Creative Woodworks & crafts-103-2004-Holiday, страница 29

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A few of Ira's favorite things

For blades, Ira prefers the on-line platinum blades from Seyco. He likes how they track and they seem to last about twice as long as standard reverse-tooth blades. The No. 5 blade is the one he uses most, but he also uses the No. 3. While they cost more than some other blades, Ira feels he gets his money's worth.

Ira also prefers a low-gloss, oil-based lacquer finish in a spray can; this makes it easier to get into tight places, as well as inside small cutouts. He likes the fast-drying quality of lacquer, and prefers several small coats to one heavy coat, which often causes runs.

As far as his favorite tool goes, he really appreciates his Scnco 23-gauge micro-pinner, which is basically an air compressor-operated nail gun. The pins arc twenty-five thousandths of an inch, which is slightly smaller than 1/32", and are 1/2" to I" long. He finds these pins to be ideal for assembling brackets and other small pieces to a fretwork project. Ira applies a small amount of glue to a bracket, fits it in place, and then pins it, thus eliminating the need to clamp fragile parts together.

Visiting Ira in Puerto Rico

We (the Wilckens family) recently visited ha at his lovely second home in Vieques, Puerto Rico. As with his Providence home, his home in Vieques is akin to a fretwork museum, bursting at the seams with a wide array of projects ranging from the simple to the sublime. We arrived to a flurry of activity, as final preparations were being made for his birthday party, which we felt fortunate to share with him, his family, and several of his island friends.

One of Ira's favorite projects on display here is the Edgewater Clock by Dirk Boelman, which is shown in Fig. 10. There are so many wonderful projects in Ira's Vieques home that we cannot possibly name and show them all; most of them derive from Wilckens Woodworking, Wildwood Designs, and The .Art Factory (Dirk Boelman). However, we would be remiss not to show at least a few. One of the many clocks adorning the walls here is the lovely Lacy Swiss Clock, by Wildwood Designs (see Fig. 11). Ray and Betty Wilckens awoke each morning in the guest bedroom to see a stunning version of Dirk Boelman's Millennium Chest (see Fig. 12) as well as the original prototype of the Tower of Time, which stands 9-1/2' tall (see Fig. 13). Another delightful project on display is the beautiful Church Clock (source unknown) shown in Fig. 14. Dan was particularly impressed with this one. Finally, one of the many projects that filled Ira and Lucille's bedroom was a large, magnificent fretwork box; this is the same box that is designed to sit beneath the Tower of Time clock (see Fig. 15).

Fig. 3. Ira uses many shop-built tools and assembly jigs; note the shop-built panel saw "hiding" behind the band saw.

Fig. 9. More of Ira's machine tools and storage areas for various hand tools.

projects, on display here, is the Edgewater Clock by Dirk Boelman.

many clocks adorning the walls here is the lovely Lacy Swiss Clock, by Wildwood Designs.