Reviewing yesterday's post and a friend's critique of this blog made me realize it was time to clean and straighten up my work area. I was overlooking the fact that my small work space clutters up rather quickly. So, I cleaned up the table, set it aside, and brought in my old Stanley Workmate. I went from this:
To this:
I just need to remember to put things away either when I am done with a particular task or when I am done for the day.
The shaping of the stem began this afternoon with measuring and marking the reference points and lines defining the intended final shape. I made several vertical cuts to the reference lines on the front and back of the blank. Uusing a chisel I cut away the wood between the cuts down to the reference lines. I did not try to chisel away all of the wood in this step as it is too easy to take out too much wood. Because the Western red cedar is a soft wood, coarse sandpaper (glued to a scrap of wood, 1" x 1/4" x 8" - a poor man's rasp) will work to trim the stem to the reference lines and its final shape. This is not difficult work but it will take several days to complete the process. Today's progress came to an end when I discovered, quite by accident, that relatively inexpensive chisels are very SHARP right out of the box! After reading countless articles about properly preparing and sharpening new chisels, I let myself believe they would be a bit dull. Of course I didn't "properly prepare or sharpen" the new chisel - I was too anxious to try it out. I didn't lose a lot of blood, but I am typing this one-handed.
So, work has begun on shaping the stem, the battery for the cordless drill is on the charger, my finger has stopped bleeding, and the new bar clamps should arrive tomorrow. That is, I would say, a pretty good way to end the weekend.
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