General Woodworking

Last time I wrote about the legs and seat.  Still much to do with them, but this post is about the sticks.  This chair will have 12 sticks - 6 long and 6 short.  I'm using red oak that I got from a neighbor's kitchen remodel.  I looked for pieces that had straight grain along the edge and cut on the face along the grain direction to get pieces that followed the grain fairly well.

Note the slanted direction of the grain.  There's a pencil line along one of the grain lines. I cut along those lines to get straight grain pieces.

Some reasonably straight-grained pieces squared up to 3/4"

Here's a stick sitting in a cradle waiting to be planed. Lines are drawn on the sides to plane down to.

Planed to the lines to make them octagonal

Then take off the corners with three scrub plane strokes to make them almost round

The short sticks will get 5/8" tenons on each end, so I put them through the rounding plane that I made a few months ago.  I did a test run first with a test piece and that was a good idea because the tenon came out at an angle from the rest of the stick.  For that test piece, I clamped the stick upright in a vise and turned the rounding plane onto it.  I found that I really need to put the rounder in the vise and turn the stick into it, concentrating on keeping the stick in the center of the rounder's entrance.

Taking a long stick to 5/8" diameter.  If I started the rounding plane this way, the end of the stick might be angled.  I had to start the sticks as shown below.

The test stick (above) has an angled tenon. The one below is nicely centered.

Rounder in the vise, stick being rotated into it. I can see whether or not the stick is centered in the opening.

Turning a long stick into the rounder, concentrating on keeping it centered in the opening

Here's a close-up, where I can see the even gap all around the stick entering the rounder

The sticks were to have a small bulge, centered between the arm and the seat.  After rounding the tenons of the short sticks, I used a scrub plane, then a block plane, scraper and sandpaper to smooth the curves.

Here's the short sticks (and one long stick) shaped

Tapering the bulge with a scrub, followed by block plane, being very careful not to go into the tenon area

A curved scraper removes most of the remaining facets

Later I'll taper the long sticks above the arm from 5/8" to 1/2".  So far, this has been the easiest and most fun part of the project.  I've run into issues with making the arm bow and boring the holes through the arm and into the seat.  But that's a story for another post.

 The train was only 12 minutes late. According to my wife the trains seldom run on time. When I took the train down to Baltimore last year (and back) it was late then too but I don't recall the times. In order to get the 15 drawer dressing down to daughter #1 we or just my wife will have to drive it down there. I got an estimate over the phone to ship it for 4-5 hundred dollars. A wee bit too rich for me so the dresser will have to wait.

it behaved

I wasn't expecting any stupid wood tricks. This stock has been in the shop for a few months. BTW this is the new base that I sawed up last night after dinner.

the me-steak

 This is how I measured and marked the base yesterday. To my thinking this should have worked but it didn't. 

the right way?

The left corner has the pieces that have squared off ends. I marked the opposite side a few frog hairs long. More options to hide it being too big over being too small.

off the saw

Diagonals were less than a 32nd off. This is the base I made too small yesterday all glued up and cooking.

checking for twist

New base parts being checked for twist. I found that if I'm dovetailing and there is twist, whatever is dovetailed will twist also.

new method

new base untwisted

Ready for dovetails almost. Had to check to ensure that I didn't have a hump in any of them.

from the #3

I need to sharpen and hone 3 of my handplanes because of this. The edge of the irons on all 3 have chips at the edge of the irons producing this crappola of a finish. I meant to do that yesterday (?) but got side tracked and forgot it. I need these planes to finish the drawer making so I'll have to make a pit stop to do it. As an aside if anyone who reads this has any Lie Nielsen O1 irons for a #3, #4, or a #5 1/2 that they are willing to part with I'll buy it/them.

my favorite smoother

I like using a #3 as the final step when planing stock to thickness or removing twist. These straight line ridges don't sand out that well even starting with 100 grit. 

I remembered

 Here I'm repeating for the sides how I measured for the front/back.

sides

Usually I put the tails on the longest pieces which would be the front/back. Instead I put them on the sides so that you see a square/rectangle instead of the tails. Moot point now because it will be painted and hidden.

not quite done

I was trying to get the base dry fitted before lunch but I didn't make it. I had to go grocery shopping for the wife so it would be a while before I knew if it fit the carcass.

off the saw

I didn't have to trim anything this go around. Initially the diagonals were a 1/4" off but a slight push on the high corners and I was about a 32nd off.

didn't forget

The carcass dropped right in - a nice loose fit.

cutout on the base

I don't like a base that doesn't have a cutout. It is much easier to adjust, fit, and get it level if all you have to play with are the four corners. If this was a big boy version and was going to live on a carpet I would do it with a solid base.

carcass bearers?

They bear the carcass so they should they be called carcass bearers? 3/8" down so there will be an 1/8" reveal between the top of the base and the bottom drawer rail. These were glued and nailed on.

back gap

A healthy bit of wiggle room for the back panel insertion. If need be I can put a shim in it or use caulk to fill it.

a real big sigh

My fault on this being too short on the height. I didn't check it any of them but relied on what I measured. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't do that. Penalty is making 4 new pieces.

old dog can learn sometimes

This is the first one and I sawed it to a pencil line struck off the opening. Sawed out the other 3.

untwisted

Two were twisted a bit and two were flat and straight.

test piece

Good use for an off cut that could be a piece of pine veneer.

cutting the back was next

The first one was tight and wouldn't fit. I shot this one on the shooting board until it fit with a hint of gentle persuasion.

change #2

Rather than do half blinds at the front I'm going to do through dovetails at the back and front. I will use the 'veneer' glued to the front to hide the tails. I am using the off cuts from resawing it from 3/4 to a 1/2 inch.

massive brain fart

I stunk up the shop so bad I was choking on the smell. You know that awful sinking feeling that you screwed up and screwed up bad the nth power? Well that didn't kick in with me until I was done sawing the last one and putting it back in the dresser. What did I do wrong? I sawed for the drawer slips on the sides instead of doing it on the back.

corrected 1/2 the problem

I sawed all the backs and than I had to contend with one of the sides on all 5 drawers being too short on the height.

saved two

I used the sides playing with them and I was able to get two complete sets done. That leaves 3 that I have to redo. Rather then trying to match the one good one I decided to make 3 new sets.

double, triple checked three times

I got lucky that I was able to get all the sides from off cuts left over from previous projects.That pile of off cuts has shrunk considerably building this dresser.  If I had screwed up the fronts or backs I would have had to use the stock I got from Gurney's. Killed the lights here and headed upstairs. 

accidental woodworker

Or memorial plaque, I could say.

finished, wating for pictures

I made this a few months ago after our dog died. I just wanted a picture frame with her name on it. A dog paw may have worked also, but the bone shape lends itself to pictures on the ends.

The project has a few steps. It starts with roughing out the shape, and then carving the middle. Then there is inserting the glass and hardware on the backside.

I used 1″ thick walnut. I searched for dog bone shapes online and adjusted one of the images to the dimensions I wanted. I printed it out, taped it down, and knifed through the paper. I went over the knife line with a sharpie.

deciding which size to use

cutting through paper to leave a knife line

knife line is hard to see on walnut

The curved parts were done with a coping saw. I tried to leave a stub on one end of the blank and finish as much as possible before cutting the shape free.

curves and tight spaces

For the 4″ diameter circles, I bored holes and slipped a coping saw blade through, and then connected the dots.

connect the dots

I marked a 1/4″ line around all the edges and chamfered them. I thought this might help it appear less thick, and to not have the pictures set so deep in a hole. To smooth the edges I used rasps and files, which took a long time.

marking edges for chamfer

getting lots of use

For the carving I searched “clip-art heart” and found one I liked. Then I printed the letters at an agreeable size. I tried to space them so the heart and letters would not clash with each other or leave fragile ends.

heart and letters

I made one practice carving. I only knifed the center lines of the heart and letters, referencing a printout for the details. It would have been better to draw them out more fully on the wood before carving.

practice board

In the final product you can see the letters and heart are not centered the same. I think I adjusted the spacing between the letters but forgot to center the entire word. Oh well. I guess that just gives it some made-by-hand authenticity.

in progress

For the picture frames I did not want plastic. I looked for 4″ circular or square glass picture frames at Michaels or Walmart or similar online stores and didn’t find any. I thought I might have to get a larger frame and cut the glass to size. But when I went to walmart for other reasons they had some 4″ square glass picture frames on the shelf. I guess at $0.87 each they don’t bother listing them on the website. So I kept the glass and the cardboard backing and discarded the plastic frame.

not easy to find small glass frames

I needed the glass in hand to mark out recesses on the back side. I made them deep enough for the glass and a thin plywood backing. I set a router plane to the final depth and swirled it around the circle to mark the depth. Most of the waste was removed with chisels and then the router plane was used up to the line.

swirling to mark depth

working down to the line

recesses for glass, pictures, and backing

The hanger is from a grab bag of picture hanging hardware. It also required a little mortise. The twisty things are ‘turn buttons’ from hobby lobby.

mortise for picture hanger

turn buttons require tiny pilot holes

all buttoned up

I hand sanded and applied 4-5 coats of garnet shellac.

applying shellac with squeeze bottle and rag

I searched our pictures and printed out ones that would fit when cut to a 4″ square size. I printed more than two and keep the extras in the frame so they can be rotated if I ever think about it. It is mounted where her crate and things used to be.

Ula was only four years old. When we got her we hoped she would live to be 10+ years old, long enough for the kids to remember her as their childhood dog. It didn’t work out that way.

First things first, I want to say thanks to everyone for the well wishes and comments in the last post where I introduced our new home/project. It’s been a little over a week since we more or less moved into our new house in Tomobe, and a lot has happened. There’s no shortage of work… Read More »Tomobe House – Week 1

The post Tomobe House – Week 1 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

Sunday is my day to piddle around but I got a lot done on the dresser. Much more than I thought I would today. The AM session went off with a hiccup but I can't say the same for the PM one. Made two brain farts that were basically the same. After the second one I punched the time clock and killed the lights.

out of the clamps

Nothing moved or sighed when the clamps came off. The top is on securely and I am not going to add screws or nails.

the ugly gap.

At this point I was ok with leaving the gap. You have to tip the dresser back to see it. I am slowly learning to pick my battles with things like this.

side guide rails

Left a gap for expansion and I put it at the front. To my way of thinking it out loud, the front part of the drawer should continuously span the gap. With it tight against the back bearer rail only the back end of the drawer has to move over it. With no gap the drawer won't have anything to bump into or snag on.

glue only

I applied glue to back 1/3 of the drawer guide. No screws or nails mostly because the sides are a 1/2" thick - not much meat to screw or nail into. I think the glue will suffice.

froze on me

The back divider was a wee bit snug and yesterday I could put it in place with hand pressure. Today with glue it froze half way. I was able to get the mallet in through the middle and tap it home. 

bottom bearer rails

I wanted to use the same width for these as the bearer rails but they were too short on the length. These will work and the should be easier to fit the drawers not being as wide. Less of tendency for these to curl and do other stupid wood tricks.

glued and cooking

The bottom edges were proud a few frog hairs. The back one also had a hump that I had to plane flat. 

bottom side guide rails

Used the spring clamps to hold a scrap down to the bearer rails. That way the side guide rail will be in the same plane. I'll plane the bottoms flush after it has set up.

sigh

This is the corner that split and cracked on me yesterday. A thin sliver of it didn't want to get glued back on. I wanted to apply shellac as the finish but not anymore. I'll be painting it and leaving the drawers natural and covered with shellac. There were a couple of more dings that I filled with wood putty that the paint will hide.

thinking out loud

Maybe I should just paint the top? I still will have to flood the brown knot with super glue whether I use shellac or paint. The more I think about it the more I'm liking it. I'll have to be careful painting where the sides meet the top.

base first

Decided to get the base done before doing the drawers. That will help a lot when it comes time to fit them.

first PM brain fart

When I was sawing these I thought that they looked too short but I did the deed anyways. There must have been a stray pencil mark that I zeroed in on. I can use these to make drawer slips.

off the saw

Happy with the fit of this. I had to trim all the pins on corner #1 but other than that, off the saw. I used the board I was going to use for drawer slips to get two new sides from. 

will it fit inside it?

I was feeling pretty smug with myself for getting the base dovetailed and dry fitted.

nope

The 2nd brain fart deflated the wind in my sails. I had set the two sides rails together on one side and positioned the front flush with that and marked the other side for length. That worked perfectly If I wanted the dresser to sit on top of the base. Oh well hopefully this will be fresh in brain bucket tomorrow when 3rd base should the charm.

flip side of the coin

The base is within two frog hairs all the way around, just not in the right direction. I should still be able to get started on the drawers tomorrow.

The me-steak base will get used for something. I don't have a need for another box but that is the most obvious use for it. I think I'll do that and ship it with the dresser when I send it to my sister.

accidental woodworker

 At 0728 I departed for Gurney's Sawmill. The clouds were dark and the coverage was almost 100%. I checked the radar before I left and it was clear. No rain in spite of it looking so threatening. The sun did peek out twice on the way out there and once coming home. 7 hours later Mr Sun burned off enough cloud cover to say hello. I think I may go back again next saturday to get another load. That should keep me occupied for a couple of months.

before I left

The plan was to unclamp this, rout 3 rabbets, glue the back bearers, and dry fit the top. That proved to be a wee bit too ambitious - none of it got done. It would have been nice because it would have set up while I went to Gurney's.

Gurney haul

On the left are 6 1x12 by 12' footers sawed in half. The two on the right are from a 14' board. This haul was $270 which is about 1/2 of what I spent the last time. I had the money set aside for $500 so I will go back and spend it.

mortise

This is the mortise for the front drawer divider top. I made it 1/2" longer than necessary to help with installing it?

rabbets are next

I had the router already setup to do rabbeting so I used it. This rabbet in the top will catch the 1/4" back.

back rabbets

This is why I decided to use the electric router. Trying to clamp this so I could do the rabbets with a plane was proving to be a ROYAL PITA. 

oops again

You would think that forgetting something like this would fresh in my brain bucket but it wasn't. I forgot to do the groove for the back drawer divider. I had to knock that out after this came out of the clamps.

it fits

I nailed the top to bottom which I was concerned with but the notches need some attention. I needed to make the top back one deeper to account for the 1/2" wiggle room with the mortise.

a yikes this time

Another dry of the top (many more after this fix) where I split the front off tapping the front to flush the top at the back. Glued and clamped while I filled the pie hole.

got it

I ran the front and back divider past the bearer rail. I need that bit of overhang for the drawer guides.

dead nuts

I was expecting this to be off only because these are difficult so me to install. This time I nailed both the front and rear ones. They look good from this view but the underside has gaps at the front and rear. I refuse to obsess about them and I'm leaving that as is.

drawer guide dry fitted

This took a whole lot of dance steps to fit. The notches on the front and rear dividers weren't the same. The other consideration was the top edge of the horizontal part has to be flush with the top edges of the front and rear bearers.

upside look see

The notches on each end of the horizontal guide engage with the notches of the front and rear dividers. A 1/2" piece of pine will be glued to the horizontal guide and guides the drawer in/out between them.

too deep

I initially made the notches the same depth before I realized I had stunk the shop up with a brain fart. A couple of pieces of veneer made up the difference needed.

thankfully done

This was a frustrating glue up to do. The top grooves are dead square to the back edge and the sides were slightly cupped. I had to clamp the front sides together to get the top started. I had already done this on/off top routine a dozen times so I wasn't expecting any hiccups. But I did get one. The top hung up on me and I got a little frantic trying to find out where it was. I didn't have much time but luckily for me a clamp on the back worked in my favor. 

The besseys however threw a hissy fit on me. All four of them wouldn't clamp down. I kept running out of screw length. Just my most humble opinion, but these clamps suck. You need six hands and four small boys to use them. The problem is always trying to hold the two heads against what is being clamped and screwing it tight. Hoping that the heads don't slip and you have sufficient screw left to tighten it. This is why I bought the aluminum bar clamps but the besseys have a deep reach that is needed now and again. 

hmm.....

This is a drawer from some previous project - I think I made this one too short. I am going to reuse them for a drawer or two on this. The piece I'm holding is wide enough to get the small drawer from.

rough sawn

I got all the parts needed for the smallest drawer with enough stock to get the sides out of it for its sibling next door.

more repurposing

More leftovers being used to make drawer sides. None of this stock is long enough for the front or back but it is for the sides. I got all the sides for the 3 wide/large drawers from two boards.

last one

I sawed the sides partially on the tablesaw and removed the web with the Ryobi saw. 

stickered

I'll let this go until tomorrow to see if any of them have stupid wood tricks to show me tomorrow. The board spanning the shitcan will be used to make the drawer slips. So far I have only used one board I got from Gurney's today.

two top drawers

Stickered them on the carcass. I can't do anything else with this today. I want to give the top until tomorrow to cook and set up.

accidental woodworker

 Another day where I didn't get to spend much time in the shop. After lunch I went grocery shopping because tomorrow morning when I would normally do that I'll be driving out to Gurney's sawmill. I also stopped and checked my tires. The left front looked low and it was low. It took me four minutes to fill it to 36PSI which cost me a $1.50. I had to feed the air machine another $4.50 to get the other 3 tires topped off. I should have stayed home and used my pancake compressor. It is slow but it would have been a lot faster than the air at the gas station. I tried both of the air machines and both were incredibly slow. That wasn't the case the last time I used them - $1.50 to do all 4 tires with time left over.

bearer rails

No surprises here. These have been in the shop for a while so I knew they were acclimated.

happy face

I liked seeing that none of these had cupped on me. This was the 4 foot 1x12 I got from Lowes and they are always iffy as to when they will do stupid wood tricks.

stopped dadoes

Decided to chop grooves from the front to back. Makes it easier to fit the bearer rails over a mortise front and back for them.

first 3 done

The top of the sides will be in a stopped dado on the underside of the top. The bottom F/B bearer rails will be dovetailed on.

off cuts

I think I have enough to get guide rails to go in between the F/B bearer rails. I need 9 pieces.

notched

Got a good fit on all six of them. This is something I struggle getting done right. I either make the notch too deep or too shallow. I tend to end up with too deep.

slight hiccup

Two of the bearer rails were loose - on on the left and one on the right. I glued a piece of veneer at the bottom whose width was the same as the dado depth.

happy face again

With the veneer the bearer rail is self supporting.

photographic proof

The second one was too tight and I had to sand it a wee bit to get the same result. Snug fit and it is supporting the weight of the side. Used a 120 grit sanding stick to facilitate the fitting.

why not?

This is the bearer rail for the top two drawers. Decided to make the drawer openings asymmetrical. Went with a 1/3 - 2/3 layout. This is something I have wanted to do for a while. I have made 2-3 small 'dressers' and this the first one to sport the asymmetrical look.

oops

Got ahead of myself and forgot to plane the rabbets on the back. Picked up on that when I getting ready to glue the back bearer rails in. I left the back ones dry and I'll let the front cook until tomorrow. I think I have enough room to knock out the rabbets then.

slight cupping

I had already chopped the stopped dadoes in the top when I saw this. I clamped a couple of pieces to straighten it out so I could get the top on.

wouldn't fit

I made the dadoes a wee bit too narrow. I cleaned the grooves up and planed the inside top edge of the sides until the top fit. I had to take more off this side than the other.

drawer divider

This needs some careful measuring and marking. The underside of the top has to be mortised to accept the divider. This isn't the divider I'll be using. This one is only for marking the underside. The real one will be 3/16" longer.

I figured out how to do the guide rails for the drawers with the center divider. I don't think I could type out how adequately so you'll have to wait for tomorrow's blog where pics will be worth a thousand words.

accidental woodworker

 Got no time in the shop this AM. I had to bring my wife to the train station. So I have no adult supervision until monday. It is just me and the cats while she is in Baltimore for daughter #1 birthday. Getting someone to care for the cats is an impossibility. I can't afford boarding them  because the daily rate is through the roof and there are no professional cat sitters that I know of. Maybe I'll get to go next time and she'll stay and babysit the cats.

need some love

The 5 1/2 and the 4 both have nicks in the irons. The 3 is intact but getting dull. I set all 3 with RML shavings and I'll be sharpening them probably tomorrow. I wanted to do something today making shavings other than RML ones.

thicknessing stock

I had a 4 foot 1x12 that was long enough to get the sides and the top out of. It was almost flat but I wanted the sides to be 5/8" thick. I removed the slight cup, twist, and got it to thickness all at once.

quick drawing

This is what I came up with last night. It is a miniature version of Leo's dresser. This should work well for my sister to stow her quilting crappola in.

not 5/8"

The sides are flush with each other but they are 9/16" thick. The side thickness isn't carved in stone so I'm ok with them being 9/16".

from one board

It continues to surprise me the pile of shavings that come from one board. There is a smaller pile on the other side of the bench too.

stickered

I wasn't going to use the 3rd piece from the board for the top but I changed my mind. It has two red and one brown knots that will be on the face side of it. I don't mind that considering what its purpose is. Besides I don't have any stock and with this I can make the carcass and have something to do. I am going to Gurney's on saturday to buy some pine.

left over 1/2" stock

I don't know what this is left over from but I'm using it for the bearer rails on the dresser.

rails done

The front and back rails are 2" wide and 16 1/2" long. I might change the length after I do the first one to get a sense of the proportions.

top divider

I haven't figured out the drawer guides for the top drawers. I'm not using drawer glides on this. The drawer guides on this dresser are wood along with the drawers being inset.

drawer layout

I didn't want the drawers to be too high. The bottom drawer front is 3 3/4" high with the ones above it decreasing in height by a 1/2". The two top small drawers are 2 1/4" but that may change. It depends upon how deep I mortise the top for the sides. 

accidental woodworker

I have Chris Schwarz' "The Stick Chair Book" and particularly like the Comb-back chair.  A few months ago, he showed a variation of his chair in a blog post that he (unofficially) called a "short-back" chair.  It's very similar to the Comb-back, but with a shorter back section.  I've wanted to build one since then, and I'm finally taking the time.

As always, I'm trying to make this with materials I have on hand.  Because of that, some parts might not have the dimensions of Schwarz' chair, but I think that'll be OK.  For instance, I'm using some table legs that I got from Freecycle.  They're not tapered octagonal, but tapered round.  And the diameter at the large end is a little smaller than called for in the plans.

The legs, one has had its finish shaved off

I don't know what type of wood these legs are made of.  It could be a softwood, not sure.  But the grain is reasonably straight and I'm sure they'll be up to the task.  I'll get back to the legs later.

The seat is taken from the top of a table someone was getting rid of.  It's softwood laminated together and there are several knots.  The tabletop was about 1 3/8" thick, a little thinner after I planed away the finish.  I wanted it to be closer to 1 3/4", so I glued on some 3/8" strips to the bottom.  These strips will be hidden nicely later when I chamfer the lower edge of the seat.

When laying out the seat, I ran into some potential issues with knots.

Bottom of seat with initial layout sketched

But look where this knot ended up!  I don't want to have to bore through that for a long or short stick, so I reoriented the seat and started again.

Here's the seat top after reconsidering the orientation. That big-ass knot is now near the eraser end of the pencil and the spindle deck is clear of knots.  No doubt it will be a pain when hollowing the seat, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.

Bottom of seat - here's that big knot now.

Gluing on 3/8" strips to the bottom to thicken the seat

I'll get to more on the seat and legs later.  Next up is making the short and long sticks.

 After the grocery store this AM I hit the road and went to Westerly. Westerly is where I was born and raised and today I was headed for the Westerly Packing Company. I bought some sweet and hot soupy for my sister out in Indiana. That is a surprise which I know will stay that way because she doesn't read my blog.

I packed the soupy in with a couple of boxes I sent her way today. It cost me $21 to ship it to her. The last thing I mailed her set me back $80. Both of them weighed about the same but the other pkg was longer and thinner. Don't understand the shipping costs but I am not going to complain about it.

ditto

This is going to be one of two of the next projects. I am going to make another one of these for my wife. I couldn't believe how much she liked it. The second one is always better than the first right?

2nd ditto

This is the second project for my sister Donna. She makes quilts and other kinds of things along those lines. I will make a miniature bureau for her to keep her tools and supplies in. I'm thinking of 2 small drawers at the top and 3 lower drawers (like Leo's dresser). Haven't worked out overall dimensions but I have time to do that. 

sigh....

I was going to take this upstairs but the sides of it felt like sandpaper. Dust nibs bit me on the arse again. I still have paint so I'll roll another coat on it.

grandson's 5 1/2 iron/chipbreaker

I honed the iron free hand and I do like shiny. Cleaned up the 5 1/2 and put it back in their toolchest.

RML shavings

This is something I do after sharpening the every iron. RML shavings of equal width and thickness tells me it is ready to plane. I dislike having to check a plane before using it. Months from now if I have to I can take this 5 1/2 out and put it to work immediately.

#8 sole

I only had rust blooms on 3 planes to contend with. The #4, #7, and the #8. The 4 other planes were clean. This was the only spot on the #8 with rust blooms.

#4 was the worse

This guy had blooms (a lot) on the sole and both cheeks. All of it sanded off easily and I applied Autosol after that.

all clean

All of the planes in this till were free of rust blooms. I didn't do it today but I think I'll take the brown paper out of the bottom and let the planes sit on the bare wood. I didn't find any other planes in contact with wood to have any rust blooms.

heads up

I marked the calendar every other month to check the planes (and other tools) in the grandson's tool chests. This is the rusty #4 cleaned up and looking spiffy again.

Record 45

I just had to have one of these. I was like a drug addict needing a fix. I couldn't find a Stanley but I found this on an English auction site in England. After having it for a while I saw that I was only using it to plow grooves. Headed in the other direction and bought plow planes. I haven't used this for a couple of years and I gave it to the grandsons to use. It is clean and rust free, even the irons.

toolchest #2

This was the first toolchest I made for Miles (the only grandkid at that time). I quickly out grew it and made the bigger one. Everything in the trays (bottom one too) were clean and free of rust blooms. Thankfully I don't have a rust problem in my shop even though the humidity level in it is hovering around 69%.

never been used

I bought this set of screwdrivers based on a blog comment I got. They went straight into toolchest #2. I think I may have used one of the slotted screwdrivers to test it. I like that these have a hexagonal shoulder that will accept a wrench.

specialty planes

I'm not 100% sure of what I have in here. Time to find out when I inspect them one box at a time.

open throat Stanley

Clean bottom that I sanded some ??? mystery spots off.

two more Stanley routers

A small #271 and a closed throat big boy router. This one has a 1/4" Stanley iron. The other big boy Stanley router has a Lee Valley 1/4" iron. It fits but it sticks out too far so you need to add a wooden sole to raise it up. Two more clean tools.

Stanley rabbeting plane iron

I don't know why I have this because it is a duplicate. Can't remember why I bought but I seem to think it was because it was so cheap. I got this when I was going a little nutso rehabbing planes of all types.

sharp and shiny

The iron was hollow ground and I don't like hollow ground edges. It only took about 15 minutes to get it to this freshly sharp and shiny.

lid was tight

I hadn't come across any rust blooms but all of the boxes were hard to open. This one especially was being a PITA. It took me a lot of dance steps before the lid slid off/on easily. 

the grandson's rabbeting plane

I used this one a couple of times and if I had to choose between this and the LV rabbeting plane I would pick this one. I also have a Woden rabbeting plane. It is essentially the same as the Stanley except the Woden has two rods for the fence while the Stanley uses one.

I didn't go nutso

In the time that I used this plane I bent 2 of the fence rods. One got bent so bad it was unusable. Since it was so easy for me to make this into a piece of toast I thought it would be good to have extras. I also have a backup iron for this rabbeting plane. Everything with this plane was rust bloom free.

Record 044

Just in case the grandsons feel the same way about the Record 045 as I did. I used this to make a couple of projects and I like it. It is a good plow plane that is easy to set up and use.

chromed rods

Chrome doesn't seem to like the shop environment. I don't remember these being this pitted. All the chromed rods had some level of pitting on them. I sanded both of them with 400 grit and shined them up with Autosol.

they fit still

The fit is loose still and they fit in all four holes available for the them. These are replacement rods - the originals wouldn't fit the fence or the plane body. 

the irons

These were shiny at one time but hanging out in a box killed that. They all still felt sharp in spite of losing their shine.

grandson's bits

Only one of them had faint traces of rust blooms. Only one of these showed any use when I bought these (Patrick Leach). Every tool that was in a box or was laying on wood didn't have any rust on them.

boneyard #4

I remember rehabbing this plane. There were two holes in the sole that I filled in with JB Weld. This is the #4 I used while the LN lever caps were out getting engraved. The JB Weld has held up beautifully with no hiccups. Sharpened the iron freehand and stropped it shiny. Got RML shavings and put it back in the boneyard.

wash, rinse, and repeat

This was my daily user #3 - a Stanley type 13. IMO the frog adjust is useless so I intended to replace this one with a type 9-11. I rehabbed two #3s but I never replaced this one. I liked it, I used it, and I was comfortable with it even if it was a type 13. Finally replaced it with a #3 from Lie Nielsen.

last thing to do

Before I killed the lights I rolled on another coat of paint. I won't be in the shop so hopefully it won't attract any dust nibs overnight.

accidental woodworker

 Got the door fixed for the lower door and noticed that the top one is about a 16th proud. I glued that door stop in place so that one is staying a wee bit proud. The bottom one had to be fixed because it was a few frog hairs over an 8th. That only took about 1/2 an hour and 29 minutes of that was putting the cupboard on and off the bench.

doors off

It was too risky IMO to put the cupboard on and off the bench with the doors on. If something happened to either tile I would have to order replacements and make new doors for them.

see it?

The door stop is cocked. The bottom is closer to the front edge than the top of it. That explains why it worked and then it didn't. I filled in both holes and drilled new pilot holes for the screws.

done

This looks so much better now. I had also made a story stick with the position of the strike on the door so I could align the magnet on the door stop with it. Along with the stop being cocked, the magnet was a 1/4" too low.

I found a few more spots that needed paint and I hit them along with another coat on the door stop. Now I am done with this. My daughter said that she will take it (I offered it to her yesterday). Daughter #1 said yes to the 15 drawer dresser. Getting it to her in Baltimore is going to be chore because it will have to be driven down to her place. The cupboard will go to North Carolina in september if it fits in my wife's car along with Leo's bureau.

next project?

I have been reading this over the past few days and it is an interesting build process. Everything is mitered and glued together and the stock is only a 1/4" thick. They used a router table and a 45 router bit to do all the miters.

I had made a few changes already to this with the first one being the edging pieces. They used maple and I switched to walnut. I didn't like the look of the maple against the black limber for the clock carcass.

making circles

This wasn't working so good for me. Missed clamping the table to the column. That caused the fly cutter to move the plywood as it was cutting. This setup was for figuring out the size circles required. I needed one for the outside of the clock 'dial' and another inner concentric one.

inner circle

The fly cutter leaves two edge cuts depending upon how the cutter is fixed in the arm. The outside or the inside can be squared off or beveled. Finally figured that out and the sequence for cutting. The first one is the inner circle and the second one is the bigger circle. The inner circle will have a bevel on it but I can put that on the underside and it won't be seen.

final look

I don't like the size of the gap between the two. I would like it be to larger. As it is here the outer diameter is 4 7/8" and the inner one is 3 7/8. The numbers in the 1/2" gap I think would be too small.

It took me 3 tries to get the larger diameter circle. I have a ton of scrap 1/4" plywood so I could have probably tried a bazillion more. I set this aside and I won't be making this clock. It strikes me as being too flimsy although I'm sure it would be sturdy and hold together. Now that I started it I am not liking the construction methods used. I'll have to come up with something new to make.

maintenance time

The 5 1/2 belongs in the grandson's tool chest. The #4 & #3 will go back to the boneyard. I will clean the 3 of them and touch up the irons before they go home.

part of the grandson's herd

I have brown paper on the bottom of the tool chest. I pulled out 3 planes and the all had some rust blooms on them. Part of the maintenance will include checking and removing any rust on all of the planes. The #2 I have in here isn't on the bottom but in a till and it doesn't have any rust on it at all. I thought the brown paper would stop the rust.

the first tool chest

I will admit that I went nutso after Miles was born and bought a complete setup for him to do woodworking. He has everything that I use on a daily basis in both of these tool chests along with a till for the saws. This toolchest has all of the specialty planes - routers, plow planes, rabbet planes, etc. I'll roll this one out and inspect how they are fairing. Since I am on a hiatus from project building I will get this done in the interim.

accidental woodworker
 

[This is a copy of a post that just went up on my substack blog – so if you subscribe in both places, sorry for the onslaught. A new vimeo-on-demand series on carving patterns.]

Dedham carvings

I’ve just finished a set of 3 videos on carving the patterns from the chests and boxes made in Dedham & Medfield Massachusetts in the mid-17th century. I’ve been working on this series for about a month and think I’ve got it sorted out now.

There’s 3 videos in the set – running a total of just over 2 1/2 hours. I take the viewer through the layout and carving of 5 related patterns. Several are based on chest and box carvings and two are derived from fragments surviving from the pulpit in the 2nd meetinghouse in Medfield, Massachusetts.

Some of the layout I do on paper – only so it will show up better on camera than scratching the outlines on oak panels. Here and there I’m pointing out details shown on photos of the original carvings. As each tool is introduced I indicate its shape and size by citing its “sweep” – the circle its cutting edge is a segment of – and its width (in inches).

Here’s a PDF showing many of the gouges in my set of tools. A few of the ones I use in these panels are new, so not on this chart. When the chart is updated, I’ll repost it here and on my website.

The videos are on vimeo-on-demand. The full price is $50.

Paid subscribers to my substack blog will have a code they can redeem for 20% off – below the paywall on today’s (Aug 13) post https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/p/new-video-series-dedham-carvings

(I bet that code even works for those who just sign up and get a free trial – I can’t suss out all the details, it’s too much for me.)

 I had my doubts in the AM session that I would be oohing and aahing over the cupboard today. Cutting to the end, even my wife was oohing and aahing over it. There isn't much that I make that she expresses an interest in but she did with the cupboard. I offered it to Amanda and my wife says if she doesn't want it, she does.

blurry pic of the LED light wire

I am going to run this wire out the back of the cabinet. 90% of it will be external of the cupboard. However there isn't an on/off switch with this. On/off is done simply by plugging it in and unplugging it.

solved the hmm.....

Decided to paint this. Even though you won't see unless the door is opened, I'm going to paint it. I won't go nutso on it and it is getting two coats and no more.

ACE hardware run

Wire clips on the left that will replace me using hot melt glue to secure it. Grommets on the right for where the wire exits the back. You don't the wire to chafe or rub on the rough hole for the wire.

white spots

All the white spots are dust nibs that I picked off with my fingernails. I sanded the entire back with 220 and rolled on another coat of paint.

finally done

What an awkward, )_@&%)&%@), tedious, )(%#)(*%@#*%_, PITA thing to do. Most of the problem was not being able to see where the screw went. It took me 30+ minutes to get the two brackets secured.

holiday

When I originally painted these spots I didn't bend over to check my progress. Looks like I should have. This wasn't  the only spot I wandered out into La La Land on.

under the middle shelf

No one would probably never get on their knees to look at it. However, if someone is so inclined they won't be seeing this.

did better on this side

This is surprising because I would have painted it with my left, non dominant hand. I would have bet the holidays would have been opposite what they were.

back on

Nailed the back off and threaded the wire out the back and secured it with clips.

12VDC power supply

I initially wired this wrong swapping the + and - leads. Sorted that out and secured the power supply brick to the underneath of the bottom.

first glamour pic

I wasn't sure how the tiles would look in their respective door panels. IMO I think that pop just right.

left side

Same as the right side. I like the proportions and measurements of this cupboard.

back glamour pic

Another area that I vacillated on worse then my wife trying to choose between two pairs of shoes. Paint it or leave it natural? As you can see I went with natural. It is the back and will never be see (if it is placed against a wall).

disappointed with the light

I couldn't really tell if the light was one or not with the shop lights on. With them off it isn't as bright as I thought it would be. Maybe I should have opted for the bright light option over the warm light on. I'll have to stick an objet d'art in it and see how that looks.

shop lights and the cupboard light on

The front of the shelf gets lighted but the back is in darkness. Maybe I should move the brackets/light to the middle of the compartment?

have to fix this

I am a strong 1/8" off of being flush. I'll have to remove the door stop and move it inwards a 1/8". I am still calling this done and I'll fix this tomorrow. For now I just want to ooh and aah a wee bit more.

accidental woodworker

I even have my hair (what little I have) crossed along with my toes and fingers. Penultimate means next to last and that is what I hoped happened today. The paint isn't perfect but the few boo boos I found are behind the doors and I'm leaving them as is. Tomorrow I'll put the LED light brackets in (that should be fun) and figure out how to run the wiring. I'll be holding off on the ooh and aahs until that is done.

counter bored

Rather than do one of them I did both. This way I won't go postal if I put the stop on the door and the one I didn't do interferes somehow.

serious eyeballing

Found some dust nibs that necessitated another coat of paint. You can pick them off but they stick out like a neon light. I sanded the entire door frame (both doors) and rolled another coat of paint on them.

one more

I could see the roller marks on the shelf and to my eye they looked like crap. I'm sure the LED light would accentuate them too. Rolled another coat on making sure I rolled L/R in one continuous motion over lapping as I went from the front to the back.

I can't win

This stile was good to go until I saw a blob on the arris. I scraped it flush to the right of it and sanded it before rolling it.

hinges going on

I had to scrape the hinge mortises at the ends - there was a slight build up of paint there keeping the hinge from fully seating.

done on the doors

Next batter was screwing it to the cupboard. I was pretty sure that I would have lots of room with the margins in spite of all of the coats of paint I applied.

they fit

The margins looked consistent (albeit a little too much on the top door) and both swing in/out freely. The drawer slides in/out freely also although it hesitates in one spot. It should work itself out as the drawer is used. Regardless I'll rub the sides and the bottom with beeswax.

tile adhesive

It says it will glue tile to just about anything known to man. I didn't snap any pics of installing the Egret tile. I managed to remember to get the Iris tile pics.

an unknown

Attaching the lower door stop. I was a bit worried about this because I had to rely on measurements to install it. It was a bit awkward but I managed to get it on the first try. The hardest part for me was getting the magnet position on the door stop aligned with the door.

success

The magnet attracted the disc on the door and pulled it shut in the final 1/2". The door is flush with the cupboard edge which is something I most concerned about nailing.

hmmm......

Should I or shouldn't I paint it? I'm kind of straddling the fence on that. I don't mind it natural but I also don't like the glare of it with the door open.

glued and cooking

The tile is centered L/R with the plywood but the bottom is not. The T/B spacing centered was about 2 1/4". I made the bottom plywood spaced 2 1/2". I used plywood spacers for the Egret tile too.

almost there

I will let these two cook until tomorrow. I was surprised by how fast this construction adhesive set up. I couldn't budge either tile 15 minutes after gluing them on the plywood.

accidental woodworker