Wooden Spokeshave

This project was really fun to do. I got given the hardware as a gift from a former co-worker at Veritas tools as a project to get me started with a woodworking project. Finally over the summer I had enough time and enough confidence to try my hand at this project. I learned alot of things while making this tool and am sure if I made another one it would turn out better, but it is still a really nice tool to use and its very satisfying using something you`ve made to make something else.

With the holes drilled and tapped, slits were cut to make the mouth of the spokeshave

With the mouth complete, recesses were carved to fit the blade perfectly

After quite a few fine adjustments, the blade fits just right

The brass knobs adjust the depth of cut

The brass plate fits snug into a little angled channel to prolong the life of the spokeshave

The brass plate fits just up to the blade. The brass was then filled flush and I went back and made the countersinks deeper

Then I carved the spokeshave to fit comfortably in my hands

I chose birdseye maple for the spokeshave as it is a good hardwood and because its one of my favorite woods

Beginner Marquetry Course

I took this course back in September at Lee Valley. It was taught by Richard Charlebois who is a local marquetry artist who does some extremely detailed and beautiful work. He taught us the basic techniques of planning a design, cutting the wood so everything fits perfectly and how important it is to use the grain patterns and colouring of the wood to the advantage of your picture. Each student created a simple farm scene with the same basic elements - sun, tree, house, pathway. The neat thing was that even with the same basic elements, each student came up with entirely unique looking final pieces due to the choice of wood, colour, placement, etc. This is the piece as it was when the class was over. I am currently working on putting a finish oh the piece and building a frame to go around it to finish it off.

Introduction

An Industrial Designer by trade, I have always been interested in making things. I did one of my co-op placements at Veritas Tools which is the design division of Lee Valley Tools. I had admired the design aspect of the company before, but having worked with the designers and been exposed to all the woodworking tools, I began to become more enamored with hand tools and wood. My co-workers there were amazing and taught me many things after hours from how to sharpen tools, to a detailed lesson in hand planes from the chief hand plane designer. After graduating I finally had the time and freedom to turn my interest into a hobby, and have spent the last year taking various courses and increasing my skills. Some of the courses I've taken include turning, marquetry, shaker boxes, and carving. I'd like to share some of the techniques I learned and the projects I've worked on over the past year as well as future ones.