Revamped website

[Sgian Dubh]

About two and a half months ago I decided it was time to learn how to build a website. The reason for this was because my website had been essentially moribund for about two years.

I've had a website for nine or ten years but never knew how to build or maintain it so I have always relied on someone else to do the job for me and edit content, etc. I could never get any website jockey to build exactly what I wanted, and it was always difficult to organise and institute changes to the content. I basically gave up the struggle of maintaining an active website.

The obvious solution was to learn how to do the job myself, so I did. I found a website building programme, Kompozer, and just started hammering away at it, and with a little help from a website savvy friend worked out what to do.

The result is here, www.richardjonesfurniture.com There are still many items to put into templates and upload to this new site, but even now there is a fair bit of stuff for people to go and browse through. I will add more of my furniture a bit at a time; but probably of greater interest to most visitors that find the website via a woodworking forum such as this one is that I'll add more woodworking articles, links, and other content as and when I can.

For me, the biggest gain is the ability to change things on a whim, or even a need, and I really enjoy being able to do that. If you visit, I hope you find something of interest. Slainte.

[paulchapman]

Great stuff with lots of useful information. Thanks for posting the link, Richard.

Cheers

Paul

[smudger]

Really good - I've enjoyed a quick read through, I'll come back for more later!

Is St Giles' Church the Greyfriars Bobby church?

[Sgian Dubh]

No, St. Giles' Cathedral is near the top of the High Street just down the hill from where The Mound and George IV Bridge cross Lawnmarket. Greyfriars Kirk is only about 400 yards south from the cathedral where Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge intersect. I've spent far too many nights over the years in Greyfriars Bobby getting blootered, and it was never a bar I drank in regularly, ha, ha.

I'm glad you like the website. Slainte.

[jaco]

Very nice site, will go and have a better look later on.

[chippy]

Very nice site and some wonderful pieces of furniture to see.

I liked the article about Microwave Oven Drying, I've only used guesswork and gut feel in the past, but this is much more scientific/reliable and I shall use that method from now on.

[Sgian Dubh]

Dec 21, 2008 0:44:09 GMT @chippy said:

... Microwave Oven Drying... I shall use that method from now on.

Is that necessary for most of your work chippy? Wouldn't a pinless or standard pin meter do for most of the jobs you work on? Oven drying to test for moisture content is essential for kiln operators and for timber technologists; it is also useful as teaching aid for learners.

I'm not convinced it is needed every time prior to making furniture and joinery. I mean, as long as you know the wood is somewhere between about 7% and 12% MC then you are surely in pretty good shape to use it for a piece of indoor furniture. If the wood is somewhere between about 14% and 22% Mc, then it is in good shape for use for exterior furniture that is mostly sheltered from the worst of the weather. I am of course referring here to typical exterior conditions in the UK, and not in places like Arizona. Slainte.

[chippy]

Is that necessary for most of your work chippy?

Not for most of it, as I spend the majority of my time on building work. So 90% of the time I dont need to be attentive to moisture content.

I have a pin meter but its readout seems to vary with the temperature of the wood. The reading also changes depending on which angle to the grain I plant the pins. So Ive never really trusted it. I make hardwood kitchen doors from oak, which I store in the shed and bring inside about a week before I work with it. Over many years I seem to have developed a sense of the right/wrong time to put blade to timber.

So I like the prospect of doing a few experiments to see how good my judgement really is. (I could also buy a new meter).

[Sgian Dubh]

Dec 21, 2008 22:02:01 GMT @chippy said:

I have a pin meter but its readout seems to vary with the temperature of the wood. The reading also changes depending on which angle to the grain I plant the pins. So Ive never really trusted it.

Use your pin meter with the pins aligned with the long grain direction. Unless the instructions say otherwise this is the way all the pin meters I have used are meant to be inserted into the wood-- the instruction manual has always told me that.

All pin meters are affected by the temperature of the wood and of the atmosphere. Good pin meters come with a chart to adjust your reading according to the temperature.

You also should match the pin length used to the thickness of the wood you are testing. Most planks of wood have a moisture gradient. For example, the moisture content at the core of a 1" thick plank might be, let's say, 10%; at the shell the MC could be 12%. The moisture gradient diminishes from 12% to 10% with 11% being the median reading found approximately 1/4 of the way into the plank's thickness-- that means 1/4" in from each face.

Side Note. The only way a plank of wood has no moisture gradient is if it has been stored in unvaried relative humidity conditions for a long time, ie, long enough for the plank to reach equilibrium moisture content. Wood seldom experiences such stable conditions except in quite rare circumstances, eg, some museums, specialist storage facilites, and in scientific experiments.

To find the median reading of a plank's MC you need the pins of your moisture meter to read 1/4 of the way into the thickness of the plank-- this means that to read the MC of a 1" thick plank you should use a pin meter with 1/4" long pins fitted, and drive them in all the way before you take your reading.

To get a good median reading of a 2" thick plank use pins 1/2" long and drive them all the way in.

In each case you need to make adjustments to the reading you get by using the chart to compensate for air and wood temperature.

The accuracy of pinless meters are similarly constrained by the depth of field that their signals are pre-programmed to emit.

Even with the descriptions given here, it is true to say that an even moisture gradient througout the thickness, width and length of a plank is not guaranteed. For example, a plank polished on one side and not on the other is likely to have a moisture gradient that is skewed. Slainte.