When you have been using edge tools on green oak, a quick clean straight afterwards, will save you lots of work next week.
If not the tannins will eat your tools alive!
I realised today that it was 8 years since I finished the lid on this chest; an old friend now.
The days get warmer and up wake the beetle and the froe.
Replenished from hibernation, eager to get down to some cleaving of oak.
And some fresh oak, that splits well (for English Oak).
Some hewing and chopping.
I don't seem to get tired of this, and good to feel the sun warming up my bones. Badger looked a bit chilly,
Out in the woods the other day with Paula, who was on a work placement from college. We're trying to get some wide boards from this 10ft log. It was felled some years ago, so you couldn't call it fresh, and it took a few hours before it got used to the idea that it was going to cleave.
Paula has learnt a lot this week about how to split oak. When she becomes a physicist, hopefully she will be fusing atoms, not splitting them.
Back at the joinery bench today, hand chopping mortices to take the top rails of the livery cupboard.
Using the rebate plane to take down the leading edge of the top rail.
Before adding some detailing with a straight chisel and punch.
This rebate/detailing will extend onto the stile, but not until it's joined.
The side rails , only have room for one cockatrice with a bit left over. The sixteenth century carver just plugged in a pinwheel/flower to fill the space.
