"He Mocks Me", Boards were heard to say

[C. in Indy]

Greetings,

I like to find old boards and I get more excited yet if they are quartersawn.

I am starting to plan some type of small set of bookshelves.  My lumber supplies got mostly used up last year on another project, so starting fresh I like to sometimes limit myself to what newer boards I have found lately.

A nice 52" x 8" piece of 4/4 walnut was found at one antique-mall.  I've got one of my less-famous Atkins later-Indy-era saws tuned up.  I found it as a mediocre rip saw, but about 2 months ago I re-filed it to cross-cut, and it's got a new lease on life.  Just 26 strokes sliced that walnut into 2 clean halves:

   


Another antique mall had a very heavy 48"  6/4 board of "chestnut," which to me looks a lot more like oak.  I test-cut a gigantic rip (to take off the nail-ridden side) with a freshly sharpened Disston D12 ripper.  It didn't exactly smell like oak, didn't exactly smell like anything.  But it's quartersawn and is probably oak or ash.  After the manual rip, it got power-bandsawn into 6 planks.

Now, separating those 6 planks all released some energy from the board, and they're not all dead straight.  In future plans (TBD) for a book-shelf, maybe I will treat those boards more like fence-posts or barrel-staves which can be "lashed" into straightness.  They're not straight enough to edge-join and merge, but they're way too pretty to cut down any further.  Right now, it's a "mock mockery" stage of design.

   


Other lumber at my recent disposal is a giant heap of discarded oak flooring.  That all had thick polyurethane "honey oak" tinting on it, which I didn't like.  I started off resawing a couple boards to totally discard the finish-surface, but that was too much material loss.  It turns out the No. 6 plane cleaned them up super-nice, without a whole lot of blunting effect on the blade.

   


Protracted rambling and halting progress updates will follow!

[hbmcc]

So, where's the mockery? Or, are the crows, on little feet, to come later? 

Antique Malls..... You folks need a wood recycler/reuser/salvager. I convinced myself to stay away from Seattle Second Use. Besides, I am still working on the hauls I did a while ago. 

Your projects are always fun to follow, Chris.

[Scoony]

Shouldn't mention this in a hand tool forum, but the local peddlers mall here has a booth that has really nice plywood cut-offs. Maple, birch, cherry, oak. Sometimes, I find 8' x 2' pieces as if they ripped down an entire sheet into 2. $12 for a half sheet of really nice quality USA made ply with poplar core. Don't find much else at that place, but the ply keeps me coming back.

BTW, nice project.

[Woodworm!]

Sounds like it should be this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WM_R-6AKHE

[ajkoontz]

I like to find old boards 

Have you been to the guy in Greencastle that sells barn wood on craigslist? Worth the trip. He's got a good selection and great prices. Not a lot of 4/4 stuff, it's mostly 2x and up but like I said, if you like old wood he's a great source. Do a search on Indy craigslist and you'll find him, he's almost always got an ad up.

[C. in Indy]

Yeah,  this is rapidly spinning away from a "Hand Tool Only" topic.

I did a bit of dressing on the 48"-tall oak/ash side boards, and every one of the 6 is slightly curved like a barrel stave.  So, the "lashing" concept will be important going forward.   Unless I want a bombe chest....

Hand tools?  Well, I am using my Viking Tool Chest to bring home 8 threaded rods from the big-box store today:

   


Thanks for the good humor,

[C. in Indy]

I attacked the 6 resawn / quartersawn boards after work.   They had taken all sorts of sudden drifts through the bandsaw, springing away from their neighbors as they were freed, and needed a lot of cleanup.

Since they are all somewhat bowed, I sort of did the "put them over my knee and spank them" action with the jack-plane and piles of shavings to serve as standoffs:

   


They did acceptably clean up, and hopefully will factor into some sentimental sideboards coming up:

   

[C. in Indy]

I just realized after a couple nights' sleep, where the idea / fixation on threaded rods came from.   Those old "Gusdorf" TV stands, I put together dozens of them for my Dad's shop, 35-40 years ago:

   


I am playing with the mockupery and I will probably use some sort of basic Art Deco / ziggurat profile on the side boards [I've done this before, too!]: 

   


Don't worry, I'll be alright... Recurring images going through my mind and shop have no significance / Encounters in the larger universe

   

[Greg Jones]

Now if that TV were also on a Gusdorf stand, that would be a devilish coincidence!

[C. in Indy]

Yes, indeed!

With a few minutes of time, I made some more decisions.   I ordered some anodized, oversized 1/4-20 knurled nuts a few minutes ago.  Taking Gusdorf into the 21st century


For the side battens or straps to pull in the bowed long-ash boards, I will be using walnut.  That'll be 8 little battens to prepare.  Given I spent thousands on machines in the 2000-2010 decade, I thought it was OK to use a machine now... provided I used Blue Tape !   These kerfs are to set up the boards for finishing by hand later:

   


Here is sort of how the outer battens will be arranged, if you can imagine these being whittled down to something complete.  Again, unplanned, but the "shadow hand" at the bottom left of the picture is clearly mocking me.   Seconds after taking the picture, everything racked and fell to the floor.

   


Defiantly moving on,

Chris