Hi there fellow Galoots,

I'm participating in Galootaclaus this year after an absence of several
years. This spurred me to find out how much my bio was out-of-date. Wow, it
has been over 20 years since I posted an update. I was then 49 year old and
it seems like it wasn't very long ago. Oh well, a lot has certainly changed
in that time.



I've been sitting here on the porch since Paddy O'Dean invited me in
December of 1995, so my rocker there in the corner is showing its age. A
lot of names have come and gone from the porch, but I'm still here reading
the emails every day, though my interaction has been infrequent for the
last few years.



I am now retired after 23 wonderful years working for Southern Methodist
University. I'm still married to the same wonderful woman and we are just a
few months short of 50 years together. Both kids are married and livving in
other states. I've moved from the Dallas, TX, area to a small private lake
in far East Texas. My new shop is a separate building of about 600 square
feet, includes a large wooden deck that looks out over the lake. Since
retiring in 2007 I have completed several projects, ranging from Shaker
Oval Boxes to a Windsor Chair; all built with hand tools (except for
turning the chair's legs on an electric apprentice). I was lucky to be
taught how to make the Shaker Boxes, without electricity, by List Mom
Emeritus Ralph Brendler when he visited this area a few years back. I still
make two or three sets a year and give them away to new friends and
charities. I am not a hand-tool purist, but I use them a lot. I've pared my
tool arsenal down to only user-grade hand tools except for a couple of
sentimental items. I still have a fondness for craftsman-made tools, and I
have several from previous Galootaclaus swaps. And according to my wife, I
have a chisel addiction, but she just doesn't understand a man's need to
rehabilitate chisels. I'm also fond of old woodworking related advertising
signs.



Well, that should do it for another 20 years or so.



Mike DeLong

> On Nov 26, 2017, at 5:14 PM, Mike DeLong  wrote:
> 
> I was lucky to be
> taught how to make the Shaker Boxes, without electricity, by List Mom
> Emeritus Ralph Brendler when he visited this area a few years back.


Welcome back MIke.  Retired 10 years, shop on a lake.  Sounds pretty good.

A question for you - I took a Ralph course perhaps 18-20 years ago and I don't
remember him talking about thinning wood by hand.  Could you give a description
of how you do it?  And how thin it is?  And what species you use?

Thanks

Ed Minch

Ed,

Not to speak for Mike's experience, but we used finely-set block planes to
thin the overlap spots on the boxes (i.e., put a bevel on the non-finger
ends of the bands for sides and tops).  We were getting it down to under
1/16", using cherry and maple, primarily, though I have a set of Ralph-made
cherry/black walnut boxes with the same sort of bevels.

Best,
Bill
Felton, CA

Welcome back Mike.

Shaker boxes are right in my wheelhouse at the moment.

I also took a class from Ralph some 10 years ago in Chicago in 
conjunction with a MWTCA regional meet. In addition, I stay in touch 
with John Wilson and Eric Pintar at www.shakerovalbox.com in downstate 
Charlotte, and visit them whenever I pass through there.

I’m making up a large batch of boxes and trays right now for an art fair 
this weekend. So with the volume of pieces I make, the process is not 
entirely unplugged. My methods are a blend of those two influences. I 
sometimes taper the fingers a little bit, but I always taper the buried 
ends to a feather edge, and use a #3 or #4 bench plane. I clamp the 
veneer strip to the bench on the back end, and set the front of the 
strip right up to the edge of the bench. I plane the last ~2” (usually) 
tapered down to transparency. Sometimes they are a little ragged, but 
they are naturally held against the inside of the box. If it looks too 
ratty, I just slice off a diagonal once it is assembled and it looks 
fine. For box sizes 1 – 3, I start with ~.065 to .085 red maple veneer 
that a local mill cuts for me. I can get 1/16” on my band saw too, but 
it’s kind of a bother to make a lot of strips 15” to 48” long with any 
consistency. For cost reasons, I do slice my own birdseye veneers ~.050 
- .070 for gluing to ¼” birch plywood for the tops.

Merry Christmas and best wishes to all,

Jim O'Brien