The above are eight turned pieces from a single 24″ section of a 24″ diameter white oak from Boaz, Kansas. The tree fell over and across the Van Horn Branch Creek about 10 years ago- We finally pulled the log out 2 years ago, and it has laid in my log pile since then, although I did mill a portion of it. The heart wood is still green, so these bowls were turned green and allowed to warp as they dried. Ultimately all the pieces were exposed to ammonia vapors (fumed) which reacted to the tannins in the wood, darkening the surfaces.
craft
Champion Table Build, Part 4: Base & Arc
preparing to fit the base to the leg assembly
defining a semicircle with 3 saw cuts
3 saw cuts get refined into facets with a paring chisel
and again
then shaped with a rasp
the base of one of the leg assemblies after the 1/2 lap-tapered dado has been cut
here, mated with the white oak leg
a different piece of white oak being shaped with a rasp, one of three slats joining the top of the leg assemblies together and to the table top
the slats also receive a long bevel
the slats will rest in the notches being cut into the top of this leg section
clearing out material from the notch with a 1″ chisel
establishing the final depth with a router plane
here the slats are temporarily in place
an arsenal of shaping tools to begin sculpting the legs
shaping inside-curves of the leg assembly with an aggressive rasp
forming a radius where the legs meet the base
the preliminary drawings had a horizontal stretcher connecting the two leg assemblies at floor level. Having rough-shaped the components and taking a look, I started visualizing an arc instead. PVC pipe (already bent from a previous life in some low garden tunnels) offered a quick prototype to help see how it would look.
the arc made sense, so now setting about squaring up a white oak timber for re-sawing
re-sawn white oak and a glue-lamination form ready to make an arc
the glue lamination in the form- my 8 year old son was indispensable in this process, helping to roll glue, assemble, and clamp
rhythm is in unity to woodwork
the white oak timber, reconfigured as a messy arc
work for the jack plane
now the smoothing plane
cutting the tapers along the length of the arc at the band saw
marking the taper at the width
cutting the taper at the width
more elbow grease with the smoothing plane
shaping the many curves and facets along the arc, first with a drawknife
then with spokeshave
establishing details with knife
facets ease into curves
test fitting- some refining-shaping to go yet
setting the location of the chamfers on the leg-base
shaving away rasp markings
carving corner transitions
so many details to bring together- here the leg base is about done.
That’s it for this round- next week there will be lots of sanding, also carving and inlay work as the table finally starts to become unified. Thank you to everyone for following along, and for your encouraging comments.
The Champion Table Build, Part 3: Leg Joinery
flattening walnut stock with a wooden joiner for the top rails of the leg assembly
using winding-sticks to make sure there is no twist in the board
finishing up with a #7 jack plane
squaring up the remaining edges and dimensioning the walnut on the bandsaw
layout lines
initial shaping of the curves on the top rail of the legs
testing it against the table-top
sawing lengths of white-oak for the vertical posts of the leg assembly
the white oak after squaring-up
testing the concept and a few angles before committing
laying out the leg joints
establishing the sliding dovetail angle with a knife
cutting the front of the sliding dovetail
all the bandsaw work done, now the hand-tools will finish
paring the back cheek of the tenon
the joint is most of the way there- the waste between the mortise and the dovetail is yet to be removed
the four white oak legs all cut
the arsenal of tools to accurately transfer the dimensions of the tenon/ dovetails onto the walnut rails
marking
starting the cut for the sliding dovetail socket with a carcass saw
another view cutting sliding dovetail sockets
chopping out the waste in the socket
paring the sidewalls unreached by the saw
using a router plane to achieve an accurate floor of the joint- the leg on the cutter allows it to reach the angled corners
another view of the router-plane
starting the mortise with a 3/4 mortise chisel
the first row is delicate- just establishing the shape and protecting the corners
going the full depth of the mortise with an auger – you can see the round-topped sliding dovetail socket parallel to the mortise
squaring the mortise the rest of the way with the mortise chisel
cleaning the sidewalls with my extra-big paring chisel
thank God, they fit!
step one is successful- to get to this point took endless drawings and two complete practice joints and a lot of patience
marking the leg rails for some shaping/ sculpting cuts on the band saw
the top rails post rough-shaping, and the taper of one of the white-oak legs marked with blue tape
dry re-assembly just to make sure
the glue-up
next week will concern the joining of the bottom rail and the final shaping of the leg assemblies
Der Aufbau des Champion-Tisches, Teil 2: Rand
surface preparation with a Stanley #80 scraper
the swirly walnut grain is difficult to plane but the scraper is able to deal with it efficiently
beginning to fit the side rails and bread-board ends
marking the end cuts with a sharp knife
then creating a shoulder along that line with a chisel assures a clean cut without tearing the grain
cutting along the shoulder with a sharp crosscut saw
a small array of saws to do this job
cutting the central breadboard tenon
coming up to the other side with a pull-saw
both ends of the table are now cut
cutting the base of the tenon “cheeks”
really no other position to accurately make this cut
cutting away the “cheeks”
the finished tenon, and a groove has been cut to receive a floating tongue to align the breadboard
laying out the positions of the mortise and tenons on the side rails and breadboards
cutting the tenon on the side rails
checking for a tight fit. the side rails are attached with glued tongue and groove joints, while the breadboards are “floating”, held in place by a tongue and groove joint and two “draw-bored” mortise and tenon joints, which will allow for expansion and contraction where the grain intersects perpendicular rather than parallel, yet holding the boards tight to the edge of the table. Two opposing corners are pinned miters and the other two are mortised. imagine the table being able to expand in width along the length of the two boards left long to see the allowance for seasonal cross grain movement.
treating the edges before the final assembly
drilling for the dowels for the pinned miter joints where the live edges come together
a brad point drill marks the center of the tenon inside
re-marking the tenon with an offset so that the dowel pin will “draw” it tight to the edge of the table. the holes will be elongated laterally to allow for joint movement.
altering geometry with violence
shaping the dowel pins by pounding the straight oak through a succession of smaller holes drilled in a steel plate until they are round and the size I need
nearly there
a batch of pins
planing a taper
the taper will allow the pin to engage the offset hole in the tenon and slowly pull it tight
pounding the pins home for the final assembly
a little help form a ratchet strap to pull the center tight
cutting away the exposed ends with a saw
a tightly pinned joint
the top all joined. there will be a considerable amount of detail work on the top yet, but first the base
The Champion Table Build, Part 1: Compose, Scribe and Fit
the beauty of God’s edge
composing pieces
flattening black walnut with a router and jig
more looking, more composing
smoothing and shaping edges
smoothing and joining white oak
assembling white oak panels
white oak and black walnut adjusted and clamped for scribing
knife scribing every curve
the white oak panel marked and ready to cut
rough cutting on the bandsaw, staying about 1/16th to 1/8th away from the scribed line
cutting the line deeper
paring away the waste to establish a shoulder along the scribe-line
making the shoulders broad and deep
chopping and paring right up to the line
the shoulder becomes a jig to cut the rest of the piece right to the line using a pattern bit and router
after cutting a slot for a floating tenon, dry-fitting pieces
the floating tenons cut and laid out
tenons glued in
glued and clamped
joining and smoothing the new edges
on to the next step…
Commerce
Workshop, Studio & Land
A slew of recent additions to our Etsy storefront are pictured below. There are prints, bowls, handmade goat milk soap with free shipping and a few paintings, even. Please click on the green BaumWerk sign immediately below to visit the store. Thank you!
Johnny
“Johnny” is a spoon carved in figured hard maple.
Weitergehen “Go On”
winter’s lathe work
Red oak bowl with salting and beaver teeth-marks.
red oak
A beaver girded and killed the red oak tree form which this bowl was made. I endeavored to feature his his teeth marks in a few of the bowls.
red oak
communion plates
red bud
kentucky coffee tree
persimmon communion cups
black walnut platter
platter and cups
black walnut
black walnut
fumed and textured red oak bowl
fumed red oak
fumed red oak
fumed red oak
fumed red oak
black walnut
black walnut
black walnut
black walnut vessel
red oak
red oak
red oak detail
red oak
red oak detail
black walnut
black walnut
box wood
box wood
box wood
Many of these bowls are or will be for sale at our Etsy Store: BaumWerk.
Go On, Bezalel
“See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills…” Exodus 31: 2 & 3.
Bezalel is kind of an early renaissance man, thousands of years before Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, or Durer. More importantly he was faithful to God’s design of him as a craftsman. He was found worthy to build the design of God concerning the tabernacle and all of its parts. As a craftsman and artist, it is hard to comprehend anything so significant to my earthly labors as to manifest on earth something that was authored in the very heart and mind of God. 
Elizabeth Duffy asked me about influences and progenitors in her interview with me last year. Here is an excerpt of my response pertaining to Bezalel: I hope, maybe, to be in the line of Bezalel, who fashioned so much for the tabernacle, making the sacred things that were part of the “technology” of worship of His God for his community. Personally, I couldn’t ask for more than that. Bezalel is valuable as a paradigm of an artisan of broad experience and skill. He could work in many trades and arts with skill worthy of God’s Tabernacle. My good friend reminds me of the value of a man of that breadth of experience and skill in contrast to a culture that places a premium on experts of high degree in a single field. When I wonder if I am hurting myself by embracing so many disciplines, I am grateful for Bezalel and his place in God’s story, and a few other men I have encountered who are champions of excellence in this way.
The drawing, an imagining of a portion of Bezalel’s tent-workshop, started two or three years ago, finally over the past two months I was able to finish it. It is composed along the lines of another drawing, Go On, Adam, Breathe. An potential series of drawings? The drawing to me feels so limited, compared to the vastness of what could be explored and depicted, as a task to learn about Bezalel, his labors, and his relationship to his God.
Through Winter
