From The Bench

To carry on from last weeks issue, I thought I'd show another example of the versatility of the Ryoba saw in the form of a set of Irish chair arms. This is the second time I've used the saw to cut out arms for a chair, and because I've had a lot more experience since the first time, the second time was a breeze and I think around 75% of the initial shaping was done by the saw. There was little clean up needed with the spokeshave, and a little bit more with the Shinto rasp. The cutting itself didn't take too long, I'm not sure on an exact time but it wasn't long.

I was able to stay quite close to the lines, which is the reason there was little work for the spokeshave. There's no magic to this just lots of practice, I think it's been around 6 years I've been using a Ryoba saw to cut curves, so lots of practice! For myself personally I find an internal radius harder to cut than an external radius, and the smaller the internal radius is, the more trouble it will give you, fortunately this internal radius was a decent size and didn't cause to much of a problem, you can see I wondered away more from my line on the internal radius, but I was still close. The first arm was pretty good and the best, which I used to draw the second, but I was happy with both. Not to let the Ryoba saw take all the glory here, the Shinto rasp is definitely worth a mention as well. I've been using one for years (the same one), and they do a great job of shaping. There's not a great deal of people using them, although the tool is beginning to pick up momentum for good reason.

On smaller radius' like on both ends of the arm, I'll remove the bulk with a saw, and clean up the radius with the Shinto, very quickly made I add. These are in my top 10 of recommend tools, and they last a long time. I'm still on my first with very little sign's of dulling.

Below is a high speed reel of the shaping of one of the arms, to give you a rough idea of how I did it (click the image to watch on Instagram).

Maker Spotlight

This is the gravity bookcase (for obvious reasons) pictured with the designer/maker. I really like the illusion it gives of balancing on one leg. I'd like to see how it's attached to the wall, things like that interest me as much as the furniture sometimes. A very beautiful piece which you can see more of on Instagram (click the image).

Question Of The Week

Q. Can you make decent furniture out of construction timber like 4×2’s etc?

Barry - Wales.

A. Well Barry, I think that's open to debate but I have built some furniture from construction timber. The last piece I built (below) was a table bench and is pretty stout. I think the main concern is the colour of the wood, although there is a couple more considerations like all the knots, grain patterns and is more likely to dent easily. I personally like the look, toughness and workability of oak or other hardwoods, and don't do a lot with that stuff. If I am to build something, this is what I personally will do - I won't buy 4x2's, I'll buy 6x2's up to 9×2’s (usually the max I can get my hands on). This is generally a better grade timber (European redwood), better than 4x2's (spruce). I’ll take my time picking out the materials looking for good grain, colour and the least warpage. When I have the materials I build straight away with it, the pines have a terrible reputation to warp quickly, so I like to start straight away because leaving it a week can cause problems, depending on what you are building of course. That's pretty much my process, but I would add if you're going to stain etc. try everything out on scrap first to see if you like the colour. Hope this helps.

Do you have a woodworking related question? Reply to this email, or login and leave your question below. I read them all and will feature one in the next issue.

What Caught My Eye

This is a really good and simple design by germanperaire of some bench dogs. The design looks to be really good, and will save you money while allowing you to have lots of dogs in your bench. Click the image to see the making of the dogs.

Final Shavings

I'm currently finishing up on the Irish chair build, and hopefully I should have the video edited by next week, as well as a mini article for the next issue.

I may be starting work on some sort of breakfast bar in the coming weeks which will feature dovetails (hopefully). I may also be starting a foot rest to go along with my new Irish arm chair.

In case you missed it, my last video (Making a drill guide for chair making) can be watched here, and a podcast is available to those who are interested. You can listen on Spotify here, and Apple Podcasts  here, and watch on YouTube here.

If you’ve enjoyed this, feel free to share with someone who’d appreciate it. This will help to grow and support the newsletter.

Until next time

-David 

DW Woodworks