PlaneAround

Kingston, ON, CA
member

Marty is a retiree who spends most of his days in his shop, designing and crafting furniture for family and friends. He is about to embark on learning to turn. When he's not in his shop, Marty can be found working at finishing the interior of their newly-constructed home. Marty is the founder and President of the Kingston Woodworkers Association, www.KingstonWoodworkers.ca.

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Contributions

Fireplace Mantel

Jan 10, 2013

This project involved the building of a fireplace mantel for our home. I used cherry lumber and plywood for the wood components and custom cut carerra marble for the firebox surround. After making...

Treasure Chest in Birch and Cherry

Jan 14, 2009

I designed this chest in honour of my grandson's 1st birthday. Its serpentine shaped cherry veneered top is supported by a carcass of native yellow birch, proudly featuring exposed...

Recent comments

Re: My humble workshop

Great shop! I can well understand why you have so much fun in it. Are you using your Shopsmith mostly for its lathe feature?

posted: 7:13 am on March 20th

Re: My Shop

Just wondering what's in the rest of the shop area as it looks HUGE! Great shop.

posted: 6:34 am on March 20th

Re: What hand tools can't you live without?

I don't see an angle gauge nor a compass. Your chest looks quite efficient and well made.

posted: 8:01 am on February 2nd

Re: Should Woodworkers Say Goodbye to Ebony?

Hey, Offcut,

Cut the guy some slack will you? Here he is doing something admirable and you're panning him for not going the final mile and planting the trees himself! I've got a suggestion for you: buy yourself a plane ticket from the UK to Camaroon, go into the forest and harvest the seeds from the living trees then plant them yourself. Return there every few months to check on them.

Sorry for offering such a ridiculous suggestion, but I think you get the point. "The longest journey begins with the first step." I'd be interested in a personal exchange with you on this issue, and to that end have provided my personal email address. Hope to hear from you soon.

MartyatKingston@gmail.com

posted: 8:56 am on June 9th

Re: Bowfront Chest of Drawers

Sorry, but those aren't dovetails!

Marty

posted: 4:14 pm on December 9th

Re: Does MDF Belong in Fine Furniture?

I recently completed a fireplace surround for a client whose budget and interest in having the piece painted, called for MDF. The final product met their requirements and it came in, on budget and on time.

The design was exactly the same as if it would have been made from any traditional cabinet woods, solid or veneer. The wood selection and machining process took less time as there was no need to consider grain patterns. The assembly process was as easy as pie, as I used biscuits, glue and 23 gauge pins. Quick & easy. Had it been made of solid wood, I would have still used all of those same items.

Does it constitute fine woodworking? Yes it does... and no, it doesn't. Would it have been "finer" woodworking had it been made of traditional cabinet woods? Most certainly. However, who can argue with a satisfied client and a craftsman who received a decent wage for his work? Win, win.

posted: 9:26 pm on November 23rd

Re: Poll: The Next FWW Tool Test

I, too thought your list didn't touch upon anything that I was interested in. How about covering some hand tools such as smoothing planes or block planes?

Marty from Ottawa, ON, Canada

posted: 4:52 am on June 24th