Oculus Fine Carpentry

Cottage Grove Armory

2011-11-22T08:38:00.001-08:00

Armory Entrance.

One of my next projects, the beautiful art deco Cottage Grove Armory building. Built in 1931 as a National Guard armory and community center. Oculus has been contracted to restore 35 of the worst windows over the next 10 months. Cottage Grove is a nice small town a little bit south of Eugene. It is centrally located in the Willamette Valley. Here is a link for more information about Cottage Grove.

The windows are typical 6 over 6 and 4 over 4 double-hungs. One of the details that I really like about them are the weight pocket doors. I rarely see them cut on the diagonal. I will post more pictures of these as the restoration progresses.

Weight pocket door.

Some of the window details that I am not so excited to see is the lack of flashing between the sills and the concrete which has lead to a lot of complete sill failures. Also the ends of the sills are buried in a small pocket of concrete. Not so good either.

Sill end rotted out.

Complete sill failure.

Right now the project is in the assessment stage. So there is a lot of work to be done over spring and summer. Most of the physical work will happen in the late spring and summer months. I will be utilizing both epoxy and dutchman repairs so I need those warm temperatures and rainless days.

I want to mention my new camera. Over the summer I worked on a consulting job where the conservator was using a Panasonic Lumix to photograph windows. The quality and ease of use promoted me to purchase one recently (and it wasn't too pricey either). I have to say that I am very pleased with the results so far. The picture below is a second story window but I shot is from the parking strip. I still had a lot of zoom left.

Shortly I will post about another exciting project that I will be working on over the next 12 months. This project will stretch my plane-making skills as I will be making two matched curved and sprung sash planes. Check back in to see what all that means.

As a little tease here is the view from the jobsite.

Creative Entrepreneur

2011-10-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

I did an interview with Sheri Joi recently. It can now be accessed on the web at this website. I talk about my business and some the pros and cons of being a creative entrepreneur. Give it a listen.

There and Back Again

2011-10-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it back to Portland with no problems with the border crossing. So, I would like to thank everyone that made this trip possible-my family, my friends, two of my clients-waxahatchie and Mrs. J., and the conference staff- I couldn't have done it without your support.
I have put up the last set of pictures from my Saturday field session. Most of the pictures of the naval yard are for my parents. They do love their ships. Enjoy!

Soon I will be posting about the two large projects that I will be tackling in the next 12 months.

Victoria Pictures

2011-10-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

I have added a slideshow to the side bar so you can look at some of the sites. I will try and add to it daily. Enjoy!

APT Conference-Victoria

2011-10-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

So back in July I was invited to present at the APT Conference in Victoria, B.C. At the time I thought it was impossible to attend. The cost alone was very daunting, not to mention finding someone to watch my kids. But after much discussion we decided it was too good to pass up. So here I go-off to Victoria.

On my way to Port Angeles.

Port Angeles-it has a lot of murals and Twilight fans.

Goodbye United States

The ferry ride was really something else. In general I avoid boats, but since Victoria is on an island I had no choice. I think that the wind was causing the boat to rock around since the water wasn't too rough. I don't think sitting in the bow helped any either.

On Saturday I will be riding on an even smaller boat. That should be interesting.

Hello Victoria!

My hotel and conference location.

The side of the hotel my room actually is on.

Victoria Parliament Buildings.

Full Circle

2011-10-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

An interesting project came my way this past year. I was asked to bid on making 3 casement windows for Fort Yamhill. I had completed work at Fort Dalles the previous year (here is a link to the post about that project) so I thought that working on this fort would be a great addition to my knowledge about Pacific Northwest military outposts. Little did I know how providential that decision would be.

Original frames for the new casements

Once I was on the project I realized that there was a great deal of research that had been done previously. I asked the project manager for copies of this material. Once I received it I noticed that the researcher had labeled some of the documents with the name "Harrington Era". My "maiden" name is Harrington and I did know that some of my relations did settle and live in the area that Fort Yamhill resides in. I was more than a bit intrigued.

After searching through my genealogy records and looking at census records on ancestry.com I found out that my great, great uncle Edward Harrington purchased the remaining Fort Yamhill officer's quarters building in the early 1900s. He was responsible for the drastic remodel that altered the gable roof to the gambrel one you see below (Edward is seen along side his new modern marvel).

Let me tell you it was strange being in the house knowing that my ancestors once inhabited it.

Edward Harrington's house

The bay that I was working in can be seen behind his right shoulder. The two photos below show how the replicated sash look in the bay.

Interior

Exterior

This project has a lot of controversy surrounding it and the project has taught me a lot about different historic preservation theory and methodology.

Yaquina Done

2011-10-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

After 4 weeks of waiting for material, and 8 weeks of assembly Yaquina Head Lighthouse had itself a new door and jamb. Now to install it.

Completed door

Exterior of new door

Installation was fairly basic. After the door was installed I got to work on the arched transom above the entry.

Interior of new door

Some interesting pictures of the interior staircase up to the lens.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

2011-10-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my projects from earlier in the year.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse,

South Elevation

I was contracted by the BLM to provide a new front door for Yaquina Head Lighthouse, not to be confused with Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. The BLM wanted a new door to match the original that had long since disappeared. They had one drawing of what the door looked like and I had some old photos provided to me by one of my Preservation Field School students. Her family was one of the Lighthouse Keepers back in the late 1800s. The Lighthouse was built in 1872.

From the original drawings the size of the door was 7' x 3' at 2 1/4" thick. The BLM wanted the species to be Alaskan Yellow Cedar (AYC); the species of the original could not be determined. Alaskan Yellow-Cedar (C. nootkatensis) is a fine grained softwood actually related to the cypress family . It is very expensive but a dream to work. Because of this fine, tight grain planing and sawing this wood is a wonderful experience. It does have an odor and some people are allergic to it but it is very durable in wet environments.

Planing AYC

Applying decorative chamfer

The assembly process for the door was intense due to the massive size of all the elements. The photo below is of the D-8 rip saw cutting the tenons in the bottom rail. That bottom rail is 1' in height. Since the drawing I had did not give any construction details I used Fred T. Hodgson's book Modern Carpentry, published in 1906 as a guide.

Ripping tenons

Assembling bottom rail and side stile

One of the biggest things that I fretted about was making the drip edge for the bottom of the door. This piece was very clear in the original drawing, I just had to figure out how to do it. It turned out to only take about 15 minutes to plane and fairly easy to install.

Start of planing drip edge

End result-ready to install

The dado for the drip edge

Seems like a great detail. I'll see how it holds up down on the coast.

The Summit on PreservationNation Blog

2011-08-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

Check out this blog post by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is a start to the widespread exposure that we at the Summit want to see for the push to save historic windows. The mentality of disposability in this country can not continue.

Pine Mountain, Kentucky

2011-08-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

It is hard to write a post after such a long absence. But I wanted to put up some things about my trip to Pine Mountain, Kentucky. Not too many pics, I was kept pretty busy.

Chapel at Pine Mountain Settlement School

I left Portland, OR on Sunday July 24th. I took the redeye to Phoenix and then had a connector flight to Charleston and then onto Knoxville. We ran into a huge thunderstorm in Phoenix and my plane was diverted to Las Vegas. I missed my connector by 3 hours. So I slept in the Phoenix airport since the soonest flight to the East Coast was not until noon the next day. I was cursing Sky Harbor Airport by the end of it. More bad storms caused my flight into Philadelphia to be a bit late therefore I was running hard to meet my little puddle-jumper plane to Knoxville. I finally rolled into my final destination at midnight (Knoxville time) but it felt like only 9:00 so I got into my rental car and drove north toward Kentucky. It didn't take me long to realize that I needed to pull off and get a hotel room; fog was moving in.

After 2 hours sleep and a shower I was off again. Through the morning light I made my way up to the Cumberland Gap. I was very excited to go through this historic region of the country and it didn't disappoint. I think it was the longest tunnel I have ever been in. I soon turned off the main highway and made my way into the Appalachia country. Lots of coal, even on the side of the road.

I made it to Pine Mountain Settlement School in time for breakfast.

The Summit was fabulous! I met so many great people that I hope I know for a long time to come. I am very excited about the Standards document. We hope to have it out by the end of the year.

Some interesting fungus.

Lots of big moths.

I will not soon forget evenings on the front porch of Big Log, my first fireflies and those terrible biting insects. Thanks to the Founders for setting-up such an amazing event. I feel honored to have been part of it.

Oculus in the New York Times today!

2011-07-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

The New York Times features an article today on window preservation, mentioning the summit I'm attending this week in Kentucky. Here's the link if you'd like to read the article, which, in its conclusion, includes some of my thoughts on why preserving windows is important to the integrity of a structure.

News From The Summit

2011-07-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing difficult about making old windows energy efficient. It is work but we know exactly how to do it." -- Amy McAuley
Testing at the Summit proves it. More on this later...

National Window Preservation Standards

2011-05-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

So the event we have all been waiting for is happening this summer. At the end of July the Window Preservation Summit will be held at the Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky. I have been lucky enough to be invited as an advisor for documentation. It is a real honor to be asked to come and participate.
The website for the event is here. Some of the preliminary standards will be posted in the forum area so that feedback can be gathered from around the country. If you have something to share concerning window preservation standards then feel free to chime in.
One of the most important things that will happen is the energy testing of storm windows and weatherization methods.

Services Available from Oculus

2011-04-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

Since The Greenest Building has been released nationally on PBS stations I have received some inquiries about what kinds of services are offered by Oculus. For U.S. clients I can:

Build sash for pre-industrial structures and ship to anywhere in the nation.
Travel to your project and provide window and door project consultation services.
Provide complete window assessment services.

Please feel free to contact me with further questions about services specific to your project.

The Greenest Building Movie!

2011-01-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

The documentary film that I participated in is having its world premier at the end of January. On January 31 the film will debut at the Gerding Theater. If you are in the Portland area then please consider coming to view this most timely and important piece of work. Here is a link for the tickets.

If you are not in the Portland area don't fret-the film will be screening in the following cities: Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago, and Savannah.
If going to the movies is not your thing then you can also catch the film in April and May on PBS. I will post the exact times and dates when they come available.

Also, the film has a new website so you can also go directly there to find out more information.

I hope everyone gets a chance to see this film. Preservationists need to work hand in hand to tackle this important subject.
Together we are strong, divided we are weak.

Oculus in the News

2010-09-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Oculus was recently interviewed by Preservation Magazine. You can find the article in the September/October issue of Preservation. Here is a link to the magazine's website.

On a similar note, the documentary that I worked on 2 years ago (here is the post) is slated to be released in the spring of 2011. Funding for the project put it off longer than expected. Here is the link to the film website. The exact date will be posted there.

Enjoy.

Ft. Dalles, New Sash and Sill Repair

2010-08-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

One of the openings had a pair of sash that were not original and had been cut down at some point. So after making a new sash plane and a detailed drawing of some of the existing sash I set out to build a pair to replace them. The original sash had a very unique (for Oregon) meeting rail joint, it is a dove-tailed mortise and tenon joint. I ran across this joint last year when I was working on some sash from Iowa, see this previous post.

Here is the mortise for the joint.

This is the pair done and fitted to the opening. The folks at the fort were pleased to see this pair go in as it provides light for the gift shop.

This is the pair next to the existing windows.

The last sash that I had to build was a casement sash that had the same proportions as the pair I just discussed. The opening for this casement is in the office but originally it was the woodshed and privy. The opening was covered by a shutter which has long since disappeared. The fort has some old photos showing the shutter opened. I thought that a casement would be appropriate since it opens in the same direction as the old shutter and the building has casement windows in it already.

Here are some photos of the completed casement.

The casement is the one on the right.

The rotten sill. Once I removed the rot about 2/3 of the sill remained intact. My general rule is at 50% rot then replacement of the element should be considered. In some cases I would argue that even if just the smallest amount original material is sound it should be saved. It depends upon the historical significance of the structure.

The sill repaired with a salvaged beam from Aurora Mills and some epoxy.

Ft. Dalles, Sill Patch

2010-08-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the interesting putty techniques that I ran across during the restoration of the sash.

I also found a lot of glazing rabbet modifications.

The only sill that I found to be rotten was this one on the weather side of the building. Pretty good for a 150 year old building that has been painted only twice in its lifetime. But The Dalles only gets about 14 inches of rain a year (Portland gets around 35-40 inches per year).

Unfortunately the rot went all the way into the beam below the sill.

This is the beam after I cleaned out all the rot.

The D-8 ripping down a salvage beam that Eric donated to the project.

The patch glued and screwed to the existing beam.

The patch hewed down and epoxied.

Ft. Dalles, Round 1

2010-03-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

The first set of sash that I tackled were the 11 upstairs casements. They were fairly simple to remove since they had lift-off hinges and there was really no paint on the exterior to fight with.

The building has only been painted twice since its construction in 1856-7. The first time was when it was first built and then again in 1865. After this point the building was periodically "oiled". With what kind of oil I am not sure of but there is a lot of evidence of it on the first floor sash and glass.

So the result is what you see today. Here is a current photo from a previous post.

This photo shows what kinds of problems that I have run across with these first batch of sash. The first thing I noticed was the variety of glazing putties that had been used over the years. Only one of the types was every painted, the first. Every subsequent re-glaze was not painted and all of it has cracked. Every type also showed how proficient or lack of proficiency the craftsman was at the application.

The second problem that I have run into is that a lot of the muntin tongues have been either worn completely away or have been scalped off so a larger piece of glass can be fit into the opening.

The following two photos shows some of the repairs to the muntin tongues.

This close-up shows the angled glue joint I used when only a partial segment of the muntin was missing. Also the new sections were glued down into a small dado that I made with an 1/8" chisel. I left the new tongues higher than what they should be and once the glue was set-up I then planed them flush with the existing tongues.

These last two photos show the sash done and installed back in their openings. The exterior finish paint has not been applied yet because some decisions have to be made concerning color and whether or not the faux graining will be re-applied.

Diamond Update

2010-03-14T20:24:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the latest photos from my diamond sash project. After doing a couple of them they certainly get a lot easier.

First two fixed sash finished.

The next two I did were these pair of casements. You can see the next project off to the right.

I had some original photos to go from for the design. They are a bit different than the first pair that I made to flank the chimney.

Next Project

2010-02-24T19:54:00.000-08:00

My current project is the Fort Dalles in the Dalles, Oregon. The fort complex was built in the years 1856-57. This location is where the travelers on the Oregon Trail either could choose to float their belongings down the Columbia River to the Willamette Valley or they could go overland. Both routes had their perils. My relations in the 1850's took the overland route which proved to be eventful. The only building left is the Surgeon's Quarters. Quartermaster Captain Jordon and Louis Scholls drew up the plans based upon buildings found in Andrew Jackson Downing"s book, Cottage Residences. More information can be found at this link.

My work will be on the 23 windows in this building, involving two re-builds which entail another custom plane similar to the one I built for my job in Iowa. See this previous post on how I made that plane.

Some interesting things I have discovered about these sash are amazing old glass, hand-cut glazing points, and the original faux exterior paint scheme.

More pictures of these details will be posted soon.

Kirkbride Update

2010-01-31T18:47:00.000-08:00

On January 28th the Salem Historic Landmarks Commission voted to restore rather than replace three facades of windows. The facades face north, west and south and are the windows most visible to the public.

I want to thank everyone who sent in emails or letters. They were much appreciated by those of us hoping to preserve the windows, and made an impact on the Commission. You made the difference.

Save the Kirkbride Windows! Email Action and Hearing

2010-01-26T20:21:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy of the Oregon State Library

The Oregon State Hospital was built in 1883 in Salem, Oregon. The plan for the structure was based upon the philosophy of Dr. Thomas Kirkbride. Here is a link to more information on other Kirkbride buildings around the country.

Last summer when I toured the rehabilitation of the facilities, the plan for the windows in the main older section was to have them restored and interior storms installed. Recently the group in charge of the restoration decided that the windows are not worth saving. They want to remove them and install new windows.

There comes a point when a person has seen enough destruction of irreplaceable building materials that something must be done.

I will be testifying on Thursday at the meeting of the Salem Historic Landmarks Commission to help try and save these beautiful windows.

Here are some detail photos of one of the sash.

Sash made from clear Western Red Cedar

Square-pegged rail and stile joints.

Really the only thing that needs work is new glazing putty.

Construction lines clearly evident.

Wedged muntin tenons.

The meeting is in the City Council Chambers at the Salem City Hall at 5:30 pm on Thursday, January 28th. The meeting is open and public comment is encouraged on this matter. If you are unable to attend but feel strongly about this subject, the Salem Historic Landmarks Commission is accepting comments via email. Here is the address where such comments should be directed, preferably by this Thursday, 1/28:

kfitzgerald@cityofsalem.net

Thanks for your help!

Diamond Details

2010-01-22T21:28:00.000-08:00

Here are some more photos from the process of making the diamond sash.

I used a lot of small samples. I was able to check the mortises with the sample to make sure the angle was correct.

The muntin tenons are about 1/2" in length.

The muntin that intersects the corners does not have the full tenon on it. I didn't want to weaken the main mortise and tenon joint by cutting into it any more than I had to.

A picture looking down the line of mortises.

Fitting in the short muntins.

Everything fitted and sash is ready for the finishing touches.

Preservation Field School 2009

2009-12-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

I have a couple of projects from the summer that I wanted to post about.

The first one being the Preservation Field School workshop at the State Fair. I was invited to be an instructor for this week long event which was held during the Oregon State Fair. Holding the event during fair time made for an interesting format. Thank goodness that the State Historic Preservation Officers were on hand to field questions from the general public.

Window before restoration (2007).

Extensive rot in the sill (2007).

Window after restoration(2007).

The workshop was held at the Poultry Barn. This barn was built in 1921 out of hollow clay tiles covered in stucco. Each of the windows is comprised of an 8' tall fixed sash with a 4' tall arched transom that operates in the hopper style, interior swing. The bottom row of the fixed sash has a Union Jack design incorporating amber glazing. The amber glazing is original to the building and is not manufactured any more. It is thought that the amber shaded the poultry from the sun.

The students practicing their hand sawing skills.

And more practicing.

I had six students which was about the right size for the space that we had. All windows on the West elevation have been restored so for the workshop we chose one of the worst windows on the South side of the building. This window has had extensive repair work done in the past. Due to insufficient funding and/or knowledge the repairs were not the best, it appeared that they used whatever materials they had around the shop.

There was significant failure in the sill and bottom rail which resulted in the fixed sash dropping about 1 1/2".

After removal of the plywood the extent of damage to the Union Jack design became clear.

After the fixed sash was removed the puzzle began. Lots and lots of coping had to be done. Most of the Union Jack design ended up having to be rebuilt. I only had a week with these students and they had varying degrees of experience so most of the time we were trying to get a handle on the Union Jack area. By the end of the week most of the fixed sash had been repaired but that left the main frame and the transom to be fixed by me once the fair was over.

The window finally was completed at the end of October.

The stucco chicken heads go all the way around the building. They are one of the unique features of this building. Another feature is the missing fountain that operated in the center of the building. Unfortunately the fountain was removed and it has disappeared. We have not been able to find any photos of this feature. If anyone out there has any information about this fountain or other fountains in poultry barns please feel free to contact me.

Lots of work yet to be done.

I want to thank Oregon SHPO and the Pacific Northwest Field School for inviting me to teach at this field school. I attended this school many years ago and it was nice to come full circle and teach the next generation of craftspeople.

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

2009-12-07T12:10:00.001-08:00

Here is the assembled sash. All the measurements worked out as I had drawn them. I was really surprised at how much diagonal pressure there was as I put it together.

Onto the next one. I will post more detail photos soon.

"Waxahatchie", part 2

2009-11-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

After the model was made I started in on mortising of the long muntins. All of the mortises are punched at an angle so the layout took a bit of head scratching, but in the end it all came together just like the drawing. Thank God they turned out parallel!

Also, you should know that the interior is stain-grade so I had to take a lot of time making sure the coping on the interior side looks extra good.

Finished muntin, interior

The next step will be to fit the smaller muntins.

What's All This

2009-11-12T08:44:00.001-08:00

Earlier this year I was asked to participate in a film about Historic Preservation and sustainability. The film's website has just gone up with the film's trailer and some clips from the interviews they did. Click here to see the clip. The film is expected to come out in the spring of 2010.

"Waxahatchie"

2009-11-09T18:59:00.001-08:00

About a month ago I was contacted by someone looking to replace his replacement sashes. The sashes he has currently are about 10 years old and most of the insulated glass units have fogged up (seal failure). My client has embarked on a journey to recreate the original sashes that were removed.

His house is a classic Portland bungalow. Here is a link to a discussion about the house and windows on the John Leeke website forum; if anyone is considering removing their original sashes, I recommend taking a look at the discussion. The house was profiled in 1915 in The Craftsman Magazine. My client has a book with the article in it and it says that the house was built by the people that bought the property. For some reason they named the house and property "Waxahatchie".

So I am undertaking the manufacture and installation of some of the diamond pane sash. We have decided to build the two small fixed sashes that flank the chimney.

The first thing I did was to make a detailed scaled drawing of the sash I am building. Unfortunately the two sashes are not exactly the same size, so I will have to make another scaled drawing. The importance of being as precise as possible can not be over emphasized. All the angles for the diamonds are dependent upon this drawing (no original diamond pane sashes remain to use as a template).

Making of the guide sticks. See this previous post for more information on guide sticks. As with the drawing, two sets of guide sticks have to be made since the sashes are not the same size.

Next thing I made to help with the construction were some small template blocks that have all the angles on them for the diamonds. I will use these to cut all the muntin angles.

All pieces cut to length and ready to saw the tenon checks. I usually punch the muntin mortises as well, but I knew they would be angled so I waited on that.

Running the profile edge.

Making the glazing rabbet with the moving fillester.

The rails and stiles are put together.

After this point things get very interesting.

With all the angles to deal with I decided to make a little mock-up to see how things would go together and it also helped me cut the angled mortises for the muntins.

More to come soon on this project.

Traveling

2009-10-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I built 8 pairs of sash, glazed and painted them 4 times in 4 weeks. Granted, I was working every day for about 15-16 hours. Ah...one of the many joys of owning your own business.

After the truck was loaded I set out on my epic adventure.

Day 1

Leaving Portland in the early morning for my first stop, Baker City. My hometown.

One word of note, the pictures in this post were taken out of a car window moving at between 65-80 mph. Not the best.

Day 2-Leaving Baker City on a lovely morning. No clouds and all sun which would come back and bite me later in the day as I crossed into Utah sweating buckets.

Entering Idaho.

Beyond this point there be dragons. Boise is the farthest east I had ever driven until this point.

Welcome to Utah. Hot!!

I spent the second night in Salt Lake City with some excellent friends. Good food, good company and Tour de France on Tivo.

This photo is for you, Grandma. Amazing building.

Day 3-After my poor 15 yr. old, 4 cylinder truck struggled to make it up and out of Parley's Canyon, we made it into Wyoming.

And then onto Nebraska. Which turned out to be my favorite state. I really liked the flat grassland and the wild weather.

So innocent looking off in the distance.

But later in the day it took on a more menacing look.

I was going to stop in North Platte which is in the panhandle of Nebraska but these dark clouds pushed me to go up the road to Grand Island. When I got into my hotel room and turned on the television there were all sorts of tornado warnings and watches for the panhandle area. I was glad that I had moved on.

Day 4- Early morning Nebraska farmland.

Finally, the destination. It is so small.

The first pair installed. What a moment.

The rest of them went in and then it was all over. I was finished onsite by early afternoon. Then what did I do? I went to downtown Atlantic, IA

Nice little factoid.

Short and to the point.

Day 5-Downtown Oakland. A town nearby on the way back to the freeway.

Abandoned church in Nebraska.

I drove on Day 5 from Atlantic, IA to Cheyenne, WY. It was a long day.

Day 6 was a short day into Salt Lake City. Just in time for Pioneer Day.

Day 7 was Salt Lake City to Baker City and finally on Day 8 I made it back to Portland.

I had a lot of fun traveling out to Iowa. It won't be soon forgotten.

Building Sash

2009-10-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

The big pile of material waiting for the building of the sash to commence. The material is separated out for each pair of sash. I relied heavily upon Roy Underhill's book Working With Wedge and Edge for the proper sequence of cuts and other tips for making sash by hand. I recommend if you undertake this sort of project to get his book because the sequencing is very different from using power tools to do the work.

The sticking board. Crucial jig if you need to make thin muntin bars.

Using the sticking board with the new plane. Works like a dream. Thank goodness!

All mortices are chopped and the tenon checks are cut before any planes are used on the material. After these two operations are completed then I cut the glazing rabbet first and then the molded edge.

Another tip from Roy's book was the use of guide sticks. They are scrap pieces of wood that I marked out where the mortices and tenons started and stopped. I ended up having to make two sets of guide sticks because I had two different sizes of openings.

Final Steps

2009-08-03T21:30:00.001-07:00

The final steps for the plane are cutting the throat, fine tuning the iron, and making the wedge.

In this photo you can see the float in use to finalize the throat. The throat was carefully cut with a chisel.

Shown here are the template plane wedge (top) and the wedge blank for the new plane.

This is the wedge's finial.

Here you see the finished plane.

The finished new plane next to the sample plane.

Side-view of the finished plane.

Cutting the Sole

2009-08-03T21:06:00.001-07:00

In keeping with the hand-built nature of this project I decided to cut the majority of the sole waste with my rip back saw.

The photo above shows the first two cuts I made along the profile (shown in pencil).

In this shot you can see that half of the waste has been removed and the cut has been made to allow the removal of the second half.

This photo shows the majority of the waste removed. At this point I used the scraper to finalize the shape of the profile.

Making the Plane, part 2

2009-07-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

The block for the body was cut out of 2" thick beech. When looking for material I was seduced by some lovely grain and forgot that the grain should be parallel to the sole of the plane. It is the most important factor when looking at material for your planes. When the grain is parallel to the sole there is less likelihood of any movement in the wood which might affect the operation of the plane.
Before I cut the sole of the plane I made a scraper that matched exactly the profile I wanted. According to a chapter in this Garrett Hack book, the final shaping of the sole could be made with a scraper blade. I wanted to use a nice clean new scraper blade but I found that it was too hard to shape. Instead, I used an old plane blade donated by my friend Justin.

Making The Plane, part 1

2009-06-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

So, the first step in making my plane was to do some research. I have a couple of sash planes that I use often. I looked at these planes first and did a detailed drawing of the better looking plane.

After reading a couple of texts on the subject I knew that I had to either make or purchase a float. The floats at Lie-Nielsen are quite nice but a little pricey for me.

I decided to make my own. I went out looking for steel. I needed something that was soft enough for me to file but would also hold enough of an edge to file wood. After running into some dead ends someone at Winks Hardware said I should try key stock. For about a $1 I got a 1/4" square piece of metal. I was a bit skeptical at first.

I filed about half a dozen ridges in it like what I had seen in some books. It was extremely easy to file.

Here is what it looked like after a few ridges were filed in it. It works wood brilliantly and I have used it for other tasks since I made it. I am very pleased with how it functions.

The next thing I made was the pitchboard. It was a fairly simple template that marks out the cuts that need to be made for the escapement area.

Iowa or Bust

2009-06-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

photo courtesy of S. Licht, architect

A unique project has come my way. I was asked back in December if I would like to build some sash for a project in southwest Iowa. The structure is a ferry building that was a part of the Underground Railroad network. The date that the building was constructed was 1850.

We finalized the paperwork in April and I got started right away.

A couple of challenges that I faced were making a sash plane, and working with a material that I rarely work with (Southern Yellow Pine). I'll dedicate future posts to the making of the sash plane as well as the journey of the sashes from their first stages to their installation in Iowa.

Coquille Lighthouse

2009-06-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the finish of the Coquille Lighthouse project.

Due to some unique challenges I decided to make the sash by hand myself. I had a lot of fun doing it and am looking forward to my next sash building project. I would like to thank my friends at Creative Woodworking for providing me with some excellent Alaskan Yellow Cedar.

Making the glass rabbet with the moving fillester.

The tenon for the bottom rail.

Intersection of the muntin bar and bottom rail.

Exterior finished.

Interior finished.

Shavings, shavings and more shavings

2009-04-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

I thought this made for a neat picture. These shavings were made with a dado plane. I was preparing some material for the Coquille Lighthouse project discussed in the previous post.

I originally started out using my power router to make these dados, but I couldn't stand the racket and dust it made. I guess I have completely converted to a non-power tool business.

No, this isn't Forks, WA.

2009-04-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

Somewhere out there is one of my projects. When they forecast drizzle for the coast they really mean drenching shower with tiny droplets.

Here is the project on a sunny day.

This is the Coquille River Lighthouse located at the beautiful Bullards Beach State Park.

I am currently installing a replica window on the other side of the lighthouse. There is no original fabric left from the windows. The Army Corp of Engineers installed large wooden frames and glass in the openings in 1976. Before this time the building was abandoned and left to the elements which led to the loss of the original windows. I am working from an architect's drawings which were taken from the original architect's work. Also there are quite a few old photos documenting the history of the lighthouse.

Here is the D-8 cutting the sill to fit. It turned out to be a pretty complicated sill due to the addition of some concrete by the Corp in the 1970s. The sill material is Alaskan Yellow Cedar. It took me a little time to get used to the smell of it.

You can see all the complicated angles from this scrap. The sill is purposefully left off the stucco in front, backer rod and a flexible sealant will be used to finish it off at the end. And the flashing has yet to be installed either.

This sill was expertly milled by Creative Woodworking. These guys are awesome. They always come up with a solution no matter what weird thing I bring to them.

This was the amazing moon set I saw on my last morning there.

The project is about finished so more photos will be posted when it is complete.

How Did I Ever Live Without This?

2009-03-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

I won this moving fillester on ebay recently and have wondered how I ever did my work without it. It makes the most perfect glazing rabbet. Besides the replaced knicker the tool is immaculate and works like a dream. I would definitely buy from this seller again. The photos and description were spot on.

"Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenter"

2009-03-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

The historian and my neighbor Richard Engeman sent this gem of a motto to me after he looked at this blog. I am now quite fond of it. It reminds me of my Great Grandfather, Mr Lehr (in the center of photo below). He was a carpenter in Indiana at the beginning of the 20th c. I can picture him raising up the roofbeams on the buildings he constructed. He made violins in his spare time. I believe that 16 of them survive, scattered around the family. I am the keeper of one of his last ones.

The second photo is of my Great Grandma Daisy (other side of the family). She raised three kids in Kansas during the Dust Bowl, and then divorced her husband in the late 30's and came West. I will never forget her spirit, determination, and her fortitude.

When Does Bathroom Graffiti Become Historic?

2009-03-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

In this case it is the 1940s. A couple of weeks back I was working on two complete (sash and frame) windows from a CCC log restroom for the Emigrant Springs Heritage Area. The restroom has been converted into a storage unit for the park.

During the restoration process I discovered some signatures on one of the bottom rails. After some discussions with the state historic preservation office we decided that it would be best not to paint over it. A clear coat was put over it instead.

I never think that all those scratches and scribbles you see in public restrooms could someday be considered historic.

Finished interior

Finished exterior

Adventures of the D-8 Rip Saw

2009-03-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I finally found the rip saw of my dreams, a D-8 pistol grip Disston rip saw. The beauty was on display at Rejuvenation Hardware in the salvage department. The "salvage guys" and myself crowded around the object like buzzards to a carcass. After I mulled it over for awhile I decided I would not find a better rip saw and purchased it for a more than a fair price. One of the Rejuvenation employees was especially saddened to see the saw go. He had had his eye on it since its arrival.

Since then I have been keeping my salvage friends up to date with the adventures of this saw. One of the first projects that I used it on was the church in Golden. Here is a shot of the saw ripping a new sill to width.

Cutting in Golden's graveyard.

A picture of the installed sill can be found at this previous post.

The next project that showcased the saw was for Shore Acres State Park. This park is one of the most beautiful places in all of Oregon. I have been working on the Gardener's House windows since last year. The house is missing two small closet sash. I had two identical sash to use as examples.

Here is a photo showing the cutting of the 2 bottom rails.

And the finished sash along side one of the originals.

I will be posting more saw adventures with the D-8 in the future.

Golden, Oregon

2009-02-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

Golden Church

The ghost town of Golden was founded in the 1860s in a small valley in southern Oregon. The remaining buildings are now part of a state park and National Historic District . I was contracted to restore 4 pairs of double hung windows and build one bottom sash from scratch for the church.

One topic of debate was whether or not to paint the windows once completed. The building was originally painted white, but the siding is currently unpainted. I considered painting the windows a brownish gray color to blend with the current siding but still preserve the window; I had some reservations concerning the longevity of the new glazing putty if it was left unpainted. After much consultation with our State Historic Preservation Office and an Architectural Consultant, we decided that the windows should be left unpainted and let the repairs weather.We will monitor how the glazing putty performed over time.

Repaired window with new sill

About Oculus

2009-02-25T19:35:00.000-08:00

Poultry Barn Window, Oregon State Fairground

Oculus Fine Carpentry, Inc. was formed in 2002 with the intention of providing quality craftsmanship to the restoration of historic windows and doors. Within the last few years I have devoted most of my time to learning and using traditional tools and techniques to make the repairs. Along with the continuing restoration work I am now specializing in building window sash by hand.