Hand Tools

I recently noticed that it’s been FIFTY YEARS since the musical duo of Richard and Linda Thompson released their heartbreakingly luminous song “Dimming of the Day.”

How did fifty years flash by so fast?

Notwithstanding the dynamics of their marriage and splitting (the breakup was so traumatic that Linda was hysterically mute for a couple years afterward) their seven-album output from 1974-1982 was as good as it gets.

Just more captivating music to listen to while imposing organization of the first (basement) floor of the barn.  There are times when having 7,000 square feet of space is not a blessing.

I actually like this one because it’s an eye opener for those who actually sit and watch the whole video.

 Today was a beautiful early spring day. The temp got up to 55F (13C) and I went to the store without a coat or a sweater for the first time this year. The daytime temps are forecasted to be in the low 50s F until the weekend. The ice in the driveway has finally melted but there is still a lot of snow in the back yard. Maybe that will be gone by the weekend.

Tomorrow I have an urology appointment that I'm not really looking forward to. It may or may not keep me out of the shop for few days. I won't know that until tomorrow around 1500. I left off in the shop today in a good spot and I have the AM session tomorrow to squeeze in something.

it worked

This is the divider I broke yesterday. I was able to square off the tapered ones I had done yesterday. Why didn't I think of holding it this way then?

how I did it yesterday

I must have been brain weary to try and do it this way yesterday. I can see why my sanding and planing came out tapered.

done

I wandered into '....one more swipe' land and the dividers are loose in both directions. In my defense, I only planed enough to square up the ends.

dividers loaded up

I couldn't find any mini, 1x, or 2x dowels in the ones I currently don't have on Amazon. Time to search the WWW and see who else is selling them. I have empty compartments to fill.

first glamour pic

It still needs a few more coats of shellac on the knobs but I'm calling it done.

I snapped this pic standing about 5 feet away and I couldn't pick out the drawers with missing veneer on the fronts. I think I'm going to leave them as is for now. It is something I can address at anytime I want now.

errant pilot hole

This is totally invisible from 3 feet away. The one to the left of this is 90% hidden by the drawer front.

took a beating

The pine I used for the drawers is overly soft. All the dents and divots on the top drawer are from clamping the veneer on. The other side is worse than this one along with the other two drawers.

I really like the faux stiles and rails on the sides. I wonder if my gluing them on will cause any issues with the sides expanding or contracting?

the back

I should have done the faux stiles and rails on the back too. Just saw that I forgot to put the back rail on the base. I looked for it but I couldn't locate it - not a big deal IMO and I think it will be fine without it.

the finale - side pic

I applied Howards feed 'n wax only to the top. It was ready to move to its new home.

30 minutes later

It took me that long to clear off this table and vacuum the 3 tons of wood dust that covered everything here. I had one more dresser to put here - the one I made for my Dowel Max jig.

half of the crappola

The other half is on the workbench. I couldn't believe how stuff I had on this table just laying around loose.

maybe

This isn't set in stone yet. I had all 3 side by side but I put the nail dresser on top the Miller Dowel dresser. Two things I don't (didn't) want to happen - #1 that the dresser arrangement would cover the framed poster. It may stay this way because I have zero wall space for it anywhere else in the shop.

#2 I don't want anything in front of the dresser that will interfere with opening the drawers. I dislike having to move things that are in the way of getting to something else. That maybe unavoidable due to my affinity to load up empty horizontal surfaces in a New York minute.

 

two hours later

I moved the trim router box and its bits over here along with the Kreg loose tenon jig. I will be making a box for it but I don't know when. I also moved my box of japanese tapered wooden nails here. In the future I want to keep this pile of crappola associated with each other.

more empty horizontal space

A few things that resided here, now reside on the table with the dressers. I know it is not going to take more than few days to fill this up with all kinds of crappola.

hmm......

This is a cut off guide I had made for a circular saw. Since I don't have that saw anymore I am going to repurpose this for the bandsaw.

works

The left edge of the sled is flush with the bandsaw blade. The right side support extends out over 16". The only difference between this one and the other is there is no support on the left side of the saw kerf. It cuts square and I envision using it to square ends. I have a little over 5" to work with.

Before I forgot again

I went through my Eric Sloane books writing down the titles I have. I ended up with 3 duplicates that I'll pass on to my nephew. I know have a solid foundation knowing what books I have and what I still have to acquire. I would like to get all the books that he wrote or co-authored.

accidental woodworker

Well, Scots pine is also known as Redwood, Russian redwood and more names than you can shake a redwood stick at. In the sixties, we bought Redwood (Pinus sylvestris) from Russian climes in beams to resaw into vast numbers for a wide range of work. The smell filled the rafters and wafted around the shop...

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I can’t believe it’s been 15 years since I first started writing Giant Cypress. Time flies, and it’s been a fun ride. Here’s to another 15 years or more!

The doors for the series of modular tansu that I’ve been covering in this series of posts are styled after traditional tabi-dansu doors like the one on the cabinet on the left below: The doors on these cabinets are made from edge glued quartersawn panels with a mitered frame. All the tabi-dansu that I’ve seen… Read More »Modular Tansu – Veneered Doors

The post Modular Tansu – Veneered Doors appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

 I thought I would be done with the dresser today but it didn't happen boys and girls. Came close and two things held it up. The first was a divider breaking in two and the other was the shellac. I wasn't happy with the 3 coats I had on everything. However, I didn't think getting a few more coats on today would hold things up but it did. So maybe tomorrow before the oohs and aahs and glamour pics.

3 coats

For the most part I'm ok with this except for the top. It is splotchy looking and lacks a consistent shine. The sides and front are ok. I got a 4th coat on it and it helped a bit but not enough.

these are good

However, I am going to apply however many more coats of shellac I end up putting on the carcass on just the fronts.

hmm.....

Four coats of shellac and the first two drawers won't close as freely as they did. I can shut the top one but it fought me the entire travel distant. The middle one won't close up flush. The bottom drawer still rides in and out on a cushion of air.

oops

The top drawer drawer is tight at the top. The oops is I veneered the back and not the front - the front was toothed. 

pure beeswax

After planing the two drawers to fit again on a cushion of air, I waxed the bottoms and sides of them all.

back on

I put shellac on both sides of the back which precluded me gluing and nailing the back on. So the back was just nailed on - 5 nails along each of the four edges.

6 coats

I think this is done now. I like the consistency of the coverage and the shine. 

why?

I'm blowing in the same mint OS again because I'm stubborn. Both of these Linux books proved to be absolutely useless in addressing the problems. I tried to use 14 commands and only one of them worked. That one was the cmd 'help'.

so far so good

I didn't have any problems blowing the OS back in. However, I installed the OEM version and I didn't write down the password so I couldn't boot into Mint. So I'll be blowing in another Linux OS in the AM.

tenon jig

Whacked this out to trim the tenon to length. The wood is as thick as the drawer fronts. After I trimmed them length I sawed a kerf for the wedges.

cherry wedges

I wanted maple for the wedges but I couldn't find any maple scraps. Cherry was the only other hardwood I could find. I don't like using pine for wedges in birch/maple - it is too soft and it doesn't spread the kerf in hardwoods sufficiently.

oops

I over sawed the kerf on the left one. I went through the base and it sticks out like a neon light. I thought I could put it faced down but it was still visible.

2 of 3

I didn't have these two Sloane books and I bought another duplicate. The Grange book is a first edition which I wasn't expecting for $4. The age of barns is a soft cover reprint.

half laps

I laid out the half laps and sawed the slots on the bandsaw with the sled. I was extremely happy with how well that came out. I don't think I would have been able to saw half laps this deep, in this thin pine, with a handsaw.

wee bit too snug

It kinda of fits but I was leery about using a mallet to seat the half laps.

self supporting

I sanded the area where the half laps were first but that was slow going. I used my #3 with a finely set iron to plane it. I got away with that because I was expecting the planing action to cause the divider to buckle and snap into kindling.

super glue

This is the bottom divider and it was a tad loose in both direction. I applied glue to the bottom of the divider. I also wicked more super glue on the bottom junction between the dividers and the bottom after setting it place. Finished up by wicking more glue into the half laps from top to bottom.

middle drawer dividers

This one tore out a lot on the darker divider. I had checked and thought I was planing with the grain but I wasn't. The tear out didn't effect the fit though - still got a snug, self supporting fit.

another good fit

This one gave me fits trying to fit it into the drawer. The long and short divider was a couple of frog hairs too long.

sigh

This was not only difficult to plane/sand, it was )&W%)@*%_@* incredibly frustrating too. It was hard to hold and sand or plane the ends. 

yikes

This happened on after trying to remove it after the 5th trim and check the fit. Part of the problem was I was sanding/planing at angle. So it would go down (tapered) until it would jam. Then I had to fight it to remove it - I lost the 5th attempt but I did go 4 for 5.

now I wait

The part broke into two when I tried to open it to get glue in the break. I'm lucky that nothing is married to this. The alignment on the faces was flush and I let this cook until the AM.

top drawer divider

This one went together off the bandsaw. No sanding or planing necessary. It is snug and self supporting.

lots of room

This might be over sized but I'm ok with that. If need be I could empty this of the dowels and dividers and repurpose it. I doubt that will happen in my lifetime but the grandsons might do that.

accidental woodworker

In my “Bowl Adze Primer” article (Part of the Adze Owner’s Manual materials), I discuss adze bevel geometry. After receiving a good question via email yesterday, I’ve just added this illustration to clarify the geometry that has worked well for … Continue reading →

In prepping for the tool cabinet parquetry mock-up — that is as exact as I can make it rather than my previous proof-of-concept — plus the actual parquetry on the cabinet, I was going to need dozens if not hundreds of the diamond units.  A task that large is similar to eating an ox.  You do it one bite at a time.

Here’s that first bite.

My starting point was cutting hundreds of 30-60-90 triangles both with the grain and across the grain.  My veneers were all white oak cut from leftover scraps from the French Oak Roubo Project, and man was it dense.  I tried cutting the triangles using jigs and handsaws (that is how I teach introductory parquetry workshops like the upcoming one at Wood and Shop near Charlottesville VA), but soon came to the realization that this ox needed a little prodding.

Given my recent success using my Delta benchtop bandsaw with a fine blade, combined with a new strategy for working the parquetry, I decided to do all the sawing on that little machine.

Soon enough I had two plastic shoebox-sized tubs each filled with hundreds of the slightly oversized triangles I needed for what would come next.

Changed horse #1.

Even though I wasn’t sawing the triangles by hand I was determined to edge plane each one using precise shooting jigs fabricated especially for that purpose.  A few dozen of those, especially the ones that are primarily cross-grain, and that determination flagged.  I needed a different system if I was to get the ox eaten.  That “new system” will be the focus of my next post on the project.

Changed horse #2.

In addition, once I first established the size of the parquetry pattern I created a brass template to make each diamond the perfect size and fit.  I was so intent I used trigonometry calculations and a vernier caliper to get the dimensions and angles really precise.  (If you ever wondered when you would use what you learned in 11th grade Trig class, now you know.)  The frustration of this fussiness soon depleted my enthusiasm for this approach.  The alternative I devised will be demonstrated in a post a way down the road.

Changed horse #3.

Stay tuned for “what would come next.”

PS  Posting might continue to be sorta sketchy for another little while as grandson #3’s arrival is imminent, and grandsons #1 and #2 have birthdays right on the heels of #3’s introduction to his share of the national debt.

On a recent blog post I wrote that I have been searching for a Stanley toothing blade for the #12 scraper forever. This morning I saw one for sale on Jim Bode's site for $95. That initially seemed overly rich but this is the first one I've seen in all of my searching. I believe Stanley made these toothing blades in 3 flavors too. I should have pulled the trigger on it when I first saw it. I went back on his site in the afternoon and it had sold. If you snooze, you lose. Maybe a miracle will happen and another will pop up for sale.

ready to go

I had brought this upstairs yesterday after mixing up a batch. I shook and stirred for the entire night. When I checked it this AM it was fine. All the shellac flakes had dissolved.

bottom clamps

I used only glue to attach the bottom dust panel in place. I didn't have any short brads to nail it in place. The smallest brads I have are 3/4" long and I didn't want to nail them in at an angle. Just glue is probably a better choice for this application.

the finishing plan

Applying shellac is all the 'woodworking' that was going to be done today. In the AM session I wanted to get 3 coats of shellac on the bottom of the carcass and the drawers. Wash, rinse, and repeat for drawers and carcass in the PM session.

soaked in

Isn't this exciting? A blog post about shellac drying? The veneer I glued on was still adhered. There weren't any bubbles where the veneer wasn't glued down. It was still tight on four edges around the fronts too.

done and gone

I got 3 coats on everything including the plywood back panel. The shellac from 1/25 is almost empty - there was just enough to do the 3 coats. What little that was left I dumped in to the shellac I mixed yesterday.

sigh

Found another missing piece of veneer. That makes all the drawer fronts a matched set. All three drawers have a missing piece that I will have to fix. Decided to do that after the shellac goes on and I can eyeball the dresser in situ. If I can live with the missing pieces I'll leave them be. But I doubt my OCD will allow that.

)_&(*@($^*%_)@ piece of sh*_(@&*%@_)%t

I haven't used this since I reloaded it with the Linux OS. I turn it on a couple of times a week just bring it up and go online. On sundays I update it but that didn't happen today. One of the lines of computer crappola said there was a BIOS error. This is usually an indication that the CMOS battery voltage is low. I'll put checking that on the list of things to do maybe.

knobs

Glad I caught this on the second coat of shellac going on the drawers and the carcass. I will put 5-6 coats on the knobs due to their upcoming up wear. These paper clamps work great as work holders. No shellac on the tenons.

any bets?

That these will be out of sight and out of mind?

missed it

I put the veneer on the bottom drawer the wrong way. The straight grain at the bottom should have been at the top. There is a collision between the bottom of the middle drawer and the top of the bottom drawer. Not much I can do about it now - can't remove the veneer because I don't have any more oak in my pizza box of veneer.

Other than that brain fart, the drawer fronts look good. I already did a sneak peek with them in the carcass and they looked good. You can't really tell that the carcass isn't oak also.

The goal for the rest of the day is get back to the shop after dinner and get the third and final coat of shellac on everything. I already have two on but I may go more than 3. It depends how I like the look of 3.

accidental woodworker

 I do believe that all that is left before the oohs and aahs commence, is to apply a couple of coats of shellac to the dresser. It hit me just before lunch that I had no more woodworking to do on it. Now that this is done I can turn my limited attention span back to the maple kitchen ladder/stool. 

I think the cherry one is going to be resting for a while before I get back to it. I don't want to use the lunchbox planer in the driveway with the cold temps and snow. After that I don't know what else is on the horizon to challenge me.

last drawer

Brought the drawer back to the shop this AM after it slept all night by the kitchen radiator. I did get this caul covered with wax paper before I glued the veneer on.

got nervous

The caul didn't want to come away. I had to use a chisel to wedge it at the top before it separated.

difficult to remove

I tried the marking knife and that was iffy at best. A fresh razor blade didn't work neither. I couldn't hold it flush to the side to cut with. Tried the veneer saw and that was a dismal failure - the hide glue gummed up the teeth and it wouldn't saw. I finally got it removed cleanly with a chisel. I put the bevel against the side and tapped it with a mallet. The waste came off clean and flush.

veneer repair coming

I planed the veneer proud at the top with a blockplane. This end was brittle and loose - the glue didn't bond that well - a chip came off.

nope

A chunk of the pine came off when I chiseled the angle for the veneer repair. Sigh. Not sure how I'll fix it now. I set this aside and kept on trucking.

cleaned up

Used a card scraper to clean the veneer. There were a few bits and pieces from the caul but I had no problems scraping those off. 

more veneer issues

Clueless as to how this defect came to be. 

right on the edge

After what happened on the first veneer repair I am on the fence with this one. It is hard to see and the underlying pine color is a good match with the oak veneer. This will be another veneer repair I'll sleep on.

can I fix one now?

I gathered up some of the shavings I made with the card scraper and stuffed them in the defect. I then flooded it with super glue.

five minutes later

I block planed most of the waste first followed up with the card scraper. From directly above it I had to search to pick it out. This worked surprisingly well and like hide glue, super glue is invisible to shellac too.

sneak peek sans the knobs

It doesn't look that bad. I had some concerns about the oak being too wild looking in the grain department but it isn't glaring here.

shaker knob choices

The left one is birch (or maple) and the right one is cherry. The cherry is too small for these drawers and especially the middle and bottom drawers. I am using the birch knob for the drawers.

getting close here

Got the holes drilled for the knobs and I'll install them after the shellac. I found some thin pine scraps to use for the drawer dividers. The plan is to divide each drawer into 4 compartments. I think that there are only 4 Miller Dowels - birch, cherry, oak, and walnut.

2x dowels came today

Size comparison between the 1x and 2x. I bought a package deal on the 2x dowels - 40 birch ones and the drill bit which I didn't have. I also got 100 cherry mini ones. That was all that I could find on Amazon.

bottom dry fitted

I thought this was the last of the woodworking but there was a wee bit more. This will keep any crappola from getting into the drawer from underneath them. I screwed the base to the carcass with one hiccup. I am always wary when screwing into end grain like I did here. I used #8 x 2" brass wood screws and all four tightened and felt secure.

sigh

I drilled two holes for screws for the front of the base to be screwed to the carcass. These will seen even with the drawer closed. I didn't think that they would end up this close to front edge.

another big sigh

This was confirmation of what I already knew and didn't want to see.

making 1/8" dowels

The holes are a 32nd under an 1/8". I have 1/8" dowels but they were smooth and were a loose fit in the holes. The dowels I made were a slight friction fit. 

not perfect, but much better

With a casual glance they shouldn't be noticed. 

base molding done

I glued this just to the base - tried not to get any glue on the carcass. I used my pin nailer to clamp them while the glue cooks.

drawer dividers

Smoothed the rough sawn faces and then sawed them to length. I'll do the half laps for them after the drawers have their finish applied to them.

mixing shellac

I buy empty quart paint cans from my local paint store and I use them for my mixed shellac. I finally figured it out that 2 1/2 cups of Everclear and 6oz of shellac flakes will just about fill the can. This is a 2 pound cut of shellac. The batch I mixed last month is almost gone and definitely not enough to do the dresser.

Still having hiccups with blogger. It isn't freezing 5 or more times and it is now down to one freeze up in each of the last 3 days. PITA because to clear it I have close out and go back in. I wish it would go away and annoy someone else.

accidental woodworker

The only thing two days might have in common with one another is the unpredictability of them. We plan one thing, and then something happens that turns what we hoped to accomplish completely on its head. It’s life. A road works, temporary traffic lights and a redirection sends us a different, much longer way. Today...

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 Everything fell into place so nicely for me today in the shop. I got all the drawers fitted before lunch. I was expecting to spend a good portion of the day knocking them out. The three of them were done before lunch time. In the PM session I got two of the drawer fronts veneered but not without one me-steak and a potential second one.

reference done first

The bottom of the drawer is my reference for fitting them and I deal with that first. All I did was smooth and flush it and checked it for twist.

hmm.....

I thought I was starting with the top drawer but..... It fits in the opening this way but too tight R/L. All I had done at this point was to smooth the bottom.

helping hand

This scrap is as wide as the drawer. I need it to keep the jaws parallel when I tighten the drawer in the other end of the vise. This vise will close on the drawer and toe in the other end without it.

I'm learning

All I had done to this point was to flush the pins protruding proud on the sides. That is all I did and I resisted the urge to take a couple more extra swipes. There is a gap on the front top so the hang up is at the back. From this point on I only plane the top edge for fitting - the bottom won't be touched at all.

wee bit tight

There is a gap on both sides and it is tight on the back right top. The left side top has a frog hair gap.

almost  there

The margins on the front look consistent and the drawer will go in/out but it could be better. It is a wee bit stiff and I want the drawers to open/close freely like they are riding on a cushion of air.

Took the drawer out and made three planing runs around the top edge. I followed that up by planing a slight hollow on the top back between the sides. That did the trick and I got my air cushion open and close.

toothing blade

This is a Kunz toothing blade that fits the Stanley #12 scraper. I have been looking for years for a Stanley toothing blade without any success. I used this freehand to tooth the front face of the drawer in preparation for the veneer.

wow

I had to pinch myself because I had two drawers fitted in less than an hour. 99% of the planing to fit the drawers was done on the top edges. Basically all I did on the sides was flush the pins and tails. Not complaining but I was expecting to do a lot more planing and fitting dance steps.

the top drawer

High corner and opposite of the one on the 2nd drawer. The bottom is laying flat at the back and the front. Treated the first drawer to same treatment as the 2nd one.

done

I can push both drawers almost 3/4 of the way out the back with a gentle tap on the front. Fingers crossed that I won't have any expansion headaches come this summer.

coulda, woulda, shoulda, but didn't

If I had thought this through I would have started fitting the bottom drawer first. That way I could have used the same jaw spacer - I would just have to cut off some for the next two smaller drawers. Duh!

flushing first

The pins were slightly below the tails - I planed the tails flush with the pins and planed the hump flat on this side.

3rd drawer

The fitting of this drawer was going incredibly fast and easy. This is the fit of it after planing the bottom and flushing the pins/tails on the sides. This drawer didn't have any high corners at the back or the front. Planed the top corners flush, smoothed the top, and planed a hollow at the back. Done - drawer slid in/out on a cushion of air.

I was happy that none of the drawers had any hang ups with the drawer runners. I thought maybe the two I put in backwards might have caught the bottom edge of the drawer being a frog hair too low. But that wasn't so, all drawers had no hang ups.

I got to the shop a little after 0900 and all 3 drawers were done by 1019. A little over an hour. I thought I was being optimistic thinking it would take me all morning to get that done.

where it will live

The plan is to clear off this table and put the new dresser here. I am going to move the Dowel Max dresser over here too. I can fit those two here along with this one which has my Tremont cut nails.

glue blocks

I put glue blocks on all 3 drawers to tighten them up. What a difference they made - the sound when hit bottom with and without them was a big difference. I used hide glue to attach them and rubbed them in place and left them to cook.

1/4" back

The back is dry fitted and ready to attach. I will leave it off until after I get the knobs and finish on the carcass and the drawers. After that is done I'll glue and nail it on.

after lunch road trip

Went to the Frame it Shop after lunch and picked up the frame of the grandkids and the parents. This came out fantastic IMO. The frame colors and the mat complement each other perfectly. I went with an asymmetrical placement for the pics - this arrangement is interesting looking IMO.

veneering prep

Made a clamping caul for each of the drawers.

checking the first veneer

Sawing this veneer was not easy. I have a fine tooth veneer saw (50TPI) and cross cutting with it did not go smoothly. The rip saw cuts were ok and easier. But the saw didn't like making cross cuts - it took a lot of calories and dance steps to saw through thin veneer. After the second drawer I used my marking knife to do the third one.

oops

Screwed up the 3rd drawer veneer. I got the length off of the side instead of the front or back. Had to pick out new veneer and I settled on oak only because I could get a continuous grain flow from top to bottom with the two pieces I had.

before the oak veneer

I think this is ash but I couldn't get 3 pieces to match. I played with these swapping them around and trying different looks but in the end I said No Mas and went with the oak.

clamped and cooking

Got two clamped and after dinner I'll try to get the last one clamped and cooking too. I wanted to use these clamps to do it and I ran out of them. Forgot that I had small 5 and 6 inch F clamps clamped on the floor joists I could have used.

fingers crossed

Just realized here that I hadn't put any wax paper between the clamping caul and the veneer. In the past when I have veneered, the hide glue has bled through the veneer. I don't know what to expect with this and if there will be any glue squeezed through gluing the caul and the veneer together.

If that happens, I used hide glue and it is reversible. I will have to pick a new veneer and start over after I remove the veneer. I'm thinking happy thoughts that I won't have to.

optimist

I prepped the last drawer caul with wax paper. That will be ready to use regardless of what happens with the first two drawers.

clamping the veneer dry

The oak veneer is bumpy and wavy. I clamped it dry to see if that would help flatten it some. I'm counting on the caul to flatten the other two veneers and the hide glue to keep them that way. I'll find out if I should have done any pre-flattening treatment when it comes out of the clamps.

accidental woodworker 

PS after dinner work, I couldn't wait and let it cook until the AM

3rd drawer

Got the last drawer front glued, clamped, and cooking.

it was stuck

I was able to get the cauls off. I had use a chisel as wedge and pry them off. this drawer front caul broke into 3 long pieces. If I had let this go until the AM the caul would have been glued solid to the veneer. That white spot above my thumb are remnants of it - I had planed a lot of it off already. Originally it was about 5-7 inches long. A card scraper was working well with cleaning it up and I'll finish up with that in the AM.

2nd drawer

The caul on this drawer was plywood and just some little bits and pieces were stuck to the veneer. The first drawer caul was solid pine. I had to reglue some veneer that lifted at the top right edge. Both of these will camp out in the kitchen overnight next to the radiator.

I just finished a hen bowl from black walnut. I’ve made a bunch of these hen/chicken/fowl-inspired bowls over the years. No two of them have been quite the same. Every time I start one I have some uncertainty about how … Continue reading →

The latest Standard mandolin is on the bench and will be ready for sale in a few months time. Here’s the story so far….

Cheers Gary.

 There are still piles of the white stuff all over the place. With the temps we are having now (18F this AM ~  -8C) it is going to be around for a while. The first day of spring is March 20th which is a month away. Around these parts, March usually doesn't get snowfall but that may change this year. 

snug fit

The first drawer and I could fit all four corners (snugly) into the drawer opening. It was too wide R/L to check that fit.

middle drawer

Went together off the saw. Doing the bottom was batting next.

bottom fitted

I should have made all of the bottoms when I did the first drawer. That didn't occur to me at that time - I was focused on getting the first one done.

glued and cooking

I brought the drawer and the glue upstairs to the kitchen for the drawer to cook by the radiator and warm up the glue. Shop temp had dropped again to 55F and was back up to 57F around 1000.

last drawer

Labeled the corners and the bottom inside edge. I tried using the cabinetmakers triangle but I didn't like it. With matching numbers at the corners I find that easier to keep on top of what goes where.

1050

I almost got the last drawer dry fitted. I just had to chop the waste in the pin boards before I can do that. I break for lunch everyday at 1100 and I went upstairs a wee bit early today.

2nd drawer

I could only get the four corners to fit on the left side only. The right side all corners were too tight.

3rd drawer

Went together off the saw - dry fit was good. These dovetails are some of the best I've done. All of them seated fully with zero gaps. What gaps I did have closed up with a few taps of the mallet. 

I had a senior moment fitting the bottom On side was proud and like the idiot I can be, I flipped the bottom around and retried it. Got the same result and realized that front to back of the bottom was about 1/8" too long. DUH.

cleaning the insides

I didn't forget to do any of the interiors of the drawers. On these drawers I tried to keep my vertical pencil lines no longer than the baselines. It paid off here because I hardly had any pencil to 'erase'. I'm still learning and picking up tidbits here the there.

happy with this

When I first started doing hand sawn dovetails I never thought I would get to this point. All the tails and pins fit snug and gap free. I struggled for years with getting dovetails to look even half as good as these. But slowly after all the boxes I've made it is finally coming together for me on a consistent basis.

I made my first dovetail box on friday, April 22, 2011, after practicing and trying to make a dovetailed box for about 6 weeks. I had a lot of failures, some successes, but no boxes with four corners of pins/tails that didn't have gaps wide enough to throw a dog through.

still have it

I wish I had kept some of the failures but this is the only one. I haven't looked at it in quite a while and I didn't remember the pins/tails looking this good. I keep jig accessories knobs and such in it. I didn't know that neither.

 Fitting the drawers commences in the AM tomorrow at 0800. Unless the shop temp is 55F then fitting will commence at 0930 or 57F.

accidental woodworker

A couple weeks ago, I made a new fence for an old Worth marking gauge.  In the original, the beam of the gauge got clamped in position using a wooden screw through a tapped hole in the top of the gauge's fence.  The screw was about 3/8" diameter and about 10 threads per inch.

The original from the Worth gauge

For the new fence, I used a machine screw and a threaded insert.  But it got me thinking (again) about wooden screws and nuts.  A couple years ago I finally had success making wooden screws and nuts, but the diameters I was working with were much larger than this (the smallest was 13/16").  So I thought I'd give it a try.

My plan was to start with a screw having 1/2" major diameter and 8 threads per inch.  A 3/8" diameter just seemed too small for now.  Using 8 tpi, (1/8" thread pitch) makes the numbers come out nice.  I started with a 1/2" square blank and on each face, I knifed and penciled lines every 1/8".  The lines on each consecutive face were 1/32" offset from the prior face.  After planing the workpiece round, The lines were still visible and I could connect them with pencil.

Ready to connect the layout lines and get filing

After filing the threads with a square file

This worked fairly well, but I still needed to see if it would fit into a nut with the same thread pitch.  For the nut, I first tried using the method I had success with a couple years ago.  I made a block with a 7/16" hole (the minor diameter of the screw) through a face and then cut a saw kerf in an edge at an angle down to and a little bit into the 7/16" hole.

You can see the 7/16" hole through the front face, as well as the slanted kerf at top of the block

The kerf fits a slim card scraper - you can see the scraper extending into the hole just a little bit

That 7/16" diameter stick in the above picture has a shallow spiral kerf sawn into it.  This stick was laid out very carefully and sawn very carefully.  This was the second try - the first was made from a very porous wood that was clearly not suitable for this purpose.  The one above is maple.

The first attempt got destroyed in use.  There is just not enough meat around those kerfs to withstand a little stress.

A little below those threads, I drilled a 1/8" hole and fashioned a tiny cutter, which is just press-fit into the hole.

The cutter can be seen here - it's got a (roughly) 90 degree point

In use, this spiral-kerfed piece gets placed into the block (the block with the 7/16" hole and slanted kerf), and the slim card scraper engages the kerf.  As the cylinder is turned, it gets pulled into the block and the cutter can cut an inside thread in a workpiece that is clamped to the block.

Here's the cylindrical piece engaged with the card scraper in the block. Note the spacers taped to the front of the block.

Here, I've added a workpiece that had a 7/16" hole bored through it. The block and workpiece are clamped in a bench vise.

In this view from above, you can see the spacers allow you to see between the workpiece and the block.  This way you know when the cutter exits the workpiece as the cylindrical piece is turned.

At first, the cutter is barely showing as you turn it through the workpiece.  After retracting the cutting cylinder, you advance the cutter and run it through again.  And again.  And again ... until the threads are well formed and deep enough.  For threads this size it only takes a few passes.

Here are the internal threads that were just cut

And the screw fits!  Success!

Well, so this post doesn't get too long, I'll end here and pick up next time with a second method.  I'm fairly excited about it because it doesn't rely on the spiral kerf cut into the cutter stick.  Maybe eventually there can be some success with 3/8" diameter sticks!

 Finally started on the drawers and I got one glued and cooking. I also finished up the work on the carcass. However, I'm holding off putting some of the finishing touches on it until the drawers are done and fitted. Other than that it was productive day. On the flip side of the coin my left thumb has gotten achy along with my right wrist. I punished both of them when I planed the stock for the drawers and the kitchen ladder/stool. I am going to take it easy and give these two a chance to relax.

oldies but goodies

I made these 90° corner gizmos in the 1980's. I have another pair that are slightly larger. In spite of their age all four are still dead nuts on 90° according to Mr Starrett. Used them to keep the base corners at 90°.

yikes

This threw a monkey wrench into my after dinner activities. This is what greeted me after taking the clamps off. I glued and clamped it and set it aside to cook.

checking it

The base still fits around the carcass but I don't have the 1/8" wiggle room I had before. It fits with the base glued so that is all that matters.

bearers dry fitted

This was something I could do before I headed back upstairs for the night.

pilot holes

I planed and squared the edge of the bearers that will be against the base. It will be glued and screwed (3 screws) to the base. The two pilot holes on the adjacent edge will be for screwing the carcass to the bearers.

front rail

On the front bearer I can't screw in from the bottom rail because the rail isn't thick enough. Instead I will screw down through the rail into the bearer underneath it.

sigh

These are some of the crappiest dovetails I have done in a long time. I'll be filling them in with wood putty. If this wasn't a shop project I would have made a new base.

55F this AM

The shop felt cold when I came down to this morning. This is the lowest temp it has been so far this winter. The morning temps for the past two days have been 18F and 19F ~ -7.5C. It did zoom back up to 57F a few hours later.

base isn't twisted

The break glue up set up overnight and looked ok this AM. The base was twist free on the top and bottom. I was expected to have some due to the break.

dry fit is good

In spite of using the 90° corner gizmos the base isn't square. The back measured 14 1/4" R/L and it was 14 7/16" at the front R/L. No problems spreading the back to fit. Once the base is screwed to the carcass it shouldn't see any stress at all.

3 molding choices

I didn't get to use the one I wanted but nobody will ever know that.

quarter round

I like this look but the reveal left on the bottom rail is too thin for this molding.

Ditto for #2

This was my first choice but like the quarter round the rail reveal is too thin. 

the winner

I like the size of the reveal this molding leaves. I thought this would win the brass ring because of its size. Not getting a warm and fuzzy with the look of this one so I may go on a road trip to Home Depot and see what else they have in the teeny molding bins.

base back board

I wasn't going to use one of these but both ends of the base curl away outward at the bottom of it. I'll screw this to the bottom rail and use Miller Dowels to pull the base tight to it.

hmm.....

I was planning on using 1/2 blinds at the front but I don't like this. If I leave a 1/8" at the front the tails would be about 3/8" which I think is too small. Switched lanes and now I'll be using through dovetails at the front and back.

pizza box of veneer

I don't want to see the through dovetails on the drawer fronts of the dresser. So I am going to apply a veneer over the 3 drawer fronts. I thought of using cherry, mahogany, and walnut. 

is it pine?

I had some yellow pine but it was way short on the length. This looks like pine but it feels harder than pine. Regardless of that, I'm using it for the drawer fronts. The grain and color closely matches the carcass.

first drawer

Started with the top drawer and middle one is in the on deck circle.

off the saw

First drawer dry fit is good. The diagonals agree with a 32nd. Now I had to figure out how to get a bottom in it. I didn't allow for the back to accept drawer slips. 

bottom dry fitted

Decided to go with a enclosed bottom. I plowed the grooves for the 1/4" bottom on the tablesaw.

on the front and back

The front ones will be covered by the veneer. The ones in the back may stay as is. I initially thought these holes would be on the sides.

the worse two

The gap on these two aren't that bad. As I looked at the others which were all tight, I saw these two last. I tapped them with a mallet and a scrap of wood and I got some glue squeeze out.

clamped it

The drawer stayed square - the diagonals were still within a 32nd of each other. Sometimes when I clamp the tails it pulls it out of square. It is probably the bottom which is holding it square.

quit 15 minutes early

I almost got the second drawer dry fitted. Tails are done and the pins are ready to chop. Should definitely get this one done tomorrow and maybe the 3rd one too. I'm going to put enclosed bottoms in the last two drawers too. 

accidental woodworker

Now that Valentine’s Day has passed, I can share this fun little project.

After finding a suitable scrap of hardwood, I printed a template and glued it on with a thin coat of wood glue. I let it dry for about ten minutes, then used a small plunge router with a ball nose bit to remove most of the waste to a consistent depth, staying well back of the template line.

I switched to a small carving gouge to work right up to the line, leaving a nice, tactile edge that flows into the bottom.

I continued this process around the entire shape, then carefully textured the bottom the same way. Since all the carving was done from the perimeter towards the centre, some carving was inevitably against the grain. Therefore, light cuts, a super-sharp tool, and patient, careful hands were essential to prevent larger chips from being lifted.

Then, it was off to the bandsaw to cut out the profile, followed by sanding – first with a random orbital sander, then foam sanding blocks – to smooth the outside. I was going for a soft feel, so I welcomed the tendency for these tools to round over edges.

Once satisfied with the outside, I used the foam block to sand off the template and gently round over the top edges.

Then I applied a coat of paste wax and buffed it out after it dried.