Sam’s Baskets Finished

Everything my friends make begins with best laid plans. But they do go astray!

In this case there were aspects of the construction process that were so difficult that I needed to invent some extra help. Here is  little bench clamp that holds up the basket end. At the beginning stage the unsupported end won’t stay still while we bang at it with our hammer.

The wedge supplies the clamping forces. The little saw flush cuts the bamboo skewers close the surface and minimises sanding needs.

Again, we were short of hands when fixing the handle brackets, so this spring clamp helped a lot.

Some of my friends require two handed help to drill holes and wield a hammer. These spring clamps saved my fingers from getting banged.

Crowning glory for every project is the stroking of a paint brush. A couple of my friends begin every lesson with, “We gonna paint today Bruce?” We use shellac. It smells heavily of spirit. Nobody seems to mind, but one client has terrible problems with the skin on his hands. He can put the gloves on himself and is conscientious about it.

Here is our finished work. We were very very happy with ourselves!