Finishing « Full Chisel Blog

May 9, 2013

Scorching Sand

Filed under: Alchemy,Finishing,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Techniques,Uncategorized,Veneer — Stephen Shepherd @ 12:24 pm

I am in need of some scorching sand for heat shading veneer and for hardening goose writing quills. I got a couple of cups of sand from a friend, it was left over from an out door cook oven. It is coarse construction sand and was in need of cleaning.

I first ran it through a coarse sieve [12 wires per inch], the stuff that didn’t make it through went into the garden. I then ran the sand through fine brass screen [20 wires per inch]. The stuff that didn’t make it through I separated out and saved it for future use, thinking I would still need to wash it when I was done.

Everything that fell through the fine brass wire screen contained all of the fines and dust, which I assumed I would have to wash it and dry it out. As I was pouring the sand from one container to another the wind blew some of the fine dust away. Now I was winnowing the sand and in about 15 minutes it was very clean. I didn’t have to wash it after all.

The size of the sand really does not matter for scortching wood or hardening quills, but it is nice to have two different sizes of winnowed sand.

Stephen

Comments (0)

May 3, 2013

The Complete Cabinet Maker And Upholsterer’s Guide – J. Stokes 1829

Filed under: Alchemy,Clamping,Dovetails,Drilling,Finishing,Furniture,Hand Planing,Hardware,Hide Glue,Historical Material,Instruments,Layout Tools,Mortice & Tenon,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Publications,Reviews,Sawing,Scrapers,Sharpening,Techniques,The Trade,Uncategorized,Veneer,Wood,Workbench — Stephen Shepherd @ 10:24 am

Gary Roberts over at Toolemera has done it again and reproduced a fine tome from the nineteenth century. The book has many full color plates, hand colored engravings and Mr. Roberts has reproduced the entire book in color, so the pages appear as they would in an original edition.

Mr. Stokes has done an excellent job at assembling material from his peers and predecessors, which I won’t call plagiarism as it was common practice. Some of the engravings have the long f for the s, indicating an earlier time.

The book is however full of very useful information about lay out, perspective, drawing, design and construction of furniture, with an emphasis on finishing, which I found fascinating. This is a great hardbound edition of an historical work that is a pleasure to hold in ones hand and read about the past and the ways of old. Add this one to your bibliotheque.

Stephen

Comments (0)

March 21, 2013

Dyeing Maple with Iron Buff

Filed under: Alchemy,Finishing,Historical Material,Moses T's,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 10:05 am

Iron buff is an interesting dye, the fact that the liquid is clear and can still instill a blue-grey color to hard maple and a green color to soft maple. So it is also an indicator to determine if the maple [Acer spp.] is hard or soft.

Most folks say to place steel wool into vinegar. The problem with steel wool is that it is covered with oil from manufacturing so I find it better to use iron filings [I save from saw sharpening] to make the solution known as ‘iron buff’.

I mixed up a small batch to stain the handle of a touch hole prick, also known as a vent pick, used to clean the touch hole of a flintlock rifle or smooth-bore. A friend who is a blacksmith said he wanted me to make him one as he admired the one I had made several years ago using iron buff to color. It has some age to it as can be seen in the photograph.

I will set the piano wire needle in the handle using Cutler’s Cement. I first etch the end of the wire with garlic and as you can see the end also has some ‘upset’ marks on the shaft to help give the cement a key to improve the grip. After it has cured for a week or so I will finish with Moses T’s Gunstocker’s Finish.

Everyone needs a little prick.

Stephen

Comments (1)

February 27, 2013

The Painter, Gilder, And Varnisher’s Guide – 1850 reprint from Toolemera

Filed under: Documentation,Finishing,For Sale or Trade,Historical Material,Of Interest,Publications,Reviews,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 9:59 am

Gary Roberts over at Toolemera has reproduced this wonderful work from the mid nineteenth century. Having decided to redo some of his title covers, he asked me to do a drawing for the cover of this work.

The first drawing (above) was too busy [he said], so I did another drawing that wasn’t. I think this is my first book cover on a book I didn’t write. You can order the book here.

It is an interesting book, the conversation is in the vernacular and context of the period, so it makes for good reading. It also contains information that is useful for anyone doing finishing, gold leaf work and decorative painting. A great addition to the library. (He did misspell my last name in the credits).

Stephen

Comments (1)

January 16, 2013

Boxwood and Slate

Filed under: Finishing,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Scrapers,Sharpening,Techniques,Uncategorized,Wood — Stephen Shepherd @ 12:40 pm

My Christmas gifts arrived

This year my family changed from the usual gift exchange in the spirit of giving to a you can steal someone else’s gift in the spirit of taking. My objections were overruled and I decided to play my own game. I bought a gift card from Lee Valley, so that no one else in my family would be interested. After choosing lots [my comment about deciding who is to die in a survival situation, got some chuckles] I was number 4 to draw and chose my own gift. My sister objected and I told her she couldn’t change the rules in the middle of this evil game. Needless to say we will be going back to the regular gift exchange next year.

Cashing in on the free shipping offered by Lee Valley, I picked up several turned and threaded boxwood containers. I could not even buy the wood locally to make these at this price, not including labor. Great items and very well made.

I tried to order a staple-less stapler, but for some reason they can mail them to an address in the US. I wonder if they are considered as personal protection devices or the magazine is too big? Strange.

I also purchased a piece of slate, had to order the middle size as they do not ship the large size for some reason. I thought it would be flat on one side but it was split and had uneven surfaces. I checked their website and that is what they listed.

I however wanted to use it for writing with chalk or soapstone so I needed to smooth the surface. I started with a coarse file and float, then converted to a piece of industrial sanding belt that had grit the size of cracked pepper and got it flat. I then used a card scraper to remove the scratch marks. The scraper was great, I did have to resharpen it during the process, the slate was abrasive to the scraper. [I do have a piece of English Slate sharpening stone and it is very hard].

Stephen

Comments (4)

January 11, 2013

Shepherds’ Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker – First Review

This is the first book review of my first book that was originally published in hardbound in 1981. This review appeared in Smithsonian Magazine April 1982.

I found this while doing research at the University of Nevada, Reno at their excellent library.

Now I need to find the reviews in Workbench Magazine, Soldier of Fortune Magazine and Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly.

Available at Tools for Working Wood

and The Full Chisel Store or from Amazon. Amazon also has original hardbound editions for sale.

Stephen

Comments (0)

December 6, 2012

Traditional Molinillo / Chocolate Pot Stirring Stick

Filed under: Carving,Finishing,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Scrapers,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 9:52 am

I got an order from the Tinsmith over at Hot Dip Tin for a couple of chocolate pot stirring sticks or molinillos for his chocolate pots. I looked at many designs mostly from Mexico but did see a few European style from which I took the pattern and created my own version.

While looking around for a piece of maple to make them from, I came across some maple balusters I have been packing around for several years and immediately saw that I could get a stick from each one.

Probably would have been easier to chuck it up and re-turn the top handle, but I chose to shape it with a drawknife, spokeshaves to get the rough shape. I sawed off the ends and used chisels to carve the round bottom part, both a V chisel and flat chisel to form the reeds. I used carving gouges to shape the fluted transition to the round handle. I also used my tombstone scrapers for the final shaping.

I raised the grain and lightly sanded the finished stir stick and applied a coat of Hemp Seed Oil for the finish. Yes hemp seed oil is a drying oil like linseed oil, walnut oil, and poppy seed oil.

Now to make the other one.

Stephen

Comments (5)

December 3, 2012

High School Wood Shop Project ca 1941-1944 – Restoration

Filed under: Clamping,Drilling,Finishing,Furniture,Hide Glue,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Restoration,Scrapers,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 4:47 pm

A small restoration project came through a referral from a friend. The table was built by the clients father in High School sometime between 1941 and 1944, it is built from birch, stained walnut, hide glue, iron screws and a shellac finish.

One of the tripod legs had come loose and one of the dowels broke, I first drilled out the broken dowel parts using a gimblet bit, a small carving gouge and a duck bill spoon bit. The gimblet bit drills roughly down the center, then with the carving gouge remove most of the remaining wood, then using the spoon bit to clean out and prepare the hole for a new dowel. The replacement dowel is also made of birch.

I will replace this label with one on acid free paper with all of the information.

I used a couple of hook scrapers I made from saw blade fragments from making cabinet scrapers. I heated them up in order to get a sharp bend then heated and quenched to harden it again. Sharpened to a 45 degree angle with no burr.

I also roughened the surfaces prior to re-gluing the leg and new dowel in place. I used a knife to cross hatch score the glue surfaces.

I used hot hide glue, 1 teaspoon glue : 2 teaspoons distilled water in my small glue pot, turned on the heat and 10 minutes later glued the leg into place. I held the leg against the post for about 5 minutes, then applied blue painters tape to hold in place.

I will treat it with Moses T’s Reviver tomorrow, after I wash off any glue residue. The surface has some alligator texture, which I will leave as part of its history. This table is not an antique but it is older than me.

Stephen

Comments (2)

November 29, 2012

Hand Carved Mirror Frame/Looking Glass – Restoration

Filed under: Carving,Finishing,Furniture,Historical Material,Of Interest,Restoration,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 2:45 pm

A friend picked this up in Oregon, he didn’t buy it the first time he was there, but when his wife traveled to Oregon, he had her go find it, which she did with much trouble. For some reason he doesn’t like the color paint and wanted it restored?

I used a citrus based stripper [in a modern spray can, well it was modern paint] to remove the paint, I did one section at a time, masking the surrounding surfaces with modern blue painter’s tape [it was modern paint!].

After the stripper had been washed and scrubbed of with an old modern plastic toothbrush [it was modern paint/stripper], and water, which I allowed to dry completely. I washed down with alcohol to remove the residue of stripper. I also used a brass wire brush to remove some of the residue in the grain and fine crevices of the details of the carvings.

This is a picture with half of the frame treated with Moses T’s Reviver, showing the difference, I then treated the entire frame with Reviver.

I then used a bit of Reviver and added some burnt umber, yellow ocher, and red iron oxide dry powdered pigments and applied a thin coat of this stain over the entire frame. I also stripped the back and treated it in a similar manner, taking special care that the rebate for the mirror was stripped and stained. Failing to do so, it will show up when the mirror is installed.

The final photograph is with a coat of very thin shellac. After I took this picture, I did some minor touch up with shellac and burnt umber and red iron oxide pigments, then applied another fine thin coat of shellac.

The next step will be gesso and bole then gold leaf on the sun carving. Should be fun.

Stephen

Comments (1)

October 15, 2012

Testing Woolen fabric for French Polish Pad, Fad, or Rubber

Filed under: Alchemy,Finishing,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Techniques — Stephen Shepherd @ 8:58 am

I recently read of a traditional technique for preparing a rubber, pad, or fad for French polishing, and this technique differs from others I have researched. I switched from cotton balls as a pad filler to raw washed wool, which I am very happy with how it works and lasts.

However this new method looked interesting, so I asked my favorite seamstress if she had some 100% woolen fabric that I could use? She brought by enough for my specifications, but wider, so I could rip it to the desired size. I thought that before I went ahead with French polishing, I should test the fabric to see if it would bleed any of the dye.

Sure enough after some alcohol and placed in a glass jar for an hour or so, then I took it out and placed it on a paper towel and you can see what happened.

I told the seamstress of the problem and she said she had some light brown herringbone wool fabric which she dropped off. I did the same test and no bleeding, so I will use this next time I polish.

I will also post the new/old technique soon and see how well it works.

Stephen

Comments (2)

Older Posts »