Phil Lowe’s a genius… and not just because he’s a carving, turning, period-furniture-making whiz, but because he’s so good at fixing mistakes.
Being a good woodworker doesn’t mean you can avoid mistakes, he says, the key skill is knowing how to fix them. (He wrote an article on the topic for FWW #186)
FineWoodworking.com shot a video with Phil Lowe of the Furniture Making Institute of Massachusetts in December (coming out next week). Woodworking under hot lights and the camera’s piercing gaze inevitably leads to mistakes. This shoot was no different.
In the middle of shaping a cabriole leg on the bandsaw, the workpiece slipped a bit and nudged the blade nicking his precisely turned pad foot. I cringed worrying about how this would set our video schedule back and anticipating an outburst of frustration from Lowe.
But no, Lowe calmly finished his cuts, turned the bandsaw off and inspected the damage. No cursing or swearing.
We took a quick break and Lowe showed us how to repair the turning. First he sliced of the damage, found a matched scrap of mahogany, and mixed up some epoxy. He attached the wood scrap and held it in place with a handy clamp… a coil from the spring of an armchair. He used a heat gun to speed up the curing process and re-turned the foot when complete.
In the end, the damage was practically imperceptible. Pretty cool…
And, if you like this fix, be sure to check out Lowe’s other tricks for repairing dovetails, tenons, dadoes, corners, and lap joints.
What about you? What smart tips to you have on repairing mistakes?
Comments
Philip Lowe's repair to his cabriolet foor is lovely. Would it have been possible to glue the patch on with the grain running in the same direction as the rest of the foot - and make it less visible?
I think he did his best with grain at the moment--especially since it was just a prop after all--speed was our biggest concern.
But it looked pretty good when I saw it myself. In the photos it may seem more visible because of the lights and the close-up camera... Thanks for the feedback. Gina
ronboy says...if you look at the grain on the block closely you will see the grain is running in the same direction as the grain on the foot. Anyway you look at it, it is far better workmanship and a great deal of knowledge more than I and a few more have.I am just grateful for the tip.
I found that helpful and enjoyed it.
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in