Moving to Tumblr

Well, I've been hesitating to do this again, but it's just true that Tumblr makes it a bit easier to do a lot of things. So I'm announcing that I'm moving this blog to my new home on tumblr

productive procastination

So I'm adding a monogram to my "branding" ....now to hit the bench.

Charles Clary

I've always liked the idea of layers. You can take something simple and upon adding layers to it make it intricately complex. That probably explains why I'm attracted to using veneers as a way of building wood.

Charles Clary, a SCAD artist perfectly embodies this concept in his group of work. You can check out more of his stuff on his blog.

some progress.

I know it's been a while but here's some FINISHED (yay!) prototypes. Each piece is made from layering several layers of veneer on top of each other so that these are actually dimensional pieces, not just a "print on wood."

Still working on launching my etsy store but I am also planning a wedding now so I'd rather wait till I'm ready to launch then rushing into it.

Constructive criticism welcome. I'm still trying out photo compositions so if you have suggestions that would be appreciated as well!

pop wood.

I love it when pop culture and wood grain mix. It seems that the vinyl world has been introducing more and more wooden toys. Why not? Wood brings a even more unique touch to these collectible items. Best of all the artist has taken the initiative to make them as eco-friendly as possible. Wood always adds character and gives another layer of customization.


This little guy is named Mimushi:

"a sumo kid who was adopted by American parents, and who developed an identity crisis so strong, that it froze him at the age of 3."

You can find out more about Mimushi at their blog. The coolest part is they give you a step by step look at the process. Very inspiring!

Twee!

With a name like Twee you really can't help but like them, but it also happens that they make some pretty sweet wood jewelry. They are definitely a couple of craftsters that have caught my eye: simple aesthetics that showcase the beauty of wood.

prototype.

So, obviously I haven't been able to keep to my schedule of productivity. I'm not sure when I'll be able to launch my store but until then I'll post pictures of prototypes I'm trying out.

on with the theme.

I have also created an etsy store. My user name is Mindelicious.



I've been working on a line of wood-based jewelry items. My initial plan for launch will be the end of the month.


work in progress...

procrastinating.

I think i've spent enough time procrastinating on making things. I'm happy to report that I have turned the extra unused space in my apartment into my work area (I know it's amazing that I have extra space in a NYC apartment). This will have to do until I can afford studio space. And of course what work space is complete without a workbench:

Might I add that I accomplished making this with only a handsaw, jigsaw, hand drill, and chairs for a saw horse. Proved to myself that all you need is will power. The joints are through bolts with 3/16" deep mortise/tenon just to hold things in place...I know it's a bit excessive but I thought it was a good opportunity to work on chiseling technique. Kind of merged a couple different plans to come up with the design for this table but it's sturdy as hell {yes I'm standing on it to celebrate}.


And of course it's complete with a vise. Strangely vises make me very happy.

take-g toys!

I'm extremely biased on this but I'm going to 100% declare that japanese woodcrafts is a million times more cool than anything I've ever seen in the US. I think that's just because of what my aesthetic tastes are. But anyway, just found this toy maker and

.... just adorable.




title> アインとニーチェ
material> various types of wood
source> Take-G

spiritual inspiration in DC

I remembered going to the National Cathedral on my 8th grade field trip to DC but I think I must have had a entirely different perspective on it's beauty back then. These days contemporary architecture and construction is all about speed and money. Although efficiency is important, I believe so is longevity. In this technological age we have improved construction efficiency to the degree that we make and replace things perhaps too quickly. So quickly that it almost makes the saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day" seem irrelevant: Irrelevant in the way that people appreciate the efficiency of mass manufacturing versus handcraft because of the time perspective. Living in NYC definitely emphasizes the fast moving world and visiting DC last weekend acted as a incredibly grounding experience, that I was not expecting.


Up on the hills of DC sits the National Cathedral which I learned took 83 years to construct. The idea of something taking more than a lifetime is pretty much lost today. And really makes you take a step back and slow down. Just the architectural integrity of building is inspiring enough to gawk at for several hours but inside it is filled with even more "move you to tears" moments. Serendipitous that this structure happened to be located right across the street from where I was staying and had it not been, I wouldn't have had time to go see it. Even better, it also happened that in it's centennial celebration it was showcasing a tribute to the artisans/craftsmen that contributed all the detailing that went into this Cathedral. I found one biography especially relative. I think I need to print this out so I have a daily reminder that things have a way of working themselves out.



some droolworthy smithing:


and now for the woodworking parts


title> Various Photos from National Cathedral in DC
source> My Flickr

On Hold

life is picking up the pace and forcing me to put down my chisel for a while. I'll be stuck being a blog reader and not a writer for a while longer.

ground zero present

title> Freedom Tower Site
source> My Flickr

Part of the perks of my job is getting to work on or next to interesting projects. I was recently working on a building adjacent to ground zero and got to snap some pictures of it from above. As you can see, they've started quite a bit of work on the new freedom tower site. I just thought I'd share since it's such a symbol.

dreams will be dreams?

title> Sampling of Hardware
material> various
source> My Flickr

It's an ongoing dream of mine to attend The North Bennett Street School in Boston, MA. It is a trades school that has quite a reputation. They recently had their annual open house, so I decided to go and check it out, again. This was the second time I've gone there and everytime I go I just yearn more and more to attend. I believe that one day, I'll be in a position to at least take classes there but that day is not today so it's kind of a moot point. Anyway, It was very nice to get to talk to people in all of the programs. I'm particularly interested in the Preservation Carpentry program and Furnituremaking/Cabinetmaking program, go figure. The focus of this school is fine craftsmanship and it is absolutely apparent when you walk into every classroom. Workbenches are filled with objects of beauty and attention to detail. You can tell they spend a lot of time going over handskills and technique.


title> Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
source> My Flickr

While in Boston I also went to see the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum. If you are ever in Boston I think it's probably one of my top 3 things to go see. Bascially its a retired mansion turned museum filled with perfectly preserved books, antiques, and art masterpieces. You would never know of all the treasures that hid inside from the outside of the building but that's part of the awesomeness.

yosegi

my latest research obsession has been Yosegi (japanese mosaic style) and Himitsu-Baku (japanese puzzle boxes). Ironically, the first time I saw one of these boxes was in Epcot Center at Walt Disney World. I guess that's why I love disney world so much, it always suprises me. Anyway, I spent a long time playing with it and figuring it out. I couldn't believe how precise all the joints were and the mosaic work. Not to mention if all the box did was just sit there that would be beautiful enough. There is not a whole lot of information that I could find on making these boxes but I did find a little bit about them. You can click here if you want to read more about the art of yosegi.


title> Himitsu-Baku Japanese Puzzle Box
style> Yosegi
material> wood and mosaic wood
source> Yosegi.net and Yosegipuzzlebox.com

work meetings

title> Trinity Building Lobby in Manhattan
style> Gothic I believe
material> Wood, Stained Glass, Awesomeness
source> my flickr> blog photos

I happened to have a meeting in the trinity building in manhattan this week. Managed to get some not so stellar photographs. But it was one of the most amazingly beautiful building i've been to in a while. The exterior is really exquisite too but I didn't take a picture of it.

plane progress

title> Masking before the painting
source> my flickr> blog photos

title> Still a ways to go but look how shiny it is!
source> my flickr> blog photos

title> Not a bad start
source> my flickr> blog photos

My plane restoration is coming along slowly mostly because my time is limited. But anyway I thought I'd post some pictures. I started with cleaning up the body. I used some naval jelly to eat the rust and then I gave it a nice fresh coat of rust-begone-leum. Mostly I've just been lapping the sole. go figure. started with 100 grit and decided that I'd be better starting off with a lower grit. we shall see how that goes. At least things are starting to look nice. Maybe I'll take a break from lapping and sand the handles.

hand plane anatomy

title> Anatomy of a Hand Plane
style> diagram
source> Taunton Press> Using Bench Planes Article

Like most beginner woodworkers everything I'm doing is self-taught. As well, this will be my first time of tuning up a hand plane. I thought that it might be useful to post some of the resources that I've found to figure out how to do this. Also, I decided it wouldn't hurt to just post a diagram of all the plane parts since every article talks about specific plane parts and it would be pretty hard to understand what they're talking about it you don't have a diagram.

As for hand plane restoration here are some videos and websites that I've read/watched through to mix and match a method for restoring my new-old planes:

Woodtreks's Website> Tune-Up and Restore Your Hand Plane Video
Folding Rule Show Blog> Stanley Hand Plane Restoration Parts I, II, and III
Major Panic's Website> Hand Plane Restoration Images (I'm mostly using this as my guide)

restoring my hand planes

title> ebay special handplanes
style> old
source> my Flickr>l Handplane Restoration

So I've been busy restoring my old-new planes. They finally arrived in the mail after some mailing issues. I purchased a #4 and #5 Stanley-Bailey handplane from ebay a while ago. I got them for about $20 each. The list price for the #4 is $64.99 and #5 is $74.99. I'm curious to see how much time/money it will take to restore them compared to the cost of a new one. They actually didn't look too bad when I opened the box. The bottoms are pretty flat already which is the biggest deal when buying a handplane. I think the irons are pretty salvagable as well. All the parts are there and none of the screws are broken or rusted through. The only thing that was not so nice that I'll probably replace is the handle on the #4. Looks like the previous owner tried to make their own replacement and did a bad job fitting it. There is a bit of rust but that was expected and I'll be dealing with that in the restoration. There will be more pictures to come following my process.