How to fit canvas keys - the little wooden bits

Also known as a Canvas Wedge or Painter's Corner. They are used to keep the frame pushed apart to hold the canvas taught. There should be 8 of them, two for each corner.

The edge of the frame is made up of 4 stretcher bars with joints in each corner. 

Looking from the inside, each corner will have grooves cut into it at an angle. They will be offset on each stretcher bar.

Tap the frame apart before putting in the wedges.

Use a hammer to tap on the stretcher bars from the inside. On smaller frames this can be in the middle to evenly do each edge, on larger frames it may be necessary to tap nearer the corners and use the same force at either end of the same stretcher bar.

Tap on the inside of each edge, so that the canvas is stretched evenly. The amount of movement is likely to be less than a millimetre and may not even be visible at the corners, but will be enough to tighten the canvas.

Be careful with existing paintings not to overstretch the work and crack the paint.

Tap in the wedges

The wedges are to hold the joint slightly apart.

They can be fitted parallel to the frame. My preference is to align them pointing towards the centre of the canvas. In either case, the longer edge is closest to the outside of the frame. I find the later method easier to get the hammer in to hit the ends of each wedge as they do not overlap.

Whichever position they are fitted, simply tap them in. The wedge shape will stop the corner closing up and can be used to fractionally force the frame apart to get that last bit of stretch needed to make the canvas evenly taught. The wedge in one stretcher is pushing against the timber of the other stretcher.

Put one wedge in the ends of each stretcher, so each corner will have two wedges.

They stay there

Once fitted the wedges should remain there. If the canvas sags, the frame can be tapped out a bit and the wedges tapped in again to hold it in place.

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There are a number of articles by others that go into more detail. I found the following clear and comprehensive:

How to Use the Canvas Wedges That Come with a Canvas or Stretcher Bars - Jackson's Art Blog (jacksonsart.com)

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Artist Palette

Shelley has taken up oil painting. She is having a great time.

I decided to make her a paint palette. I could easily have bought one, or many, at very little cost, but I have lots of offcuts of 5mm plywood from The Shed build so it has made a fun small project to do in the new workshop.

I designed the shape in QCAD to help find a suitable position and size for the thumb hole. I did a bit of research to understand the traditional evolved shape. There is a nose which helps to hold brushes and the corners are curved to be comfortable with your body and, I have assumed, to avoid poking the canvas with a bit that sticks out. From that, I created a paper template.

I cut a stack of three at the same time. The plan was to try to stop the ply splitting, but, as it happened, the blade I used in the jigsaw made a fairly clean cut.

I did the detail shaping with a Dremel rotary tool fitted with a small sanding tube. The outside edges I was able to do on my disc sander. I removed a little extra material in a few places, like the thumb hole, to make it more comfortable.

I've sealed it with Linseed oil. It's the same type of oil used to mix with the paints, so I know it's going to do the job.

That's it, Shelley can try it and if she wants any changes I can tweak it as required.

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Saddle Rack

Trying to be as efficient as possible with the space in the new tack room, I've built my own saddle rack using key clamp fixings.

I'm making several other fixtures in the newly completed outbuilding and I have opted to use 42mm outside diameter poles and key clamps for all of those.

By trial and error I found that a spacing of 500mm between the saddle racks was a comfortable size.

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VW Transporter T5 to T5.1 Mirror

There are many references to how the T5 and T5.1 mirrors have different wiring. I encountered that today.

The left hand, near side in the UK, mirror on a VW Transporter T5 was damaged. I helped to replace both mirrors with the newer T5.1 style.

When connected without modification the T5.1 left hand mirror has reversed operation when plugged in to the older T5, the up down control moved the mirror in and out and the in out control moves it up and down.

The fix is very easy, simply swap two wires in the connector. On the original connector this is swap the grey wire and the purple wire positions.

To make things as confusing as possible, one of the other wires is grey with a purple stripe. Very difficult to differentiate without looking very closely.

To my surprise the right hand, UK drivers, side worked correctly without modification.

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Splice an eye loop

It's not often I have a need for a specific knot or in this case a loop. I invariably have to look up instructions when I do. 

There are lots of instructions on the internet for splicing a loop in 3 strand rope, however, I found them all lacking in what a novice might need to know. I found these animated instructions helpful, but they did not tell me everything.

https://www.animatedknots.com/eye-splice-knot

I'm typing this after having only made four of these loops in my whole life. I find that typing instructions for beginners is often best done by a novice because, at this point I can still remember what confused me and what information I needed that the instructions did not give.

The large eyes shown in the photos is made from 25mm Polyhemp. A rot resistant cord made to resemble old hemp or jute rope. I practiced using 6mm jute cord. The larger rope was much easier to work with. The strands being more visible and easier to thread through. For the smaller cord an embroidery or knitting needle would have been handy to separate the strands.

Tools:

I used, scissors a knife and electrical tape.

Start - lengths:

My preferred solution to get the size of the eye and enough loose length to form the splice is to count 16 tops of the twists along the same edge and wrap a bit of tape round the rope.

Count a further 12 tops and wrap another bit of tape round.

Bringing the the two bits of tape together indicates the size of the eye. Obviously, this can be adjusted to any specific need.

Unravel a short length at the end of the rope and wrap tape separately round the ends of each of the three strands. I found the strands much easier to work with this way.

Unravel the remaining length up to the first loop of tape forming the eye.

The first tuck:

This is where the descriptions in the instructions I read, was inadequate. I know why, because it is very difficult to describe, but is surprisingly easy to understand when I had the rope in my hand.

I lay the separate section out so that the three strands naturally lay with an upper strand away from me, a middle strand and a lower stand closest to me.

Grabbing just before and just after the second bit of tape forming the end of the eye, I twist to open up the three strands. When doing this, it is fairly easy to identify an upper, middle and lower strand. I kept those in your mind while carrying out the next bit.

Taking the middle free strand, tuck it under the middle strand of the main section of rope, just after the second bit of tape. The strand goes away from you.

Taking the upper free strand, tuck it under the upper strand of the main section of rope, just after the second bit of tape. The upper tuck is behind the middle tuck and the strand goes away from you.

The lower stand gets a bit confusing. The tuck is under the rope. Taking the lower free strand, tuck it under the lower strand of the main section of rope, but it comes towards you, out of the surface you are working on.

I found it easier to turn the rope over for the lower strand, in which case, the tuck is again, away from you.

The remaining tucks:

This is another place that I found other instructions lacking for beginners. Again, this is because it is easier to understand with the rope in your hands.

With the rope back the original way, take the top strand, bring it over the middle strand of the main rope and through under the next top strand of the main rope. In all cases this is the main rope strands. The loose ends do not go directly over the other loose ends. The loose ends go over and through the main rope strands. 

For each set of three tucks the end of the strands are going in the opposite direction, either away from you or towards you. It's obvious when you have the rope in front of you. Flipping the rope over for the lower strand, means they all go the same way in relation to yourself at each stage.

Repeat with the middle and lower strands. It does not really matter which order each group of the three tucks is carried out in. They all go over one strand of the main rope and tucked through another.

All three must be completed before starting the next three. I tried to keep the twist of the strands intact.

According to other sources, a minimum of 5 sets of tucks is required for a strong splice. Apparently with modern synthetic rope, 7 tucks is required.

Finishing off:

I pulled the loose strands tight and generally evened out the splice. I then removed all my temporary tape.

I do not know how to make the frayed ends tidy. My solution was to put a simple whip round the splice to avoid the frayed ends being able to open. I understand there is a way to tuck the frayed ends into the splice. I have not researched how to do that.

Hopefully these instructions add a little bit to the numerous other sources of information available.

I enjoyed making the eye splice.

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What I wish I had known about Probate

It's a sad time and I suspect that no one rushes into this. As time has past and I've gathered together what is needed I've discovered a few things that would have made the process, easier or quicker if I had understood it earlier.

I'm not going to explain what probate is, because if you are reading this, you will have probably read dozens of sites that always start with the same explanation. I'm going to assume that you know that you need it. I do need to point out that this is about the process in England and Wales as it was in 2023. I understand this is similar to the process for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Tax, Tax, Inheritance Tax First

STOP READING THIS and go straight to the government inheritance tax site and request an inheritance tax reference number, then come back and carry on reading

I found it very annoying that after nearly two months, when I was ready to submit everything for probate, I found out that it is necessary to have done all the inheritance tax stuff BEFORE requesting probate, not the other way round! It takes up to 15 days to get the reference number that is required on the forms. The tax reference is not actually essential, but if there is any chance of needing to pay tax, it is required!

Valuations

The requirements for valuations for inheritance tax are more stringent than those to request probate where no tax is due. More specifically, where the estate is under the nil rate, which is currently £325,000. Too many of the other articles that I have read, assume that the estate will be under that threshold, but where I live, I've known first time buyers who have had to spend more than that to buy their starter home!

There is an additional amount of tax free allowance if the estate is going to the children of the deceased and the allowance of both parents comes into play when the second parent dies and the estate had previously been left to the first parent. I'm sure it gets more complicated when the will has more beneficiaries, but I did not have to look in to that.

Possessions

Time consuming but a relatively easy task of listing everything, looking at the sold listing on eBay and see what people are paying. I always tick the option to see sold and closed auctions, the price actually paid is often a lot less than people have originally advertised it for.

I found that preparing a separate list for each room, the loft, garage and sheds, made it a less daunting task. I took lots of photos of each room so I could prepare the lists and work out the valuation at my leisure.

When we came to clearing the house, after we had been granted probate, we had to pay to dispose of most of the contents of the house. There is so little value in most used items.

I would suggest keeping that in mind when valuing things, there is an argument that many of them would have a negative value, because they will cost to dispose of them. I don't think it is acceptable to put negative values but many items will have zero value.

House

The implication for probate is that you can value the house yourself, which may be the case, but for inheritance tax, it's clear that it is necessary to get a professional valuation. Three estate agents or a professional RICS Surveyor valuation.

We opted for the professional valuation and it was very close to the figure we had worked out based on previous sales shown at online Estate Agents.

Banks and Finance

This was the easy bit, all of the banks and building societies had a bereavement section and usually required little more than the completion of a simple online form to get the information necessary for probate.

Only a few needed to be posted the death certificate. Many accepted uploading a scan.

Conclusion

The process is not particularly arduous. I only found it frustrating because I didn't know some of the details I've listed above.

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Bat boxes

I've fitted two new bat boxes. 

Our previous attempt was too close to the house where there is too much light. A professional ecologist confirmed that the previous position did not have any bats. These two are fitted as far away from the house and our neighbours houses, as is possible, to minimise both light and physical disturbance.

Beaumaris Woodstone bat box. These are very heavy, it was tricky getting it high enough. I have it mounted on a home made bat box, so the bats get more choices.

Kent type bat box. What is not obvious in this photo is that there is a design feature on the rear of the Kent box. That is, that it is deliberately raised away from whatever it is secured to, giving another place for the bats to roost. That would have a different microclimate to the other two slots in the front.

Let's hope bats find these more desirable homes.

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