Table and Chairs

I loved you like a man loves a woman he never touches, only writes to, keeps little photographs of.”
― Charles Bukowski, Love is a Dog from Hell





Here is the finished table from the breadboard ends post.  I was happy the way it came out, and the client was very pleased.  Only now, I want to build one to sit exactly where this one is so we can play games.  One thing I should mention, and really should have gotten pics of,  is the horrible scratching that the drum sander put on the top.  I never saw it until the stain went on and then Wow, there it is.

 So, I sharpened up a scraper and had at it.  It only took about ten minutes ( and one blister) to scrape off the scratches and then I sanded it to 180 grit,  re-stained and then varnished.  It's amazing how some things in life that are supposed to save work actually create more work,  like recycling.

 
If, not when, I get around to making a table and chairs, the chairs will be like the hoop-back to the left.  They will tuck under the table and are easy to make, relatively speaking. 

As an aside, if you have never read any Charles Bukowski, you should.  He was a working man's poet, rough, Garrison Keillor said, aptly, that he looked "like a gargoyle" but I love his writing.  Check him out. 

Crooked knife

Charlotte: [Bob is recollecting when he first saw Charlotte, in the elevator] Did I scowl at you?
Bob: No, you smiled.
Charlotte: I did?
Bob: Yes, it was a complete accident. A freak. I haven't seen it since. Just that one time.
[Charlotte smiles]
Bob: Like that, but bigger... bigger... mm-hmm... well, not that big!

fr. the movie (2003)-- Lost in Translation, written and directed by Sophia Coppala



I'm not much on garage sales, at all.  Some people are and that's fine but I am trying to reduce my pile, not add to it.  But my oldest daughter has wanted a pogo-stick for awhile and the other day I saw one at a sale so I stopped.  I bought the Pogo-stick and as I was leaving I noticed a beautiful crooked knife on a table for $1.00, so of course I bought it, thus adding to my pile.

For those of you who may not know about these traditional Indian tools, they are essentially a one-handed draw knife, which frees the other hand to hold the work, seen here.

 

I believe this knife, and perhaps all knifes, were intended for baskets.  I say this because the blade is double bevel, thus making it a wedge.  Indians around here and in the Bangor-Old Town area use Brown Ash to make their baskets.  When pounded the trees separate at the annual growth rings, and then these strips are pulled apart, making strips that are then used to weave.  A crooked knife is used to further split the splint, making thinner pieces.  It is also used to shape the handles and the rim pieces.

I have seen a few crooked knifes but this one is a little different.  It has a brass ferrule, usually they are wrapped with fine copper wire, and the handle has ribs, beautifully done, and a little swelling where the neck joins the handle.  Obviously this was a special tool.

The advantage of a crooked knife is that they can be used one handed.  I wonder if they had shave horses if they would have adopted two-handled draw knifes instead.  I don't think this tool will see much use in my shop, but it is a beautiful tool.

Scraping By

  Time for a confession, for a long time, I never used a card scraper.  I found them too hard to sharpen, and all I ever got was dust and burned fingers.  But, after many years it has become a favorite.  I use it to clean up tear out, glue smears, and general smoothing.  I really like the little card scrapers made by Sandvic.  I've tried the Lie-Nielsen, and the one I have I find a little thin.  I tend to like a thicker scraper.  Here you can see how I put the scraper about 1 1/2 inches from the edge of the bench and hold the burnisher so it touches the edge of the scraper and the bench at the same time, and run it down a few times.  This sort of cleans up the edge, and draws out the edge.

 There are a bunch of articles and tons of advice to sharpen a scraper; I'll just cover a couple tips that work for me.  First off, the edge has to be polished and square--you should be able to fell an "edge" after squaring.  If it feels round or dull, then you won't be able to turn a hook. 

 I think the biggest mistake people make with a scraper is by using a stone to hone the edge, the card scraper cuts a trough in the stone, and after a time, you end up rounding over the edges, which is exactly what you don't want.  I use a couple pieces of MDF glued face to face, and I put a piece of wet dry sandpaper on a flat surface, and use the glued up pieces to hold the scraper at a right angle ( you can see the MDF block under my drawknife sharpening post) .  The sandpaper doesn't round over the edges.  So after the edge is square and polished ( I use 800 and then 1000 sand paper ), put a touch of oil on the edge, and lightly, and I stress lightly, run the burnisher over the edge at a right angle,

Then drop to about 3º or so.  You don't need a big hook, nor do you want one.  I breaks too easily and you really have to lay the scraper over to engage the edge.  And here you can see the results, light fluffy shavings, not dust.  I have a scraper plane but honestly I like the card scraper.  I can work smaller areas and follow the little dips and problem areas without spending bunches of time flattening the whole piece.  I now use a card scraper all the time, including on my pine chair seats.

Oh, to prevent burned fingers, use a small fridge magnet right on the scraper.