Member's Work Retrospective #2

This is the second of a retrospective of the fine and varied work of our membership. These pieces were all built under our mentored rentals program (AKA "Mentals"). One of the things that I most enjoy is seeing people jump from beginner level to completion of such nicely done and sometimes complex work, simply with the addition of a bit of leveraged advice.

Individual pieces from 2015 and 2016:

Variable Depth Bookcase by a former student. A full scale layout was the key

Ships ladders by one of our seasoned members.

Very nice computer desk

Art by Yeggy

Top bar beehive by a former student who took our very first woodworking class

Member's Work Retrospective #1

We have been at the business of helping other people succeed with wood working for a good time now. Time to set out a series to catch up on some of the great variety projects done through the years at our shop.

This one is from way back in July, 2014. Charlie started out completely green with one prospective client and a fervent desire to become a woodworker. The three of us met and agreed that I would design a set up for Charlie to use for repeated orders of a small knock down table that Charlie's client had lost his supplier for. Charlie would learn from me in the process. 

In very little time, we were sending other requests from our network to Charlie, and also guiding him through that custom work. Charlie was up to speed to do what you see here within 6 months of his start. Eventually he designed his own product (really nice pedal boards)  and quickly made a success of them on Etsy. He eventually moved on to his own shop on Bainbridge island and thrived. 

Full disclosure: the carving was done in Asia, Charlie did all the rest.

Making art with the bandsaw

Here's a fun project that happened this week. Joe booked a mentoring session to make some interesting cuts on the bandsaw. The plan was to replicate those live edge discs sold on Etsy and other home stores. They're to be used at his son's wedding this summer.

Cutting logs on a bandsaw is made safe through the use of some disposable plywood jigs. Round objects can travel during cuts and become quite dangerous. By attaching the log to a jig with screws, the piece is kept from rotating. Any movement can create binding of the blade or throw the piece. 

As the piece is cut, using the fence as a 1" thickness reference, the jig is cut as well. As the piece gets smaller, the screws holding it in place were taken out as we got closer to the blade. It's important not to forget to take out the screws and check for other screws in the plywood base before cutting.

The final product after being treated to prevent checking and splits.

The pieces brought in were two species, Doug Fir and Cottonwood. Both soaking wet. The Cottonwood didn't agree to being cut while wet and expanded, slowing the blade throughout the cut. On the other hand, the fir logs cut quite easily. Since it wasn't safe to cut the Cottonwood logs, there are two more jigs that were donated and available to the community. You can find them near the big bandsaw.

*Don't try this at home. Try it at IsGood and have a mentor check over your setup prior to cutting.