Hand Tools

cardiologist appt.......

Accidental Woodworker -

I like my cardiologist because he listens to my questions and answers them. He doesn't talk down to me or try to talk over my head neither. Its nice to have an understanding of why and what medications he prescribes for me but what they do for me. I spent about 40 minutes with him without feeling like I was getting the bum's rush out the door.

The upside of the visit is he is impressed with how active I am. He mentioned that he had trouble keeping up with me walking to his office. The downside is I'll have to start using a CPAC machine for my sleep apnea. He also told me to keep losing weight because that helps with A Fib as will the CPAC machine.

I have to go back on monday for an EKG because he stopped one med and started me on a new one. I'll ask him to put in the order for a CPAC when I see him again then. Not looking forward to that because my brother in law hates using his.

 totally different

The one I made for daughter #1 wasn't as wide (R/L) as this one. I like the proportions and drawer layout as is. This is about 36" R/L and 8" high. I might keep this for myself and use it in the shop for tool storage.

 some butt scratching

I have to make 11 stopped dadoes for the drawer dividers. The tricky part is they aren't all in line with each other. Such as the divider between the two drawer openings here. I will have to dry fit and square up the carcass first and then layout the dadoes, chop them, test the fit, and then assemble and dry fit the only thing before gluing it up. 

 I like this drawer

This drawer arrangement reminds of Gerstner machinist tool chests. This appeals to me because I like boxes first and drawers second for storing things. 

 keeping this

I rode the fence for a few minutes about dividing the top into 3 or 4 drawer openings. Since I like the overall look of the carcass I'm sticking with the Shaker Brother who designed (?) and made this in 1820. I wonder what these two top drawers were used to stow then?

 this sucks pond scum

The other two boards are still dead flat and straight. This is the bottom and it cupped after planing it to thickness. It is about a 16th off on the two outside edges. The bottom drawers will be riding in/out on this and it needs to be flat front to back.

 doing some layout

I am sticking or I'll try to stick with the drawer openings from the original. I did a rough layout to see how much I need to lose on the end panels. The end panels were running way long here.

 found my oops

I had sawn the ends panels to finished height and did the dado layout again and I was way off. The top drawer openings are 1 5/8" high and mine here were almost 3". It didn't dawn on me that I was doing the layout with the panel in the wrong orientation. Flipping it 90° fixed that headache. My drawer layout was still a wee bit off for the top drawer at a couple of frog hairs shy of 1 5/8.

 tails on one end panel done

I got this done just before lunch. I didn't want to start the other one and leave it partially completed. I'll pick this back up in the AM.

One thing I feel lucky about is doing the order of operations for making things. It is a gift I am thankful for a lot. I just seem to know instinctively how and what to do and more importantly, the order in which to do it. Here I have to do the end panels first and then layout for the dadoes and chop them. Once that is done I can get the finished dimensions for the dividers.

I am still wrestling with what to do about the back of this drawer unit thing. I have never seen a pic of the back of this or any other one. I can use plywood or solid wood for it but how to install attach it is causing some headaches. More than likely the back will be a visible part of this so the back will have to have a finished appearance. 

A second wrestling match is the drawer bottoms. None of the drawers except the middle bottom one are going to have a lot of interior height to them. I am leaning in the direction of using slips but I'm stuck on what to use for the bottoms. My choices are off cuts from the drawers, 1/8" plywood, or so called 1/4" plywood. That decision can wait for a few more days.

 half blind dovetail rabbet trick

Over the past few months I have made a bazillion half lapped drawers using this rabbet trick. I won't ever make another half lapped dovetailed anything without using this technique.

 nailed it

I measured and set the fence on the plane and made two passes with it. The baseline on the tails is dead on. No hints of daylight on almost every tail/pin.

 laying out the dovetails

I missed the number of tails - I have six and the original has 5. I thought that if I wanted 5 tails I had to step off 6 times with the dividers. Now I know that if I want 5, I step off five. Will I remember this for the next time?

accidental woodworker

A Housekeeping Treasure (?)

The Barn on White Run -

A component of my routine in the shop these days is surveying, sorting, and dispensing of the tools laying here, there, and everywhere.  Now that I am in my 70th year and have two handy sons-in-law and soon to be two grandsons I am either dispensing or dispersing many of the tools immediately or presumptively.  Genuine tool sets for L’il T and the soon-to-come Baby T (for Baby Tyrannosaurus, the moniker for L’il T’s baby brother in utero, I suspect the final name will be different) are well underway.

One of the treasures(?) I came across was yet another infill plane, a truly challenging project for the future.  As near as I can tell none of the adjunct components belong together with the original chassis so I can assume great latitude in the restoration of the tool.  It’s raggedy but solid, so the end result should be solid but less raggedy once I get around to bringing it back to life.

Three of Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji

Tools For Working Wood -

Mount Fuji from the mountains of TtmiMount Fuji from the mountains of Ttmi
Christie's auction house is currently exhibiting one of the few complete sets of woodblock prints known as "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" by the Edo-period master woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai. The set, which was printed in 1830-1835, is Hokusais "most iconic print series," according to Christie's. The complete set actually consists of 46 prints because Hokusai added 10 prints to the series. If you're thinking of adding the series to your own walls, bear in mind that Christie's has set the estimate between 5 to 7 million dollars. These prints were made by printing from multiple carved wooden plates, each with a different color. This is hard to do. The prints' detail and complexity show the work of a true master of the craft. Of the set of forty six prints, three are of special interest to woodworkers.

The first of the three prints (above), "Mount Fuji from the mountains of Ttmi," shows two sawyers slicing up a giant beam with a gentleman at the bottom sharpening up a saw. I find it interesting that they are each using a one man saw, and cutting different kerfs. In the West, this would have been done with two-person saws, on a horizontally laid log, one sawyer at the top, another at the bottom. The log also seems to be pretty huge, and I don't know if this is reality or an exaggeration for the print - which could explain the absence of a two-person saw. In Toshio Odate's "Japanese Woodworking Tools" Odate shows a one-person timber saw, exactly like the one in the print, but no two-person saws. I do not know if two-person saws were a thing in Japan. While all the prints are fairly small, the detail in them is amazing. These close-ups are at most an inch across.

Mount Fuji from the mountains of Ttmi - Detail of Saw FilerMount Fuji from the mountains of Ttmi - Detail of Saw Filer

For any big sawing job, you would naturally want a saw filer sharpening saws as you worked so that you could switch to sharper saws during the day. This saw filer is focused on his job with his left hand steering the file and holding the saw steady, while the other hand pushes the file. The handle of the saw has been removed, though I do not know why.
Mount Fuji from the mountains of Ttmi - Detail of Top Man SawingMount Fuji from the mountains of Ttmi - Detail of Top Man Sawing
While the tooth profiles are draw in all the saws in the print, they seem more stylized than accurate. But both sawyers are putting their back into it and exerting a lot of effort.
Mount Fuji from the mountains of Ttmi - Detail of Bottom Man SawingMount Fuji from the mountains of Ttmi - Detail of Bottom Man Sawing

Fujimi Field in Owari ProvinceFujimi Field in Owari Province

The other two images were ones I'd never seen before. In "Fujimi Field in Owari Province," we see a bath maker at work (I am pretty sure it's a bath, not a large flat barrel). Baths are made essentially the same way you would make a large barrel, by tightly fitting the staves of the sides together. The maker is using an early predecessor of a Japanese plane called a Yari-Kanna to smooth the inside areas in which the bathers would lean against. This operation would probably not have been needed on a barrel.
Fujimi Field in Owari Province - DetailFujimi Field in Owari Province - Detail

Honjo TatekawaHonjo Tatekawa, The Timberyard at Honjo, Sumida
Finally, we have "Honjo Tatekawa, The Timberyard at Honjo, Sumida." On the left side of the print, there is a huge pile of wood, carefully stickered and stacked to dry. A guy at the bottom of the pile is throwing a sawn board up to the man at the top of the pile to continue stacking. On the right another man is sawing more lumber into thinner boards. He has already started a few kerfs at the top so he won't have to move the board again past the support until he has sawn all the boards. Notice the little wedge stuck in the top of the kerf he is working on. It also seems that once he is done they tie together boards from the same log so customer can get matching grain if they want. It initially struck me that in both prints of sawyering that having the board on an angle, not flat, would be annoying and dangerous, but after a bit of a think it makes a lot of sense. The sawyers are all bending over to work but if the board was horizontal they would have to pull their saw straight up, which would be physically a lot harder. Having the board at an angle makes the sawing a lot easier on the back.
Honjo TatekawaHonjo Tatekawa, The Timberyard at Honjo, Sumida - Detail

PS - for information on the process used in creating these prints there are many great YouTube videos. But for a book - here is a book from 1916 on the subject of printing using Japanese block printing techniques.

it was looking good.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 My day started out pretty good in spite of me rolling out of the rack late. I mailed out one of the planes to its new owner. I got the picture frame and painting to Maria and she going to remount the painting. If I had known that was a possibility things would have been different. I should have that in a couple of weeks. I also got all the stock for the first drawer unit thing to the thicknesses I need. All this before lunch. It was looking good.

 it is staying here

I am not hauling this back down to the cellar only to haul it back out in a couple of days. Especially so with it being so cold this morning. The wind was blowing out of the north and it was chilling me to the bone. I would plane a little and go back inside to warm up my fingers. On the upside the wind blew a lot of the sawdust away - less for me to sweep up.

 first run done

The top, bottom, and the two end panels were thicknessed to 5/8". All the others were planed down to 1/2".

 the other drawer stock

These are too short to run through the lunchbox planer safely. I will get the width close on the bandsaw and then plane the rough sawn face smooth and to thickness. These are all for drawers so I don't have to go nutso anal on them. Getting everything +/- a frog hair will be good enough.

 door clips

Getting these reminded me that I still haven't gotten the star washers or the one screw I need to install both of these on the bandsaw.

test cuts

The cuts aren't dead nuts perfect. The numbers on the gauge confirmed what my eyeballs saw. The cut is slightly tapered from the bottom to the top running out away from the left side of the blade.

 not good

I was having troubles (big time) trying to get the blade square to the table. The door opened and this is what I saw. The blade should be running in the center of the wheel (on the bottom one too).

Still having problems with the screw that tilts the top wheel which governs how the blade tracks on the wheels. I couldn't turn it when I had too. Even with slip joint pliers I couldn't turn it. Didn't want to do it but I had to take the top wheel off to investigate again.

 hmm.....

This blows my thoughts on what I suspected was toast. I was expecting the end of this bolt to chewed up and impossible to fully screw out. Instead the end of it is almost brand new looking and no hiccups screwing it out and back in.

 scoring

It goes from about the 1130 CCW over to the 0300 position. The problem was the wheel was hitting the inside cover in a few spots as it turned and I couldn't use the tilting screw to correct it.

 this ain't looking good

I can see why the tilt screw is stalling and won't turn anymore. Just one problem with different metals of different hardness that bear on each other. The tilt screw is basically trying to thread itself into this tilt arm.

will it work?

I filed the burrs off the tilt arm and filed a round over on the end of the screw. I'm hoping that with the sharpness on the end gone that it will turn on the tilt arm without trying to dig into it.

This wasn't my first choice. My first idea was to drill and tap a hole where the screw meets the tilt arm. I would then put something like a Tee bolt in the hole. The 'tee' part would then be a flat surface for the tilt screw to bear on and turn. And it would be replaceable if needed. This may still happen if this first fix goes south on me.

 paper check

I stuck a piece of paper behind the wheel to check for any binding. The wheel is close to touching it but the wheel didn't grab the paper anywhere 360.

It took me a lot of frustrating minutes to get the blade to track anywhere near the middle of the wheel. A lot of it had to do with the )(^($@$)(%* tilt screw. Much easier to screw in but getting the blade to cooperate and play ball ate up a lot of calories.

success

Finally got the blade square to the table. It seemed like even the bandsaw dust was being a PITA with squaring the blade. I can't argue with this - no daylight here is a good thing.

 needs some support

I noticed earlier that the far end of the fence was toeing out to the left as I pushed the stock through. I have piece of wood under the table and this one up tight against the fence. I saw no more deflection when I sawed a couple of more test pieces.

 test cuts

For the most part the offcut looked kind of ok. The taper I saw before is now gone but I can see that the top and bottom on each end aren't the same. It is minute but I can see it. Also didn't do the +/- math without the decimal point - confused me. I wanted to see what the numbers were from reading it with calipers.

 very close

I planed the bandsawn face and I am less than a frog hair off across the 3 of them.

 hmm.....

Had another idea. Rather than shit canning the roughly 1/4" off cut from thinning the drawer sides I can use them to make drawer bottoms. The thickness is just shy of 3/16". I don't have a warm and fuzzy about using it for the 17" (L/R) drawers but I should be able to use this for the other 5 drawers.

 added and subtracting correctly

I redid the math and converted some fractions to decimal to visualize how much the cuts were. Everything is off less than a 64th to a 32nd on the first one I did (3rd from the top). I would be a lot happier if the numbers were all the same but I think the differences aren't enough to write home about. These were all measured off the rough bandsawn face too. If I remember it I'll take a second reading now that I've smoothed the bandsawn faces. 

Too late to run these through the bandsaw for today. I'll do that in the AM and start on making the drawer thing. Fixing the bandsaw again ate up 90% of my PM session time. Tomorrow isn't going to be much better time wise because I have an appointment with my cardiologist at 1300 tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

Were dovetails used on historic English chests?

Working By Hand -

When woodworkers build modern chests, they often use dovetails, and let’s face it – dovetails are extremely strong for this purpose, and they may be the most aesthetically pleasing of all the joints. But what about historic chests? In Ancient Coffers and Cupboards, [3] Fred Roe looks at how these were built from “the dark ages” until the 16th century. The coffer was a box of great strength, intended for the keeping and transporting weighty articles – essentially a strongbox, or small chest. Roe’s book contains numerous illustrations of these coffers over the ages, many ornately decorated. But how were these ancient chests held together? Were they festooned with dovetails?

The simple answer is probably not, or rather we don’t know.

As we know, the ancient Egyptians were already using dovetails in high-end carpentry. There is evidence from the Roman architect Vitruvius, in his Ten Books of Architecture (25BC) on the construction methods for roof beams, including the use of “dove-tailed tenons”. So it is possible that these methods were used in Roman Britain. But while we have this information, it’s a gargantuan leap from the ancient world to the more widespread use of dovetails in England starting circa 1600. Were the “Dark Ages” so dark woodworking didn’t evolve? We do know that much of the technology introduced by the Romans in Britain was lost in the years after their decampment. There is some evidence of the existence of dovetailed chests in England from early times. A monk present when the tomb of St Cuthbert (who died 687, but was reburied numerous times) was opened in 1104 observed that one of the chests containing the remains was “joined and united by the toothed tenons of the boards which come from this side and from that to meet one another, and by long iron nails” [2].

Fig.1: Dovetail joint from [3]

In Old Oak Furniture, also by Fred Roe [4], he talks about chests during the Gothic period (12th C-mid 16th C)- “they were always fastened together with wooden pegs or trenails, iron only being used for hinges, clamps, and locks.”. He goes on to say that dovetailing when practised at all, in the 13th and 14th centuries was done so in a secret form – it was carried out in a singular manner, being worked perpendicularly down the inner part of the uprights (stiles), so as to be invisible from the front (see Figure 1). This is basically a vertical sliding dovetail, with curved dovetails, seemingly a lot of work for a joint that was hidden (never mind the curves!). A series of small fan-tailed mortises interlocking with each other at the corners may be sometimes seen on late Gothic coffers, such as that in the church at Evesham [4] (see Figure 2). In England it was unlikely this form of dovetailing was practised before the start of the 16th century.

Fig.2: Visible dovetail joint ca. 16th century [4, p.137]

There is an excellent example of a barber-surgeon’s chest from the wreck of Tudor ship Mary Rose which sank on July 19th, 1545. Constructed of walnut, it has multiple dovetailed corners reinforced with nails. Other dovetailed chests were constructed of elm, oak, walnut and poplar. What is interesting here is that most of the chests on board the Mary Rose were of boarded construction, either butted or rebated and either nailed or pegged together [1]. During this period, dovetail construction was generally the purvey of continental furniture. Author David Knell makes the point that dovetail chests were imported into into England from places such as Germany and northern Italy during the Tudor and early Stuart period, although he also points out that there is no evidence the chests weren’t made in England (perhaps by immigrant craftsmen) [1].

The reality is that we really don’t know much about the history or evolution of dovetails. Was the English dovetail an offshoot of the sliding dovetail used in making early chests or did it evolve from the use of dovetails in English house construction? Was it integrated into British woodworking from the woodworking practices of immigrants craftspeople from the continent? A large scale study of the history of woodworking joints has never been undertaken. The only way to begin to understand the history of dovetails would be to investigate furniture joints throughout history. This doesn’t really tell us how or why, but it would give a picture of when. But it is also fraught with issues related to finding wooden furniture pieces from relevant periods.

Regardless of all these unknowns, the use of dovetails from 1600 onward had repercussions in the cabinetmaking industry. For instance the mortise and tenon joints used in building carcasses required lumber to be a minimum of 25mm thick, whereas dovetails would reduce this, likely to something more like 18mm. By the late 17th century, dovetails were a common feature in drawers, and by the mid 1700s, the broad dovetails sometimes hidden by mouldings had narrowed into finer ones.

P.S. The German word for a dovetail joint is Schwalbenschwanzverbindung, quite a tongue-twister! It is actually the German for a swallowtail joint, as on the continent there are various names including culvertail and fantail joint.

References
  1. David Knell, “Tudor Furniture from the Mary Rose“, Regional Furniture, XI, pp.61-79 (1997)
  2. Penelope Eames, Furniture in England France and the Netherlands from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth century, Furniture History Society (1977)
  3. Fred Roe, Ancient Coffers and Cupboards Their History and Description from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century, Methuen & Co. (London) 1902
  4. Fred Roe, Old Oak Furniture, Methuen & Co. (London) 1905

day 1 new project.......

Accidental Woodworker -

Jumped into the next project with both feet today. Both of them are drawer storage things made by the Shakers in the early 1800's. I made one several years ago and I'm going to make it again. This time I will try to follow and make it closer to the dimensions in the book. 

The second one I'll do basically the same but with one change. That one is made with thin stock - 1/4" , 5/16", and 3/8" are the thicknesses for it. I am changing the 1/4" to 3/8" along with the 5 1/6" and the 3/8" will be bumped up to 1/2". IMO the original thicknesses are too thin and delicate for what this drawer unit storage thing will be used for.

my Stanley #8

I had this sole ground flat/straight by a machinist. I did that because I didn't have a flat surface long enough to sand the sole on. I only use this to joint long edges for gluing boards together.

 #8 storage shelf

I had to wait until the AM to put the plane in it because I spilled super glue on it. I didn't want to cry if the plane got glued down to the shelf.

 sigh

The pine is hiding the ugly end grain but it is unsightly looking. There is a gap along the entire length. The super glue had bumps along it and the pine couldn't lay flat and seamless. Didn't catch that until after I glued the two together.

 safe and sound

It isn't a trip hazard and not even close to be in the way walking by it. 

 frame is 99.99% done

I got 3 coats on the front and the inside face edges and two on the back. Two is all the back is getting. I'll bring this Maria tomorrow.

 done?

When I put this coat on the stool I was still covering some holidays which surprised me. I'll have to wait and see what it looks like tomorrow before I put a check mark in the done column.

 first of two

I am going to make the left one first. The plan was to get all the stock broke down today and run it through the lunchbox planer tomorrow. Spoiler alert boys and girls - it ain't going to happen according to the plan.

 first break down

The 3 long boards are the top, middle divider, and bottom. The 3 off cuts are for the ends, dividers, and whatever is left will be for drawer parts.

 short ones are bowed

Don't understand this but the long pieces are flat and straight and the 3 short off cuts are cupped. Not a horrendous amount but enough that I'll have to flatten it.

 cup is gone

Rather than flattening/straightening a wide board I cut up into narrower pieces for the drawers. None of them have a cup but all but 2 have a twist.

 drawer stock

I don't have all the drawer stock here but a good dent in it. It took me about an hour to remove the twist from these.

 eyeballing the sticks

I've been using this 'hold them up higher' for a couple of years now. I tried to bend over to sight over the stock/sticks on the bench and wasn't working for me. I don't have to bend over to sight with this and I've used it for boards up to 6 feet long with no hiccups.

Rob Cosman gadget

On one of his recent You Tube vids on the 10 best selling items this caught my eye and bought on the spot. This is a thumb/fore finger grabbie thing for a plane used for shooting.

 where I'll use it

This is a war time Stanley #6 that I use only on my Lee Valley adjustable shooting board. It is a thick, heavy casting well suited for shooting. You have to drill a hole in the cheek for this and I'm ok with. Normally I am not of fan of hang holes or any other extraneous holes. Because this plane is a special purpose plane I'll swallow the cringe and drill the hole. I put this on the to do list which means it will get done whenever.

 hmm.....

I'll have to do a modification to this holder. I certainly don't want to put that grabbie thing on and off every time I use the plane.

 drawer stock

I cut all the drawer stock oversized by 2" in length and width. I don't want a repeat I had of rough cutting stock only to have it come up short. I might change the top two drawers which are currently 17 1/2" long by 1 7/8" wide. I am not crazy about such a big drawer (L/R) that is this short in the height. However, I do like the layout of the drawers and I may leave it as is. 

 main carcass parts

I will let the stock relax until tomorrow and give it a chance to do any stupid wood tricks.

 left overs

I used four  1x12x 5 foot boards to get all the parts for this first drawer unit. These won't go to waste and will be used the second drawer unit.

The local weather (and news) feed I usually look at everyday is still offline. This is the third day in a row and I hope that I don't lose it but I have my doubts. I'm not sure but I think it might rain on wednesday with tomorrow being partly cloudy. I will try to surface the first drawer unit stock tomorrow and the 2nd one after I finish the first one.

accidental woodworker

Opening in the April chair class

Peter Follansbee, joiner's notes -

April 8-13 Joel Paul and I are teaching a class in making the Jennie Alexander chair at Pete Galbert’s shop in Rollinsford NH – and we have a late opening due to someone having to drop out.

The class runs through all the steps in building this chair. Starting with splitting the parts from a green log, learning about shaving them to size/shape, etc – then working with carefully-dried material cutting the joints – boring mortises, shaving tenons. Assembly in stages; sides first, then the whole frame. Riving and shaving slats then steambending and installing them. Some students usually have time to weave their seats – otherwise, we do the seat-weaving as a demo.

one of my JA chairs

It’s the only chair-class I have scheduled this year – probably won’t do it again until 2025. Chair classes at Galbert’s are full of chair-inspiration – it’s an immersion experience. Details here – https://www.petergalbert.com/schedule/2020/7/13/make-a-chair-from-a-tree-with-peter-follansbee-8brcj-7b62n-xafjp-mglkm

If you’re available, follow the link above for contact information.

Joel Paul demo-ing shaving chair parts

slowly getting there.......

Accidental Woodworker -

I haven't said much about my weight lately for good reason. I've been eating everything in sight and I have paid the price. It started this past thanksgiving and I have sputtered and died out trying to get back on the diet bandwagon since then. The drive with the wind in my hair of eating whatever kind of took over for me. The last straw came 3 weeks ago when my tonnage hit 220.8 lbs. I had to suck in my beach ball sized stomach to button my pants. I had made a promise to myself that I would never buy anymore fat clothes so I threw down glove and knuckled down.

Over the past 5 weeks I've lost almost 21 lbs and this sunday weigh in I tipped the scale at 200.6. More importantly I have behaved myself and I haven't cheated once these past weeks and it is paying off. As a reward to myself I went to dinner for lunch and had a boiled dinner. I doubt that it had more calories then I normally shove into the pie hole at lunch at home. I did have a piece of chocolate cake for desert but I'll add an extra couple of miles each day walking this week to compensate for it.

knob base is cracked

I was taking the Union #4 apart for shipping it and noticed that the knob  base had some cracks. I don't remember gluing this but I obviously did. I have no way of knowing if this is going to stay together after I ship it. The problem with these old planes is the wood dries and shrinks and does all other kinds of stupid wood tricks.

 knob retaining screw

I like this method for securing the knob and the tote over the barrel nut and threaded rod that Stanley uses. However, this is a Union plane and the chances of finding a replacement knob is akin to finding a bag full of hen's teeth.

 replacement knob

This is a Stanly knob and it is a wee bit taller than the Union knob. I could use a barrel nut and threaded stud but then it wouldn't match the screw in the handle. The plan was to fill in the counterbore on the top and countersink it for the Union knob screw.

 need a dowel

The counterbore in the Stanley knob is more than 3/8 and less than a 1/2". I didn't have any dowels in the shop that fit in the counterbore.

 nice fit

I punched this through the dowel plate until I got it to fit the counterbore. First step done.

 drilled the hole

I used 3 different sized drill bits to make this hole. I didn't glue the dowel in the counterbore to facilitate any other repairs down the road.

 toast

I tried two different countersink gizmos and both of them just chewed up the end grain. I think I'm on the right track here I just needed to find some way to toughen the end grain to make the countersink for the screw head.

 second attempt

I soaked the top and outside of the dowel with super glue. I let it dry and I applied a second coat on the top end grain.

 countersink bit
It isn't a dead nuts match but the wood dowel is soft and the screw will sink in and compress it enough to make a tight fit.
 

 much better

After I drilled the hole I soaked the top and the inside of the hole with super glue again. I used a countersink made for metal on this and it worked. It isn't as smooth like long grain but it looks even all the way around.

 success

There is a teeny bit of white showing but with use it will blend in with the knob. The important thing is that the screw head is flush with the top of the knob and it is tight and secure. 

 rusty holes

Two of the holes in the plane body were rusty. I applied EvapoRust to all four and let is sit for an hour or so. After that I blew them out with canned air and applied some oil to them.

 Union irons

These irons will fit in a Stanley #4 and a Stanley #4 will fit in the Union. They only difference is the access hole for the chipbreaker screw is at the top on the Union irons. That was because Stanley still had the patent rights to the access hole being at the bottom of the irons.

 packed and the ready to go

I got the plane broken down to parade rest, cleaned, and shined up. Just need an address for it.

Lie Nielsen #4

I wasn't expecting this plane until after the 22nd. I got an email from LN saying it shipped on friday and I got a UPS saturday delivery. The weight of this #4 is more than any Stanley I have and it is noticeable. It isn't like it is something I can't put my finger on. Doesn't effect how the plane spits out shavings at all. Since most of my planing will be done with the LN herd consisting of a 5 1/2, 4 1/2, 4 and 3, I'm sure I'll get acclimated to the extra weight.

 cherry darkens with age

I've had the LN 4 1/2 for 10 years (?) I think. It got shoved aside and I went on a Stanley plane only usage and now the pendulum has swung back to the LN side. I want to engrave my initials on the lever caps of the other 3 planes but I can't get in touch/find Catharine Kennedy who engraved the 4 1/2. Does anyone know of someone who can engrave the lever caps? I would much appreciate a comment or an email on it.

 hmmm......

I keep my Stanley #8 at the back and the LN 5 1/2 won't fit with it there. I'll have to find a new home for the #8 because I want whole the LN herd parked here. 

 sometimes you get lucky

One of the dividers had two of them side by side. Removing that freed up the necessary real estate for the 5 1/2. The Stanley #3 I had in the last spot on the left is now the home of the LN #3. Not sure if I'm going to keep that #3 or try to sell it. 

 this will work

The plan is to make a holder and screw it to the back rail of the workbench. It will be out of the way and won't protrude past the tray right above it.

 change #2

The base is 1/2" plywood as was the first front and side pieces. I didn't like the look of the plywood plies so I switched to scraps of poplar.

 it fits

There is about a 3/4" on the length and a 1/4" on the width for wiggle room. I doubt that it will be a hindrance in any way.

 more plywood hiding

Ripped a piece of pine that I will use to hide the top edge of the plywood. I especially find the thinner plywood (this is 5mm) unpleasant to look at.

super glue to the rescue

The only long grain gluing is on the two thin outside veneers. In between them is end grain that is more the twice of the thickness of them combined. I soaked the end grain with super glue to seal it. There is no way white glue would have glued the pine to the plywood edge successfully.

for tomorrow

I will use accelerator on the pine strip and the gel super glue on the plywood edge. Might be overkill considering what this is and where it will be out of sight and out of mind. But I won't see any ugliness after this.

Figured out why the band saw tilting screw gets tight and the wheel won't turn. It is tilted in and making contact with the wheel cover. There is evidence of it on the top and the bottom of the inside wheel cover. DUH!

accidental woodworker

Gurney's Saw Mill.......

Accidental Woodworker -

The skies were clear this AM when I got up. The weather seer's predictions were proving to be true. Unfortunately the local weather radar I look at everyday was off line. As of typing this post it is still off line. I wanted to make sure the skies would be the same in Freetown as they were in Warwick I had nothing to worry about as the sun was in my eyes doing out to Gurney's (driving east) and the skies were blue with fluffy white clouds. 

 way more than I need

I bought eight, ten foot, 1x12 eastern white pine boards. The cost was $2.95 BF which is up a few cents from the haul I got this past december. It is still cheaper than Lowes or Home Depot and the quality is better too.

 cleaning up the #3

This plane is almost pristine. The japanning is perfect and I didn't strip it and repaint it. The nickel on the lever cap is about 90% with a couple of spots showing copper. You first have to plate the lever cap with copper first before you do the nickel. The only other hit with this plane is one corner of the chipbreaker is rounded. Doesn't effect it making shavings but nonetheless it is visible to the eye.

 big holiday

In my defense this was facing down when I applied the first two coats. Decided to just paint the whole stool brown. I can buy stick on nonskid at either big box store. I think this will be going to my sister Kam to keep for herself or give it to one of her kids.

 got a buyer

Got an interest in the Union plane. I think this was made by Stanley after they bought them using up whatever they had left over. It will go with two irons. The one on the bench is pitted and I bought a Union iron to replace it. 

 pitted edge

This iron is sharp and will spit out perfect RML shavings. However, because of the pitting it leaves furrows of varying widths and heights. If the new owner wants he can put a camber on this iron and use it as a scrub plane. The pitting won't matter for that use.

 one coat of shellac

I want to put at least 3 coats on the frame and have it ready to go to Maria on tuesday. (She is closed on mondays.) I should be able to get two more on it tomorrow and any possible touch up on monday.

 one more to go

I'll have the painting done with this in the AM or PM tomorrow. 

Ran out of gas after lunch big time. I went on my post lunch walk to ACE to get a screw. I got the wrong size and the correct size is too long. I need a 1/4" length and the smallest ACE sells is 3/8". They didn't have any star washers in any size so I'll have to check McMaster-Carr. 

When I got home from the walk I was so tired. I nodded out for over an hour at my desk. It is a strange feeling feeling tired and sleepy like that but not being tired. The cardiologist told me that is a symptom of afib.  But I don't feel tired walking and I don't lose my breath or get winded. It is when I stop that it kicks in. At least it hasn't happened while I am woodworking.

accidental woodworker

I can hear.....

Accidental Woodworker -

 Well I could always hear (if it was loud) but I couldn't understand what was being said. I got my new, latest, and greatest hearing aids and oh boy what a difference. As the audiologist told I can hear now in stereo. Each of my hearing aids has its own computer and each is tailored fitted to the hearing loss of each ear (R&L). He told me the computers in the aids have more computing power than the computer used to take men to the moon and back in 1969. 

On my walk today after I got back home I heard birds chirping. I couldn't hear them with my previous aids. And there is one house I pass by that has wind chimes and they fooled me at first. I didn't recognize the sound because I had either forgotten it or it is something I haven't heard before. On the drive home I was able to drop the radio volume from 20 down to 8. That will make my wife happy. Looking forward to listening to the TV without the volume maxed out on it too.

Miller Falls No 90

This is the clever designation MF came up with for the Handyman line of planes. From this vantage point you couldn't tell the difference between this and a Miller Falls No 9. MF didn't make handyman planes for a long time and they soon ceased making planes all together.

 the frog seat

The toe area of the frog (marking knife) and the top (behind the screw holes) is what the frog sits on. These two areas are not milled for a Handyman plane but were left rough from the casting process. I paid $90 to have these 2 surfaces milled flat and parallel to the sole.

 no frog adjust screw

I am fine with this not being here. I have yet to use it on any plane I have that has this feature. 

 the lever cap

This is the 3rd difference between a MF No 9 and a MF No 90. There is no Miller Falls cast into the lever cap. All you get is a decal. So this along with the frog seat and frog adjust screw these are the 3 and only difference between the two plane models.

 perfect RML shavings

The plane still made shavings before I had the frog seat areas milled but it makes them better now. I'll be adding this one to sell to and I'll be taking a loss on it. There is no way I can recoup the milling costs for it.

 face shavings

Can't ask any more than this from a #4 smoother.

 better pic

Home sweet home for the Union 90° square.

on order

ereplacement parts still has these door closure gizmos but not the wheels (upper or lower). I needed two and with S/H it was close to $40. The screws and the star washers to secure them are obsolete too. McMaster-Carr or ACE should have them. I need a screw and washer for the bottom door.

 first cut

It took some fiddling and faddling but I finally got the blade to track in the middle of the tires. I wasn't able to make this curvy cut before I changed the bearings. I got a 3/8" skip tooth blade installed.

 3 straight cuts

Straight weren't always straight before neither. They tended to wander and go into La La Land. 

 resawing

This is want I need the bandsaw for. I need it to resaw for the the drawer parts to come. This cut is even, straight, and parallel top to bottom. Before I was getting tapered cuts from top to bottom. The right one is what I wanted for this cut.

 3/4" thick

I made 3 resaws on this one piece of stock. First was roughly splitting it in half then splitting one of those in half. The 3rd cut was resawing a 1/16" piece - on the far left. I was happy with all three cuts. All looked to be straight, even, and parallel across all four sides.

 repeat cuts

Did it once more to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke. I used the previous resaws to set this run.

Miller Falls No 8

This is a Stanley #3 equivalent. I am sending this one off to be with the other 3 Miller Falls planes I donated. Checking to make sure it was still spitting out RML shavings.

 ??????

This is the tracking screw for the upper wheel. There is something not quite right with it. With the screw in as much as it will go it gets tough and rough and the bandsaw wheel will not turn. I got it adjusted to where the screw is maybe a 1/2 thread away from stalling the wheel. The part that the this screws into is obsolete and no longer available. I'll have to keep an eye on this.

I think that the bearings failed due to me. I don't release the tension on the blade after each use. That and not using the bandsaw much caused the bearings to fail. I will get in the habit of releasing the tension after each use. Either that or I'll buy the Carter gizmo that sets and releases the tension with a hand lever.

 new clamp bracket

At first I thought Grizzly had sent me another one with an unthreaded hole. Handle screwed in and bottomed out with no hiccups.

 hanging up

The inside edge of this bracket at the top and bottom edges is rough to the touch and hangs when trying to slide it back and forth on the roll pin in the clamp bracket. I lightly filed the two edges and the binding was gone. I am not going to paint it because the filed area is hidden and not readily visible.

 shop temp back to 63F

Got the 2nd coat on the shaker stool. Still have to paint or apply non skid to the top and the step.

 leaving it as is

I will swap out the motor after I finish the upcoming drawer projects. I've been watching the weather for saturday and it is looking good. Rain is no longer forecasted for the AM and I'm going to try to go to Gurney's sawmill. In fact it is supposed to be sunny until 10ish becoming cloudy after then. 

thought it was metric

Started to panic when checking the metric screw thread gauge. Nothing was lining up with the screw used to secure the door closure gizmo. Forgot that the Delta bandsaw is all imperial - I need a button head 5-32 screw and one star washer to fit. Fingers crossed that ACE will have both.

accidental woodworker

Japanese versus Western saws

Working By Hand -

Here is a summary of the pros and cons of Japanese versus Western saws. This is not to say “one is better than the other” but just provide a side-by-side comparison of the features of each.

CharacteristicJapanese sawWestern saw
Kerf
(slit made by cutting)
Thin – removes less wood, requires less effort. Some saws have a kerf as small as 0.1mm.Thick – removes more wood, and requires more effort.
Crosscut: 1.1 – 1.5mm
Rip: 1.3 – 1.8mm
Blade thickness
(average)
0.2 – 0.8mmdovetail / tenon: 0.46mm / 0.64mm
panel: 0.8 – 0.9mm
CostReplaceable-blade saws are generally inexpensive. Hand-made, higher-end artisan saws are very expensive.Good quality new or restored saws can be expensive.
SetupThey are ready to use straight out of the box, no sharpening required.Artisan-made saws are generally ready to use out of the box, others may need some fine-tuning.
Low-endLow-quality saws are generally quite usable.Low-quality saws are often poorly sharpened and can be frustrating to use.
Tooth hardnessGenerally teeth are hard – RC 51-58 (handmade), 61+ machine-made, impulse hardened. Sharper, but more brittle. e.g. Gyokucho saws are RC67.The teeth are generally softer, and require more frequent sharpening. Hardness is typically around RC 52-54.
Crosscut robustnessCrosscut teeth are delicate. It is possible to lose a tooth in circumstances such as tough wood, or hidden knots.Crosscut teeth are robust, much harder to damage.
SharpeningReplacement blades are impossible to resharpen. Handmade saws need to go back to Japan to to a qualified sharpener.Teeth can be resharpened many times (by the user). The resharpening can be done inexpensively.
Blade robustnessSaws are easy to damage (if improperly used), because the blade is so thin, it is easy to bend on the return stroke if the saw isn’t properly aligned or tensioned.Blades are much thicker and unlikely to buckle in use. The teeth are more durable than Japanese saws, and unlikely to break.
Dimensioning lumberJapanese saws made for dimensioning lumber have much shorter blades than their western counterparts and therefore might require more effort (stroke) to do the same work.Western saws for dimensioning lumber are larger, and have longer blades. Less effort to do the same work.
Bench useJapanese saws are designed to be used on low benches. As such they are not as effective in all circumstances.Western saws are designed to be used using saw benches, or similar, 2+ feet off the ground.
SawdustPulls sawdust back towards the cut, and the sawyer.Pushes sawdust away from the cut.
VintageVintage saws are expensive, and not always functional.Vintage saws are plentiful and inexpensive, however they do require learning how to restore and sharpen.
WeightJapanese saws are generally designed to be lighter. A thinner blade and a handle made of softwood.Western saws have thicker blades, and larger handles, made of hardwoods, so the saw is heavier.
Blade lifespanA good replaceable blade will last around 2 years, depending on use. Some blades last a long time.Blades will last a lifetime with proper sharpening.
Teeth-per-inchCrosscut: 14-30
Rip: 9-10
Crosscut: 6-10
Rip: 4-7
Dovetail: 14-20
UsabilityRequires the use of Japanese postures, and holding techniques for work.
Generally two-handed use. Requires some finesse due to the thinness of the blades.
Large cuts do require some experience, due to the smaller size of the blades.
Classic western postures, use of saw-horses etc. Mostly used one-handed.
May be less prone to errors for the novice woodworker. Large cuts are easier due to large size of panel saws.
SustainabilityBlades are disposable, but can be transformed into scrapers.High level of sustainability for a well maintained blade.

more happy days.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 It is looking like I am not going to get a lot of shop time this week. I ate a good portion up of another day being out of the shop. My sister Donna who lives in Indiana wanted some Westerly soupy. Which is an Italian cured sausage called soppressata. I love this stuff with scrambled eggs but I digress. So this AM I was driving south to Westerly to get some from the Westerly Packing Company. I ate 1/2 of the stick I bought for myself before I got home. Got her sticks wrapped and mailed out by 1400.

 from yesterday's blog

I noticed this AM when I posted the blog that a couple pics and some verbiage was missing. Don't know why? This is one of those pics. I made RML shavings from each of the planes I am going to sell. I still have to spit RML out of the Miller Falls No 9 handyman plane. All of these planes are ready to go. I will shine them up and knock off any rust spots.

 test run on the LN 5 1/2 and 3

It took a little fussing to get RML shavings out of both of these. The irons are sharp and made decent shavings but I will have to hone them a wee bit more. Big weight difference between the LN 5 1/2 and my Stanley and Rockford 5 1/2s. Not a deal killer but something I'll have to get used to I'm sure. This was the 2nd pic that got dropped from yesterday's blog post.

 Rockford 5 1/2

This was the last pic MIA yesterday. Perfect RML shavings on the first try from this plane.

 I'll have to rework this

I have a tray at the back edge of my workbench that I kept my daily user Stanley herd in. I'm no overly fond of that and I would rather have them here underneath the bench. I need to reset the dividers (first 5 from the far left) so I can get the LN 5 1/2 here. It will go between the LV jack and the LN 4 1/2.

 Yipeeeeeeee!

I got the bearings replaced in the wheel. I got it right after lunch and I had to fight the urge to install it then rather than do my daily walk. I was a good boy and briskly did my usual walk and returned to the shop to put the bandsaw back together.

 not a blurry pic

It is a pic of the wheel free wheeling. The bearings are working like a champ and it took quite a wheel for the wheel to slow down and stop.

 went nutso

The current motor on the bandsaw is a 1/2 HP and I have always felt like the sawing was under powered. It lacked the balls to do curves and stalled when resawing. I got a Grizzly TEFC (totally enclosed fan cooled) 3/4HP replacement motor rated for woodworking equipment. This saw could be had when I got it with up to a 1 HP motor. I think 3/4 will give me more than enough added torque and power. The only hiccup I see with replacing it is with the pulleys. The key on the motor shaft is 3/16" and I don't know the size on the current motor pulley but I will find out tomorrow. Two choices there - broach it or buy a new pulley.

 motor data plate

Everything else matches the the current motor except for the HP and ampere draw. Both motors are a frame 56 which should mean the bolt holes will line up. I also will have the option to wire this for 220V.

 from Lee Valley

I bought a couple of back ordered items from LV and needed to boost the bottom line to get free shipping. I use tweezers a lot in the shop due to the dexterity with the hands ain't what it used to be.

 current herd on the left

I use the 3rd one from the left the most. For picking up small things like screws, washers, etc it excels and keeps the expletives from free flowing.

 2 of 3

I am still awaiting the 10mm drill bit for 1.25 pitch. The big one on the right will get used today - it is for 10mm 1.5 pitch.

 almost didn't get this

This is a 90° square made by Union and I got it from LV. It cost $25 and I hesitated but pulled the trigger on it. I have wanted a smaller 90° square and you get want you pay for. I believe this will be the perfect size especially so the scale of work I do.

nice finish

Not only does this look good it serves to keep the square where you place it. That is one thing that annoys about the LV 90° squares - the backs are smooth and they will move if you don't tightly hold them down.

 new home

I want this square to be readily accessible and close to these other squares.

 another LV toy

Magnetic pencil holders - 3 of them in a tin.

 how long will it last?

The pencil is accessible here and out of the way. I was surprised by the grip of the holder. I pushed the pencil in/out of it several times and the holder didn't budge +/- one atom.

 I had to do something woodworking

Before I killed the lights I made a holder for the new square. 

 blurry pic of its new home

I got this secured with white glue and super glue. I will snap a better pic of it tomorrow after the the glue as set up.

 one last thing

The drill went up and down without drilling hardly anything. My hand drilling was slightly off square and that was all the drill hit. I got almost no shavings to fall out of the hole.

 nope

Another blurry pic. I ran the tap through the hole again and it went up and down freely. No binding or anything and I did it from ends of the hole. The handle still only went down so far and jammed. I obviously didn't get the correct tap. I'm not sure that trying a 1.25 pitch tap will work. The pitch on the handle is definitely not a fine one and 1.25 is next in line. Supposed to have the new clamp arm tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day away from the shop. My new hearing aids will get fitted and adjusted tomorrow at 1100. These appointments usually take an hour or so. I don't like to start working in the shop and then have to quit to go to an appointment. I'll probably work on the planes cleaning them up and figuring out their individual types and what I did to rehab them. I know a couple of them have replacement handles and front knobs. 

accidental woodworker

Plank and muntin job now completely finished.

Rivers Joinery -

One final trip to Dorset. A last few finishing touches.


There's a fair bit of Devon oak gone into restoring this screen. Then there's the internal windowsills.


The ledge doors with rosehead nails.



New treads for the stairs.


And various other bits and pieces. The whole house is much more in keeping now for a grade 2* 16th century building. Just what it deserves. A pleasure to work on. More of the same please,












big decision.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 brrr.......

The past few days have had the overnight temps close to freezing (0C). That has dropped the temp in the shop 6 degrees F. It had been 63/62 for almost 2 weeks. The first day of spring is right around the corner too. I wanted to get the 2nd coat on the stool but I held off. Before I do #2 I want the temp in the shop to be 60F or higher first.

 Rockford # 5 1/2 iron

The Rockford when I got it had a Stanley iron in it. Over the years I've found that Stanley irons will fit in all the other plane makers. The chipbreaker is a Stanley too.

 shiny and sharp

Got the iron sharp and then I used Autosol on the plane body. The Rockford 5 1/2 has a corrugated sole.

 first try

I got R(ihgt) M(iddle) L(eft) shavings on the first go around. Full width and length - plane is set to munch up any edge chores.

 face shavings

I can't tell any difference between this plane and a Stanley 5 1/2. The Rockford's DNA is indistinguishable from a Stanley. The only difference between the Rockford and a Stanley is the seating for the frog .

 the big decision

This is mostly participated by me donating the Miller Falls planes. These are all the planes I have rehabbed over the past few years. I am not a collector and I will never use all of these. It is time to get them into the hands of someone who needs and will use them. Only one plane is not a type 7 to 12 and that is the 5 1/4 which is a type 16(?). Going on memory with that one.

I have all the Stanley planes from a #2 up to a #8 for the grandsons so I don't need any of these for them. All of them have been used by me in my shop for at least a month and some for man months and even years.

 I have four #3 planes for sale

I am going to keep the far left Stanley #3 because I had my initials engraved on the lever cap.

 two Union Planes

The one on the left is a #3C and I believe it was made by Stanley after they acquired them. The right one is an Union #4. I would like to sell these two as a set but I will break it up.

 4 of 5

I have five #4 planes - these 4 are all Stanleys with one them having a corrugated sole.

 #4 1/2, #5 1/4, & #5

The 4 1/2 has been my daily user for a couple of years. This #5 has a corrugated sole.

 Rockford set of planes

Another group I would like to see go as a set. It consists of a (L-R) #3, #5, and a #5 1/2.

There are few missing planes in the pics as I changed this up as I found a couple of more. I have four #3's , five #4s, one 4 1/2, one 5 1/4, three #5s (2 Stanleys & one Miller Falls), and lastly one #5 1/2 (Rockford).

 two new planes

Lie Nielsen #3 and # 5 1/2. I ordered these yesterday (tuesday) at 1530 and I got them today. Decided that since I was selling the herd I would buy a couple of LN planes to fill in some gaps. 

 not abandoning all my Stanleys

This is going to be my daily user herd. From L to R - LN #3, missing from the pic is a LN#4 (on back order), LN 4 1/2, (missing from the pic) Stanley Bedrock #5 , Stanley #6, #7, and #8. I have used the LN #7 and #8 several times at tool demos and I like them and I don't. Compared to a Stanleys they are very heavy and I guess they are 50-60% heavier than the Stanley equivalent. I don't mind having a mix match like this at all.

 Miller Falls No 8

I am sending this one to be with the other Miller Falls planes I donated. Having the #3 will complete that herd IMO nicely. 

I have one more Miller Falls plane, a #4 that is a handyman. This plane didn't have a machined seat on the plane for the frog to mate to. They also didn't machine the bottom of the frog seat by the mouth. There also isn't a frog adjustment screw for moving the frog. I had that done by a machinist (there is a you tube video on it by Tom from Ox Tools). This plane now performs as well if not better than a regular MF No 9.

accidental woodworker


School of Painting for the Imitation of Woods & Marbles

Tools For Working Wood -

Faux MahoganyFaux Mahogany

If I had to pick the most spectacular "how to" book in my collection, it would have to be "School of Painting for The Imitation of Woods & Marbles / as taught & practised by A.R.van der Burg & P.van der." The original edition was published in 1875; my edition is 1887. While thin, it is huge - medium folio (18 inches or 47 cm) tall. Not only is the book huge, it is filled with samples of work that are printed in fabulous color via the chromo lithographic process. Color of this quality and quantity was rare for any book at the time - and for a book on craft technique, nearly unique.
Faux wood and marble patterns had a real heyday in the 19th century, and this book goes into significant detail on technique and the tools. I don't do graining, but I can appreciate that this is the most comprehensive book on the subject that I have ever seen. I would guess that the reason for its size is to present the color plates in samples big enough so you can both emulate the pattern and see the detail.
closeup of the faux Mahogany plate abovecloseup of the faux Mahogany plate above
You can actually take a look at the entire book on line at the Yale library. The Yale scan doesn't really give a sense of scale and majesty of the original book, but it is complete. My copy has a later binding, but the contents are the same. Here are a few pages to give you a sense of what it is about.
You can see in the closeup of the Mahogany (above) that the detail in the graining is amazing. The two plates for both materials show the original graining and then another layer of detail and depth.
Faux St. Remi MarbleFaux St. Remi Marble

In other news, I will be giving a talk at Makeville Studio this Friday, March 15, 2024, at 6:00PM on Rasps in the Woodshop. It is free and you are all invited.

N.B. I apologize for sub-optimal alignment of the pictures, a result of the book not opening flat. Rumor has it that this may not be the week for experimenting with Photoshop editing without causing an international scandal.

happy days are here......

Accidental Woodworker -

 At 1045 this AM I got some good news. 22 minutes after dialing the TSP (Thrift Savings Plan) and navigating a bazillion phone menus, I finally got to speak to a human being. Nice lady who explained a lot of things I didn't know to me. The upside is I have a pile of money in my TSP plan that is not a retirement account. OPM (don't know what the initials are) is my retirement from the VA. Wow it was nice to feel like an unknowing idiot for once.

I changed the direct deposit on the OPM website (which is the easiest and nicest Federal website I have ever dealt with) from the bank I want to close my accounts on to my other bank account. I opened this one up in 1992 and there is only one stand alone brick bank building in RI. It is located in Wickford which is a good 30 minutes or more from my house one way. I'll deal with that because I try not to go to the bank if I can do it online.

 first coat

Got everything painted except for the step and the top. I'm thinking of putting non skid to those two. I have time to think about it because I still have to get a 2nd coat on the underside.

 calling it done

I brought it upstairs where it is warmer mostly to get it out of the shop. This takes up a lot space.

 it fits

I had to satisfy my curiosity to see if the Delta clamp bracket fit on the Grizzly. It does - screw holes lined up and the sliding clamp arm fits too. The Grizzly clamp arm doesn't move back/forward as nicely as the Delta did.

 rough

Both parts of it where they slide by one another are still rough from the casting process. I'm sure that if I filed it that it would be a huge improvement. I'll take the arm to the paint store and get a rattle can of Grizzly made.

 next project stock

I don't know what this is going to be just yet. This is all the big scraps I have to make something with. I have a bazillion pieces of thin stock that I could make trays or small boxes with but I have more than enough of them. I have plenty of time to think of something.

 possibilities

I couldn't bring myself to toss these were I sawed up the scraps a couple of days ago. These could be useful for making drawer slips for the two drawer projects I want to whack out.

added 3 more

These were in the saw up into scraps pile but I set them aside. I 4 squared all three of them and I added them to the others on the tablesaw.

 MIA

I took out the Stanley herd and put the Miller Falls planes here. The MF planes on are their way westward and I can't find my Stanley 5 1/2. I found the #3 which goes in the back but no 5 1/2. It is a fairly big plane and you think it couldn't hide on me but it is. I thought I had put all four them together on the grandson's big toolchest.

 possible new project

While searching for the 5 1/2 I came across this. I have another one that takes a pendulum (this one doesn't). I had bought a bunch of fancy woods to make sliding lid boxes for wife I could use for the clock box. I asked her about them yesterday and she told she doesn't want anymore. She is no longer the President of the dead people society but is now the editor. She doesn't have to present anything anymore. I might use some of those boards for this clock. 

Paul Sellers last blog post is about making a clock that was one of the first projects on the master woodworking classes. I didn't check the stash today but I will in the AM if I remember to.

Rockford 5 1/2

I don't know much about this plane other than it is from the 1920's. Rockford and Marsh (same company that split?) made handplanes for 4-5 years and then ceased. I never did anymore investigating them. I've had this plane for several years and it is in pretty good shape for sitting idle for so long.

 cleaned up

The iron and chipbreaker had some flash rust on it along with a couple of spots on the plane body cheeks. Sanded from 220 up to 600 removing the rust spots and shining the plane back up. It has a corrugated bottom and I don't have any problems with them. Although I prefer smooth bottom planes first.

 returning it to the herd

The iron looked sharp but I decided to sharpen and hone it. Almost got the bevel established and I'll finish this up in the AM. Mickey's big hand was on on 2 and the little one a wee bit past 4.

accidental woodworker

Making a Rounder Plane: Part 3

Woodworking in a Tiny Shop -

OK, so after gaining the experience of my first couple of experiments, I went into the following with a little more confidence.  I started with a block of poplar 9" long, 2" thick and 2 3/4" wide.  After later adding a 5/8" thick backer, the total thickness came out to be 2 5/8".

This rounder is for 5/8" dowels, so I bored a 5/8" hole through the thickness and then reamed the hole with a 6 degree tapered reamer.  The hole was centered along the length and width of the blank.  For the taper, I made sure not to enlarge the exit end of the hole.  Then I cut out the throat.

Hole reamed

Throat cut out at 30 degrees to a tangent at top of the circle.
The second cut here is at 90 degrees to the first.

You can see from the (roughly) concentric circles drawn on the large end that the tapering did not go as evenly as I'd hoped.  It's tough to get that right.  If I steer the reamer to have the entry hole centered in those circles, then I get the exit end being wonky.  I made pencil marks on the inside of the exit end to gauge progress and to see if I was removing more material on one side than the other.  Well, I was.  I  was getting to one side of the exit hole well before the other side got touched.

Oh well.  I kept going.  Next was to bed the iron.  I made sure the bed was flat and marked for screws.  After affixing the iron, I screwed a backer piece (with a 5/8" hole) to the tool and gave it a test drive.

Marking for screws to hold the iron

Iron in place and backer attached with screws

A first test.  The cut was very rough and I realized the iron was 
not flat on the bed.  (Backer not installed here)

I found that the iron I was using was not flat (not even close); it had a low spot on the top side center (that's the non-beveled side in this bevel down tool).  So I fashioned a cap iron out of a 1 3/8" washer.  This helped flatten it a lot, but was not perfect.

The "cap iron"

Here you can see gap between the iron and bed

Even with this gap, the tool cut pretty well and I produced some dowels with test runs.  I don't have any pictures to show it (though if you look carefully at later pics, you'll see), but I cut sort of a throat in the backer piece too.  I didn't go all the way to the hole - I wanted to have 360 degree support for dowels going through there.  Next pics are test cuts.

First stick cut fits nicely in a 5/8" test hole

Redwood, pine, maple and oak ready for rounding.
All were prepared by making octagonal, then removing facets
to make them slightly smaller than the entry hole. 

Starting the redwood stick

This is the entry side.  I think it helps with alignment to
have the rough stick just a bit smaller than the entry hole.

Maple produces some nice shavings

And this is a nice tight fit

Here's an oak dowel - the shavings are very different from the other woods

They all came out at 81/128".  Just a tiny nudge to the iron can dial them in.

And here's a key element to this that I mentioned in one of the earlier posts.  The iron needs to have it's exit side edge tapered back a little bit to get a smooth cut and a smooth dowel surface.

The pencil is pointing to the slightly rounded edge.  An even more gentle curve would be better.

Up to that point I had the backer piece screwed to the main body.  With the hole aligned very carefully, I glued the backer piece on and cut away the unneeded parts.  Then I cut away some extra material on the ends to make rough handles.  The bungee lathe was used to finesse the handles.

Cut away some material to make handles.
Here you can also see how I shaped the backer in the escapement area.

Shaping on the bungee lathe

Test cut with shaped handles - SO MUCH more comfortable

Put a size label on the exit hole backer

This thing performs great.  It turned out that the misalignment of the tapered hole didn't have much of an effect on the dowels.

But with that success, I decided to make one for 1/2" dowels.  I ran into problems with the tapered hole being more out of alignment with the backer hole.

The dowel is coming out not square to the tool

Here's the entry side.  I've gotta figure out a way to get the
tapered hole and the backer hole in the right alignment.

I'm going to remake the 1/2" rounder and try harder to get the holes to align.

Last thing here: I wanted to include this just to have it recorded somewhere.  When adjusting the bed, I found that the instructions Roy Underhill gave in "The Woodwright's Companion" needed a little tweaking.  He calls for a 30 degree bed angle, adjusted for the thickness of the iron.  But I found that an angle of more like 33 degrees was better.  Although it's possible that if I just made the bed as if the iron was another 1/16" thicker, it would have had the same effect.

And one more last thing.  I found that instead of having the hole centered in the length of the blank, having the hole left of center (for a bed that is angled to the right) by 1/2" would make the throat of the rounder be more centered in the body.  I'll make my next one that way.

frustrating day.....

Accidental Woodworker -

 I didn't get much time in the shop today. What time I did get wasn't enjoyable because I was so worked up dealing with other BS. I got the planes shipped out today and it wasn't that expensive. The pkg weighed in at 17lbs 4oz and with extra insurance it cost less than $40. I was expecting it to be double that. Turned out that this was the bright spot to my day.

Most of the rest of the day I spent running errands and making phone calls. The easiest one was to Grizzly and they are sending me a clamp bracket. One of the best customer service experiences I have ever had. Everything else after that went south on me to varying degrees. 

The one that frustrated me the most was trying to talk to a human at the Thrift Saving Plan - this is my retirement account from the VA. Spent hours punching numbers on the phone dealing with the automated menus. I never got to speak to a human and I never found a menu that addressed my problem. The problem is my retirement is still going to the bank where I want to close out the accounts. 

I tried to do it online and got nowhere. According to what I did I think I got all the information in. Nothing changed from when I first did it 3 months ago. I'll try it again tomorrow because I enjoy being frustrated and feeling like a pile of shxt on my front lawn.

 delta handle

I filed a 'V' notch in the bottom of the Delta handle to make it a homemade tap. It was working albeit slowly. I would screw it in and turn it till it stopped. Back it off and repeat it. Stopped it after playing with it for about 20 minutes. I realized that the threads on the Delta handle are different than the Grizzly handle. Although the Grizzly handle did screw down a little further than it had yesterday.

 the problem solved

According to my tap chart the 10mm/1.25 tap needs a 8.8mm pilot hole. Being 3 thousands off would explain why the handle would only screw down so far. I got a 8.8mm drill on order so I'll have it for the 10mm tap. I also added the drill bit for the 8mm tap I got yesterday.

 too sharp

The corners on the front of the step needs to be knocked back along with all arrisses. Toyed with changing all the screws to brass ones but nixed it. I didn't have enough of them and several these already below the surface. I wonder if putty will stick to metal? I'm going to find out.

 painting the oops

I mostly had to paint brown to cover the black. It only took a few minutes to go 360 around the frame.

 black over brown was next

I only had 3 spots on the black to touch up. 

 6+ hours later

I will need one more brown over black again. I can see a wee  bit of black under the brown and I'll do that in the AM tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

who knew.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 It took well over an hour this AM before I realized that the clocks had sprung ahead. After I get up I usually only look at the time on the computer because that is what I do first thing. I knew it was coming but I thought it was 3rd sunday in march. My wife said she knew it was today but I called BS on that. One of my three Genie wishes would be getting rid of this )(^&$@%*&@P(%)_@ twice a year time shift.

 ACE hardware

Decided to tap the hole for the handle on the new Grizzly jig myself. I had to make two runs to ACE before I got the correct tap. Even then I wasn't 100% sure I got the correct one. Metric taps are labeled differently than imperial. I needed a 10mm tap with a 1.25 spacing. There is a coarse at 1.5 and a fine at 1.0 - this is the space between two threads. I got lucky and got the right one.

 not the same

The handles on the Grizzly and Delta are both 10mm but different pitches. Neither handle will swap to the other one. My metric guide was a huge help with getting the correct sized tap.

 not going to work

The tap handle could only swing a little more than 1/2 way before it hit something. I wanted to use this one because I find it easier to keep the tap running plumb. I had to thread the hole with a smaller tap handle.

 nope

This is as far as I could screw the handle in. Swapped them out and that one didn't go down any further. Chased the threads and the tap ran easily up/down with no binding what so ever.

 I was wrong

I got fooled yesterday with the Grizzly handles. I thought they were wood dyed black but they are plastic. Like this shape better than the tapered conical Delta handles.

I played some more with the threads and got nowhere. I was able to advance the handle a couple of more turns but then nothing. The only thing I can think of is the hole might not have been the 'pilot hole' needed for a 10mm tap. I just assumed that that was done but the threading was forgotten. 


 

 cutting the scraps

I went for a walk after lunch today for the first time since last friday. The cold is gone (I think). Today was the first day after I woke up that I didn't hack up a tea cup of phlegm. After I got back I nodded out at the desk for over an hour. Made it back to shop and sawed up the scraps into smaller pieces.

 sawing stop

I used this to practice sawing. I didn't mark anything but I did eyeball all the cuts to see how square I was doing. I don't like nailing or screwing anything into my bench top but the clamps I tried to use first were in the way.

 for tomorrow

This has had plenty of time to set up. All that is left to do is touch up the brown field and slap on a couple of coats of shellac. Maybe next week I'll get it to Maria at the Frame it Shop.

Looking ahead to this saturday isn't looking too good. The long range forecast is calling for it to be cloudy, overcast, and raining. Thinking about asking my BIL if I can use his cargo van to make the Gurney's run.

accidental woodworker

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