Almost 5 months ago I took a leap of faith and accepted a job across the country as a carpenter for one of San Francisco's premier high end residential construction companies. So far, my experience with the company has been excellent as my academic exercises in fine carpentry and preservation have become enriched and put in perspective by the experience of working on several modern construction projects. I've bounced around between a few of the company's projects but but have spent the lion's share of my time on a remodel in Oakland Hills installing cabinets, trim, doors, and windows. The owner's were extremely pleased with our work and are thoroughly enjoying their new home.
Producing quality work requires having the right tools to accomplish the job. At the North Bennet Street School, I have come to realize that one of the most indispensable tools of the fine craftsmen is his workbench.
In our shop, massive 8 foot long German-made Diefenbach workbenches provide a nearly indestructible work surface for us to build almost anything. With graduation looming, I came to the conclusion that having my own workbench would be a requirement if I want to continue evolving my fine woodworking skills.
At more than $2,000, purchasing my own Diefenbach workbench was out of the question. If I could find the time in my already project-filled schedule, I knew I could build a quality workbench of my own. And so, back in November, I pledged to use the short blocks of time during lunch, after school, and before school to chip away at my personal workbench project.
My requirements for a workbench called for something smaller than the massive Diefenbach benches but equally solid. I wanted built-in storage to house some of my more precious hand tools, and I needed the bench to come apart for transport. Lastly, with my limited income as a student, I needed the bench to be relatively cheap to make. I set a budget of $300 and with that I was off.
I could easily have blown the entire budget on one vise alone so finding a pair of affordable vises was my first priority. I couldn't find any quality new vises under $150 so I settled with vintage American made vises that I found on craigslist.
The benchtop, trestle legs, and cabinet face frame are made of hard maple, the cabinet carcass is maple ply, and the drawer fronts are shellacked curly soft maple. The turned vise handles are also maple. In fact, the only piece of the bench not made of maple are the drawers which are finger jointed poplar. I blew the last $75 in materials on the solid brass pulls, silky smooth self-closing drawer slides, and the blue Kreg bench dogs. The result is an attractive, extremely durable, and heavy bench (about 200lbs!) that will hopefully give me a lifetime of use. More pictures below.
Historic window restoration has been a big part of the work that I've done at the North Bennet Street School and throughout my internship at Essex Restoration. From curved church windows to 12 over 12 rectangle sash, I have certainly done my fair share of wood repairs, cutting replacement glass, glazing, and sash installation.
All of these experiences were a great primer for one of this years major projects, making reproduction windows from scratch. We were forewarned by our instructor that making sash would be a challenging and fussy endeavor, but I was up for the challenge.
I was able to remove the sash and frame that I was tasked with reproducing from the 1850's Cape home and bring it to the shop to take precise measurements.
The work began by ordering custom knives for a our shaper to cut the molding profile on the sash stiles, rails, and muntins. Once the knives arrived, I milled the stock to the proper dimensions and ran it through the shaper to prepare the parts and pieces.
Making a historically accurate reproduction required cutting mortise and tenon joints and then securing the joints with wooden pins. This glue-less form of joinery will provide long-lasting durability and allow the window to be disassembled in the future if repairs are needed.
With the window frame finished. I cut 12 pieces of specialty mouth-blown reproduction glass purchased for the project to size and bedded, pointed, and glazed the individual lights with glazing compound.
Producing a smooth and even glazing bead requires patience and a steady hand.
After giving the glazing 1 week to cure, the windows were primed and painted, and the excess material or "horns" were cut off.
With the windows sash complete, I used the badly deteriorated original jambs to reproduce new jambs. In the springtime, the reproduction sash and jambs will be installed as a single unit. By using old growth heart pine and quality oil primer and paint, the windows should easily last another 150 years.
Working primarily on 18th and 19th century homes, I have a keen appreciation for both the craftsmanship and design abilities of early American builders. Unlike today, where architecture and building are often though of as separate disciplines, many early American carpenters possessed a deep understanding of timelessly pleasing shapes and forms and could competently design their buildings.
While a few men like Samuel Mcintyre embodied the true spirit of the Builder/Architect, many more early American carpenters were inspired by widely available pattern books that publicized good design and building practices. Carpenters took pride in modifying and individualizing these designs to suit clients needs and their personal aesthetic. In an age when materials and labor was inexpensive and abundant, and many clients tastes and budgets left them unrestrained, the early builder was able to construct buildings of remarkable uniqueness that is uncommon today.
It was with the spirit and ingenuity of the early builder that I set about to design a small structure to meet the needs of my client for a modest 8'x 10' garden shed. My goals for the project were to develop a functional and beautiful outbuilding for approximately the same cost of a mass produced shed.
My final design, which will undoubtedly require more time and effort to construct then the average garden shed, contains Greek revival trim elements, custom windows and doors, and natural pine board sheathing. To prove I'm not squarely stuck in the past, I have a plan to retrofit a standard exterior light fixture with solar powered components.
I will make sure to update the blog as the project progresses. For now, we will have to wait until the ground thaws to begin construction.
After cutting and fitting hundreds of mortise and tenon joints, lapped dovetail joints, and checking our rafters and collar ties for perfect fit and alignment, it came time to transport our parts and pieces to their final location for assembly.
The existing stone foundation for the building was repointed and reinforced to accommodate our reworked addition to the original 1850's Cape home. To move the large timbers roughly 100 yards into place, we utilized timber dollies specifically constructed for the task at hand.
Throughout the process of cutting the joinery for the frame, we were careful to mark and label each piece noting it's orientation on the building. The joinery was then stacked so that the pieces used in the construction of the lower parts of the frame were on the top of the pile. This small bit of organization allowed us to logically assemble the frame from top to bottom, starting with the sills and working our way up to the rafters.
Having pre-fit all of the joinery, the building was assembled quickly with very little issues or obstacles.
At the pinned joints, we utilized a traditional technique called draw boring where holes are slightly offset. As the solid oak pins are driven into the holes, the joinery is pulled snugly into place.
With the frame up, it was time to extend the roofline of the addition to the existing house and add sheathing.
Sheathing complete, we added a rubber roof tarp to protect the building from the elements for the winter. Work will resume in the spring as carpenters from the Department of Conservation and Recreation insulate the building and continue with roofing, siding, and finish work. For now, our work here is done.
For this year's timber framing project, our class was contracted to build an addition to a modest 1850's Cape style home in Canton, MA. The Cape, which is owned by the State of Massachusetts, will likely serve as a headquarters, and caretakers cottage, for the 7,000 acre Blue Hills Reservation State Park.
Our work began with a hulking delivery of freshly cut "greenwood" timbers. In this case, locally sourced Eastern White Pine.
After stacking and organizing the timbers, we set upon laying out the joinery for the 18'x24' structure, starting with the sills and working our way up to the rafters. It took a little while to wrap our heads around the locations of the mortise and tenon joinery, but once we did, it became a fun task boring, chopping, and sawing our hundreds of frame components, largely by hand.
With 13 students working in sync, we had the majority of the frame cut, fitted, and stacked in piles in three short weeks. Successfully fitting the rafters was a symbolic milestone of our progress and a moment of great pride for the men and women on our team.
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