Friends,
Seth (Hamelech) posted some photos of some drums he made and it generated some real interest. The conversation turned to “non traditional fine woodworking”. We all know what types of woodwork make it into FWW and which types of woodworking are discussed often in Knots.
There are lots of magnificent types of woodwork which don’t fit the FWW mold, and many folks here on Knots do such work. It included but is not limited to: miniatures, rifle stocks, carving, painted furniture, musical instruments, rustic furniture, woodburning (pyrography), chain saw carving, boat building, etc etc etc.
We thought it might be fun if we got a thread going in which folks posted photos of some of their projects which are “non traditional” projects for FWW magazine. Please don’t fail to put up a photo just because you don’t think it is a “masterpiece”. Post it because it is “different”. The goal here is to widen all of our horizons.
Here is a photo of a schrank which was painted by my friend, Scottie Foster, and built by her husband, Jack. I decided to try to learn how to do the Bauernmalerei style of painting so that later I might build a schrank.
Here is a photo of a Bauernmalerei plate I made and painted in my unfinished journey to THE SCHRANK!
Here is my attempt at a similar style of painting called Rosemaling, which is Norwegian. I made a set of coasters and a rack to hold them.
Here is a pair of woodburned benches that I made.
Here is the Doll House (Miniature) that I made for my daughter. It is almost six feet tall, and done to “inch to the foot” scale.
Here is my carving of an eagle.
Well, you have seen some of my non-traditional woodwork, along with a photo of a shrank that I aspire to make. Please post some photos of some non traditional woodwork that you have done that is not typical of the type of work normally seen in FWW and on Knots. Let’s see some gunstocks, some musical instruments, some boats, some……………..
Thanks,
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Replies
Mel,
I like the Bauernmalerei plate. I am a sucker for the green you used and the old style lettering. Nice clean work. Thanks for posting all the other cool stuff.
Glad I remembered to enlarge the page so I could see more of the schrank and doll house etc.
And here I thought most of what you do is make bowls without a lathe.
Boy was I wrong.
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
One of my more functional pieces. But I think I would have to say that this would qualify as very traditional woodworking in some circles.
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Hi,Here are pictures of said drums. What a great opportunity to display wood working projects that are made with the same care and devotion as furniture.Cheers,Seth
Seth,
your drums bowl me over. Especially the bubinga. I spent my entire youth in Drum and Bugle Corps. I played snare drum, base drum, and one-valve bugle. I was Drum Major during my senior year in High School. During college, I played drums in rock and roll bands, most notably, the "NPQ", or "National Pontifical Quartet", in which we did rock versions of Catholic and Protestant hyms. You shoulda heard "Rockin in the sheaves", "Tantem Ergo Rock", etc. Later I was with "Six Gentiles and A Jew", which was led and named by its founder, Chuck Duberstein. Never did become a famous drummer. Maybe if I had had some of your drums. Mel
PS all of the info in this message is true, believe it or not.Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Hi, Mel,I played saxophone from second grade until graduating high school, and my parents wouldn't let me switch to brass. So, I competed in Spirit of Sunnyvale, which marched 4-5 field shows in the summer, and various parades and static shows during the rest of the year. It was a full marching band: woodwinds, brass, drums and color guard.I live in the SF Bay Area, much closer to Santa Clara Vanguard, and a fair distance from Concord Blue Devils. If you're a DCI fan, you know who I'm talking about. Drum corps is amazing, all kids should see it.In high school, I lead a saxophone quartet, which I named "Safe Sax". Our matching shirts had 2 tour stops, connected with a very straight line.Gig #1 was at the City of Santa Clara safety fair. We played for 3 people.Gig #2 was a packed house at the high school's library. Typical of sax players, we were 80% into a very nice rendition of "Send in the Clowns", when we stopped and effected a precision coughing attack, then continued the song.Members of my tribe are prone to naming things that distinguish the Jewish side of the house; self-deprecation is a sign of being comfortable with the situation. Here's a mind bender for you - my son is Filish. What two components is he?Cheers,Seth
Edited 8/2/2009 11:42 am ET by Hamelech
SETH,YOU ARE A ROCK STAR!!!!!!!Mel
PS three cheers for Drum CorpsMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,The most wicked thing I've ever seen - on You Tube, this young kid performs Santa Clara Vanguard's snare warm up.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLpfawaaPS4Kids have no idea what limitations are. Bravo to him.Cheers,Seth
Seth,
WOW, that kid can play!
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Seth,
The trouble with high school bands I hear, is that they are riddled with too much sax and violins.
Ray
Joinerswork,Only in music class can you speak of blowing, stroking and fingering in front of children. Anywhere else, there is no way to dog-paddle yourself out of trouble. I think the reward is 1-3 years and membership in a special club.I made my son do concert band this year. His junior high school program is very small, it must've been 35 kids or so. I gave him permission to do a different elective for 8th grade. He's a drummer, been playing for 5 years or so, and needs kids that are at his level; he wasn't at all challenged.My jr high program was gi-nour-mous, 100 kids or more. You know your band is big when you have 3 French horns and a bassoon. And that was band; the separate orchestra had a lot of kids, too. And a separate glee club. That was all back in the day, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and schools had good funding.Grumble, grumble. Parents today don't understand the benefit of music. Team play, problem solving, executing your role, and the triumph of accomplishment. These are all elements of a good life.Cheers,Seth
Hello Seth,
Great drums! I have a friend who is a very talented drummer, we have often talked about me making him a wooden snare drum. I would love to see more pics and info. What is the finish, nitro or a water based product? I hear Targets' new WB production lacquer is good stuff.
Sal,I post over at drumshed.org/forum If you're interested, please sign up. There is no cost at all. In the two years I've been there, so much information has been posted about craft made ply, stave and segment drums, and it's yours to explore. I usually use Minwax oil based wipe on poly; it's stupid simple! Sometimes, a round or two of Tried and True linseed oil before the wipe on poly to pop the color / grain pattern.The close up picture of the drum lug is a cherry drum with 9 coats of Deft lacquer from a disposable rattle can (I don't own any spraying equipment), on top of 2 coats of Deft sealer. It's been further scrubbed with automotive cleaner and polish for a very deep shine. This was my first attempt, and it was fairly easy to do, though plenty of patience is required.I presume the Deft is a nitro cellulose lacquer. The brushable version is, Deft didn't have the tech sheet for the spray version on their website.Sean Clark posted a video on the FWW site somewhere, and the steps he used to create a high gloss lacquer finish (sanding wet with wet/dry up to grit 2500, then using automotive polisher to refine the shine) is pretty much the technique that I used.I did not like the Minwax water borne finish, it seemed to mask the color and grain of the cherry. I know it's not supposed to, but to my eye, it didn't look good. The method used for that was 2 rounds of Tried and True linseed oil, 2 coats of Zinsser de-waxed shellac as a barrier coat, and then 3 rounds of rattle can Minwax water borne poly.Regrets, I've no knowledge of Target's line of finishes. I'm using what my local hardware stores are carrying on the shelf.Cheers,Seth
Nice flintlock. Wood?
How did you get that deer to lay there for the Pic?
HmmSausages
The wood is some sort of hard maple. Probably sugar maple, but I don't recall.
That is a backyard deer. We have them well trained.
Brent
Brent,
I think by any definition that truly is fine woodworking.
If you haven't had the opportunity might I suggest that you get in touch with danmart who posts here.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Here's another gunstock of the rubber band kind; a quick birthday present for a friend of my son. (I hear his friend's dog made short work of it...it's all about the process, right?)
Mel, great topic idea. I too wish FWW included more than furniture; appreciated Woodwork for that reason.
Cheers,
Chris C.
An up and coming World Champion Rifleman I can see. Looks like he might be due for an equipment upgrade pretty soon. A nicely custom stocked Red Ryder BB gun would be a one of a kind sort of project.
:)
Brent
Indeed! His grandfather gave him a red ryder at the tender age of 2; would take the heirloom aspect of the gun to a new level.
Well, if you restock it, check him for cross-dominant eye - e.g., right-eye dominant, but left handed or vise versa :)
A really nice piece of marble cake english walnut would be sweet on a Red Ryder!
Brent
PS. Cuz I like this one so much, here is another - a .22. I only did the final finishing however. This is California English by the way = perfect for a bb gun
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Edited 7/30/2009 9:05 pm ET by BrentD
Beautiful Low Wall! There is just something about Mr. Browning’s single shots. The Unertl scope really makes it special. <!----><!----><!---->
Brent,According to "A Christmas Story", owners of Red Ryder BB guns are warned constantly about the perils of shooting one's eye out...I saw a You Tube video of a Jenga gun. A rubber band powers a captured bolt with a nub on the end, and when pressed against a Jenga tile and fired, the Jenga tile is immediately forced from the stack, with no movement to the stack.http://woodgears.ca/jenga_pistol/Cheers,Seth
I have seen that video. To ALL be sure to look at his link to other wood machines.. Grest fun.. OK, At least I enjoyed it!
Edited 7/31/2009 12:50 pm by WillGeorge
Brent,
Nice website that you posted
http://woodgears.ca/jenga_pistol/I noodled around the rest of the site, not just the Jenga. The guy did some nice wood puzzles, but the jenga gun takes the cake.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,
Don't miss the jigs especially the ones for box joints.Pete
Chris,
Great rifle. Now I have to make one of those for my grandson. To misquote a great line about baking, "Nothing says lovin like something from the woodshop." Glad you like the idea of thinking about woodwork other than furniture. There are folks on Knots who make GREAT toys. One of them is Bob of Kidderville acres who has posted in this thread.MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Brent,
Beautiful stock that you made. The grain is magnificent too. You said that this would be considered traditional woodwork in some circles. I agree. I also think it should be considered traditional woodworking in FWW, but I am not in charge. Do you know of the gunstocks made by Danmart?MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
All right, Mel. What is a "schrank"? Wikipedia doesn't know what it is anymore than I do.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Frosty,
You asked "What is a schrank? It is a large cabinet for clothes and stuff. It is a German thing. Apparently you were taxed on how many rooms your house had. So instead of building a closet, which would be an additional room, they got a big cabinet and used that. A girl would have one, and then take it to her new home when she married. The schrank, at about 8' tall, four feet wide and two feet deep, would not fit through the door, so it was designed to come apart easily.A schrank has a base and a top. It has two square C shaped sides which rest on the base, and a back which fits into dadoes in the sides and base. Then the top rests on the sides and the back. Two doors are hung from the sides. MOST IMPORTANTLY, there are four fasteners which are essentially very large dovetails, which attach the top and the bottom to the two sides. When you put the tail inside the slot and give it a tap, it fits in tightly and everything holds together very tightly.Hope that explains it. If not, let me know, and I will send diagrams.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel, Thanks for the explanation. It sounds a lot like an armoire.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
"What is a "schrank"?"Frosty:It is a woman with somewhat relaxed views on virtue and whose other drawbacks might be ignored by a certain class of males.HastingsMel's description might also be correct.
Your description has a certain elegance that Mel overlooked.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Mel,
Here is a bottle opener my friendmade for me last year. And also a Gearshift Knob in Bubinga I just completed for my friend's Dodge Ram.
and www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Chris,
Man, I love that bottle opener. VERY CLASSY. and very creative. ALso, I gotta copy your gear shift lever.
Thank you,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel..
Great post.. Loved the Doll House..
I had to look up Schrank though.. Best I can tell the German word for any style woodworking cabinet?
Would the Schrank be from http://www.bavarianfolkart.com/ ?? Not sure who Scottie Foster is.
Some years ago.. Maybe 25?.. I did not travel for about one year.. I was writing service manuals and drawing electrical schematics for my employer's products... Yes, I had to redraw the schematics in terms the average service technician could follow. The electrical engineers drew thing that even out manufacturing folks could not follow! And YES, I used a Bruning drafting table! (Charles Bruning Company) Not many good puters then.. Maybe none.. I forget ... Drawings for professional photos and then to camera to make plates for the printing press.. I LOVED doing that work...
To keep out of my Ladies' hair when I was at home... I made about 15 Doll Houses. One for each little girl that my oldest daughter knew.. I cheated. I bought one of those expensive kits that were available at the time.. A large Victorian and made patterns on a scroll saw to make the parts to be cut with a router. Although I did some modifications to the design so it was not a copy. Just my ideas such as how to make a template to use a router the cut the cedar (roof and siding) shingles in strips so I could stager for a single shingle look.. Etc... Actually, as I recall, I made 5? templates for the shingle strips so they did not look the same..
The houses even had electrical lighting.. Ceiling fixtures with a D Cell battery pack! The ceiling fixtures my wife made from copper wire and I used stuff available for model rail roads for the bulbs and such...
I even supplied hardboard templates so the receiver of the house could cut wall paper they liked to fit each wall. All the floors were just plywood with a shallow 'V' groove routed for the board spacing. As I recall that template was a bummer to make for the end of a board within the strip.. Again made so they could be offset for 'look' of flooring.
All I know is one little girl (next door neighbor) is a adult young woman now and she still comes over, on occasion, to show me her new 'accessory' for her Doll House.
I have no idea what happened to the other 14.
As to the painting for your picture of the Schrank and plates and whatever. I could never do! My oldest granddaughter could but she flew the coop last week?
Will George,
Yup, you found Scottie Foster's website. She is the one who painted the schrank that her husband built. She let me make a measured drawing of the schrank. It is on the list of things to do. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't want a schrank. Fortunately my second son does. I just want to make one. You made a lot of dollhouses. Glad you still get to see one of them.You could learn to do that painting. If I can, anyone can. Scottie has a bunch of books which show you how. It is like doing lettering, it takes practice. When you get your digital camera back, please post a few photos of that doll house and other non traditional woodworking projects you have made. My guess is that you have some real interesting ones.MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
If I can, anyone can.
I cannot.. I can cut wood to almost any shape except for carving and painting anything artistic! My oldest granddaughter can draw anything. And she left me alone!
I will get a new camera (when I get some money) and post some pictures of my works on my two canopy China Doll beds... Even with a good camera I still take crap pictures~
Well on the way though! As in I am not artistic, I bought a CarveWright to do the carvings. Very Sorry, A Fake woodworker here.... For carvings... But still ALOT of work making the artwork for the machine...
Last canopy beds I will ever make in my small shop!
Unfortunately, my wife doesn't want a schrank.
She does want one but afraid she will have to paint it and be in the way of having fun time with Freddie!
It is like doing lettering, it takes practice.
And I hated the Script endless circles I had to draw in grade school.. After that my hand was all cramped and I could hardly hold a pen for the lesson!
I have always wondered why men writing in crap and a woman writhing is very pretty. Maybe a woman has something serious to say?
Edited 7/29/2009 2:59 pm by WillGeorge
"And I hated the Script endless circles I had to draw in grade school."If you got cramps with the "ovals" you could always switch to "push-pulls". It's too bad we don't have the Palmer Method anymore. I wonder what the put around the classroom walls above the blackboard these days?Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Mel,
You realize of course that these are the types of things the “old FWW” (in the glory days) had regular articles on prior to it becoming the current boring “Fine Cabinet/Furniture Making/Tool Review”. Thanks for the great pictures!
Napie,
"You realize of course that these are the types of things the 'old FWW' (in the glory days) had regular articles on prior to it becoming the current boring'Fine Cabinet/Furniture Making/Tool Review'"Yes, I realize that. But not everyone on Knots is as old as you and I. :-) This is my very gentle way of being a revolutionary. Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
OK Mel, you asked for it. Here is metal furniture from way, way back in the day before I ever considered I could ever make anything decent out of wood.
Nope not going to show bikes. Are not furniture. All that is gone and no photos. No camera alas. Stupid I know. Had to draw the line on hobbies ( and expenditures ). Even these metal bed pics were taken by others.
Any way at least this is furniture. I was in between real jobs and ultimately competing with Mexican labor / beds made in Texas on the border. Well you know how that generally turns out. Oh well I had fun. Sort of.
All these bends etc were done by hand on basic, primitive forms or bent in place with torch and bending forks. Soon after I went in with a friend on a big bender and did more massive and more involved bending. No pics but I still have sketches, drawings and cut lists. Most all of this was TIG welded cause I like it. Some MIG and Stick. Lots of work on the branch bed with a rose bud torch tip and a saws all . There are vines winding around the upright "trunks" of the branch bed. Vines and branches in the tops were solid steel rod 3/8", 1/2", 5/8 " I varied them for better aesthetic. If you enlarge the photo you can kind of see them.
The curved top rails of the ribbon bed are made up from layers of shapes bent by hand to match and plug welded from the under side. The globes at the top of bed to connect canopy were half moon pipe caps welded at the "equator" and drilled and tap threaded to match big screws welded in the ends of the canopy parts.
Both beds totally disassemble for shipping and came with a separate frame to hold the box spring with adjustable hight and adjustable center support. Kind of a lot of work really for how much we made on 'em.
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Edited 7/30/2009 2:14 am by roc
Edited 7/30/2009 2:21 am by roc
Edited 7/30/2009 2:36 am by roc
Nice work; so much detail I'm surprised you made any profit.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
>surprised you made any profit.Profit ? What's that ?: )Well these were not one offs and they went for several thousand dollars. Wholesaled to a fancy smacey interior design store in Cherry Creek in Denver. I was just the peon.I was working for an interior designer from Chicago. This was only a small part of her interior design/metal sculpture business. If it had worked out we would have made more elaborate benders and jigs and like I say I was contributing my bender for the thick stuff and large tubes. (later projects not shown)But as you say and we all know ART furniture can be labor intensive.rocGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
VERY skilled work.. I love it!
That's definitely non-traditional as far as woodworking projects go.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
ROC,
Absolutely stunning metalwork. Love the bed. Very creative. It is amazing what people are doing, that we normally we dont find out about. Thanks for posting. That was great.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,
Ye gotta see the shave from a pencil sharpener discussion over in Hand Tools.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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