jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks, Spring, 2010: The Video

Check out all of my handmade wooden art at Design Style Guide and Etsy.

Participating in the I Made It Blog Party today, Thursday, June 10, 2010.

Assembly Table Progress, part one

I'm building an assembly table against the back wall of my shop. The building is VERY overcrowded at the moment. I'm stepping around stuff and moving things every day so I can reach the walls and floor and build this table. It's not much fun doing things this way, and the photos are difficult as well, but this is what I have, and it will be fine in the end.

This unit will consist of the table top (natch), a bottom shelf on both ends and the two sections beside the ends, and a middle shelf in the two sections beside the ends. The center two sections will eventually hold some drawers. The bottom shelf will hold an air compressor on one end, with no middle shelf over it to allow easy access. And I'm building the other end of the table the same way in case I have need of easy access to some other tool I haven't considered yet. And I have no idea whatsoever if any of that description was clear. There will be more photos, though, so that should take care of it.

Right now I have most of the framework built. I would have been further along, but the weather has been so cold lately it's been very difficult to work. It was 8º F here in North Texas a few nights ago. It's hard to pick up a drill driver or use a hammer when you can't feel your fingers, and my heater just doesn't have enough power to overcome that sort of arctic blast.

There will be more photos later, and I will update you at that point.

Getting Wood

I have this friend in Alvarado, another woodworker named Tim Marko. When I met him he handed me a card for the sawyer from whom he buys all his hardwood. The sawyer's name is Fritz Hannaman, and he lives about 10 miles away from me, on a little road outside of Mansfield, Texas.

Tim showed me several projects he's built with wood purchased from Fritz, and the wood was, in every case, as beautiful as Tim's craftsmanship. That's no small feat, either, as Tim is very good at what he does.

I figured I should head on over and see what I could find of interest in Fritz's shop. It turns out I found pretty much everything there to be of interest.

I picked up all the wood you see in the back of my truck last week, paid Fritz $43.00 for the whole pile. He even threw in some black walnut off-cuts he was going to use for kindling, charged me nothing for them.

I got lots of black walnut and some spalted pecan. I can't wait to use the pecan!!! I've already milled up some black walnut legs for a few candle holder blanks I had sitting on my bench. The stock he gifted to me was superior to the black walnut I had used previously, so I made the legs a bit taller to show off the wood.

I'll buy more wood from Fritz, and in the near future. He actually sells a lot of the wood from his small mill to the Rockler store I have been buying from. Going to Fritz directly will save me tons of money. I'll still shop at Rockler for tools and hardware, but Fritz is now my go-to guy for all things hardwood.

This new-found source of wood presents me with a new problem: Soon, and for the first time since I joined Design Style Guide I will have more products for sale online than I have spaces available to display them at our team website. What to do, what to do...

First Monday Trade Days, Weatherford, Texas, May 30, 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009. The birthday of Tony Bartolowits and Jamie Ezell, two people you've probably never heard of. It was also the date for the June, 2009 edition of First Monday Trade Days in Weatherford, Texas.

Rachel Bates was there, in her usual location (K44) with her TileSmile wares, brightening up the scenery with her beautiful smile.

She had lots of foot traffic at her corner of the pavilion, though lots of that traffic was male. It seems that men stop and look at her tiles all the time, but they never buy them. When women stop there is a good chance they will make a purchase. I'm not sure why that is, but it could be because the men want a closer look at Rachel. That's only a guess, mind you.

I was also located in my usual spot, that being #K3, under the pavilion. I had company, this time in the form of Ellen Kreager instead of my wife, Debra. Debra was home, resting after a hectic week of school, and Ellen wanted to test the waters in Weatherford, selling her leather pillows, which are also available online under the name of Thunder Moon Designs. She has some absolutely beautiful pillows for sale, most of which I had not seen before.

Once again, I used my tie dyed t-shirt display as a flag pole, if you will, to call attention to our shop. It can be seen for a long distance, which is perfect in a crowded place like this. I have a hole already drilled into the top so I can add an actual flag to the display later. This will be a tie dyed flag, naturally.

I've decided I need a different display so my candle holders get more attention. I have a couple of tables set up at every event, and I built a small display to show off some of my products and separate them from the mass of wood and wax on the rest of the table. What I need, though, is to get the candle holders up in the air, in multiple layers, instead of all on the same plane, sitting on a flat table top. The way I have displayed my wares at every event I've ever attended, no one can really see them clearly at a medium distance, much less from across a crowded parking lot like we have in Weatherford.

I need to catch the attention of passers-by at a reasonable distance, and to do that I need to build a new display fixture. And I have drawn inspiration from the "step-ladder" fixture Ellen set up to show off her pillows. It spreads out wide, so it's fairly stable. Her version holds three shelves, so it can display lots of merchandise. And the ladder folds up for easy transport and storage. I figure I can have a slightly wider version ready to go for the next show in Weatherford, which will be on July 4. I'm looking forward to getting in the shop and building this thing.

Last time we were in Weatherford we had, for all intents and purposes, a yard sale next door. It was unpleasant. This time we were graced with Sheree Gailey and her cousin, Sarah Gailey, and later with her daughter, who's name I do not remember (sorry). They were selling purses, designer sunglasses, wallets and keychains. And they were fun to be around, easy on the eyes, and good company when we weren't talking to customers. I honestly hope they show up again, and I wish them much success. They had more sales than just about anyone in our area, and all of those sales were to female customers, obviously.

I had four sales Saturday, three of which occurred after I had packed almost everything away to drive back home at the end of the day. I sold two shirts and two candle holders, and I took a picture of the lady who bought the first shirt of the day. I don't know her name, but she was in her 60s, was really cool, and she had bright red hair with hot pink highlights! Unfortunately the pink barely shows in this photo.

So, next time in Weatherford I should have the new display built and ready to put to use. And I would love to have Ellen with me again, and to have the lovely ladies selling purses and accessories next door.

Rachel will be in Tennessee on the Fourth of July, so her space will be empty. But I will be in attendance, candle holders and t-shirts at the ready, to help bring a bit more beauty and joy to the world as we know it.

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DSG North Texas

On Saturday, April 18, 2009, three of the charter members of the DSG North Texas group met for the first time at La Madeleine on South Cooper in Arlington, Texas. And there was much rejoicing.

Present at this meeting were Ellen Kreager of Thunder Moon Designs, Liz Ballard of Lizardo Art, me, Liz's boyfriend, Ben, and my wife, Debra. Soup and sandwiches were eaten, tea consumed, and we talked for 90 minutes or so about DSG, Texas, our North Texas group, how to go about promoting each other's work, craft shows, interior designers, etc.

La Madeleine was a surprisingly good place to meet, even if they didn't have a private room. When I was still a member of Etsy Texas Crafters we met at a different La Madeleine, in Fort Worth, and we had a room to ourselves. That works better, but this was fine. On a Saturday afternoon there are lots of people stopping in from the Parks Mall, but they don't stay very long, and nobody bothered us while we were talking.

What will come out of this meeting and a couple of discussions in our online networking group is a plan of attack, a flexible idea of how to sell our own work while promoting the work of the other members of DSG North Texas. And one of the most likely ideas to come out of this will be attending en masses the various craft shows in the area. This will require reserving booth space next to -- or at least near -- each other, talking to customers about how something from another member shop will go well with whatever they are looking at in our own shops, and having fun with the customers while taking the whole concept seriously. I know this works because I've seen it very successfully demonstrated at comic book conventions and science fiction conventions.

I have really good feelings about this group. A few more members will help us spread the marketing message out to enough customers for the idea to take hold, and I have some candidates in mind, but this can work even with the three members who attended this meeting. We're all intelligent, we all want to increase our sales, we all produce high quality consumables, we all have hair on the tops of our heads...

Okay, not really sure where I was going with that, but I do know we can succeed, that this will work for us. I left this meeting with a big smile on my face. I can't wait to tell Kristina Law, our Design Style Guide Big Cheese in Charge, all about it!

First Monday Trade Days, Weatherford, Texas, April 4, 2009

This time out we had great weather in Weatherford! Now if we can only figure out how to keep Debra from frying in the sun...

This recounting of events will be short, due to my tight schedule this week and next. I'm building a set of shelves for a client in Irving, some drawer fronts and a cabinet door for a friend in Fort Worth, a pair of closet organizers for my son (haven't started that one yet), and I have to do some work for my mother today, Wednesday.

We made a few sales, had a lot of interest. Oddly we sold no woodworking at all, though lots of people were looking. The big display I built for the tie dyes caught everyone's attention, drew people in to our booth, but I have to tweak the setup a bit next time so the shirts don't obscure the candle holders. I think many people completely missed the rest of our wares, seeing only the T-shirts.

Rachele Bates of TileSmile fame (also a fellow member of Design Style Guide) was present, along with her friend, Beth. They had a better setup than we did, and they had more sales. From a distance you could see everything in their booth. Okay, maybe you couldn't see every tile they had for sale, but you could see that they were selling tiles, and you could see it clearly. That's very nice.

I'm considering placing the T-shirt display farther out in front of our booth. It will eventually have a tie dyed flag on top. By placing it way out in front it will still draw people toward our booth, but they will be able to see the woodworking as well.

Next month's space is already paid for, and we're expecting sales figures to climb again. And we'll be adding more shows in other cities as the year progresses. Maybe we'll be in your town sometime during the next few months. Look for us!

First Monday, part four

Wow... it was really cold and windy in Weatherford, Texas, last weekend. Seriously cold! Apparently the good people of Weatherford thought so as well. I know they didn't turn out to buy anything.

Friday we got our tables set up in space # K25. Next to us in K24 was a guy known as "Cowboy" who makes furniture and picture frames out of reclaimed wood, mostly from demolished barns and fences. We were the only two people under the pavilion and were all the way on the other end of it from the nearest booth, a metal sculpture guy who was setting up all day against the fence out by the road. And we sat there all day staring at the ground, reading, talking... certainly not selling. A grand total of six people dropped by our booth, and one of those was under five years of age.

The good news is that we figured out the best way to set up and display our wares.

Saturday the wind was high and it was below freezing until almost noon. I'm fairly certain I lost a couple of important body parts to frost bite. We set up on the ground this time so potential customers would have more room to move about and take a look at everything. The only problem was that, other than Cowboy, we were still the only people on our side of the pavilion, and since we were facing away from the rest of the venders, and were partially shielded by the pavilion itself, no one could tell we were there.

I talked to the nice ladies at the office and changed our location to the other end and other side of the pavilion, next to Rachel, a friend of mine who makes handmade tiles. She has a great Etsy shop called TileSmile. With a little tweaking we have arranged to have similar spaces near each other for the next few months. And we want to get the pavilion filled with artists, so come on out if you fit that description. And if you don't fit that description, come on out anyway and buy something from one of us. You'll be glad you did, and you'll probably get a really good deal.

It was still really cold all day Saturday. Most people were just rushing around trying to stay warm, which makes you wonder why they were walking around in the 35 mph wind in the first place. We had 25 or 30 people stop by our booth and we made one sale. But we saw enough to realize it will be much better as the weather gets warmer.

I took a short walk through the rest of the booths around lunch-time. There was the usual mix of crap and art, and people were buying the crap because it was cheap. I think they were just buying something to justify walking around in the bitter north wind.

During the day we found out about another show in Mineral Wells on March 14, this one benefitting Meals on Wheels. It costs us nothing for booth space but they are asking for either a donation at the end of the day or a donation of an item for their auction that evening. I spent part of yesterday and today building two candle holders to donate. They are both one-of-a-kind.

And so our adventures in craft shows have begun. At the end of this week our local school will be on Spring Break and Debra and I will be in Mineral wells, indoors, selling candle holders, bookends, wine rests, and maybe a few T-shirts. And I'll let you know how that goes.

•••••

If you make Handmade Home Decor Items, come and join our team by clicking on the image below.

Not only will you be able to network with us, but also you will have the ability to post your listing on our team website.

Inauguration

This is one of the proudest moments in this country's history.  Republican or Democrat, no matter the skin color or faith, we can all be proud that we have finally lived up to the promise of this country.

The future is bright.  The future is here.  Embrace it.

And now I must get back to work.  My table saw awaits.

"There's a lectern up in the sky."

The first time I built a lectern I thought it would take longer than it did. This time it's going even faster. I started yesterday by laminating two sheets of 3/4" birch plywood. Today I got my wood, ripped it into eight 1 1/2" strips and two 2" strips, cut the strips to length and got three-quarters through the glue-up process. Tomorrow I'll have the base finished and I can start working on the top.

I'm substitute teaching this Friday, October 17, 2008. I plan to have the lectern finished and delivered by then.

In the meantime I'll be starting the cabinets for my artist friend, Clay, who sincerely wishes to remain totally anonymous. He'll be quite happy to hear this.

The cool part about this is I get to perfect my building process and get paid at the same time. So when someone buys a lectern at my Etsy site I'll have the whole thing down to a fairly speedy procedure. That will help make it more profitable without charging anything extra. And I'll be able to work on a lectern whilst building other projects for other clients, which means I can accept more jobs at the same time. Everybody wins!

Update, October 13, 2008:

The entire column is glued up and clamped up. When the glue finishes cooking I can start sanding it.

The legs have to be drilled for the brass threaded inserts so I can attach the levelers at the very end of the process, after the lectern has been finished. But I need rubber feet for this one instead of sliders because this classroom has tile instead of carpet, and I want to make sure the rubber levelers have the same size bolt screws first because, if the bolt is smaller, I'll need smaller threaded inserts. And there's just no practical way to make a hole smaller after it's been drilled.

So, I'm going to Rockler Woodworking this evening to see what sorts of levelers they have in stock. I love going there! I'm like a kid in a candy store!

Update, October 15, 2008:

I finished the assembly of the lectern today and began the finishing process by applying one coat of clear satin polyurethane.  One more coat on the column and two more on the top and it'll be ready for delivery, probably tomorrow evening or Friday, depending upon the humidity, which can affect the drying time.

Update, October 18, 2008:

The lectern has been delivered, the client is happy. There was even talk from another teacher about commissioning another one!  This is greatness!  I want to get a photo of the lectern in her room with kids there, but I don't know when that will happen.

The Drawers of the World... or at least the garage... Phase one, in which Doris gets her oats...

A good friend of mine named Clay, who wishes to remain anonymous, brought me over to his house recently and showed me a collection of eight drawers and an old door. He asked if I could build two cabinets to house the drawers and use those same cabinets to support the door, on it's side, so he would have a sort of work bench in his garage.

Now, Clay is an artist. In the classic sense. He paints pictures. He doesn't need the sort of work bench I have in my wood shop. So this idea of his was certainly sound.

And I can, indeed, build just what he's asking for. Thursday afternoon I'll be purchasing a ton of 3/4" birch plywood with which to begin the previously mentioned cabinets. Along with the sheet goods I'll get eight casters, four of which will have brakes on them. I'll worry about the drawer slides after I pick up the drawers from Clay this Saturday.

This will be fun. Once again I'll be building something I've never built before. I know I can build it, but it's still something new for me. That's exciting! When I was a graphic designer I took on jobs all the time without knowing exactly how I would complete them. I never missed a deadline in 13 years and my clients were happy folks and loved the results. When I see some possible obstacle in my path a solution always presents itself. And I like working on the fly.

I'll document this adventure here, with photos, just as I did with the lectern. Speaking of which, I'll be building another lectern at the same time as I start the cabinets. A teacher from the intermediate school has already paid for it.

The Lectern Reality

Well, it has happened. Debra sent photos of her new lectern and the two in-boxes I made for her to several other teachers in the district, and some of them want lecterns and/or in-boxes of their very own. Now the fun begins as I get to build these items and collect the money. This is why I do this job. It's fun, people like what I do and they're willing to pay me money to do it!

Right now I have orders for two lecterns and one in-box, but there are some others who have yet to get back to me with their decisions. This is a good week!

All this activity has prompted me to go ahead and post photos of my lectern and inboxes at my Etsy shop and list them for sale, with the stipulation that there will be a lag between ordering the item and receiving it because I'll have to build it.

If you happen to be one of the people interested in obtaining one of my lecterns or in-boxes, please go to my Etsy site starting Monday, October 6, 2008 (for the lectern), and Wednesday, October 8, 2008 (for the in-boxes) and check out what I have to offer. You'll like it, and I'm sure you can find uses for at least one of these items. And if you don't there's a ton of candle holders and wine rest for sale there, so look around for a while. And go to my "Favorites" pages to see some great stuff from other Etsy artists.

And you can read LOTS more about all of this stuff right here in my blog. Just check out the archives for September, 2008. It's all there and I think it's a lot of fun to read... you can tell me what YOU think of it if you like.

The Lectern Initiative, part the last

I am done with the building process on Debra's lectern! I worked on it for nearly 5 hours today, and boy are my arms tired!

First thing this morning I routed a chamfer profile on the legs and upper supports. A chamfer is just a 45º angle cut 

along the edges. This softens the edge a bit and breaks up the squareness of the piece, adding visual appeal.

I followed up the legs and upper supports with a matching chamfer on all for edges of the column. This created huge clouds of coarse dust which could still be trying to settle some seven hours after I left my shop. Routers and plywood don't play well together as far as my lungs and eyes are concerned. I'm not sure that was grammatically correct, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I then drilled a hole on the bottom of each end of the legs, screwed a treaded brass insert into each hole, and screwed the height adjustable legs into place. I installed the upper supports with glue and lag screws and did the same with the legs. This gave me a rock solid platform on which to mount the work surface... which I had yet to build. And I was running out of birch plywood.

Rather than delay the building process I decided to use some other plywood I had lying around to finish the project. It's rock hard, easy to work and very durable. It's just like the birch plywood I used on the rest of this unit, but without the actual birch. I'm not exactly sure what it's made of. I know it looks like pine in some places but not in others. Regardless, it's perfectly good material for anything intended for use in a junior high school.

I cut the lower shelf, the one that's parallel with the floor. It's a bit smaller than 20" square. I attached the double thick back wall to it after taking a 12º angled wedge off the top. Then I measured from the front edge of the lower shelf to the back edge of the angled wall, cut another piece to that length and the same width as the lower shelf.

I drilled three holes in the upper end of the top. These holes are big enough to hold a pen or pencil each. I figured I should make this thing as useful as possible and that seems like a very useful addition. A storage shelf in the right side also seems useful, and is just a good use of otherwise wasted space. Karl Champly would be so proud.

Finally I just lined up my pencil marks, drilled a few pilot holes, spread some glue and screwed the top to to the base, then mounted top, supported by a long, pie shaped piece on one side and a very tiny one on the other, leaving a space in front of the tiny one for paper/folder storage, utilizing the afore mentioned otherwise wasted space. With the addition of a piece on the bottom end to keep books and/or pencils from rolling off, the building process was completed. 

Now the lectern is drying after being sanded up to 220 grit, then receiving a coat of satin polyurethane. Two more coats should do it. I'll move it to Debra's classroom tomorrow evening so I can use it Wednesday and Thursday when she's at an ESL conference and I'm subbing for her. And she can use it thereafter.

Update, September 30, 2008: Here's the lectern drying in the sun after a light sanding and a final coat of polyurethane.

And here it is in it's new home, room 506 of the Alvarado Junior High School.