Doing it by the book...

Had an excellent couple of days at the beginning of the week with everyone in good spirits and much laughter in the UB. And by the week's end, the bookends were finally done (bar a final tidy up). They're made from oak dovetailed together and with chamfered edges. Can't say it was easy though. In fact, getting the dovetails to fit was a bloody nightmare - it's a very fine line between getting the joints to fit snugly and taking out too much, thus leaving a nasty gap. My tendency is to go: slowly, slowly, slowly, oh sod it, a bit quicker.... shit! Lots of helpful tips from Sue and Mark got me there in the end though. And a comedy glue-up to finish off!

Next task - the mallet. And then it's on to the machine room for trestles and then the big one: the work bench.

I also got a nifty little machine last week to help with the tool sharpening - and hopefully save my Carpet Funnel, which has been playing up again this week. The ingeniously named Tool Sharp. You can't re-grind big plane irons on it but for everything else it does the job in seconds rather than hours. A bit expensive but worth every penny if it keeps the pins and needles at bay.

Drawing the line

Hallelujah-a breakthrough on the drawing front, albeit a minor one. (You should've see what I did at my first session.) And we now have an easel set up in the workshop should anyone either wants a bit of extra practice, or feel the need to capture the moment!


The oak bookends are still a work in progress. I've had the wood planed and cut to size for a few days now but the next step is dovetails, which have to be learned. And are definitely harder than they look. I've spent the last 3 days practicing them but still need a few more goes before attempting the real thing - not least because it took me two days to plane and cut the oak flat so I don't want to cock it up and have to repeat the process !

Much more interesting at this point is the electric guitar that Mark has designed and is now in the process of making. It really started to take shape this week, which was very exciting. Mark's been here a few months longer than me so it's great to see how much further on he is - and really encouraging for a newbie like me who is still struggling with the basics. The guitar is made from zebrano, maple and walnut and is going to be fantastic.

And thanks for the comments on the music situation. We're all a bit bugged by it as it's creating tension in the workshop, which no one wants. The general consensus seems to be that to have one person insisting on silence is pretty selfish when five others prefer otherwise.

'Til next week...

Please don't stop the music...

To listen or not to listen? That was the debate this week in the Upper Benchroom (i.e. the upstairs workshop). The question being: should music be allowed in said workshop or not? My answer: a resounding 'yes' but what if not everyone has the same opinion? Is it a case of 'majority rules' (in which case, it would have been a 'yes' again), or 'all or nothing'? That's the dilemma we found ourselves in this week, resulting in a very grown up discussion and, some would say, compromise. Sure, you can stick a pair of headphones and an iPod on but then you suddenly find yourself in a world of your own, isolated from any conversation/discussion/cries for help when someone saws off a finger(!) Whereas, a bit of background music, the opportunity to exchange playlists thus introducing each other to new sounds, fosters a positive breeding ground to exchange thoughts and ideas about music and beyond. Just my humble opinion anyway. We'll have to see how it plays out.... all thoughts welcome