Sept. 21, 2024

This was a proper week of woodworking. The wood arrived last week Friday, and I got started on it the next day. I started sawing the massive sheets (2.4m x 1.2m) of plywood in garden. I have a handsaw and it was heavy going… I cut about 12 pieces until I got too tired. There are still so many pieces to go! Literally 50. Later in the week I picked up a circular machine saw from my brother as well as two hand planes, a number 4 and 8 I think. When I cut the rest of the sheet, I’m probably going to use the circular saw. I don’t like using machines as it’s a bit dangerous, but it’s a ridiculous effort to saw it by hand and would save so much time.

I spent the week getting started on the wood. I first tried to figure out how to use the planers and struggled for a few days, it was very frustrating as I really didn’t know what I was doing. Initially I was trying to use my small block plane on the edges of the boards to try and square the edges. Abysmal. I later realised a block plane won’t do that job, you need a bigger heavier plane, like the number 4 my brother has. Once I figured that out, I struggled with the bigger plane as well. Basically my blades weren’t sharp enough, which I knew. But I also didn’t have a good technique to sharpen the blades. I have an oilstone block, but I don’t think I was getting it sharp enough.

Anyways, after a few days of frustrated tinkering and continuously watching YouTube videos, I finally managed to sharpen the blade of the right planer and get shavings off. After that, I was away! Getting that sharpening technique down was the key. I did a bunch of smaller side projects to practice techniques like planing and sawing and chiseling. These small projects created more useful tools for me. I made a dove tail template, a bench hook and I practiced making a shoulder joint. 

On Friday I found some extra plywood in a skip outside my house, which was cool, I used that to make the bench hook. I’m now at about 80% accuracy on squaring edges with planes. It’s not great yet, but at least it’s something and am happy with it for now! I’m quite pleased I got the sharpening technique somewhat functional. I then used some of my natural stain to dye the small projects, and have concluded it’s much too strong! It’s all practice stuff I’m doing at the moment, so I’m not too precious about it. I’ve made some 1/3 strength stain for next time though, hopefully will be better.

Meanwhile, I played around with carving a bit more and made some wands out of sticks I found outside. They turned out decent, but still a bit rough looking. I think I need to get some finer sand paper to get a neater finish. I bought some beeswax wood polish, which does help a bit as well with the finished look. Now that I’ve mastered a few carving techniques, if and when I make some more, I’ll try make it more professional looking. All in all, carving wands is pretty fun and only takes an hour or so to make a wand. Great small projects.

In the sewing space, I got some vague measurements for the kids costumes and got to work on those as well. The ghost costume was quite simple; just a big rectangle with a hole cut through it and added a hood. The unicorn leg and arm warmers were also relatively simple, I added elastic at the top and hand sewed on the fur and the hoof jewels. I think it turned out pretty well! I haven’t been over yet to get the kids to try it on, so not calling it a success just yet. Need to check it all fits.

Finally, knitting. I ran out of yarn for the Rikke jumper, so ordered 3 more balls of wool online (300g). I would never have guessed I would need so much more! It’s week later and it still hasn’t arrived, so in the meantime I’ve been remaking the green cardigan sleeve, which is nearly done now. I’ve hopefully the right gauge after blocking! At least I’ll be finishing one knitting projects in the next few days.

Next week I’ll probably be doing more wood working, but who knows what I’ll be doing. I may be completing on my 3 acre piece of land at the end of the week, so I might do a visit afterwards.

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