back in the big stink -
33 degrees
you’ve gotta be kidding me.
summer crawled away but i’d like to welcome you back to the (unplugged ) woodshop.
lots of wood shavings falling
with ideas churning…
i thought i’d share some of the past 7 weeks with you-
my wife and i celebrated our 10th anniversary this summer and marked a decade of renovations on our home in cape breton.
what a better way to spend our summer,
working together,
hammers in hand-
our hearts in the family tree that we nurture.
from the sand castle smiles on our childrens faces
to each and every nail driven through cedar shake hanging;
it was a well needed break to rejeuvenate the system and build up some steam for a busy season ahead.
Lots to cover so no time for ‘the sucker fish’
…yet.
stay tuned and enjoy.
cheers!
a chisel rack in the window was the first thing to make once the cobwebs were cleared and the dust swept away from the season of winter past
reclaimed elm from kings rd. in sydney will become two built in cabinets for some friends in bras d' or.
milling and shaping- a bookmatched cabinet door is hollowed to a pleasant inside curve...the scrub plane iron works as a make-shift scraping tool. what ever works right?
i considered making a round bottom 'krenov style' hand plane for this task but time isn't always on our side...
i'm still surprised when i discover what you can do with only a hand ful of tools and a little determination. (some imagination doesn't hurt either)
to catch gentle shavings as they fall from your hand plane
the medicine cabinet door- my clients are a doctor and a luthier.... no pressure- no pressure!
an arrow or a sail- the upper part of the second built in comes together in a face frame.
rails for the large door on the second built in shaped with rasp and files
the elm is stained to ebony to match my clients home decor- this was the hardest part of the process for me...
sliding tenon for medicine cabinet interior- the bad axe marks the area to remove.
basic box joinery coming together- a frame will be added to the book matched back panel of elm.
early august rain signals a half way point of our summer on the coast- time to work outside
eastern white cedar shakes the south side of our 100 year old farm house- the dance went something like this, i tear off all of the old shingles and my wife and i re sheet the exterior walls with an exterior plywood product followed by some house wrap and then traditional cedar shingles...the window trims are all made from larch wood milled about 5 kilometers from the house with some of the old timber frame off cuts to fill in some gaps.
a better saw bench? this one was here when we bought our house a decade ago- i don't know how old it is but a few planks and some long spikes are all you really need for years of use and abuse.
my wife and i installed 13 new windows a few years ago and now continue on down renovation row...the roof and 3 skylights are on an 8 year anniversary and the house was lifted and a full foundation was poured with new floor joists and sills, plumbing and electrical two years ago! hind sight being 20/20 i think i'll build the next one from scratch.
over my shoulder...the beast master works for through some timber.
window trim stained ebony- some foresight and some luck will see this trim fade to a charcoal gray just in time for the cedar to turn its natural silver patina in the coming years.
carolyn finishes off the final rows of cedar- i didn't drive a single nail on this project. it was her handy work. you wanna know the secret to a successful partnership? find a girl that can swing a hammer!
the sills and headers are carefully notched around the shingles to keep the water out.
finished trim along with the three rows of smaller shingle spacing adds another detail to the cedar.this b & w shot helps me visualize where the colors will fade in the years to come.
some tunes and a few beverages in the evening hours after some good work. you can see my five drawer cherry side table in the back ground
a painted daisy in front of some of carlo's artwork...the timber will have to wait a little longer.
ideas waiting inside new pages...
oh yeah- we managed to get in a bit of beach time while we were home as well-;) nelson on the left, piper in the middle and mom burying the evidence.
nelson from atlantis and piper the mermaid ~
12 Comments
Thanks for sharing a glimpse of the summer, looks like a lot was accomplished, and a good time was had by all!
Wonderful photos, Tom. I can’t understand how you can live in Toronto after living as you do in Cape Breton. Looks like heaven to me.
Cheers — Larry
Great to read you again Tom! Look like you had a great summer out east! The pictures look awsome and as for the hot weather of Toronto, I don’t envy you at all… I’m so glad fall is here in the north west! Can’t wait to see what you are coming up with in the neer future!
Cheers
David
Appears you had a tremendous summer! Fun and productive with the family. What more can one ask for.
Cheers,
bE
Hi Tom,
Welcome back to the hot yoga hell that is southern Ontario.The pics look great – so does the house and the fun on the beach.
Cheers,
Konrad
Hey. Glad to hear you guys are back safe and sound. The house looks great. I can see from the pics that the old shack in Chimney Corner’s heading into its last fall. Talk to you soon.
Mike
Tim-
thanks for the comment- we did manage to get a lot of work done around the house thanks to our fantastic families being so close by to watch the kids every now and again! amazing how much you can accomplish when you only have a ‘vacation’ to do it in!
Larry- you said it…..
we still have some work to take care of first but before you know it we’ll be back on the Island full time…(may take 10 -15 years but hey- time seems to fly by so fast while the kids are young) thanks for stopping by again…. I have some catch up reading to do over at woodnbits!
talk soon
David- great to hear from you-
fall already eh?
gotta love it-my favourite time of the year…the air always seems just a little bit fresher somehow.
keep well.
Bill- you said it ! thanks for the comment
Konrad-
nice to see you out of the shop !
; )
The new bench looks great- I still have to come by for a visit- mabe in early november.
??
keep well and safe travels down into the ‘gateway to the south’
Mike-
yeah we made it back…it was a great drive…summer was the best ever- thanks for the elm and all the help on the install…maybe you can write some more posts if you feel so inspired over the winter? either here or on your blog….get that pine dry and those drawers done!
talk soon-
oh yeah- mike-
the little ‘motor house’ is about to be arse over kettle down in the corner!
better get a crew together and get down to save it~
make a great story wouldn’t it?***!
shhhhhh…………………………
; )
Thank-you for sharing your life, I have your book and enjoy looking in on your website occasionally and have listened to your music online. You do an excellent job in all I’ve seen you do. I encourage you to spend time with your wonderful family, before you know it your kids will be on their own. I have a son in the military in the middle east, he is 20 now but it seems like yesterday that he was a curly haired bundle of energy and such a joy to us. My only regret is 2 years when he was around 5 to 7 that I was working all the time “trying to get ahead for my family”. I woke up one day and geared back on my work schedule. Guard your heart and your time and love like crazy. Larry
larry-
i read this comment when you first left it two weeks ago and it has taken me this long to answer- sorry for the delay in response but i think this comment says so much and i truly appreciate it.
it hits home…i constantly try to remind myself to slow down the work and really make every minute count.
some may notice fewer updates since the summer and that is no coincidence… i’m elsewhere doing some of the other things i love these days-
putting the art back into the craft so to speak…
this internet woodshop world can be cold and lonely sometimes-
thanks for reading and stick around…i know some readers think the ‘show’ is canceled but i’ve got a life time to live and updates will come.
maybe in the form of song but hey- i’ll get it out!
; )
cheers.
tom
Tom,
On your comment above;
I think this is coming down to the essence of life. To do the things you feel are important (to you, your loved ones or mother earth) and to do them in such a way that as much positive effects as possible are left to experience or remember.
I’m sure we’ll see in time what you have been busy with and in what form it comes out….may it be in song, in images or in writing, all is appreciated.
Keep healthy
Andre
thanks andre-
hope all is well with you as well.
i’m still making shavings just not to the extent as last year. i’m actually just looking for some suitable stock for a couple of pieces comissioned this past week.
the children are much more demanding and as you mentioned music is also a part of my weekly routine. writing is a daily thing for me- not always here in the unplugged woodshop but other places to capture a thought or an instant…sometimes on napkins and other times on the top of my work bench.
stay well.