Moderator: Glen K
polarbearforge wrote:I also built a slat bed for my wall tent. (I don't have any pictures and it's disassembled in the trailer covered with snow right now.) I used pallet material to build it (work lets me "clean up" for free) and it makes a rock solid bed. It's pretty similar to asbrand's, but not quite as tall above the slats.
Quite a few 6 board chests and a few based on the mastermyr toolchest. I didn't want totes all over the place, and these double as seats that I can sit on without breaking them.
Maeryk, I like the big box. Do you find the handles on that style of construction last under a heavy load?
Jamie
Chris Gilman wrote:I don’t know what to say
I wish I could organize a weekend class for people at my shop; many of these things are straight forward and simple. Although one advantage is having the correct tools, however, the linenfold panels are the only "out of the ordinary" technique I think. This is a simple RTV silicone poured over a panel I bought on ebay, and a 2 part urethane to cast the panels.
The rest of the furniture (including hardware) was built using tools I am sure many of you have, if you have a shop.
If AA’rs want, I would be happy to have a class at Pennsic and answer questions and explain how to do some of these things (as best as one can at Pennsic). In most of these skills, I am no expert, but I would be happy to share the tricks and techniques I have learned if people think it would help.
Just let me know if there is interest in this and I’d be happy to host something at my house.
Maeryk wrote:One question Chris (and I'm not knocking your skills, please understand).
How do you think they will hold up over the years?
I've seen some DAMNED pretty shortcut stuff that didn't last two seasons.. and some fairly rough knockaround stuff that has served, in rain and snow, sun and heat, for nigh on 20 years..
Where does your stuff fall?
everything I build takes into account seasonal movement, grain alignment, function.. not to say yours doesnt.. it's damned gorgeous and may be around for decades.. but how do you think it will hold up?
Chris Gilman wrote:Maeryk wrote:One question Chris (and I'm not knocking your skills, please understand).
How do you think they will hold up over the years?
I've seen some DAMNED pretty shortcut stuff that didn't last two seasons.. and some fairly rough knockaround stuff that has served, in rain and snow, sun and heat, for nigh on 20 years..
Where does your stuff fall?
everything I build takes into account seasonal movement, grain alignment, function.. not to say yours doesnt.. it's damned gorgeous and may be around for decades.. but how do you think it will hold up?
It’s a good question, however these aren’t going to sit in snow or rain, this is furniture, not camp gear. All of the joints are rabbited or dadoed so they are built like most “good” quality furniture. On the small cupboard there are full mortise and tenon joints on all the 2 x2 pieces. I built each with the idea that they need to be moved (in and out of storage) far more than a conventional piece of furniture, so I have added triangle reinforcements to the inside of most of the joints. The only “short cut” is the cast linefold panels. I also had to keep in mind, these are pieces for a “hobby” and only being used a few weeks each year, so I didn’t want to spend weeks building them. (I think I have 2 to 3 days work in each including hinges)
The other struggle is keeping them light weight, if made from poplar or oak, they would be much tougher, but then I’d need 3 guys to move them. I had originally planned to make the hanging cupboard collapsible to minimize storage, but realized I have a place to store it, assembled, in the front of my trailer, so I got lazy. ( I also figured it would be more durable permanently assembled) I am planning on making a hanging cupboard like this for my real house. (With a little higher finish quality)
I don’t think the look has to do with durability as much as proper joint construction. I have seen “camp” pieces made from “2x4’s” that look so heavy and “clunky”, that they have no resemblance to medieval period furniture at all, but “they last”. Even in period there is a difference between “camp gear” and furniture. Even well built furniture, abused by being left in the rain, in direct sun, thrown into a truck, banged around as such, won’t be in very good shape very long. But, built from fir 2x4 lumber and held together with carriage bolts and painted with oil base enamel, like , say, lawn furniture it would stand up to that.
Cian of Storvik wrote:Though I think a class would be helpful, and chock full of "ah-ha!" realizations. But I think being able to craft items like Chris does are primarily a strong suite of balanced abilities. And being able to apply what someone shows me is often beyond my grasp.
Some of us have all the tools and skills necessary, but we lack the ability to interpret something that WAS and make it something that IS. Others may have a clear idea of the details but only have a vague impression of how to make those details into a real thing. And yet others may simply lack the tools, or the skills with those tools to be efficient in the construction process.
With enough time and measurements you can come up with an exquisite concept or an exact replica of something. With enough time and energy, you can learn a new skill or artistry. And with enough training, you can be tought 4,000 ways to use a sliding power miter saw to anything from notching square stock to doing 3d statuettes with it. But having all 3 of those skills in one individual is rare.
And as I reflect on my own experience on projects, perhaps there's a fourth ability, that of dedication to getting it right. Many of us wouldn't spend $80 on lumber and then when it starts to go awry say "This ain't workin', I'm going to scrap it and start over", or waste the mental energy of how this piece or that piece can be salvaged. Someone with the creative mindset could look at a projects starting to slide down the slope of the mountain, and yet still improvise ways to fix it on later stages of the project and figure 10 ways at the snap of their fingers to turn the "mess-ups" or skipped steps into a benefit end result.
I'm one of those that completely relys on vague concepts of what I want the end result to be; as well as self-tought harry-homeowner knowledge of tools and little desire to teach myself more (thank god for This Old House), and a great amount of faith put into dumb luck. And when the task starts to get too difficult to wrap my brain around it..slap some paint on it and call it good.
I think unless we have greater than average quantities of; creatvity, energy, skillfulness and determination, you'll always fall short of the stuff that guys like Chris will produce. When I met him at Pennsic last year, you can tell he is very energetic and driven about his projects. He has all of those attributes in demi-god level scores. And the thing that resonates in my mind from him commenting on how good his stuff looks, was him saying (and I'm paraphrasing here:)
"The best advice I can give you is; just make it. You might fail completely or you might end with something better then you imagined. And the worst thing that will happen is you will learn from doing it. And that's not such a bad thing."
I can't fault the logic, but can't bring myself to apply it.
It's also aweinspiring to see, not only how he figures out how to make something real, but has self tought (natural born) engineering skills he's developed, that sort of make you not want to look in a mirror for a couple of days after he shows you all the stuff he's developed or designed off the cuff.
Sort of like walking by a mirror naked....Don't do it. If you do, you won't go down the candy isle of a store for a week.
-Cian
Maeryk,
I don’t have any specialized production tools. Most of the work is done on a table saw, miter saw, hand drill and router. I did use my mill to cut the mortises, but that could have been done with a drill and a rasp or chisel.
MJBlazek wrote:I sued to use a bridgport every day for work. So when I was on breaks I would use it to mill out things.
I also had access to a finger joint cutter.
I kind of miss working in the shop. I really miss the acces to all that great wood! Man.. Tiger and Birdseye maple all over the place!
Chris Gilman wrote:If I am not sure how something is going to work, I do a test or a sample of the effect or technique. This way, I don’t risk a quantity of material without having a good idea of how it is going to turn out. <snip>
These “scraps of paper”, the pieces of material you experiment on, don’t add up to a lot in cost, but do add up in saved work and project materials in the end. The key is the willingness to admit you don’t know how something is going to work and the patience to take the time to experiment with it first.
Thomas Powers wrote:Now to hook the 3-d printer to a spray metallizer and skip the nasty forging steps!
Chris Gilman wrote:Cian,
Thanks for the kind words. I think the ability to put things together is a little like language. If you start with learning your letters and the sounds they make, you can sound out words you have never seen before and then construct sentences you have not written before. I feel as most people are taught or try to jump into “sentences” to soon. If I am not sure how something is going to work, I do a test or a sample of the effect or technique. This way, I don’t risk a quantity of material without having a good idea of how it is going to turn out. As you learn these techniques or ways to use the tools at hand; “you’re letters and the sounds they make”, the more complex sentences you can make. Also it becomes easier to look at period examples and “sound them out”, figure out how to use your tools to make what you see. But, just like words, sometime you have to spell the word out on a scrap of paper to see if it looks right. If it does, then put it into you finished document. If it doesn’t look correct, then try something different, or look it up.
Rayner wrote:I want to be chris gilman when I grow up!
