05 August 2008

Beyond ECII...ECIII maybe?

Having got ECII finished a bit of a 'shop vacuum has developed (as far as a project goes) in that I haven't got anything on the horizon or even distantly coming up over the same, but I do have the very fainest germ of an idea or four as a possible next job(s). First and foremost, I've got a largish lump of elm about 65mm thick which looks very promising. It's about 300mm wide and there may be just enough timber in there for a wall mounted cabinet but the problem is that the pith runs through the centre so there's a lot of splitting on one side of it. However it does present a distinct possibility and I fancy having a go at a solid curved door as I have the little plane that I made to shape the Teak Casket last year. To be really sure that the idea is workable I ought to have another piece of elm for any gaffs (of which there are bound to be plenty) and also I'll need material for the exterior sides and interior fittings, be they solid or veneered.
Second and foremost, I bought a quantity of decent English oak a while back which has been earmarked for a couple of wall mounted display cum shelving units for the lounge. I've got everything for that and would just need to get hold of some sheet material for the shelves and uprights. There's certainly enough oak to do something interesting so I need to have some thoughts on what to do.
Third and foremost, Chisel let me have some rather nice spalted sycamore at our recent bash so there's the possibility of a bit more box making. Whislt I'm wittering on about boxes, Robert Ingham in a back issue of F&C had a fantastic little cabinet made from small squares of elm burr edged in ebony...and I know someone who's got a box full of elm burr offcuts!
The main drawback to these plans (for the bigger projects anyway) is that my machinery is too small, particularly the bandsaw, as I can only re-saw up to 150mm and I need a machine that'll do 300mm. Fortunately one's available at a reasonable cost from APTC and it's the same one that Philly and Waka use. The cunning plan then is to write the article for F&C on ECII and squirrel away my earnings from the piece until I've got enough put by to get hold of the machine...that's the plan anyway, but as we all know, plans do change....

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