Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Back Wall




I've been working intermittently this month, with a break for Wintercount. The Paleotool wagon was there, looking great and inspiring others. Next year should see at least two more wagons.

The upper right image shows the floor; a great find at the Salvage Store. This material is 3/8th birdseye maple. It was in very bad shape but cleaned up amazingly well with a few passes through the planer. 

The upper right image shows the beginnings of the back wall. Because this wall folds in half it is easier to support the wall with a door blank during construction to ensure proper alignment. This door blank also supports the compass used to create the round, or "barrel top," profile. The framing is made of 3/4" X 3" oak, which is salvage from the previous owner of my shop. The wall material is recycled Douglas fir; another great find at the Salvage Store. This material, I was told, came from a home in Portland built in the 1940's by a lumber baron. The wood is some very good quality stuff. It came in a variety of widths as 3/4" tongue-and groove. I planed it down to 1/2" to reduce the weight, and milled it into 2" wide tongue-and-groove. It has a warm beautiful natural color and tight grain. It adds greatly to the feel of the interior, plus there are a few old nail holes that hint at its former life. The curved door lintel is my first real foray into steam bending. It worked well, but.....I was glad I started with the lintel first so that I could make the door fit the lintel instead of the other way around.
Steamer in action