Wednesday 11 July 2012

parsnip horse.



after much intense carving with the arbotech, and swallowing my own weight in wood dust, i finished the legs and joined them today. i used mortise and tenon, they actually turned out pretty sweet and with the added dowel insertion it's solid as. pretty chuffed, i actually made something which turns out like i intended to. the oak on the top has opened up a bit which kinda sucks, but adds a bit of character. thats my excuse anyway.


made a total schoolboy error by malleting the top into the leg joins, foolishly denting it. total idiot. however, nothing that a kettle, steam and a tea towel couldn't fix, all sorted. i think my favourite part about this table is the glaringly obvious, having a super straight table top with some weird legs that look like parsnips. or from some angles, the rear legs of a horse as it walks. it's also possible i've spent far too much time in there and the wood dust has had some odd hallucinogenic effect. whatever, i'm well happy with this and actually pleased to show some pics.



just need to wax it, make sure the glue has fully dried, and off we go.





o     x

Monday 2 July 2012

new project.


went to the woodyard with no idea really what i wanted to make or what i was going to buy. kind of wandered around it like a zombie for a bit, before finding this rather grubby piece of oak. was only a tenner, so i threw it in the back of the micra and went skating before the heavens opened.



first job, and the main one really, is cleaning it up. not sure where this had been, had a real nice layer of scum on the top but a bit of scraping, sanding and planing sorted it out. although summed up in a sentence, this has taken me a few hours. running along the middle of this particualr piece is the heartwood, and it is one tough motherbitch to try and plane, especially given my current skill set at sharpening tools.


 i wasn't sure whether i wanted to keep the wonky edge or not, in the end i decided against it as hopefully it's going to have some pretty crazy legs. i did want to start making the holes for where the legs go in today, but forgot my drill. couldn't be assed to go back home and get it so i came home and wrote this.



im trying to make it so the top is square (ish) and the legs have all the character, kind of opposite to the bench really. should be cool, will probs end up being a coffee table. watch this space. please.



o.

xx