Furniture maker Phil Lowe once showed me two 55-gallon barrels filled with clear stuff that looked like sand. He got the barrels from a factory that made gummy bears (I think he said the factory went out of business). Anyway, he used the stuff in the barrels – gelatin – to make his hide glue.
Since that day I’ve had the following stuck in my head: gummy bears = hide glue.
Today I decided to see if I could reverse-engineer the process and turn gummy bears into hide glue.
I bought a package of Haribo Goldbears gummy bears from the gas station up the block from Roy Underhill’s school. I put them in a cup with a little water and put the cup into his hide glue pot.
An hour later, the bears had melted and stirred like thin hide glue (I might have added a little too much water). Gummy bears are not just pure gelatin, of course. They have a lot of sugar and other stuff in them. But despite all this negative information running through my head, I had a question…
Does it stick?
I painted some Gummy Glue on a piece of poplar and performed a rub joint. The glue tacked right up with some nice pink squeeze-out. After 10 minutes, the stuff gelled up. The joint looks promising (right now).
I’ll let the joint sit overnight to see how strong it is.
Whenever Megan Fitzpatrick and I pass through West Virginia, we make a stop at Tamarack Marketplace in West Virginia for gas and a look at the furniture and crafts.
Some years we are wowed by… how do I put this?…. what people will pay good money for. Other years there is a balance of beauty and future firewood. This year was one of those good years.
We saw a lot of epoxy tables. (I promise you that this form has a half-life and will not endure. In fact, we might be entering the Late Epoxy Period.) But we also saw some nice pieces of work. You might think I’m joking, but I almost bought a Crown Royal-themed quilt.
Below are some of the photos I took, along with some occasional snark. If you have ever wondered if Tamarack is worth a stop, the answer is yes.
— Christopher Schwarz
I am unapologetic about my dislike for this epoxy stuff. I am certain it will start showing up in landfills in short order. Because of the epoxy, you can’t really burn it when you get tired of it.
We saw a couple nice Maloof-ish rockers. Good craftsmanship. This one was $3,900 – I couldn’t make it for this price.
A couple displays had incredible wooden facsimiles of tools. These are all wood. They are amazing.
Ahh, the firewood section of Tamarack.
The quilt I wanted.
It’s rare that I like a piece such as this. But this one was done quite well.
Spoon rack. Jason Thigpen made this rack to store a variety of handmade spoons. The pegs for the spoons are made of white oak shaped by hand with a block plane, then installed using the tapered mortise-and-tenon tooling from Lee Valley. The 3/8” tapered tenon tool is used in this case and the pegs are angled upwards by about 5° to help the spoons stay on. (Jason says that if he built another spoon rack in the future, he would probably increase that to about 10°.) The base of the spoon rack is pecan harvested from a dead tree Jason felled just outside of his family’s yard. The spoon rack is mounted by means of keyhole slots in the back. Jason Thigpen, Texas Heritage Woodworks
The following is excerpted from Nancy R. Hiller‘s “Kitchen Think” – a book I’ve been consulting almost daily as I work on the plans/design/dreams for the pantry and kitchen in my 1905 house. But every time I look at it, I tear up a bit. I am still reeling from the fact that I can’t just send a few pictures Nancy’s way and ask for her opinion and advice. But I’m far sorrier that I can’t just sit down with her for a drink and a good gab about our gardens, pets and other seemingly inconsequential things that mean so much. I miss her singular and joyous laugh – and everything else Nancy.
– Fitz
No book titled “Kitchen Think” would be complete without a variety of miscellaneous objects the inspiration for that title connotes. Here’s a smattering of suggestions for details that are practical and fun.
Adaptation of an adaptation. Megan Fitzpatrick built this tiger maple plate rack based on adaptations to an original design by Johnny Grey that had been developed by Nancy Hiller and Kelly Mehler in the course of planning the kitchen Kelly shares with his wife, Teri. It’s made to fit Megan’s dinnerware; the depth and central shelf heights accommodate her various plates, and the racks are removable, which makes the unit flexible for other uses. The top shelves in the two side sections are adjustable. Al Parrish, courtesy ofActive Interest Media
Homage to my first employer. In our former kitchen, I built a plate rack inspired by the kitchen dressers I made for Roy Griffiths at Crosskeys Joinery in the early 1980s. This one is made in cypress. The built-in cabinets are ash with salvaged hardware. The counter is green-black soapstone. Spectrum Creative Group
Possibly the world’s most influential plate rack. Johnny Grey designed this plate rack for the kitchen in his family’s home. The sides are cherry, but the rails and dowels are teak. If you’re planning to use a plate rack for its historical purpose, to drain dishes, it’s important to use a water-resistant species for all parts that will regularly get wet. Benedict Grey Photography
Utensil rack & knife holder. Jenni Wilkinson mounted a tool bar over her stove to keep cooking utensils handy.
Second sink. If you have enough room, a second sink can be very handy. These clients added a small second sink between the main part of their kitchen and the dining room. Spectrum Creative Group
Wine column. My clients and I planned this wall of cabinetry around an awkward structural element. Along with the fridge and microwave, it houses a trash pullout. With just a few inches of width to spare, the clients suggested incorporating a set of shelves for wine. Spectrum Creative Group
Pet feeding station. Instead of buying a generic feeding station for her dog, Beau, Lynette Breton made one that goes with her kitchen. She laminated two layers of 1/2″ Baltic birch plywood for the substrate, then glued the same Wilsonart Boomerang laminate she used for her counters to the top and underside for stability, using a vacuum press with Titebond glue. The chrome tubing was left over from a custom towel rack commission; she made the station with three legs, adding white cane-tip protectors found at her local hardware store. The shape of the top was inspired by the boomerang pattern on the laminate. Margaret Stevens-Becksvoort
No dull edges. The MagBlok by Benchcrafted holds knives safely with a powerful magnet concealed behind wood. Unlike commercial magnetic holders, which have metal on their faces, the MagBlok won’t dull a sharp edge when hastily removed. Father John Abraham
Pull-out cutting board. True to her mid-century inspiration, Lynette Breton incorporated a pull-out cutting board in her cabinets. The board is made of maple with a breadboard front; curved edges overlap the cabinet face. Margaret Stevens-Becksvoort
Road food. Narayan Nayar, an avid cook and woodworker, wanted to equip his travel trailer’s galley with some nice cooking knives for an extended road trip. He wanted the knives to be readily accessible, in addition to well-protected. He designed this knife tray, which sits on runners at the top of a drawer, along the lines of the drawers in which he stores his lathe tools. Knives are separated by two holders — one that secures the handle and one the blade. The tray is bottomless to prevent the accumulation of detritus; this feature also keeps the contents below the tray visible. The tray is made from a leftover beech countertop sink cutout and holds the four knives he wanted to have for 100 days on the road: paring, boning/fillet, 7″ santoku and bread. Narayan Nayar
For two decades, Nancy made a living by turning limitations into creative, lively and livable kitchens for her clients. “Kitchen Think” is an invitation to learn from both her completed kitchen designs (plus kitchens from a few others) and from the way she worked in her Bloomington, Ind., workshop.
Unlike most kitchen design books, “Kitchen Think” is a woodworker’s guide to designing and furnishing the kitchen, from a down-to-the-studs renovation to refacing existing cabinets. And Nancy shows you how it can be done without spending a fortune or adding significantly to your local landfill.
Aspen Golann on the Lost Art Press stoop in July, after hours during a Chairmaker’s Toolbox class.
You may have heard that Aspen Golann, founder of the Chairmaker’s Toolbox – which has selflessly been helping others to learn chairmaking – could now use a little help herself. She has suffered a bad leg break that will keep her out of the shop for about five months. If you can spare a little to help her out during her recovery, please donate at the GoFundMe set up by Peter Galbert.
Jack planes are the most-used tool in my hands. Hands down, hands forward and hands back. I’m on my third jack plane iron since 1996. I’ve never even come close to wearing out a plane iron for a smoothing or jointer plane.
(I have eaten through some block plane blades, though I blame that on carpentry jobs and nails.)
When students ask for my recommendations for a jack plane, my first recommendation is a vintage Stanley No. 5. I have an old Type 11 from around the turn of the last century. Rosewood knob and tote. Beautiful lightweight casting. Just perfect.
But a lot of students are unwilling to take my advice. They have good reasons.
They don’t have the skill or time to fix up an old plane.
They are afraid that a vintage plane bought through the mail will be a POS.
They don’t know enough to buy a vintage plane.
They just want a tool that works without any fettling. Sharpen and go.
So here’s what I tell them: Get the Lie-Nielsen No. 62. What is sometimes called a low-angle jack or bevel-up jack. Here is my reasoning.
A jack plane should be fairly lightweight and simple to use. The Lie-Nielsen No. 62 fits that bill. It doesn’t have a frog, chipbreaker or lateral-adjustment lever. This keeps down its weight, its complexity and its price.
So what are we talking about when we discuss the weight of jack planes? Here are the ones we have in our shop, from lightest to heaviest.
Wooden jack plane: 4 lbs. 1 oz. Stanley No. 5: 4 lbs. 6 oz. Lie-Nielsen No. 62: 4 lbs. 10 oz. Veritas No. 5: 5 lbs. 4 oz. Lie-Nielsen No. 5: 5 lbs. 8 oz.
In use the wooden jack, the Stanley and the No. 62 all feel about the same. Once the tool tops 5 lbs., I notice the increased weight.
I know some experienced woodworkers don’t like the low-angle/bevel-up planes. But I have found that beginners really take to them. Likely because they are simple to set up. (There are other makers of the No. 62-style plane, including Veritas, Wood River and a variety of offshore white-label brands. I’ve used the Veritas and can recommend its quality, but it is heavy. The other brands I don’t have any experience with. Avoid the modern Stanley No. 62. I have yet to use one that didn’t have a fatal error in its bed machining.)
So why not a wooden jack? I love wooden jacks, and there are some great makers of new jacks out there. It’s difficult to recommend a vintage wooden jack for a greenhorn woodworker because the tool might need a lot of work. Heck, it might need something only a fire can offer.
So my recommendation is based on my desire to get a student going with the minimum amount of fussing with them before class, at lunch and at night.
And when three students show up with this plane, I know I have offended the woodworking gods somehow and must make a sacrifice to appease them.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Scrub planes are too short for the jointing operations I ask of a jack, and its iron has too much curve for my taste. I’m sure that if I started in the craft with a scrub I would love it. But I didn’t. And so I don’t.