Anatomy of a Woodworking Project

Have you ever thought about the process from start to finish of a woodworking project. There is alog ore involved in the process than you think. Most of us skip through each process not really thinking about how each step affect the overal project.

1. Fill a Need

I believe that in all things we do, we want to fill a need. Otherwise, why do them. The need may be basic or secondary. We also my not understand which need is which. The need may be materialistic or it may be emotional. You are someone you know needs a table, so you build one. But, is that really the basic need? I doubt it. I believe the basic need is more primal than that. Just as we need food, clothing, and shelter, we need an avenue for self expression and a sense of accomplishment. Otherwise, we would have bought the table. It certainly would have been cheaper.

2. Getting an idea

Where do you get the idea for your next project? Clues are all around us. Sometimes, ideas come from the most unlikely places. One word in a discussion can trigger an idea. For some, it may be a specific problem they are trying to solve. Others may be lucky and have the eye of an artist and have the ability to visualize an object. I will admit, I am not an original thinker. My ideas usually bome from a request from a customer or the desire to change something I have seen to make it my own.

3. From mind to paper

The next challenge is to move the great idea from your mind to paper. My first step is usually a sketch. then, there is a discussion wi the customer. All projects have a customer. It may be you, a lovedon, a neighbor, or if you are really lucky, a bonefide cash carrying customer whi is willing to pay you for your hard work. When there is an agreement on the sketch, my next step is a full size drawing. If at all possible, do not skip this step. There was a time when i felt that 1/4 or 1/2 scale would suffice. But, after completing some full scale drawings, I found it much more comforting to know that I had the exact measurement to work with.

4.Selection and preparation of materials.

This is an area where I believe much time and thought needs to be utilized to get it right. The last thing you want, is to complete a project and then realize that the wrong materials were selected. Aesthetics, project location/use, material strength, the mix of materials, and grain direction are just a few of the things that need to be considered. This is also another area where the customer must be consulted. For traditional furniture, there are many publications that can assist in you decision making. For an original project, the world is your palette.

For the first part of material preparation I use computer software. I use a product called ‘Cutlist Plus’. There is a version of this software that cost less than $100.00 and you will recoup this cost in short order. Entering your inventory of materials, along with part sizes and how many of each part required, the software will create a cutlist that will make maximum use of materials.

The next step is to bring your material into the shop and allow it to acclimate to the shop for a couple weeks. When you start cutting material, cut each part at least 1/4 inch larger all around and a few inches longer.There are many stresses in wood and when cut, these stresses are relieved. You may or may not be able to see this right away. Let the material sit overnight. You will be surprised at how much movment there will be.I would also suggest that you cut some extra material to the same dimensions as your parts. There is always the possibility of an error somewhere in the project. Having dimensioned lumber available will reduce the stress level. DO NOT get rid of extra material until the project is complete.

5. Preparation of equipment

This is one of the most important, but often neglected parts of a project. If your equipment is not maintained and calibrated properly, you will encounter many moments of great frustration. Are your cutting tools sharp? Dull cutting tools cause many of the blood letting accidents in the shop. Inattention to the task at hand has caused many accidents. Before starting a new project, take the time to ensure that your saws are sharp and calibrated properly, so you can get that 90degree or 45degree cut exact. Make sure the cross cut sleds are exact. On mine, the thickness of a piece of painter’s tape makes the difference between failure and success.

6. Execution

This is the fun part. It is also the part where the most mistakes can be made, in material and in you. Never ever work when you are tired, or are unable to give full attention to the task at hand. Missing body parts are not worth it.

As the old saying goes, measure twice and cut once. It is extremely easy to turn a 5 /14″ cut into a 4 3/4″ cut. Believe me, I have done it. Take time with your tools, Do not push them beyond their capability. Wixey corporation, makes an angle gauge that will great enhance you accuracy when setting up a saw for a particular angle. Try to use the same ruler throughout the project. Minute differences, between rulers can cause problems when trying to assemble a project.

Do not get in a hurry to start gluing things together. Always to a dry fit to make sure things line up properly. Make sure your joints are not too tight. glue will make a tenon expand so is is almost impossible to insert it into a mortise. Making mortise and tenon joints properly, takes time and patience. I usually cut my tenons thick and use a rabbet plane to get them to the proper thickness.

Make sure you have plenty clamps, but use them judiciously. Improper use of clamps can rack a project out of square. When it is time for the glue-up, take some time to mask areas that may get unwanted glue on them. Try to use only the amount of glue required. Make every atempt to limit squeeze-out of excess glue. Finding dried glue that will not take a stain does not make for a happy day in the shop. Remove the excess glue and the tape when the glue reaches a stiff but not yet hard consistency.

7. Preparation for staining and finishing

This is an area that most woodworkers hate to do. But, it is just as important as the construction phase of the project. This is what everyone will see. Using whatever methods you like, all tool and swirl marks need to be removed. On some items, I will use a scraper. On others, I will use sandpaper. If using sandpaper, 220grit is as fine as I normally go during this process.

8. Staining and finishing

There are many different forms of stand and finishes. All have their pros and cons. Before applying a stain to your project, take time to test different products and processed on scrap wood of the same type as the project. Perform the complete finish process on each piece of scrap so you will know what the project will look like when complete. After determining which product and process looks the best, do not skip or change any part of the process when finishing the project. Small differences in the finishing process can make a drastic change in how the completed project will look.

9. Post finish

Now it is time to really make your project shine. Do not get in a hurry to start this process. Wait until the finish is completely cured. Some products will cure overnight. Others may take weeks. You, most likely will need to buff or polish the finish to get that silky smooth look and feel everyone seems to want. Most people will rub a finish to get an impression of how well the finish was completed. There are many oils, polishes, and powders that will create the finish you desire. Please read as many of the finishing books as possible to get an understanding of the finishing process.

Now go and show off you hard work to anyone who will look. But, please do not point out every little blemish. Most people will not notice.Enjoy the moment.

If you have enjoyed weaving cloth, you will find weaving a rug to be even more exciting. Although this project is done by a similar process, you will not need a loom. Instead, all you will need to weave a rug is a rug frame. A rug frame is an inexpensive product which you can find in many hobby or specialty stores. If you want to save money, you can even make a rug frame yourself.

Weaving a rug can be easier than weaving cloth. With just a little practice, you can make a lovely rug within a few hours. Comparing all of these factors to the expensive, mass-produced rugs you find in stores should be a great incentive to try making your first rug. Not only is it economical, your finished rug will be one of a kind. The patterns, designs, and styles you choose are entirely up to you! Your weaving skills can also extend to making blankets. If you have ever seen and admired traditional Native American blankets, and wished that you had the talent to make them yourself, now you can! You can begin with a simple pattern, and progress to more intricate designs.

Dyeing fabric is an easy to do skill with nearly limitless possibilities. Whether you use cloth which you have made yourself or material that you purchase, you can design and create unique products in only a couple of hours. The possibilities range from designing and dyeing clothing to designing and dyeing curtains for your home, and many, many more. You will find more opportunities for dyeing than there are colors in the rainbow!

Yarn has been a special product for girls and women throughout the generations. In fact, some men enjoy working with yarn as much as the ladies do. One traditional favorite for working with yarn is knitting. Perhaps you have tried it yourself, or have seen older women in your family as they knitted. You can knit baby blankets and booties, scarves, and mittens for everyone in your family. Not only are knitted products lovely, they are also very warm!

The other traditional method of working with yarn is crocheting. Crocheting has become increasingly popular during the last few decades. One reason for this is that crocheting is very simple. Even a young child can do it. You can crochet sweaters, blankets, caps, and many other nice products. As a crochet hook and yarn are portable, you can take your crocheting project with you, to work on whenever you have free time.

A contemporary method of crocheting is with the use of a granny square. You simply crochet a granny square in whatever size is appropriate for your project, and continue by making however many squares you need. When you have the number of squares you desire, you can sew the squares together. This is an easy way to make even the largest afghan in a short period of time.

The yarn you have made can also be used for braiding. Braiding is done by intertwining three strands of yarn. The strands can be doubled if you want thicker or heavier braids. They can be all the same color or different colors, depending upon the effect you want.

Braids have many practical purposes. One of the most popular is to hold hanging baskets. These baskets can be used to hold plants, or other items. Hanging baskets with handmade braids are a delightful way to make any room bright and fresh. Handmade braids can also be used to make crafts such as picture frames. They are long-lasting, sturdy, and virtually indestructible. They also look much nicer than frames you can buy in a store.

These are just some of the ways you can put your new talents to practical use. Once you have become accustomed to creating products with your own two hands, you will probably want to try everything that you have time to make. Even if you are still learning the arts of spinning and weaving, you can make magnificent products. Everything you make will be completely unique. Best of all, you will see that hand-crafting is something that always holds your interest, because it is so much fun!

Ideas for book projects.  Each idea listed below could be assigned to an individual student.  Some of the ideas also work well for small groups of students.  Encourage students to invent clever, engaging titles to headline their books about one of these suggested topics.

            a. The “Green” Book.  Have students create a book documenting the school’s effort to use less energy, improve the environment, or create a green space.  Alternatively, each student could document similar efforts in their home or town.

            b. The “How To” Book.  Have each student pick something they are interested in doing and write and illustrate a book on the topic.  Everything from stamp collecting, sports, animal care, crafting, carpentry, car care, and so on is fair game.

            c. The “Grandpa” Book.  Have students interview their grandparents or folks in a senior center about their life as a teenager.  You may wish to provide a list of questions, but have your students generate at least 10 or so questions of their own.  The book should include a short background of the person interviewed, three to five memories of what it was like to be a teenager when they grew up, and any wisdom they felt they learned along the way.

            d. The “Poetry Collection” Book.  Have each student contribute a poem and an illustration for the book.  You can set a theme for the poetry or let students write about what is on their minds.  The illustrations could be hand-drawn, painted, computer graphics, collages, or photographs.

            e. The “Comic” Book.  Have students create a six-part series of four-box comic strips like the ones that run in the daily papers.  Each series should tell a complete story.  Illustrations can be hand- or computer-drawn.

            f. The “You Name It Cookbook”.  Have your students collect recipes of their favorite dishes.  Several different approaches might be used – recipes from different ethnic backgrounds of the student population, teachers’ recipes, favorite potluck recipes from the students’ families, best dessert recipes, favorite tailgate recipes for the high school football games, and so on.  Recipe accuracy can be tested in the home economics kitchen, if available. 

            g. The “Nature” Book.  If part of the curriculum is exploring the natural world, have students take photographs of the flora or fauna involved and write up short fact sheet presentations about it.  The write-up might include: common name, scientific name, where it is found, how big it grows, interesting details about the plant or animal.  A trip to a zoo might be helpful for studying exotic animals or a botanical garden is a good choice if plants are the subject.

            h. The “Why Photo” Book.  Take twenty pictures and explain why each photograph was selected.

The resulting books can be hand-bound.  For “how-to” information, check out my article titled “Book Binding by Hand”.  Alternatively, the book can be sent to a commercial printer and be professionally bound.  Some printers offer special printing programs for students.  One example is the “Aspiring Authors” program by lulu.com.  In either case, your students will have a lasting keepsake of a fun, perhaps even zany, project where they let their creative juices flow.  And they were learning all the time – who could ask for more than that?

Arts and crafts as a hobby is an activity a lot of mothers and young women get into. When a number of scrapbooks are done over time, crafty and creative skills get better too that, the next step can be to use your talent for gift-giving and a sideline business too; and showing your skills through custom business cards by turning your promo tools as a craft project is the perfect design you need.

Scrapbook materials can actually be any miniature object in different kinds of materials. Since creativity is not an issue, by printing blank business cards with a brown-based scrapbook-like paper, you can build almost any kind of design you wish and turn your promo tool into individualized concepts to suggest the types of book designs you can do. With this, your target customers will clearly remember you and have fun with your uniquely presented scrapbook cards for your business. Also, with blank business cards, your designing can be individualized for you are left with your own imagination in building concepts. With some materials and design objects, you can create a scene that can project and promote your services for different types of occasions, settings, and people.

1. Country kitchen: Commonly you can find figures of roosters, pot holders, apples, cookies, cups and saucers. This design can be perfect for mothers wish to document recipes from their parents, which later be passed on to others.
2. Baby-Inspired: For new mothers, having a scrapbook predesigned to document the early stages of the kid can be done through items such as rattles, pillows, shoes, or socks.
3. Outdoor activities for travel: Sailboats, canoes, birds, pail and shovel, or fire and logs can represent a vacation. This can be useful for families who want to record their outings in one scrapbook.
4. Teen girls and friendship: Necklaces, high-heeled shoes, brushes and mirrors, pinks, handbag, lipstick, and charm bracelets can be a good business card given to young girls who find collecting photos of their friends useful for a scrapbook.

Printing business cards for promoting your service is almost always needed for these are tools that can help hook you up with potential customers; and by customizing these cards into what you are offering will be an effective way to further instill to your receivers what you can offer.

When time comes to kitchen remodeling, there is a common misunderstanding that is utterly heard by few. That problem is exactly what kitchen remodeling is. A lot of homeowners think that to remodel your kitchen you need to change everything, from the lights above, all the way down to the floors. While a good bit of homeowners do pick to remodel their whole kitchen, there are other homeowners who only want to remodel small areas of it. Whether you are wanting to remodel your whole kitchen, or you if are only looking to remodel an area of it, there might be a good possibility that you might be in the time for new kitchen cupboards; these are one of the most remodeled areas in a kitchen that a homeowner wants to remodel.

Perhaps looking for a new set of cupboards might seem like a fairly easy thing to accomplish, but it is one decision that you should make in an instant. After all you will be stuck with these new kitchen cabinets for awhile, or at least until you move or decide to replace again, so you will want to be sure that you get your first pick. There are many different ways that you can accomplish this. For the record, you might want to take a look around in your local home improvement store. When walking around in one of your local home improvement stores, you should look for a display of cabinetry; you will probably find a lot of different kinds on display. Looking at each and every one of these is a good way to choose which ones would look good while matching in your kitchen with everything else.

After visiting your local home improvement store, you might also want to look for cabinetry on the internet. Even though the shipping cost for cabinetry is always going to cost a fortune, you might be able to find exactly what you were wanting online. It is stated by some experts that you should either look for an online home improvement retailer or a person who specializes in crafting their own wood products. If you are wanting a unique look like a set that you cannot find anywhere else, you might be able to place an order to a custom set of cupboards. The cost might be higher than what you originally wanted to pay but, as previously stated, it is important to get what you want, especially when remodeling your kitchen.

Stall no. B07,

Hall no. 7,

India Art Summit,

Pragati Maidan,New Delhi.

From – August 19, 2009 to August 22, 2009.

As the capital gets ready for the second edition of India Art Summit with every art gallery choosing the customary option of presenting a group of artists, there is one exception that comes as a breath of fresh air, and art! Dubai-based 1×1 Art Gallery is the only gallery to present a solo artist and will be showcasing a brand new series of works by Calcutta’s renowned and equally reclusive artist Chittrovanu Mazumdar at the summit.

Says Malini Gulrajani, Director, 1×1 Art Gallery: “Most people would shy from showing a single artist at such an international platform. I, however, believe that commerce should be the last concern of a gallery and to do justice to Chittro’s work that I admire so much, a solo exhibit was the only way.”

Reciprocating the loyalty in equal measure, artist Chittrovanu Mazumdar has created for this project a brand-new series ranging from three-four large mixed media works in mediums as difficult and diverse as tar, wax, metal, light and photography that will be wall mounted; a series of small photographic as well as wax works and a sculpture-installation. There are works made of lights on mild steel panel with dimmer, speakers and soundtrack; acrylic paint, wax and tar on plywood and mild steel; wax on plywood with gold leaf as well as tinted silver leaf and few digital works of human and landscape imagery with wax and tar on mild steel.

According to Chittrovanu Mazumdar – “The blueprint for my new works is the cohabitation of opposites.” He explains that by using light-hungry, night-dark tar and the trays of light that feed those depths while simultaneously reflecting off them; he has juxtaposed mythical reverberations of black and white. The human weight of history – of making, of handcrafting – bespoken by age-old materials such as beeswax, metal, tar has been combined with sheer virtuality to produce digital prints, screen images and electronic soundscape. The promise of touch foregrounded through the textured tactility of poured colour or the exposed skin are evident in the prints on display. The curved arc of the containing womb-pod with its eternal potential of bursting, birthing and the unsettling presence of the unknown and the known are present amidst all the neatly framed geometric assertion on the walls.

Another highlight at the summit will be Chittrovanu’s video titled ‘Sleep’ which will be shown at the Video Lounge. The fifteen-minute video showcases the interrogation of the surface where the depths erupt unpredictably through cracks in a seemingly seamless skin; the metaphor of sleep and escaping dreams that inevitably rupture the face of an ostensibly calm and tranquil order as aural signs of disruption, chaos, always imminent and never predictable, haunt the mind.

Says Chittrovanu Mazumdar: “I consider myself as an expressionist painter and believe that art is a private activity for the artist, a search within the individual. To me, work is the space of freedom where everything can move, turn around, transform and become something else. There are structures and systems that one follows up to a point but then gets out of them.”

While this would be 1×1 Art Gallery’s first foray into the Indian market, the artist himself is no newcomer. While his last solo show in Delhi was at Bodhi Art Gallery in 2005, Chittrovanu has shown extensively across the globe since his first art outing in 1985. He has established himself as one of India’s leading contemporary artists. Fusing the intellectual with the sensual in a unique way, the artist has exhibited across the world like at Jehangir Art Gallery (Mumbai); Bose Pacia Modern (New York); Seagull Foundation (Kolkata); Latit Kala (Chennai); Aicon Gallery (London). He had also been invited to display at the Victoria Memorial Durbar Hall, Calcutta (1991) and joined the ranks of the previous two invitees M F Husain and Bikash Bhattacharjee.

Born in 1956, Paris, Chittrovanu Mazumdar studied painting and printmaking at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts, Paris in 1983 after graduating from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta with a gold medal. Starting his career as a painter with huge canvases, mammoth solo shows and exploring a broad spectrum of media and technology in his work, his range of references is vast, incorporating inputs from his own culturally rich upbringing in Kolkata and Paris and an astonishing range of eclectic reading in three languages – French, English and Bengali. His work pulls from various influences, be it visual, musical or lyrical. His paintings – using bold brushstrokes, layered imagery, abstract images and elements of collage – express the conflicting experiences and beliefs that exist within modern society and man. His canvases exude intensity and vigor and are representational of his feelings of angst and suppression in a fast paced city.  Distinctive by their blaze of colour and a free-flowing application of paint, his works have the ability to seamlessly shift from abstraction to figuration and naturalism. He treats the conventions of modernism not as constrictive theories but as stylistic options, employing abstraction, figuration, the macabre and the jovial all in a single work.

One of his most unsurpassed exhibitions in the past titled ‘Undated – Night Skin’ had amorphous sounds floating in plangent music. Embedded in the ominous military machines were fragments of human experiences – images of living spaces, dreamlike landscapes, panels of intense red impasto like coagulated blood, flowing water, cries, the lights of a city at night, the wail of an infant, a woman alone, sirens and traffic sounds, stained walls and doors and windows, a female voice pleading, a placid pig wallowing in the filth etc.

Equally evocative is the artist’s photography work that he has showcased in the past. His photographs tells a story of a place where violence, vandalism and death have just taken place, producing a comment on the present socio-political situation of India. One of the digital prints shows a calf’s carcass that lies abandoned to its fate, the potential symbols for death and decay, connoting the cyclical nature of life – what comes from the earth goes back to the earth. Says Chittrovanu: “I had a strong interest in photography and began to incorporate my own photographs in my works with painterly intervention or with a third presence, the intrusion of an exterior world. However, in due course of time, I started using photoshop on it. For the photographic series, I had travelled to Jharkhand where I chose a one square kilometer of desolated marshy land as the location and reworked on my clicked images. It was the textual and visual possibilities of a fictionalized documentary that inspired me to do these series.

Continuously reinventing himself for the past three decades, Chittrovanu has always been ahead of his times and moved in a new direction with every show, simultaneously returning to the most primeval of human emotions – fear, hunger, ecstasy, desire. His art boldly blends elements of pop art with abstract swathes of colour, dealing with human paradox and ambiguity, of the seeping grey of daily life that escapes the purity of black and white. What appears to link the very visually and formally different phases of his work is the intensity of sensual immersion demanded by the artist of both himself and the viewer. The viewer feels compelled to unravel the meaning behind the artist’s often fragmented compositions. Through the layers of translucent and opaque paint over collages of images and text, one suddenly notices the vehement gaze of belligerent eyes or a desperately outstretched hand. Mazumdar states, “I enjoy the fact that it isn’t a definite, complete form. The half-formed figure is always in the process of becoming. It remains a promise, full of possibilities.”

ABOUT 1X1 ART GALLERY

A major force in promoting Contemporary Indian Art in Dubai, 1×1 has organized and presented ‘Af-fair’ in Dubai in March 2008 curated by Bose Krishnamachari bringing to fore works of artist like Anant Joshi, Hema Upadhyaya, Jyothi Basu, Justin Ponmany, Riyas Komu, TV Santosh, Parvathy Nayar, Minal Damani, Vivek Vilsani and Aji VN soon to be launched as a documented book. Few other shows 1×1 has presented lately are ‘The New Place’, ‘Route-en-Route’, ‘Urban/Image’, ‘Art Paris’. Solo exhibits include Chittrovanu Mazumdar, Jogen Choudhary, Jatin Das, Jaideep Mehrotra, Senaka Senanayake, M.F Husain besides group shows presenting ‘Pratul Dash and Rajesh Ram’ and ‘Farhad Husain, Kazi Nazir and Binoy Varghese’.