Part of my attraction to wood was the way it felt. In its natural state, wood was covered by bark that covered the undulating live edge. After being sawn into boards at a sawmill, the surface was covered in rough saw marks. Then, as the lumber was processed, the roughness was typically removed by planing or sanding, leaving … Continue reading Roots of Flair: Exploration of Texture and Latch Installation
My style of woodwork has been influenced predominantly by the materials I had, things I saw, and ideas I explored. Naturally, my designs have evolved over the years. While reorganizing my workshop, I found a few unfamiliar cardboard boxes. They contained some of my work from around the start of Flair Woodworks. I will be sharing photographs … Continue reading Roots of Flair
This weekend, I am demonstrating Festool power tools at Lee Valley Tools Ltd. in Coquitlam. To generate interest and demonstrate what can be done with the tools, I am turning this seven-foot-long slab of cherry into a coffee table. By the end of Thursday, I had made some good progress. To make the legs, I used … Continue reading Single-Slab Cherry Coffee Table, Part I
Wheel marking gauges are great layout tools, but their round face means the tool has an annoying tendency to roll, which sometimes results in finding it on the floor with a chipped cutter. By reshaping the outside profile of the tool's face, it stays put and adds a touch of flair. This simple improvement takes about … Continue reading Make a Polygon Marking Gauge
I recently completed this sign for my friend Mike. It bears his and his wife's names, and those of his three dogs. I created the layout using a computer, then printed it out and adhered it to a sheet of Baltic birch plywood. I cut out the waste around the letters with my scroll saw and dyed … Continue reading A Different Kind of Scrolled Sign
I developed the crossing joint as a possible solution to how conventional joinery results in a disruption of grain along the rails and/or stiles of a frame and panel door.I cut one sample joint, then did some photo manipulation to see how it would look in a similar situation.First, I looked at the fingers in … Continue reading Crossing Joint as Door Joinery
This joint was inspired by the realization that joinery used in frame and panel doors always results in a visual discontinuation of the vertical component, whereas the horizontal component usually carries through to an adjacent component. Using mortise and tenon, bridle, or cope and stick joinery resulted in one member (usually the stile - the vertical member) cutting off … Continue reading Original Joinery – Crossing Joint
I just completed a new cribbage board, but this one was made much differently from the others. I scaled up the board, and added a base to transform it into a table. I had some fun with the base. For the stretcher, I used the bandsaw to cut three slits of graduated lengths in one end … Continue reading Beware of Step 27
I recently finished reading The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty by Sõetsu Yanagi and adapted by Bernard Leach. It explores the circumstances under which beautiful objects are created, and how industrialization has influenced handmade craft. I began taking down quotations that were interesting and worthy of sharing, but soon found myself jotting down entire paragraphs. So, rather … Continue reading The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty
Last week's Picture Inspiration proved to be a real challenge. We, at #Woodchat, were looking at a picture of an SR71 stealth plane. Most of us started by looking at the actual shape of the plane and trying to relate what we saw to lines suitable for a furniture design. When I found that didn't … Continue reading A Topless Table
