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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Working wood is the easy part

Since Ive started posting videos on You Tube, and since Ive started this blog, viewers and readers have come to expect content. Fair enough. And I try to come with a new project every week. But the fact of the matter is — and I hope other non-commissioned woodworkers will attest to this — it aint easy to come up with ideas. Well, put more specifically, the ideas are easy...figuring out how to do them is hard. Or, if you will, cutting and assembling wood is easy: inspiration is hard.

So with all intentions, I headed out to my garage this morning to build something out of wood. I have the notion to make a cool wood version of the classic "Connect 4" game.

Well, I spent a lot of time staring at my sons actual version and fussing with ways to improve it. You, know, make it out of wood. Yeeeah...

I decided my shop was a mess, hauled out the ShopVac and began tidying up. No shop that has actual work taking place should look this clean:

I organized my "very special" cut-offs that I will never use into their own dedicated box:

I even put all of my enormous collection of a/v wires and connectors into their own box:

Then I vacuumed all the cobwebs out of every corner. Even up high:

I found a 1 1/8 inch dowel that might work for the game pieces. I examined it for a long time:

Eventually I cut a 1/4 inch thick disc out of the dowel to use for my Connect 4 game:

Yep. Looks good. Then I calculated that I need 42 of them. Hmmm. The game will need — maybe — holes. I bored a hole! Now progress is happening:

And well, between that and working out in the yard, thats what I accomplished on this holiday day off. One hole and a disc.

Woodworking is easy.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Interlocking Wood Grain What is it

Hi Everyone,

Ive received a question about interlocking wood grain-what exactly is that?

Normally the grain of a tree runs up and down the long axis of a tree. Interlocking grain is the result of a spiraling of the wood grain up the long axis of a tree. Periodically, every several years, the grain will switch back on its self and spiral in the opposite direction. This makes for a very strong tree but its really hard to machine this type of wood as the surface tends to tear up rather easily.

Here is a link to a pdf article on the subject. Its a good discussion on the subject and also of basic tree anatomy:

http://www.treeworld.info/f29/spiral-interlocking-grain-trees-17891.html

Be sure and scroll down a little. Youll see a link to the article.

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