Hand Tools

Two very interesting books on medieval furniture have been published during the last three years, which I was able to obtain this month: Le Meuble Medieval - ustensiles et ceramiques de 500 a 1500 by Georges Bernage (Editions Heimdal) and Meubles et Ameublements Medievaux en Europe Occidentale - VIe-XIIIe siecle by Cecile Lagane (Presses Universitaires de Rennes). Both books are written in the French language, which is not exactly my forte, but nowadays with the help of your mobile phone and the translate function reading the text is perfectly doable. 

For Le Meuble Medieval this is not even neccesary, as most of the content of the 192 page book consists of photos. The whole set-up gives off the vibe of the DK 'Eye-witness' books and travel guides, but also of articles in the Moyen Age magazine (published by Heimdal) - to which the author also contributed.

The double-sided lectern in on the left bottom of the page can be found as a low-resolution image without any other information on the internet, but in this book you can find a good-quality picture with the information: The oak tripod lectern was sold by the auction Espace Tajan SVV in Paris in June 2012. The height of the lectern can be regulated with the screw thread of the central column, so the provided height could be a maximum or minimum one. Height 147 cm, length 73 cm, width 73 cm. French, 15th century.

The book starts with the early middle ages (6th century) and then makes a jump into the 11th and 12th century (high middle ages), followed by the 13th, 14th and 15th century (late middle ages). The few page articles are ordered by furniture type, as well as country of origin. Indeed, there are clear stylistic differences and overlaps visible between the different regions of Europe. A small part of the book also gives attention to some other household utensils: candleholders, ceramics, glass and spoons. 

An article on English (15th century) medieval furniture in Le Meuble Medieval.

Many of furniture examples were taken from auction pieces of Sotheby's, Aguttes SVV or Prunier. These unknown examples (to me) would have been otherwise 'hidden' away in forgotten catalogues. For that alone I would already recommend the book. There are a few downsides for this book. Some furniture types are hardly mentioned, such as the common north/mid-German pointed armoires (Giebelschränk). Whereas the number of photos is exceptionally large, the bibliography is very short and mostly concerns manuscript illuminations. 

Meubles et Ameublements Medievaux en Europe Occidentale by Cecile Lagane is a bit harder to digest, but it is a trove of information, especially on furniture of the early medieval times, such as the beds of the Anglo-Saxons, Franks and Vikings. The book connects the surviving examples from the early and full medieval period with descriptions in medieval literature and art. It contains a dictionary of furniture items in different languages (like the Multilingual medieval furniture dictionary posts 1 and post 2), and it is lavisly illustrated with photos and construction schematics as well. The book meticulously covers all aspects of each furniture type, from wood, iron and polychrome colouring to its use. This book contains a large bibliography, in which I already found some other interesting furniture literature. 

Meubles et Ameublements Medievaux en Europe Occidentale is more than just photos (there are 173 in this book), it also contains discussions on the furniture, schematics, and tables listing examples of similar furniture (on this page the Noyon armoire type III).

• Georges Bernage. 2025. Le Meuble Medieval - ustensiles et ceramiques de 500 a 1500. Editions Heimdal, St Martin-des-Entrées, France. ISBN 9782840486312. 192 pages, 39 Euro.
• Cecile Lagane. 2023. Meubles et Ameublements Medievaux en Europe Occidentale - VIe-XIIIe siecle. Serie Archeologie & Culture. Presses Universitaires de Rennes (PUR), Rennes, France. ISBN 9782753593749. 226 pages, 34 Euro. 

One of the last two (miniature chest) projects is 99% done, just waiting on pigment to arrive.  The bookcase needs the doors hung, knobs installed, and some touch up shellac work to be 100%. I don't have a warm and fuzzy that I'll get either one completed before the ball falls.

 

it is twisted

I went to the shop after dinner and immediately checked the lid for twist. Sad to say but there was a lot of twist in it. I couldn't check the top face because of the stop but the underside told the story.

I was so concerned and focused on the lid being flat and straight, that it didn't occur to me to check it for twist first. Ignoring this detail has bit me on the arse before. 

it is up over an 1/8"

I couldn't see this twist eyeballing down the edges. Laid flat it jumps right out and slaps you.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

This is the second time I glued back on a chip on the feet. After this had set up I rasped a chamfer on all four. I should have done this right after I glued and nailed it together.

new lid

Sawed off a new lid and planed a twist free reference face.

other face was twisted

I was gentle untwisting this face. My goal was to maintain as much of the thickness as I could.

done

 I didn't make the two faces parallel. My thoughts on it were this - the reference face will be down on the top of the chest. The opposite face just has to look flat and straight, which it does.

hmm......

The opposite face to the reference one - there is a teeny bit of twist but IMO it can be ignored. I left the lid stickered on top of the chest overnight.

AM work

I had an appointment at the hospital this AM. Had a pulmonary function test but I won't know the results until after my MRI on the 9th.  Back from the hospital I played with the new lid. Used the same 1/2 pattern I used the first lid and routed a 45 degree chamfer on the front and sides.

happy face

Got the lid on the chest and no rocking. I had checked the lid for twist before I started playing with it and there was still none.

rasped the feet

The shinto rasp is quicker but I don't like the surface it leaves. I prefer to use this rasp. It is a little trickier to use and you have to rasp in the direction of the grain. The surface is smoother and I find it easier to get a consistent chamfer on each foot.

back stop

New back stop. I did consider sawing off the one on the original lid but nixed it. I had too many scraps to pick from for a new one.

got lucky

I was surprised after checking the two shelves that both were twist free. All I had done to the two of them was to plane away some cupping.

hmm.....

The top had a small bit of twist to it caused my me wandering out into left field fitting the first lid. Corrected that and checked the diagonal corners with a straight edge. I don't know what this proves/checks but I had the straight edge on the bench and did it.

checking the width of the shelves

The front edge of this stop is what the inside faces of the doors will close against. 

hmm.....

 One shelf was short of this by a 16th and the other one was a 16th over.

need to be wider

 I planed the wider shelf a 16th. I had to make the notches for the shelf pins wider. As is there was gap between the back edge of the shelf and the carcass back. I thought of filling the notches in (still might do that) but for now I just made them wider.

it is flush

This was a good feeling. With the shelf width thinned, the left door is flush with the edge of the carcass.

hmm.....

I don't like the amount of movement in the shelves in/out. On the flip side the shelves are the right width and the doors close up flush.Maybe I could a partially fill in the notch to eliminate the excessive in/out movement?

slight gap

I wasn't expecting to see this. The gap on both shelves is about the same too.

sigh

Got clamp rosebuds on the top and bottom. They weren't deep and after eyeballing them, I am convinced that they were caused by the clamp pads. I don't see clamp rosebuds when I use the quick grips.

hinging the lid

I put a few dabs of super glue on the hinge. Positioned the lid and clamped the hinges for a few minutes.

not moving

I have tried this super glue trick without clamping but I didn't have much success. The hinges would pop off with the slightest amount of stress. With the clamps putting pressure on the hinge for a few minutes, no problems. I put two screws in each hinge leaf on the lid. I still have to take the lid off when I finally get around to painting it.

partial ooh and aah

The miniature chest is 99.99% done. It is sanded, all defects filled with wood putty, it just needs paint. The latest update from Amazon says it will come 3 Jan. The other two pigments are still scheduled to arrive on the 5th. Ordered all 3 from the same supplier, why the different delivery dates?

accidental woodworker 

 I came close to finishing this up today but it ain't so boys and girls. I got the glass and the glazing bars installed on the last door and then I ran into bit of a hiccup. I will have to address that show stopper before I can ooh and aah. So maybe tomorrow or tuesday for dancing in the streets of Mudville?

happy face on

This glazing bar had a big gap yesterday that I clamped shut with a couple of ghost sticks. The right side looks like there is a gap but there isn't. Happy with the fit and look of door #1.

hmm......

Me thinks I made a me-steak. I should have applied shellac to the muntins before I installed the glass and glazing bars.

the show stopper

Put the finished door in place and it doesn't fit. The top shelf is definitely too wide. The door is a 1/8" proud laid up against it. The bottom is flush but that could be because it toed in. I might have to make one or two new shelves. Sigh.

oh what a relief

The chest is still square. When I took the diagonal clamp off, the chest didn't groan or move. 

flushing the ends

When I nailed the sides on I left them a couple of frog hairs proud of the end. That way today I could plane them flush.

didn't allow for this

When I adjusted the bandsaw I did it so the front/back were flush in the notch. I planed the rough bandsawn surface smooth and got this. But this is to my advantage. Easier to flush this then deal with the front/back being proud.

sigh

I didn't predrill for the nails and paid the price. I didn't think I needed to do for this because I was nailing into sides. Went back to square one and started again with predrilled bearers.

ouch

The bearers are 3/4" thick and the ends are 3/4" thick. I used 1 1/4" finish nails but all three still stuck out to shake hands with me. Glad that I'm using milk paint on this chest.

bearers done

I clipped off about a 1/8" from each nail and none poked out.

flushed

Filed all the poking nails with a file. One of the clipped ones  poked out a few frog hairs that I filed flush too.

hmm.....

I flushed the top of this bearer with the top of the end ones. A tapered portion over hung on the bottom. Flushed what I could with the violin plane 

2" chisel

What I couldn't get with the violin plane, I got with the chisel. I could have used the chisel to do all of the flushing.

dutchman

I meant to put this facing the inside but it became a moot point when I saw I had another chip/blowout on the opposite face. I enlarged it a wee bit and glued in a dutchman. No need to match grain/color because I'm painting this.

*%&*&_)()(*_+^%@)_$+(

I love my new glue bottle but this red cap I am beginning to hate with a passion. I can't seem to keep it close when I take it off the bottle. I am forever losing it or it walks away on me. It took me 15 minutes to find it this time when I searched for it.

jig time

Made a quick jig to hold the glazing bars while I chopped notches for the glazier points.

2nd door done

Two of the long glazing bars were bowed, one on each side. In the end I got all the bars gap free and down to the glass.

sawing the dutchman

I put a thin piece of wood on the chest to guide the saw so I wouldn't dig into the chest. The portion left proud I flushed with a plane.

done

Again it didn't need to be perfect. The few gaps I will fill in with wood putty.

wee bit of twist

It was rocking pretty good. The sticks showed two lines out of whack which is a healthy amount of twist.

you can knock because it ain't rocking

It took a while but it is laying flat on the tablesaw. No rocking when pushed on any of the corners. However, the chest will not lay flat on the workbench. That is why I use the tablesaw as my reference flat surface.

bottom done

The bottom of the chest was slightly  out of square - the top wasn't. To hide the ugly looking gaps I used the last of my quarter round moldings to keep it down on the bearers. Haven't decided on how to secure them yet. Glue and pin nails or just the nails?

hmm.....

Too much overhang on the front. I am overhanging the ends a 1/2" and I want the front to be the same. The trick there is the front will be curved.

no twist

The lid was rocking and I could see that it wasn't laying flat neither. At first I thought it was the top of the chest but it is dead nuts twist free.

too short

This beam compass is almost 3 feet long but it wasn't enough. I want a shallow curve on the lid and it wasn't happening this way.

first time

I had this flexible layout doo dad for several years. This it the time I can remember using it. Making a half pattern for the front of the lid.

ripping it to final width

The front over hung the front of the chest too much IMO. Nailed a straight edge over hanging the curve so I could run it against the fence to get a parallel cut on the back edge.

hump

The lid still wasn't laying flat on the chest. Just realized as I was looking at this pic that I didn't check the board for twist. I planed the hump and it did improve the rocking some but didn't eliminate it.

hinges mortised

I don't like how these no mortise hinges lay without a mortise. Without a shallow mortise the back end is pushed up about a 1/8".  I don't like the tapered look of the lid. 

like this router a lot

It is only a 1/4" but it is cordless. The balance is good and visibility for seeing the router bit is decent. Used it to rout a 45 chamfer on the sides and front of the lid. I am putting a back stop on this chest too.

glued and cooking

I cut the height down twice on the back stop before I glued it on. I did a 1" round over on the ends and left the rest of the stop square.

hmm......

The mortises weren't flat side to side. I chiseled them even and that made the mortise a wee bit too deep. I try to have the hinges flush or a frog hair proud. With them below the top of the mortise, they become hinge bound.

got lucky

This thin sliver of wood is an off cut from ripping the lid to its final width. With this piece of veneer, the hinges were less than a frog hair proud. Once screws go in it should pull the hing down so it ends up flush.

 Had a good day in the shop and I got a lot accomplished. I have two projects that are both an inch from finish line. The bookcase wasn't the last project of 2025 and the miniature chest might not claim that honor neither. There are 3 days left in Dec 2025 and I might get to start the first project of 2026.

accidental woodworker 

done

I put two more coats on the insides of both doors. Called it done. After eyeballing the doors I noticed that the muntins need another coat or two of shellac. I will deal with that after I get the door hung. 

2nd snowfall of 2025

Got 3 inches of white fluffy snow. Before I got to the shop I shoveled the driveway and the front walk.

3 times wasn't the charm

Before I did this I had to fiddle with the bandsaw. The blade wouldn't track for some reason. Fixed that headache and adjusted the fence for the crosscut on the miniature 6 board chest.

side cutouts

Small cutout for the bottom of the sides. 

doubled them up

Rasped the cutout to the penciled lines and smoothed with 100 grit sandpaper.

glued and nailed

Attached the sides to the front/back with cut nails. I predrilled a 1/8" pilot hole for the nails and no splits. First time I have used cut nails without getting at least one split. I went 20 for 20.

needed some help

I squared this up on the inside diagonals. They were 5/16" off. I will leave the clamp on until tomorrow.

it is glass time

Dry fitted all the glazing bars again. I had to play with a couple of them because I didn't label them.

sigh

I chopped a notch for the glazier points. This one split when chopping it. Initially I glued it with yellow glue and moved on. By the time I had finished all the notches I shit canned this split one and made a new one.

2 down, 2 to go

I did the two small ones to check how the gluing would go. I used hide glue and along with the snug fit of the glazing bars, all is well in Disneyland. I don't anticipate any hiccups with the rest of them.

done

I was bit surprised by how heavy the door was with the glass installed. I put in a couple of ghost sticks because the right long glazing bar wasn't tight and gap free along its length.

glazier points

Setting the points was a bit tricky. I only used 4 per pane of glass. I managed to get them all inserted without cracking/chipping the glass or splitting any of the rabbets.

lid and hinges

I thought I would get this done today but it didn't happen boys and girls. Doing the glass took more time than I thought. I had checked the plans in the book and the bottom is nailed in. No grooves or dadoes. There is also a nailed on molding on the four lid edges. I don't think I'll be copying that detail.

hmm......

This I don't understand. I had dry fitted these a couple of days ago and I had no gaps. All the miters fitted up snug then. Made a new one and got a snug dry fit. I also had to shorten 3 glazing bars. Don't understand how 3 grew and one shrunk.

 I got the glass and glazier points installed in the 2nd door before I killed the lights. I thought I would get both doors done today but I'll have to wait until tomorrow. 

accidental woodworker 

The good words to hear while I was in the Navy coming into port was, "line one going over". That is where I am at with the bookcase project. I am hoping that I will be oohing and aahing over it tomorrow. If not then, then sunday for sure. 

day after xmas 2025

After dinner on xmas I went to the shop and got two coats of shellac on the doors, both sides.

the problem

This rabbet is what I need to stay bare wood. I will be gluing the glazing bars to this. Glue will not adhere to shellac. It will initially but it will fail in a short amount of time.

glazing bar

This edge of the glazing bar is what will hold the glass panes in the rabbets.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

I missed getting shellac on this edge of the glazing bars. I still got four coats on them by the time I killed the lights.

hmm......

Figured out where the knobs will live. The astragal on the right door is eating up some of the real estate  where the knob should go. I can't center the knob on the right door but I can on the left one. Decided to center the left one and try to get the right one as close as possible to center without the knob eating up any of the astragal.

hmm....

I wasn't expecting these long ones to launch into stupid wood tricks. I could clamp these as I glue them but I don't think that is a good road to travel. Instead I will make 4 new ones - I have plenty of extras.

sigh

I made two and I thought I could use the other two original ones. Not so boys and girls. Two new ones at the top and bowed ones beneath them. I whacked out two more.

almost done

Both doors will be done come the AM. I have four coats on the inside and 5 on the outside. I will keep adding coats to this side until it matches the shellac build on the astragal. I am awfully close to that here but I need at least one more coat to make sure.

3 extras

I think the shellac had something to do with the long glazing bars going nutso. Before I applied any to the edges, they were all flat and straight. I had to make two more for the other door. The other two original ones are iffy. They bowed a bit and I think I can glue them but I'll have to wait on that. I have extras to make two more if needed. 

The 6 new ones I made are still flat and straight after getting 4 coats of shellac. Fingers crossed they will still be that way in the AM.

the 3rd one?

The bookcase was not the last project of 2025 and neither was the platform for the tower computer. This is the stock for a miniature six board chest. This one could be the finale for 2025.

where the idea came from

The six board chest is one of 3 projects I will be making from this book by Kerry Pierce. The 8 drawer chest to right of it is the 2nd one.

the 3rd one

I am jazzed about this project. Making a blanket chest with a drawer has been on my to do list since I watched Normie make one in season two(?) of the New Yankee Workshop.

I intend to paint the two chests with milk paint. I ordered a blue pigment for the miniature 6 board and red for the larger one with a drawer. I also ordered some black pigment - thinking of painting the miniature lid black. Maybe. Just thinking ahead.

less than an inch

I have almost emptied another can of shellac.  I almost done applying it but I think I have enough to finish the bookcase. It is just the glazing bars and how much can they soak up?

accidental woodworker 

 

 

empty

I barely had enough shellac in the empty can - what I did have I poured into the front can. Surprised that I blew through an almost full can so quickly. I'm happy with how the  shellac laid down and looks. No hiccups with  5-6 coats I have laid down so far.

before I forgot

Used this carbide scraper to clean up any glue squeeze out in the rabbets. Wash, rinse, and repeated for the other door.

almost

Got three coats on the shelves and one more to go. That one went on after lunch.

one more

The base has 9 coats and the interior has 4 right now with one more to be applied. That means the carcass will get a check mark in the done column today. 

last two

These are going to be a PITA to do. It isn't the brush work but avoiding getting shellac on the vertical walls of the rabbets. I need them to be bare so the glue has something to grab on. I have to be picky doing the glazing bars too. I will need to avoid getting shellac on the outboard edge and the miters.

accidental woodworker

sneak peek

The door astragal came out better than I anticipated it. It doesn't stand out or command any attention. To my eye it is subtle and blends into the background. On the flip side of the coin, it hides the gap on the latch side of the doors perfectly.

hmm......

The shelf that I flattened twice is good. No stupid wood tricks overnight. However, the other shelf felt like it was not getting any love. It cupped a little and too much to ignore.

sigh

Flattening it didn't take up much time. I got full shavings across the width by the third planing run. Stopped there and called it done. The hump on the opposite face I just knocked down. I didn't go nutso getting full width shavings. I didn't want to thin the width anymore than necessary.

????

Not sure what this is. It is soft and squishy but it doesn't look/feel like a pitch pocket. It doesn't smell like pine pitch neither. Clueless as to what it is but I will remove it and put a dutchman in.

squirrel grain

Got some ugly looking blowout when I flattened this face. The grain reversed on itself 3 times where the blowout happened. Got some on the opposite side too. I will rip this off and glue a filler strip on.

too thin

The first strip I ripped was too thin. I had zero wiggle room with it so I ripped another one. Made that one twice the thickness of the first one.

glued and cooking times two

Filler strip on the edge and the dutchman glued and cooking.

done

Happy with how this dutchman turned out. It is almost invisible. I don't mind doing these types of repairs/fixes because this is a shelf. For the most part it will never be seen - the dutchman or the filler strip on the back edge.

sigh

The notches for the shelf pins didn't line up. The width of the two shelves were dead nuts on. Not a big deal, made the notches a few frog hairs wider.

fingers crossed

Everything else I can cross I am doing too. I don't have much more to do before the oohs and aahs commence. Still need to get at least two more coats of shellac on the carcass. After that all that is left to shellac are the shelves and the doors.

So far the bookcase has consumed almost one quart can of shellac. Glad I have three more in backup.

done

This is the finale for me in the year 2025. Four coats on the top and I'm calling this done.

Yikes

It is toast. I vacuumed the area around the desk and I pushed the computer away with my foot and paid the toll. The hard drive connector snapped off and it won't stay on. If I didn't have the fans on order already I would have given this free introductory flying lessons. 

temporary set up

I have gotten used to the size of the monitor and the display on the laptop ain't making the cut anymore. While I wait on parts and fixing the desktop I'll use this - might even configure a two monitor setup.

dead weight

The platform stand looks good and raises the computer up from the floor. Of course the laptop power connection is on the left side so the cord runs across the desk over to the power strip on the far right.

17 years old

The SATA hard drive in the computer is 500G and this one is 160G. This is more than adequate for me as I don't save or run any programs that need this much space to run. I had 21 hard drives and 20 of them were IDE - this is/was the only SATA drive I had. Still in its original packaging, unopened. I'll bring the two drive to a computer shop and have them mirror the 500G unto the 160G hard drive. 

I wasn't expecting to piss away two hours playing with the computer trying to get the hard hooked up and working again. I was a bit frazzled and frustrated and I didn't want to go to the shop and screw up something there. Stayed upstairs and calmed down. I'm just applying shellac but no reason to risk doing something stupid and boneheaded. There is no time line on getting this bookcase done. 

accidental woodworker 

Click the thumbnail photo link below to check out the latest video.

https://www.youtube.com/@ScottWunderWunderWoods

 Merry christmas!

Though there is no snow

for northern new mexico 

this christmas,

i hope you have a wonderful time

with friends and family!

I was asked by a customer to create a cool conference room table for his construction company. He may have said “super cool” or “coolest ever”, but that’s a pretty high bar, so let’s just stick with cool. Either way, it was a challenge that I gladly accepted. Now, I don’t want everything I work on to be a challenge, but I do like to be reminded that I am alive and have something to contribute every now and then, so I said yes. I especially liked this challenge because I got to do some design work with no real limits for a great customer who I have known for a long time, and I knew it would go swimmingly.

I started off with a bunch of sketches (way more than I show in the video link below), many spread out over several days, so I could let the ideas ruminate. I drew a few of my favorites in SketchUp for presentation to the customer, and he picked out two of them – one for the conference room table and one for their “war room”, where they hammer out bids. The war room table was drawn originally at 14′ long, but was resized to better fit the smaller, more intimate room.

The war room table during delivery and setiup. A good view of the heavy legs between the chairs. The war room table fully set up with chairs.

The design he chose for the conference room table features two arches leaning in towards each other and appearing to go through the top. I knew it was going to be a demanding build, so I took the time to make a mock-up for the customer. I don’t normally do this, but I thought it would give me a chance to really think about the construction and it would give the customer his last and final chance to raise concerns before we started throwing time and money at the project.

The model building was quite fun, and very helpful. It allowed both of us to see what the final table will look like with the actual wood and stain color. Plus, it was just fun to have a little model of a table to show off, so much so, that both of us were hoping to keep the model after it was completed (I let him keep it).

Click on the thumbnail photo below to see a video of the table design process and the model build.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

And they said, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary?”

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

 

I pray for you to have a blessed Christmas with loved ones and that you are celebrating the Incarnation, through whom we can be reconciled with The Creator.

 

squeezed in one more

This is a teeny table for my desktop computer. It is now the last project of 2025. The top is bowed a wee bit but I was able to clamp it flat to the base when I glued it up.

hmm.....

The shelf I flattened yesterday did have stupid wooden tricks still up its sleeve. This end of the board cupped across the width again. The opposite end is flat - ish. The center of the tree is about 4" in from the far end of the board. That is what is causing the cupping.

still cupped

I had planed the hump on the underside of the board first. It made that flat but did nada to top side. Took it back to the bench and planed directly across the board just on the right end. Stopped once I got full width shavings.

sigh

When planed the molded edge again, I got some tear out along the top edge of it. Used the small record plane to remove it. I had to do it at a slight angle but you can't see it unless you eyeball it up close and personal.

looks better

The top shelf is the one I flattened. From six feet away it looks flat to the eye. It still has a wee bet of cup - there is light under a straight edge but it isn't too bad. I'll evaluate it again tomorrow.

computer table banding

Nailed on the banding using butt joinery. The nails didn't pull the bandings tight to the edge so I had to use clamps.

door astragal

Thought about this and decided to glue the astragal on before applying any shellac to the door. I clamped a board spaced 3/4" from the door's edge. That was to keep the astragal from shifting when I clamped it. I covered it with wax paper because these clamp pads will mar and leave their imprint on the shellac.

getting there

First coat on the carcass. I have four coats on the base and I will apply more shellac to the base as I do the carcass.

almost done

 3 coats on the base and I'm calling it done. With any luck I'll be able to get 3 coats on the top before tomorrow.

the fix

The tapered filler is visible but only up close. Standing directly in front I couldn't see this.

smaller fix

The bottom left corner tapered filler is smaller. This one disappeared even more than the top right one.

accidental woodworker 

The distinction in greetings often differentiates American from our UK English. One continent generally says a, “Merry Christmas,” and in the other it’s more likely to be “Happy Christmas.” Having lived in the USA as a ‘resident alien’ with rights to live and work, pay taxes to two revenue services, be that HMRC (His Majesty’s...

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Not to interrupt your holiday preparations, but just a quick post to let you know that Pete Galbert has just published his full schedule for 2026 at Peter Galbert Workshops. It’s a great lineup of classes with Peter Galbert, Peter … Continue reading →

 The end is in sight now.  The only woodworking step left that I can think of is gluing the glazing bars in the rabbets. Shellac went on today. It is going to take a while to get the shellac on this bookcase. The doors are going to take the longest followed by the bookcase. The shelves will be easy but they will hog a lot of real estate while they get the finish applied. It is going take a couple of days to get it done.

hmm.....

I was sanding this when I noticed the ends were wonky looking. I shot the ends on the shooting jigs just enough to clean them up and get them back to square.

almost an 1/8"

This shelf cupped on me. I could see it no matter where I stood to eyeball it.

test pieces

I applied shellac on the face and edge. From how it flowed and its liquidity, I would guess the cut was around 2lb. 

flattening the shelf

I didn't go nutso on this. I basically flattened it by eye. I was only going to do the top face but I could see the hump on the opposite face. I planed most of the hump away - stopped when it looked good to my eye with it in place.

done

Smoothed both sides with the #3 and called it done.

looks flat

There is still a wee bit of a cup but to my eye it looks flat. I'll check it again in the AM to see if the shelf has any stupid wood tricks up its sleeve.

two coats

About 15 minutes after the first coat I put on the 2nd one. First coat dried and the 2nd one laid down over it without any hiccups. I was happy with whatever pound cut I had mixed.

ouch

Went to the House of Glass and got my 8 pieces of glass. $59 and change to walk out the door. Glad that I don't have anymore frames I can use for doors.

nailed it

The glazing bars weren't too thick. With the glass installed the bars were flush with the door. If they hadn't been flush I would have planed them flush after the glue had set.

last re-mix

I transferred shellac from the full can into the empty one until they were roughly the same level. I started first with a cup and 1/4 of alcohol to see how it laid down.

first coat

The 1 1/4 cups of alcohol were ok. The first coat laid down about the same as the two test pieces. I now have  4 quart cans (mostly full) of shellac. I shouldn't have to mix any for quite a while. 4 cans should be more than enough for 6 months.

hmm.....

I like this putty a lot. It is a good color match for pine and it is easy to apply. I got a tube of it when I stopped at the paint store to get my empty quart cans.

first coat

The plan is to do the bottom and back first - 4 coats. After that I'll do the rest of the bookcase. Along with this I am also doing the door astragal at the same time.

the true last project

Making a raised platform for the computer. This should help with how much dust gets sucked up into the the computer.  The base is 1/2" plywood with poplar legs and pine rails. I used dowels to connect/secure the legs to the rails.

I will glue the plywood to the base and cover the plywood edges with pine bandings. That will happen in the AM.

door astragal

This has 4 coats of the final mix of the screwed up shellac. Coverage is good and it is shiny. I am happy with the shellac and how this looks. I'm calling it done.

blurry pic of my computer

The computer is running a little better than before. One fan is still making an occasional noise. It is not constant but comes and goes. The fans I ordered are coming from England and they shipped with delivery scheduled for Jan 5th. Until then I'm going to leave the side panel off.

accidental woodworker 

 I was asked by a friend who runs a commercial diving company, if our company could help in making new fenders for Oddesundbroen. 

He said that the job was so unorthodox, that he immediately thought that we would be the right ones to do it. The thing is that the fenders are made out of wood, and since the base pillar of the bridge is round, the fenders had to be sawed out to a 15 foot radius, and they had to be made out of 10" thick azobe / ekki (tropical hardwood).

There were also some smaller parts that needed to be mounted, but they were just made from straight pieces, so they weren't equally challenging.

The first step was to make a template so I had something that I could use for marking out the fenders. 
The template was then placed on top of the azobe planks 10 " x 20" x 10feet

The newly purchased Mafell ZSE330K was originally purchased with this specific project in mind, and performed brilliantly. 
Given that the wood was so thick and hard, I found out that by attaching an elastic securing strap to the saw and to the end of the wood, it would help by giving a fixed pull, so I didn't have to push quite as hard to saw the curve. Every now and then I would reposition the elastic strap another 8" to make it smooth.

When all the pieces were made, I helped installing it at the bridge.
The entire project had been a little delayed due to the delivery of the wood as far as I have understood, so we were challenged by having to do the actual mounting in November which is not the optimal month for outdoor working in marine environments.

The diving company had deployed a working barge, a small work dinghy and a work boat for the job. The barge had a small tool storage shed/ workshop onboard, and a hydraulic crane plus a generator.
The work boat would tow the barge out to the bridge, and we would secure it to the bridge pillar and get to work. 
The waves, heavy current and tide were all factors that we tried to work around. Some days the wind and waves would make it impossible to work safely, and then we'd try to do some preparing in the small harbour, and other days we just had to cancel it all.

We had completed the hinged bridge pillar part of the project, but the abutment pillar still had to be re-fendered. I had helped in removing a lot of the old wood fenders on that, and the old rubber fenders as well.
Sadly, the weather turned so bad in the end of November, that I was unable to see the project completed since I had to return to sea and my regular job. 

All in all a very challenging and satisfying project to have worked on.

Going through my pictures, I can see that I forgot to take any of the newly installed curved fenders.

2 down, 6 to go

Things were going slowly today. Yesterday I got a pain in my shoulders and it hasn't gone away but it has diminished a wee bit. Doing the glazing bars wasn't stressful and while doing it I didn't feel the pain in my shoulders. When I am idle I definitely can feel it. Better to keep busy.

done

I like the repetition of this work. Rough saw the miters, shoot the miters until it fits, then move on to the next glazing bar. There is satisfaction to the rhythm of the work 

hmm......

I gotta fix these divots. The doors should look good from either side and this would stick out like a neon light.

one down, one to go

With all the glazing bars I made I couldn't find one that matched the color of the door.

glued and cooking

Time to go fill the pie hole. I finished this after lunch.

made a command decision

I have been eyeballing the backstop for a couple days and something kept nagging me about it. Dawned on me this morning that it was too high.

much better

This is what this should be. Small, unobtrusive, almost like it isn't there. I like this look. Just high enough to stop things from falling off at the back but also like you have to look twice to see it was even there.

glued and cooking

Glue only, no screws or nails. The only woodworking left is the two shelves. I think that is it.

boo boos fixed

Planed them flush and you can see them. They don't stand up and slap you, but they are noticeable if you look.

shelves are next

The shelves final width is 9 1/2". Kicking myself for not gluing up stock to get a wider width. However, this would still work for 60% of the books I have. 

my favorite molding plane

I have been molding this profile on all the shelves I've made in the past 2 years. It is a Preston plane and the profile is an ogee?

done

I had to trim both shelves to fit the opening. The front to back was slightly out of square. It was wider at the front tapering in towards the back. I planed a small taper (a strong 32nd) on each end. No problems with the shelves fitting in any of the positions. I chopped four mortises on the bottom of each shelf for the shelf pins.

hmm....

The shellac on these two sticks is thick. Way thicker than what I see after one coat with my normal mix. I had gone out before lunch to the grocery store intending to stop at the Dollar Store to get measuring cups but I forgot to do it. Went and got a red set just before quitting time.

need one more can

I took half of the contents of one of the shellac cans and filled the empty one. After that I put a cup of alcohol into both cans. I'll repeat the same for the other shellac can. The paint store they should have quart cans in stock on monday. I guess-ta-mate that I have roughly a 2lb cut now in these two cans. I'll be trying it out on some scrap to check that out.

accidental woodworking 

 Last night my desktop computer finally gave up the ship and sank. The intake fans were noisy, the CMOS battery voltage was low, and the knife in the heart was the keyboard stopped working. Since the desktop isn't heavy enough to be a boat anchor, I now had a big ass paper weight.

dust bunnies

See the pile of dust bunnies above the light spot? This was just one of several inside the computer. All told I think I sucked up about 9 pounds.

yikes

The silver and copper thing is the CPU cooler. The black thing in front of it is where the intake fans are. I wasn't expecting to see this much and it is mostly my fault because I have only cleaned out the computer once in the last 4-5 years.

hmm....

The outlet side was clogged shut - very little air was moving through the grill. There are two fans there. One blows air across the CPU cooler and the other blows air across the memory sticks. There is no fan on the CPU cooler.

took a while

A search on line said there was a fan on the CPU cooler. It ain't so boys and girls. The fins on this were full of dust bunnies too.  I got the board clean after 30 minutes of brushing and vacuuming.

silent

Both fans are working with no noise coming from either one. Neither one wobbled and both seemed to spinning freely.

CMOS battery

These button batteries last for a long time in computers. This battery is common and I got a replacement at CVS.

the noise maker

One of the fans started to make noise and this was the cause. This explains why I heard the noise off and on. I thought it was the bearings in the fan being toast.

I got two replacement fans on order for $19 each. I got them from Amazon and they had the same fan for a low of $19 all the way up to $59. Same maker, same specs, so why the discrepancy in the pricing? I should have them the week after xmas. I'll limp along with what I have for now.

sigh

This is where I found out the top keyboard was toast. I changed the batteries first and nada. My spare board worked. The computer booted up and loaded with no problems. Home page came up and YouTube worked perfectly. Other than one of the fans making a little noise all was well again in Disneyland.

battery leaked

Changed the batteries again and nada again. I saw this and said ok, problem found? Cleaned it and tried the batteries again. Keyboard working again. This is something I check frequently, usually once a month. I also check my flashlights for battery leaking. I've lost 3 of them in the past few years.

back to the bookcase

Started finishing up last bits of woodworking. Glued and nailed the quarter round to the base starting with the right short side.

done

The left side short quarter round was last. It took 6 plane the miters and checking before it fit. I am happy with miters, all four corners are gap free.

hmm.....

Sneak peek at the astragal. I like that it doesn't stick out or over power the simplicity of the doors. 

huh....

This I don't understand. I had already trimmed and leveled the tops of the doors. The first time it was the left one and now the right one is a wee bit high.

last thing for today

Just before this I had nailed the cove molding in the top back. I glued toothpicks in the screw holes. I had put in and taken the doors off so many times the holes were enlarged and the screws weren't biting anymore. I am going to try and wait before I put the doors on for the final time.

Didn't get as much done on the bookcase that I thought I would. Getting my desktop computer back up and running again ate up a lot more time than I expected. One of the last things to do is to glue on the back stop on the top of the bookcase.

came today

If memory serves me still, Stanley was called the Rule and Level company in the 1850's. I was a history major until I switched to business. I like reading the histories/biographies of companies and people. This author also wrote a book on Stanley planes which I have in my library.

eye opener

I got this book a few years back and it blew me away. I had assumed that rules were just inch scales etc. I was wrong, so very wrong. I couldn't believe how many different types of rules were made. Each industry had their own needs that went beyond simple measuring rules. It was eye opening and interesting. I've read and skimmed through it several times since I first bought it. 

accidental woodworker

My advocacy for high-demand hand tool woodworking doesn’t preclude machining wood: it never has nor will. I don’t own or use power machines like chopsaws, power planers, tablesaws, mortisers, spindle moulders (shapers USA), their smaller cousins, power routers and such like that, and that’s from both personal choice and my advocacy for the art and...

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It's taken a long time, but we finally have a shop open at www.jonbayescarving.co.uk. There will be carving for sale, and the main access point to courses on there.

Taster courses; try before you commit. Pop in to the shop and sample our wares!

The shop should become more populated in the coming weeks.