General Woodworking

nope

I beat on this for five minutes and it held. I even gave it flying lessons into the wall and it didn't even whimper. 

what will happen

I didn't have any doubts that the chisel wouldn't split it into two. The question after the splitting was the state of the glue joint. The glue line was relatively clean. There weren't any bits of wood bits still adhered to either piece. But that was encouraging - the bond appeared strong but split apart cleanly - that would make removing them easy if needed for any repairs.

cleaning the rabbets

Of the three tools here, the chisel proved to be the one that worked the best. The safety razor was the worse, even a brand new fresh one. The card scraper was simply too large. It was awkward to position it in the rabbet and scrape.

done

Took almost all of the AM session to scrape four rabbet faces for each lite. I didn't go nutso and get them all the way down to bare wood. I feel that I have enough bare wood to glue the retainers to.

build up

I have to paint this rabbet face again. Before I did that I scraped the build up on the edge (arris). I removed it so the glass will lay flat, with no gaps, between the muntins and the glass.

Wally World brush

This brush worked surprisingly well painting the rabbets. This is the one the glass will be laying against. After painting them I ran the brush along the arris removing any build up that was there.

clean

After painting the rabbets I had to paint the muntin faces (opposite side). Did the same after painting strokes ensuring the arris was clean of any build up.

first coat of black

It is going to take a minimum of two coats to cover the green. It might also take three and I'll find that out after the 2nd one. I didn't paint all of the molded profile - I just did the front edge and underneath.

hmm.....

The black is a complement to the green of the cabinet. I don't think painting this is going to mean anything. Once something is placed on the shelf it isn't going to matter if the front edge is green or black. But I'm committed to it either way.

accidental woodworker 

 Made good progress on the glass door cabinet. It is looking like there isn't much more to do with the cabinet. The painting of it is going to be slow with paint something and wait for it dry. Wash, rinse, and repeat a bazillion times. A bit tedious but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

the next 3 frames

Snapped a pic of the tool pictures for each of the frames. Dropped them off at the Frame it Shop after lunch. On the way back to the barn I stopped by Dairy Queen and got an soft serve. A medium size cone was $5 and change. Good thing I don't often get a urge to fill the pie hole with soft serve vanilla.

planed it

This AM the  two edges looked like crappola again. Felt smooth but I didn't have a warm and fuzzy with the look in raking light. Made two wispy runs with the block plane on both edges. Looking considerable better.

hmm....

At first I thought this was a pitch pocket. It looks like the remnants of a branch. I wiped it with mineral spirits and the rag came away clean. Just to be safe I brushed a coat of shellac over it.

semi gloss

I picked semi gloss because it should shed and not attract dust like stain does. The semi gloss doesn't look any difference to my eye then the satin. It lays downs and brushes exactly the same IMO. Ignore the big ass holiday on the edge. I've missed bigger ones and I painted this - after I had cleaned the brush.

it is going to be a PITA

 I went back to the shop after dinner and played with removing paint from the muntin rabbets. After 15 minutes this is as far as I got. The only bright spot with it is I only have to clean up one face of the rabbet.

done

240 grit sandpaper and a card scraper. A little over an hour to work the entire cabinet. Card scraper worked wonders on clearing and flushing the build ups on the square corners and the paint drips.

working well

24hrs out of the acetone and it is opening and closing freely. Not as loosely as its sibling but freely. I don't have any doubts installing it on the door and it not causing any problems.

test time

Painted one coat of semi gloss on this scrap of pine. The test is gluing the two together with hide glue and seeing what the outcome will be.

it is sticking together

Since I will be placing and gluing the retainers without clamps, I'll test this glue joint without clamps. The retainers will have a leg up to start with. The rabbet will have some paint but the retainer glued surface will be bare wood. Fingers crossed that this works out in my favor.

looking good

The only PITA with this setup is I don't have unfettered access to the shit can. I am not painting the bottom of the cabinet. It is plywood and I'm not obsessing about it because it will never be seen. Besides it would cover my burned in maker's stamp. 

After eyeballing the 2nd of paint I'm confident that I won't have to put on a 3rd. I might have to touch up a few spots that I scraped/sanded down to bare wood though. I'll find out that tidbit out in the AM.

done

Two coats - one satin and one semi gloss. Seeing the door done I'm convinced that keeping it the same color as the rest of the cabinet was the way to go. The accent color would be glaring to the eye.

4 hours later

The glue joint is solid. I couldn't break it apart with my hands nor after I beat it up with a mallet. Encouraging that the bond appears to be secure. I'll beat the snot out of it again with a mallet in the AM.

changed my mind again

My OCD with misalignment of the shelves and the muntins won out. I'm going to paint the molded part of the shelves. I'll slap on a coat of shellac after the black has dried.

#12 hollows and rounds

I've been playing with these every now and then. The goal is get proficient with them so I can make my own moldings. I know what I want and what I like but like everything else in life you have to expend the calories and put in the time. The goal is make at least one set of moldings before I take a dirt nap.

accidental woodworker 

 

hmmm.........

Rethinking the paint scheme again. I'm kinda ok with what I thought I wanted yesterday but today I'm vacillating like a spinning top. That happened after I painted the top and eyeballed the overall look.

working

Still opening and closing smoothly. I don't have a warm and fuzzy with any residual RED locktite waiting to wake up and bite me on the arse. I took this out of the acetone at 0700 and at 1530 it was still opening/closing. Fingers crossed that in the AM it will still be the same.

getting ahead of myself

I missed sanding the end grain here and on the opposite side. Like an idiot I thought two coats of paint would smooth it out. FYI - it didn't. Sanded it down with 80, 100, and finished with 120. Repainted. Lesson learned?

a bit too bright?

This is the accent color that I'm using. This one really made me rethink what will/would be painted this color. As an aside, the coverage was almost one coat only.

too bright?

I was considering painting the whole top including the back stop the accent color. But the molding underneath being the same color would make it over powering IMO. I think a better choice is to paint the backstop and the molding underneath the top.

can you see it?

I painted a scrap of pine black and it is at the front edge of the top shelf. It looks almost like it isn't even there. Not sure I what to paint the shelf front black now. It is something to mull over and I have the time.

Changed my mind on the door. I was going back and forth between painting the muntins or the entire door the accent color. Instead I will paint it the same color as the interior/exterior. I think the liveliness of the accent color would over power the cabinet. 

made a boo boo

The plan was and still is, to glue the glass retainers in the muntin bar rabbets. I will use hide glue for that so it will be reversible. However, I painted the muntin bar rabbets and that will interfere with the hide glue. There isn't enough meat on muntin bars to secure the retainers with nails. I'll have to sand them before I glue the retainers on.

from the center out

Whatever type door you paint, it is always done first painting the center and working out toward the outside edges. Painting the muntins first allowed me to check and remove any drips or build ups. After that I painted the front face.

checking the fit

I had to trim a few of the retainers but they all fit. I was going to paint the retainers (two outside faces) but I ran out of time. I'll do that in the AM. Installing the glass and the retainers will be the last step for this cabinet build?

another boo boo

Missed planing these two edges. It was only after painting it that roughness popped out. I thought of planing it but instead I sanded it with 120 grit only. I kept at it until it felt/looked smooth. 

We are having the house painted. A handyman service working across the street saw my wife painting and came over and gave her a quote. $1500 to strip the shingles and brush/roll on 2 coats. Five guys and the first day they worked 10 hours. First coat went on today and I'm impressed with their work.  Sometimes luck walks up and gives you a big hug. 

accidental woodworker 

With the fretboard/frets completed, the next stage is to shape the neck.

Cheers Gary

Pic frames are done. I had a few minor touch ups I dealt with in the AM session and by the end of the PM one, fini. Started painting the cabinet. Shelves and interior of it have one coat, and some two. Projecting ahead I think the cabinet will be done painting sometime next week. Don't know who is getting this yet but I enjoyed making it.

oops, I've got a massive headache

This is one of the loose pin hinges that I'm soaking in acetone. I put some RED loctite on the screw portion and I spilled it. Got the loctite in places I didn't want it. The hinge was almost impossible to open after it was closed shut. A search on google said MEK (paint stripper) or acetone will dissolve RED loctite. 

After this soaking over nite, it is opening and closing a lot better. Still not as freely as its sibling but better than yesterday. I won't be needing this hinge for a while so I continued let it soak while I worked on other things.

found one

The 2nd frame I checked had one small nick here. I could see it without the flashlight and with it, it popped. It was the only paint hiccup I found on the 3 frames. I covered it with black sharpie marker and shellaced over it.

3rd frame hiccup

This one wasn't paint but shellac. In raking light I could see where there was a missed spot with no shellac. Easy fix - just apply shellac.

interior

I was happy and surprised with this first coat coverage. Pretty confident that I'll be able to get away with 2 coats - at least with the satin paint. I'll find out how well the semi gloss paint covers tomorrow?

PM session

Got two coats on the interior and I was happy with how it looked. Dropped the shelves in place and got one coat on them. I'll put two on the top sides and stay with one for the underside of both.

hmm.....

Satin paint on the back. Not sure if I'll stay with satin or paint it with semi gloss. Either way this first coat should help with coverage on whatever the 2nd coat will be. I wanted a sneak peek on how this color looked on a paneled part.

hmm......

Originally I was going to paint the muntins the light colored paint and the rest of the door the dark semi gloss color  (the same color as the satin paint but semi gloss). Eyeballing this I'm now thinking of painting the entity of the door front the light color.

maybe not

A light color will bring out a dark one (or is it the other way?). Will the light color on the door will pop the front edges of the shelves? I have to live with the shelf positions but I also want to minimize how much they pop behind the muntins.

Got a comment from Sylvain to paint the front edges black. Painting them black will knock down reflected light and fade them behind the muntins. I have black paint and I think I'll paint up scraps and see how they look before deciding what to paint what.

gone

I couldn't see the joint line between the plywood and the pine nosing. With the paint on I had to get up close and personal to detect the joint line. Not a big deal but I tend to obsess about gaps.

almost 8 hours later

Feeling better about this hinge. It is opening/closing is even better than it was when I checked it at 0700. I am going to leave it in the acetone over nite again. Tomorrow I'll take it out and dry it. Fingers crossed that the RED locktite isn't hibernating on me.

done

The first frame is already topside in the living room. These two joined its sibling at 1503. I need to take pics of the what goes in what frame before I bring these to Maria.

accidental woodworker

 Yesterday I thought I was done with the woodworking on the glass door cabinet but I wasn't. I had two more steps to do that whacked out today. They were the shelves and the glass retainers for the muntin bars. I found the small diamond glaziers points and I have them on order. I was going to buy the gun for installing the points but changed my mind. The gun was $275 which happened be exactly 275 reasons why I didn't pull the trigger. If I did more glass work I might have given it a wee bit more consideration.

shelf

I removed the shelf supports one at a time, applied glued , and screwed them back in place. Predrilled the shelves for 6 screws. Undecided whether or not to glue and screw the shelves to the supports or just screw them.

I will paint the shelves before installing them. That is most likely when I'll finally decide which way the wind is blowing on screws and glue.

two coats

I did make it back to the shop after dinner and got the 2nd coat on. Happy with the coverage. After eyeballing it several times I couldn't find any holidays. Decided to move on to applying shellac to them.

two coats

Shellac is a wonderful finish. Five minutes after I got shellac on the last pic frame, I was applying the 2nd coat to the first one. This paint is a dirt magnet and the shellac is the dirt demagnetizer.

road trip

Satin would not look good against semi gloss. So I made a stop at the paint store and got a quart of the dark color in semi gloss. Now the outside of the cabinet will be all semi gloss. The interior and the shelves will be done in the dark satin color.

No painting done on the cabinet today. Instead, I concentrated on getting the pic frames done. The real estate I was using for the frames to dry I would need for the cabinet shelves. 

new jig

I only spent about 10 minutes searching for the first miter flushing jig I made before saying No Mas. Made the 2nd one out of beech which should last longer than the first one I made out of pine. Standard work flow - marked the groove, knife wall, saw down the walls, chop out the waste, and establish the bottom with a router.

sawing the miters

My opinion of this saw is changing. I've been resistant to using japanese saws but more and more I'm coming around to the Ryobi. I found that it was easier and simpler to cut the two miters on this vice using a western pull saw. I seem to do better sawing plumb with this saw too.

done

I tried doing the miter trimming two ways. The first was with the block in the miter shooting jig. That worked well but the downside was I was also making the block smaller with each one I trimmed/flushed.

The 2nd way I did with them held in the block and trimmed/flushed with a chisel. I did 3 on the shooting board and 3 with the chisel.

done

I trimmed/flushed one end of all of the glass retainer bars. I only had to strop the chisel once. It took less than 30 minutes to whack out almost 50 of them.

worth the calories to make this

One downward swipe of the chisel was sufficient to clean/flush the miter. This jig worked a lot better than the jigs I used for the kumiko panels I made. I had to plane the bottom of the block so that the bars were slightly proud in the groove. That little bit was enough for me to press down on the block and the bar and keep it from moving when I chiseled the miter.

did one before lunch

I had to do at least one lite just because. I find this trim and fit to be relaxing and I only had one hiccup trimming one bar short.

3rd and final coat

 I rubbed down the 3 frames with 4-0 steel wool before slapping on the 3rd coat of shellac. This was the final coat, no need to go nutso and put on 5-6 coats.

done

I fitted all 8 lites with the retaining bars. After that I labeled them all because these won't be installed until the cabinet is done with painting.

3 coats of shellac

I did a quick eyeball and all looks to be good in Disneyland. I'll double, triple check these out in the AM for any holidays. I thought I saw a couple of nicks that I'll have to touch up. Even with potential holidays to fix I don't foresee any hiccups stopping me from giving these to Maria this week.

hmm......

I didn't think this one all the way through. The top shelf doesn't match the bottom shelf position behind the large lites. No going back now and I'll have to live with it.

Hopefully I'll start painting the cabinet in the AM. 

accidental woodworker

 Hit the milestone on the cabinet build today. I got the last of the woodworking done or at least I think I'm done. Up next is painting it which is going to be a PITA. I won't be able to do anything else after the paint gets slapped on the cabinet. The pic frames aren't too far behind and I should be done with them by thursday. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to get them to Maria by saturday.

2nd coat

I like this paint's drying time. Within 10-15 minutes it is dry to the touch. Sanded the first coat with 240 and wiped each one with a damp rag. If I need a 3rd coat I'll sand it down before that with 320. It is looking like I can stop at two on the back.

ready for the front

Sanded, wiped down, and ready for the first coat on the front faces.

first coat

I'm happy with the coverage. It is a wee bit thin in a few of spots and the 2nd coat should cover them. Fingers and toes crossed that will be enough. After the paint is dried and the final # of coats is done, I'll slap a couple of coats of shellac on it front and back.

got my paint

The quart of paint I got was pricey - more than I thought it would cost. Decided what I will paint as the light color (light semi gloss). Those will the be the base, the muntin bars, the molding under the top, and finally the back stop on the top. everything else will be painted with the right can (dark color).

first coat on the front

Overall I'm happy with the coverage. It definitely needs at least one more coat. I was surprised at the number of holidays I found after I thought I was done. They were easy to spot too - the white of the pine shone through like a beacon.

The can says you can repaint in 1-2 hours. The plan as of this typing is to return to the shop after dinner and put on a 2nd coat. Think happy thoughts for me.

hmm.....

Dealing with the gaps on either side of the shelves. Since I didn't have a warm and fuzzy about getting the shelf in position with both of the 'gap' fillers, I started out with one only. Glued on, nailed, and planed to fit.

no problems

This side fell into place with zero hiccups. It was bit tight and I had to plane it several times before it dropped in snug. The problem I thought I would have tilting and dropping it into place was nonexistent.

done

It took a few more dance steps finessing the top shelf into place. The fit of either shelf 'gap' filler isn't perfect or dead nuts. With the fillers in place the gaps at the back and front outside edges popped out. I'm still happy about the fit overall but I know next time I can probably do better. One thing I will do is use thinner width strips for the templates.

came today

Got two issues - pretty sure I didn't order a back up copy. I emailed M&T for an address and I'll ship it back to them.

accidental woodworker

last night

Went back to the shop after dinner and played with the front edge support thing. This dry fit looks pretty good, the gap is acceptable. It was hard to tell if there was one or if it was just the dark line between the pine and the 1/2" plywood.

the fix

Knocked off the square edge at the bottom and planed a slight angle on the front face. It was a balancing act between getting a good glue bond surface and not having a )@%^(Q@%&)&*Q)@_%( gap.

glued and cooking

Got a good fit and surprisingly very little glue squeeze out.

underneath

Ensured that I clamped the bottom of the pine to the 1/2" plywood. Counting on this to keep the shelf stiff and straight.

this is complete garbage

This plywood consists of two extremely thin face veneers with a sponge like single ply between them. This plywood is light as a feather and as stiff as wet pretzel. I sanded the plies so it was smooth so I could lay a pencil against it.

good fit (2nd shelf)

The left side is square, or this piece of total crap plywood says it is.

right side

This side was square and it wasn't. I finally zoomed in on the headache, the cabinet side stile was cupped. I saw it clearly when I put the plywood on this side. I planed the stile until the square showed the cup was gone.

hmm.....

The pine was flush except for a small bump here by my finger. It took a few extra calories before I got it flush. Wandered a wee bit into the face veneer of the plywood too.

first one fitted

The fit isn't dead nuts perfect but a 100% better fit than the solid wood shelf I first fitted.

2nd shelf

This one was a PITA. I had trouble with the hot glue sticking. Finally sorted that hiccup out and got my pattern laid out. I sawed it out allowing a generous margin that I planed down to. Am I out of the loop but does alcohol break down hot melt glue?

the gaps

I have scraps leftover from making the bead moldings that I can use to fill in the gaps. The left side is wider than the right one. This is going to be tricky because I want to paint the inside of the cabinet without the shelves in place. I am going to try and secure the inserts to the plywood shelves. However I'm not sure that I'll be able to drop the shelves into place after that happens.

2nd shelf glue and cooking

I didn't screw up making the pine front edge support thing. It came up an exact clone of the first I did yesterday.

first frame layout

I forgot to allow for the inside bead molding. The sides, top, and bottom will be less than 1 1/2". The two between the middle pic will be the 1 1/2" I planned for.

2nd frame layout

This one has all the same kind of tools. The hand plane in the above 3 doesn't quite fit the grouping but it is the best I can do.

3rd one

Not too bad, two of the three blend together. After looking at the three I realized that I have every tool except for the side rabbet plane in the 2nd frame. However, I have a set of left and right side rabbet planes.

grain raising

On the last frames I made I raised the grain before painting them. That helped a lot with the first coat coverage. A bonus with wetting done the frames was the wood putty smoothed up nicely.

waxed

I used this as clamping caul. On the first one some glue squeeze out adhered the face veneer to the shelf. That cleaned up easily and it will be painted but with the 2nd one I waxed it and nothing got glued this time.

change of plans

Rather than cut the shelf supports shorter, I am going to notch out for them.

done

I like this look. It looks to be a bit more finished with the end of the shelf support buried in the front edge support thing.

why I notched

I cut this set down to fit behind the front edge support thing. I still have two full length shelf support sets for the shelves.

why

The cut down shelf support is too short on the front side stile to screw into. As is the screw would be in the groove for the panel.

better

With the full length support the screw will be back from the front edge of it and go into solid wood on the side stile.

sneak peek

I don't like the spacing. I am going to position the top shelf the same distance down from the top as the bottom shelf is up from the bottom.

done

I like this better than the sneak peek but it could be better. Adjustable shelves IMO allow for flexible shelf positions. I got the shelf supports screwed in dry. I will glue/screw them in later. I'm thinking now maybe I should put a board at the back of the shelves to keep that from sagging.

accidental woodworker

I don't need a reason, but happy to have one (to survey a property/job a stone's throw away), to drive down Five Mile Lane to Slapton Ley.

Slapton Ley is a freshwater lake, separated from the sea by a shingle bank. It is a haven for birds in Start Bay, here in Devon. 

The house itself was Grade 2 listed and I always warm to a property with lion head gutters.

It needs the usual box sash repairs and repair work to the porch.

After examining the building I had a look in at Stokenham Church. There were a few nice carving details.

And lots of painted panels. 

This one of a wolf caught my attention.

Then a drive back along the Ley (oh what a pity), to Slapton, to travel back up Five Mile Lane, and onwards to home. 

last moldings dry fitted

I didn't survive this without another hiccup. I cut the miter on the last long one short and I had to whack out another one. Glue and pin nails are in the on deck circle.

1/4" rabbets

I am going with butt joints for the rabbets. They will never be seen and Maria covers them with a gray paper like thing.

The blue tape is holding a super glued blow out. One 1/4" rabbet as per Maria's instructions.

2nd one done

I used 5/8" pin nails and I had a couple blow out and peek up in the stiles - nothing in the rails though. Nailed punched them below and filled in with wood putty. Paint will hide any evidence of it.

wood putty

This tub turned to stone on me. I poured a bit of water in it and it softened the putty to where it was spreadable again. I've used it several times since then without seeing any ill effects from that. I filled in all the pin nails and I'll let the putty cook until the AM.

done

All three frames have the rabbets installed and the nails filled with putty.

went one for two

These are two extra frames I glued up yesterday, I unclamped them and one was twisted and one laid flat. Out of the 3 extra frames, two were twisted and one wasn't. And one of the twisted frames is iffy - it might work with glass installed and matting etc etc.

paint tomorrow?

3 extras on the left, and the 3 good ones on the right. I checked all 3 of the good ones and they were ok. I should get them to Maria sometime next week - thurs/fri?

pattern time

This is what I came up with for fitting the shelves. I cut up some 1 3/4" wide strips of 1/4" plywood and set them in the bottom of the cabinet tight against the sides and back. I used hot melt glue to hold the strips together.

I thought of doing this days ago but I've been putting it off. Getting down on my knees to work on the ground is not easy for me. Getting back up and defying gravity is worse than going down. A concession to me getting older that I have to deal with.

bottom shelf position

Snug fit and it is self supporting. I will glue and screw the shelf supports to the sides of the cabinet and then glue and screw the shelves into them.

first shelf laid out

The bottom left corner is square - it has the factory edge. The top was a frog hair off square and the right side was 2 frog hairs off square.

fitting the shelf

I used the level because it helps with planing. I had to plane two edges to the pencil lines.

happy with the fit

Snug and self supporting which made me happy. The two shelves will be essential in strengthening the cabinet and preventing racking. I don't like the gap on the sides between the stiles. I'll be filling them in when I install the shelf supports.

sneak peek

You'll have to rotate these to hoe they will be in the cabinet. Here I'm looking at the extension of the shelf past the end of the shelf support.

hmm......

The upcoming front end shelf support isn't as straight forward as it looked. I have to make a rabbet for the support to fit on the shelf and have it extend past the shelf supports 5/8". It was tricky for me to picture it my mind and I was prepared to have a hiccup or two doing it.

fingers crossed

I think I got it figured out. The first step was to cut the shelf depth (front to back) to 5/8".

got it

The wide part of the pine is sufficient to mold a profile on it. The thin piece underneath is a wee bit too long but I can cut that to fit. As it is now the shelf support is too long. So I'll have to cut it shorter or the shelf front edge support.

 I sawed it a few frog hairs longer than needed. After it has been glued and cooked I'll plane it flush with the sides of the shelf.

teeny gap

The molding part is proud of the shelf and I'll flush plane it later. There is a frog hair gap between it and the shelf. I wasn't sure where the headache was but I'll deal with it before I glue it up in the AM.

past quitting time

It has been a while since I got in the zone and time slipped by me. If I hadn't looked at the clock I would have kept on trucking.

need one more

The bottom shelf pattern won't work for the 2nd shelf. The back right corner has a strong 1/8" gap. The front is snug and self supporting.

this has to go

I might have to rethink the door stop thingie. I could use the front edge of the shelf to do double duty. Food for thought and I'll deal with that in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

 

#1 unclamped

Double, triple checked that this was laid down flat to the bar clamps. Wanted to start with the frame cooking it flat. Out of the clamps, the frame lay flat on the workbench with no rocking. Happy face on, one down and three to go.

didn't make it

I went 3 for 4. Pic frame #4 didn't cooperate. This one is twisted with the high corner over an 1/8" off the workbench. This is too much to ignore especially so with the glass that is going in here. That glass would be roughly 12" x 24".

5 1/2

This plane performed effortlessly flushing the the corners (freshly sharpened/honed). I did all 3 frames that passed the no twist test in about 5 minutes.

#3

The stiles were a few frog hairs proud of the rails. I flushed them because I will be applying moldings to the outside and inside edges of the frames.

3/16" bead

On the first of the tool break down pics I applied 3/16" bead molding to the inside edge and 1/4" bead on the outside. Washing, rinsing, and repeating for these 3.

got 12 moldings

 I used some scrap 2" wide pine to make the 3/16" moldings. I was able to get 6 moldings from one board - got 12 total from two.

1/4" bead

I could only get 4 moldings from this. On the 3/16" one I got two from the center waste.

sigh

The square one is the center waste and it is too thin to make a 1/4" bead.

the moldings

I sawed the moldings out to be 7/8" high. That way the bead will be a wee bit high of the frame. 

two frames dry fitted

Still trying to decide how I will attach the moldings. One way is to glue and clamp them and the other is use glue and pin nails. The pin nails are ahead by a foot.

frame #3 short 1/4" beads

I had to make two new moldings for the stiles. I had four 1/4" bead moldings left over (from the first tool pic frame) for the short rails. I'll get this one dry fitted in the AM and then get them attached. After that it is paint and bringing them to Maria for her to do her magic.

two new long ones

I made one boo boo with the first round of moldings - mitered a long one too short. Another one I had to shitcan due to the bead being total crappola. That one looked looked like I had made it with a dull butter knife and a rock. Another headache I had to deal with was on the 1/4" beads I couldn't get two moldings for the rails out of one bead. On the 3/16" beads I could do that. I only made two that I need with no back ups. If need be I can get 3-5 more out the scrap I used to whack out these two.

Had a short day in the shop. I had a PT appointment at 1300. That went well and I learned that my right hip isn't any where as strong as my left one is. I can't lift my right leg upwards with a bent knee. Nor can I cross my right leg over my left one while sitting. My goal is to able to do the right over left thing. Updates in 6 months on the 6 o'clock news.

accidental woodworker  

 

hmm......

I placed 3 of 9 pics for the next 3 frames to come. The 9 pics are 6" x 9" and this frame here the pics are a few inches smaller. These pics don't allow much for any separation between them.

breaking down the stock

Confused myself here. I only had to make 3 frames. I had a brain fart and doubled everything up and ended up with 6 frames.

sigh

Cutting this defect out meant I lost one long stile. I had to break down another board.

the stink started here

I looked at these two piles and wandered out into la la land. The right pile is the long stiles for 3 frames. The shorter pile on was the rails - 2 from each board. Instead I assumed the left pile was stiles too and I had to make rails for both piles.

1/2" x 3/8"

These will be used to create the rabbet on the back of the frame for the matting, pics, and glass.

where I went off the deep end

Looked at this and thought I had to make rails. Failed to register in the brain bucket what the left pile was for. I made enough rails for 6 frames still believing that I was only making stock for only 3.

using dowels

The frame went together but I still made a boo boo on it. Not one that demanded flying lessons - my labeling didn't line up. I would have bet a lung I checked and aligned the check marks before drilling. It still went together and that is the important thing.

Dry fit was good. No gaps and the diagonals were less then a 32nd off. The rails and stiles were all proud a couple of frog hairs. That was because the rails and stiles weren't all the same thickness. 

labeled and ready to drill

This is where it finally dawned on me that I had made 6 pic frames instead of the needed 3. I'll make them all and I'll use the best 3 - the other 3 I'll stick in the boneyard.

dry fitted

It was time to fill the pie hole and go on my post lunch stroll.

glued and cooking

Got four of them cooking in the PM session. I would have done more but I only have eight 24" bar clamps. I thought of using my new miter clamping things but I didn't want to couple two threaded rods together. The long leg on the frames is 28" which is 4 inches longer then the threaded rods. Besides with dowels I only have to clamp in one direction.

the only one

Of the 6 frames I did, this is the only one where the labels aligned on all four corners when I drilled the dowel holes. I felt like I drilled this one exactly the same as the other 5 but this one.... 

been thinking on this

The bottom right corner is slightly off square. The left corner is square-ish as is the front threshold. I have been thinking of some way to fit the shelf. The solid wood shelf I did doesn't fit. There is a tapered gap because I had to trim the right side. Since I'm going with fixed shelves I what them to be gapless and snug fitting. News and pics on the 11 o'clock news.

accidental woodworker

Now is the time to prepare the fretboard (compound radius etc.), install the frets and dress them. This isn’t the most exciting stage of the build but of course frets are pretty essential to any fretted instrument!

 

hmm.....

Still getting strange patterns. From this I would guess that I have a big hollow. 

gone

This is the look off the 8K water stone. Any evidence of the hollow is history. I was able to get a complete shiny bevel on almost every iron I sharpened.

next iron

This is the next iron after coming off the 8K water stone. Try as I might, I couldn't get the bevel to be completely shiny R to L. I tried for over 30 minutes wearing out my arms running this iron over the stone. I left as is after saying No Mas.

the iron from above

The plane spit out full width and length RML shavings on the first try. All 3 of the shavings were a consistent thickness too. It would seem that the shiny bevel R to L doesn't mean diddly squat.

wasn't a fluke

Backed the iron off a wee bit to get a thinner shaving. All three were the same width, length, and thickness - but this time a wee bit fluffy. The plane spit out these shavings effortlessly. No ragged out or crappy shavings on the R and L shavings - where the cloudy parts of the bevel were.

yikes

I did this - I had knocked over my coffee cup and it had spilled on the plane. I didn't know it when the spill happened. I found this hiccup later. I'll find out in the coming years if this rust will play havoc with this bevel.

this worked well yesterday

The clear bucket I soaked the water stones in. The red one contained all the sharpening grit. I don't think I'll need the wooden tray now.

4 1/2

RML shavings spit out perfectly on the first set up. This plane has a 55° frog and I use this one for squirrely grain. I had to fiddle with this one a wee bit. The frog was set forward too much. I wasn't expecting that because all I changed was a different iron. After I reset the frog, I got RML shavings on the 3rd attempt.

#4 iron

This is what I saw when I made 5 strokes on the 1000 grit water stone. I dropped down to the 220 stone and started again. On that stone I got the same look on the bevel R to L.

off the 8K stone

I started with 220 then 1K, 4K, finishing with 8K. With each grit I switched to the next one only after the bevel look was consistent R to L.

#3 RML shavings

This plane was not cooperating. It wouldn't initially make a full width and length shaving on the R or L. After playing with it and giving it a ton of free goofy looks I found the hiccup - the chipbreaker screw was too loose. The iron was shifting slightly as I planed this scrap of pine.

almost see through

This was the thinnest shavings I could make that were full width, length, and thickness. I made thinner, wispier ones but they weren't full width but I did manage to make them full length.

post lunch stroll time

Finally got all the irons sharpened. I cleaned up this mess after I got back to the barn.

nope

I thought I was done but I had one more iron to do. I set it aside for the PM session.

it survived

I was asked how this stone holder was dealing with the wet environment? No headaches noted so far. I put a couple coats of Total Boat penetrating epoxy finish on it. I used 3/4" exterior grade plywood for the base and pine for the stone stop thingies.

honing jig center wheel

The wheel on the right is a replacement wheel for comparison. The jig's wheel is the same size as it but lacks the shine of the replacement wheel. Regardless of that, both of them feel the same. The jig wheel looks dull and rough but it isn't. It is baby butt smooth, 360.

done

This tray is heavy. I would guess that it weighs 5-6 pounds easily. No finish for this but I do have some Total Boat epoxy penetrating finish if I decide to finish it.

hmm......

Sawed this corner removing the gap due the miters not being equal. I was thinking of doing the same saw cut on the other 3 corners but nixed that. I'll keep this with just this corner sawn.

glass door cabinet

This is what I plan on adding to the front of the shelves. 3/4" thick pine with a 1/2 x 1/2 rabbet. It will hide the plywood plies and help stiffen the front of the shelf against sagging. It will allow me solid wood to plane a profile too.

shelf positions

Decided to go with two, fixed shelves. That will give 3 openings that are roughly 15 1/2" high and about the same depth.

got it today

I have two more of these to make. Those pics are a little bigger than these and I'll make two and bring them to Maria at the same time. I'll wait until I have all three before hanging them in the back hallway walls. 

accidental woodworker 

 

yikes

The  platform I made to hold my #8 was starting to separate. I had nailed and glued the 1/4" plywood to the back edge of the platform. Sure glad that I noticed this before the platform dumped the #8 on the deck. This was the first distraction to deal with.

distraction #2

This is philippine mahogany left over from something. Just enough to make an open box to hold a water stone. Using water stones is incredibly messy and you have to contain it. That is what I hope to accomplish with this.

the plan

The 1/8" tongue will be my water stopper. I'm hoping that it will swell and keep the mess inside the box. Not sure how it will go because this wood is dense and heavy. No clue as to whether or not water can soak into it.

oops

One corner miter will be a wee bit shy. Originally I had planned to rabbet the corners but that would have exposed the groove for the spline. So I switched to mitering the corners but came up a wee bit short. The spline groove will still be hidden and this is a shop project.

dry fit check

The walls are 3/4" high which should be sufficient. The water stone doesn't need to be soaking in water while it is being used. 

survived the glue up

The dry fit went off without any hiccups but with glue applied it was like I suddenly lost my ability to use my thumbs. Finally got it clamped before the glue flashed off. I will let this cook until tomorrow.

surprise

I forgot that I had this - the red thing. It is a water pond for water stones that I got in the early 1980's from Lee Valley. I didn't need to make the water stone station that I just glued up.

surprise #2

Forgot that I had made this water stone holder too. The original water stone holders finally got flying lessons. They were tippy, fiddly, and a PITA to use. This holder worked a bazillion percent then they ever did, even when brand new.

hmm.....

The bevel on this iron was 30° and I changed it to 25°. The water stone is 220 and it did a good job reducing the angle. In fact I couldn't see/feel much different between it and the 60 grit sandpaper on the runway.

???

There is a nice shiny bevel around the middle with two dull looking stripes at each end. I seem to get this just about every time with my plane irons. I applied more pressure on the outside edges and nada. I had a consistent burr from R to L and a straight edge laid on the bevel showed no light under it. It doesn't seem to effect making shavings. This is the 8000 grit water stone but this stripe effect shows up on the 220, 1000, and 4000 stones too. Just a '...what is this?....

one more to go

I didn't know that I had 3 extra LN irons. These will fit in the 4 1/2, 5 1/2, and the 51. The one I'm holding I am pretty sure I sharpened on the diamond stones and it wouldn't make a full width shaving. I'm betting on the water stones to fix that. Fingers crossed and I'll find out in the AM.

the herd is getting lonely

I hadn't expected this to take this long. These four should go quickly because they only need a touch up.

came today

Twenty five 1/4-20 wing nuts for $13 and I only need 8 for the pic frame clamps. I also ordered 20 black oxide 1/4-20 wing nuts from Blacksmith bolt. I should have them by friday.

hmm.....

Beefed it up with a piece of 1/2" plywood this time. I glued and screwed that to back edge of the platform (original was glue and brads). The other one lasted for a couple of years and this one should outlast me. I'll put the #8 in it in the AM.

accidental woodworker

60 grit

I have tried in the past to square or remove nicks from the toes of blades with 300 or 600 grit stones. You are there forever so I started using adhesive backed sanding strips. At first I started with 220 and progressed down to 60 grit. From there I go back up to 80, 120, and 180 before finishing on my diamond stones.

I don't like using a grinder mostly because of I'm not good at it. Practiced on a couple of used up irons and the results weren't pretty. So I stay away from that tool. Then there is the issue with drawing the temper out of the iron. All and all it is safer for me to use sandpaper. 

My 'runway' is a synthetic threshold I got from Home Depot. This one I only use one side but my second one I use both sides of it. I should set this one up to be dual sided too. I have stops on it but I found out through use (on the 2nd one) that I don't need them.

clean up

I use a heat gun to remove the sanding strip and paint thinner to scrap the adhesive off the runway. Splash a little paint thinner on it, wait 10 seconds and you get to scrape up a gooey, sticky glob of adhesive.

Lowes run

Bought a 2x2 and a 2x4 foot 1/2" birch plywood panels. I made up my mind on the shelves and this is what I'm using. 3 fixed shelves or maybe only two. The bottom shelf is going to be hard to see the back of it, especially the very bottom shelf of the cabinet. I might eliminate that one or put in a 1/2" shelf.

LN 51 iron done

 Off the miter saw jig - rough and ugly looking. Took a while due to having to remove a nice sized chip at the toe. Forgot to snap a before/after pic of that.

dead nuts smooth

Sharp does cure a lot of ills. This is the same molding that the LN 51 chewed up and destroyed. I tried planing it both ways and both the LN 51 smoothed them both dead nuts.

chip

The bevel and toe of this looked good and I thought it would be easy peasy to knock out. Instead when I made 4-5 strokes on the runway to establish the look of the bevel, it showed a chip almost dead center on the toe.

woodpecker square

This square is awesome for checking square on chisels and plane irons. Before I got this trying to check it with my 4" adjustable square was frustrating to say the least. The inside faces on this square are 1/2" wide which allow it to register on the edge of a piece of paper with ease.

almost ready to road test

This chisel didn't take as long to do as the LN 51 iron. I tried to use this chisel before but set it aside because it wouldn't hold an edge. I'm hoping that with the passage of a few years since then my skill at sharpening as been upped a wee bit. 

super clean and smooth

The chisel worked this 45 better than I remember it working. Sliced through it like a hot knife through a tub of cheap oleo. To prove it wasn't a fluke, I did two more of them with the same results. I don't recall this chisel staying this sharp.

2nd O1 iron

5 strokes on the runway and I have a thin ribbon right at the toe that ain't cooperating. It took me over 45 minutes to completely remove it. This was the last O1 I had to sharpen. Tomorrow I'll start on the A2 irons.

finally done

The toe looks fractured and erose but it isn't. That is the burr on the backside. The burr is consistent in size from the R to the L. This is ready for the diamond stones.

for tomorrow

It was a few minutes past quitting time so this will get done in the AM. This is my spare iron for the LN 51.

my Makita hand planer

I broke this out because if I didn't do while I was thinking about it, it would stay in its black hole forgotten for who knows how long. This is bigger than what I remember being. The electrical cord is still in decent shape - supple and without any cracks or nicks.

hmm.....

This I totally don't recall. I thought I had two thick irons with slots in them. This looks exactly like the blades that are in the WEN hand planer. I'll search You Tube to see if there are any tutorials on blade changes/setting.

accidental woodworker

 At 1238 this PM I officially had adult supervision again. My wife came home after visiting the grandkids in North Carolina. Once I no longer have to babysit Mr Darcy (our male cat) I'll be visiting NC too. As an aside, Mr Darcy did his normal cat routine and treated my wife like she was a stranger. That will learn her for going away without giving him any treats.

the storage part

I ordered some black oxide 1/4-20 wing nuts from Blacksmith bolt today. McMaster-Carr has brass ones - pkg of 25 for $13 plus S/H. Haven't pulled that trigger yet because Blacksmith bolt had a cheaper price. I have it in the cart so I can indulge myself later.

Made one boo boo with the box. I forgot to center the middle three sided box - it is 1/2" to the left of center.  

getting better

These are Lee Valley clones of Stanley cornering tools. I'm getting better at using them. I'm getting less and less tear out but I still have some. I rounded all 3 edges on the lid moldings and only the top of the bottom molding. No finish for this - yet. But if I change my mind I'll probably slap a few coats of shellac on it.

glazier's points

These are bigger than I wanted but they are also the smallest ones I could find. Fingers and toes crossed that the paint store has the smaller ones. These will be good for the larger lites due to the thickness of the glass. I think these are too big for the smaller ones though.

hinges

These are stop hinges and I'm happy with them. I initially thought that they were flimsy but I have used them on several boxes and all of them have withstand the abuse I've heaped on them so far.

hmm.....

Decided on using a snap catch but I forgot how to do them. It has been a long time since I used this kit.

ta-da

Figured it out. I eyeballed the snap catch on the box the catches were in. Muscle memory kicked in and I knocked it out easy peasy.

done

I'm happy with how this turned out. I don't have a warm and fuzzy about the threaded rods but they shouldn't get munged up as is. (fingers crossed)

glass retainers

Made 6 long ones whereas I only need 4. Started working on the smaller ones for the smaller lites. I need 24 of them.

stockpile

Made 40 of the smaller ones with one to use as backer when I shoot the miters.

short retainer

All of the horizontal muntins are the same length. The small vertical muntins are a 1/8" longer than the horizontal ones. I roughed out all of the retainers a wee bit longer than that and I'll fit them individually when the time comes. That will most likely be after I paint the cabinet.

LN side rabbet plane

Used it to widen the groove so the glass retainers would fit in them.

happy face on

No light peeking on either leg. Used the 45 clean up jig on the two miters. As an aside, off the miter jig the miters looked ok when I checked them in the lite rabbets.

found it

I found this molding plane in the boneyard and it is the one I would have used over the one I did. I like this cleaner, simpler look but I would thin the width of the flat above the curved part.

the after pic

I sawed a 45 on this and it looked like a country lane after a rain storm. This is the look after I cleaned it on the miter jig.

the before pic

The LN 51 tore this up badly. It looks like slice of swiss cheese now. Happy I was able to clean and smooth it up on the chisel miter jig.

what it is for

I noticed that when I swing the door shut it flexes. The top and bottom corners move inward. I don't like that because it possibly could crack or break a lite. The first pencil line closest to the front edge is the back side of the door when latched. The 2nd one, furthest from the front edge is where the door stops when latched. I positioned the stop in between the two lines. I secured it with 3 drops of super glue.

done

I opened and closed the door several times and the stop held secure and the door didn't flex or wobble when it hit the stop. It had a nice secure stop feeling when I shut it. I will put a couple of screws in it later on. For now I want to leave as is and monitor it as I open/close the door.

upcoming maintenance

The tear out/rough surface I got with the LN 51 was most likely due to it not being sharp (or I was planing against the grain or both). Since I had to sharpen/hone it, I might as well do the other LN planes in the herd. I only have two O1 LN plane irons with the rest of them being A2. A2 sharpens better on water stones so I will break out the waterstones to do the irons. Before that I cleaned up the blades and chipbreakers with mineral spirits. I work mostly in pine and the edges of all of the blades had pine goo on them. 

Along with sharpening the blades in the herd I will do the 3 extra LN irons I have at the same time. Added to the plane irons is one 1 1/2" wide firmer chisel. I will attempt to use it to clean the miters on the glass retainers.

my preference

The O1 LN plane irons are labeled as such with the A2 irons being blank. All of my herd plane irons are A2 and all of their irons are blank - no markings, logos, or writings. I haven't found any LN O1 for sale for years and I check fairly regularly for them. LN stopped making O1 several years ago.

spare LN iron

I've been pushing this iron up/down the runway for 30 minutes and I've reduced this chip by 80%. I will tackle and finish the remaining 20% in the AM.

Killed the lights and headed topside to chat it up with the wife.

accidental woodworker

 Spent most of the day working on the box for the new picture framing clamps I just bought. I thought I would have gotten that done today but it didn't happen boys and girls. Worked some more on the cabinet and I'm on the fence with the shelves. I think I'm fairly committed to 3 shelves but I'm vacillating about whether to use solid wood or plywood for them. The big concern is solid wood movement vice no movement with plywood. I have the luxury of a few days to wait but I'll have to decide within a couple of days.

1/4 round molding

I checked and I can get all 16 short legs out of one molding. I will need two moldings for the 4 long legs of the big lites and one molding for the vertical retainers on the small lites. If I don't screw up I should have almost no waste at all.

I'm getting a headache

It is looking like the 1/4 round isn't going work. With my spatial abilities swirling around in the toilet trying to orient this in my mind ain't working so well. The miters aren't lining up on this corner. I think I could get it to work if I coped the ends but I haven't ever done coping on such a small molding.

it worked

The molding is a bit larger (height) than the groove and that allowed me to apply downward pressure to it while I chiseled the miter clean/smooth.

1/4 round in place

I don't mind the reveal/margin at the front. What I was concerned with was the molding extending above the muntin bar - it doesn't. It is 3-4 frog hairs below it. However, the miter isn't facing in the direction to pick up the vertical 1/4 round.

happy with this

I cleaned up both miters in the jig and there is zero light which means the miter is dead nuts on.

the problem

The moldings aren't uniform which sucks. The left one is fatter than the horizontal one. That hiccup aside, the miters don't line up on either side. I couldn't resolve this hiccup even after giving it my very best goofy looks. Decided to shit can the 1/4 round moldings and go with 1/4" square moldings.

done

Made a boatload of square moldings. More than enough even if I trip up into a string of oops to deal with. BTW these all came from scraps I was going to shit can.

out of the clamps

The miters all look decent. There is some glue squeeze out on the toes but they are pretty tight.

L moldings done

After the square ones were done I made the 1/2" L moldings. I made 6 long ones (27" long) and 4 short end ones.

separated

I initially wanted to do this on the bandsaw but whacked it out on the tablesaw. It came out a lot cleaner than I expected it to. There are zero fuzzy wuzzies on either the lid of the bottom.

nope

These are the miters off the jig and although they are ugly looking they are an improvement. I'm still having hiccups sawing the vertical on the miter jigs.

new fence

I sawed off the original fence on bandsaw and glued on a new one. After the glue has cooked for a couple of hours I will saw new miters and a 90 saw stop.

sigh

Better but still a degree shy of the exalted 45°. This is why miter shooting jigs were invented for people like me. My shooting jig was off too - it took me 5 plane and checks before Mr Starrett gave his blessing.

yikes

Noticed this after it had been clamped for several minutes. I had see the toes proud but I canl plane that flush after it has set up. At least this gap will be facing down and won't be readily visible.

dry fitted

Got a better fit on what is the lid. No gaps on the under side and all the miters are closed up pretty good.

hmm.....

This was a big surprise. This knurled nut is from the pic frame clamp and I thought it would be metric. After all this is from china but instead of it being a 6mm, it is a 1/4-20 thread. One thing I want to do is get some1/4-20 wings nuts - preferably brass but that will be dependent on the cost.

storage arrangement

I put 3 'compartments' along the back wall - one at each end and another in the middle. In between them I'll put the 90° corners. The space in front of the 'compartments' will hold the threaded rods.

hmm....

This wasn't working. The left end of the bottom one is just plain being ornery. The deeper I planed the profile the more I was ripping out chunks of wood on the left end. The top one I will use on the bottom shelf and the knot will be at the back.

just in case

Still haven't decide if I'll use fixed shelves or one fixed and two adjustable ones. If I go with the former I'll have the shelf supports ready. 

accidental woodworker 

 After almost a month of work on the glass door cabinet is winding down. I received the 1/4 round moldings I'm using as glass retainers and the Lee Valley hinges finally came in albeit too late. I have to find some diamond glazier points - I'll try the paint store when I go to pick out a contrasting paint color. Fingers and toes crossed that  they will have the ones I want. Painting this is going to be a PITA and I am projecting that it will probably eat up a week plus a few days.

top line

That is how far up I have to move the latch side to be flush with the keeper. It is too much to ignore.

fill in the old holes

The dowels I used were a perfect fit. I just had to sand them a wee bit to get a snug fit with the screw hole.

crisis averted

There was much joy and rejoicing in Mudville. The mighty Ralphie had fixed the faux pas.

 

close

I made two more shelf supports. The one above to the right was the first one and I planed that one against the grain. These two don't have to be dead nuts because they aren't married to each other. They will be on opposite sides of the cabinet and impossible to focus on together. Close is good enough and besides most of it will be hidden under the shelf.

Right and Left

I made a practice cut on the against the grain one to eyeball the angle. I was happy with it and how it looked - this will be somewhat visible and will present a finished end to this shelf support.

WTF?

I lost one of the moldings I just made. Couldn't remember where I had put it down and I saw it 3 times and didn't recognize as the MIA molding.

found it

The MIA molding was atop the cabinet and I finally realized it the 4th time I looked at it. I made another one and I had a backup set of shelf supports because I am now leaning toward putting in 3 fixed shelves vice one fixed and two adjustable. It is still subject to change.

shelves

Flushing and smoothing the shelves. All three were flush on one face but a wee bit proud on the other.

major brain fart

One shelf is salvageable but the other two are toast. Both of them are short on width. I thought I had made them all an inch longer in both directions. The single one on the right is about a strong 16th short on the width - the depth is over long because I didn't do that one yet. From what I could measure I made these squares - the shelves should have been 16x19 and I made them 16x17. They won't go to waste and I'll use them for some future project.

new toys

I've wanted to try these clamps forever. Woodcraft has these on sale for 50% off. For the price of one, I got two.

superior tool site

I wanted everything but the level line sights. $122 shipped to me. If anyone wants the line sights make an offer - the box for them is great shape as is all the others.

hmm....

It was advertised that these will clamp 48x48 inches. They do that using a coupler to get the 48" clamp length.

need a box

Of course I have to make a box to hold all the goodies in one place. 1/2" plywood for the box with a1/4" plywood for the top and bottom.

dry fit

The miters fitted up good with no gaps. I will saw the lid off after it has been glued and cooked.

glued, clamped, and cooking

I will let this cook overnight and hopefully I'll finish it by the PM session.

brand new

There isn't even an errant scratch on it anywhere. This is another curiosity that I needed to have its itch scratched. The box even has the instructions in it.

still readable

I don't do door butt hinges but it looks like this would do the hinges for the current project. One of the arms has a measurement scale that is dead on accurate. I checked it and was surprised that it was.

doweling jig bushings

I checked all 5 bushings with the auger bits I have. Only the 1/4" and 5/16" bushings fit the auger bits. The 3/8" kind of fit with the initial lead in tight but once it went in about a 1/4" it turned freely for the rest of it.

L molding

This is the homemade molding I will use to cover the plywood edges. The plies on this plywood are particularly ugly looking IMO. 

WEN hand planer

The only metal topside on this are the screws that old it together. I have only used this once without reading the instructions. Still don't know what some of the 'orange' bits and bobs do. However, I was impressed and pleasantly surprised by how well this worked flattening a poplar board.

depth setting

This worked but I didn't measure how deep it was cutting. I set in at 1/64th because I wasn't sure how well this would perform. I didn't want to over stress it and have it burn out the first time it was let out of the gate. I had played with the two orange turn knobs - I don't what they did and they were hard to turn in either direction.

right, off, left

This gizmo directs the shavings to the right or left or shuts it off. Don't see what the benefit of that is. It didn't work that well. I had the shavings bag attached and it barely had some dust in it when I finally took it off. I finished the poplar board without the bag and just let the shavings spew out.

the sole

The sole is aluminum with a V groove on the front shoe. I did see that this is for chamfering but I didn't try that function.

3 1/4" width

I bought two sets of replacement blades. I haven't changed these yet and supposedly they no set. I like that because IMO these hand planers can be a bit fiddly when replacing the blades.

thick sole

The end has a plastic kick stand. The thick sole should stay flat but aluminum can turn gummy and sticky. That can make pushing this hard and cause it stick and stop. That didn't happen on this one use though.

35 year old Makita

The blueish case holds my Makita hand planer. I haven't used it a bazillion years because it needs new blades. If memory serves me the ones on it are nicked pretty bad. This planer was a PITA (for me) to set new blades based on the one time I did it. I'll have to open it up and check it out. It has been a long time but my skill set has improved a wee bit since I last used this one.

Only time and use will tell how well the WEN holds up. I think for the infrequent use I plan for it (only to flatten/thickness boards) it should last a few years.

accidental woodworker 

In my last two posts, I showed how I made the oak framework for my new joint stool, which I’m making with expert guidance from the book Make a Joint Stool from a Tree by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee.

So far I’ve been working oak from logs. But for the seat, I used cherry wood that I also got from a tree.

This cherry tree came down in the back yard of a friend in Alabama during a 2020 hurricane. I hauled off as much of the wood as I could, sawed it up into very rough short boards, and made a bunch of wooden spoons out of it. The rest got stacked up to dry.

Because this joint stool will live in my kitchen, which has cherry wood cabinets and trim, I decided that a cherry seat would complement the space nicely.

Making the Seat

I had originally quarter-sawn a bunch of the cherry logs to about 2″ thick, knowing that they would have plenty of time to dry before I got around to using them. But the top should be much thinner.

The plan was to resaw this little plank on the bandsaw, glue the two pieces together, plane it all down, and end up with about a 3/4″ thick seat.

Resawing a thick plank and gluing the pieces together results in a nicely bookmatched seat.

But if you look closely at the above picture, you can see that the two pieces are not anywhere near the same thickness.

My plan for the seat had gone awry almost immediately. The bandsaw’s blade wandered, leaving one side just shy of 3/4″ thick and the other side well over 1″ thick on one edge. So I needed to remove a lot of material from the face of the thicker piece.

(Side-note: you can see in the background of the picture above that I already have a joint stool, which is a modern reproduction of the form. I have no idea who made it, but I bought it at an antique shop a few years ago. And while I’m not replicating the existing piece’s dimensions exactly, it’s very nice to have a full-scale model from which to work.)

The fastest way to remove stock is with the coarsest tool. In this case, the coarsest tool turned out to be this hewing hatchet. Its edge is beveled only on one side, and it’s designed for squaring up small timbers.

There’s a specific technique to using it effectively to hew to a line, but I won’t detail that method here since I didn’t pause to take pictures of the whole hewing process.

But as you can see, I was able to knock off enough thickness, and I can handplane the surface down from here.

For heavy stock removal, it’s best to use a handplane with a blade sharpened to a slight curve, or camber. I used my wooden jack plane, whose blade I keep shaped and sharpened for exactly these kinds of jobs.

You can take off a thicker shaving if you plane directly across the grain like this. Just be aware that the edge on the exit-side is going to break off some. If this were going to be the underside of the seat, that wouldn’t matter. But this will be the show-side, so I made sure to plan for a bit of loss in the overall width.

You finish by planing the surface down with the grain.

Thumbnail Profile

Once I had the whole piece glued up and planed down, it was time to add a thumbnail profile around the top edges. I had never done this by hand before, but the book shows how it’s done. It’s a surprisingly simple process, and I will definitely use it again on other projects.

Start with the ends. Decide how far in you want your thumbnail. Mark the depth with a cutting gauge or a sharp marking gauge. Clamp a batten across the workpiece in line with your scribed line. Use a saw to cut a very shallow kerf. Just a few light strokes will do.

Now use a rabbet plane to remove the stock. A skew-rabbet like the one pictured above works best. But I imagine that any rabbet plane or shoulder plane would do a decent job if you were to take a light cut. Fortunately I had picked up a wooden skew rabbet plane at an antique mall a year or two ago. They’re actually fairly common on the secondhand market right now, and unlike a lot of wooden molding planes, they are often in usable shape and can be tuned up pretty easily.

Once you have planed this rabbet onto each end, you can plane the rabbet along the long edges, too. Use the same method, though it’s not necessary to saw the kerf if the grain is fairly straight. Just use the rabbet plane held tight up against the batten. It doesn’t even matter if the rabbets at either end are cut to precisely the same depth. Just adjust your strokes with the rabbet plane to make sure the rabbets meet all the way around.

Now that the the rabbets are formed, you can round over the edges. Again, you start with the ends. Plane a chamfer first. When you’re working on the ends, be sure to skew the plane so as to cut the end-grain cleanly.

Then plane off the two corners of the chamfer. The result will start looking like a round-over.

You can plane the initial chamfer around the whole workpiece first, and then go around and take off the corners on each of the four sides. Or you can just work one side at a time, which is what I’ve done.

You can plane or scrape off any remaining corners if you like. And if you really want the round-over to look round up close, you can sand it down perfectly round. I didn’t, though. It’s enough for me that it looks like a round-over from a distance. I don’t mind feeling facets, and it won’t make any difference when you’re sitting on it.

Attaching the Seat

The book admits that the seat attachment is the most fragile part of the stool. The authors note that antique joint stools are often found with missing or replacement seats. The traditional method was to attach the seat with pegs driven through the seat and into holes in the tops of the legs. Because the holes go into angled legs, the angles create a sort of “dovetail” effect that holds the seat on.

I don’t doubt that the result is good if you do it right, but I also know how much this stool is going to get used, pulled around, and picked up by the top. I think there’s a reason that the seats of these stools don’t always survive. If the tops shrunk or cracked a bit, or if someone pulled up on the seat just a little too hard, the seat could pop right off. Then it would be very difficult to reattach it firmly using the same method.

So I decided to use a method that wasn’t really an option for a 17th-century joiner: wood screws.

I made four brackets out of some oak offcuts from the project.

Because these brackets are on the underside, they didn’t need to look pretty. In fact, there was only one part of these brackets that needed to be precise. Everything else could be shaped quite roughly.

Here’s how I did it:

First, I chose a wood screw, and I cut an offcut into this shape.

The stock is approximately 2″ wide and 1″ thick, and long enough to be cut into a right triangle, but the exact dimensions didn’t matter. As you can see, I cut one end at 45 degrees. If your upper stretchers are consistent in thickness, then you can just cut both ends at 45 degrees. But if the stretchers’ inside faces were left rough, as mine were, then you need to figure out what angle you should cut the other end at. Don’t just assume it will be a perfect 45 degrees.

Fortunately, the angle is easy to establish. You don’t measure it with numbers. You just gauge it with a sliding T-bevel.

Use the sliding T-bevel at approximately the same place you’ll put your bracket. I’m screwing them to the short stretchers on each end. Each bracket’s angle is cut to fit a specific corner. They won’t be interchangeable, so I made and installed them one at a time, so as not to get them mixed up.

Transfer the angle to the bracket, gauging from the 45-degree cut.

Cut to the line you just drew. As you can see, the angle between the seat and the stretcher is not precisely 45 degrees. But this bracket will fit the angle perfectly.

Now to make the inside of the bracket.

Figure out exactly how deep you want the screw to go into the underside of the seat and into the stretcher. Gauge the distance using the screw itself. Make sure the screw will penetrate the wood enough to hold it securely but not so far that it pokes through the side or the top. Be sure to account for the whole length of the screw, including the head, since you will want to countersink the head.

Mark that depth with a marking gauge.

Make a shallow saw cut on each line. You only need to cut as deeply as the screw head is wide, not all the way through to the corner.

Split out the center with a chisel. Working from both sides will get the best result. Why not just saw all the way until the kerfs meet? Because splitting out the stock leaves more of the wood in the corner, resulting in a stronger bracket.

Now drill a pilot hole in each face you just sawed. The pilot hole should be wide enough for the wood screw to pass through easily.

Countersink each hole so the screw head will seat nicely and pull the bracket in tightly.

Set the bracket in place, mark the location of each hole, and drill smaller pilot holes into the seat and side stretcher. Use a drill bit with a depth-stop or some other kind of depth indicator so you don’t drill too deeply or stop drilling too soon.

With the top screwed in place, flip the whole thing over and take a look at your work.

With the joint stool assembled, it’s time to do a final once-over before applying the finish. I used a card scraper to level out a few rough spots and take off stray pencil marks here and there. And of course I signed and dated the underside of the top.

The Big Finish

I applied a couple coats of Danish oil to the whole thing. The Danish oil I use is my own mixture: one part each raw linseed oil, polyurethane, and mineral spirits. I apply a first coat very thoroughly so it saturates the whole surface. I let that sit for 10-15 minutes. Before it becomes tacky, I apply a second coat, ensuring that any spots that look a bit dry get plenty more oil. I let it sit another 10 minutes and wipe off any excess oil.

I let the stool dry in direct sunlight, which both dried the finish and darkened the cherry top.

Should the finish become damaged or worn, I can just apply more, though I haven’t needed to do so with any other piece I’ve used this finish on.

After drying for about a day, the stool is ready to be used.

Immediately after I finished this, I thought to myself: “I want to make another one.”