Carl Joseph — Carl Joseph

Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)

February 8, 2012 By Carl Joseph Leave a Comment

I haven’t updated here in a while so thought it was about time. Summer is here in Australia which means more time outside at night under the stars. La Niña is here which means a not so hot and not so dry climate which doesn’t bode to well for those with their eyes fixated on the heavens. I’m planning on fixing that in other ways, but more on that later.

In the meantime, here’s a pic I took of Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy). I woke up at 4am for a number of nights in a row hoping the skies would be clear. So on the 23rd of December, I wasn’t expecting much but on walking out into my backyard, I saw the comet. There she was, blazing brightly above the horizon. Clear to the naked eye. I ran inside, grabbed my camera gear and tripod. Threw on some shoes, grabbed my keys and ran out of the house into my car.

Driving like a speed demon around the suburbs at 4am in the morning, I found a dark place on an unsealed road in-front of a large property. I pulled up in the middle of the street, turned off my light, set up my gear and started the camera shooting. As I sat down on the gravel I realised something. I looked like a real dork. Shorts, tattered t-shirt, runners without socks, camera gear and retainer. Yes, a retainer. In my defence I was excited and I forgot to take it out. Also in my defence, I was in the midst of getting a root canal and crown replaced. Finally in my defence, I got to see my first comet so there, I don’t care much what you think!

C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)

Tags: astronomy, comet

Finished table

November 11, 2011 By Carl Joseph Leave a Comment

This is part 3 of 3 in the series Hall table #2

I’ve been procrastinating on this post for a number of reasons. The veneering I did for the top didn’t turn out as well as I would have hoped. A combination of crazy humid weather and possibly not enough glue caused the veneer to form checks. This reminds me of how much timber is in synch with the environment, even long after the tree has been felled.

Wood movement in veneer

I decided to go in a different direction for the top. I had a nice piece of camphor wood waiting for an opportunity like this. So after some slicing up, resawing and gluing, we have a new table top. I really quite like the end result and the grain in the camphor is very striking.

Camphor wood top

Finished hall table #2

If you like this table, or any of my other work, I’m starting to sell some pieces on etsy. So, take a look at my etsy store for details.

Tags: hall table, Woodworking

Veneering the hall table top

November 4, 2011 By Carl Joseph Leave a Comment

This is part 2 of 3 in the series Hall table #2

The glue

I’m using “hide glue” for this process which is also known as animal glue. Yes, it’s literally made from bits of (dead) animal tissue, essentially cellulose. Animal glue has been used for many thousands of years and is perfect for veneering.

The basic process is to hydrate the glue granules with water, head it up to 60-80C and brush it onto the surface. The glue become tacky as it cools (which only take a few seconds). This provides the initial stickiness you need to lay down and position the veneer. Over the next few hours, the glue’s moisture evaporates and it pulls the two pieces of wood together forming a very tight bond.

What I love about it? It’s very forgiving. Just heat it up with a hairdryer or iron and it goes soft again ready for you to adjust.

The problem with it? It stinks!

Hide Glue warming in the pot

The veneering

The piece had lots of twisting grain and knots causing it to “bubble” up in places. Essentially, some parts of the wood had expanded more than others. To soften the wood I used a mixture of water, glycerine and denatured alcohol. I covered both sides of the veneer in this concoction, sandwiched it between two pieces of plywood, and waited. After a few hours, it had decided to give up and was laying perfectly flat. Time to rumble!

Splash on the glue, lay down the veneer, slide it around a little and then use a veneer hammer to push out all the excess glue. The video below shows this process from start to finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiIZ63CrSbM

The result

The table is coming along nicely. Some more finessing and finishing to do and we should be done and dusted.

Dry fit of the table with top

Tags: hall table, veneering, Woodworking

A hall table on my own

October 14, 2011 By Carl Joseph Leave a Comment

This is part 1 of 3 in the series Hall table #2

Sheez, has it really been that long? Well, the weather hasn’t been conducive to start gazing and it’s been too cold to sit out in the workshop building stuff. This last couple of weeks though I’ve started up again and decided to build a hall table. The last hall table I built (which was also the first) was as part of a course at Ideal Tools. This time, I’m trying it on my own.

A colleague from work, Michael Green, provided me with a very nice piece of birdseye featured Huon Pine veneer. I’ve designed this table around that piece.

First up however is rough cutting the parts from a slab. I’m using one of the English Elm slabs I bought at auction a few years ago. Cutting up the slab took a fair bit of work and heavy lifting but after a good day’s work I got the result I was after.

Rough cut parts

To join the legs to the aprons, I would usually rush to the Festool Domino. This time I decided to cut some sliding dovetails. Some time spent at the router table and then with a chisel in hand produced an ok result. The fit is quite solid but not great enough to be exposed to viewers. This image is probably the last you will ever see of it before it gets covered up with the top.

Dovetailed corner

With the basic frame pieces done, I started work on finessing some of the shape. This began with tapering the legs. I used an inside taper, the same style I was taught at my course. The end result is quite pleasing and really gives the whole piece a light feel to it.

First dry fit

Moving onto the top, I had a number of options in mind. After playing around with a few pieces I’m settling on framing the huon pine top. The frame will be flush with the legs. This means I will need to plane the aprons down slightly so the frame can give a subtle shadow line around the piece. I’ll do this part once I have the frame cut to precise size.

Framed top - clamped in place

Tags: hall table, Woodworking

Hudson coffee table

July 14, 2011 By Carl Joseph Leave a Comment

This is part 3 of 3 in the series Hudson dining table

After delivering their dining table, the owners of this new home asked me to build them a matching coffee table. Was I stoked? Totally! Unfortunately due to various illnesses, work and getting caught up in the summer night skies, it took me a lot longer to finish than I wanted. Now however, I’m finally ready to show it off.

As with their dining table, this one is designed by Steven Hanson (the guy who built their home). It is build using 100% recycled/reclaimed Australian timbers … Victorian Ash (lighter) and Queensland Spotted Gum (darker). A simple finish of Scandinavian Oil and a very thin layer of wax tops it off.

Here’s a video showing the last half of the build.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-n9vcr5cn8

Finished Hudson coffee table

Final inspect by Stanley

Tags: commission, hall table, Woodworking

First night with a camera and telescope

February 26, 2011 By Carl Joseph 4 Comments

Like many young boys, I wanted one day to be an astronaut. Now at 30 something the closest I might get is looking through a telescope.

Last night was my first night at the Briars as a member of the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society (MPAS). The Briars is a 96 hectare historic park in Mt Martha. As well as a 1840s Homestead full of Napoleonic memorabilia, MPAS has its observation site based there.

After a bit of a chat with some other friendly members, setting up our scopes and doing something called “polar alignment” I was ready to start playing. The view through the StellarVue 105 f/6.3 Triplet APO Refractor is quite gorgeous. I decided to mount my basic Nikon D40 camera onto my scope and see if I could get some photographs.

Now, these definitely aren’t the best photos out there and I’m a little embarrassed to post them publicly given the spectacular images some people are producing these days. BUT … I’m quite happy with my first result and it will be a good reference point for me in the future to see how I might improve.

Great Orion Nebula

One of the most photographed sights in the night sky. This photograph by comparison could be classified as really bad, but for me, it was my first shot so I’m happy none-the-less!

Scope: StellarVue 105 f/6.3 Triplet APO Refractor
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 2 x 30 seconds
ISO: 1600

Great Orion Nebula (M42 / NGC 1976)

Tucanae 47

One of my favourite sights in the night sky. Looks like a single star with the naked eye but on closer inspection it’s a collection of stars (globular cluster) some 120 light years wide! This photograph unfortunately is quite out of focus and has a fair bit of drift present. All items to keep practicing at!

Scope: StellarVue 105 f/6.3 Triplet APO Refractor
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: Single 30 second
ISO: 1600

47 Tucanae (NGC 104)

Saturn

One thing I quite enjoyed seeing but didn’t get a photograph of was Saturn. Rising quite late, it was the last object I viewed that night. What a spectacular sight. The view through the StellarVue was incredibly crisp. I had to push the magnification a bit to get a larger view but even then it was surprisingly bright and clear. For those number inclined …

Normal viewing through the StellarVue:

105mm aperture
f/6.3 focal ratio
661.5mm focal length

With the 2x barlow & a 6mm eyepiece:

1.323 metre focal length
Magnification of 220x

All in all, a quite successful first light for me as a MPAS member.

Tags: astronomy, astrophotography

Starting a family history

January 13, 2011 By Carl Joseph Leave a Comment

Over the last month, I’ve started to piece together my family history. As I come to publishing it online I realise how much private information it exposes. With a date of birth and a maiden name you can do a whole lot of damage to a person’s identity. So, with that realisation I have decided not to publicly publish this information. I will however write up some of the interesting facts and resources I encounter along the way.

My virtual family tree

What software am I using?

I researched and tried a small variety of genealogy software which is out there. In the end I settled on a product called Mac Family Tree.

It is extremely easy to use and seems to be quite powerful too. One of the most important features is that it is GEDCOM compatible. GEDCOM is a file format used to transfer genealogical data between various products.

One thing I intend to do with this GEDCOM format is to export it from Mac Family Tree and run it through a kind of website generator which will turn all the data into a navigable website for my family to use.

I also like this product because it can store all manner of factual information (e.g. dates, places, events) as well as more fluid types like stories, images, files, etc.

It displays a whole variety of reports and charts too which have already helped me pick up on some interesting facts and statistics occurring in my family.

What have I discovered so far?

There are some quite interesting stories about my maternal grandparents, my maternal grandfather and his father in-law. Discovering this didn’t require any digging through national archives. It was simply reaching out and asking people for any interesting stories and things they know.

Well, my grandparents were married by proxy. My grandfather had already moved to Australia (Queensland) and my grandmother was still in Italy. Before she would come to Australia she insisted that they get married. So they did, and it happened on opposite sides of the world.

My maternal great-grandfather (on my grandmother’s side) was Italian. In 1909 he jumped onto a boat and travelled to the USA to visit a family member there. He came through the Ellis Island port in New York so his entry records are available online. He was 29 at the time and travelled by himself from Sicily.

My maternal grandfather also had an interesting time during war times in Italy, but more on that another day.

On my father’s side, at my grandmother’s recent funeral, I saw a picture of my great-grandfather. The picture would have been taken in the late 1800s. The similarity between him, one of my uncles and my father is quite striking. Even more striking is how similar he looks to Mark Twain!

What’s next?

My next step is to fill in as many of the facts as I can. Mainly birth and death dates and locations. With this information I should be in a good position to start searching for various official documents like birth certificates and military records.

Tags: genealogy

Obligatory start of year post

January 5, 2011 By Carl Joseph 1 Comment

I’m not one for new year’s resolutions, but not wanting to feel left out, here are my current goals for the time ahead. Yes, alright, well these are “goals” as such and they don’t fit that S.M.A.R.T. method crap, but they are things which are in my head at the moment, so take them as they come …

New Year Resolutions

Language learning

I am aiming to reach a conversational level of proficiency with both Czech and Italian.

Over the years of listening to Italian (and speaking small amounts of it) I have acquired that intrinsic feel for the grammar and structure. Improving my Italian will be a matter of “becoming comfortable” with it and learning more vocabulary, rather than learning any formal rules and the like. The most difficult part for me will be to better understand and separate the various dialectical differences spoken amongst my older family members.

My learning of the Czech language will take a slightly different course. I still need to become more comfortable with the sound and rhythm of the language. Much more vocabulary and significantly more real life conversational practice is required. I also intend to watch more Czech films this year which should be fun.

Woodworking

James Krenov at work

I have already done a small number of commissions but I don’t want to take on too many of them. There are just so many other styles and things I would like to explore at the same time. I do intend to make a few pieces of “fine furniture” and sell them. Either smaller things like boxes, picture frames and lamps, or larger things like hall tables and cabinets.

There are three things I do want to build this year:

Brain food

A couple of months ago, I finally found a Masters Degree I was keen to undertake. My interests are a little esoteric so finding a degree which is broad enough to hold my interest has been a challenge. The Masters in Organisational Dynamics seems to cover a number of aspects I am interested in as well as provide enough flexibility to keep it interesting for me. Cognition, psychology, identity of self, learning theory and meditation are all part of it.

Unfortunately they have cancelled the degree for 2011 and will be recommencing it in 2012 under a new banner.

The National Institute of Organisation Dynamics Australia (NIODA) is a spin off of the Organisational Dynamics department at RMIT. They kick off the new degree in 2012 so I need to find something to study and keep my brain going this year. I’ve been toying with the idea of a Psychology (diploma or certificate) so I will see where that takes me in the meantime.

Citizenship

I was born an Australian citizen and have Italian heritage. One day I would like to move to Europe and even live in Italy for a while. To do this easily, I will need to get my Italian citizenship.

Italian passport Now, for those of you against the whole “dual-citizenship” caper, let me tell you these two things:

I believe every naturally born Australian should partake in an Australian Oath of Citizenship, or at least have an option to affirm their allegiance when they turn 18.
I am an Italian citizen and have always been one since I took that first breath after birth.

Italy is one of the few nations who bestow citizenship jure sanguinis (right of blood). So as long as one of my parents was still an Italian citizen (i.e. didn’t renounce their citizenship) when I was born, then I am automatically an Italian citizen. It doesn’t matter than I was born in Australia.

So, I just have to fill in the requisite paperwork and then apply for my EU passport. Easy!

Other stuff

All the other stuff which is currently occupying my thoughts and will hopefully lead somewhere soon …

Get bike riding again
Commence and publish online a family history (i.e. of my own family and ancestry)
Build a deck, pergola, garden beds and tidy up the backyard overall
Meditate more and meditate regularly

Tags: goals, languages, Woodworking

Book cabinet part II: Door frames

January 2, 2011 By Carl Joseph Leave a Comment

This is part of 2 in the series Book cabinet

With this being the first door frames I had ever made, I did a fair amount of research and looking at photographs before starting. I decided that this piece will have two narrow glass doors. The intention here is to make the cabinet appear taller and narrower than it really is. Cutting up some pieces of plywood helped me to decide the proportions of the frame. I’m quite glad I did this as it really helped to give me a sense of the piece before cutting up precious real wood.

Using plywood to test various proportions for the door frame.

The top rail of the door frame will feature a slight curve (to match the side panels). I built a template from plywood and then used this to route the curve onto the mahogany. Once I was happy with it, I cut the curve into two (one for each door) by cutting away the centre portion. This “missing piece” will be replaced by the vertical parts of the door frame.

The top door rail ready to be routed against a plywood template I made earlier.

I had intended to hand cut the mortise and tenons for the door frame. Before I realised however, I had already cut the parts to size and didn’t leave any additional wood for the tenons. So I had to resort to my Festool Domino to make the joints. I was a little disappointed by this but the end result should be almost the same.

The frame needed a little planing to ensure it fit snuggly within the carcass. At this stage I’m not too fussed about getting a perfect fit as I haven’t purchased hinges or glued up the carcass yet.

I intentionally made the doors a little wider so that I could plane them down to fit perfectly.

After some initial planing, it was time to stand back and look at how things are evolving so far.

Tags: book cabinet, casework, Woodworking

Book cabinet part I: Building the carcass

January 2, 2011 By Carl Joseph Leave a Comment

This is part of 2 in the series Book cabinet

I recently started building a small cabinet to hold a number of recipe books we have. The cabinet will hang on the wall next to the kitchen bench. I started by sketching out some basic designs. However, as is normal for me, I prefer to figure things out as I go along so things started taking shape as I built it.

I began with a large piece of Eastern Mahogany which I had lying around in the workshop waiting for the right project to come along. The face was already quite flat so I started by planing the edge with one of my new HNT Gordon planes.

Once I had a nice square edge to reference from, I cut this piece up to make the sides, top, bottom and shelf. With the sides placed flat on my table, I used my router to cut a few grooves to hold the top/bottom and shelf in place.

Since this piece will have two doors, the middle shelf needs to sit back from the front edge. Therefore I had to make sure the groove didn’t go all the way to the front as that would leave a nice hole next to each door frame.

A little tweaking of the joints and we have a simple carcass of a cabinet.

The carcass as it currently is feels quite “boxy”. Before finishing up for the day, I put a curve on the top of the two sides. To draw the curve I held a pencil at the end of a long piece of string. I pinned the other end of the string down to the bench and then used it as a large compass. After making a template for the curve I used my router and a template bit to cut the sides. The result is quite nice. I was actually quite surprised the impact such a small detail has had on the piece already.