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Collecting Some Oak
Had met with Mr. Bazant on Sunday to review plans for a new project. Much to my surprise yesterday he had found some dried oak in sufficient quantity to construct the new bench. We collected it from his workshop in Ohrazenice this morning all perfectly milled to my dimensions with a little bit to spare. Hope my joinery will be up to the standard of the milling!
The picture shows the milled Oak pieces in the back of the Octavia ready for cutting to length and for joinery to begin...
The picture shows the milled Oak pieces in the back of the Octavia ready for cutting to length and for joinery to begin...
A Woodworker's Day
Took the opportunity to exercise my brain and cut all the pieces for the new project, sixty-two in all, to the correct length. Decided that, despite prejudices long held against oak, it is, in fact, a delight to work with. But, I expect the same curses from those charged with moving the fully assembled bench from place to place--due to its weight--but the appearance should be satisfactory.
As someone once said 'I liked it so much that I bought...' 1.7 cubic meters of 6 cm thick aged oak for the future. More on this later.
As someone once said 'I liked it so much that I bought...' 1.7 cubic meters of 6 cm thick aged oak for the future. More on this later.
Rounding Corners
The beautifully and accurately planed oak, provided by Mr. Bazant, had very sharp corners and some nasty splinters could have been caused if not remedied. So today, Saturday, was devoted to rounding the exposed corners. It was a long process as the exposed edges of each piece had to be identified and marked. A pleasant discovery was how nicely oak can be routed across the grain without splintering.
The picture to the right is looking down on to the 5 cm sides of two of the vertical 5 x 10 cm legs, with the non-rounded portion preserved for fastening against the main frame.
The picture to the right is looking down on to the 5 cm sides of two of the vertical 5 x 10 cm legs, with the non-rounded portion preserved for fastening against the main frame.
Cutting Corners
Just goes to show you how there's always an opportunity to learn something new... In the past considerable number of years I had always used a chisel and mallet to cut mortise joints. In soft wood this is not a big effort. But cutting 5 cm x 7,5 cm mortises in Acacia is a very strenuous activity. Last year, instinct had impelled me to buy a 26 mm Forstner bit, without fully appreciating how I was going to use it. The adjacent and below pictures show how the vast majority of the wood in the mortise can be removed, just leaving a small amount of chiseling to finish the job. Did I discover this method? I expect I had read it somewhere and filed it away for the right moment. That moment was today and in future. Subsequent reading warns that the Forstner bit must not be run at too high a speed to avoid overheating, tempering and total destruction... but I didn't do that yet.
