IMG_0467 – The Neighborhood Joiner

The Neighborhood Joiner

Qui non operatur instrumentum est / Use tools, don't be one

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David Walbert

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Workshop Update: April 2021
Tools and externalities
The thin edge of the wedge of scientific engineering
Hand tools and “traditional woodworking”
What is a “hand tool,” anyway?

theneighborhoodjoiner

My quality control officer has approved the accide

My quality control officer has approved the accidental fanback Welsh stick chair, so it’s off for final sanding and finishing. More pics soon. #chair #chairs #stickchair #welshstickchair #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #workshopdog #havanese

Butterfly box! I will have a few of these for sale

Butterfly box! I will have a few of these for sale (and will have more) in various sizes, each one a little different. This one is about 8”x5”x3”. The box itself is white pine with a rabbeted top that simply lifts off, assembled with glue and cut nails for simplicity and longevity. #jewelrybox #paintedbox #butterflies #decorativebox #folkart #unique #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking

I know that some people are very picky about their

I know that some people are very picky about their pencils and that others make fun of them for it, but I would just like to say that a 6B sketching pencil is better for quick dark lines than any carpenters pencil I have ever used. You may now argue amongst yourselves. #woodworking #chairmaking #layout #pencil #pencils

So I made an interesting mistake laying out the st

So I made an interesting mistake laying out the sticks for this chair... as I realized not when I dry-fit the parts but when I looked at the photograph of the dry fit.
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When I built my low-back chairs, I arranged the sticks evenly around both the armbow and the seat, because for a low-back chair, that is the most obvious (and I think visually pleasing) thing to do. So they just gradually fan out around the perimeter. So when I laid out the high-back chair, that was still in my head, and I did the same thing. But of course the four sticks through the doubler to the crest are supposed to be parallel... and instead, I have a fanback.
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I have seen photographs of antique stick chairs where somebody did the same thing, and fixed it one of two ways: by bending the sticks back toward the crest, or by letting them fan out somewhat. (Swipe for my quick pencil rendition — exaggerated, obviously.) My sticks are flexible enough to bend back in, but I worry about the strain on them long term — despite having seen the antiques. And my crest is long enough to hold the fanned sticks, but I worry about stability with the sticks farther apart — again, despite having seen the antiques. And there are lots of things that look charming on a piece a hundred years old But it's one or the other (or the bonfire, but everything else about the chair is great so far).
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The bent-back sticks look weird to my eye, so I'm going to try the fan-back approach and see what happens. The worst that happens is it winds up on somebody's chair chat.
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#woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #chairmaking #welshstickchairs #welshstickchair #stickchairs #stickchair #chair #chairs #fanback #fanbackchair #oops

Meanwhile, in the garden… #garden #gardening #su

Meanwhile, in the garden… #garden #gardening #summer

I so seldom remove the handles from my @veritastoo

I so seldom remove the handles from my @veritastools spokeshave that I forget I can do it… but occasionally it comes in awfully handy, as when I can’t think of a good way to clamp this arm bow for shaping. #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #handtools #spokeshave #chairmaking #chairmakingtools #spokeshaves #youdontneedituntilyouneedit

Blue tape as visual deterrent (or as I like to say

Blue tape as visual deterrent (or as I like to say “shop mastiff”) in shaping a chair seat. Seems to be working so far, though I imagine I’ll mess it up within minutes of posting this. #chairmaking #travisher #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #bluetape

Finally wrapped up another pair of side chairs…

Finally wrapped up another pair of side chairs… the angles and dimensions are still the @lostartpress basic staked chair, but in addition to reshaping the seat I arched the crest and added two more sticks to the back. The truth is the extra sticks were a wild hair after I’d already bored four mortises, but I really like the irregular look. Definitely pleased with the way it came out. And with all these chairs it is clearly time for a dinner party.
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Also I’ll note that duct-taping a bedsheet to the front wall of my house makes a decent approximation of a professional photography setup.
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#woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #handtoolwoodworker #chair #chairs #stakedfurniture #stakedchair

Another day in paradise #woodworking #handtoolwood

Another day in paradise #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #handtools #workbench #workshop #garageworkshop

Ten years ago today, my first time using a shaving

Ten years ago today, my first time using a shaving horse or a drawknife… in public, at @duke-homestead. It is not the easiest or the best way to learn a new skill, but it is one way. My apprentices for the day helped.
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The long story is on my old blog somewhere, if you want to go and find it.
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#woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #shavinghorse #livinghistory #1870s

Made this #pencilbox on a whim. Sometimes it is go

Made this #pencilbox on a whim. Sometimes it is good to build from a few scrawled dimensions and a mental image and see what happens. In this case both the little walnut pull and the rabbit Ed construction were solutions to problems arising from hand tool processes: I wanted to plow grooves for the top and bottom through one long piece of wood before cutting and joining it; and I wanted to raise the panels for top and bottom with a block plane. That left an odd shape on the end of the lid. So I sliced it off and rabbeted on a bit of walnut, which made a perfect pull.
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Sometimes making it up as I go works. Not always. But this time I’m happy.
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#woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #woodenbox #woodenboxes #handmade #woodworker #woodworkingdesign

Chair design: it’s like doodling, but with trigo

Chair design: it’s like doodling, but with trigonometry.
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#furniture #chairs #chairmaking #furnituredesign #chairdesign #stickchair #chair #woodworking #dontevenaskmewhatkinditis

Got home from the mountains and found my new @redr

Got home from the mountains and found my new @redrosereproductions pencil dividers waiting for me. A really well made little tool. Pencil dividers are like umpires and cinematography: if you notice them very often, there is likely a problem. This is the only pair I have ever used that I could forget about because they just do their job. Thanks, Dan! #handtools #tools #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #dividers #layout

If Roan Mountain is not the most beautiful place o

If Roan Mountain is not the most beautiful place on earth, it will do for a start. #mountains #appalachiantrail #appalachianmountains #roanmountain #roanmountainbalds

This tea tray was my daughter’s @starfishpaints

This tea tray was my daughter’s @starfishpaints homeschool graduation present, along with the antique teacups... I thought putting up with me through six years of middle and high school math and science deserved something special. Also, she is a great kid.
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Cherry and walnut with ash highlights. The styles of the tray and cups are about as wildly different as two styles can be and yet I think, somehow, they work together.
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#woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #servingtray #teatray #tray #madebyhand #handtoolsonly #oneofakind

Monday morning in the finishing dungeon, er, basem

Monday morning in the finishing dungeon, er, basement, painting a couple of chairs. (I’ll be all right by quitting time if I don’t hit my head on the stairs... there is a country song in here if I can work in my dog and my truck.) #stickchairs #welshstickchairs #chairs #chairmaking #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #milkpaint #basementworkshop

Sometimes I wish I had a proper vise but half the

Sometimes I wish I had a proper vise but half the fun of a Nicholson workbench is hacking the work holding. #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #workbench #nicholsonworkbench #clamps #workholding

Not that pimiento cheese needs classing up, but if

Not that pimiento cheese needs classing up, but if you wanted to class it up, you could do worse than to serve it with a handmade wooden spreader. Just saying.
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#woodenware #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #spooncarving #woodenspoon #pimientocheese

Here’s a taller stool, a good height for work or

Here’s a taller stool, a good height for work or guitar playing: I can rest my feet on the floor while perched on it, or sit comfortably with my feet on the stretchers. Same carved edge seat as the miking stool, with octagonal stretchers because round seemed out of place when everything else was chunky. The legs have a secondary taper towards the feet, which contrarily I think hives the piece some unexpected delicacy. I am still playing with the form, but I like the way this came out.
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These are just endless fun, I think, so many small variations that change the overall impression in interesting ways.
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#woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #handtoolsonly #stool #stools #chairmaking #stakedfurniture #stakedstool #workstool #furnituredesign

Good news y’all! I will be at Popup Raleigh @pop

Good news y’all! I will be at Popup Raleigh @popupraleigh Sunday, May 16 from 12 to 5 selling my wares. Stools, spoons and spoon-like objects, and a few other goodies. It’s a small but lively event with a rotating variety of vendors, its in the parking lot of Trophy Brewing, and it’s spring, so if you are local, please come on out!
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#woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #maker #craftfair #spoons #woodenspoons

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