The Neighborhood Joiner

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

  • Home
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • David Walbert

HomePosts Quote

Quote

shaving horse at Duke Homestead

Search

Recent Posts

  • 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
Lacy shavings from white oak end grain. (It’s We Lacy shavings from white oak end grain. (It’s Wednesday somewhere, right?) #woodshavingwednesday #woodshavings #whiteoak #wood #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking
And here at last is the finished chair. Neo-classi And here at last is the finished chair. Neo-classic black over red milk paint. . . #chair #chairs #stickchair #stickchairs #welshstickchairs #welshstickchair #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #milkpaint
Got the photo booth all set up and realized the ba Got the photo booth all set up and realized the battery in my camera was about out. More pics next week. (And yes, that is a bedsheet duck-taped to the wall of my house.) #photography #ducktape #chairs #welshstickchairs #welshstickchair #stickchairs
Awhile back I joked that when my daughter asked me Awhile back I joked that when my daughter asked me why I taped off the undersides of chairs before painting them, I had to say it was because all the cool kids on Instagram were doing it. But I have a reason now! . Having painted chairs with and without, I find It actually makes the painting easier. I can paint the undercarriage, let it dry to the touch, and then paint the rest, because top and bottom are separated by unpainted wood. If I paint the seat bottom, I have to flip it over wet, or else risk an over painted transition area. At best it’s crazy awkward. . So while it’s more fun to talk about letting the chair breathe (through its butt??), that’s why I do it. . #chairmaking #stickchair #welshstickchair #milkpaint #painting #paintedfurniture #finishingtechniques
Ready for finishing. This one was fun — tweaked Ready for finishing. This one was fun — tweaked the leg angles, tweaked the seat, new armbow, new stick arrangement. The hand was borrowed loosely from a photo of an antique I found on the internet and then realized was a John Brown chair. (Of course.) The sticks took awhile to figure out; I knew what I wanted, but the devil is in the details. In the end they can be laid out on both seat and arms with a single setting of dividers… which may have no effect other than my own satisfaction. . Anyhow I’m happy with the result. Now I just have to decide what color to paint it! . . #welshstickchair #welshstickchairs #chairmaking #chair #stickchair #stickchairs #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #windsorchair
Truly, is anything more delightful than finish san Truly, is anything more delightful than finish sanding on a humid day? . . And yet it still beats debugging code in an air conditioned office. . . #woodworking #handtoolswoodworking #sanding #chairmaking #happyfriday
I have dry fits (there’s a pill for that), I hav I have dry fits (there’s a pill for that), I have a bucket of parts, I have a finished armbow and seat… glue up next week, lord willing and the shop don’t flood. #chairmaking #stickchair #stickchairs #welshstickchairs #chair #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #stateoftheshopsaturday
I always make new friends when I clean out the scr I always make new friends when I clean out the scrap pile… #ratsnake #blackratsnake #snake #workshop
Everyone in my middle school had to take three sem Everyone in my middle school had to take three semesters of both shop and home economics… an oddly useful straddling of eras, gender neutral manual training. Now you might think that shop class got me started on woodworking, but mostly we used a lot of big loud machines that I have never had the money or the space to buy. In fact, learning to use a sewing machine has been of more practical value to me, even in my wood shop. Go figure. . . I do sometimes wonder what ever happened to those cookie cutters I made, though. . . #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #toolroll #augerbits #handtools #education #shopclass #homeeconomics #handsewn
Actually managed to get my hands on a piece of cle Actually managed to get my hands on a piece of clear white pine for chair seats. To this point I’ve had to use kiln dried poplar, which is fine, but I’m looking forward to working the pine. Also have a bucket of sticks ready for shaping. And legs ready for tenons, somewhere around here. Now I just have to figure out exactly what sort of chair I’m making… #chairmaking #stickchair #welshstickchair #welshstickchairs #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #whitepine
Ok, let’s try this again with the other pics I w Ok, let’s try this again with the other pics I was trying to include this morning. Here is more of what I’ll have this Sunday at Popup Raleigh @popupraleigh craft market! #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #craftmarket #raleigh #spoons #woodenspoons #furniture #finefurniture #woodworker #jewelrybox #lazysusan #stool #shoplocal #popupraleigh
Hey folks, I’ll be out at @popupraleigh this Sun Hey folks, I’ll be out at @popupraleigh this Sunday from 12 to 5 selling my wares. Hope to see you there! #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #craftmarket #raleigh #spoons #woodenspoons #furniture #finefurniture #woodworker #jewelrybox #lazysusan #stool
Composting wood shavings. . Hand-tool work doesn’t make much sawdust, but it makes a lot of shavings, and as I started spending more time in the shop over the past couple of years I was shocked by how many contractor-size garbage bags I was filling. In the spring of 2020 I started composting them in an open cinder-block bin. They don’t break down readily; they need bagged compost starter, frequent watering, and whatever lawn trimmings and greens I can add (nothing that’s going to smell; it’s an open bin); and when it’s done and I apply it, I add blood meal for nitrogen. But it works! This spring’s bumper crop of kale was fertilized in part with wood shop compost (not to mention the cherry tomatoes that followed it), I have another batch ready for the fall garden, and a third one is brewing. . Now it ain’t going to save the world, obviously, and I don’t like getting overly excited about how every little bit helps. It’s one less mess someone else will have to clean up, one less load of compost I have to buy that takes nutrition from someone else’s soil, one small thing I can easily do and am no longer not bothering to do. It’s something. . . #chairmaking #woodworking #composting #garden #gardening #householdeconomy #sustainability #handtoolwoodworking
Another carved-edge milking stool, in form just li Another carved-edge milking stool, in form just like the others, but in solid white oak, finished with linseed oil, garnet shellac, and black wax for a bit of an antiqued look. If you like it, it can be yours tomorrow at @curatedcraftmarket in Fuquay-Varina, NC! . . . #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #chairmaking #stool #stools #milkingstool #minimalaesthetic #whiteoak
This upholstered bench was the first piece of furn This upholstered bench was the first piece of furniture I would ever claim to have designed, back in 2017. Modern take on an old form. The construction is identical to a Queen Anne footstool, and though the form is much simplified there’s still the echo of a cabriole leg. The upholstery also follows the 18th-century process, with a few updates to materials: a slip seat jute webbing, artificial horsehair, cotton batting, and a linen dust cover. A few staples for convenience, but the real work is done with tacks. . I was never entirely happy with the upholstery, so last winter I took the seat apart and redid it, and it’s better now. I still need a lot of practice with my upholstery (corners are hard!) but I am getting better. . Unfortunately I forgot to take photos when I was reupholstering the seat, but I’ll post some process photos from another project when I can dig them up. . . #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #cabrioleleg #bench #upholstery #upholsteredbench #furniture #finefurniture #traditionalupholstery #furnituredesign
New logo/icon. For a long time I’ve wanted a des New logo/icon. For a long time I’ve wanted a design that integrated hand tools with some element of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art, and inspired by modern signage on a recent trip to Lancaster I came up with this. To channel traditional forms while still looking modern and not getting kitschy is not an easy task... but come to think of it not so different from a lot of furniture design. To me it says “neighborhood joiner,” but I suppose it depends on your neighborhood. Anyhow, tell me what you think. . Incidentally: The borrowed, long expired trademark — can you find it? — is of course an homage and, to anyone but a hand tool nerd, merely appropriate to the design. . . #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #handsaw #handtools #saw #tulip #pennsylvaniadutch #fraktur
Carved-edge lazy Susan... . I made this as a Chris Carved-edge lazy Susan... . I made this as a Christmas present for my wife a couple of years ago and thought I would post it now as I’ll have a couple like it for sale at @curatedcraftmarket and @popupraleigh this month. The round table is textured with a drawknife — this was in a way the prototype for the stools I’ve been making. Your fingers feel the texture every time you spin it. Simple, classy, but infinitely interesting.* . Ours holds the butter, spreaders, and condiments on our dining table; the spreaders shown are in a lovely juice tumbler by @keyespottery that we bought for the purpose. (Blue pottery + cherry wood = perfect.) Yours could hold whatever you like. Cheese board, maybe? Cherry and a food safe finish: this is walnut oil and wax, but the new ones are finished with Osmo Polyx Oil for a bit more water resistance, and the bottom is backed with cork so it doesn’t scratch the dining table. . . #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #lazysusan #cheeseboard #charcuterieboard #textured #minimalaesthetic #tablecenterpiece #woodtray #woodentray #handmade #servingtray #kitchenproducts . . *Ok, “infinitely” is hyperbole. Shoot me.
Here’s the finished “accidental fan back” st Here’s the finished “accidental fan back” stick chair. This started out to be the stick chair from the @lostartpress Anarchist’s Design Book, but through a combination of conscious choice and not paying attention it wound up as something different. I am happy with it overall… It sits well. I do like the fan back. I had thought the sticks were too widely spaced at the top, but the longer I look at it and sit in it the less I’m sure of that. I may see if I can squeeze in a couple more sticks next time, but as it is it’s comfortable and feels solid and stable. . The finish is @oldfashionedmilkpaint driftwood lightened with a bit of oyster white, over a walnut stain. Still playing with that too. . #woodworking #handtoolwoodworking #chair #chairs #stickchair #welshstickchair #fanback #chairmaker #chairmaking
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
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • October 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019

Older material

Read older posts on woodworking on my main website.

Categories

  • Design
  • Eternal apprenticeship
  • Laments
  • Shameless self-promotion
  • Work and the worker

Admin

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2021 David Walbert. All rights reserved, but I'm generally pretty nice about sharing, so please ask.
Shopping Basket