General Woodworking

 

empty

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

before I forgot

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

almost

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

one more

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

last two

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

accidental woodworker

sneak peek

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

hmm......

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

sigh

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

????

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

squirrel grain

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

too thin

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

glued and cooking times two

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

done

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

sigh

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

fingers crossed

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

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

done

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

Yikes

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

temporary set up

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

dead weight

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

17 years old

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

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

accidental woodworker 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

squeezed in one more

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

hmm.....

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

still cupped

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

sigh

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

looks better

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

computer table banding

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

door astragal

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

getting there

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

almost done

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

the fix

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

smaller fix

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

accidental woodworker 

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

hmm.....

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

almost an 1/8"

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

test pieces

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

flattening the shelf

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

done

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

looks flat

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

two coats

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

ouch

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

nailed it

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

last re-mix

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

first coat

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

hmm.....

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

first coat

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

the true last project

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

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

door astragal

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

blurry pic of my computer

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

accidental woodworker 

2 down, 6 to go

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

done

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

hmm......

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

one down, one to go

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

glued and cooking

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

made a command decision

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

much better

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

glued and cooking

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

boo boos fixed

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

shelves are next

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

my favorite molding plane

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

done

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

hmm....

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

need one more can

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

accidental woodworking 

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

dust bunnies

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

yikes

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

hmm....

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

took a while

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

silent

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

CMOS battery

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

the noise maker

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

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

sigh

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

battery leaked

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

back to the bookcase

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

done

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

hmm.....

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

huh....

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

last thing for today

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

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

came today

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

eye opener

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

accidental woodworker

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

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

The shop should become more populated in the coming weeks.

sigh.....

This is my main computer that lives besides my desk. It is a Dell T3500 which means it is obsolete. Lately the fans have been acting up. I've lost 60% of my hearing and this AM I could hear the fans laboring while I was in the bathroom with the door partially closed. Time to pony up and fix it.

After searching on line for a while I found out that there are 2 fans in the computer. One on the CPU cooler and two intake fans. I have always hated Dell computers because they purposely make replacing any parts almost impossible. You either buy from them or you have a big ass paper weight. Fans are available still on eBay and I'll have to open the computer up and see which fans are acting up. I have a laptop I can use in the interim. Tomorrow, maybe because it has been almost 20 years since I've played computer tech.

door stop

Found 4 of these buried in the black hole and I am using one as the top door stop. I think I had made these a few years ago when I rehabbed a bead molding plane.

marking

I hung the doors, closed them, and marked the backside of the stop molding.

hmm....distracted

I could have sworn that I had a gap here yesterday. I'll add some veneer in the carcass mortises to increase it.

going slowly

I clamped boards from the back holding the door stop where I had marked it. Taped it in place and checked it with the doors closed. Both doors when up against the stop, were flush on the front.

glued and cooking

I double, triple checked the door stop was on the layout lines on the back of it. I won't have any chances to adjust once the glue has set. Fingers crossed that all will be well in Disneyland tomorrow. Just glue to secure this, no nails or screws.

door astragal

Glued the two parts together. I'll hold off gluing it to the right hand door until the last moment.

quarter round molding

The short right one is fitted. The other three are over length. Once I get the right one glued and nailed, I will secure the two long ones followed by the short left one.

door astragal

This is ready to be glued on. I sawed 45's on the ends and then sanded them started with 100 grit ending with 220.

gap filled

This is the back and I could have let it go but I couldn't. Glued in a piece of veneer.

securing the back

I clamped two boards so I could push the back up against them. This allowed me to secure the back with screws and Miller dowels while ensuring the back was flush.

top

Used five 1 1/2" screws to secure the top.  No glue, just screws. The top stop will hide the screws. 

Miller dowels

Both sides got 5 Miller dowels each. The bottom is free floating. No screws, nails, or Miller dowels for it. I didn't want to unscrew the base to get Miller dowels or screws into the bottom.

no gap

Back frame assembly is in and secure and the light leak I know I had yesterday is gone. I'm still going to put the cove molding here but now it will hide pencil marks I didn't bother to remove. I'll glue and pin nail it in place.

another gap

I can't believe I hadn't noticed and addressed this hiccup already. Same treatment as the back - I glued in a piece of veneer.

glazing bars

I went nutso on this and made double what I needed. Used up most of the waste and off cuts from the bookcase build.

one done

These glazing bars are on the thin side. They aren't thick enough to nail through. I will glue them in place with hide glue. I did one just to check the depth and to ensure that I can fit a pane of glass in the rabbets along with the glazing bars.

I'll survive the brain fart

 A couple of days after my mixing hiccup, both cans are liquid still. No clumps of undissolved shellac in either one. The right can I shook before opening it and the right I didn't shake first.

it is thick

I usually mix a 1.5 to 2 pound cut and the shellac on these stir sticks is pretty thick. Much more so than what I see with my usual mix. I plan to transfer half of each of these two cans into another one. I'll then add alcohol until it looks and feels like my usual mix ratio.

look what I found

I had an empty quart can all along. I had seen this on the cabinet but I assumed it had shellac in it. I was wrong. Tomorrow I'll go to the dollar store and buy a cheap set of measuring cups so I can transfer from the full-ish cans to the empty one. 

accidental woodworker 

done

Got the 2nd attempt on fitting the back panel done. Got the first 3 sides fitted and the last one was a cake walk. This pic was snapped with me standing about 6-7 feet away.

this will work

On the back side there isn't a gap but in the interior there is a tiny sliver of light visible along the top edge. This cove molding is small, unobtrusive and blocks the light.

reusing the mistake

I needed stock for the door astragal and I used this boo boo. I sawed it into four pieces and used one to get the door astragal.

thin or thick

The thicker one is 3/8" thick and it was my first choice for the base. The thinner one is about 3/16".

my hinges

This is an unswaged hinge. There is a healthy space between the leaves when they are parallel.

hinges flat against each other

With swaged hinges the two leaves lay flat against each other when they are closed. Makes it a bit harder to mortise. Hope this helps Frank.

left one done

I chiseled the hinge mortises a little deeper and then evened the four of them with the router.

won't close

I closed the gaps between the hinges and the side of the carcass. But the doors won't close - the right one over hangs the left one about 1/8". This is the uncertainty I have with these hinges. I wasn't sure how deep to make the mortises so I did a little and checked it. Wash, rinse, and repeat until done.

I made another chisel/router run making them a wee bit deeper. That along with planing the latch side of the right door, the doors closed and opened. I got the gap to a 16th. I can make it wider if necessary because I can hide it with the door astragal.

hmm....

This is the right side door and the hinge margin is zero. It is closing ok but I like having some daylight between the door edge and the carcass.

insurance

I put a #4 screw in the ends of the muntins. Probably didn't need it but it is giving me a warm and fuzzy. Muntins are usually mortised into the stiles and rails.

changing lanes

The door astragal on the left is history. The base under the 1/2 round is 1 3/4" wide and it would eat up too much real estate and not leave sufficient room for the knobs. The right base is 1 1/2" but I couldn't find a smaller 1/2 round for it. I found a scrap of pine 3/4" wide by 3/8" thick.

back to thick or thin

I don't like the 3/8" thick base for the astragal. I think it is too heavy looking for the doors. I am going with the thinner base - the size of it doesn't overwhelm the scale of the doors.

sneak peek

Looking like what I envisioned it to be. There isn't much left to do woodworking wise. I'll have to get the glass for the doors and that should be the last thing I have to order/wait for.

fixed

The top of the left door was about a 16th higher than the right. Marked it and then planed it to the line.

door astragal

Rounded over the outside edges on both pieces and sanded them smooth. I'm holding off gluing the two of them together for now. Once I have it cut to length, I will saw the ends at a 45.

the ends

I think leaving the ends at a 45 (which I can saw, plane, and sand) it a better choice than trying to round over the end grain ends.

better

Got a gap now. Before it was a little bit hinge bound at the bottom. Something I hadn't noticed before. I had to add a shim in the carcass side mortise to get this gap.

hmm.....

The shelf width will about 9 1/4". I was shooting for something at 10" or more. Maybe I should have glued up to get wider stock.

accidental woodworker

 

fitting the back panel assembly

I laid the pattern on the back, adjusting it until it looked ok and I marked where I had to remove and where I had to add. I had to add fillers on two opposite edges.

haircut day

It still surprises me with how much dark hair I still have on the roof. I have some distinguished gray at the temples but the rest of the rest is black. It is winter so I cut my hair to a 1/4", the other 3 seasons I mow it down to a 1/8".

ready to plane

Fillers cooked and I laid the pattern on the back and penciled its outline onto the it.

sigh

 One side of the coin has the back fitted. It is a snug fit with no large gaps, a few teeny slivers. On the other side this is a boo boo. This side should be facing into the interior.

the brain fart

I hadn't thought this all the way through. The pattern fits the back perfectly but the rub is I penciled the the pattern the wrong way. I should have penciled the pattern on the back of the panel assembly.

fitting the back

I was oblivious to this  being wrong at this point. All my OCD attention was focused on fitting this. Started by getting the bottom first, then the right side, followed by the top, and finally the left side. 

found out my boo boo

This is the unfinished side of the plywood panels. It doesn't look that bad. There is one white spot on the right panel that I could paint/blend to hide.

this is a no no

This splintered edge is not what I want to see. It looks like crap. I now had two choices, make a new panel assembly or start over from square one with this.

chose option two

I double, triple checked this a bazillion times. I checked that I was laying the pattern correctly on the back face several times before I committed to tracing the pattern on it.

two more fillers

I had two large gaps on the frame - at the top right and the bottom left. My plan was to fit the bottom, right side, and top first. After I got them fitted I would glue the final filler on the left side and fit it.

gotta love McMaster Carr

They are wee bit expensive but they are worth. Ordered these yesterday and got them at 1320 today. These will be used for hinges mostly. A hundred screws in each box for about $10 each.

3 sides fitted

It took a while but I found it relaxing sneaking up on the fit. And I got it correct this time.

last one

I think, at least for me, this was the way to do this. Trying to get all 4 in one shot would too much. The large gap at the top is a frog hair shy of a 1/4". The right side large gap was just shy of 3/16". 

maybe tonight

Got the last filler strip on and I'll let it cook until whenever. I might come back to the shop after dinner to fit but that depends. If not I'll finish this up in the AM.

It is looking like this will be done probably before xmas. I might be able to squeeze in another last minute project to close out 2025.

accidental woodworker 

 

came yesterday

I was tempted to start on these last night after dinner but I didn't. That aside, these 2" hinges will do the job. Nice touch with brass and steel screws but I won't be using either of them. Both are philips head screws and I don't like them. For nice brass hinges like these I want slotted brass flat head screws.

sweet

These hinges cost $34 a pair and they are well worth it. Ball tips are the cherry atop the sundae.

fitting the panels

Laid out the pencil line and planed down to it.

hmm......

The center stile wouldn't align with the dry fit tic marks. However, it is square, on both sides, at the top and bottom. I got both panels dry fitted and I'm happy with how it looks. Forgot to snap a pic of it for proof.

dutchman glued on

I had seen on a YouTube vid where he applied yellow glue to one side and superglue to the other side. No attempt to have clear spots for either glue. I decided to give it a try and see what shook out.

planing the waste

I didn't want to risk sawing any of the waste off. It would have been a awkward working around the clamp and sawing with my non master hand. There didn't seem to be any headaches or hiccups with the mixing of the two glues.

done

This repair will be at the upper left corner of the bookcase. It doesn't look that bad this close and once it is in the bookcase it will be invisible.

glued and cooking

I got the tic marks on the center stile to align. The right side stile ended up a bit proud though. It won't be problem because I still have to plane this to fit the back.

hinge layout

I have come a long way with installing hinges. They don't fill me with dread anymore. I just treat as another step to complete the build.

not perfect yet

The leaf wasn't flush on the left side. Flush on the right though. A piece of cherry veneer brought it up flush.

needs a #5 screw

Not only were the supplied screws philips head, they were too long. They would have been ok in the carcass but not on the door. They were a few frog hairs longer than 3/4" (metric ?) - they would have poked through.

 I didn't have enough screws for the 4 hinges. Blacksmith bolt were I usually buy my screws didn't have any #5x5/8" in stock. I ordered them from McMaster Carr and I should have them tomorrow.

sigh

I blew out the back twice. I only waited the first time a few minutes (used super glue) but this time I let it set for over 30 minutes.

insurance

I clamped a backer at the back and it worked. I didn't blow it out again.

one down, one to go

Left door swings easily in/out. The margins aren't even, the bottom is thinner than the top. They are parallel and consistent though.

nope

The bottom is beyond snug. There is no way this will close. Glad now that I didn't go nutso fitting the doors earlier.

done

Both doors swing in/out freely. No hang ups top or bottom but the doors won't meet/close on latch side. The right door overlays the left one about 1/8".

why they won't close

The gap on the hinge side of both doors is too wide. That is because the hinges aren't swaged. The hinge leafs don't lay flat on each other. I knew that going into this and I expected this. I will break out a router and use it to increase the depth of the mortises on the door and the carcass.

yikes

I was playing around with fitting the back when I stepped away to get something off my workbench. The back fell out of the carcass and on the floor (failed the bounce test). This corner broke. I glued it back together and I'll let it cook until tomorrow.

for tomorrow

Fitting the back into the carcass is going to be a huge PITA. The back is out of square by a 1/4". These glue ups will be used to facilitate making the fitting a wee bit easier.

accidental woodworker

Every day I am at work I spent at least 15 minutes - more like 30 minutes -a day using the showroom treadle lathe. I would do more but I don't have time. And this was the point of designing the lathe in the first place: I need the exercise. Using the lathe, I break a sweat; I can feel my heartbeat go up; and I can feel the improvement in my stamina. I hate going to the gym, and at this point I don't pretend that this New Year will be different. But this is different. I focus on my goal of learning to turn properly and the time just slips by. Eventually my goal is to make certain items. I have a list but I am not skilled enough yet.

And this is what will bring me to the lathe in the future - interest in turning. The important physical benefit is frosting. Consequently I don't have to negotiate with myself, resort to post-workout bribery or make complicated podcast or music playlists to distract myself from (what I experience to be) the monotony of gym exercising.

But there is a learning curve.

Turning in general has a learning curve, but I am also learning the important aspects of turning on a treadle lathes. Pedaling is one example. I am now at the point where I routinely switch feet. I am learning how to position my body so that I am not in the way of moving the tool in a cut - yet still be able to pedal comfortably. I am is getting better, but I am not yet where I need to be, or where I hope to be within a few weeks.

I also had my first accident today. It was pure stupidity and carelessness, as accidents sometimes are. If I had been using an electric lathe, I might have lost a thumb. I was rounding out square stock and stopped pedaling so I could see where I was and I touched the wood to see if it was round. It was far from it and my thumb was dragged and stuck between the work and the tool rest. This was totally avoidable mistake and it served as a real wake-up call. Fortunately instead of causing an emergency trip to the hand surgeon, the accident just caused a mild pain at the base of my thumbnail. I don't even think I will lose the nail.

I counted myself lucky and finished roughing out.

Update on manufacture: We are basically done assembling all the bits and bobs that go into the lathe. The Treadle Lathe is the largest and most complicated hand tool project I can think of by any manufacturer in several generations. We are dealing with multiples of over 100 different parts. All of the parts with three exceptions are sitting here waiting to be assembled. The parts that are missing are a few of the headstocks - we had a CNC milling crash last week and we lost a few days waiting for the machine to be repairs. That's done. We don't feel comfortable finishing the tailstocks until we have assembled a production machine and double- checked the actual center distance from the ways. (It would be just foolish to make an assumption.) And finally the welded frames were supposed to be shipped to us last Wednesday but the trucking company confused bills of lading, reported our shipment picked up and on schedule when in fact it was just sitting at the fabricator. In theory, by the time you read this we will either have frames or we will be waiting for a truck to pull up, which will be followed by a mad dash to assemble the machines. If you have signed up as a pre-sale buyer, you will then get your call to arrange delivery, although that last bit may not happen until January because most of our shop people are on vacation Christmas Week.

We still have lots of work to do on manuals and videos.

All of this is a roundabout way of saying: I expect to spend more time turning and be a better turner in better physical shape starting now.

dipped below 60F

It has been cold for the past couple of weeks, especially the past week and the start of the current one. Through it all the shop temp has hovered between 61F and 63F. I haven't seen 62F at all. The shop is still ok - ish to work in, I'll start wearing sweatshirts if the temp dips any lower. 

setting pin sleeves

This gizmo sets the shelf sleeves with a tap from a mallet. I got it from Lee Valley and it sets 4 different size sleeves. I have 3 of the four. I secure my sleeves with super glue.

done

Before I make the shelves I will get the back installed and the doors hinged. Those being in place will determine the width of the shelves.

brain fart time

The shellac I had ordered a few weeks ago finally came in. I made a stop at the paint store to get 4 empty quart cans but they only one. That was all I needed to mix enough shellac for the bookcase.

the huge brain fart

I can't mix a quart of shellac - the can is too small. So what I usually do is mix three batches. The mistake I made was using way too many shellac flakes - I used 9 ounces instead of 4.5 ounces. 

Ran out of alcohol but I did have enough to get the mountain of shellac dissolved. I have no idea what pound cut of shellac I have. The plan is to get two more cans and distribute the shellac I mixed into the four of them. I'll add more alcohol, guessing what looks good, and go from there.

road trip

The only 6mm birch plywood was a 5 foot square panel that had smashed corners and was warped. So I got these two plywood panels - 2' x 4' with one face prefinished for $19 each. That is cheaper than the Lowes.

hit or miss

I picked up a bag of these 1/4" dowels for my Dowel Max doweling jig. I have bought 1/4" dowels before and they were too loose. It is a crap shoot IMO because the pins will swell and shrink and you have to deal with it.

hmm......

Both of the openings are not square. The left side top right is out. The right side is out of square on the top and bottom corners on the right. I'll make the panels to the size of the larger measurement, and plane them to fit.

story stick

There is over a 1/8" difference at the top and bottom.

yikes

Didn't expect this to splinter out like it did. The face veneer is thinner than a piece of paper.

panels rough sized

Did better with the splinter BS on the right panel. On the right one I knifed the cross cut line. Even the waste side of the cut, which I hadn't knife, came out splinter free.

hmm....

Labeled the joints because I sized the panels to each opening. Both of them are slightly different. What I don't understand is the out of square but all the shoulders lay up gap free.

sigh

This is supposedly a 1/4" panel and the groove is 6mm wide a 1/4" deep. 6mm (0.236) is less then a 1/4" (0.250). The plywood is loose in the groove. There is a healthy gap that I wasn't expecting. I plan to glue the plywood in the grooves so it won't be a problem.

future fix

This was the result of sawing the stile to length. This will be facing into the interior of the bookcase so I'll have to dutch it. I'll do that before I glue the frame and panel up tomorrow.

 

not that bad

The left side frame joints are all tight. The right side and the top of the center stile aren't seated. This is looking like it is going to be a fun plane and fit exercise.

accidental woodworker

Who doesn’t love a nice ribbon bookmark? Older bibliophiles will remember when many fine hardcover editions of literary classics came with a ribbon bookmark. I always loved them, though I’m afraid they aren’t as common as they used to be.

Fortunately, even if your favorite hardcover or leather-bound book doesn’t come with a ribbon bookmark–or if it doesn’t come with enough ribbons–it’s very easy to make your own ribbon bookmarks.

I learned how from a guy named Justin, who was a student of mine. A few years ago, we were both part of a theological discussion group at our university, and one day somebody noticed that Justin’s Bible had probably half a dozen ribbon bookmarks, all different colors. We were a little envious and wondered where he had gotten a Bible with so many ribbon bookmarks. He smiled and showed us how he had made them himself out of some very simple materials.

First I’ll show you how you can add the ribbon bookmark(s) to your book, and then I’ll show you how to make them.

Pretty much every book that’s not a paperback has this handy little gap at the spine. You’re going to attach your ribbons to something long and thin that you can slip into this gap.

Here’s how you do it.

First, make the slip.Use stiff poster board or a sheet of vinyl, just something thin you can punch a few holes in. You can even use a cereal box or something like that. Cut it into a long slip that will fit nicely into the book’s spine. The exact dimensions aren’t important, but if you make it about half as long as the book is tall, you can adjust the length of your bookmarks by moving it up and down inside the spine.

Now get some ribbon. I recommend the 1/4″ wide ribbon that you can get at any fabric store. You can get the wider 3/8″ size if you prefer. Be sure to choose a color and texture that you really like. I prefer plain, smooth polyester ribbon, which is soft and flexible and feels nice in the hand. Other kinds of ribbon are quite stiff or have a lot of texture, which is not ideal for a bookmark. Ribbon is not expensive, so you can get several different colors if you like.

You can attach the ribbon to your slip in many different ways. I decided to punch holes, fold the ribbon through the hole, and superglue it to itself. (I pressed it between a couple pieces of waxed paper while it dried.) You could also put the ribbon through the hole and staple the ribbon to itself. Or you could just tie it off in a little knot, which is how my student had attached his. Just make sure the ribbon can’t pull free if you tug on it a little bit.

With the ribbons attached, cut them to the proper length.

Just make sure you leave enough on either end to drop down into the spine and stick out from the pages.

I was making several of these for Christmas presents, so I put down some tape on my table to help me cut every ribbon to the same length. You may want to customize the ribbon’s length to your book’s size. And you can always leave it a bit long at first and trim it to final length once you’ve installed it in the book.

Don’t forget the singe the ends of the ribbons with a flame so they don’t ravel.

Now slip your new bookmark into the book’s spine, and you’re done!

After just a few minutes’ work, you have made a fine ribbon bookmark to mark your place in your favorite book.

But since these are so quick to make, it would be a shame to make just one. Why not make a few for your other favorite hardcover books. You could even make some as gifts for your bookish friends!

Or maybe it’s time to sit down in front of the fireplace and enjoy your favorite book, enhanced with a ribbon bookmark you made yourself.

Lectio felix! (Happy reading!)

first snow this year

This is what fell over night, maybe a little more than an inch. I didn't go to Woodcraft today because of it. Wimped out but maybe I'll bite the bullet and go monday or tuesday.

hmm......

I have enough of this plywood for the panels but I'm not crazy about the grain pattern on it. The opposite face is white. IMO, neither one compliments the pine. So I'll wait to get the birch plywood from Woodcraft.

doing piddly things

Filling time in the shop doing little things. Made a new drilling block for the shelf sleeve for the pins. I don't save these because they get trashed - the hole gets enlarged and eventually won't drill plumb holes.

done

Got the remaining 6 screws installed. I couldn't think of any reason that I would have to detach the base from the carcass.

last set of holes

Got smart this time and added a 3/4" scrap on the edge - the thickness of the back frame ass'y and the doors. Missed doing this on past drilling ops and it interfered with the notches for the shelf pins on the underside. 

ugly gaps

Filled in the few gaps I had with pine sawdust and yellow glue. I got a pretty good color match which surprised me. When I mix pine sawdust with hide glue, it always comes out dark. 

sigh......

The gap is/was filled with hide glue. I tried to dig some of it out with a pick but it wasn't working in my favor. I filled what I was able to pick out with pine sawdust and yellow glue. Of course this is the top and regardless of the homemade putty, they will still probably pop like neon lights.

yikes

I thought I had a huge hiccup on my hands. Initially I thought this gap was due to the 6 screws I installed to attach the base to the carcass. Made me regret that I had planed the doors to quasi fit yesterday. Turned out to be favorable to me.

happy face on

I had the doors switched, L for R, and the door was also upside down. Didn't notice that in the above pic. Got the fit I had yesterday so the screws hadn't pulled or twisted anything.

hmm......

Not entirely thrilled with this back stop thing. The curves at the ends match the cutout in base. I used the cutout from the longest one to make this. I wonder if anyone would even pick up on the match between the two.

prepping the knobs

The tenons on shaker knobs varies a lot. One of these is a 64th plus over 3/8" and the other is a 64th under 3/8". The first step is drilling a hole in the tenons so the wedges don't split the tenon.

holes drilled

2nd step it sawing the slot for the wedge. I have tried to do this with a handsaw but the results have always sucked pond scum for me. 

bandsawing the slots

Doing the slots on the bandsaw works the best. The only headache I have with it is making the slots in the right orientation. This time I got it right.

done

I started wedging shaker knobs years ago. I have had too many of them fail and fall out. I haven't had any problems since I've been doing it this way. The only problem I have with knobs is chips breaking off around the rim of the knobs.

3 times is the charm

Made one extra wedge - used cherry because it was the only hardwood I had scraps to get wedges from. The first two sets I made were too small or not wide enough.

accidental woodworker

When I first built my wall-hanging tool chest, I had only a handful of moulding planes. Basically a quarter set of hollows and rounds, plus a wooden fillister (rabbeting) plane. So the little cubbies at the bottom were more than sufficient for both those and my couple of joinery planes. But since then, I’ve accumulated […]

fitting the doors

With the back I moved on to fitting the doors. Not 100% - just fitted them loose and get an even margin on the top, bottom, and hinge sides. Started with the left door by fitting the bottom first, then the hinge side, and finally the top. Took a while because I was fighting the urge to take just one more swipe the entire time.

done

Fitted the right door next and then planed the shim on latch side of the right door. There is roughly a 16th gap on the top and bottom on both doors.

This is all I got done today. I didn't feel like driving to Woodcraft today and I'll do it tomorrow.

came today

I ordered these off Etsy and they came from England. I assumed they were coming from the USA but I was wrong. They came surprisingly quick considering they came across the big pond. These would have been a better fit for the chest I made for my sister.

Spent most of the day reading. I made a small dent in the pile of books awaiting me, finished one and continued another I've slogging my way through for a couple of months now.

accidental woodworker

I am making this project with my daughter. I have a book from Popular Woodworking's I Can Do That series that is good for beginner projects. We looked through it and decided on the Contemporary Shelves. I think there's more than one project with that name. The one we picked looks like this:

photo from book and adapted drawing

It is made from 2x12 construction lumber. In my plans I made it less wide and removed one of the shelves to decrease the total height. I also carried the sides down to the floor rather than using scrap for feet.

2x12s, marked which side to face up when going through planer

Luckily I had three 2x12s and some offcuts. At the store I try to select ones with minimal defects, but they're never perfect. I try to avoid getting the pith (center), but I missed it on one or two of these as it was only visible on one end.

I wanted them noticeably thinner than basic 2x lumber, but I don't think I achieved that. I ran them through the planer several times until I was tired of it and they were 1 1/8" thick. Planing made them thinner but didn't remove all of the cupping and twisting.

the planer found a staple I put this stuff around the bushes

For crosscutting I used a sled on the bandsaw. This only works if the cut on the left is less than 13-14 inches. So I handcut some pieces until they fit. There's lots of imperfections here that add up. The faces and edges may not be flat or square, the sled has some wobble, some long boards are too heavy hanging over the right side, etc. It's quick and rough.

push the sled through rough cut edges

For joinery I considered long nails or screws. Those would work going through the sides into the shelves. But I couldn't figure out how to fasten the uprights going down the center. Pocket screws would work but leave ugly slots. I decided to domino those pieces, which progressed to using dominos for almost everything.

lining up where the shelves will fasten to the sides domino the center uprights to the shelves dry fit, upside-down

The bottom will have pocket screws going into the sides. I think that will be more secure, as all of the other joints are 'trapped' but the bottom-to-side joint could actually spread apart. Also they won't be visible. Also I wouldn't have to worry about carefully measuring and aligning the domino locations.

pencil line shows where I expected the bottom to line up vs where it actually ended up the top will overhang the sides about 1 1/8"

So I've been paused at that stage for over two weeks. So far my daughter's had more of an executive supervisory role than a participatory role. I've been using noisy, dusty tools. Now I think she can help more with hand sanding, gluing, clamping, and finishing. But it's below freezing in the garage so I will have to find a suitable area indoors.