Expert Wood working

Heres the beginning of the construction from this past weekend, although Im not sure how much construction actually took place. Well, like I said, I was able to complete the front legs.

Im not certain how far I will get this weekend as I will be busy with The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe. I play the part of a thespians dad who drives around a lot.

Many great artworks were uncovered in different archeological sites all over the world which includes centuries-old mosaics. Indeed, mosaics have been around for centuries and its popularity cannot be questioned. One of the most well-liked mosaic artists is Sonia King. Does the name ring a bell? King is a famous contemporary mosaic artist. Her works can be seen in galleries, architectural structures, home settings, and in communities. Corporate, public, and private collections also boast King’s artworks, nationwide and even internationally.

According to spectators, the mosaics of Sonia King show intimate environment views. The audience will truly appreciate the beauty of the natural world through the artworks of King. Most of King’s mosaics are abstract landscapes, gentle terrains, and other environmental scenes which are mostly earth-toned.

Sonia King is one of the best because she can show the individuality of the materials and at the same time creating homogeny. Each of the segments is alluring and yet when these segments are put together, it creates an engaging piece of art.

If you happen to be near Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, drop by at the establishment and at the main lobby, you will see ‘Nebula Chroma’. This is a mosaic created by Sonia King for the center. Four of the mosaics in this center have won a Spectrum Award in an international competition. The award was sponsored by different organizations such as Tile Council of America, Assopiastrelle of Italy, and Association of Ceramic Tile Manufacturers in Spain, Ceramic Tile Dealers Association, and National Tile Contractors Association. King’s achievements and creativity were recognized by this international award.

This year, Sonia King will take part in a Tunisia Class in France. It is mosaic workshop which can help you in enhancing your skills as an artist in a stimulating and inspiring environment. France is a country where mosaic is considered part of the traditions for centuries now. The locals are very kind and hospitable ad your will love their culture. If you want, you can join the workshop.

Last January 10-31, 2009, an exhibit was held in Dallas at the White Rock Lake. The mosaics were housed in Bath House Cultural Center and the exhibit was entitled ‘Sum of All Parts 2’. It showcased diverse exhibitions of the works of local as well as national and international mosaic artists. The theme of the mosaics was ancient art as a medium for cotemporary arts.

The SAMA conference started last February 28, 2009 and it will continue until April 26. Sonia King will also be there and she will hold a half-day mosaic workshop about using the right tools and mosaic cutting techniques. The SAMA conference also holds an exhibit of the best and finest contemporary mosaics which includes the ‘Spinoff’.

This coming June 2009, Sonia King is going be a guest artist in Oregon for ‘2009 Festival of Arts’ which will held in Lake Oswego. You can see King in a preview party during the festival. She will also teach in one of the advanced mosaic workshop and will be one of the jury in the exhibit. This festival has been held for the past 46 years to give value to contemporary mosaic.

In Dallas, Pleasant Grove Library is still in the design phase and Sonia King was already chosen to be the artist to create mosaics for the new library.

The Tools of the Trade Show took place today in Pickering, Ontario. This is one of the very few vintage tool shows that happen in Canada, so few in fact, the promoters are able to run it twice a year; a spring show in April and a fall show in October.

In the past two years I have found that the dealers had more tools on their tables than there were potential customers to buy them. This year I felt this ratio was in reverse. I think some of the dealers were gun-shy, so they cut back on their inventories and displayed less. As a sign the economy is possibly turning around, I think the buying numbers swelled this year but faced a lesser number of choices. It is possible that I also overheard more haggling over price this year than I have heard in the recent past. As an example of this, I returned to one dealer to talk price about a plane I saw about 75 minutes previous only to find that the plane gone, along with about 90% of the rest of his inventory. I mentioned that it looked like he did quite well that morning and he answered that he thought his customers made out much better than he did. Signs that displayed, "Prices are negotiable" were commonplace.

Doug Orr, the writer of all things vintage in the Lee Valley Tools Newsletters, had his booth up and running, crammed full of wood moulding planes (sadly, no H.E. Mitchells) and other tools of quality. We discussed a beautiful, but unmarked, ¾" steel shoulder plane with what I think was a walnut infill that I picked up off his table. This thing was amazingly built with a price of $155. He told me that it had an $85 blade in it, which barely poked out of the finest mouth I have ever seen on any plane. The mouth was so fine in fact, that I reluctantly put it back on the table. Looking at the mouth of that plane, I knew that with my limited plane abilities at this point, I was looking at buying $155 worth of pure frustration. Maybe one day, when my skills with these things improve, I wont be so quick to put things down that intimidate me, but today wasnt that day.

Doug Orrs booth is always loaded with crates of wood moulding planes in every profile imaginable.

Doug also has a number of feature planes and other tools displayed across his shelves and tables. They are easier to see, but you really feel like you "scored" when you find a needed one while routing through the bins.

Ive built two base cabinets for either side of the window.  These are 24" deep and will have bookshelf sections above.  Ive also assembled the tops for these, and trimmed them out underneath.  There will be a window seat between the two side towers.  Ive used basic cabinets construction and pocket hole joinery for the tops - see previous posts on how to do this.

TODAY ONLY...DONT DELAY!!

O.k. now that Ive got your attention...whats up with the screws in my ECE (Primus) Block Plane.? Not a straight head or flat head, a square head er,,...a Robinson here across the border. No. It has two, sort of softish, poorly machined metal Phillips style screws.? Hmmm....
This really boggled my mind, which obviously doesnt have enough to worry about these days. It seemed to me that this may actually be an error. No, not the name of the kind of screw head it is, but an actual manufacturing error. I think the original design was meant to have heavier and a more universally accessable screw style on the lever cap. After all, it was manufactured by a dependable company thats has been making wooden bodied, European style hand planes for years now. Ahhh, but there lies the question; are they still assembled where theyre actually manufactured? This is my question and this is the story. Let me take you back a bit to tell you how I arrived at this mystery.
As it goes recently, I was working with some nice Walnut, putting a chamfer on the edge of a foot-board, bed-rail. I decided to actually take the time to mark out the chamfer in an attempt at giving the bed a slightly modern feel. Funny how a simple detail such as this can change the over-all look and feel of a piece of furniture; allow me to elaborate. Seeing as the rail in question will be the last thing you (my clients) touch before you, or should I say-they, crawl into your/they (you get the picture!) bed. That private or perhaps not so private sanctuary where God knows what takes place; this rail needed to be relived of any harsh or sharp edges. My first thought was to use my handmade rosewood Hollowing plane; a gentle round-over would be nice to the touch. I opened my tool cabinet to reach for the 3/4" Hollowing Plane and there it is, my ECE Block plane, starring at me. I havent picked this poor old dog up in the past six months Im sure. In a moment of haste and blind romanticism I lifted up the short, rather plump beach wood vessel from the darkness of the tool cabinet and dusted it off. It felt different from what I remembered; sleeker and a little more refined. I grabbed my Lie-Nielson, Gunsmith styled flat head screwdriver, you know the ones, all pretty with brass ferules and turned out of hardwood. I placed the plane down on my work bench and lowered my hands around its body; cradling the block, I attempted to un-screw the lever cap..." My God" I cried. "It has Phillips style screws in it!" Shaken, yet determined I went back to my tool chest and found an old Phillips style screwdriver. It was hidden in a kind of suspended animation, lying there quietly under a pile of old Hockey cards I used to have back in the days when I used to use these Phillips style wood screws. I focused at the job at a hand and removed them. Slowly, backing them out of the Beech wood. Turning and twisting they started to bend and tear, a little at first and then a bit more. That Star shaped Phillips head, gleaming and proud, cast into each and every one of its kind. Cmon, really does anyone still use these things? Apparently so, I thought to myself.
Once I had the cutting iron out of the finely machined plane body, I sharpened it like no other blade I know of. Honing and re-shaping, polishing and rubbing until finally, ready as the day it was born, I put it back into the plane. "Ahh, those damn Phillips screws again." I stumbled through my screw and bolt bins to find a couple of Square-Head machine screws, suitable for the job with no danger of getting stripped. I picked up my old friend and brought it over to my work bench; the walnut trapped, pressed between my bench dogs like an offering of sorts to the newly reclaimed Block plane. I thought about my James Krenov-custom made Smoothing plane and my heavy in hand and perfectly produced Lie-Nielson Bronze #4. I thought about the planes of old, wooden bodies alike. I saw the similarities in the shape and body of the block. I pressed the sole to the crest of the stock and pushed ahead taking that first virgin shaving, peeling it off like an outter layer of skin. It purred almost like an animal, tearing through some prey; and then suddenly stopped. A grabbing-action and choking sputter, followed with tear-out from the stock. I took it back and waxed the sole, adjusting the iron and starting again, it hiccuped and then staggered. I thought again of my finely tuned arsenal of quality made hand tools, ready to use right out of the box. No fussing, reliable; a true joy to use. I walked back over to my tool cabinet and slowly swung open the door, and quietly, almost secretly, placed the little block plane back inside. Until next time old friend, I guess you really do get what you pay for.

**This story was a work of Fiction. If it sounds like a hand plane you have or have ever heard of, it must surely be coincidence. In defence of the Character plane of the story, I do like using my ECE Block plane as well as the larger bodied Jack plane by Primus I have. Just so happens, I didnt like using it yesterday morning to do some fine tuning on the piece of Walnut I have in my shop at the moment. Funny how hand planes can be so cranky at times. Both are available through mail order at Lee Valley Tools and both are very reasonably priced.
"This is a good all-purpose wooden plane at an almost affordable price!"