sevan
fanatic
Reged: 12/15/04
Posts: 421
Loc: santa rosa, ca
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My first mortise and tenon picture frame made from redwood!
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sevan
fanatic
Reged: 12/15/04
Posts: 421
Loc: santa rosa, ca
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Here's another frame. It's also made of Redwood. This time I used a pockethole jig to secure the corners and broke in my router table for the inner frame detail. It's about 44"x18".
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"A self starter that takes direction well!"
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brooksnb
Super Handyman
Reged: 03/03/07
Posts: 2138
Loc: New Brunswick , Canada
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you did a fine job !!
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Dennis
Just another trouble making Canadian....
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X10James
Handyman
Reged: 12/21/03
Posts: 811
Loc: Savannah, GA
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just a quick pick of my pride and joy working with her new lathe  And yes, I pulled her hair back into a pony tail as soon as I was done taking the picture.
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bozodog
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/19/07
Posts: 9938
Loc: SW Michigan
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That deserves an Awwww!!!
Cheers to the budding woodworker.
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Governments don’t bear the cost of anything; their citizens do.
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morrisdancer
"Lunatic"
Reged: 10/27/05
Posts: 7617
Loc: Michigan
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Very proud of that little lady! Get her hooked early
Liz
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Thanks, Chris and Ernie!
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JasonB
Sharp Shooter
Reged: 04/27/04
Posts: 8522
Loc: Cape Spencer, New Brunswick, C...
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Neat little lathe there! Does it work well? She seems to be enjoying it!
A certain desert dwelling forum member sent me a few pieces of desert ironwood he'd collected on a walk near his home (Thanks!), something exotic for me to play with. That was a year ago, and finally I got up the courage to try.
I'd decided long ago to forge a small dagger, and handle it in ironwood. It turns out I was able to go a bit better still, and both handle and sheath the new knife in beautiful Desert Ironwood. Dark burl for the handle, and light wood from adjacent to the burl for the sheath.
I forged the blade from an old Toyota coil spring (jap equal of 5160). Hardened and tempered decently, this stuff makes awesome blades. 4.25" long, it has a full lenght tang, threaded to accept the butt cap, which retains the handle and guard. I did all the post-forge shaping with files and sandpaper... Trying to distance my blades from power tools, as they've been shortcuts that have prevented me from a more basic understanding of the craft.... Filing the forged blank went much quicker than I'd feared.... It took about 4 hours to forge, and probably less than that to file. Pretty much wore out a new Nicholson Axe file doing it, but that's not too bad.
The butt cap and guard were forged from antique wrought iron salvaged from an old water tower by my stepfather.... Strange metal to forge.... Has a grain, almost like wood....
Once the blade was forged, filed, threaded and finished, and the guard and butt made to fit it, I hardened it and drew a temper on it, a compromise between the edge-holding yellow temper of a pen knife and the blue of a spring or sword.... it should be quite tough and flexible, while still being able to hold an edge well...
Then I was able to cut the burl for the handle. Stared at that block for a LONG time, trying to find the best mix of sound wood, good figure and sufficient "meat" to use for the handle. The first cut had true "pucker" factor...
A block cut out to roughly the right size, I drilled it thru to accomodate the blade tang, and filed the hole to fit. Then used the bandsaw to rough the grip out a bit...
Rough trial assemblies:
sanded and oiled early on....
I spent a few hours cleaning up the handle installation and guard, some polishing the blade (just to 400 grit, but removed enough metal to loose most of the forge and file marks).... Put the guard and butt in the oven at 500 till they blued, and then oiled'em for a pleasing darkened look. This "bluing" won't last, but it'll show wear quickly, helping aleviate the "new" look a bit.... By the time it's gone, so will the "new" be...
Knife itself finished, I turned to the sheath. I had a piece of relatively clean grained and reasonably sound ironwood left, light wood from near the burl that made the handle.... About 6"x4"x1.5".... Glued that to a piece of 2x6 so I could rip it cleanly on my tablesaw, to make a nice clean glue joint.... This worked well!
Cut the blanks profiles for the scabbard on the bandsaw, and carefully hobbed them out with a drum sander on the dremel. If you go carefully doing this, I've had great success making tight friction fit scabbards from about any type of wood. A SLIGHTLY loose fit can be tightened with a drop of crazy glue to provide a thou of extra sheath if needed. I joined the halves with carpenter's glue. This has proven reasonably waterresistant for my purposes in this use. Wooden sheaths aren't for bushwhacking...
Desert ironwood burnt and powdered by a dremel drum sander, by the way, smells like a cross between fresh horse dung and burnt peas. :barf: DD, I've come to agree... The boogers are finally clearing. :rolleyes:
The sheath blank complete, I chucked a drum sander into the drill press. More horse dung and burnt peas until the shape was pleasing to me. Meant to have the sheath match the guard, but I messed up and it's a touch narrower. Good'enuf.
More sanding, all the way to 1500g. This wood glows in bright sunlight, and feels more like bakelite than wood... But strangely warm to the hand... Magical stuff.
Now that I have a sheath, time to put 8.5" of razor edge on the blade. The thin grind made this take mere minutes. Just used the jap waterstone and the strop, and both edges shave reasonably. I placed a relatively obtuse edge on the blade, since it's a dagger, not a utility knife. Still..... It's somewhat scary, and the point is the finest I own.
To finish things up, I cut, sewed, riveted and died a leather frog to tie the whole works together. A drill-press turned dowel and a rivet make the clasp button. I think it looks pretty sharp! 
The finished dagger in sheath and frog:
Front:
Back:
Sheathed dagger out of leather frog:
Unsheathed dagger:
Back:
This was the first knife I've made with any metal furniture. Fitting a guard is challenging (this one is sloppier than I wish). Making the handle symetrical is challenging. Making the seams tight is well neigh impossible. I've gained a new respect for the professional makers.... My hat's off to them.
BTW, when the blade and furniture were forged, I had the help of an old friend of mine. He's not a terribly handy type, but he does a fine job of turning the blower and documenting the smithing work in photos. If any would like, I'll post a "how it was made" photo post once I get those photos back.... Lemme know.
It sure is nice to get a chance to work strange exotic hardwoods sometimes... 
J
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er, somethin'....
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twoshoes
veteran
Reged: 09/26/03
Posts: 1439
Loc: PA
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Beautiful, simply beautiful. The work of a fine craftsman. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.
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Tom
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy!
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bozodog
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/19/07
Posts: 9938
Loc: SW Michigan
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Man, that's great work! Sooo, who's Christmas present is it?
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Governments don’t bear the cost of anything; their citizens do.
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JasonB
Sharp Shooter
Reged: 04/27/04
Posts: 8522
Loc: Cape Spencer, New Brunswick, C...
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MINE, MOUHAAHAHAHAHAAAAaaa!
er, mine, this one..... 
J
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er, somethin'....
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