Mathematical analysis has been showing some odd outcomes in the Iranian election results. There have been a few posts on this already so I thought I’d try out the analysis for myself.

In a truly random distribution, you would expect to see each of the digits 0 – 9 to appear 10% of the time. When the numbers are manufactured (i.e. by a human) they usually do not meet this equal distribution. Here’s why … humans are awful at picking random numbers. We tend to pick numbers like 7 more often than numbers like 2, 4 & 5. Marketers use this to their advantage. Ever seen a headlines like “7 reasons why…”, “7 ways you can…”, etc.? The number 7 makes us feel that there must be some true reasoning or analysis behind the statement. A headline starting with “10 reasons why…” just isn’t as convincing. It doesn’t feel random enough to most humans.

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Finished Hall Table

Last Saturday was our last day on the course and we spent it giving out tables the final touches. It was most fun, especially getting to run a sander over oil and have it splash all over my t-shirt.

All in all, I’m very happy with the way it turned out. I’ve still got some finishing and waxing to do and need to actually make the inside of the draw and attach the top to the base, but aside from all those bits and pieces, it’s done!

Want some more information on this?

• Woodworking Courses at Ideal Tools
• Work in progress photos on my Flickr stream
• Work in progress discussion on the Woodworking Forums

Lots of progress in the last few weeks. The main one was a significant design change. Instead of the “fans” on the side, I decided to add a curved stretcher at the bottom. This compliments the slender lines of the legs better than a “fan” type thing on the side would.

Here’s Anthony helping to route a curve on a piece of ply for me. This will become the template I use to cut the Jarrah. By doing it this way, I can recreate the exact same piece multiple times (I need 2 for this hall table).

Routing the curve

In between the two curved pieces, I made a number of “tenons” to fit between them. All in all I made at least 18, 9 of which were too narrow, the other 9 of which I only used 5! It took me a few hours to get the size right and chamfer the ends to they’re fit into the rounded holes. It’s not a job I want to do again soon.

I then laid out all the pieces in an organised manner, placed my clamps nearby ready to slot into place and yelled out for some help. The glue up is stressful. So many pieces needed to come together perfectly all at the same time and it wasn’t something I could do with only two hands.

Finally it came together, and here’s the current result.

Glue up

Next on the list:

• Making the draw and draw handle
• Making the top and attaching it
• Finishing the piece with oil

I’m a few weeks into my first woorkworking course at Ideal Tools and thoroughly enjoing the experience. Most of my updates on this are on the wood working forum and on my Flickr account, but I thought I’d post a summary of my work here.

I started with rough lumber and dressed it to size with the jointer and thicknesser. This was good learning for me as I have read about this many many times, but haven’t done much of it myself. I ended up with four nicely square legs and the rails for the front, back and sides.

Dressed legs

Making the draw front was interesting. The piece has a rectangular hole cut out of the front rail. I was wondering how we would do this so perfectly, but learnt I learnt the trick. I ripped the front rail into three pieces with the centre one the height of the draw front. I then cut out the draw piece and glued it all back together. The end result … it looks like I’ve cut out a perfectly rectangular slot for the draw.

Draw cutout

Moving ahead a few steps … after putting an inside taper on the legs, finessing all the pieces, and making the mortises with the Festool Domino (I want one!), I was ready for my first dry fit. The result? Pretty impressive if I say so myself. I was very very happy to see it come together so nicely.

Dry fit #1

Still lots more to do:

• Bottom rail
• “Fans” for the side
• Bottom shelf
• Top
• Draw & draw handle
• Finishing

Shokunin -noun Craftsman, artisan.

I’ve been reading Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit, and Use and this has caused me to start thinking about the connection we have to the tools we use to live out lives. This post is a little jotting down of my current thoughts on the topic.

The author, Toshio Odate explains that a simple definition of the shokunin cannot express the deeper meaning of the word. The shokunin is much more than a exemplary artisan. Odate describes it as follows:

The Japanese apprentice is taught that shokunin means not only having technical skill, but also implies an attitude and social consciousness. [...] The shokunin demonstrates knowledge of tools and skill with them, the ability to create beauty and the capacity to work with incredible speed. The value of an object is dependent on a subtle combination of skill and speed [...] In short, the pride of the shokunin is the simultaneous achievement of skill and speed. One without the other is not shokunin.

Reading this book, I am slowly learning about the shokunin and the way they conduct themselves and their work. In light of this, as I reflect on my own work, I find it quite lacking in many areas. One of these is the connection we have with our tools.

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Ever wanted to change banks but then ditched the idea because it was too hard? When you change banks, you need to change a heap of other things too. Where your salary gets deposited, scheduled transfers, direct debits and loan payment to name a few.

Why couldn’t this be just as easy as porting your mobile number to another carrier? Joshua Gans has explored the “switching cost” of changing banks on his blog before and more recently. After thinking about how bank account numbers work, I landed on what might be a simpler solution. Simpler in theory but the challenge is to get the banks to implement it.

Firstly, let’s try to understand what these account numbers mean …

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A few weeks ago I wrote about the auction where I purchased some old English Elm. I’ve now had a chance to work with some of it and I can happily say that it’s really nice wood to work with.

Many of the slabs unfortunately weren’t dried properly so they have some splits and checking on the surface. This means that it’s difficult to find wide pieces to work with or pieces for finer wood working. For the stuff that I intend to make however, it’s still damned fine enough!

Long English Elm Bench

Over the last month I’ve been busy putting together my first piece from this stack. A long bench. It was also my first commission (unpaid, requested by my wife, but I think it still counts!) You can see my progress here on Flickr. I apologise for the poor picture quality. I should have my real camera back in a week so should be able to take some better quality pictures from here on.

It was also a new experience in finishing. I’ve been using Shellac mostly but this time I went with polyurethane instead. The final concoction was:

1. Sanding sealer (1 part dewaxed white shellac : 5 parts methylated spirits)
2. 4 coats of Minwax wipe-on Polyurethane
3. 1 coat of Ubeaut EEE (a kind of cut & polish)
4. 1 coat of Wax

I absolutely love the end result. It’s durable and shows off a lot of the grain features in the piece. Definitely a process I will use again.

Next on my list is (in no particular order):

• A few smaller benches from the English Elm
• Coffee table from the English Elm
• Coffee table (Huon Pine & Blackbutt)
• Coffee table (Sassafras)
• And I’ll try my hand at a few small boxes

This reuters article about Facebook and YouTube at work making employees more productive has been doing the rounds lately. After reading the article, various blog posts, being in a “feedback” style meeting yesterday and then listening to a This Week In Tech episode that mentioned it (albeit only briefly towards the end), a number of threads began falling into place for me.

For me, this issue is more about the duality between your work and non-work self rather than what technologies you’re allowed to use at work. Let’s explore this using two examples …

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English Elm at an Auction

A few weeks ago I participated in my first timber auction. I came back with two large trunks of an English Elm tree. This wasn’t just any ordinary tree either …

These trees were cut down from outside the MCG in 2001 to make way for the new stand they were building. Instead of turning these old trees into woodchips for mulch (which is what was going to happen), a few thoughtfull “woodies” arrange to take the trees, slab them and dry them over a few years before selling them to fellow woodies. I think this is a great result for trees that were otherwise destined for woodchips.

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In doing my bit to save the economy, I’m planning to spend a some money. Firstly I have to pay off some long standing debts. With what’s left, Emma will go shoe shopping and I’ll spend some tool shopping.

First up on my major purchase list is a table saw. I’m finding it difficult to select a table saw when I’ve never used one before. Even more difficult given the competing advice on various forums. So to help me focus, I started with a list of basic requirements. Aside from the usual “non Chinese built” requirements, here is a brief list of what I’m looking for:

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