Mountain Makers

I've switched to using laser engraved cutting templates when possible instead of the conventional paper and adhesive method. It makes for quicker and easier templates and you don't have to worry about the template falling off when you're cutting away small sections.

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In the past, I’ve made my own router sleds to handle small slices of wood or huge 10’ long slabs. SpeTool sent me what they call their “Cratos S01001 PRO Machinist-Grade Router Sled – Wood Slab Flattening Mill”, in exchange for trying it out and making this video. In this video, I’ll go through the assembly process and test it on a slice of Ash I’ve been wanting to use. I’m using an ad hoc table for a quick and rough trial of the sled, just a pair of sawhorses, plywood and 2×4’s. At some point I’ll need to set up a better work table but this worked out surprisingly well. The kit also included their new dust collection option, but that’s for another video.

You can get the router sled and other great SpeTool products here: https://spetools.com/?ref=qj15ulok

And you can use the code MOUNTAINMAKERS to get 10% off your purchase.

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After applying @cleanarmor exterior clear coat to this wonderfully figured maple slab bench we left it outside a few days for its first test against some of the elements it will be facing: sunlight and storms. Water beads on the surface like an automotive finish while the beauty of the maple shines through, fully UV protected. It’s now planted at its home, in front of @gracehillfineartandbasketry.

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Originally posted on our Instagram channel: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7ZL166AV-U/

This is the last of the owner’s maple slabs we’ve been working with for her art gallery projects, with some of the most incredible character we’ve ever seen: spalting, curl, worm holes, birdseye, you name it, it’s in there!

It will be an outdoor bench, exposed to the elements. So we decided to use the new @cleanarmor UV curing resin finish we discovered*. This time, their Wood 705 exterior satin clear coat. Compared to the interior 700 finish we first tried, both are free of dangerous VOC (volatile organic compounds) & HAP (hazardous air pollutants), provide a completely waterproof and durable finish but this one has additional protection against constant UV exposure and its damaging effects, like wood discoloration. We want all that beautiful figuring to be well preserved!

*This is completely unsponsored content. We discovered @cleanarmor on our own and purchased the products ourselves to determine if they are a good fit for our finishing workflow.

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I recently stumbled on a new wood finish that is supposed to provide the beautiful natural-looking & satiny clear coat that we love in the hard wax oil finishes we’ve been using. It’s a product from @cleanarmor that is easily applied, has NO VOC (volatile organic compounds), HAP (hazardous air pollutants) and no hazardous disposal requirements and is much more durable. What really got my attention was its ability to cure in minutes under UV light, either from artificial lights or sunlight. We’re used to “accelerators” with hard wax finishes, that speed up their curing process to about a week. This was worth checking out!

I wasn’t able to get samples (the quart minimum size isn’t cheap) but I decided to spring for a bottle of the 700 Interior Clear Coat in Satin to see how it would compare. I ordered from mywoodcutters.com (incidentally, the same place I previously bought some helical heads for our planer & jointer) and got my order in a few days. We were excited to try things out and this our first ever experience with it. We had to use the guest room up at the house since it was the only place where we could easily prevent sunlight from creeping in. As hoped, we got a great first impression. We’ll be putting it through its paces in the shop and with some projects. So expect more details as we get ourselves familiar with this promising new finish!

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I’m a huge fan of spiral carbide cutters ever since I upgraded the cutters for our planer and jointer. I’ve also been using a variety of @spetool_cnc bits for a while now (unsponsored 😉) and when I saw that SpeTool released this beast of a 5” long, 65mm (~ 2.6”) cutting height flush trim bit, what happened next is obvious. I made a video on my Instagram channel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwppmCqLCOC

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It reminds me of that prehistoric monument we visited in England. So I’ll call it “Stoolhenge”.

Although they were about 3” thick and heavy, I decided to make a stool from the cut-off pieces of the slab benches I previously made. For this I chose splayed legs but kept the mortises square to make the build more straightforward, or so I thought. There were a number of angle cuts I had to make to accommodate the 15-degree leg slants but in the end, and with a few jigs, I was able to follow through and now have a chunky place to rest my feet on the porch.

#stoolhenge #slabstool #rusticstool #pinestool #reclaimedpine #salvagedpine

#woodlandmills #sawmilling #stihl #hm126

#hybridartisan
#artisanwoodworks
#townsendtn
#maker
#makerlab
#littlegreenbarn
#greatsmokymountains
#customwoodwork
#shoplocal
#letsmakesomething
#makersgottamake
#makersgonnamake
#smallbatchmanufacturing
#smallscalemanufacturing
#woodenproducts

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Original Post on my Instagram channel: https://www.instagram.com/p/CuHYWequoBe/


Before I can graduate to good timber, I need more practice with my new timber framing chisel trio on some rough pine. This time I’m using an ugly bark slab piece, leftover from milling a pine beetle & carpenter bee scarred log. Normally, these get chopped up and thrown into a campfire but it’s more satisfying to find a way to put these rough looking pieces to more practical use.

A corner chisel isn’t absolutely necessary for general timber framing since you can accomplish clean corners with a regular chisel, but I liked the idea of this tool, as specific as it is. I also liked that it arrived super sharp!

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Original Posted on my Instagram channel: https://www.instagram.com/themountainmakers/

The second in my set of timber framing chisels arrived sharp and ready to go. Since I’ll need quite a bit of practice before I get to the big project we have planned, I decided to use it for something I’ve always wanted to make, something that uses a pine log that I set aside a few years ago. It was a hot day under the canopy of the shop porch with the new chisel, knocking out a handful of tricky mortises on a rough & round log instead of a nicely squared timber. There’s even an angled mortise thrown in as a bonus.

This contraption is known as a #mukjong or #woodendummy. The wooden dummy is used for solo martial arts training and is a surrogate for a sparring partner. It obviously can’t attack you, but is designed to motionlessly simulate a moving opponent. It’s divided into sections that represent the arms and legs of an opponent. You don’t hit it hard or use a lot of force like a punching bag. Instead, it’s used to enhance one’s range, positioning and precision of movement through fluid and repetitive motions. It’s not used to learn kung fu but to perfect it.

From Wikipedia: Mu ren zhuang (Chinese: 木人桩; pinyin: Mù Rén Zhuāng; lit. 'Wooden Man Post') or Mook Yan Jong (also known as The Wing-Chun Dummy or simply The Wooden Dummy internationally. This athletic equipment is used in Chinese martial arts training from being associated with the martial art of Wing Chun and other kung fu styles of Southern China.

"I fear not the man who practices 10,000 techniques once, but the man who practices one technique 10,000 times holds my respect."

#hybridartisan
#artisanwoodworks
#townsendtn
#maker
#makerlab
#littlegreenbarn
#greatsmokymountains
#customwoodwork
#shoplocal
#letsmakesomething
#makersgottamake
#makersgonnamake
#smallbatchmanufacturing
#smallscalemanufacturing
#woodenproducts

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