This is a celebration of end grain.
When sanding end-grain to a polish, there is a lovely moment when you stand back to look at the figure.
It is always beautiful.
The hand cut chain is a fervent hope that the enjoyment never gets away!
 |
| Human hands don’t seem to be able to create lines as beautiful as the figure of a tree’s annual growth. Each line represents a year! |
The clock has been a gentle construction. However, it is about time my friends had some rattle, bang and thump in their work. Using a hammer to thump things together is lots of fun. But our giggles are really a response to mutual trust as we care for each other’s fingers and enjoy each other’s company. This is…
I Broke a Promise… …but I also made a discovery. When I began doing wood projects among my disabled friends I made some promises to myself. The promises were a personal, but unwritten, statement of policy. I promise to: do work that is engaging because the thing we make is interesting, never to do all…
What Do You Like? Not liking hammers doesn’t make you a freak. It gives you the opportunity to like something else. One of my friends has trouble concentrating for more that a couple of minutes. He will stop work, stand up and walk away! Hammering, sanding and lacquering just don’t hold him. BUT, when he…
Simple Machines Blogging takes time and my recent past has involved a sick wife and a new grandchild. Suburban life is rich with texture. It can make blogging take a back seat. Following is a report of a nice afternoon in my shed with my son! My disabled friends haven’t been ignored, the next blog…
For Whom Do We Make? The stuff we make involves many interested parties. There are: the makers, staff who help, managers of the centre, recipients of the objects, et al. Given the positive power of enthusiasm, it is good to spread that good feeling as widely as possible. When the makers make more than they need,…
Another rescued lathe stand. This steel construction makes a rigid scaffold on which to mount a work top. The surface is an oregon timber beam removed from a house during renovation. There are splits and twists, but to remove them would have lost 20mm in thickness and 70mm in width. After judicious machining, the bench…