This weekend I bent some wood ヾ(。◕ฺ∀◕ฺ)ノ
I like the Japanese tea ceremony a lot and while I laid very low during my studies I’m now slowly warming up my passion for it and right now I do have a Chawan (the tea bowl :) a Chasen (the tea whisk :) and very good Matcha (it was a gift by a friend of mine whose mother is a team ceremony teacher for Geiko and Maiko :) All I’m missing is a Chakin (a piece of white linen cloth which I substitute with paper towel right now (^-^;) and a Chashaku (a kind of tea measuring spoon thingy :) I had some small pieces of beech left over and some pieces of bamboo so I thought about trying to make myself a Chashaku :) The method that inevitable comes to mind for making a curved shape is steam bending and since the pieces don’t need to be too big my rice cookers steaming compartment was the first thing that came to mind when I was thinking about how to steam the wood :)
Since I don’t have a microwave I used the opportunity to heat my food at the same time :D
I tried 2 different kinds of bending jigs but the one that worked the best was the one that just provided a surface to lay the wood on to :) I had to steam the wood for at least 4 hours and had about 5 seconds to bend it and apply the clamps or the wood started cracking but I ended up with 4 good pieces so far :)
I used fir for the bending jigs because it moves very little when it comes in contact with moisture and is plenty strong enough for this application and I intend using them on bamboo next :) I left them thicker and wider than they need to be to have some wiggle room in case the bend is not perpendicular or in case of cracks :) It was a lot of fun to make these :3 Although I kind of disliked raising the air humidity in my flat to 75% (my flat is not that big)...
In about 3 days I’ll start shaping them :) I want to let them dry a bit more to make sure they won't move too much when they are done :)
I work on too many things now (^-^;)
Anyway it is fun and I’m doing this because I like it not because I have to or because I depend on it :D
Tomorrow I’ll start working on my new job so maybe I’ll be a little too tired to do too much besides going swimming (^-^;) <=I swim about 3 times a week for at least an hour :) I’m not the best swimmer but I enjoy it :) Before I started studying I went cycling a lot so I guess I’m kind of an athletic person :D Although I can understand anyone who says it is not the right thing for them :)
I’m curious what this job will be like but my employer (it is a different company from the one I’m working for (work leasing) :) is quite nice so far :)
Next I want to finally finish the paper towel holder I started building not too long ago (^-^;) I didn’t continue working on it because I felt frustrated with not being able to afford sending it to my friend in Japan (-_-) Now I feel happy because at the end of this month I’ll be able to send it to her :) I’m a little worried about one of the other projects I was working on thought because my leaking radiator doused it in water and it swelled up a lot and I’m not sure it will later on (>_<;) I just hope it will because I spent quite some time getting it just right and finish planing the surface :)
I have many projects that I’m working on (^-^;) Maybe not the best thing but it is nice to never having to worry about getting bored because I have the right project for every mood now :)
I wish everyone a great new week with sweet dreams and that you won’t feel bored (^-^)/