Hello, all.

 

We're suffering through perfect crafting weather. 1˚ wind chill yesterday morning. Not much warmer this morning.  Haven't seen the kitchen table in weeks, but that is not unusual.

 

I'm almost out of heart pine but can maybe get another small shelf and a few pen trays out of my scraps. Amazing what you can get out of a single 1x6-6' piece of T&G flooring. Mine came out of an old school. Should have grabbed the other two pieces even though they were badly damaged.  There was also a notched-to-heck beam or joist, very heavy, splotched with paint, which I now realize may also have been heart pine.

 

35 years ago I had scrap copper in my truck along with wood refuse from an 1850s building. A guy walking by commented on the "nice wood" but it did not signify. He was very excited I gave it all to him.  Now I realize it also was heart pine.

 

Now I'm that guy looking for the wood. I'd like to get an entire piece of trunk about 4' or maybe 6' long, and set up a really nice band saw, and resaw it as perfectly as God will allow. 

 

Here's my first question: Can this end grain be scraped flush with the plank as the plank is scraped? In theory, with a good enough burr or plane? Or do I use a chisel on the end grain only, like trimming a bushing peg on a violin headstock?

 

Edited January 30, 20224 yr by Dovetail

Welcome!

 

I think the scraper will work fine as long as the piece doesn't stand too proud of the surface. I would also angle the scraper so the forces push towards the notch.

OK, thanks. So if it is too proud cut it closer then get a really nice burr on my scraper and try again.

 

I've learnt that softwoods are not forgiving of inattentiveness. But I did once ruin a maple violin bridge in 6-7 seconds ... after putting 90 careful minutes into it. Funny how the fatal error happens at the end.

15 minutes ago, Dovetail said:

 Funny how the fatal error happens at the end.

Interesting, maybe. Funny. NOT! BTSIDTGOTS

 

Welcome aboard.

22 minutes ago, Dovetail said:

OK, thanks. So if it is too proud cut it closer then get a really nice burr on my scraper and try again.

 

I've learnt that softwoods are not forgiving of inattentiveness. But I did once ruin a maple violin bridge in 6-7 seconds ... after putting 90 careful minutes into it. Funny how the fatal error happens at the end.

And a very light touch

Speaking of scrapers. Here's some good ones. https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/scrapers/stewmac-ultimate-scraper/

No turning and burnishing a curl required. A light pass on a white grinder wheel is all that's necessary to sharpen. They're not as wide as traditional card scrapers but, they won't burn your thumbs, either. 

 

 

Edited January 31, 20224 yr by Gene Howe

3 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Speaking of scrapers.

Thanks! I've seen them and like the rectangular one. Before discovering scrapers, I'd shape the radius and 'scoop' of ebony / faux ebony ** violin fingerboards with the side edge of my inherited 1" Bucks Bros chisel. After it was dressed and squared by the ancient Italian knife guy up the street. You should hear him scream after he saw what I'd done to "his" trued edges.

 

The StewMac would be helpful to scrape a nice right angle between two woods in tight quarters [yes, and knock off glue squeezies].

 

I had no luck scraping against the end grain; ended up with a divot before the notch, the spilt glue in a mogul behind the notch. A tiny 120 sanding block then 400 sanding stick, and its cured for now. I'll put a 0.75mm bevel @ 45˚ on the feet edges and call it done. A model for the next one, in heart pine. Made to fit in a Medium Flat Rate USPS shipping box.

 

This wood is likely from a crate containing cheaper California wine. I've had better luck, though. A nice Spanish cedar, very aromatic, used for an Italian wine crate; the better the wine, the better the crate?

 

** faux ebony dyed mystery wood used on the cheapest fiddles; releases dust  most irritating to law-abiding alveoli.

Welcome aboard Dovetail, hope you brought some donuts as the fee for entry...

Would sure like to have you post up a few pics (or a lot of pics) of your work

Glad to have you here.

Thank you all!  Sorry, no donuts, since my gut exploded after eating seven fresh-fried apple fritters. Too much lard, maybe?

 

So here's the finished project. It started as a 12" x 3" x 25" 'table' to slide behind a radiator, to support a pan of water. But I decided such a table would rob me of a valuable place to toss old socks; besides, that is where I hide my dust brush. So I went mediaeval on the pan support, and changed the 25" table to a modest 8.5" It is now a Mantle Table, taking clutter to new heights.

 

My camera will not manual focus, so detail shots are difficult unless taken at distance then cropped. I'll do what I can.

 

I'll put together a project post maybe weekly with a chronology of images. A trash vessel was just completed, in fact, after finally ordering a Lie-Nielsen No. 102.

 

Also some instrument repair series. I started more seriously with wood after being implored to repair an old fiddle of a friend - he had been given a $3000-$6000 estimate to repair a $2000 fiddle. That was my first "top off" job. But as in music, all in its time. 

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

3 hours ago, lew said:

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

 I've got a future as a camp crafts instructor. Glue and Popsicle sticks have a short life span under my care.

 

The next will be century-old red spruce.  Then possibly heart pine, as I work through the last of the last scraps. With more inletting of the support members. Notch post construction? Simply called 'recessed cross members'?

 

Love it!

 

2 hours ago, lew said:

Love it!

 

A big DITTO!

Welcome aboard Dovetail.

On Gene's recommendation I purchased a set of Stu Mac scrapers, and love them, they are very nice, and easy to maintain.

Welcome to The Patriot Woodworker @Dovetail. Great to have you aboard plus posting up some project pictures already. TPW is a great place to learn, share and just hang out. Looking forward to seeing some of your instrument work. That skill set is way above my pay grade so will have sit back and admire yours. 

6 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Looking forward to seeing some of your instrument work. That skill set is way above my pay grade so will have sit back and admire yours. 

 

 

Thanks, Grandpa Dave! [We're about the same age although I undoubtedly move more slowly].  I've got lots of interesting instrument photo series. Some of the oldest would make a luthier roll their eyes, with my 24" bar clamps pulling this way and that,  and 7# lead bars providing weight to keep the whole mess from popping up under the squeeze. :-)

 

It's all hide glue, take it apart, put it back together. Like paint by numbers but for the best tone, leave nothing to chance and get the pieces to fit nice and tight.

 

Here's a pretty old 'trade' violin. 1860 - 1905 ? Really hard to date, possibly so rough because some trade musicians lived a rough life. The pegs were even roughly swapped around to make it a lefty for a generation. I've inserted boxwood bushings into the pegbox. My Zona is brand new here in 2017.

 

 A guy who rebuilds Pre-War Martin guitars *** bought it off of me. The highest form of flattery at $10/hr. Almost. The cello @ four months which went to a HS student was an even more rewarding $4/hr. 

 

*** Pre-Spanish-American War, the really old ones.

 

 

Edited February 2, 20224 yr by Dovetail
experimenting with image formatting

3 hours ago, Dovetail said:

Thanks, Grandpa Dave! [We're about the same age although I undoubtedly move more slowly].

Perhaps, but since undergoing back surgery 11 months ago, turtles, snails and slugs mock my speed

 

Amazing work on the "fiddle" restoration. I admire your patience and skill particularly handling thin, aged, usually quite dried, fragile woods. Happy you're here and bringing a different skill set to the party.

2 hours ago, Cal said:

The Zona  did all the work. Getting that bushing flush, I sure made a mess with the chisel. Nothing a handful of dirt and spirits rubbed into the old maple, can't hide. Caulk and paint make a carpenter what he ain't has nothing on the tricks up our sleeves. 

 

For practicing luthierary, I like to have a violin good enough [in potential tone] to make the effort worth it but not so good I'll be drummed to Leavenworth for marring the finish on an $80,000 instrument. Anything pre-1905, in my book.

2 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

I admire your patience and skill particularly handling thin, aged, usually quite dried, fragile woods.

Thanks, Dave. Watch that back!  I join the septuagenarians at the ymca pool 3x a week for my issues.

 

For bluegrass / folk, I call it a fiddle.  My friend's daughter has three of my violin restorations and she is 1st chair in HS, so she has a violin.  Although I have joshed her about her newest $5,000 "scraper".  

 

The violins come apart by shearing the glue joints; the tops are designed to come off before the wood breaks. My thinking is treat it gently but firm, like it has to be fixed yesterday because the owner needs it for another engagement right away; the lab coat white glove approach is OK for $200,000 violins, but my methods could arguably produce a better sounding instrument.

 

I have learned that patience is the most valuable skill you can have. Something I definitely did not possess until my 50s. Also, only God is perfect. If a particular something, difficult to do, is almost perfect, STOP.  Lest your desire for perfection ruins your effort.

 

Someone like Bill Hensley, Mountain Fiddler, Asheville, North Carolina, wants his fiddle back. Not in a glass case.