blue tape...

I learned a trick from one of our teachers at ESSA, Steve Palmer, from St. Louis. It's to put blue masking tape along the joints where wood is being glued together to form a table top. You put the tape down extending beyond the edge, then use a knife to trim the tape flush. Then when the boards are glued tight, the excess glue is squeezed out onto the tape rather than onto the wood so it can be easily peeled away rather than scraped or sanded.

I am preparing eight partial coopered columns at a 26 in. radius to form parts of a table base, and while I'm less concerned with glue squeezing out on the outside of the column where it can be easily sanded off, the inside coopered shape will present greater difficulty. So Steve's technique will make my finish work less difficult.

The coopered columns are to be formed from 8 coopered parts, forming an inside and outside radius as shown in the photo. Side strips will be added, making 4 hollow coopered forms each only a fraction of a compete circle. The forms will be connected together with a central beam giving stability to the table, The curvature of the base units will also stabilize the top, preventing movement.

When the coopered base units have been glued together (a process relying on lots of clear plastic tape) they will be textured to give a hand carved resemblance to the surface of wood after the bark has been removed.

In the photo, the blue tape is being used to simply hold parts together while I work out the details and dimensions of additional parts.

This is the last day of spring break and classes resume at the Clear Spring School on Monday. I'm grateful to have had some  extra time to spend in the shop.

Make, fix and create. Increase the odds that others have a chance to learn likewise.