I have been doing woodcarving for a couple of years now, and have been making all kinds of small stuff at home. Things like spatulas, spoons and other household items. This is always nice to do, but i have been aching to make something bigger.
I have been looking at old danish and scandinavian furniture for quite a while. Looking for inspiration for all kinds of stuff.
I have also been collecting a lot of tools, like planes, saws, chisels and the like.
... Now I just need some wood, so I can get going on a larger project.
The last couple of months have been dedicated to school and I have not been able to get a lot of Workshop-time. One thing that I found the time to do is this sliding lid box. A birthday-present for Louise.
This box is the first project that I have made using only handtools. And I must say that it was a real joy to do. It is great to experience how much you can actually do on your own, without using machines for the job.
Of course it takes some practice to learn how to use the tools, but that is all part of the joy of working wood.
I made the box from some riven ash, that I had left from when I made the shaving horse. It proved to be very nice wood to work with.
Both the bottom and the lid fits in to a groove in the top and bottom of the box. The corners are joined with glued rabbets and wooden pegs.
The joinery definately could have been more precisely done, but I like the box all the same.
Doing these small projects is a great chance to try out different techniques and think about the process of working. Especially efficiency of wokring is a good thing to think about. When working with hand tools you can end up spending too much time on the different steps of the project. I find that I enjoy working more, when I feel like I am getting somewhere. If things take to long to do, it gets boring. The best thing is when you are working efficiently, without compromising the quality.
Lastly I want to show you my new (old) workbench. A real beauty!
I put some grease on the spindles and after that it worked like a dream.
I dont know how I even got by without this tool in the past. It really is a very versatile tool to have in the workshop.
