Hand Tools

The title is not click bait, it’s real. I stumbled on it last night. It’s a total game changer for me and anyone else who wants to give it a go. I am talking about A2 steel razor sharp as if it has come off the strop in under 30 seconds flat. Watch the video to see how.

 It was hot, humid, and sticky today. The post lunch stroll was a PITA. I did a 3 Stooges routine trying to peel my sweat soaked T shirt off when I got back to the barn. That tired me out more than the stroll did. In spite of that adventure I made good progress on the cabinet. There is still a long ways to go but every journey starts with the first step.

hmm......

Put the opposite stile on to see how it fit. Two of the tenons fit and two didn't. Part of the fun with mortise and tenon joinery for me it the fitting.

30 minutes later

Dry fitted and clamped. Happy with the rail to stile connections. All of them look good but a couple of them aren't flush. Some of the rails were slightly cupped - enough to cause a misalignment with the stiles. I didn't plane it because I didn't want to thin the rails at all. I'll deal with the alignment issues with planes, sanding, and wood putty because after all it is getting painted.

width first

 Used two sticks to measure the width of the panels. The width of all three were the same.

setting the tablesaw

These sticks are for the height of the panels.

3 sets

I used leftover banding moldings for my measuring sticks.

3 panels

I don't have enough 6mm plywood for the cabinet. I figured this out before I brain farted and cut one wrong too. Another road trip to the Walpole Woodcraft is in the near future. I'll bring calipers so I can measure the thickness of the plywood.

oops

I made the bottom panel too wide or too tall. Depends upon whether you are a 1/2 full or 1/2 empty type personality. Spoiler alert - me-steak upcoming.

too small

I should have, would have, could have, but didn't eyeball the panel before running it through the saw. I didn't check to ensure that I had the orientation correct before trimming it to size.

not again

 This is what I missed when trimming the original panel. Oh well I can use the screwed up panel to make boxes.

dry fit

I did an asymmetrical layout on the panels. The top and bottom panels are the same size with the middle panel being 1 1/2 inches taller.

hmm.....

Both of these squares are the only ones that I have that don't have shoulders. They lay flat in the panel and say all three are square. The wooden squares when checked with Mr Starrett are a paper width off square at the far end from the 90. Both say the panels are square and the diagonals are dead on too. I was having a deja vu sensation but the light bulb never came on. How can the say it is square when they are a frog hair off? Does that make a difference when used wood on wood this way? I'll look around for a small framing square or something similar.

side rails

Before gluing up the back I plowed the grooves in the six rails for the sides. Decided to go with two plywood panels in each side. I did that because the width of the plywood panel will be about 9 inches. The height around 22 inches.

going well

No hiccups or urges to find my 3lb sledge hammer. The first part of the glue up went off without a hitch and zero stress. Glued on the last stile, clamped it, and set it aside to cook. Hoping that the sides glue up as easy as this one.

paper thick gap

When I sighted down the stiles they looked pretty good to the eye. Not dead nuts perfectly straight but good enough maybe. I just have the two ends clamped and there is a varying gap everywhere in between the clamped ends. Just to be safe I did the stiles for the sides the same way I did the back stiles.

done

It took me about 30 minutes to plow all the grooves in the rails and stiles.
 

mortise layout

This story stick is a mess with a few incorrectly marked mortises. It was a bit confusing but I slowed down, took my time and got everything transferred correctly. Here I did the top, bottom, and the middle rail mortises.

got lucky

I grabbed the correct bottle for me. I got this being reversible from watching Rosa String Works you tube vids. It isn't as quick and easy as hide glue, but it is doable.

accidental woodworker 

A humidity meter is something you really should have in your shop. The cost is trivial. A thermometer is combined with most of them, as shown above. This one can fit conveniently on the wall with a screw, or stand on its leg, or grip steel with its magnet. As we all know, wood is […]

 

what a clown show

I laid out the two stiles, one at a time. Then I laid the two against each other and they didn't agree. I have absolutely no idea how I screwed it up and gave up trying to figure it out. Instead I clamped the stiles together and planed as much of the layout lines off as I could. And I started over again

switched lanes

I didn't erase as much of the layout as I thought. What was left was confusing me and it took me a while checking the existing lines against what the layout stick had before moving forward for the 2nd time. 

two times was the charm

This finally worked and everything clicked into place. I clamped the layout stick and the two stiles together before I transferred mortise locations. The first time I tried this I couldn't get top or the bottom mortises to line up. Got it on the 2nd try.

not much

I double, triple checked the two stiles against each other a bazillion times. I even went topside, got a coffee came back and checked it one more time. Once I was satisfied that the plow plane had bottomed out it was on to chopping the mortises.

my first set of chisels

I got this set in the late 1970's or very early 1980's and for over 20 years I never knew that it was metric. Duh.

6mm chisel

I measured it with my calipers and it said it was 5.94mm. The chisel fit in the groove with a few frog hairs of wiggle room. It took me a few chops to get used to it. The flat on the top of the blade was a bit difficult to zoom in on to keep square in the groove.

about 3/8" at the widest

Both of the stiles are bowed - here I have them as they will be R and L.

gone

It takes almost zero pressure to flatten out the bow. I don't think the plywood will have any hiccups keeping the stiles straight. This is the back and I'll be able to flush the outside edges of the back stiles against the back edge of the sides.

first four chopped

This went surprising quick. It took me a little more than 30 minutes to whack them all out.

2nd set done

I left a lot of extra at the top and bottom of the stiles. A wee bit more than needed but then again I didn't get any blowouts on any of the top/bottom mortises I chopped.

test tenon

I increased the bottom rail from 3 to 3 1/2 wide to strengthen the back against twisting. Doing a test tenon to check the water first. It has been a while since I have done one. The plan was to do the cheeks to width on the tablesaw and hand saw the cheek waste off.

self supporting

It took some fiddling but the width of the tenon was good. I had to pare the walls of the mortise before I got the test tenon seated. Not happy with the rail not being quite flush with the stile - on either side. 

last one

I thought I had made the tenons too thin (visually based look) but I hadn't. These are 6mm and not 1/4".

all self supporting

I decided to go with a ladder style back for strength and stiffness. Still debating whether to use this for the sides too are just one rail in the middle. Chopping the extra mortises didn't cause any hardship. I'll have to see how many panels I can get out of the 30x30 panels. I've got a sinking feeling that I might be disappointed.

The tablesaw is working fine with the new V belt I installed. No hesitation, no slipping, and no bogging down in the cut. It spins up to speed instantly and it doesn't falter when wood is fed into the saw blade. It slowed a wee bit when sawing the tenons in the jig but that is normal. I didn't feel or see any difference doing the tenons with this belt than I did with the original one. All is well in Disneyland again.

accidental woodworker 

I roughed out this cherry shrink pot with split sides a few years ago. It cracked a couple days into drying, leaving a 1/2″ wide gap. It’s a rare occurrence, but sometimes you get lucky. My first inclination was to … Continue reading →

We are about to start offering pre-sale opportunities for the Gramercy Tools Treadle Lathe. It has been a three year long haul, but we are finally ready. Our shop is manufacturing parts and our aluminum fabricator is getting ready to make the frames.

This means we will be formally establishing the process for taking $500 refundable deposits to reserve a lathe at a pre-sale price. The pre-sale purchase price will be $3,400. We expect to be able to deliver the lathes by the end of the year. The $3,400 is a little below the retail list price, which will go to $3,600 when the lathe is in production. What the deposit does it get you in the queue. When we are ready to ship the lathe, we will contact you for the balance. If at that time you decide to delay or not proceed with your purchase, we will refund your $500. If we dont deliver the lathe by the end of 2025, you are welcome to cancel your pre-order and get a refund.

In the next few days we will be updating the website with more information and details on the pre-sale please see the website. This is a complicated machine and as is standard for big machines, shipping will be extra.

The real point of this blog post is to share this video of Alan Dorsey using the lathe. Alan, a professional turner and wood turning teacher whom many of you met at Hand Works in Amana, has extensive experience with our lathe prototypes. Here is also has interesting insights on the difference between power and treadle turning. Both good, but different.

In other news:
After 38 years together, my friends Ken and Mike of the company Jorgensen Carr, cabinet makers extraordinaire, are retiring and closing up shop. First of all a hearty congratulations to them because 38 years in a small business, especially a woodworking business, is quite an achievement. The fact that they are still talking to each other is amazing.

I've known Ken since he was the teaching assistant when I studied woodworking with Maurice Fraser back in the 80s. When I first needed shop space for my own woodworking, the fledgling Jorgensen Carr company rented me some bench space. One of the big lessons I learned from them was that you should be able to trust your equipment. So when you set a miter fence to 45 and made a cut it was 45. When you set your table saw to 2-3/8, it was 2-3/8. Ken also impressed upon me the need to make sure your equipment is maintained so you're not fighting your environment.

Typically when a big shop closes, you hire an auctioneer to sell off the stuff - machines big and small. Hand tools of all types. Wood. It's always a little sad when a great shop closes, but auctions are the way the next generation gets started. Jorgensen Carr is no different. Their auction is in a week or so and you can see the details here. Auctions can be a great way to get big equipment and/or round out equipment needs. You may note that the Festool tools include some items that are now discontinued, like the CT 22 vacuum, but we still sell bags for this vac because there are plenty of them still doing their jobs in shops across the country, even though they haven't been offered by Festool for many years. A shout-out to our customer Austin who is always looking for a chance to buy an ETSEC sander used, but "no one ever sells an ETSEC, even when shops close," because no one likes to part with this tool.

layout

I am starting with the back first. I am also making R/L sides a copy of it. Used the story stick to layout the mortise locations along with the OAL (over all length).

not enough

Got most of the stock sized to rough dimensions but I forgot a couple of pieces. Didn't realize it here though. Plowing the 6mm grooves was in the batters circle.

grooves plowed in the rails

had a bow

Both stiles had (still do) a healthy bow in them. Clamped them in the vise this way to flatten it so I could plow a true and straight groove.

2nd stile

Both of the stiles had about the same amount of bow. Clamping them in the vise this way straightened them out. Fingers crossed that the 6mm plywood in the grooves will keep the stiles flat.

gap killers

In the area of the vise there weren't any gaps. I had to add a few clamps to remove slight gaps on either side of the vise.

transfer time

A story pole makes sense (to me) to transfer the needed info on each stile. Thinking ahead, I don't think I'll need a story pole for the rails.

hmm......

This is a wee bit tight. I thought that 6mm was a few frogs wider than a 1/4". I had planned to use the chisel to chop the mortises. I just remembered that I have a 6mm chisel - the very first 6 piece chisel set I bought over 40 years ago. I'll check that chisel out in the AM.

the forgotten pieces

Missed prepping the center stile which is two pieces. It is two piece because the plywood is only 30 inches and the inside of the back is around 48 inches.

two more forgotten pieces

These are the cross rails for the center stile. I might be able to get the two out of one board but just in case.

hmm.....

Eyeballing what I have here to see if I brain farted on any other required pieces. Turns out I have one extra cross rail. I can use that for one of the sides.

nope

I am not liking this at all. But because of the length of the plywood I can't make the center stile taller. I want the cross rail to be close to the top - I was thinking 1/3 of the length from the top to the bottom rail. I could split it in half - the plywood is long enough to accommodate that.

thinking out loud

If I use three cross rails between the top/bottom ones it would look better than the center rail layout above. This set up will add 4 additional mortises and tenons to fit. Having the one rail centered is looking like a better look/solution. I could then glue and secure a center shelf to it which would help with rigidity of the cabinet.

been a while

Another option for the mortising to come. The 6mm bit fits the groove with zero wiggle room. Drill out most of the waste and clean it up with chisels. I shopped for a 6mm straight bit with an imperial shank but nada. The mortise I intend is roughly 1 3/8" deep and I couldn't find a 6mm straight bit longer than 1".

I stopped here because I had to think about this before I did any drilling/chisel work. I still haven't settled on the width of the cabinet and that led to me questioning the width of the sides? The back width is driven by the size of the glass door. I won't want it being too wide - I'm thinking 20" wide tops.

accidental woodworker

My bench inevitably has three squares close to hand, even though I could manage with just the one. Two of them are six-inch Starretts, any Starrett takes some beating, and my one old one was brand new in the box when I bought it in 1965. One of the Starretts was bought and given to...

Source

I made a quick video on sawing to the line without the need of having a knife wall. If your sawing abilities are right up there, then making a knife wall is just a waste of time.

 I was wondering why today as I was strolling why so many places were closed. Then it dawned on me, today is VJ day or as it is officially know, Victory day celebrating the end of WWII with Japan's surrender. The littlest state in the union is the only one that observes it as a state holiday. However, when I worked at the VA they didn't recognize it because it isn't a federal holiday. And federal trumps state. After 80 years maybe it is time to join the other 49 states.

Woodcraft haul

I got back to the barn around 1115 with these three 30x30 6mm birch plywood panels. Along with a quart of Titebond glue that I didn't check to see if it was the original formula. That one you can reverse the glue bond like hide glue. I got zero time in the shop for the AM session.

I think I only need one full panel and a partial piece from a 2nd one for the cabinet. I bought a 3rd one for just in case. A 30x30 panel cost $22 and a 48x48 panel was $69. I was going to buy one but not for that price. It was cheaper for me to drive to the store and buy it over ordering it via the internet.

lots of variation

I could see a thickness variation in the three panels I got. This was the thinnest one, the baby panel.

mama bear panel

papa bear panel

There was no mistaking that this was the thickest one. I would rather deal with an oversized panel than one that is too thin.

mama bear panel

I made a 6mm test groove. It fits on the mama bear panel with out having to beat it on. Not overly snug and not loose neither. Didn't check if it was self supporting.

the baby bear panel

The test groove easily slips onto the panel. Not fall down and out loose but just a hint of being a wee bit sloppy. I plan on gluing the panels in the groove so this will work.

papa bear panel

It will fit if forced but that is something I don't want to do. I want a easy fitting panel that doesn't require any persuasion at all. 

back panel stock

I have the side panels (R/L) settled but the back I'm still not sure of. Initially I thought of making the sides and back panels all the same but I'm not 100% sold on that. Thinking of a solid wood back instead of stiles/rails and panels. Plenty of time to decide on that.

side panel stock

All the stile and rails are 3" wide. Going with that width for rigidity and strength. The stiles and rails on the cabinet I saw at my niece's house were 2" wide and they looked thin to my eye.

stickered

Nothing moved, cupped, or bowed when I ripped out the stock. Fingers crossed that none of it does any stupid wood tricks overnight.

potential door stock

All of these are flat sawn but all of them are clear. No knots and all the boards are flat and straight. The outside edges are close to rift sawn so they would be best for the stiles and rails. This is going to be painted so I don't have to agonize over grain/color matching.

two more

The right board has one knot but I can get the long stiles out of it. Both outside edges of these two are rift sawn too. I have three more boards but they have knots in them and I can't get any required long lengths out of them. It sucks that they have the best rift sawn possibilities. Sigh.

It made it up to 99F - 37C today and it isn't going to cool off much for a couple of weeks. The shop temp is hovering around 77F - 25C which is comfortable once I start working. Before I know it I'll be pissing and moaning about it being cold.

accidental woodworker

If you haven’t seen the first part of this build yet, watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKP-WY1Aoy8 That’s where I cover the basics and show the setup — this video is all about the important tips and things to watch out for so your shooting board works perfectly from the start.

future picture gallery

I have 3 blank walls in the back hallway for my Stanley Tool pics. It is also the only blank walls left in the house. There is zero wall space in the shop so this will have to do. It is going to be a bit tricky hanging the pics in here - there are steps in the way of setting up a ladder.

why not

I waxed the newest pic frame with the LAP wax. I liked the shine of the shellac but I also liked the wax finish afterward. The frame didn't look as harsh in reflected light.

one more round of touch up

After I ran the gray pad around the frame a few more white specs popped out. Had to touch them up one more time before I could shellac them.

one coat of shellac

The three frames looked good after one coat but it was still wet too. I couldn't see any evidence of the spots I had touched up. Fingers crossed that won't change as the shellac dries.

two coats

I could see a couple of spots that I had touched up after the first coat had dried. With the second coat of shellac I couldn't see them anymore. Either way it doesn't matter because I'm stopping here at two coats. Where these will hang I won't be able to get close enough to see the touched up spots.

ready for tuesday

Brought the new frame upstairs to await its journey to the Frame It shop. I am going to give a mini japanese toolbox to Maria when I bring the frame. I meant to give it to her when I picked up the previous 7 frames but I had forgot to bring it. 

Made my mind up on the frames for the glass door cabinet. I initially I had been hell bent on using dowels but realized the futility of that. I am going to use mortise and tenon joinery. I couldn't think of any other way to plow grooves in the stiles/rails and attach them with dowels. 

With mortise and tenon joinery I can plow straight through the rails and stiles and not run into any hiccups. I will have to get some 6mm plywood for the panels though. I will try the closest Woodcraft to me first and see what they have in stock. 

accidental woodworker

….continuing on from round one of jacking up the house…. …what followed was more demo to open up the walls for some ne-tsugi (post repair using slicing joints) as well as some more foundation work. Demo was also necessary because the earthen plaster walls had separated internally as a result of the sill beam rotting… Read More »Tomobe – Ne-tsugi

The post Tomobe – Ne-tsugi appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

These wooden dogs grip a work piece using the rectangular openings in your bench top. They are easy to make and better than anything you can buy. I only use the steel ones that came with my bench over 40 years ago for very tall pieces of wood. For the frame, use moderately dense wood, […]

I went on the World’s Longest Yard Sale again this year. We traveled five days traveling from Russel Springs, Ky to Eaton, Ohio, at the I -70 line. It seems harder and harder to find tools. Mainly because the same vendors have the same tools I picked through the previous year. Nevertheless this is what I got.

A couple of Milers Falls planes. These are getting pricier every year as more people realize how well they work.

A bunch of Stanley bench planes and one Craftsman No 5C for $5.00. I’ll buy the parts planes if the price is right as I usually have the correct part to make it complete.

Two Stanley No 48 tongue and groove planes. One is missing a blade, but they’re relatively easy to make. The other has a user made wooden fence that is too narrow to work.

I bought this lot for $20.00. The guy didn’t know what the sun plane body was. I believe the screw handle is from a mitre clamp.

An ivory slide rule and a 2 ft caliper rule I have never seen before. Plus, there are a few odds and ends.

I found the Holy Grail of paste wax. A full can of SC Johnson paste wax for a $1.00. I hit the lottery. lol.

I only spent about $250.00 for everything, but my wife, Anita, made out well. She bought a whole lot more and spent a whole lot more money than me. You can check out her Instagram page at mybuckeyehome to see what she bought.

 

old tablesaw V belt

This is the easiest way to figure out the belt needed. The other involves measuring the pulley diameters and the distance between them. According to the roll tape the length of the belt I need is 44 inches.

face side

The gray scotch pad is so different vice sandpaper. It leaves little sanding dust but the surface is smooth to the touch. More importantly the gray pad doesn't sand away leaving bare wood. The plan is/was to get 3 coats of shellac on the front. I want to bring this to Maria on tuesday.

almost ready

Cleaned up the frame with a damp rag. Just had to wait for it to dry before shellac.

got lucky

I was on my way to the Auto parts store when I thought of this. I had bought this belt for the bandsaw but I didn't use it. The on center spacing of the pulleys on the table saw and the bandsaw matched. Tried it, it fit, and I made several test cuts with no hiccups. Saved me a road trip and a few $$$.

new side project

I need a box to keep my peeper helper in. It is a PITA to take my eye glasses out of their soft holder. With this box they are protected but way easier to take out and put away.

glass door cabinet

I haven't forgotten about this. I've been thinking about how to do the grooves for the panel inserts. I still haven't decided on how to do them. The current leader is using a 6mm router bit because there isn't a plywood imperial 1/4" router bit. The router bit headache is finding a 6mm router bit that comes with an imperial 1/4" or 1/2" shank. I don't have any metric collets.

sigh

I had laid the frame face down on the workbench and when I put it on the shitcan to start shellac I saw 4 holidays on the bead moldings. Wasn't expecting that and it threw a monkey wrench in applying the shellac. I had to touch up the holidays and I got the first coat of shellac on after I got home from my post lunch stroll.

box is done

These aren't the glasses that will call this home but they work to check out the specifics. I wasn't sure if I had made the height too high but it looks and works ok as is. I also waxed the entire project with the LAP wax.

3 out of 7

Maria told me that some of the frames had stuck together and it left a few holidays. I touched the 3 frames up and I'll shellac them when I do the big frame.

fingers crossed

Just realized that I had painted over shellac and I'll be covering the paint with shellac again - effectively a sandwich. Thinking ahead I hope I don't end up with the touch up spots blinking like a neon sign at night.

accidental woodworker