General Woodworking

 It's been a while, and I do love it so.

Those East Devon joiners and carvers, whoever they were, made something special 400 years ago.

I was going to re-create one chest from the several that have survived. Looking over them, I realised that apart from the one, this was based on:

there were elements on each, that I was not so keen on. So I decided to scavenge my favourite elements from all of them, and put them into one.

As always there's a few South Devon influences as well. I do live in South Devon, after all.

Come and visit our workshops in July!

We finished the expansion of the workshops over the winter and are now running all of our courses with six participants. If you don’t have the chance to come on a course why not visit us one weekend in July? This year we’re taking part in Cambridge Open Studios and invite you to come in and see what we’re doing. There might even be biscuits…

COS has been running for over 50 years and is an annual opportunity to meet artists and craftspeople in their studios. This will be our first year opening our doors for this event and we’re really looking forward to it.

There are several local artists in the Wilbrahams and Fulbourn who will also be taking part and they’re very much worth a visit so if you’re free for a weekend in July come and see us.

We’ll be open from 10-5 on both Saturday and Sunday of the 5/6th, 12/13th and 26/27th. We’re running a course on the 19th and 20th so we won’t be open for visitors then but look forward to seeing you on any other weekend in July.

Course Dates: 2025

Loads more courses and more spaces on each course. Our course schedule for 2025 is now on our website. There might be a couple of tiny changes but if you book a course we won’t change that date.

Shows this year

We’ve had a couple of changes to our show calendar and are delighted to have been accepted to Living Crafts Festival at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. If you haven’t been before it’s worth the trip; it’s one of the biggest and most diverse craft shows we’ve been to and has an unparalleled range of workshops and activities.

• 8-11th May Living Crafts Festival Hatfield House, Hertfordshire
• 14-15th June Cambridge Town and Country Fair, Parker’s Piece, Cambridge
• 9-10th August Cambridge Country Show, Stow Cum Quy
• 13-14th September The Wonder of Wood Fair, Burwash Manor, Cambridge
• 24-25th October London International Woodworking Festival, LDE UTC, Royal Docks, London

If you think there’s a craft show within an hour’s drive of Cambridge that we should attend please drop us a line. We’re always grateful for new opportunities.

Books

We often get asked for book recommendations. Whilst there are lots of books about building Windsor Chairs there are fewer that are great for ladder backs, post and rung and rush-seated chairs. The two I got started with are often available used and are both an excellent introduction to the craft. They’re by no means exhaustive though. When describing the process of building the legs of a chair one of the authors writes, “Turn or otherwise round the legs…” which leaves plenty to the imagination. A little face-to-face instructions won’t go amiss!

Jack Hill’s book is often very reasonably priced but copies of Langsner’s book are sometimes eye-wateringly expensive. Setting up a search on Abebooksco.uk is worth doing.

What’s for tea?

All of the food on our courses is hand-made by Bryony. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu as a patisserie chef so her standards are rather high!

As always, if you’re interested in coming on a course please give us a ring (07778 397328) or drop us an email. You can book all of our courses through the links on our website.

Enjoy your time in the workshop.

StJohn & Bryony

 I've had carpel tunnel for over 30 years and every now and then it wakes up and says hello and wants to shake hands with me. I don't want the surgery because I'm not 100% sold on it working for me. So yesterday afternoon it woke from its slumber. When I got up this AM it ached and did so throughout the day. The bad side of it that is I lose my grip and sense of touch. I get no feed back on picking my coffee cup and when using planes and other tools. It usually goes away if I take it easy and limit stressing it. It is a good thing I'm at a stopping point with the current project(s). Made for another slo mo day in the shop.

looked promising

I eyeballed everything and the reference faces looked good to my eye. I didn't bother eyeballing the edges. Of the 8 legs I had to plane a teeny bit of twist out 2 of them again.

dipsy do

The stretcher/rails were a different story. This leg here dips inward L to R at the far end. Didn't pick up on that yesterday. 2 of these had just as much twist as they did on the first two planing runs. Wasn't looking good for the home team with the first two I checked being OTL (out to lunch).

happy days again

I had lost one of these in the shop somewhere months ago. I found it yesterday when I was cleaning it up. It had fallen through one of the bench hook holes on the workbench onto the shelf beneath.  Nice to have found it and at least something is going my way.

not good

The far stick was showing over 3 lines of twist. I don't know if this is one of the original boards from day one that had this much twist too. 

cutting my losses

7 of the 9 boards are toast. 2 had a lot of twist and the others had a healthy amount. At this point here I thought that these were a lost cause and I just wanted to give them flying lessons.

hmm.....

Two of the rail/stretcher boards have no twist and the other a couple of frog hairs. Because I am obviously brain dead I am going to try and salvage this one more time. If it goes south on me this time I'll process the last poplar board for new rails/stretchers.

fingers crossed

Here's the new plan. I sawed up the wonky full length boards into the long and short rails and the center stretchers. I checked them and several of them were tapered across one face. All of them had some twist but nowhere as bad as when they were one board. Fingers crossed that being smaller/shorter now they won't do any more stupid wood tricks.

banding

The full length board in the preceding pic I cut up to get this banding. This will cover the perimeter of the table and provide a enclosure for the tiles. Just had a thought about this - will the wonkiness pop up in this thin banding now?

sneak peek

This is how the table will look. The rails will not be flush with the top of the legs. Instead they will be set down from the top the width of the legs. 

I haven't decided on how the table top will be attached to the legs. No matter which way I chose, it won't be replaceable. The tiles negate getting any access to how I'll attach it.

humph....

There was a cloud of poplar wood dust in the shop. Most of the pile under tablesaw is a talc like dust. Pine doesn't throw dust throughout the shop like this poplar has each time I've sawn it. I had to turn on the dust fan box to clear the air in the shop.

confusing myself

This rail or stretcher is dead nuts flat and straight, end to end. This face is square to the top edge. The face is tapered and it is twisted. Couldn't wrap the brain bucket around how it can be flat/straight and still be twisted. Even the diagonals said it was flat/straight.

parallel upcoming

I had to try this to unscrew my thinking about it. I ran a gauge line 360 off the reference face and I planed that face down to the lines.

NFG

Planed a lot of wood off and it is still twisted. Both faces are parallel now and both faces exhibit the same amount of twist. This one got tossed into the shitcan. On the flip side, it didn't unscrew my thinking.

last chance

I am going to check this again in the AM and if any of them show twist they are going directly into the shitcan. I am not even going to pack rat them for some other use.

2 coats

 The bottom of both will get 4-5 coats and then I will repeat that for the tops and the insides. I should have done this first thing this AM rather than waiting until I killed the lights.

I took my time planing the twist this time. Not sure if I over did it or not. If it still hurts/aches tomorrow I'll take the day off from the shop but I'll check the rails/stretchers for twist. That shouldn't effect it to any extent.

accidental woodworker

 Day two after planing a reference face and edge on the wood (poplar) for the tile tables. Because the weather isn't anywhere near what the weather seers say it will be I double check what I had planed. Tomorrow it is supposed rain off and on but if it is clear, I plan on using the lunchbox planer. I want to get the poplar processed and in table form before it does any stupid wood tricks.

double checking

Checking my reference edges and for the most part they were still flat, straight, and square to each other.

the first sigh....

I had planed all the legs and a 3rd of the rails before I realized I had missed something. I was just checking the faces and edges were square. I thought it would be wise to check for twist and I'm glad I did. All the legs had some twist in them. Nothing major but I did have to go back and plane the twist away. After that I had to check/adjust that the reference faces and edges were still square to each other.

no warm and fuzzy

The wind got sucked out my sails here. I wasn't expecting the legs to move as much as they did. They weren't as bad as the rail and stretcher boards. Those went absolutely postal. Not only did the face show twist, but the edges did too. I was surprised but how much wood movement I saw. Of the nine boards (for the rails/stretchers) 4 had a ton of twist, 3 had a little face and edge twist, and two were kind of normal - just a tad bit of movement.

the worse one

Fingers and toes crossed that at a minimum the leg stock will still be flat and straight tomorrow. I had eyeballed the stock and it looked ok but the sticks told me different story. I don't have much hope the boards for the stretchers/rails behaving though. Based on the initial amount of wonkiness and what I planed away again today, the odds are on stupid wood tricks 4 to 1.

almost done

It was past lunch here with four more legs to go. It took me over 3 hours to get to this point. I tackled the last legs after my post lunch stroll.

not all of it

This is the shavings I produced flattening the stock for the 2nd time. This always amazes me how big of a pile I generate from just a few boards.

deja vu

This is how it looked before I checked and corrected for twist again. One face looks straight and other rounded and rough. Learning that my eyeballs aren't as calibrated as I think they are.

I'll let these go until tomorrow and I'll check them for twist with the sticks before I do anything else. If the rails/stretcher boards show twist I'm done with them. I have one more 4/4 poplar board that I will process for a new set of rails and stretchers.

This is all I got accomplished today other than sweeping the deck twice. This was disheartening because this poplar wasn't cheap. The 8/4 and two 4/4 quarter boards set me back almost $100. I can feel some nightmares about stupid wood tricks happening tonight.

accidental woodworker

 Today was a beautiful spring day. Blue skies, bright sunshine, and white fluffy clouds. I heard birds singing this morning and buds are popping up everywhere I look. As nice as today is, the rest of the week ain't looking so good. The forecast is rain and cloudy conditions until thursday after next. That is putting a damper on me using the lunchbox planer.

Today was April's fools day and I went on a post lunch stroll for the first time in months? I haven't walked since I tripped on the sidewalk in dec? It has been a while and I felt it today. I barely did half of the walk I was doing before I got hurt. My thighs got a wee bit sore walking and I was a little breathless walking up the one big hill on the trek. I was able to walk up it without stopping but not in the steady stride I was doing it before. It is going to take a while for me to get back in shape. I'll keep at the 1/2 way point until I get my stamina back.

what a relief

I was hoping that it wouldn't happen but I was expecting the 3 boards on the right to do stupid wood tricks overnight. The board had some significant twist in it and that usually means it has a strong tendency to move again after planing it like I did. Sometimes you get lucky with it.

had to force myself

Calling this box done. I had to force myself to finish it up - it just needs a finish to be 100%. I mitered the banding around the bottom and glued the last two keepers in place. I still have a great fit with the lid on the bottom part of the box.

sigh

I piece broke off while I was sanding the top edges of the keepers round. I didn't lose what broke off and I was able to super glue it back on.

the color of the tables

This is the color Amanda picked out and I got it today from Benjamin Moore. I only have to get the grout to have everything I need to make the tables.

sawed the rails and stretchers

The rails and stretchers will be 2" wide and I was concerned with the the hump on the unplaned face. The hump is still there but it isn't as pronounced as when the board was whole.

the bottom of the box

This detail looks odd to my eye and it is something that I will change on the next one. I will size the rabbet width so the banding will cover the bottom banding. I have to live with as is for this box.

cleaning them up

I didn't plane the two faces parallel to each other. I just planed the rough sawn face off along with most of the hump. This should make it easier to plane the faces parallel when I do run them through the lunchbox planer.

As an aside I was asked why I don't use the lunchbox in the shop. Two reasons - the first one is the noise. I have used it in the shop and the noise is much louder then doing it outside. I'm a little nutso protecting my ears from loud noises so the shop is out. The 2nd one is the mess. A shop vac can't keep up with the amount of dust and chips the lunchbox spits out. That dust also gets into every single nook and cranny in the shop and it will also migrate upstairs.

stickered

I made a change to the legs. Instead of going with 1 1/4" square legs I changed my mind and they will be 1 1/4" thick by 2" wide. That will be a more stable footprint for the table.

The rails and the stretchers will be roughly 3/4" thick by 2" wide. I'm thinking of using my dowel max to attach the rails to the legs. The stretcher I will probably do with a stopped dado similar to way I did the front rails on Leo's dresser.

The rails won't be flush with the top of the legs. The table Amanda picked out has the rails set down from the top about 2-3 inches with the stretcher running between the short side rails. It is an interesting design and not one I would have guessed that she would have picked.

accidental woodworker

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 Finally got the Firesticks installed and working. The first one I stumbled a bit with the pin number screen but I resolved it. The second one on the bedroom TV initially had me frustrated but fixed that after lunch today. Both TVs now have prime video, Amazon Silk (internet browser), and You Tube installed and working. I can't get a USB keyboard to work on the bedroom TV. I thought that would make it easier to surf the WWW but I was wrong. I can't surf the internet because I don't know how to input/type anything in the search query. I'm sure I'll figure it out because after all I'm retired and got lots of time to waste how to.

table legs

This is a rough sawn piece of true 8/4 poplar. It is 54" long and just under 6" wide. I can get 2 sets of (4 legs each) out of it. The legs will be 1 1/4" to 1 3/8" square. More than likely it will be closer to 1 1/4" because I'll lose wood sawing the individual legs out.

has some twist

I sawed it in half length wise and I flattened one face and edge. I almost missed checking the edge for flat and straight.

rails and stretchers

I got one extra out of this poplar board. From each board I can get four rails and one stretcher. The extra will give me some oops. 

true 4/4 boards

Another rough sawn poplar board but this time it is 4/4. I didn't know it here but this board had twist, cup, bow, and humps in it. The plan was to flatten and straighten one edge and one face. Then sticker them until I can use the lunchbox planer in the driveway.

a 1/8" cup

The cup is so large on this end that I could see it. The plane just confirmed what the eyeballs told me.

a lot of calories

As you can see I took a lot more off the near end than the far end. The cup at the far end was a strong 1/16". After I got the board flat I expended 3 time the calories planing the twist out of it.

finally done

I don't have a warm and fuzzy with this board not doing stupid wood tricks on me. I had to plane the twist out of this board in quarters. The twist was horrible and the only way I removed it was to plane the first quarter and then the 2nd one etc etc. Checking for twist with the sticks at the ends just had me pissing in the wind.

more fun

The cup at this end of the board is over a 8th.

the other end

This end is barely a 16th. Almost as bad as the first board I did. This one took me just  as long to flatten and straighten - about 40 minutes.

removed a lot of wood

I am a frog hair shy of this board being 7/8" thick at its thinnest point. My goal was to have 7/8" thick rails but it is looking like I'll have to settle for 3/4".

last one

This board was a ROYAL )&(@%*_^)(@_+)^(%* PITA to do. This one I had to flatten the opposite face partially first. I prefer to flatten the cupped side first but the hump wouldn't let me do that. This one took me the longest to do and I was only doing one face and edge too. I flattened the face by doing it in 5ths. Fingers are crossed that the 3 of them don't compete with each other as to who will pretzel the most.

yikes

I initially criss crossed the board and then planed it at 90 with the #6. That was to rough flatten it and I checked it for twist. There was a ton because the board corkscrewed from one end to the other. The sticks had almost 4 lines from the front to rear sticks - each line on the sticks represents 1/8".

frustrating

This was not the face I wanted to flatten. It had a huge hump on this side. I didn't go nutso on it - I planed enough (twice) to get it to lay reasonable flat so I could work on the cupped face.

almost an hour

I thought I was getting closer but you can see that I still show a couple of lines of twist. I didn't bother checking the ends and switched to completing it by 5ths.

worked through lunch

I wasn't expecting to spend this much time flattening these boards. I'll have to sweat it out and see how they behave overnight. I do have another 4/4 board that I can get the rails and stretchers from if these don't behave. This is longest time I recall flattening one board - over two hours.

sigh

This is the practice frame which might be a plus. I had a spot on the other frame that I covered with black magic marker. That was a me-steak because I could pick it out in raking light. I don't know if I should strip off the poly or just touch up this spot with the black paint. I'll try black paint first and then deal with it if it goes south.

I got the third coat on the kids frame and I think I'm going to leave it at that. I'll bring it to Maria on wednesday.

hmm.....

I don't have any way of cutting these tiles - they are 1" square. The tile substrate needs to be sized so that whole tiles end up within a 1/8" of the sides. That should be adequate for grout. I played around with this and settled on a substrate that has ten tiles on the short side and 14 on the long ones. 

need more tiles

Amanda wanted the table to be 12" by 16" and that would require 192 tiles. This layout needs 140 tiles which makes what she shipped to me 40 tiles short. As you can see the tiles are not even remotely square. That will leave ragged out grout lines but it will match the not so square tiles.

sigh

This keeper broke but I'm still using it. I super glued it back together and used yellow glue to glue it in the box.

ghost sticks

I went nutso on these because the right side keeper broke in two. I will leave this be until the AM rolls around.

underside of the lid

This was not the result I was expecting. The veneer is too fragile and splits, breaks, cracks, and splinters just breathing on it. On the next box I will use thicker banding than this paper thin veneer. I will bandsaw some a strong 16th thick. 

top of the box

This is 1/8" thick banding and looks substantial unlike the veneer on the underside. This box is almost done. I killed the lights here and tomorrow I'll finish it by getting 1/8" thick banding on the bottom. 

When I got done typing this blog I noticed that yesterday's blog showed it was still a draft, not published. I would have bet a lung that I had published it in the AM. I am a creature of habit. I proof and publish the blog each morning before I eat breakfast or have my first cup of coffee. Hope it isn't another blogger hiccup to take a bite out of my arse.

accidental woodworker

 The weather of late and what is to come, is below norms for this time of the year. It is looking like Mother Nature didn't get the memo spring is here. Temps are 15 degrees lower than what they should be. Along with cloudy skies and the threat of rain, it made for a crappy day. Tomorrow is supposed to sunny in the AM and rain in the PM. Of course this is a complete reversal of what the weather seers were predicting yesterday.

annoying splinter

I had a teeny splinter in the tip of my index finger on my right, dominant hand. I was just under a notch going postal about it. My eyesight isn't good enough to look at this and dig out the offending piece of wood without help. I bought this magnifying glass for sharpening my saws. Used it twice for that and this was the 5th time I've used it to dig out a splinter.

my splinter removal tools

I have had a ton of splinter removals tools/kits over the years but this one is the absolute best of the lot. I use the spear looking tool to slice open the splinter entry point. The finger nail clippers I use to cut away skin exposing the hole so I then can use the the gripper thing on the left to remove the offending splinter. It took me over 30 minutes to dig the )@!&^($@)(*&%()@_)_  damn thing out.

hmm......

This isn't going as well as I would like. I used butt joints at the corners and I don't like that look. I couldn't think of any way to miter them. Part of the banding disappeared on the top corner - it caved it. That was due to the rabbet having a bit of missing plywood veneers there. 

nope

I was happy with how well the miters came out. However, slicing and sawing them caused some silvers of the veneer to pop off.

keepers dry fitted

I cut the height down an 1/8" - this is thin mahogany and being this high might be to floppy and potentially cause them to break. I quit here because I wasn't happy with how this was turning out. I'll take this as a learning experience and hopefully I'll do better on the next one. I will finish this but it will be a shop box once it is done.

good slip fit

A bright light - the lid fits great. I could easily put it on and take it off. And it fit just as well flipping it 180 and putting it on and taking it off.

new clock

Got this from Amazon and of course it is from China. You probably could also see the time from Mars with this clock. I searched but I couldn't find any digital clock kits - something with just the display screen - anywhere.

Still haven't completed the Firestick install. The plan is to complete the living room TV tonight. Updates and pics on tomorrows news.

accidental woodworker

 The temp today was 22 degrees lower than the temp yesterday. It was also cloudy with a cold breeze blowing. Needless to say I didn't get any exercise planing the cherry and it ain't looking too good for next week neither. The forecast has rain and cloudy skies until next weekend. I'll have to find an interim project to fill in the void that is coming.

protectors

I stuck these between the metal corners and the box. Without them the metal corners leave impressions there. A couple of silvers of it stuck to all four corners.

a little chisel help

Only one piece threw a hissy fit removing it. The rest came off clean with the first swipe. The recalcitrant one took 3 swipes but in the end there was no evidence of it left.

it fits

I clamped an auxiliary fence to the tablesaw and buried the saw blade in it. I used that to make a shallow rabbet for the banding. Nailed the fit with a test piece and did the same with the box. The banding is flush with the face of the box. And I'm putting one at the bottom and top edge only on the bottom half of the box.

hmm.....

Not liking this look. I am covering all the exposed edges of the plywood (on the box). That means two pieces here, one for the bottom of the lid and the top of the bottom half of the box. With the banding it looks funny to my eye. The solid mahogany banding is an 1/8" thick so it will be roughly a 1/4" thick there.

solution

Mahogany veneer. It is as thin as a piece of paper and two together are barely a frog hair thick. I get to have the plywood edges covered and not distract my eye from the banding.

Lowes road trip

Got what I need to make the tables for Amanda. The 2x2 piece of plywood is rated for tile. The silicone is to attach the tiles to the plywood substrate. The box has the 1" square tiles - the ones Amanda picked out and 5 bags I bought. I still have to get the paint and some 'L' shaped moldings. But I am going to try and make the 'L' molding myself. I don't remember seeing 1/2" 'L' molding at Lowes or Home Depot.

I am going to make a second table to give to Amanda. The 2nd table will have 4 different colored tiles whereas Amanda's tiles are all the same. I could even start on making the tables next week.

pics wouldn't rotate

These are two of the ones I bought. The black ones I'm not thrilled with - they looked better on the ETSY site than they do in person.

it worked

I had to tape the veneer to keep it from moving but it sliced through it like a hot knife through butter. 

switching the banding

Sometimes you get lucky. Both of these are the same width and thickness. I like the one I'm holding more than the single one at the top. I have just enough to band both the top and bottom. So I'll have to be on top of my game because I don't have any oops to give.

keepers (?)

I don't want to hinge this box but instead I'm going with a lift off lid. I resawed some mahogany to make the keepers. Doing that gave me enough stock to get the required 4 pieces.

hmmm.....

It is better but not perfect. All of the resawn pieces are tapered. It isn't as bad as I was getting and I don't know exactly why it happens. I have minimized the amount of the taper by pushing the bottom of the stock up against the bandsaw fence as tightly as I can while pushing it through the blade. That helps a ton but I still get a wee bit of to deal with.

+/- a half of frog hair

First I planed the taper away checking for flat by eyeballing it. I then flattened the largest piece and flattened and checked all the others against it. I checked for flatness between them with my fingertips. I didn't go anal on it but I got good, consistent results. More than adequate for keepers.

should be ready for tuesday

Got the first coat on the front side of both. One more coat on sunday and monday and both of these will be done. Then I can go nutso on painting the Stanley poster frames.

accidental woodworker

I'll pick up partway through the carving.

Set in with gouge if it fits well

For setting in I will use a gouge if the curves match, but mostly I've been using a carving chisel. I hold the leading corner above the wood and the trailing corner slices down to the desired depth.

setting in with chisel

For the modeling step I worked on the leaves first. Since they are in the background they are cut a little lower than the flowers. I try to define which go under and behind others, and round over the edges. I try to touch all surfaces so no original flat wood is left. These carvings are so shallow there's not a lot of depth to work with.

wet with alcohol so can see surfaces

There's not much of a detailing step, but I did use a nailset to add some little circles.

nailset

After finishing the carvings I made rabbets on three sides.

mark to crosscut top top edge sawn and rabbeted

I lined up the carving next to it's box and marked a top edge. I cut this with a fine tooth saw, and then made a rabbet with the saw and a shoulder plane.

with top rabbet made, mark for side rabbets

The side rabbets were made with a shoulder plane and batten. With rabbets on three sides I could fine tune the lid to fit into the grooves. Finally I crosscut the bottom edge.

trace the overhanging bottom edge to crosscut

I experimented by applying refined linseed oil to only one of the boxes. I used a rag for the box (outside only) and a brush for the carved lid and then wiped them dry after a few minutes.

note the difference between the oiled outside of the box and un-oiled inside

I intended to finish the boxes with garnet shellac. The purpose of the experiment was to determine if linseed oil provided any depth or improvement over shellac alone. I tried that with walnut and decided it wasn't worth the extra step and assumed the same would be true again.

After allowing the linseed oil to dry overnight everything got several coats of garnet shellac. It was frustrating to apply as rags didn't work for the carving, and the cheap paintbrushes I used kept losing bristles.

4-5 coats of shellac on the outer surfaces.

Now we're finished. The sapele box with the daffodil lid is the one I used linseed oil on before the shellac. The sapele is darker and the carving is darker and more defined than the irises. So for butternut carvings and sapele it appears that linseed oil + shellac makes a difference over shellac alone.

Sapele boxes, butternut lids, bamboo nails, cherry plywood bottoms, hide glue. Finished with garnet shellac +/- linseed oil. Width x Length x Depth approximately 8 x 11.5 x 3 or 4.5 inches.

daffodil carving iris carving

Here is a family picture with my last box. That lid was finished the same as the iris lid. It must have just gotten darker with time.

bulbs from another mother

I planted daffodil and tulip bulbs last fall. No irises. I've been watching the tulips emerge and waiting for them to bloom. Deer ate them last night.

I guess deer don't like daffodils

 With spring here now for a week, I am going to plane up the cherry tomorrow or sunday. Today the mercury got pushed up to 64F (18C) and the overnight temps are now are on above freezing (0C). I'm at a standstill with the maple ladder - waiting on screws and what finish to apply? I have to make a run to Lowes to get some clear silicone adhesive and I will check on non slip stair strips. 

As for the finish I might go with satin oil poly because I don't think shellac will hold up nor offer much protection. Getting poly will involve another run to Koszela's lumberyard. I have grown rather fond of General Finish products. I would rather buy in person than order it online.

behaved themselves

No major stupid wood tricks overnight. The left one has a crook in it on the far end but I can get what I need from the opposite end. The wonky part will be waste.

no burr anymore

I could not find my accu-burr gadget. I searched the shop for over an hour without finding it. I didn't even come across any crumbs pointing me in any direction it might have been. Checked all the spots I think I would have put it but nada. Got frustrated with myself that I couldn't remember where I had )_@*%$&^*@%_*@_)%() put the @#)%U)WT%)_QWU)^T)QPEWT thing. Took a time out and went topside and had some coffee.

found it

I was grasping at straws when I looked in this box for it. The box was behind the shop computer - out of sight and out of mind. I put this box on the table with all the toys I have in miniature dressers and boxes. Hopefully I won't go through this the next time I need the accu-burr.

upcoming

I am going to try and apply banding to the box I am making. The plan is to band the bottom edge of the box for sure. Thinking of doing the top edge too but that depends - I'll have to eyeball it to see if I would like that look. I think it would also behoove me to practice on some scrap before I commit to doing the box.

almost

I used the thinner of the two walnut boards for the bottom. I planed a rabbet along the outside edge and fitted it. The first check revealed I was too long on the length and then too wide on the width. Corrected for both of them on a shooting board. When I could close up the box tightly on the miters with hand pressure I was done.

planing a bevel

I have 3 fielding planes, one was way too big for this small panel. The other two were also too big. I thought that the Philly plane one would have worked but it didn't. I planed the bevel with the #4 and the LN low angle block plane.

not yet

Fitting the bottom to seat fully in the grooves of the box. I had to do a few dance steps planing and checking but eventually I got it done.

fitting the top

This portable vise worked a treat doing both the top and bottom. I got the top fully seated on this end but it wasn't fully in on the opposite end. 

success

The box miters fully closed up with hand pressure - all the toes and heels were gap free. This walnut board came from a woman's make up dresser that I took apart and made new drawers for it. It is good enough for this box.

sectors

Two of these I made and the far left one I will eventually make into a small sector. The 2nd one from right is toast. It is OTL and that is being kind. It isn't even remotely accurate. I couldn't find any documentation on how to make a sector and of the 5 I made (only two survive) all but one were failures. The far right one I made with Brendon Gaffney at Lost Art Press a couple of years ago.

hit or miss

This sector gives me fits because I can't seem to get repeatable results with it. Some of the lines are accurate while others are slightly off. I want a sector that is reliable each and every time I use it.

Lee Valley straight edge

When I was doing plane rehabs I used this check the flatness of the plane soles. I could have used my combo square to get a good enough check but I thought I would have other uses for it. I was wrong - this is the first time I looked at this in about 5 years?

jumped into the deep end

Bought a sector from Red Reproductions made by Acer-Ferrous tool works. Made from 1/4" aluminum with a brass hinge. I got it mostly for the lines scale and for the leg splay and angle function. I have making a chair on the bucket list and being able to set and check this should prove to be handy. Buying this emptied the wood buying savings.

no inside edge lines

There are several short You Tube vids on the Red Rose site that explains how to use this sector for each of the functions engraved on it. I had to watch the line function You Tube again because I forgot how to do it. It is going to take some time and practice to get proficient with it.

glued and cooking

I used the piggly wiggly glue because it dries clear. I had a hard time getting this glue to flow - soaking it in boiling water (nuked in the microwave) softened it but it wouldn't soften and flow. I nuked it for 20 secs in the microwave and that made a mess. There were 4 pin holes in the bottle that I didn't know about. Made a mess in the microwave and on the bottle too.

Other than the hiccup warming it up, I didn't have any problems spreading the glue on the miters. It didn't set up before I got the clamps on. I had plenty of time to position and move things before I tightened the band clamps. I'll let this cook until tomorrow.

what finish?

I filled that the gaps I have in the X brace with veneer and I'm calling that done. First choice for the finish is something clear like poly. I am also entertaining painting some of it. Not the entirety but maybe just the legs and applying a clear finish on the rest. I got lots of time to make the command decisions about it.

accidental woodworker

I haven't gotten much time in the shop yesterday or today. Spent some time helping my wife out with her storage unit. She wanted to remove some shelving I put together for her a few years ago. She wants to transit from mailing books from the storage unit to having it go directly from the printer to the requesting party. She hopes to get there before she has to replenish the storage unit shelves. Got a few things ticked off and I should get more tomorrow.

knocking the sharp point off

Didn't saw this one plumb on the front. I took care of that with the chisel.

last one

The back legs didn't get as much knocked off. Did better sawing the last 3 straight and square.

shortening the screws

Blacksmith bolt still doesn't have the screws I want in stock and I'm not waiting anymore. I will paint the heads of the pivot screws with black enamel oil based paint.

done

It took some filing to clean up the threads after I hack sawed them to length. I thought I had a 1/4-20 die but I didn't. I'll look into getting one. I will use red locktite on the acorn nuts to keep them on the screws. 

nice and shiny

This shelf liner worked well with keeping the brass stationary while I sanded them. Started with 220 and ended with 600.

already gone

It has been less than 2 minutes and the brass has already dulled. The shine is almost gone completely. I don't have any lacquer and I don't like using it. The smell of it lingers forever and it gives me a wicked bad headache. The brass will just have to have a patina.

hmm.....

I hadn't noticed that the pics on this calendar were different sizes. The are 9 of one size and 3 that were slightly smaller. (BTW the paper cutting gadget is sold by Wally World - it's in the paper/gift wrapping aisle and Amazon)

doing some layout

I wanted to use this frame but it is too big. The margins around the perimeter and between the pics would be too wide IMO.

need 4 frames

Decided to go with 4 frames, each holding 3 pics. Three of them will be the same size with the 4th one a wee bit smaller.

been a while

Sawing a piece of walnut in half, kind of. I really only need one piece but I'm shooting for two. This wasn't the easiest one I've sawn in two with the ryobi but I got it done. Maybe it was just me a bit rusty from not doing it.

tiny curly qs

This walnut had a hump in the middle and the grain reversed there too. Got some real ugly tear out when I tired to plane it first with the 5 1/2.

the curly q maker

I have had this iron for as long as I've owned this LV low angle jack and this is the second time I've used this toothing iron. The first time was to try it out when I first got it. Used it today for the first time for a real application. Planed it end to end with this iron followed by the 5 1/2. Almost zero tear out on the follow up as long as I didn't take a lot of passes.

one done

One is thicker than the other but that is ok. The left one is done, the right one is next. I plan to use them for the top and bottom on this box. I started this last year (?) and I will complete it as a in between project. I still have to plane/clean up the opposite face on both.

both are done

I didn't go nutso and try to get both of them the same thickness. There isn't any need to do that. Once they are in the grooves you won't be able to see how thick they are. I stickered them and tomorrow I'll make the rabbets to fit the grooves.

accidental woodworker

This is the culmination of the wooden screw rabbit hole I've been in for several weeks.  It started from a Worth marking gauge I was given some years ago, the screw from which didn't fit the inside threads in the fence very well.

It all started from this

It turned out that the inside threads were the problem - they got wallowed out a bit and the screw would no longer hold.  So with my experience a few years ago making larger wooden screws and with the help of some online videos, I figured out how to make threads of the appropriate size: 3/8" major diameter at 10 threads per inch (3/8" - 10, for short).

To pull it all together, I made a new marking gauge.  The major challenge with this one was making the wooden thumb-screw.  I'll get to that in a little bit.  But first, I made a prototype marking gauge fence from scrap wood to see if I could create inside threads through the top and extending to the mortise that houses the beam.

I needed the prototype marking gauge to be at a specific height in the threading box, so I planed a scrap piece and super-glued the fence to it. Then ran the tap through the fence to make the inside threads.

And it worked very well.  Here's the original wooden screw in that tapped hole - a nice snug fit.

Later I made a fence blank from walnut and repeated the procedure on the real thing.

Here's the walnut fence getting threaded

and I got a nice fit here, too

The walnut took the threads pretty nicely

Next I tested a 3/8" diameter piece of walnut to see how well it would take outside threads.  I had soaked it in mineral oil for a few days, and it worked out pretty well.

Testing a 3/8" walnut dowel for outside threads

And it fits an inside thread nicely

With that adding confidence, I laid out a wooden screw on a walnut blank.  I was careful to lay out precisely to keep things aligned.

Laid out the shape using the original as a guide

Then sawed and rasped the to-be-threaded end a little oversize and tapped it through a dowel plate for a fairly accurate 3/8" diameter.

The extra material on the right in the above picture is so I could mount it in the threading box.  I formed that into a 5/16" diameter so I could use one of the couplers I'd already made (I realize that might only make sense if you had read the previous posts about threading small diameter wood).  Then I cut the outside threads and tested them in the walnut fence.

It fits nicely and it locks the beam solidly!

I cut off the extension on the back end and shaped the thumbscrew head similar to the original.  I also cut off about 1/2" of threads so that there's only about 1/8 to 1/4" of threads above the fence when the screw locks the beam.

At this stage, there's just a little shaping to do and then some coats of shellac.  Like my last marking gauge, I added wax to all outside surfaces, except the bottom of the beam.  That exception will help ensure the beam won't slip in its mortise during use.

It's looking like a marking gauge

I added measurement lines on the side of the beam that is visible to me (a right-hand dominant person) when in use.  I find the lines very useful on the original Worth gauge, and I don't know why more marking gauges don't have this feature.

I laid out these lines carefully - they go out to 6"

Almost forgot to mention - I made the pin from an old 3/32" drill bit.  It was annealed (though it was still very hard after annealing) with a torch and sharpened using a drill and hand-crank grinder.  It was a little loose in the 3/32" hole in the beam, so I bent it a little bit and now it holds well.

And here is the glamour shot.  When the screw is tightened, the beam will not go anywhere.  It clamps as solidly as a rottweiler on a postman's leg.

It's a beauty

I'm done with wooden screws for now.  It's time finally to move on to other things.

 No more cable TV but I got my Firesticks last night around 2030. I got one installed (not 100% sure of that) on the living room TV. I had to do it 3 times because it updated twice and after each update I had to install from the beginning again. All I wanted to see was the prime video screen when I sign into Amazon prime on my computer. Never made it anywhere near that point. And fun ain't over yet because I get to repeat all that fun when I install it on the bedroom TV.

I wasn't expecting a ton of buy this and check out this trial offering. All I wanted was access to prime video of which there is a button on the Firestick remote. But pressing it just had me selecting and downloading and entering PINs for what I don't or didn't know. I gave up installing it and and the bedroom one is waiting in hot standby. 

One last tidbit is I want to install Amazon Silk so I can surf the net and You Tube hopefully. I watched and read how to do it but so far nothing on my Firestick home screen matches/agrees with anything I saw on the instructional downloads. 

screw blocks

Glued and screwed these to the center stretcher and I'll screw the plywood to them after they have cooked.

done

Why I wanted this shelf. Usually the 3 on the bottom lived on the top shelf or on the toolchest behind it. I'm hoping that I don't have to play musical chairs with these 3 as much now. They have made multiple round trips from here to tablesaw to the drill press table (not necessarily in that order) sometimes a bazillion times a day.

not working

I want to sand these up to 600 grit and I made a 'holding' insert for  them out of 1/8" plywood. The brass is proud of that but only by a couple of frog hairs. I'm not sure that this will work but I'll give it a try.

thick veneer

I stuck two pieces of the thickest veneer I had but it won't be sufficient. I can barely feel a difference between two veneers and no veneer.

too tight

The right side, outside leg is bowed and it is too tight. I should have planed this before I attached the X brace and the stretcher. Didn't so I get to do it now.

got a hump

Planing this hump wasn't the nightmare of busted knuckles I thought it was going to be. It was a bit awkward but I was able to plane it flat.

had to pull it

Because of the grain direction I had to orient it this way. I was able to plane about 3/4 of the way inward from the outside edge. I really don't have to get it up the braces and stretcher because the legs don't close up fully against each other.

took a while

The left inside leg had a small hump too but it was easier and quicker planing that one flat. The right side is now flat from end to end.

the front legs

Removed the end blocks for the dowel and the screws from the treads. (Blacksmith bolt still hasn't stocked the 2" screws I want). There was a minuscule bit of a hump on the front legs. I planed the both outside legs flat from end to end.

dragging

Moving one end causes the opposite end to pivot and move about a third of the way down the straight edge. That tells me that this is flat when repeating from the other end does the same thing.

much better

These leg sandwich loosely with the front legs now. No rubbing anywhere when sliding them up/down or pivoting them up/down. Before I planed this, it was fitting snug and would only go down about a 1/3 of the way.

fully laying flat

The right outside leg at the top bows outward a wee bit. However, the outside legs are fully seated on the front legs and they move with no binding whatsoever.

didn't forget them

The front face on both got some scratches and debris on them from sitting on the standoffs. Cleaned, sanded them up, and painted them again. Tomorrow I'll get back to applying the clear poly to them. It is looking like they will be ready to go to Maria next week sometime. 

new thing to frame

There are 12 pics of various hand tools taken apart and laid out. This calendar dates from 2015 and I have walked by it for years without paying any attention to it. I am going to cut out the pics and install them in a frame. As of now I'm thinking of grouping them in 3 or 4 per frame. That is subject to change. 

accidental woodworker

Just before 1130 I got the new high speed internet installed, tested, and working. We went from 100MB to 500MB and as usual with upgrades I didn't see a uptick. I'll give it a few days and see if that opinion changes. 

Internet is working and the Verizon tech told me about something called Amazon Firestick. Basically it makes a dumb TV into a Smart TV. I have two on order and I can't wait. Supposedly you can stream on the TV along with surfacing the internet. That is something I'm really interested in - I want to be able to watch You Tube on the bedroom TV. The two sticks are scheduled for delivery between 1700-2200 today.

folded

This is as much as I can fold the ladder up. One leg is hanging up on the oval head screws. Blacksmith bolt responded to my email and the flat head, black oxide, screws I want should be back in stock tomorrow. This ladder is heavy, a lot more so than I would like for a kitchen helper.

1 1/4" radius

The plan was to hacksaw off as much of the waste as I could. That didn't go so well because the hacksaw blade I had was dull and wouldn't cut this brass easily.

triangle file

To give the saw a helping hand I used the file to make a kerf for the saw to follow. That worked a little better but the blade still struggled to cut the brass.

Yikes!

It took a boatload of calories to clear all the crappola that was covering the disk sander. I left it on the shelf and rounded the brass corners there. This sander weighs in the neighborhood of 100 lbs.

done

I like this look a lot more than as a rectangle. The round overs didn't raise much of a burr neither. I was expecting it to be bigger and ready to slice and dice my fingers.

circle jig

Found this while clearing out space for the tech to run his wires and such. I thought I had lost this. I will ensure that I put this with the two cut off sleds for the bandsaw.

wow

Another find clearing out the crappola. After finding it I remembered it. I never installed it because at the time I didn't know how to do the saw blade kerf. Doing that now is not a mystery anymore. As of now I don't know if I'll use it. After all I just made 6 MDF inserts.

gone

80 grit sanding block knocked off the square edges lickety split. The only sharp points left on the ladder are on the bottom of the two legs.

the after pic

I threw away a ton of crap I had on the ledge above the stool/oscillating sander. Ended up with some empty space that I can fill up with new crap.

1/2" CDX plywood

Most of the day was wasted waiting on and helping out the tech. Decided to do something that I have been meaning to do for a while. I got reminded of it when I saw this in the corner of the boneyard. A bottom shelf for the set up table.

squaring the ends

I got the width done on the tablesaw because I had two factory edges to use. The length I had to square one end. I didn't go nutso on this because it wasn't necessary for the application.

done

Planing plywood isn't difficult at all. The Lee Valley low angle jack ate it up without hesitation.

sigh....

I had a senior moment brain fart. I wanted to mark and cut at 33 1/4" and I marked it at 32 1/4". Why? Because I was thinking (out in left field) that I should saw it long to square up the other end and then cut it to final length. But I measured wrong and that turned into liquid fecal matter real quick. Lucky for me I had 3 more pieces of 1/2" plywood to start over again with. 

hmm....

I wanted to get this bottom shelf installed in one piece. That didn't happen because I couldn't get the plywood to cooperate with me. The diagonal between the legs on the long side was a couple of inches shy allowing the plywood to fit. I had installed a center stretcher on the bottom when I made this table just in case this happened.

notched and fitted

Flipped it up so I could eyeball how the two pieces lie on the center stretcher. The two don't split it exactly on half but it is close enough. The two pieces lie flush with each other too. I think I'll just put a couple of screws in each piece to hold it down. No glue. It would be a nightmare trying to remove it if I had to.

 

more horizontal storage

I will concede that maybe this is a me-steak but it may work out for the better. This table has found a home positioned directly behind the tablesaw. So far it is working and I haven't had any desires to give it flying lessons. I can keep things on this shelf that I leave out on the big roll around tool chest.

 

Latest Lost Art Press book

This book is unlike any other LAP book I have gotten from them. Heavy paper, crisp drawings, and in color. I wish they had come up with this one first.

not want I expected

When LAP said this was in color I jumped on board with both feet. I was expecting the illustrations to be 'colorized' but they aren't. However, IMO it is well worth the price.

accidental woodworker

For those who know me personally (or who have followed me for long enough), you’re aware that I am atheist. I grew up very Catholic. And like all good Catholic boys, the only vestige of my Catholicism now is periodically invoking the name of the Father, the Son, the Blessed Mother, or whatever Saint fits […]

 I plugged and chugged all day and at 1548 I snapped a pic of the kitchen ladder done with the exception of a finish. I didn't think I would get to the finish line today but I did. The last couple of steps just fell into place with no hiccups for me. I also still have to do some round over work on the brass stop plates. I'll do that tomorrow.

needs to be cut down

I had a larger acorn nut that I wanted to use because it more closely matches the ones I'm using on the leg pivot screws. This is a 8-32 nut  and it must be lacquered because it is shiny as a bright day. The larger ones are all dull with a patina.

nope

I had already cut this down 4 times already and it is still too long. I thought of used two of them but one will do it.

finally

Got it tightened down after 5 attempts. I still don't know how to gauge how much to cut the the pliers. Being brass it was easy to shear off even a wee bit.

checking the fit

Checking to make sure that the back legs fit over the front ones. 

glued and cooking

I glued the X brace on and I let it cook for an hour before putting in screws.

brass RH screws

Used one screw at each notch. Chose brass to match the acorn nut and machine screw at the X crossing.

worked a treat

The first notch I sawed I dug into the leg. I cut off of piece of the water jug and used that as a wear surface.  I didn't dig in or leave any sawing scars on the other 3 notches. I put this away with the flush cut saw.

3 screws

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how many screws to use on this along with where to place them. In line (which I used) or on a slanted line top to bottom. What I was concerned with was having all the screws in line and having them potentially splitting the leg. The screws are 2" apart so that should be far enough where one would split the grain and have it run into another screw.

hasn't changed

This book is from LAP and I compared it to a another workshop reference book and they agreed. The LAP book I believe was first published in the 1930's. I used three #12 screws in each plate.

end blocks

The maple dowel is held captive with an end block on each leg. Just screwed in place - no glue. This will allow for any repairs or upkeep needed.

plates attached

I am going to round over the top edges and the top and bottom outside corners. I want those to be large - 1 or 1 1/4". Still puzzling over how to do the edges. The large radius corner round overs I think I can do on my 12" disc sander.

legs won't fold inward

It looks like I will have to round over a large chunk of the leg to allow it to pivot. When I did this I had checked it and then I only needed to clip the point directly to the left of the screw.

not much to remove

As I swung the leg in/out I penciled the marks and there isn't a lot that has to go bye bye. I used my 80 grit sanding block to round over this point.

done

I was surprised by this fix. I thought it would still hang up on some other hiccup that I failed to catch. Leg pivoted in/out without any hang ups or other issues. 

hmm......

Noticed one more step to do when I snapped this pic. The top of the front legs are squared off. I think that would look and feel better if it was was rounded over. The other one was after stepping on it I think I should have have put 3 steps on it. I felt like something was missing when I was standing on the 2nd step. 

accidental woodworker

 My wife got back to the barn today a little before 1300. Unlike the trip down to North Carolina she stopped for the night in New Jersey on the way home. She is going back to NC next month again but by herself. I might have surgery before than I want to stay close to home until I'm fully healed. I'm hoping to make it down there at least once this year. Fingers crossed and I'll be thinking happy thoughts.

wee bit shy of flush

Before I screw the stretcher on planed this leg flush with the stretcher. The other end it ok - its flush.

3 of 4

No glue yet, just screws. I still had yet to ensure it folded up and there was sufficient clearance between the legs.

hmm......

The oval heads on this side are holding up the legs closing further. On the opposite leg there is clearance. I checked and I don't have any flat head screws, black oxide or plain steel, to replace these. I checked Blacksmith Bolt and they didn't have any of what I wanted in stock. I got an email out to him and I should have a reply next week sometime. Until then I am kind of dead in the water again.

laying out the x brace

The plan was to get this first leg notched and fitted. Then lay the opposite one on it, layout where they cross and knife it and its notches in the leg.

sigh

I had to reset and redo the layout. The bottom of the cross brace was too close to the bottom stretcher. Missed that when I sawed this notch on the wrong side - There were three knife lines and I picked the wrong one.

slightly proud

This was planned. I left this a wee bit proud to give me some wiggle room for adjustment after the brace is seated in the leg notches. I did this half lap first and then the last two leg notches.

done

This is more for show then application. The look is good but the notches are a botch job. I used the dozuki to saw them and hindsight that was a me-steak. The cut happening on the pull or push didn't play out well for me. My notch cuts came out barely adequate and certainly not what I know I could do better on.

gap

Not only did I saw on the wrong side, my cuts on the far side were off the layout line. On some they were in the waste and a few in the good meat. I wasn't expecting the dozuki to wander off as it did.

wrong side

I did pretty good on the side facing me and sawing on the layout line. Can't say the same for the opposite side I couldn't see. I went into this confident and without feeling any heebie jeebies about sawing. Even after the first errant sawing I still felt good and that didn't change until the last one I did. The results I got were disappointing considering I approached this like it would be a nothing event to knock out.

the best one

Had problems with the notches too. I got a lot of tear out with this maple. I was expecting it to be clean and easy (its a hardwood?) and it was almost the direct opposite of that.

the best looking one?

Overall I don't have a warm and fuzzy with my X brace. I am considering painting it now so I can hide all the sins I see with it.

flushed

Happy with how this came out. I wish the walls were bit tighter but as is it is self supporting.

worse notch tear out

This notch broke off a big chunk when chiseling it. I was erring on the side of caution and chiseling upwards from the bottom of the notch upwards to the middle. One piece broke off from one side to the other and took out the entire knife line on this side of the leg.

This isn't readily visible and won't be so when opened for using it. I am going to sleep on painting this and decide it tomorrow. One idea floating around the brain bucket is to paint it 2-3 colors?

the best one on the back?

Maybe I'm being too critical of myself but I really hate gaps. I wanted all the joints to be snug, tight, and self supporting. Almost with any of that doesn't cut it for me.

crossing glued

The X brace is a 1/2" thick and screwing it could be tricky. Drilling a pilot hole won't be easy. The glue may be sufficient but I'm sure this brace will be used to open and close the legs. Another thought for securing it further is using a machine screw and a nut. I have some small sizes along with acorn nuts in brass.....

Did some serious eyeballing of the back here. The brace is clamped to the legs and it honestly didn't look all that terrible. My wife looked at and didn't notice anything. I told her before hand about the gaps there and she said it looked fine to her.

a 'can you' project......

These are glass tiles roughly 1" square. You can see through them. Daughter #2 asked me to make a table for her with these tiles. She gave me a pic of a table she liked and it is for putting drinks on. I have never worked with such small tiles but I'm concerned with how to secure them to the substrate?

Because you can see through them I would think that using thin set isn't a good choice. I'm thinking of using epoxy over a substrate that is painted the same color as the table is. Not sure how that will look so I plan on seeing if I have any extra tiles and I'll make a sample substrate first. This doesn't have to be done until august so I will have time to order extra tiles if I need to.

accidental woodworker

 The post man came early today while I was eating lunch. He brought a couple of books I had ordered from the LAP (Lost Art Press) a couple of days early. The thought was to leaf through them while filling the pie hole and then go back to the shop. What happened was me reading half of one book and it was 1330 before I realized how much time had elapsed. I'm sure I'll be finished with it before the sun comes up tomorrow.

the left one

It blows my mind that craftsman were able to make the things they did with just dividers and straight edges. The hound & Eye is the book that captured my attention and I just plowed through it. I thought I had both of these but I was a good boy and checked my library first. I didn't have either one so I ordered them. I think this completes my herd with all the books these two authors have written.

done

I came back to the shop last night and got the 4th and 5th coats of shellac on these. Looking at the sides I can't tell that I had sanded half of the original finish off and applied 5 more. The (left one) back molding is almost a perfect match to the door stiles.

the other side

I like the top back apron. The height is just right where it doesn't look like a correction for a brain fart.

Yikes

It took a lot of calories to get this lid off. I obviously didn't clean the rim the last time I used this. On the flip side it worked in my favor by completely sealing it and keeping oxygen from getting to the finish.

 I transferred the contents of this can into an empty quart paint can. I filtered it through a filter that I use for shellac. The filter caught a ton of debris. I got the first coat of this finish on the backs of the two frames.

needed a 1/4" dowel

I'm using the brass rod as a sleeve for the 1/4" machine screw to move against rather than having it rub and move on wood. The dowel is so when I saw off the lengths I need (4 of them), the saw won't collapse the brass tube.

driving it home

The 1/4-20 screw with the button head was use to drive the tube home. This way the end of the brass tube won't get deformed from the hammer blows.

1/4" fender washers

I really don't want to use these washers - they would have been used between the legs. I had gone to ACE to find some plastic washers and Nada. On the drive home I thought of making my own plastic washers out this plastic lid.

worth its weight in gold

I used this to drill the four 9/32" holes I needed for the brass tube. This ensured that the holes were 90° to the face of the legs. This goes from a 1/8" to 3/8" by 64ths. There a companion to this that goes up to a 1/2". So far I haven't had a need for anything beyond 3/8".

found an old water bottle

I didn't want to use the first choice because I use them for glue ups. I am going to double up the washers because this plastic is thin. Along with making the legs swing freely, I also want the washers to provide a wee bit of space between the legs.

drilled chamfers

I couldn't find any black oxide oval head 1/4-20 machine screws. Using flat head ones and I'll paint the heads black - these are plain steel.

acorn nuts

I'll cut down the screws and top them with these nuts. I got them from Blacksmith bolt and they weren't cheap. I wasn't expecting them to cost what they did. Instead of buying 25-50 I only got 8.

hmm......

Got some decisions to make on this. I found some brass 'U' shaped channel but the price of it was insane so this will have to do. I still think it is a better choice then using wood stops. how many screws? brass or black oxide? finally how to round over the exposed edges?

sigh

I was getting ready to get the 2nd coat of poly on when I noticed there was a ton of build up on the outside edges - on both sides of the rabbet. Had to take a step back and scrape it off.

how did I miss this?

This leg is out of square. The opposite side is square but it tapers upward from there to this corner. Another brain fart to deal with.

fixed

Bullnose plane and some chisel work. I'm square now in the four corners but I had to take a couple of steps backward. On well, stercus accidit.

tomorrow

There isn't that much left to do to complete this. I have to do some cleanup on the left leg here. The notch for the bottom stretcher is proud of it but flush on the right leg. After I get this glued and screwed to the legs I'll plane it flush. 

accidental woodworker

Last time, I had some success threading 1/2" dowels and fitting them into 1/2" wooden nuts.  I had used a three sided box with dadoes that housed blocks.  One block holds a machine screw and nut with a specific pitch.  The end of the screw was modified to hold either a dowel ready to have outside threads cut, or a tap ready to cut inside threads in another block.  Another block simply gets an inside thread cut into it or it houses a cutter to cut an outside thread on a dowel that is fed into it.

Here's the box set up to cut outside threads on a dowel

After some experimentation, I made some improvements.  First, I wanted to angle one of the sets of dadoes so that the cutter mounted to it would cut outside threads at the proper pitch angle.  For the 1/2" - 8 threads and the 3/8" - 10 threads that I'm working with, this angles turns out to be around 5 degrees.  Without this angle, the V-shaped threads cut into a dowel would not be symmetrical: one side would be more vertical and the other side more angled.

This shows the angled block to account for the pitch angle. The previous picture shows a straight-across block.

Second, I realized that my outside thread cutters were cutting a much wider thread than I want due to cutter angle and geometry.  So I modified the cutters to make a narrower cut (no pics of that).

Third, I made improvements to the methods of connecting the screw to a dowel.  Originally, I had used a piece of rubber hose and hose clamps, but these tended to slip.  Later, I made wooden couplers that used set screws to lock the screw and dowel in place.

Here's an early experiment with 5/16" tap cutting inside 3/8"-10 threads in a block.  The machine screw has 3/4"-10 threads and the coupler is made from plastic tubing, hose clamps and a split wooden ring to adapt the 5/16" dowel to the 3/4" ID plastic tube.

Now is where I get into 3/8" diameter screws with 10 threads per inch.  I use a 5/16" dowel for cutting inside threads.  In earlier experiments I just drilled a hole through a 5/16" dowel and stuffed a cutter in the hole to make a tap.

The little cutter was made from a steel hinge, rectangular in cross section and fit tightly into the round hole drilled through the dowel.

That worked, but after the first use, the hole got wallowed out and the cutter wouldn't stay in place.  So I decided to try a different way to hold the cutter in place.  This method uses a set screw in the end of the dowel to lock the cutter in place.  But as you'll see, there were issues.

Drilled, tapped and put a set screw in the end of the 5/16" dowel. Before tapping the hole, I fit the dowel into a 5/16" hole drilled in scrap. This kept the dowel from breaking apart as I tapped.

Made a new cutter from an old 1/8" drill bit

After annealing, it shaped easily with hack saw and files

But after a few times tuning it into a (hopefully) new nut, it was destroyed. This one was made from relatively soft red alder.

I made another 5/16" dowel from beech, hoping the harder wood would hold up better.  Then I ran it through another 5/16" pilot hole and it worked without getting destroyed.