...end of the blog...

This blog is now a long way out of date....sorry!

If you're still interested in any of my recent projects be they woodworking related or not, check out my design co-op at takforidag.com !

Bici Italia

Back in Italy, back to real cheese, real food, and real switchbacks!

And a trip to the mecca of cyclists, the Madonna del Ghisallo...

Sometimes you eat the bar...and sometimes the bar eats you...

Recently I finished up a bar for a local bakery that got me back to work with my 5 1/2 and my Spiers smoother. Good tools make a big difference and the juxtaposition between the drywall and construction work I was also doing for the bakery made this project quite a relief. The whole bar including legs was done in 3 days, so it was quite a rush job. Not my absolute best work, but not my worst either. It's been over a year since I've been able to do a big project like this and it was awfully nice to get back to doing some real woodworking.

The wood is a 2" slab of cherry with a couple of butterfly joints to hold the cracks together. Cherry is a nice wood to work with, sort of like walnut. In an ideal world I would have liked about two weeks to put everything together, but for the timeframe I think it came out pretty well.

Two New Planes

Two new planes are now in my arsenal! One purchased and one homemade:

The Lee Valley small rebate plane is my first Veritas tool and I'm pretty happy with it so far. Nice adjustments and comfortable in the hand with an O1 blade for easy sharpening!

The second is a small chamfer plane made from quartered beech. The guide fence is built into the bottom of the plane and without a second adjustable guide fence requires a careful approach, something that isn't always a bad thing. I saw this style in a Japanese plane and liked the simplicity. Japanese tools have a wonderful simplicity that demands respect and understanding, care and attention to get the best results out of them. They serve as a stark contrast to the western planes like the Veritas where features abound and adjustments are just a thumbscrew away. I guess it's something like the difference between an artist and a technician. It's funny because in the cycling world Shimano is the technician's choice, while Campagnolo is for the artists...

My Fading Youth

This summer I asked my friend Nik to take some shots of me on my bike while I was still young and vibrant in the declining years of my 20's. I think the pictures turned out great (at least the ones where I don't look like a big fatso...). They'll be something to harp back to when I get old..."I used to have good calves...Honest!". The pics were taken at Rattlesnake Point near Milton, one of the only places you'll find actual switchbacks in Southern Ontario. The pictures also showcase my new ride, a De Rosa Neo Primato. Handmade in Italy, the frame is a classic steel beauty standing out in a world ever obsessed with aero profiles and carbon layups. 

A New Lamp

I've always enjoyed making lamps and the offcuts from other projects seem to always have the right curve or shape to inspire me. I also just got a dowel cutter and that needed a test run so someone is getting a lamp for christmas!

The screen is made from mylar, which has a great translucence and structural rigidity you can't get with a paper screen.

Sho Brush

The selection of high quality Japanese calligraphy brushes is somewhat lacking in Waterloo it seems, so I decided to give a go at making my own. There are two types of hair used in brushes, with the badger hair being a stiffer brush (which I seem to prefer). I use a badger brush to foam up when I'm shaving, so I bought one of those brushes as a source for my bristles and then planed and drilled and glued up what you see below. It has a semi-octagonal barrel, which is my nod to the appreciation of imperfection in Japanese design. It was also a project that didn't involve any power tools, which is always a nice thing!

So far I'm pretty happy with it. The hairs are much stiffer than the ones in the cheap badger hair brush I had in my collection and the flow of ink seems to be more controllable too. Let's see how it works in the long run once it gets broken in a bit. I'm interested to see what my calligraphy teacher is going to think once she gets back from Japan!