Hand Tools

One of the many projects I’ve been juggling this past week was making a new outside cowl for the headstock of the old-as-dirt-but-wonderful Walker-Turner lathe my pal MikeM passed along to me many years ago.  Exactly how and why I was fiddling with it will be told in a series of posts very soon, but for this moment suffice to say that as I was bolting on a new cowl cover this afternoon I had that sinking moment when you feel a bolt wring off.

Impolite words and guttural moans filled the air.

I’m not sure if the bolt broke because I was feeding it in crooked or it bottomed out, but one thing is sure – it’s busted.  1/64″ below the shoulder.

I drilled out the center of the bolt in the hopes of removing it with the reverse thread bolt extractor.  I then spent the next hours in a (thus far) futile search for the set of extractors.   Wherever it is it is hiding skillfully.

But, I did find some other things I forgotten about, so there is that.

I am booked solid for the coming week so it will be ten days before I can return to this particular migraine headache.  If the extraction fails, I will have to drill out the hole and tap it to the next larger bolt size.  Hardly anything more than a First World problem, but it did cast a cloud over Shangri-la today.

Up for sales is my Lightly used Veritas Large Router Plane. It has 2 blades, Allen wrench, blade sharpening holder, Veritas Router Plane Fence and Veritas Router Plane Box. The router sole has a few minor scratches on it. One knob has a spot that is missing a dime size area of finish, this is how it arrived from Lee Valley. One straight blade, one spear point blade, both have been sharpened and used. The Veritas Router Plane Box is in Near Mint condition. Selling as is, no refunds, no returns. SHIPPING TO THE USA ONLY! Link is below

Veritas Large Router Plane, etc.

Things are looking up. I checked the weather forecast for tomorrow and it now says cloudy all day. There is a 1 in 4 chance of rain predicted for the hours between 0700 and 0900. Those are acceptable odds IMO. I'll be looking at the rain radar when I roll out of the rack in the AM. Cross your fingers and toes with me, the more there are the more the odds improve in my favor.

end grain

I should have oriented the end grain to go from side to side rather than front to back. With it side to side it would have aligned with the sides and top/bottom of the carcass. Regardless, I sanded what I had with my sanding sticks, smooth  and soft as a baby's butt. 

glued and cooking

I'm impressed so far with this new glue bottle. Definitely like the ease it takes to dispense glue but what I like even more is the dispenser tip. So far it hasn't clogged and there has been zero dried glue blobs at the tip. It hasn't been that long but so far I'm impressed with how the tip drains clear. I'll wait for a couple of months more before I make up my mind on it.

gone

I wanted the knot to be in the veneer so bad I could taste it. I tried to trim the edge above it but I got nowhere with that. It kept splintering and I tried cutting it with a saw, a razor blade, and my marking knife. All 3 sucked pond scum at cutting it clean. I did get a clean saw cut when I cut the knot out.

glued and cooking

Glued the veneer on with a caul but it was short on the width. The spring clamps got the top 1/2" or so.

creative clamping

Had to take the quick grips from the front and put them on the rear to make room for the spring clamps. That is why the big quick grip clamps are in the face vice. 

trimming the veneer

I was surprised that I was able to trim the veneer with this veneer saw. This veneer was thicker then most of my other veneers I have. I had glued the veneer on flush at the bottom so I only had to saw a bit off the ends and the top.

pretty good fit

The sides fit but it is stopping at the top front. I planed that and it fit but it was snug at the front sides. Planed that and got a nice sliding in/out fit.

the winner

This is the winner from the choice between 4 brass knobs. You can't go wrong with shiny brass against a dark wood.

hmm......

This is just enough to stand out against all the pine. But I think I should have beveled or chamfered at least the top edge of the drawer enclosure.

last step

Gluing on the back of the drawer enclosure was the last woodworking step. Just needs a finish to get a check mark in the done column.

insurance

The rabbet for the plywood is shallow and only on the top and sides. I decided to add a few brads to help things along.

oops

Got one coat of shellac on the drawer when I noticed this. I forgot to plug the holes on either side. Looks like one more woodworking step to go.

accidental woodworker

 The weather broke overnight and it felt cold today. The temp at 0700 was 71F - 22C with a breeze blowing. It was the breeze that made it feel cold after 4 days of temps in the 90'sF. Cloudy tomorrow but saturday is still forecasted to be a rainy day. Hope that I don't have to wait 11 weeks again before there is another sunny saturday.

hmm.....

It seems that I didn't think the rabbet for the back all the way through. I'm not making a new drawer enclosure so I'll fill this in.

drawer parts roughed out

Initially I was going to use half blind but changed my mind and used through dovetails. Went with through dovetails because I'm veneering the front of the drawer and the tails won't be seen.

dry fit

Back is in rabbets and I am using drawer slips. I grooved the inside of the front for the plywood bottom to come.

dry fit

drawer enclosure

Got the plywood back dry fitted. I'm leaving it off for now. I need the back to remain open so I can get clamps on it when I glue it in place.

3 choices

Walnut at the top left, mystery veneer top right, and big piece of cherry veneer on the bottom. Decided to go with the mystery veneer for the drawer front. I like the sapwood and grain pattern it has. The walnut and the cherry is a bit on the bland side compared to it.

drawer is done

For its size it is a decent size drawer for whatever? It more for looks than for function.

it fits

I got lucky with this. I was expecting it to be much tighter and not fitting at all.

catching here

The right side of the drawer clears but the left side is catching. Must be due to the twist I planed off the bottom. It will disappear once I plane the top edge of the drawer.

hmm......

Drawer enclosure clamped where it will live and the drawer stopped here. Happy with the fit and it won't take much to get a loose, slip fit.

accidental woodworker 

 The high temps of late were supposed to top out today at 71F-22C. But Mother Nature didn't get the memo because the mercury stopped rising at 100F-38C. Tomorrow is forecasted for a high of 71F again but only if the memo gets read.

yikes

This was the temp when I got back to barn after having breakfast. I didn't know then that the high was supposed to be only 71F.

fingers crossed

I was happy that after the clamps had come off that both shelves were still square to the sides.

happy times

This was the shelf I was most concerned about because I used this square to hold it that way when I clamped it. The bottom shelf I had doubts about too because I have used the big black squares before and what I used them didn't turn out square.

hmm......

How do I position the support leg? This was the first option with it centered under the shelf.

2nd option

Support leg flush with the back. Of the two I like the 1st one.

new toys

This glue bottle came up on the sawmill site. Lately it has been flooded with top 5 lists of everything. A few days ago it had a top 5 of glue bottles. What caught my attention was this bottle dispenser supposedly won't clog shut with dried glue.

interesting tip

I bought this kit along with the other glue bottle. I was expecting the bottle in it to be the same as the other one but it wasn't. However, the tips seemed to modeled the same as the none clogging tip.

this tip sucks pond scum

I've been using this style for a bazillion years. For years it has clogged shut with 3 different glue layers. Dried, hard glue at the tip, semi cured glue beneath that, and then a plug of liquid glue.

cautious optimism

I had used this 3 times already and 3 times the tip drained back down into the bottle. No glue stuck in the conical tip at all. The bottle is squishy soft too which makes it incredibly easy to squeeze it to dispense glue.

found it

Three Miller dowels in the top and bottom of the support leg. It didn't need anything more than this because it won't be subjected to any stress.

dead nuts

This is a huge improvement over my last attempt at this. 

for the drawer

Decided to go with a drawer. I need a top and two sides thinned down to 5/8".

caught it

I happened to catch the support leg had a gap, it must of happened when I flipped it to pound the Miller dowels in on the opposite side.

the sides

Initially I thought of thinning this to 1/2-7/16 inches but I chose 5/8". The drawer will be 1/2" stock. I plan on using the overpriced 1/2" poplar I bought at Lowes for that.

house for the drawer

Gluing the sides on one at a time. I let this one cook while I went on my post lunch stroll.

This

popped up

I was glad when I clamped the leg support that I was able to pull 99% of the gap out. I'll trim this dowel head tomorrow.

done

I have been putting off making new sanding sticks for a bazillion years. Checked it off the list today - 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, and 220. I got lucky and I was able to reuse all the sticks except one. The sandpaper refused to come off that one.

opposite side

I used two sides so that one side of the drawer wasn't sliding in/out on the side of the carcass. This also makes it much easier to secure on the bottom, inside corner.

Miller dowels again

Only used 3 dowels again to keep with the number I used on everything else.

twist

There was a bit of twist that I planed off with one run with a blockplane.

hmm.....

This was the second choice. The first was above the larger shelf at the top right. In the back of my mind I'm thinking of putting a 2" square drawer there? I like this placement but I think it is too high. I what more of a height separation between the drawer and the larger shelf.

better

I like this asymmetrical layout. The other drawer is nixed. I think that would make this look crowded.

Tomorrow I'll make the drawer and the woodworking on this will be done. I will be using shellac as the finish, 5-7 coats.

accidental woodworker 

It’s been more than six months since I put this project aside (not my longest hiatus for sure — my Ultimate Portable Workbench project has been dormant and partially assembled for several years now) and the time has come to move it forward.  The Japanese planing beam is something I have wanted since first reading Toshio Odate’s book more than four decades ago (!), and more recently inspired by Adrian Preda’s video from three years ago.

Given the many moons of settling and relaxing it was time to true the beam and remove the 1/16″ of wind it had from one end to the other.  Since I am all about cultural appropriation I appropriated Roubo’s technology for flattening stock, beginning with his winding sticks on stilts.

Using my shoulder plane I shot declining rabets on the necessary opposite sides until the winding sticks aligned.  This picture is just a stroke away on each rabet to be done.

Using my #5 set up as a foreplane to work off of the tapered rabets I got the beam flat in a few minutes.  With that done I rotated the beam 90-degrees in both directions and used a cabinetmaker’s square to square up those edges.  I did nothing to the underside.

Up next — working on the ~400-pound bolt into the base.

 The temp when I got up this AM was already high at 84F-29C. It was 98F-37C when I left for my post lunch stroll. It was 102F-39C when I got back. Warmer today but it felt hotter yesterday. I shortened my stroll today due to the temp. I also took a water bottle with me and I drank it all too. The high for today topped out at 104F-40C. The temps the past few days aren't a normal for june here abouts.

hmm......

It would seem that securing the two shelves is going to be a bit of a PITA. Clamping it wasn't the problem, it was clamping it square that was proving it to be tricky. It took 15 minutes of fussing and adjusting the clamps before I got it square. 

The sides had set up without any hiccups and both the back and front diagonals were dead nuts on.

the small shelf

I anticipated this being the worse of the two but it was easy. I got it square on the first dry fit lickety split. Wasn't too sure once glue went on that I could duplicate the ease of the dry run. 

hmm.....

I saw this shelf on a blog post and I made my version of it in cherry. The drawer is poplar with walnut veneer front. I want to do a similar drawer on the new project. I am also thinking of maybe putting a 'box' with a lid in place of the drawer.

big Miller dowels

I went with the big ones vice the mini dowels. I used 3 at each corner, top and bottom.

cooking

I got all the dowels in and I flushed them. After that I put the clamps back on again until the glue on the dowels had set. I let it cook until after I got back from my stroll.

survived

This went surprisingly well. Nothing anywhere as close to the nightmare I imagined this would be. I only glued the end of the shelf in the stopped dadoes. Tomorrow I'll do the support legs. The plan for them is to secure them with Miller mini dowels. The only hiccup is the room underneath the small shelf. I checked the fit with the drill and the bit and it was too tight of a fit. I can get my 90 ° chuck to fit but I'll have to find it because it is MIA.

accidental woodworker