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Custom Woodwork : Furniture : Cabinets : Millwork

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This should make for a nice countertop. And workout. #customcounter #brownmaple #counter #countertop

Slivers suck. I've keep the smaller pair of tweezers in my apron for years. They work well, but I still resort to a pin or knife for the deep ones. My wife found these Quo tweezers on clearance ($2 CAD) at Shoppers Drug Mart and bought me a pair. Then went back for another 5. The tips are like needles, so I no longer have to gouge out the area for those stubborn slivers. Definitely a useful tool for the shop. #tweezers #sliver #splinter #sliverremover #quotweezers

Had the opportunity to work on the base for the coffee table/bench today. I used my Krenov-style sawhorses, resting the piece upside down on the lower crossbars. This allowed me to use that face as my reference. My router some rails for the router sled, some spacers to dial in the channel width, and before you know it, I had a pile of sawdust. And some tight fitting joinery. Next step is to shape the feet. A bit of back and forth with the client and @lineschiselsandbrayers, and we came up with a design (prototyped in scrap pine). #coffeetable #bench #nowthisisaliveedge #poplarcrotch #popularcrotch

Well, I finally took my Record 778 rabbet plane for a drive. This plane replaced my Stanley 78. What a fantastic upgrade: better steel for the iron; two bars for the fence; better depth adjuster. My wife and I were supposed to have flown out on Saturday morning to be in Grenada with friends. We did cancelled our trip. With Canada having now closed its borders due to the coronavirus, I'm glad we did. We've been practicing social distancing, and only going out for supplies. I've postponed any and all on-site work. Fortunately, my next several commissions are pieces which will keep me in the shop. They may just have to stay in the shop longer than usual. Stay safe, stay healthy, and do everything you can to help others do the same. #handplane #rabbetplane #record778

#nofilter Going for an amethyst-tinted epoxy to fill the cracks. When I suggested a colour, her daughter yelled "purple". She acquiesced, requesting for a colour closer to her grandmother's antique purple wine glasses. Thanks for the speedy delivery of the Alumilite dyes @woodchuckers_artistic_wood.

#nofilter Decided, with the client, to fill the cracks with purple epoxy, matching the antique amethyst wine glasses from her grandmother. To keep the dyed epoxy from bleeding into the surrounding wood, I applied a seal coat of clear epoxy. And, wow. Just wow. Had to share. #poplarcrotch #notpopularcrotch

Repairing a mid-century modern teak chair. To quote the client, "This is why Dave (her husband) isn't allowed to fix things." The legs are held to the frame with a single bolt running through the corner block and into a long cross dowel (barrel nut) inside the leg. The original bolt was snapped off inside the cross dowel (hello cross threading and brute force). Someone decided to try using a bucket of glue and softwood dowels to fix it. When that didn't work, they switched to big screws coming up through the stretchers. I got to patch holes, glue a splintered front apron back together, and drill out a cross dowel. I ended up drilling all around it to pull it out, then plugged the 3/4" diameter hole I made with a plug made from teak. I got to use Bill's carbide plug cutter; what a wonderful tool that is.

I hate @ikeacanada. But, my longtime clients wanted to reuse some existing cabinetry, so I did what I could to make it look good and fit in the space. The Ikea Lack floating shelves are just awful, and never sit, nor stay, level. Fortunately, these were being captured between the cabinets. They're a torsion box of 3mm hardboard with a honeycomb of paper between them. Which meant adding some blocking into which I could drive some fasteners. By orienting the blocking grain vertically, wood movement won't blow these shelves apart. #ikea #ikeahack #reuse #keepingikeaoffthecurb

Bill's tools. Bill was my mentor, and is my very good friend. Currently in palliative care, he is becoming less responsive every day due to the multiple tumours in his brain. When he was diagnosed with cancer and forced to retire, he gave away most of his tools. Myself and another friend helped him clear out his workshop of 19 years. That's where we had met, 8 years prior, workshops side by side in a storage facility. Two days ago, I emptied his shed of the remainder of his tools. His family asked me to distribute them amongst his friends. My van was packed from floor to ceiling; tools I had seen used, had heard stories of, and tools I didn't realize he still had. Yesterday a mutual friend came over, and we shared stories while sorting through everything. What he could use, he took, and left the rest for other friends. This scenario will play out multiple times over the next while. The tools pictured were in Bill's well worn tool pouch. The tools I first saw him using on the first job we worked together. His level of skill and efficiency drove me to learn as much as I could from him. We would chat regularly, about work and life, and I would call him almost daily for advice. He was a phenomenal story teller, and could teach you to not be a dumbass while making you laugh. He was the only person I trusted to work on my own home, and together we built my workshop. Even though he was sick, we had planned to finish it this spring. He wanted to see it finished. Unfortunately, that isn't how life played out. He always pushed me to do better, taught me how to "slime" things to make it look right, and was always happy to talk and help. His tools are a physical reminder of his teachings. Sharing stories with family and friends, some of Bill's own and many about him, is keeping his memory alive. He told me that the only good thing about cancer is it made him realize just how much he is loved, and how much he had impacted a great number of people. I am honoured to know him, and to aspire to the level of craftsmanship that was his standard. Always aim for 100%, because that way you'll at least hit 80%. #billclerkmemories

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