Classwork

Right now we are passing through the spring break time of the semester.  Had my week off from one college last week, and the other school will be off next week.  And my Belmar woodcut class had off last weekend as well, but that's not so much about college schedules as the complications of finding open spots in the schedule of a very busy building.  We'll be back to class this coming weekend, which means I have some homework to finish.  I have six students, mostly new, and last time everyone took home a piece of wood to draw on.  They mostly decided to go with relatively small pieces, about 6 inches square.  Although I never use one myself, many woodcutters like using a bench hook while cutting their blocks, especially small blocks.  It can be used to hold the block in place, which frees both hands for controlling the tool, and takes away the need to use a hand to hold it in place, a hand that can be in a dangerous place for those new to tools.  I made two of them when I first taught the class, and two larger ones (shown above) in 2012.   Some students find them so useful that they have made their own to use at home.  I still have my four, but the two larger ones may be a little too large to work with these small blocks everyone took home, so I decided to make a couple of short ones before everyone is cutting in class next week.  Nothing about the process is difficult, but it's been stretching out over the week around my busy schedule.

The two new ones will use the same kind of base as the ones above, an old board from my grandfather's basement supply (one that had been stored above the flood zone), painted with some kind of gray primer many many years ago.  Picked it up while at my parents' house a few days ago and threw it in the back of my car.  Yesterday, when my class was over and I had this large woodshop classroom to myself, I cut the board to make two small bases.  (Even though the room was filled with all kinds of power saws, they're all hooked to a master switch behind a locked door, so I brought in my trusty saber saw from the car.  Took advantage of the nice big work tables to work on and all the brooms and dustpans to clean up).  Step three came today.  Stopped in Belmar to take care of some business, and walked a few blocks to the hardware store to pick up some screws.  (I may have had some the right size, but with everything piled up in the Studio post flood, it may be a while before I find them)  While still on foot I investigated two possible sources for a St Joseph's Day zeppole, but one place was sold out, and the other didn't know what I was talking about.  Then drove up to the Studio.  Didn't have the camera with me today, but a lot of work had been done since last week.  The old wood cabinet had been removed and disposed of, clearing eventual space for the flat files, but getting them in place will wait until some repainting is done along that back wall.  A lot of old stuff that Molly had along that back wall was gone too.  Also missing was a large box of mine that contained oversized pieces of mat board and foam core, to be used for someday framing the full size version of my smoking print.   Herb claimed that Molly had told him it was garbage, but luckily he thought they were too good to throw away and stashed them away.  A little dog eared in the corners, but still salvageable for my purpose.  Still not a lot of room to work in there, but I did bring out the mitre saw that got a lot of use in the table project, and used it to cut up some of my old stretcher bars into the pieces that will be the hooks in the bench hooks, half with mitre angles, half just straight pieces, so the units will have both options.  Also managed to locate my drills and clamps under the stuff piled on my table.  No work surfaces are yet available within reach of an outlet, and the extensions cords are either hidden or were disposed, so the next step will have to wait for a few days.

Anyway, you're probably tired of hearing about bench hooks and want me to get back to the holiday food.  By the time I got back from the Studio, all the regular bakeries would be closed, so I stopped at the supermarket across the street from my apartment before going home.  I knew they sometimes carried them, and I was in luck- a bakery worker was just putting out some packaged freshly filled pastries. Studio Arrabbiata likes to maintain the holiday tradition.  At home I made dinner, a big plate of perciatelli with a bolognese style sauce (family recipe, directly from the old country), and in the evening enjoyed one of my treats (sold only as a twin pack) for dessert.