Hand Tools

The build is coming to an end. I have stained the piece with an oak stain and will apply garnet and blonde shellac.

 Into some days the fecal matter rises to and above the armpits. That is the way I felt today. I had noticed water on the deck around the sharpening bench but I thought it was from water I had spilled. I had wiped that up but the puddle was back and expanding. My whole house water filters were throwing the hissy fit. The dirt and sediment one was fine but I could follow drops of water coming from the taste filter. The shortest version of the story is I couldn't fix the leak. The gift of my kingdom came down to an o-ring that I couldn't find anywhere.

ready to unclamp

I have to get going on this if I want to get this Maria on saturday. I couldn't work on the cupboard so I jumped into this.

no stupid wood tricks

I learned my lesson with not doing this with the first drawer. These two are flat, straight, and twist free. The other two have some twist I'll have to deal with before planing them to a 1/2".

a PITA

To get access to the filters I have to pull the sharpener bench away from the wall. Doing that puts a serious crunch on where and how I can navigate the shop. Not to mention all the crappola on the sharpener bench that I had to find a new horizontal home for.

before I played plumber

I got the inside bandings fitted. All they need is to be painted and they can be glued in. The outside bandings are a wee bit long still. Only the first one I did is fitted for its side. I'll adjust/plane/fit/glue them one at a time as I go around the picture frame.

isolated the leak

The loop with the filters can be isolated from feeding the house. I did that so I could change the filters without accidentally flooding my shop. With no water pressure on the left filter (charcoal for taste) it wasn't leaking. With pressure it was dripping a leak at a steady rate. I left the pressure on and bypassed the filter (built into the filter itself) and it still leaked. But it wasn't as steady as it not bypassed and with pressure.

I spent the next bazillion years driving around trying to find a replacement o-ring. Lowes no longer sells the Omni Filter U25 nor does it offer any parts support for it. I found this to be a common theme every place I visited. I got a lot of sympathy and "I could help if I had the o-ring" comments.

I went Amazon and find an o-ring but it was a compatible set. I what an o-ring that is an exact replacement. So after pissing away over an hour on the WWW I ordered 2 o-rings made for the Omni U25. With S/H it was $23 and I'll get it ??????

rust

It worked as is but I will take it apart and check out the internals and clean off the rust.

first coat

While I was at Lowes I bought a color sample of red and black. The red looks a lot lighter than the color stick. Hoping that it will darken as it dries and if not I'll buy another sample.

flushing the drawer bottom

First I sanded the cupboard and all the dings and bumps I had filled in. I found two more that I'll sand when I do the cupboard again with 220. Then it was time to flush the bottom of the drawer shelf. I removed most of it with my #6 which has a heavily cambered iron. I squared it up with the blockplane and left it a few frog hairs proud. I did that so I can do the final flushing after the drawer is fitted.

hmmm....

More than a wee bit proud. I had forgot to get a clamp on the back when I glued it up. It is flush at the opposite end so I had about half of it to knock back. Used my Lee Valley bullnose plane as a chisel plane and for the first time since I've owed it, it worked for me. I would knock some down and check my progress with a straight edge. Kept at until I was flush here with the rabbet.

thinning the drawer stock

Using the same dimensions as the first drawer - 3/4" front, and 1/2" sides and back. Stopped here as this is as high as my saw blade will go up.

the best of the failures

Supposedly my 14" Delta bandsaw will resawn up to 6". Well boys and girls it was a struggle. I tried four test cuts and all were toast. This was the best of them and it is tapered. I could see and feel the blade wander as I pushed it through it. I didn't feel like resawing three of these by hand so I did it on the tablesaw.

thicknessing

The scrub removed the web, the 5 1/2" got me to the knife line, and the #3 smoothed it all out.

checking for twist again

This had a wee bit on the rough sawn face that I planed off. I don't want any surprises when I dovetail this new drawer up.

done

I fitted the parts to the drawer opening and I sawed the front short on the R/L when squaring the ends. I had to make a new drawer front but luckily I had extra stock. I didn't have to use the second 1"x12" board.

snug fit

Something else I didn't do with the first drawer.

quit early

Stickered the drawer stock to give it one last chance to do any stupid wood tricks. Moving the bench out and back along with all the up/down chasing the leaks wore me out.

came today

These are springs for the Moxon vise that I got from Rob Cosman. I could have searched and bought them from McMaster but Rob had already done all the leg work. These springs fit a 3/4" acme screw rod which is on my Moxon. I'm looking forward to not having to pull open the vise jaw anymore.

accidental woodworker

Hey folks, I’m back in Japan and back to the blog after another stint away in the US to assist Yamamoto-san of Somakosha in teaching a Japanese timber frame workshop in Maine hosted by Jason Fox (Never Stop Building). The project was a major undertaking. Overall the structure was about 6.25m x 12.5m (~20′ x… Read More »2024 Maine Timber Frame Workshop

The post 2024 Maine Timber Frame Workshop appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

The first couple of times I taught Introduction to Historic Woodfinishing about forty years ago, I would send a “tools and supplies” list for the participants to acquire on their own, and indicated we would be working on their own projects and work exercises in the class.  It did not take me long to realize that at least one person in the class would arrive with the wrong tools and supplies (usually making substitutions that were inadequate) or arrive without a project, in which case we were running around last minute to come up with some pieces of wood for them to work on.

A turned walnut spindle for each student to learn finishing on curved surfaces.

A pile o’ hardwood and luan plywood panels for each of the exercises.

Ever since then I have found the only way to fulfill the syllabus was to provide everything for every student, an undertaking that is not an inconsiderable resource sink.  But, this way everyone gets the full experience I have planned for them.  (I found the same hurdles to my Japanning classes and employed the same solutions.)

For the past several days I’ve been assembling all the necessaries for my upcoming class, including bins of work pieces, supplies, tools, and cases of jars.  Among them is a couple hardwood panels (one mahogany, one cherry) to compliment the plywood panels that suffice for most class work.  To that end I spent the day yesterday resawing six cherry panels (22″ x 11″ x 5/4″) and mahogany panels and am working through hand planing them.  My approach is to usually flatten cross grain and finish along the grain.

I don’t know if it has been the recent months of absence from Shangri-la or the fact that I am completing my seventh decade, but this morning my shoulders and hips are barking.  Loudly.

Nevertheless I enjoy immensely the shop floor aesthetics at the end of a very productive day.

 Today is/was my wife's birthday. Her present from me was to go with her on her dead people trips (she is a certified genealogist) and they do to lunch. The birthday present used to be dinner but over the years it has switched to lunch. I did get some time in the shop but it was abbreviated for sure. Just as well as I'm dead in the water and I had to take a step back on the cupboard.

On the worse side of the coin, I have gained a lot of weight. So much weight that my pants don't fit anymore (I've been wearing shorts for over a month). I shitcanned all my fat clothes and this AM I made a road trip to Wally World to get a pair of jeans for today's outing with my wife. Kind of depressing but it is what it is. Buckling back down on my starvation diet sucks pond scum but getting fat and possibly diabetic is worse than that. I had a good few weeks filling the pie hole with all the things I missed so I'll have the memories of that to sustain for the dieting weeks to come. Wish me luck.

changed my mind

I didn't like the thought of leaving the bottom sans a door. It looked funny to my eye and that was due to the depth. If it was a bit shallower I would probably be ok with it. However, the door is back in mostly because I have a tile specifically coming for it.

this is a memory

This drawer is history and I'm not using it. I'll be making a new drawer and starting over again from square one. FYI - be prepared to cry a lot when you change plans midstream and reverse yourself after that. 

confirmed

The drawer diagonals are 3/8" off on the inside and the outside. Initially I thought the inside was within a 16th. I obviously read the tape wrong. The 18" Starrett confirmed that the drawer is a parallelogram. That explains why it fit in the opening in went in/out ok but wasn't flush with the front.

hmmm......

Oddly IMO, this doesn't look weird. The 6" dimension is not where I ideally would like it but there is a slight margin T/B. I left and came back to this and I still felt the same way about it - it is good to go for this cupboard.

nixed this idea

I entertained and checked a lot of veneers and I didn't like any of them. I think it was I didn't like the 'veneer' border at all. In my mind's eye painting the negative space is going to present better then the veneer would. Now I get to agonize over what color that is going to be.

new filler strip

I glued on another filler strip about 3/8" proud of the sides. I will flush it tomorrow after the glue has cooked for 24hrs.

super glue?

I put 3 small drops on the hinge and placed it flush and square to the side. The mortise on the inside is ugly looking but putty and paint will hide all those sins.

better than yesterday

It isn't perfectly flush but it is a huge improvement over what I had yesterday. Both hinge leafs on the carcass are dead flush/square with the sides. The top hinge needs to fussed with on the door to get the top one flush. I'm not sure if I'll do that or just leave it as is.

no longer hinge bound

The shim I put in the top hinge mortise did its job and the door is swinging ok. 

door stop

Putting in a door stop that goes top to bottom. That will block being able to eyeball into the opening through the gap on this side. I will use a magnet for keeping the door shut.

while we were out and about

My wife wanted to go to Stop & Shop and there was a Lowes next door. I popped into there and bought two 1"x12"x4' boards. I paid less than $25 for these two. The last time I bought 1x12s they were over $15 each. I didn't get to Gurney's last saturday to replenish my pine stash but I hope to do it this upcoming one.

new photo frame

According to my wife the pic I want to frame in this should be here by friday. I am going to try and get this done before that. Got it glued, cooking, and set aside until tomorrow.

fixed???

The broom head kept falling off as I shaked/hit it on the shitcan. I put two sheet metal screws in it, one from opposite sides. If the screws fail I will remove them and drill it out straight through and try bolts and nuts. If that fails I will but a new broom/dustpan setup.

banding

I have the new drawer parts acclimating overnight on them. The banding is for the picture frame - it will hide the bridle joinery at the corners. 

paint choices

China blue milk paint for the body and black for the banding. Or red paint for the body and black for the bandings. I have other colors in the shop but I don't like them for the frame body. The red paint is a bright red gloss that isn't giving me a warm and fuzzy. I like the 'red' but I want something matte or satin and duller. Problem is I'm trying to use what I have in the shop but I may have to buy a can.

accidental woodworker

 I posted on Substack this afternoon.

Check it out!

 Given my lack of blogging the last couple of years, I often forgot to take pictures of whatever little or large thing I have been making. And contrary to my earlier blogging where I tried to take logical pictures of the process, all I have at the moment is a bunch of pictures on my phone that shows a bit of the progress on various projects.

The company that Gustav and I have together invested in a house. The house hadn't seen much maintenance or modernizing in the last 30 years or so. 

One of the interesting details was a really narrow staircase going to the basement. The staircase was hidden inside a cabinet in the kitchen, so it looked kind of an entrance to the Bat Cave.
The problem with this layout was that the staircase was incredibly narrow. I think it was only around 18" wide. 
When we discussed the plans for our rebuilding, we agreed that we still needed a staircase to go to the basement. But it had to be a bit wider so that someone could carry a hamper with clothes to and from the washing room which we planned to put in the basement. 
Technically there is also a door and a staircase outside that leads to the basement, but I know that I wouldn't want to go outside just to go down the basement and then go back inside again. So that entrance is mainly for when you get home in the winter time covered in mud or soaking wet from the rain.

The limitations were the height of the ceiling in the basement and the spacing of the joists. The spacing meant that placing the new staircase in the other end of the kitchen would give us a width of some 36" (as far as I remember). We still had to make the staircase fairly steep in order for it to work without using too much floor space for the descending hole. Still it is not as steep as the original one.

I sawed some spruce for the sides and the steps and milled it all in the planer. 
The positions for the individual steps were marked, and I clamped on a batten and sawed to the intended depth. A chisel and a router plane made quick work of getting a dado that the steps could be seated in. Given that it is sort of a secondary room staircase, I felt that it was most appropriate to not go overboard in ornamentation and fancywork. So each step just received a nice little chamfer on all sides and then a couple of saw cuts  were made that would allow the front of the step to pass over the sides.

When all the steps were made and I had checked that each of them would fit, I transported the pieces to the house. I had figured out that if I'd assembled the staircase at home, I would most likely not be able to get it into the basement.

I swept the floor carefully where I was going to work, in order to avoid marring the sides of the stairs while working on it, and then I assembled it. Each step was glued and nailed in place using two large nails for each step. 
Technically screws would be easier and perhaps even hold better, but I think that large nails look the part on a staircase, and would have been the traditional way to do it in a house of that age anyway.

Once the staircase was completed and I had ushered it into place, the protruding ends of the steps were sawed off in something like a 30 degree angle. 

I'm dead in the water now. I got the hinges from ACE today and one hinge leaf broke on me during the install. I had bought the last two hinges ACE had which means I have to wait until next week before new ones come. On the brighter side I now have 4 extra screws. I had lost 2 of the 12 that came in the package. There are other ACE stores but the next closest one is about 20-25 minutes away. Might have an extended road trip on the calendar in next few days.

figured it out

These are M+R bullet pencil sharpeners. I bought 4 new ones because I misplaced the one I was using in the shop. However, I figured out why the sharpener wouldn't work when I replaced the blade in it. The 20 replacement blades I bought are bigger than the ones that came in the 4 new ones. The replacement blade is on the left and the one that came with new ones is on the right. All four of the new ones have the same size blade.

I couldn't find anyone that sold replacement blades for the bullet pencil sharpeners. Those blades are labeled differently than the replacement blades along with being larger. I tried a bazillion websites and none had the smaller blades or any blades that were labeled that way. I am going to try the M+R site in Germany tonight and see what shakes out with that.

one is MIA

The four on the left are the bullet sharpeners and the blades in it are smaller than the blades in the right two (the MIA is the misplaced hopefully I'll find it). The blue box has the replacement blades and they only fit and work in the right 2. The box blades and the sharpeners on the right are labeled the same. They fit in the bullet sharpeners but they will not sharpen a pencil.

base has set up

I used the same template to layout the side cutouts as I did on the front. I had to fair out the center where the arcs met coming from each end. Ready to check that it still fits over the cupboard bottom.

hmm......

I filled in all the dings and bumps that cupboard endured and I thought I had gotten them all. I was wrong. I sanded a few close to the bottom before I tried to fit the base and I spotted 4 new ones.

it fits

No hiccups with the dry fit. I marked the back ends and sawed them. I glued and screwed a bearer to the front and sides. I used that to screw the base to the bottom of the cupboard.

I like the base cutout

I hadn't planned on it but the base cutout kind of matches the pulls for the doors and the drawer. The base is a 1/4" down from the top edge of the bottom of the cupboard.

teeny gaps

I don't find this gap (2 frog hairs if that) on either side to be a problem. I am painting this and I will fill in the teeny crack with caulk.

the drawer fix

This is the amount of taper that I need for the drawer to be flush at the front.

easier than I thought

For some reason I was agonizing about how to rip this out. I was stuck on it having to be cut dead nuts off the saw but it didn't. I have a 1 1/2" of wiggle room at the back. That allowed me to saw off a wider piece. That extra width made it easier for me to plane the rough saw edge.

first fitting

The right side of the drawer is flush and I am short on the left side. I had left the pencil line for just in case. Because I didn't have to plane the entire length, it was easy to hold this thin piece of pine and plane down and remove the pencil lines.

extra thickness

Got another benny with this - no headaches gluing and clamping it to the edge. The filler was thinner than the thickness of the shelf. I glued the filler in flush with the top. The bottom is short but hidden and can be seen only if you get on your hands and knees to eyeball it.

happy face on

The drawer front is flush with the front edge of the shelf. It is still tapered but it doesn't jump out at you. 

lots of real estate

I will be able to put a large drawer stop on either side with a screw(s).

from ACE

The color is a little light but it will do because I'm impatient. I don't want to spend anymore time searching for hardware.

helper block

The top rail is just butted to the side stiles. There isn't anything to stop the rail from rolling out or in. I glued a block from behind and it ties the stiles and rails together at the corners.

bottom back

There was nothing to nail the plywood back to at the bottom here. I glued this scrap of pine to give the plywood something to be glued and nailed to. I glued it in and I may add a couple of screws later on.

hard to remove

I should have erased the pencil lines before I glued and nailed the back strips on. This pencil line didn't come off with alcohol and I had to sand it off. The #3 pencils I'm using now are harder than #2's and it left a groove that the alcohol couldn't reach with a rag.

didn't think this through

The drawer is flush with it but the door won't be. The door tapers in the opposite direction of the drawer taper. I couldn't think of anyway to pretty this up. Making the front edge of the drawer shelf flush with the front sides will fix the door but put the drawer OTL (out to lunch) again. 

My initial thoughts on it are to leave the door off the bottom. I measured the drawer again and it is out of square by almost 3/8". If I make a new drawer (that is square) both it and the door can be flush with the front edge. I have time to decide which road I want to travel down.

top door

It won't close. The bottom right corner is a 32nd over. I didn't mortise for the hinges on the carcass side. I wanted to see if the door would fit without them and what the margins looked like. I split the gap T/B and I am ok with it. The door looks to have a consistent gap on the top, right, and bottom. The hinge side IMO doesn't need to be the same as the others.

one down, one to go

Chopping the mortises for the hings on the cupboard was a bit awkward. It reminded me of the hinge mortises I chopped for entry doors. I was able to get through it and get the two of them chopped out.

another headache

The door isn't hanging vertical. The top is kicked out and the bottom is kicked in. On the flip side of the coin, the door opens and closes freely.

only one screw

This is the way I check my hinges. Usually one screw is sufficient to check the fit and swing. If need be I can fill this hole in and use another hole to continue with to check the fit and swing.

The bottom hinge mortise kicked my arse bad. When tightening the screw it pulled the hinge leaf down. That kicked the bottom of the leaf up and over the end of the mortise. I fixed that out and then I had to deal with the long edge of the mortise being a bit wonky. At first I thought that was why the door was cocked but it wasn't. It was the screw again - it was pulling the hinge leaf down and past the long edge at the same time. I didn't catch it until after a few dance steps.

I wasn't done quite yet with learning new dance steps. I made the top hinge mortise too deep and the door was now hinge bound. I had to slip a piece of veneer in the top mortise to correct that.

good place to quit

I was taking the door off to fiddle and faddle some more with the mortises. I let the door go for a brief second - I thought the one screw was enough to hold the door on. I was wrong and the hinge gave up the ship. I have never had  this happen or seen this before. I have had screws pulled out or the leaf somehow pops off leaving the screw behind, but never this. I was starting to think of evil things and giving free flying lessons so quitting happened at a good time.

egret tile arrived

This tile looks a lot better in person than it did on the Etsy site. Now I can think about how to deal with the negative space between the tile and the stiles/rails. I am leaning in the direction of painting it the same color as the cupboard. Still also planning on leaving the doors/drawer natural.

accidental woodworker

Somewhere in the timeline of compewder games is one called Tetris, I think (I have zero interest in compewder games and am bewildered by anyone older than kindergarten spending any time in the endeavor.  Seriously.  Bewildered.  But then I have little interest in games in general, much to Mrs. Barn’s dismay.  Had she known of my antipathy to games and dancing ex ante we might not be celebrating out 43rd anniversary this Friday) that was in effect, to the best of my recollection, a spatial relationship contest to pack moving shapes into compact arrangements.  Between my periodic undertaking of rearrangeritis in the barn (h.t. /James “Stumpy Nubs” Hamilton) I am finding myself playing Tetris while collecting and packing my inventory of 18th/19th Century configured tools for the upcoming Historic Trades shindig over Labor Day weekend at my friend TimD’s place in mid-county.

Somehow I’ve got to get all these tools put into this tool chest, itself probably late 19th Century although the form is a familiar one going back a couple of centuries previous.  I’ve already got all the drawers of the till box filled, and have two dozen hand planes underneath it.  In the coming days I will make another open/removable till to hold a pile o’ tools; I’ve already re-sawn the mahogany for that tray/box.

If I can come up with a treatment to remove this photo of an ultra-vintage motorcycle hard glued to the lid, I’ll send it to my long-time friend Jersey Jon of American Pickers fame.  Until then it will remain in place as this out-of-time curiosity.

It does feel pretty great to get back into the shop.

 Hit a snag today but I think I got a fix for it. It didn't happen today but maybe tomorrow. I spent most of today gluing little bits and bobs together. It is starting to shape up and I can see it completed in my minds eye. No idea when it will be done as I am waiting for things to arrive. I ordered a 12" LED light bar, 12v power supply, and the power leads from Lee Valley. Kind of like selling a car but you still have buy the tires and the motor.

ghost stick

Got asked what is this for? The extension I glued on bowed in the middle and I used the ghost stick to push it flush with it. I couldn't pull it flush with my hand and clamp it at the same time.

big gaps

The R/L gaps are smaller and acceptable. The T/B gaps are a few frog hairs wider than I like. I'll split the difference and bottom. I might add a backer behind the top of the door. I'll make that call after I get the door(s) hung.

the opposite

It is snug T/B and the R/L is too . This is after I planed all four outside edges. I haven't gotten the hinges for either door yet but I can fit them to the opening without them.

bottom is twisted

I thought I was going to have a plane a lot off to correct it but it only took one planing run. The top was twisted too and that only needed one planing run too.

????

The outside diagonals are 3/8" off and the inside diagonals are within a 16th. The drawer was snug and bound in one spot when I tried it. This was the opposite of what I did yesterday.

hiccup

After planing the drawer the fit going in/out was ok. No binding and hesitating pushing it in or out. However, the drawer is not parallel to the bottom front edge. It has the the least amount of taper with the right side vertical edge flush with the side. 

I checked the drawer opening and it is square. The F/B measurement is the same on the right and left sides. The height of the opening is consistent R/L. One thing I didn't think to check was to see if the drawer was a parallelogram. I didn't want to make another drawer because I don't have anymore pine left.

slips dry fitted

I still hadn't thought of anyway to deal with the drawer. This is something that causes my OCD to go into hyper drive. Decided to glue the slips in and keep on going with this.

side stiles

Chamfered the outside edges before I glued them on. I'll glue the head rail after the side stiles have set up. I plan on putting the LED light bar behind that rail.

the fix?

I thought of this fix while I was dry fitting the side stiles. I will plane a taper on a scrap of pine, rip it out, and glue it to the front edge of the drawer opening. The only problem I can see with it is ripping it out. This should present a straight and clean line  between the drawer and the opening.

bottom base dry fitted

This came out better than I expected. There are no gaps on the sides. I changed the overhang on the ends to a 1/2". That matches the overhangs on all the rest of the cupboard.

cleaning up the arcs

The grain on this pine was a nightmare to plane. I got what I could with the spokeshave but I had to sand 80% or better of it to smooth it out.

head rail

I didn't think I would get this glued today but I did. I am not putting a chamfer on this (the inside edges). I had planed a chamfer on both outside edges on a scrap to eyeball it. I didn't like the look of of the double chamfers. 

too big

These hinges are too big for the top door but ok for the bottom one. I want hinges of this color/look to match the pulls I bought for the doors and the drawer.

slips glued and cooking

I don't have any plywood large enough for the bottom. I need a 60"x16" piece for the back so I'll be buying a full sheet. What is left over from that will give up the drawer bottom.

going to wait

I resisted the urge to continue to play with this. I will wait until tomorrow and give the glue a chance to set up. That is all that is holding the sides to the front of the base.

accidental woodworker

Motoring along with the cupboard build. I got quite a few things ticked off today. It looks like the tiles are going to hold things up. Both are coming FedEx with delivery scheduled from Jul 27th to the Jul 30th. Got another monkey wrench in the gears with hinges and knobs. Need 3 knobs, one for the drawer and two for the doors. 4 hinges bring up the rear and all of it has to be arts and craft looking. I plan on searching for that later on tonight.

last night

I made it back to the shop after dinner last night to get the pins laid out. I stopped there with the intent of chopping them in the tomorrow.

bench hog

I should have done this just before I killed the lights for the day. There were a lot things I wanted to do but couldn't because of this. In the end it all worked out because I had to be done  then or later. 

chopped the pins

I am of the opinion and I have stated it previously, that I should be able to chop anywhere on the bench. I shouldn't be limited to right over a leg. The workbench should be sufficiently stiff and strong to whack away at it anywhere on it.

time to unclamp

I chopped most of the waste of the pins with this here. Now it has to go because I need the vise to finish cleaning up the pins. I got no surprises taking the clamps off.

through dovetails fitted

The through ones went together off the saw. In the batters circle are the pins for the half blind action.

nothing relaxed or moved

Both ends of the drawer shelf are still tight with no gaps. It should stay this way because of the Miller dowels. If it opens up I'll drill out the small ones and replace them with the big boy Miller dowels.

ditto for the bottom

The gap on the inside is acceptable and probably won't ever be seen. The outside is flush and straight and ready for the base.

tail shims flushed

I am leaving the top as is. I will plane and sand this smooth. If I wasn't painting it I might be persuaded to cover it with a molding. The paint will hide all my sins with this.

doors are next

I wasn't expecting any hiccups with either door and got none. Both were square on the ID less than a 16th. I will have to flush the bridle joints - the outside mortise walls are proud at every corner on both of them.

new idea

I thought of this while filling my face at breakfast. I laid it out but I did it wrong. I confused myself on the negative space I had to remove.

figured it out

I had this on the workbench trying to determine the best way to remove the 1/2" waste. This had to be straight because it was going to be married to bottom shelf of the top door opening. I had decided to chisel out the waste because I would have a good chance of getting it straight and clean. That is when I realized I had it wrong. I was lucky because this was wide enough to saw off the me-steak and still have enough left over.

2nd attempt

What I had to saw was short and I was able to use a carcass saw to do it. My first go around had a gap because I made the knife wall on the keep side and not the waste side. Got it right on the 2nd one.

I am also going to put a stile on both sides of the middle opening. I have an overhang now at the top for it to dead end into.

I like chamfers

The ends are too short for a blockplane so I whacked them out with a chisel. I didn't do the front because I wanted the edge to be intact for clamping. I'll do that chamfer tomorrow.

drawer shelf

Planed a chamfer on this  with the low angle block plane. When the iron is freshly honed it planes end grain as easily as a hot knife cuts through a cheap tub of oleo.

waste removed

The cupboard is vertical and off the bench. I finished playing with all the other distractions and I was ready to clean up the pin sockets for fitting.

hmm......

The drawer is lot tighter than I thought it would be. I was expecting it to be a wee bit loose but I'll take this. Much easy to fit an oversized vice an undersized drawer.

all the way in

I could and did push it all the was through and out the back. It didn't take much oomph to do it neither. Dry fit checked off, gluing and cooking was next.

left side

The back ones are good and the half blinds on the left are the same.

ugly looking gaps

I thought with all the half blinds I have done in the past few months that this would be a cake walk. Well boys and girls it bit me on the arse. Disappointing but I think I know why it is so wonky and gap ridden. I really didn't expend any calories ensuring that the drawer parts were flat, straight, and twist free. I had noticed that there were humps in the tails boards that I did kind of address and fix. Hopefully the next time I won't be so nonchalant about drawer prep.

sometimes you get lucky

I didn't hold out much hope but the clamps pulled the gaps out. With that I noticed another potential hiccup. The sides at the top are proud at the front and back and below the bottom edge. Cleaning that mess up is sure to make the drawer shrink in the drawer opening. I'll deal with that tomorrow.

double template

The arcs (R&L) are different. They are about a 1/4" different with the R having an angled end and the L being straight and vertical. I am leaning in the direction of the R one. I like the angled leg better then a 90° one.

partial fix

These strips overhang the opening 5/8" both ways - 5/8" into the empty space of the ID and 5/8" onto the door frame.

1/4 plywood

5/8" should be adequate gluing surface for the 1/4" plywood. I don't know the thickness of the tiles but both should be inset into the ID. I got this part figured out but I am still running ideas through the brain bucket on what to do with the empty space between the tile and the stiles and rails.

The top one is the winner

This is what will be the actual front piece of the base. It will be 4 1/4" high and about 18" R/L. It will overhang the sides about an 1" and the sides will mate with it with a stopped dado. I thought of mitering and dovetailing the corners but I didn't like the look of either of those. I thought of rabbeting the front corners but I especially didn't like the look of that. I think the dado is the better choice.

I haven't picked a color for this yet. I am waiting for the tiles to come in before I do that. I want to use a color that is hopefully in each tile. If not I'll pick a complimentary one.

accidental woodworker

Had a good day in the shop, especially in the AM session. I got on a roll and ended up working right through lunch. Not a big deal as I am still not doing good with my diet. By the time I killed the lights at 1500 I was half way through making the drawer. Still don't know when the tiles are coming via FedEx. I've checked the tracking number a couple of times and no delivery day yet. I still have to make the base and figure out how I'm going to fill in around the tiles on the doors anyway.

looking better

What I didn't like about this yesterday has changed. The door makes it better looking to my eye now. I'm sure the bottom door will help fill out the overall look of it too.

Miller dowels

If I use screws here they would be going into end grain which doesn't offer good holding power. I have had good luck with Miller dowels holding things together. I have a larger Miller dowel but I am using the smaller ones for this.

why I'm using the dowels

This overhang has pretty good contact with the vertical part of the front side.

however,......

The front edge is bowing upwards slightly. It is worse on this side over the right one. I can easily push this down flat and close the gap with a finger. Two Miller dowels should be sufficient for being a permanent finger.

needed some help

Initially the dowel wasn't pulling the bow down tight. I clamped it and after the glue as set it should be ok then. I'll verify that tomorrow in the AM session.

new door

I had enough scraps to get the new rails and stiles from. I was a little fussy with this because I am leaving the doors and the drawer front natural and finished with shellac. The remaining carcass will be painted. The bridle joints are a wee bit too snug so I rasped the tenons to loosen the fit.

did it right

The 2 1/2" rail is at the bottom where it should be. I glued up both doors and set them aside to cook.

changed back

I had changed my mind about insetting the doors and was going to hang them flush with the front edge. I had to change that and revert back to the original way. I like this look and I'll figure out how to hang it with the hinges and door inset.

why they will be inset

This is driving the inset doors. I made the doors to fit the inside and not to the bottom edge of the shelf. It looks funny seeing part of it at the bottom of the door. And I don't have any more pine to make new doors.

3 gaps

Still undecided if I'm going to use a molding or something else around the top. If I don't these neon signs will need to be shut off. Made some shims and glued them in.

bottom glued, nailed, and clamped

Yesterday the bottom was proud of the rabbet and today it is almost dead nuts flush. I used 1 1/2" finish nails where I could and tomorrow I'll nail off the rest of it once the clamps come off.

helped a lot

There was a strong arc of a 16th here and once I got some nails in from the outside most it flattened out. The other side is tighter than this one with no gap at all.

drawer stock

The drawer will have half blinds at the front and through dovetails at the back. The front is 3/4" thick and the sides/backs are 1/2". 

ready for dovetailing

I sized the drawer parts to be a 32nd less then the height of the opening. The sides are 2 inches shorter than the drawer opening depth. That was because I didn't have any longer scraps.

going with drawer slips

I thought had some left over drawer slips from the last project but I couldn't find where I had hid them. The stock for slips came out out of the shitcan.

tails done

I may or may not wander down to the shop and do some more work on the drawer. As of now while I'm typing this up that ain't happening. When I get up and stand my back throws a hissy fit. I have to walk several steps before it calms down. After I am vertical for a while it doesn't bother me. But once I quit for the day and park my arse in a chair, my back doesn't like that option.

WTF

Noticed this last night and I'm clueless as to how. I think the drawer bottom caught on it somehow while being opened and it didn't like it. I'll glue this back together whenever. My wife rarely goes in this as it is mostly for long term storage items.

Klockit

The movement is just a pendulum one. No bim bam or melodies struck on the hour. I will jump into this when the cupboard is done. I'm not sure what to do with the clock once it is done. Most people I have made clocks for can't be bothered adjusting the time or changing the batteries on them Digital clocks are mostly set and forget now and my analog ones can't compete.

accidental woodworker

I sold my first reamer in 2004 or 2005 for about $40. Compared to the reamers we make now, it was a pretty rough affair; I ground the blade from a Stanley compass-saw blade and made the body from a maple blank for a Windsor chair leg. Since then, the price of our reamers has skyrocketed, and for good reason. We’ve been improving them for twenty years, and this has only increased the time it takes to make them, and the expense of the materials. But I wouldn’t be able to afford one of my reamers if I was a 17-year-old kid getting into woodworking now.

Because of this, I’ve decided to try selling a new product: Reamers in the Raw. They are the same as our finished reamers, but they still need a finial fitting to make them cut evenly. They also need the ends trimmed and a handle made (the blade comes sharpened and ready to use). They can then be finished to your specifications (or left unfinished). Included with the reamer is access to the second half of my online reamer-making video which details the steps needed to finish these reamers.

This is not a money-making venture. Rather it is an attempt to make our tools more accessible to people who will use them. So I am selling these reamers for half the price of a finished reamer: $70. If there’s interest in them, we’ll keep offering them (and maybe offer Travishers in the Raw as well).

 Everything was going pretty good until the PM session was almost done. I had gotten the cupboard glued and cooking and I was making the doors. One thing I was acutely aware of was my stash of 1x12 boards had dwindled down to one. I had made a me-steak of sizing stock and then changing my mind and increasing the R/L and T/B measurements. I still have a drawer to make and the last board is more than enough for that. Either way the pendulum swings on this I'll have to go to Gurney's to get another load of 1x12 pine.

last night

After dinner I wandered back to the shop and glued up stock for the drawer top/shelf and for the bottom. I had already glued up the bottom but I cut it the wrong way and it was now too small. However, last night I glued it back together and it will now be the bottom again. Hopefully I will cut it the right way this time around.

new bottom again

The only real difference with the bottom now is that it is a 3 board glue up instead of the original two board one. The bone head saw cut was made with the grain instead of being across it. All the interior shelves have long grain edges facing the front.

hmmm.....

It would seem that this chisel was specially ground for a purpose unknown to me? I looks like it would be good for working into a corner. All the chisels look to be sharp and ready to go.

straight chisels

There are 3 chisels that Chris Pye says to have for lettering that I'm shy of. It has been over a year and I still haven't come across any. 99.99% of what I see are gouges.

tricky one

This drawer/shelf top has two widths on it. One for between the dadoes and the other that extends past the front sides. I've run sawing this operation through the brain bucket and I have yet to settle on a way to get it down. The first thing I will do is make sure it fits in the R&L dadoes as is.

took a while

Not only was the dado a wee bit too snug, the shelf is cupped. I can flatten with hand pressure but it wasn't as easy to do while trying to fit it. I did some flattening of it with the #7 going across the grain followed by the #3 removing the cross grain planing marks. That helped a lot and I was able to get it fitted in the dado on this side.

The opposite side wasn't as easy. It was still rough and not square. I had to pony up and square it and then saw the 'notches' in it. I did that on the bandsaw.

vertical saw cut

The short vertical one I did with the carcass saw. I was a nervous about getting this right. The portion of the shelf in the dadoes had to match the other 3 interior pieces. I also had to get the front portion of it cut square so it would be tight against the sides and lay flat on the protruding short side extensions. I had to get it right or I would be looking at a lot of ugly gaps.

ready for battle

I got the other pieces fitted and fitting this side of it was next up in the batters box. I had to elevate so that it would be above the workbench.

too much

This dado is a 32nd too narrow for the board to seat in it. I think it is too much to plane off the leading edge of the board. I marked it, knifed it, and then chiseled it making it wide enough.

fitted and self supporting

The fit is snug but not nutso snug. I was able to tap it into the dado and seat it at the back. Getting this glued up wasn't looking like it was going to be fun time. I was thinking that maybe I would glue in the top and two of the other interior pieces and put this one in dry. I could then glue it in place after the others had set up.

dry fit

I was able to get the 3 main interior pieces fitted and stand the cupboard up to eyeball it. My first observation is that I should have made the top door opening smaller. The lower door opening looks to be too low. That should improve some when I get the base made and it raises the it up a few inches.

needed some help

Overall I was happy with how it looks. I trimmed the overhang on the big shelf - a 1/2" on the sides and the front. I may knock that back some more to a 1/4" but that is dependent upon how the drawer looks once it is made and fitted.

happy as a clam at low tide

This was the saw cut I was worried most about. The plans call for a stile here but I am not sure I'll use that. There is no gap here so there is nothing to cover and hide.

ditto

This side is as tight and gap free as the right one. The back is a wee bit wonky. The back left is flush with the rabbet edge but the right is a few frog hairs proud. I'll deal with that after it is glued and set.

square is ok

The height of this is 60" and the square is off an 1/8". And that is without any fussing or playing with it. 

top door opening

This is square dead nuts on three sides. The one off side is about a 32nd OTL (out to lunch). I'm hoping that all four will be compliant once it is glued and cooked.

two out of three

The bottom door opening is square at all four corners. The middle opening is not square but nothing is married to it so IMO it doesn't matter. It is about a 16th out of square top to bottom on the left and that was after I clamped the front with a bessey. Before that is was over a 1/8".

The middle opening is for an object d'art of some type. With that in mind I've looking to maybe install some LED (colored?) lighting in it. I searched last night and all I got was confused. I'll have to do more research on this until I understand what I need for what I want to accomplish with the LED lighting.

glued and cooking

I used hide glue for this and I glued the top and three of the interior pieces. I dry clamped the bottom just to help hold the carcass square. The bottom is cupped and I will have to clamp it to pull it flat. I didn't want to deal with that on this glue up. I can use the other shelves to assist in clamping the bottom when its turn to cook comes.

plywood back rabbet

I forgot to plane the rabbet for the back when I did the dadoes. I did the rabbet in the AM session with a noisy, dust spewing electrically powered router. I squared up the top corners with a chisel.

first door dry fitted

In keeping with the quasi arts & crafts nature of this cupboard I decided to make the doors with bridle joints. I've been kicking around what to use for a border around the tile. The egret tile is 8"x8" and there will be a lot of empty real estate between the tile and the stiles and rails. Haven't thought of anything that I like so far. I think it is going to be best to wait and see what the tile looks like inset in the door first.

door #2

This is the door for the bottom opening which is getting the iris flower which 8"x10". Same thinking on this one as the top one. 

yikes

I wasn't paying attention and paid the price. The stiles and the top rail are 2" wide and the bottom rail is 2 1/2" wide. I swapped the rails and stiles and the bottom rail ended up as a stile. I'll have to make a new door.

repurposed already

accidental woodworker

Update - Amanda found it and my wife has already ordered a 8x10.

 I have begun making more and more out of leather in the past years. Part of it is for our little company, where I change zippers in riding boots and occasionally make other small repair jobs on shoes and boots etc. 

Gustav had an old set of riding boots where the sole had come halfway off, I have kept them in the workshop for about a year, with the intention of one day taking them apart and see if I could use them as template and make a new pair. But in the mean time I got inspired to try and fix them myself.

First the sole was removed by means of a set of pliers. 

The insole needed to be replaced as did the midsole. both of these were made of some cardboard like material. Kind of surprising actually that a set of decent boots are made with such crappy materials.
Another thing that was surprising was the fact that the insole and the uppers weren't sewn. it all relied on glue to hold the boot together. 

I made a new insole form a piece of vegetable tanned leather and glued it into place. Then I used an awl with a hook to sew it in place. The steel stiffener was glued in place and the voids were filled with some small scraps of leather. I had tried to make my own filler putty of of some PVA glue, sawdust and a bit of latex paint. After about a day I decided that I didn't trust that enough, so I removed it again. In addition to being difficult to remove, it left an ugly white deposit on the lower part of the boot. (So much for that experiment).

The next thing to come on was the midsole that I also made out of a piece of vegetable tanned leather. With that in place, the underside was sanded using a sanding wheel. This was done to get nice flowing curves and make sure that it would fit the rubber sole that was also going to be glued on.

I don't have a heel press for shoes and boots, so all the pressing of the contact glue was done by means of a hammer.

Finally the boots got some long needed black leather grease, and now they will hopefully last a couple of seasons more.

As Mrs. Barn and I get settled back into our routines at Shangri-la after many weeks of intermittent and extensive travel, we had a wonderful morning of fellowship yesterday helping our friends K&E harvest five dozen chickens.  We started the morning with 65 grass-fed chickens and by lunch we had the bird carcasses processed and cooling.  We departed with four of the whole chickens and an armful pastured/grass-fed-only beef in our cooler.  (We recognize that sublime food is a luxury good and are willing to make it our primary luxury indulgence).

Sorry there are no pictures, we were up to our elbows in chicken guts from beginning to end.