Hand Tools

I’ve recently taken on a new project—something I’ve never tackled before. It’s been on my bucket list for ages: building antique Arabian/Ottoman and 18th-century European and American furniture. I’m particularly drawn to the American Federal style for its creativity, kinda like how the Romans used to mix and match ideas. I’ve already started on some pieces, but this one’s a whole new challenge. Handcrafting these beauties is incredibly time-consuming, but I’m loving every minute of it. Check out my video to see how it’s coming along. By the way, working out of my tool chest feels like something I should’ve done ages ago!

yebreed:

Old Chinese houses are an inexhaustible creative space in terms of wooden interiors. To me, something alike is associated with childhood memories of a countryside house in Zhejiang.

Photo: ©遗产君

 I didn't get a lot done today but I am calling the bureau done. I still have a couple of cosmetic touch ups here and there but I putting the check mark in the done column. I didn't get much done because me back is acting up. It usually hurts when I first get but it loosens up and I don't feel it through out the day. Not so for the past few days with today it throwing a hissy fit on and off all day long. That along with the high 90's F (33-35C) temps and humidity I wasn't feeling much like working wood.

8" drawer box

I plugged the original holes for the knobs. I don't have to plug the holes in the drawer front. I got it aligned and installed in the PM session.

huge improvement

There is one spot where I painted over bare wood but the rest of the top is smooth and glass looking. There is/was some wood shop dust and debris nobs and nibs that I sanded off with 320. I think most of it came from walking on the floors above it.

drawer fronts

These looked better than the top. I applied another coat on everything again. That is all I got done in the AM session. Once they were painted I couldn't do anything else in the shop. I spent the time wisely doing sudoku and crossword puzzles.

no nails

In hindsight I should have made the rabbet wider (R/L) so I wouldn't have to angle the screws like I did here. I put one screw in between each of the bearer rails on both sides. I nixed the nails because of the thinness of the rabbet and that a screw will provide better holding/pull out resistance.

PM session

Putting the drawers back in so I can align the bottom 8" drawer again. It must have shifted on me the first time without me noticing it.

left side aligned

When I did this the first time I made all the drawers align on the left. I paid extra attention to this making sure the drawer didn't move either R/L when I drilled the holes for the knobs.

hole drilled

I drilled the left hole first and installed the knob. I checked to ensure that the 8" drawer front was still in line with the three drawers above it. Once I was satisfied with that I drilled and installed the knob on the right.

drawer front screws

I put four of these in each of the two small top drawers (top and bottom corners). I used six in each of the 3 large bottom drawers - two each in top/bottom corners and two in the top/bottom of the middle.

where are the screws?

Wandered around looking in the spots where I thought I might have hidden the screws but nada. The screws were in one of the compartments. I didn't hear or feel  them rattling around when I picked it up

secured

No problems getting them in and screwed down. Even the middle one was easy peasy and I was expecting that one to be a expletive laden chore.

glamour shot #1

I really like how this bureau turned out. It is a good size but I doubt Leo will take to college with him someday. It is too heavy and they have to go up a long staircase to climb to get it to his second floor bedroom.

side view

I am going to leave the drawers slightly open and give the paint some time to fully cure before I close them.

striped back

The stripes are from me cleaning/erasing the pencil lines with alcohol. I am going to put a brass plate on the back (name date etc) along with my branding iron imprint.

car storage

Amanda already told me that Leo will be using these drawers to hold some of his toy cars. I am on the fence with putting blue felt in the tray compartments. That will change if I can find where I hid my mini mat cutting machine.

same side glamour shot

I wanted to snap this pic from the right but there wasn't enough room to do that. I will have to move the tablesaw so I can get the bureau out of the shop and into the boneyard. Lucky me that my wife bought 4 mini tri-wheeled dollies that will make that job a breeze. However, they won't work a damn for going up steps.

accidental woodworker

Last post I had completed the main box.  This time it's on to the upper tray and drawer.  For the tray, I made the depth (front to back) a little more than 1/16" less than the inside dimension of the box.  It's length is about 3" shorter than the inside length of the box.  This was to allow a drill to stand up on the floor of the upper compartment and still be able to put the tray in place.

The 3/8" thick tray components dovetailed

... and test fitted into the box

Made a handle / divider that fits into stopped dadoes in the ends. The handle is 1/2" thick to add a little comfort when picking it up.

Close-up of one end of the handle / divider

One corner of the tray with cleaned up dovetails

Glued up the dovetails first, then later glued on a 1/8" plywood bottom with some creative "clamping"

It fits!

I made the height so it would stick up 1/8" from the box upper edges

Fitting the front into its opening

Fitting the left side and getting its length directly from the box

The parts in relative position

Marking the sides with a triangle

... and the front/back with a triangle. I sometimes use a double triangle so I don't confuse it with a reference edge mark

Dovetails complete

I had another decision to make.  Do I plow grooves for the 1/8" plywood drawer bottom, or do I glue the bottom to the underside of the drawer?  I did a little test groove in some scrap to help with this.

1/8" groove with some scrap plywood fit in place

First, my 1/8" plow iron is a bit wider than 1/8", and the plywood is a little less than 1/8", so the fit was sloppy.  Second, if I inset the groove 3/16" or 1/4" from the bottom edges, I would lose 5/16" or 3/8" of useable space in the drawer.  So I decided to glue the plywood to the bottom of the drawer.  But since I sized the drawer components precisely, I had to remove the thickness of the plywood from the drawer parts.  On the drawer front I used a rabbet so that the plywood would not be seen with the drawer closed.

Here, I've glued the dovetails together and also glued the bottom  to the drawer, using the metal toolbox as a clamp again

Then I cut out a bit of the front to form a finger pull

And lastly I could do the final fitting all the way inserted (before the finger pull I had no way of pulling the drawer back out!)

Added a couple coats of shellac

And here it is partially loaded, ready for work

This was a really fun build.  It's solid as a rock, but a bit heavier than I might have liked.  But that's OK.  It's built for a purpose and I think it'll serve that purpose well.

Here’s the next video update of the two mandolins that I’m currently working on. It was never my intention to build the two in parallel, that’s just a quirk of the timing! Sooner or later, they shall have to diverge!

However, I guess the video is already out-of-date………

 After I killed the lights I knew that I was a lot closer to being done today than yesterday. What is going to hold up the check mark in the done column is painting. That is what I got done today. I did that in the PM session so I wouldn't stir up dust in the shop if I had done it in the AM session. I'm very anxious to see how all the after the fact sanding and card scraper work paid off. 

setting the drawer unit

Before I painted the top I positioned the drawer unit where it will live on it. I marked the screws and I did all 3. I don't think I'll have any hiccups being able to screw down the middle drawer opening screw.

done

I laid out and drilled the holes for the drawer front screws. I made the hole a 1/8" more than the diameter of the screw shaft.

setting the drawer fronts

I decided it was best to do the drawer fronts now rather than after they are painted. Any dings or scratches done now will be painted over after.

oops

Me thinks I had made a me-steak again. I know I said I would leave the dust panels off until I got the drawer fronts on. But..... I have no way to gain access to the inside of the drawer front so I can drill and fasten the screws.

got lucky

I already drilled the holes for the knobs and I used that hole to screw the drawer front to the drawer box. If I hadn't tripped over this lucky bit I was going to try using a hot glue gun.

huh?????

The screws don't seem to be long enough for the next drawer front (7" one). Both the 1 1/4" and the 1 1/2" screws were too short as was a 2" brass screw I tried.

Yikes!

I have done a lot of bone headed things in the shop but I think this one is now at the head of the line. The screws weren't too short, I hadn't put the drawer box in yet.

wow

I was so happy with how this looked that I almost wet myself. All the margins are perfect dare I say that. I also kind of like this distressed look of the bureau.

it is stable

for the knobs

I got the last package of 2" long 8-32 screws at ACE. The pliers nipped about a 1/4" off and the die chased and cleaned up the threads. Decided to keep going forward and got all the knobs installed too.

another worry dashed

I didn't have a warm and fuzzy about the size of the knobs but now I do. They are going to work fine. I wish they were a tad bit bigger but this is all LV had. Even the two top drawer knobs don't look off to my eye. They are 6 1/8" in from the outside edges and 7" in from the inside edges. 

This bureau is the heaviest piece of anything I ever made. I think only my workbench weighs more than this does. On the bright side it is solid, feels substantial, and should withstand anything a young Leo can throw at it.

the PM paint session

I wiped  down all the parts I was going to paint with a damp rag.

something is amiss

I'm pretty sure that I paid attention to my labels. However, when I was getting ready to remove the knobs and the drawer fronts I noticed a hiccup. The bottom drawer wasn't aligned with the other ones. It was about an 1/8" off to the left. It was enough that I saw it immediately and it is something I'll have to correct.

feeling much better

It had been about an hour after I painted the top when I eyeballed it. It is smooth with no brush marks and no ridges showing. There are a few spots where the paint is over bare wood and they don't look glassy smooth but that is to be expected. I didn't prime the top again and this will take at least two topcoats to finish. Based on the first coat look the 2nd one should come out looking 100% glassy smooth also.

one more coat of shellac

I got four coats on the entire drawer box. I wanted to get one more (possibly two) on the interiors. The insides had a bazillion teeny ridges left by nicks in the planer blades I scraped, steel wool, and sanded off. They may need another coat to melt the shellac and blend them out.

came today

I got something to read before I check my eyelids for light leaks tonight.

 accidental woodworker

Now that the veneer I used to build up the bed of the plane has had a chance to dry, we can start fitting the bed of the plane to the blade. My experience has been that this is one of the steps of setting up a Japanese plane that intimidates people. It shouldn’t be. If you have the coordination to fit a mortise and tenon joint, you have the coordination to do this task.

First, I trim the excess wood from gluing the shim in using a flush cut saw and a chisel to trim.

This process involves putting something on the back of the plane blade that will rub off as you tap the blade in. I’ve used a variety of things for this. In the past I’ve used the following:

• a pencil
• a Sharpie marker
• a dry erase marker
• camellia oil
• graphite powder
• holding the blade over a candle, allowing soot to land on the blade

They all work. There are probably other options as well. This time I’m using a pencil.

Tap the blade into the plane. Because of the veneer, it won’t go all the way down.

Then back the blade out. You’ll see dark marks on the bed of the plane. These marks are where the plane blade came into contact with the bed of the plane, and represent the high points of the bed. It will look something like this.

Now that we can see the contact points, remove the wood in those areas with your favorite implement of destruction. Again, there are a variety of tools that can be used:

• a file
• chisels
• plane float
• small scraper

I like using a combination of a milled-tooth file and chisels.

The areas that are fair game include the bed of the plane and the sides of the grooves. The upper surface of the groove should never be touched.

I’ll remove enough wood so that the marks disappear. The bed of the plane now looks like this.

Scribble more pencil on the back of the plane blade, tap it in, and remove it. What should happen is that the marks now cover a wider area of the bed.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Good music helps this task move along. I was listening to an old Hüsker Dü album. The goal is to get the edge of the blade to within 5mm or so of the mouth with just hand pressure.

If you pay attention during each cycle of removing wood and tapping in the blade, you’ll get a sense of how much the position of the blade changes with each cycle, and then you can decide if you need to be more cautious or more aggressive.

And the contact points should be evenly spread across the bed of the plane. This means that the blade is well supported by the bed of the plane, which will hold the blade firmly in place when in use.

I have friends who love to restore old Stanley planes. One of the steps in that process is to take the frog and sandpaper on a flat surface to make sure that the frog is flat. This is for the same purpose — to provide support for the plane blade. But I think this process is far more enjoyable than sanding metal.

At this point, it will be pretty easy to tap the blade with a hammer to bring the edge to the level of the sole of the plane, and you shouldn’t need to tap too hard to do so.

The total process took about 30 minutes.

One last note on fitting the blade — I’ve heard woodworkers fret about ruining the plane at this step. The only way to ruin the plane is to remove so much wood that the blade sits too far down. This is hard to do. And if that happens, you can just glue in another shim and start over.

success

Home Depot didn't have the blonde plywood brand that Lowes sells but they had this which IMO looks just as good. I almost gave up on because this was not with all the other plywood. It was a few aisles over in  a place I would have never thought of to look for it. I was wandering around up and down the aisles to see what they had to offer and came across it.

I had to wait 20 minutes to find someone to saw the full sheet in half for me. This was $49 for the full sheet which isn't too bad of a price in today's market. I sawed one half to fit the bureau and stowed the other half in the boneyard.

this sucks

I still have brush marks/ridges in the top. I was expecting the paint to fill them in and smooth it out but it ain't happening boys and girls. I don't think even multiple coats will fill/smooth this in/out.

primer

Lightly sanded again with 220 and primer popped out again. This is really starting to draw blood and chunks out of my arse.

the back

I am not going nutso on the back like I intend to on the front. All that matters here is about a nice one inch border on the sides and 1 1/2" at the front. The rest can stay as is.

close

dry fitted

The back was slightly out of square - I planed a 32nd taper on the right side with a jack plane. I also had to knock down about 5"-6" on the top right to flush it.

screwed in place

No glue, just screws - 5 in each bearer rail. I still have to nail the back into the sides of the carcass. I'll use my nail gun to do that if I don't forget it tomorrow. The bureau is rock solid now along with being a lot heavier. This thing weighs a ton and a half at least but I'll bet a lung it will never rack. 

top attached

I attached the top to the top bearer rails with 8 screws at the back and 8 screws at the front. The first row of back screws are screwed directly into the underside of the top through the bearer rail. All the other screws I elongated the holes so the top can contract/expand towards the front. I didn't put any screws in the center cleats because I remembered them after I got last screw driven home. 

pay me now or pay me later a lot more

I got no one to blame for this crappy paint job but myself. I got lazy and didn't do what I should have done. First I didn't do a good enough job sanding the top before I put the primer on. Secondly I didn't sand the primer coat and subsequent topcoats like I should have. It is going to take a lot of calories to fix this screw up starting with 120 grit. I will sand the top until it is baby butt smooth no matter where I check it. In other words 100% of the real estate will be smooth after this go around.

90 minutes later

Sandpaper and a card scraper and all is feeling and looking good with the top now. I can't see any ridges/brush marks anywhere and it is baby butt smooth all over. I shouldn't have fallen for the paint filling in the smoothing out the top. 

knob screw

The supplied screw is too short.  FYI - did you know that 99.99% of knob screws are 8-32s? My first thought was to install the knob on the drawer front and then attach the drawer front to the drawer box. After thinking on that I nixed it. It would be a PITA to remove the drawer front to deal with a loose knob screw. Instead I will buy some longer 8-32 screws and go through the drawer box and the drawer front. I had some 1 1/2" 8-32s but they were sticking out less than a 1/4". I will buy some 1 3/4" or 2" long ones and cut them down.

tray is done

I got four coats of shellac on the splines. The carcass still shows some open grain but I am leaving it as is. I don't have anything to fill in the pores and I don't want to wait and order something neither.

top dust panel

I used ghost sticks to hold the dust panel in place as the glue cooks. I may also nail it off depending upon how small the pin nail I have are. I also glued in the other two dust panels. The bottom one is just nailed in place.

making a jig

This is going to be my alignment jig thingie thing for drilling the holes for the knobs the same on both sides of the drawer front.

nothing fancy here

A scrap of pine and 1/2" birch plywood is all I needed. A couple of nails and some glue and I didn't have to wait to use it.

all three in one jig

All the knobs for the 3 bottom large drawers will be in line with each other top to bottom and in from the sides about 6".

reversible

The two cleats on the outsides put the jig tight to the side and bottom on either end.

drill guide

Clamps hold the jig in place and the drill guide ensures that have a 90° hole to the face.

done

 The holes on the 3 big drawers are inset from each outside edge 6 1/8" and are slightly off center (1/4") from the bottom. I don't like having knobs dead centered top/bottom. I like the asymmetrical look of it being off center.

small top drawer fronts

I decided to align the bottom drawer knobs with the two top drawers. The knob will be inset from the outside edge (left edge on the left drawer and the right edge on the right drawer) 6 1/8". These two knobs will also be slightly off centered R/L and T/B.

more sanding to do

I am going to sand and correct the drawer fronts like I did the top and the 3 drawer unit. Although I will say the drawer fronts are better than the bureau top.

labeled so I can forget it

This is the back of the drawer front and won't be seen once it is attached to the drawer box. On the backs I only had to sand and correct a border about 1 1/2" all the way around.

a little over an hour

The drawer fronts are sanded baby butt smooth to feel and look. I'll paint them tomorrow because I doubt it will happen tonight. This is was not what I had planned for today but I'm glad I got done what I did.

accidental woodworker

These tenon cutters were donated by a former student who has retired from his chairmaking hobby. We’d like them to go to someone who would have trouble affording them and would use them a lot.  If you know someone like that, please nominate them (or yourself) in the comments section.  I’ll pick a winner and mail the set of three tenon cutters to them. (Our tenon cutters have progressed a long way since these were made, but I’ve tested all three of them and they seem to be working quite well. It’s our usual set of three cutters: one 11/16 one for legs, one 1/2″ one for arm stumps or posts, and one 1/2″ cylindrical one for spindles.)

1/2" blonde wood

This is the first thing I did in the shop this AM. This is is what I want to use for the back of the bureau. It is a couple of frog hairs shy of being flush sitting in the rabbet which is perfect for this. Once I verified this I went on a road trip to Lowes.

Ran into two snags at Lowes and neither I could overcome. The first was the cut off saw was out of order. The back of the bureau is about 25" x 29" so I would have to buy a full sheet of 1/2". (Lowes didn't have any half sheets of 1/2".) The second hiccup was Lowes didn't have any 4x8 sheets of 1/2". 

When I went out in to the parking lot the skies had opened up and rain was pouring out of the clouds. This was a bit of serendipity for me because the plywood (if I could have gotten it) would have been soaked by the time I got home.

On the way home I decided to go to Staples to get a box. I needed one to ship something to my sister Donna. I couldn't find a box that was reasonably sized for what I intend to ship. I settled for a box twice the size needed and I'll just add extra crappola in it to fill it up.

trimming the splines

The cutoff saw did an awesome job. I didn't get any scratches in the sides and the splines were a frog hair proud. Easy peasy work flushing them with a chisel.

3 topcoats

I am disappointed in the coverage of this paint. I still had a few spots here and there where I could see the white primer coat. I had to paint the drawer fronts again because of white primer showing on them too. I'm not sure if I did two topcoats where it showed though. I might have missed those edges on the last go around.

fingers crossed

An hour after painting the 3 drawer unit all the drawers went in/out without any binding. I painted the back even though it will never be seen once it is up against a wall.

a little on the bald side

I have to get shellac on the splines and I'll put one coat on the sides of this drawer. After it has dried I'll check to make sure it still smoothly goes in/out of its opening.

it is toast

I love this pencil sharpener but it was getting a wee bit dull so I put in a fresh blade. Once I did that the sharpener would no longer sharpen a pencil. That sucks pond scum through a double straw. I tried 2 other brand new blades and got the same results - wouldn't sharpen a pencil. I will use another sharpener until I sort out this hiccup. There isn't enough of a space in the mouth - akin to the mouth on a plane being too tight. 

more than primer showing

One thing about painted surfaces is that they show every defect in the surfaces. The drawer fronts showed all in the indents in them from the painter triangles along with drag marks from being moved on the same triangles.

I didn't get to putting the drawer fronts on today. I did get 3 coats on the splines and I'll get one more tomorrow and that will be done. I also have a road trip to Home Depot planned for sunday. I'll be there at 0800 and see what the have for 1/2" plywood. I think they have a larger selection of half sheets of plywood than Lowes offers. I should be able to get the top screwed on so that will be my cherry on the woodworking sundae.

accidental woodworker

Humans started making tools some 2.6 million years ago. That’s a long time for product development, and to get rid of the kinks from a tool. But are we at the point now where we should ponder whether we have long passed the apex of tool evolution?

Like many things that evolve, there is a point where any object reaches it’s apex – that one design change that creates a tool that is functional, efficient, robust, etc. – everything it needs to be to get the job done. Saws are a good example – the first metal saws were likely made of copper and appeared some 6000 years ago. Saws are now made of high quality steel, and have different types of teeth based on functionality and geographic region, but fundamentally they are the same. There are different saws for different tasks – but the core design of saws has peaked. From here what we see are the inevitable minor changes in ergonomics, to make the task of using a saw more comfortable. How have we reached this point? Well, in part it is because the materials used to build saws can’t really be improved upon, and neither can the design of the saw teeth be bettered, or the thinness of the blade be reduced any further.

Not every tool developed is a raging success. The “double claw” hammer produced by the Double Claw Hammer Co. was touted as being a replacement for all hammers – it wasn’t a great success.

Hammers peaked long ago, like a *long* time ago. Nails have been around since about 3400 B.C., when the ancient Egyptians supposedly used bronze nails. But the basic fundamental principle of bashing these things into wood hasn’t really changed. What did change is that hammers, like many tools, diversified to perform different tasks, with various shapes, and evolved as metallurgy evolved. Cobblers had different hammers to cabinetmakers, who had different hammers to stonemasons. Stanley’s 1934 catalog (No.134) contained some 182 varying forms of hammers for different industries. They haven’t changed much in the near hundred years since, except there isn’t such a broad selection available anymore. Development in modern hammers is really about usability, and bespoke materials.

Probably the one genre of tools that has seen the most evolution in the past 200 years is the woodworking plane. From it’s long existence in wooden form, it evolved to being made of metal in the early 19th century, spurning a good 100 years of evolution, until about 1950. After a hiatus of 40 years, development started again with the development work of Veritas – in the guise of increased precision, sustainable edges, space-age materials, and customizable configurations.

The RALI 260 Evolution N, a pivotal composite, interchangeable blade plane – the future of planes?

So what does this mean for woodworking tools? Is there any scope for further development? Is there any need? The act of planing a board, or hammering in a nail, will likely never change. Woodworkers won’t ever need self-aware AI-controlled tools – not even in the context of powered tools. It just isn’t necessary, because part of the reason people enjoy woodworking is the innate connection to this malleable material. CNC-based woodworking is great for large-scale, efficient industrial production, but not really for the average woodworker. There will likely be further improvements in materials, but it is unlikely there will be monumental changes (maybe a self-sharpening blade that functions like beaver’s teeth?). There may be new types of planes, for specific, narrow-focused tasks, but on the whole the mechanisms really won’t change that much. Even the likes of planes with disposable blades have never really taken off (at least not in North America, sorry Rali).

What wood could do: art students upcycle Hong Kong’s fallen trees into unique sculpture →

Kelly Fung:

Two months after a Taiwanese acacia tree fell during a rainstorm, it was split into logs – with each end sealed using wax and white acrylic paint.
While these logs still need time to dry, older ones are being transformed by art students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) into sculptures, such as a muntjac deer symbolising nature’s sublimity and a snail representing the burden of one’s family.
Teaching the sculpture class is Margaret Chu Cheuk-wai, a part-time lecturer at CUHK’s department of fine arts. Her goal is to inspire students to upcycle discarded materials and unleash their creative potential.
“Even rugged pieces of wood can be transformed into great artworks with your creativity,” she said. 

 I'm hoping that I won't have too many more parts to Leo's bureau. I made a sizable dent in what is left but I also had to take a step back. I thought again on how am I going to get this out of the shop? Even with the drawers removed the carcass is awkward and heavy to move around. I am not looking forward to getting the wife to lend a helping hand. Hold a gun to my head and I would say no more than 4 more days to finish it.

came last night

I forgot that these were scheduled to come yesterday. My wife was also expecting a package and found it for me. These knobs have a 1 1/4" diameter but I wish it was larger. These were the largest ones that Lee Valley had. 

wee bit tight

I wasn't expecting the paint to tighten up the fit as much as it did. The center drawer had no problems but the two smaller outside drawers need to be shaved a wee bit. They both stuck and bound after coming out about 3/4 of the way.

oops

I am liking the  shellac shine but I forgot to add splines. This was the step back for today.

another oops

I planed the splines for a snug fit and that bit me on the arse. I applied glue to the slot and the spline and it froze on me. These are pine splines and trying to beat them into submission didn't work.I had to glue another piece in the gaps. I only had one spline that I didn't have to add extra shims to.

oops come in three's

I usually don't have problems with expansion and contraction. I've had good luck with allowing sufficiently for it. These doors swelled and wouldn't close. I planed the outside rabbets and the that helped some but the doors were still not closing fully and easily. I had to plane the back bottom edges of the rabbet too. The doors close easily and the magnets grab and pull the door flat and tight again.

not even

I planed the doors in place and ended up with a tapered gap. I don't want to plane anymore because the doors will shrink this winter and I don't want to see saw into a 3 mile gap.

almost screwed up

I marked the center of the top and the carcass and I almost screwed the top down. I stopped because I want to get the two top drawer guides in first. Having the top on would make attaching the drawer slides a Royal PITA squared.

I changed my mind with using 1/4" plywood for the back. I want to use 3/8 or 1/2 inch plywood. That would be stronger than 1/4 and resist racking better. The bearer rails are the only thing holding the carcass sides together. 

nailed the back on

I was going to leave this off until I got the screws installed holding this down to the bureau top. Changed that because one, due to the back stop thing on the top I won't be able to reach the screw in the middle drawer opening. And two, the back stop thing would stop me from being able to nail the back on. If I can reach in from the front to do the middle screw I will. If I can't I'll get by with the two outside ones.

more painting

I thought I could get by scraping a little paint but I didn't. It helped some but the drawer was still binding when being pulled out. I had to sand the side top on the right and the bottom on the left. 

drawer slides installed

Doing the slides took forever. Bending over to screw them in place sucked pond scum. Bending down to get on my knees has turned into a comedy routine that should be on SNL. FYI gravity starts to be a PITA the older you get.

4th oops today

I put every single slide on the drawer boxes backward. I had checked it before I started to make sure that I was installing so that they were flush at the front. What I did in error was to flush the back end of the slide at the front. Oh well it only took a few to take them off and screw them back on right.

no hiccups

All the drawers went in and opened/closed smoothly and easily. Even the top left drawer which previously wasn't operating smoothly now was. The goal for tomorrow is to get the top on and the drawer fronts. Should be doable.

over time

After lunch I ran some errands. One of them was going to see Maria from the frame shop. I have an idea for a picture frame and I wanted to make sure it was doable. Maria send no problem because she has a special machine (basically a CNC for mat boards) that can cut out any shape opening anywhere on the mat board. Good to know stuff. The errands made me stay late in the shop. I really wanted to get the drawers installed back in the carcass today.

accidental woodworker

I wrote to the company and pointed out all the manufacturing flaws, and as I didn’t expect it, they never responded. I truly thought they would since they are a large corporation that is trying to claim a stake in the market. I wrote to Amazon, which is the platform I used to buy the plane from, and they responded that my window of opportunity to return the plane had expired and therefore I am unable to receive a refund. I pointed out to them the manufacturing flaws in the plane, and the company’s 5 year manufacturing warranty and a refund were immediately granted.

This is a company that’s mass producing our most favourite woodworking tools and defecating on them in the process. The sole had a belly in it, which is very time-consuming and incurs large costs to take out. You wouldn’t waste your time on a vintage hand plane with a belly, let alone on a cheap Stanley reproduction. Seasoned woodworkers wouldn’t waste their time buying anything from them, but I did against my better judgement. In fact, I thought maybe I was being too hasty and that it was probably a good plane. Well, my initial gut instinct proved me wrong.

If the plane is not fit for purpose, then legally you have the right to return your purchase and get your money back. That’s the moral of this story.

 I'm getting closer to being done with the bureau. More painting and shellac today but at the end of it the light was shining brighter. Still haven't done any work on anything else but I do have something in mind for the next project. I have to fix up the 'night tables' my wife brought home but I have something new in mind. Still thinking on that but I'm concentrating on getting the bureau done and out of the shop first.

2 hours

I got another coat of shellac on the two tray thing first. After that I rubbed down the drawer boxes with steel wool. It took a wee bit longer to apply the shellac then I thought it had and I'm almost calling that done. I will apply one or two more coats of shellac on the interiors of the drawer boxes before I get a check mark.

started a little before 8

I didn't intend to work straight through. I still hadn't done my crossword puzzles when I wandered down to the shop but I saved them for doing later on tonight. I didn't think it would take this much time to apply the shellac. Should be easier to do the shellac on the just the drawer box interiors.

got 3 on it

The coverage is looking pretty good for 3 but this wood along with being dense is opened pore too. Not sure if a couple of more coats of shellac will fill them in. I'll get the number of coats I think it needs and evaluate it then. 

the ubiquitous blurry pic

This is the crappy pic of the fixed/repaired coffee pot table. I got two coats of shellac on the top and one on the bottom. That should suffice with helping to dust the table as needed.

bureau top

The paint is popping out  the  glue joint and IMO looks like crap. I filled it in with putty and painted the underside. I will try to sand and paint this after dinner.

wood putty

I had to fill in a couple of dings from the painter's triangles too. 

3 drawer unit

I forgot to plane the saw marks off the bottom front edge. I didn't want to plane off two coats of paint so I used wood putty to smooth it out.

The plan for tomorrow is to get the slides back on the drawer boxes. I am using drawer screws to attach the drawer fronts to the boxes. They are basically screws with an integral over sized washer. Installed in an oversized hole it allows you some adjustments R/L and T/B of the drawer fronts. I'll drill the holes for them but I'm not sure if I'll get to them on tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

I use Sapele (sə-PEE-lee) lumber pretty often. I use it much more than you would think considering I mill my own lumber (which I would argue makes it almost free) and I have to buy Sapele. When it showed up on a recent bill from our lumber wholesaler, my wife/accountant who tends to question my purchases asked, “What’s so great about Sapele? I thought walnut was the best.” Well, after ordering even more for a recent door job, here are the reasons I came up with to defend my purchase:

1. The Look. Sapele or Sapele mahogany is just pretty, like mahogany. It is a nice rusty red color which darkens and gets richer with age. Usually the lumber is quarter sawn which creates a ribbon striation in the grain. And, the chatoyance (light reflectivity variation), just wow!
2. Takes stain great. As nice as Sapele is, sometimes the project calls for the wood to be stained. This semi-ring-porous wood accepts all stains evenly. Really, it is hard to mess it up.
3. Durable. Use Sapele inside or out – it doesn’t matter. The wood will last a long time either way.
4. Affordable. Sapele sits at about the same price point as a middle of the road domestic lumber and is cheaper than walnut.
5. Stable. Sapele lumber is usually quarter sawn, even without specifying, which makes for some very cooperative wood.
6. Wide and long. I’ve never seen a Sapele tree, but they must be huge. The lumber is often wide and commonly available in lengths over 12′.
7. Machines well. Sapele isn’t quite the perfect wood to work with (it is sometimes a little chippy), but it is up there with our favorites. By the way, my favorite to work is sassafras.
8. Not too heavy. For an imported and durable wood, Sapele is quite light in weight. Pick up some Bubinga and you’ll see what I mean.

I’m sure that there are even more reasons that will pop in my head after I post this, but let’s just say I like Sapele a lot – enough to go out and buy it when I am already surrounded by “free” wood.

Click on the YouTube link above to check out our latest door project
and to see the great Sapele lumber in action.

 I am at the stage with this build when I go dead in the water. After I get things painted or shellac applied, I have to stop. That is what was on the menu today. I got the topcoat on the bureau parts. I got shellac on the drawer boxes and for the life off me I don't remember how many coats I applied. I think it is 3 but I will put on another coat tomorrow just in case. I am happy with the build of the blonde shellac even if it is only two coats.

shellac

I got 3 coats on the bottom of the two compartment tray. I did that first so I could then apply shellac to the rest of it. The 3 drawer unit drawers are done. I have to wait until the carcass for the drawers is painted.

ready for topcoat

I got all the primed parts sanded (180) and wiped down secondly. I applied shellac to the drawer boxes first. With the heat & humidity the shellac is drying almost immediately. So far I haven't had any hiccups with it blushing.

two compartment tray

The shellac darkened the wood more than I thought it would. I got one coat on it but I can still see the grain. 

sucks to get old

I let the painted parts go until tomorrow. I could have put on the 2nd coat in the PM session but decided to let it cure for 24hrs. I am getting real close to calling this done. One more coat of paint (fingers crossed) and then I can put the bureau together. It is going to be a lot of fun getting it out of the cellar and upstairs.

accidental woodworker

Last time, I ended up with the main carcass like this.

Two ends dovetailed to the bottom, horizontal divider joined to the ends with multiple 1/2" x 1/2" through mortises and tenons

I decided to fit the front and back panels into grooves.  The front panel is shorter due to the drawer opening below the divider, so grooves went near the front edge of the divider as well as near the front edges of the ends above the divider.  For the back panel, the bottom and ends were grooved near the back edges.

Putting a 5/16 groove near the front edge of the divider

Rabbeting three edges of the front panel - homemade rabbet plane at left, restored skew rabbet plane right

I didn't get a picture, but to fit the back panel, the toolbox bottom got a groove near the back edge. Later, after the bottom and ends were assembled, the groove showed as a hole (on the outside of the carcass) that I had to fill in.  That is one of the few things about this build that I didn't like - the filler pieces don't match the grain very well and it's fairly obvious (at least to me).

In addition to the groove in the bottom, the ends received grooves near their back edge from bottom to a height equal to that of the grooves for the front panel.  I had laid out the dovetail joints at the bottom corners of the carcass so that the grooves would not interfere with the joints.

The left end.  Note the stopped groove (shallow mortise) on the near edge. The groove at the far edge goes all the way to the bottom of the end piece.

One further note: I had originally made the horizontal divider as wide as the ends and bottom.  But for the back panel to fit, I cut off 5/8" to allow the inset panel.  When figuring out how much to cut off the divider, I dry-assembled the toolbox after the rear grooves were cut in the ends (and before the back panel was put in place.  I marked with a knife where to cut the divider directly from these grooves.

Once the panels were fitted, I was able to do some shaping on the ends, as well as the handle.  Then a dry assembly showed it was really starting to look like something.  The glue-up followed shortly after a couple rehearsals.

Shaping an end

A first dry assembly

And then with glue and clamps

I ended up adding a couple more clamps after this.  I saw that the bottom dovetails had not quite closed up.  Another clamp and a few hammer blows got them seated.

I also glued strips to the interior of the front and back panels that would support the tray.  These 3/8" x 5/8" strips were positioned so that their top edge was 3 1/4" above the floor of the upper compartment.  That allows 3 1/4" of vertical space below the tray - just enough for me to fit my battery drill in there.

Gluing in the tray support strip. The wooden block in there was used to set the height of the strip.

Next time I'll write about making the upper tray and the drawer.

The heat continued today with the humidity being bearable due a breeze blowing. I got the primer coat on the top, drawer fronts, and the 3 drawer unit. I got 3 coats of shellac on the drawers for the 3 drawer unit and one coat on the bureau drawer boxes. I got a  quart can of of smoke gray that I'll use maybe in few days. I am getting close to saying this is done.

knobs

These are oil rubbed bronze knobs. That are close enough to black for me to use on the 3 drawer unit. I bought 8 larger oil bronze knobs for the 5 drawers. I got them from Lee Valley and they set me back a little over $70.

sneak peek

I like the scale of the knobs with their respective drawers. I changed my mind on painting the drawer faces. I will paint the carcass smoke gray but the drawers will be left natural and get 3-4 coats of shellac.

one down, one to go

I finished this chamfer with a chisel. The other side would be a couple of inches longer so I unscrewed the back stop thing. That allowed me to plane the chamfer on that side from front to back.

passed

Freshly painted surfaces will stick to things placed on them. I painted this about 2 weeks ago and it has been hanging out on the enclosed porch. I left this board on the top for 30 minutes and it didn't stick. I could easily move it around with one finger. I'll put 3 coats of shellac on the top and bottom shelf and get it back to holding the coffee maker.

I got the time

The coverage wasn't enough with one primer and one top coat. I sanded the bureau carcass and the primer coat showed through. I got a second coat on the bureau and that looks good to go now. I decided to apply primer to remaining bureau parts waiting to be painting. I am betting that I will have to put two topcoats regardless and the bureau ain't going south until september.

top and carcass

I sanded the carcass with 150 and the white streaks are the primer coat. The sanding leveled the topcoat and smoothed it out. All the brush marks disappeared and the next topcoat laid down sweetly.

drawers

I did go back to the shop after dinner and I got a third coat on the 3 drawer unit drawers. The bureau drawers only have one coat and it was too hot and miserable to be rubbing steel wool on the drawers and putting a 2nd coat on them. I should be able to get 2 more on them tomorrow.

3 drawer unit drawers

Ran out of horizontal surfaces to put the wet parts on. I installed the bottom dust panel with brads, the other two are in loose. I want to have the carcass open for when I reinstall the drawer guides.

accidental woodworker