be attached after the handrail has been installed. This allows Adam to firmly bolt it to the structure, without any visible fasteners. Starting with a template of the stairs, the faux stringer is three pieces laminated together. The first hugs the treads and risers. The second is cut back, creating a slot which slides over the blocks which are screwed to the treads and risers. The third is a piece of 1/4" solid oak which covers everything, including the existing stringer. And PL Premium sticks it all together. #stairmodification #stairrefinishing #stairrenovation #homerenovation #stairs

Been thinking about this media cabinet of late, as I have an upcoming commission using quarter sawn white oak and the same finish (Osmo Polyx with a touch of white). That and I didn't take any pictures of the faux closed stringer getting its final fit and finish. #customcabinetrytoronto #customfurnituretoronto #customfurniture #customcabinet #whiteoak #quartersawnwhiteoak #madewithosmo

So, I kinda laminated this piece in the wrong spot, which meant it was a teensy bit too short. A perfect reason to keep all project offcuts until the project is finished (gotta work on not keeping them beyond that...). Mark and cut with a handsaw, then clean up with a block plane. Mating piece cut on the bandsaw, then cleaned up with the block plane. Pulled together with blue tape, and clamped flat. Scraped smooth, and ready for sanding and paint. Final picture is of the show face (which is actually going to be painted, but the grain will still show through). #woodworking #scarfjoint #stretchingwood #measuretwicecutonce #doublecheckbeforeglueup #fixinganerror

I've been really happy with the glues @starbondadhesives has sent me. For lighter toned woods, like oak, their brown (as opposed to black, which is too dark) CA glue makes for great knot filling/stabilizing. I used to use epoxy, but the long wait time really hampered productivity. Here, in under 4 minutes, the knot was sealed, scraped flush, and ready for the next steps. #caglue #knotfilling #starbondadhesives

Yesterday was tough. Probably one of the most physically difficult days of my life. Halfway through the day I developed a wicked headache which left me nauseous. And then the kids' caregiver arrived and started cooking all the foods which turn my stomach on a good day. There were a couple of times I walked through the kitchen and almost projectile vomited out the back door. But through sheer determination I finished the job in time for the painter to do his thing today. So, about the job - it was reinstalling the door casing, and new baseboard in the room which I wove new flooring into. The existing door casing didn't hit the floor, so I had to go out and buy new (turns out that none of the casing in that part of the house hits the floor because there had been carpet at one point). The picture is of a junction box. I discovered loose, live wires in the wall, and because they were so short, this is where their new box had to go. To top it off, the drywaller cut out for the box, then filled it compound. It was still wet when I dug it out. Oh, and this job started as replacing window casing. Turned into a complete gut, including moving walls and a door.

Two months. I've had these boots for two months. This is my second pair of these boots in two months, as the first pair had a grommet pull out after 2 days. This is the replacement pair. This is from daily, light use in a workshop. Pretty disappointing. Think I'll go back to my Terra Venoms. Or Blundstone. #workbootfail

Patching and transitioning new strip hardwood into old after moving a wall and door. #thishastakenfarlongerthanithought #hardwoodflooring #flooring #flooringrepair

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