General Woodworking

small table......

Accidental Woodworker -

 I haven't gone on a walk for several months now due to my feet hurting. The right foot has calmed down and I haven't experienced any pain in for a couple of weeks. Today after lunch I went ambling down to Wally World. Several hours later while I'm typing this post, the right heel isn't 100% pain free but it is tolerable. I'm going to repeat the post lunch stroll and see how the feet feel about that. If after a week I still have a green light I will add a post breakfast walk too.

 leg choices

5/4 piece of Eastern White Pine or sapele mahogany. Since this is most likely going to be painted I'll make do with the pine. As is it is 1 3/8" thick (rough sawn) but it has a twist in it that I will lose some thickness to.

 don't like it

I am not a fan of gluing up stock for legs. There is something about the glue joint line that bugs me. But I also don't want thin rickety legs that will fold up like a house of cards with any weight put on them. 

 sawed in half

I should be able to get all four legs out of one half. This board was close to the outside of the tree because I can't any heart in at all.

 toast

I am not tapering the legs so this missing chunk kills using it. I was hoping to save the other half of the board for something else.

 legs

I squared, straightened, and flattened two edges on each leg. I then squared the adjacent edges on the tablesaw.

 not square

The width of the legs are a 1 5/16" x 1 1/2". I didn't want a square leg but I also didn't want an overly large rectangular one neither. This should have enough meat to receive two tenons from the rails.

 sans the shelf and top

Got all the rails with the legs all cut to final dimensions.

 front rail

I am putting a drawer in this table although it doesn't need one. I am doing it for the practice - it will have an inset drawer. This wasn't necessary due it being painted but I need for the practice. The front will have a continuous grain direction to it.

 biscuit joinery

Putting the front drawer rail together with biscuits. I did it right this time and the biscuits aligned. My last use of the biscuit jointer had the slots come out off set from each other.

 clamped and cooking

The drawer front doesn't fit in the opening. I'll be planing it for a snug fit when I make the drawer for it.

 bottom mortises

I left the legs this way and mortised one leg at a time. I did it this way so that I put the mortising jig on the correct face of each the legs. The mortise isn't centered so I didn't want the mortises to be misaligned.

oops

I mortised straight through the leg. FYI - this was supposed to be a blind mortise. Sure glad that this is going to be painted. If I remember I'll try to put this leg boo boo facing out on the back. I thought I was breaking through into the other mortise.

 hmm.....

The top rails are 4 7/8" wide so the tenons will be about 4 1/4" or there about. Not sure if I will make one wide tenon or twin ones. That decision will be made tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

Small Dresser 2: Basswood & Poplar

JKM Woodworking -

At the end of last session I noted one of the sides was cupped. I decided to plane the inside surface. I held a straightedge and marked where to take off material, then used the plane like an eraser. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just good enough.

scribbled where to plane

Then I took the top and sides indoors to rest while I worked on everything else. I wonder if they’ll move more as they acclimate.

Next I jumped to making drawer sides. I had some basswood I considered suitable, but too thick at 4/4 and 5/4. I decided to try resawing the 4/4 for the smallest drawers first, to see if I could do it, before committing to resawing the larger sides from 5/4 stock.

resawing 4″ wide, 4/4 thick basswood

For these pieces I used the method of sawing one corner at a time, frequently flipping to eventually meet in the middle. When doing this I often end up with a thin web of wood where the cuts don’t line up.

four sides for two drawers

I was able to cut four pieces from 4/4 stock, so went forward with cutting wider pieces from 5/4 stock. At this time I realized I did not have enough basswood for all drawers to have full-height sides. Rather than economize and have one or more drawers with shorter sides, I decided to make all drawer sides the same height as the drawer front. Which means I will have to go get some more basswood before this is all over.

9″ wide, 5/4 thick basswood

The remaining drawer fronts will be 4.75, 6, and 7.25″ wide. I cut and resawed 5/4 basswood for the 6 and 7.25″ drawers. Since these were wider, I thought a 30″ frame saw might work better.

5tpi rip frame saw

I cut the outer kerf with japanese saws then tried to clear out the middle with the frame saw. I don’t think it helped too much.

resawn 6″ board

After being disappointed with the kerfs not lining up again, I tried to saw the next board from one end to the other. I was able to get about 90% through before I had to flip and approach from the other end.

resawing largest drawer sides

Surprisingly I was able to cut the widest board with only the smaller japanese saws. Just scoop the sawdust towards you, and repeat.

largest sides, less webbiness

Enjoy watching this resaw business now because I won’t be doing this after I get a bandsaw.

Let’s take inventory: For the drawers, I have sycamore fronts. I have basswood sides for four out of five. So the drawers still need backs and bottoms and one set of sides. For the poplar case I have glued-up a top and two sides. What’s left? A back, a bottom, and a toekick. And the internal supports like drawer dividers and runners.

poplar to work with

Here is my poplar material to work with. After some measuring and diagrams I decided not to make the dresser back or bottom out of solid poplar. That will leave plenty for the more visible pieces like dividers and toekick. I cut some 30″ pieces for drawer dividers. I will have to get them situated before I can complete the internals.

4/4 from lumberyard vs 3/4 from lowes

There are lots of options for how to arrange and join drawer supports. I think having the dividers dovetailed into the case sides looks the best, but I’m not ready for that. For now I’m leaning towards butt joints.

Looking ahead I am thinking about drawer pulls. Since the drawer fronts will be figured the hardware can be simple. Ikea has cheap and simple hardware. I also like the ring pulls from Lee Valley.

One goal when beginning this project was to use up current stock and not have to go to the store. It turns out I’ll need at least two trips. One to a proper lumberyard for basswood, and one to a big box store for secondary wood like thin pine. And don’t get me started on finding 1/4 plywood.

15 drawer dresser pt fini......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Well it is almost finished (fini). All that is left to do on it is to apply the shellac. I thought I had some blonde but I didn't. I ordered a 1/2lb of it today and no idea when it will get here. I have a boatload of amber colored shellac but I want this dresser to showcase the pine. So it will probably be a another week or more before I get a check mark in the done column.

I went on a road trip to Home Depot after lunch. That is something that I don't like to do on a weekday but I needed to get the plywood for the back of the dresser. Going down to HD I hit every single red light and all but 2 coming back home. Other than that the traffic wasn't that bad on Rte 2 today.

 ready to unclamp

Looks like a lot of clamps but you need good coverage when gluing veneers. It had cooked long enough and it was time to remove them.

 proud

The veneer didn't shift on me which made me happy. I didn't allow much for an overhang and the gamble paid off. I also tried to wipe up as much as the hide glue squeeze out as I could as I clamped this.

 ends

This is where I concentrated a lot of calories wiping the hide glue. I've found that it on end grain it doesn't clean up as well as long grain does.

 flushing the veneer

Used the flush trim saw to do the ends and the blockplane on the top and bottom. I took my time and tried to only plane the veneer flush. This drawer has already been fitted and I didn't want to change that.

 can't tell

Once you open the drawer you can see the hide glue joint line but with it closed, nada.

 needs a trim

I sized the drawer sides so that the ends of them would be flush with the rabbet at the back. This way the back will be the drawer stop too.

 ready for knobs

I took a wispy thin shaving off the front of every drawer to clean and smooth them.

 hmm....

I didn't think ahead on this nor did I think to measure it. The 3" and 4" drawer knobs had 3/8" tenons and the remaining drawer knobs are 1/2". I had to center a 1/2" bit on this 3/8" hole - a wee bit nerve racking to say the least. I didn't want to do another veneer job.

 1/2" brad point

This bit was too dull to drill a hole. The outside wings on it were non existent and I thought that this was the only 1/2" bit I had. I found another 1/2" brad point bit and contemplated buying a regular 1/2" twist bit but decided to try the brad point instead.

 survived it

I got zero tear on the face side but some blowout on the back. I ended up drilling straight through the drawer fronts on last 3 banks of drawers. The tenons on the knobs were just shy of 3/4" long. I didn't wedge any of the knobs neither because of the snug fit I got with them. 

casualty

This knob didn't like me using a mallet on it to seat it. When I got it seated I gave it one more whack and the base blew off. I was able to punch it out (glad I drilled all the way through) and get a new one in with out any more hiccups.

The base of these knobs are fragile and sometimes crack/split where as this one blew chunks off. I'm just glad that it happened than and not picked up until after the glue had set. Another problem I have with these knobs is that the base doesn't sit flush to the drawer front 360. I got them as close as I could without risking breaking any more knob bases.

 ta-da

I centered the knobs on the height of each drawer and 3 3/4" in from the edge. The drawers aren't all perfectly matched in width and there was some variation in the knob placement but I couldn't pick it out looking at the dresser.

 21/32 CDX plywood

I wanted to buy the chinese 12mm plywood that HD used to sell. It was nowhere to be seen in the plywood section. I wanted a thick plywood for the back to help hold the back rails together. $40 and change for 2 quarter sheets of this. This was the cheapest price for all of the plywood they had available. I thought of using MDF but I hate sawing that stuff.

 two piece back

The back is screwed on with no glue. I put two screws on either side of the half lap on the dual drawer back rails to strengthen that connection. That should eliminate any sagging of the drawers.

 small gap

This time the gap was intentional. This is to allow air to escape as a drawer is pushed in so other ones won't open. Probably wasn't necessary due the to margins on the drawers but I find that closing and opening thing annoying.

 happy with this

The drawer is a frog hair below the the front edge of the rails/sides.

these drawers need help

The 5, 5 12, and 6 inch drawers all seated inset. The sides for them after squaring the ends came up short on the length. I had to figure out a drawer stop idea because I couldn't have some drawers flush and others inset. It had to be all one way IMO.

the drawer stop - adjustable too

I thought of this on the drive to Home Depot. I am pretty sure that I got this as comment from someone many moons in the past. Not sure how well they will stay put in end grain but they worked a treat for sure.

 all flushed up now

This will get moved into the roomy boneyard until the shellac is ready to go on. 

The next project is going to be a small table to hold my Keurig coffee maker and k-cups. I was playing around with some basic measurements (height, width, and depth) and I'm sure the wife will want to paint it. I'm ok with that and it will give her a chance to practice more on stenciling. That is a new interest of hers now.

accidental woodworker

Vintage Craftsman tool pouch cleanup part 2: The Stenchpire Strikes Back.

The Slightly Confused Woodworker -

So my attempts at cleaning and restoring a vintage Craftsman tool pouch had a bit of a setback today.

For those of you who might be unaware, over the Christmas holidays I discovered an old tool pouch that once belonged to my step dad in my mom’s basement. The pouch had a smell that I will call “unique”, a mixture of used oil, mildew, must, tobacco, and old, funky leather. An initial cleaning with saddle soap, while improving the outward appearance of the pouch, actually intensified the smell. So for the past few days I hung the pouch outside for at least ten hours, bringing it inside at night and spraying the pouch with an enzyme based boot cleaner. Today after work, and after the pouch spent almost 11 hours outside in the fresh air, I was happy to discover that the smell was virtually non existent….or so I thought.

Below is an unedited video that was filmed just a few hours ago. I decided to give the pouch another cleaning with saddle soap before conditioning the leather. Let’s say that the smell isn’t through with me just yet….

A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner

Tools For Working Wood -

Frank Knox c. 1982 in his workshop in front of his ornamental turning latheFrank Knox c. 1982 in his workshop in front of his ornamental turning lathe,,
In 1982 I was working for Atari at an office on 3rd Avenue and 42nd street in Manhattan. I am not sure how this happened, but one day while working there I found myself talking to a young teenager who lived nearby in Tudor City, a large Tudor-style apartment complex just east of the Atari office near the United Nations. At some point in the conversation - I don't remember how - the kid started talking about a guy who lived in his complex who was into woodturning and had a fancy lathe. I think I mentioned that I didn't know much about turning, but I was interested. I mentioned my excitement about about a guy named Frank Knox who had what was called an "ornamental turning lathe" that could do all sorts of cool stuff, turning off-center and tracing and cutting all kinds of designs in the piece being turned. I had read about him in the fourth issue of Fine Woodworking magazine - the first issue I subscribed to. The kid said, yeah, that's they guy I'm talking about, and my jaw dropped. About a day later, the kid came back and said that Mr. Knox invited me to visit his shop. I didn't waiver. I grabbed the nearest camera I could find - a Polaroid - and headed over.

Frank lived with his wife is a small apartment in Tudor City. Professionally he had been a form designer - an critical job in the days before computers. By the time I met Frank, he was retired and working on various ornamental turning commissions, including a series for Cartier. His shop was a single small studio apartment down the hall from his actual apartment and he worried about losing that lease because of the small amount of noise he occasionally made. Inside the studio were his 1853 Holtzapffel lathe and cabinets upon cabinets of accessories, cutters, and wood.

Frank collected samples of exotic woods and I think was a member of International Wood Collectors Society. One risk all ornamental turners face is spoiling a piece because of a miscount on an index plate or some random tear-out. His shop was littered with various half finished items that looked awesome but met with some disaster or another. His apartment, on the other hand, had some wonderful examples of his work.

The visit with Frank and the article in Fine Woodworking engendered a lifelong interest for me in ornamental turning. However I am canny enough to know that I don't really have the patience for doing fine work so I have never owned or used an ornamental turning lathe.

If you are interested in ornamental turning check out The society of Ornamental Turners and the Plumier Foundation. A blog post I wrote in 2020 featured this ornamentally Turned-Ivory Cup and Cover.

Here are the pictures I took (in no particular order). I am sorry that they are so rough, but there wasn't much I could do with a Polaroid, no flash, and no tripod.

A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 2
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 3
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 4
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 5
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 6
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 7
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 8
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 9
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 10
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 11
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 12
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 13
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 14
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 15
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 16
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 17
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 18
A Visit With Frank Knox (1902-1991) - Ornamental Turner 19

almost done with it........

Accidental Woodworker -

 Yesterday I broke down and bought a new cordless sander. I have a Bosch cordless sander but it doesn't work. A bare bones Bosch sander is about $90 and a new circuit board for my sander is north of $110. I searched like crazy but I couldn't find a cheaper price. I refuse to pay more for a repair part than a brand new tool. I am now the proud owner of a Dewalt cordless sander.

came this AM

It was on the front porch when I came back from grocery shopping. Amazon said I would get it today but I wasn't holding out for that to happen.

 blurry pic of a bag

I am not a bag type of guy. I prefer boxes because they are more durable. A bag is nice if you need to use the sander somewhere else but I don't do that work anymore.

 fully charged

I was expecting the battery to be charged but it wasn't. The charger shut down due to heat/cold issues - it was sitting in 22F temps for ??? After 15 minutes I put it back on the charger and it finished in about 10 minutes.

 side bottom cutouts

I used the front toe kick to layout the side cutouts.

 clean up

The first cutout didn't come off the jig saw nice. I am still getting used to it but the second one came out better. Much less to rasp and sand to the pencil line.

 first use

When I bought this a couple of years ago and I tried it out once. I wasn't impressed with as the oscillating up/down as is almost non existent. However, it did work very well smoothing out the curves.

 hmmm......

What to do about the back? I want to put one in to strengthen the back 'legs'. I've found that these are prone to cracking/splitting/breaking off with zero effort. Do I keep it as it is here (I don't think so) or make it the same as the front/sides? I had time to think about it because I was dead in the water. I had to wait for the glue on the front toe kick to set up.

 didn't work out

My first choice for the back was to make the legs angled. I had a difficult time sawing the angles.

 onto to plan #2

The angled saw cut on the opposite side is real ugly looking. Decided to try and match the front and side cutouts.

 japanese saw

I didn't feel like breaking out the jig saw to do this so I used my large japanese Azebiki saw to do. This saw is designed to do mortises in the middle of stock. It works just as good doing interior straight cuts like this one.

 getting better with this one

The hold up with me using this coping saw was I didn't know how to rotate the blade holders. That restricted what kinds of cuts I could do with it. I was able to saw the quarter arcs fairly close to the lines.

 close match

It is a little rough and not perfectly straight on the horizontal but it is at the back bottom. Only the dust bunnies will ever see it and I doubt that they will critique me on it. I'm slowly learning that I don't have to go full anal on everything.

screws only

I used two screws on each side to hold the back in place. I didn't use glue or nails on it neither. I got a snug fit with it R/L and the screws will strengthen the leg which is the weak point. I was concerned with the sides being able to expand and contract freely. That is why I only screwed it to the back legs.

 dust panel

On the next one I build I will put dust panels in between the drawers.

 first hole

Used a brad point 3/8" drill bit and it tore out on starting the hole. The knob doesn't quite cover the tear out on the left or right.

YIKES

This 3/8" hole should be centered over the dot to the upper left. No way in this century that the knob will cover it. I spent over an hour looking for drawer pulls that I could use that would cover this but nada. I did find some that would be ok for the single drawers but way too big for the dual drawers. I really didn't want to make another drawer nor fill the hole in with a dowel. This is the drawer front and IMO that would stick out like a blinking neon sign on a foggy night.

 option #3

I am going to veneer it. I used one of the extra drawer parts and sawed off a 1/8" thick piece of pine veneer. Before I glued that to the front I had to deal with the holes.

 making dowels

I only need two but there is enough here to make 8. Pine has tendency to splinter and go bang when pounding them through the holes.

 toothing blade

I got this from Kunz who makes a Stanley 112 clone. It fits in my Stanley 112 perfectly and I bought two of them. One for me and one for the grandson's toolchest. I used it by hand here to groove the drawer front and the veneer.

 glued and cooking

I used hide glue on this to give me extra time to do this. I wasn't sure how well it would go off and I had no hiccups doing it. I will let this cook until tomorrow and I'll get back to installing the knobs.

 got lucky

I cleared the bench when I clamped the veneer on the drawer and I lost one of these knobs for the 4" drawer. I had one more in my stash. These are a strong 32nd under 1 1/4" and the knobs above are a strong 32nd above 1 1/4". I'm sure both were sold as 1 1/4" but I can see a slight difference in the two sizes.

 I like very much

I only used this once but I am convinced it is the next best thing to sliced white bread and ice cubes. After using the Bosch without a cord or a vacuum hose attached to it I can't go back to the other side. It is light, nimble, well balanced, and it didn't make my hand feel tingly. Granted I only used it for about 45 minutes but my Porter Cable corded sander makes my hand tingle in less than 5 minutes.

I am going to switch to Dewalt drills. I don't want to have to deal with two different battery types and chargers. Two drills (one with a 3/8" chuck and the other with a 1/4" drive) and an impact driver with batteries and a charger cost me about $150. I'll be getting an early xmas present to myself next month. 

Once I have the new drills I'll be selling the Bosch line up. It has 3 drills, two 3.0AH batteries, one 6AH, 3 of the original batteries that came with it, and the charger. It is a 12v set up and it hasn't failed to do anything I asked of them in my shop. The Dewalt is 20v but that is what came with it. I'll put it up for sale here first and if no takers I'll dump it on Sawmill creek.

accidental woodworker

feeling better......

Accidental Woodworker -

 I didn't sleep too well last night and I noticed that the stomach discomfort I was experiencing was waning as the night progressed. When I woke up I felt better but not 100%. If I had to deal with this at this level I would take it. I felt a little washed out and tired in spite of going to bed at 2000 and getting a few before 0600. It will probably take a few days to get back to normal.

 a day early

When I signed on this AM a pic popped up with this package by the front door. It was supposed to come today but came sometime yesterday.

 ubiquitous blurry pic

Started with the first drawer and went through them planing just the top edges of the sides and the back. I did the minimum on the 3" and 4" drawers and more on the remaining ones. Those are the ones that will move the most.

 two worse drawers

My OCD kicked in and wanted to redo these two but I nixed it. Overall (with the exception of these two) I'm ok with how the drawers look. This is my first attempt at fitting so many inset drawers. It could be better but I can see improvement from my last inset drawer adventures.

 critique time

15 drawers with half blind dovetails. It was well over a 100 of the little buggers to do. There are 6 half pin gaps that are about a 32nd and couple of more less than that. I also had two drawers were the pin sockets had gaps at the front baseline.

 last of the right side

Feeling a wee bit smug here. It was 13 years ago that I started doing dovetails by hand and then it was wholly through dovetails. Half blinds aren't something that I do frequently.

 left side

I don't think anyone other than a woodworker would even notice the dovetails on the drawers. I've found that it is a detail most people ignore.

 the last of them

Sorry about the bottom drawers pic wise. Yielding to gravity and getting lower to snap these pics wasn't happening this AM.

 drawers are done

I got the fitting and planing of the drawers complete. I didn't go nutso and plane a huge gap on the tops of the drawers for expansion/contraction. The bottom 3 banks of drawers have the greatest potential to expand and contract. I tried my hardest to plane just the top edges of the sides and back leaving the front top untouched. There is a gap on all the drawers but it doesn't jump out as a glaring boo boo. It is consistent on the 5, 5 1/2, and 6 inch wide drawers and thinner on the 3 and 4 inch drawers. If need be the drawers can be planed again if they stick.

 test joint

I wanted to test making a half lap joint to mirror the one above. That one is face glued and the half lap should be stronger. I got this idea from Joe who is making the same 15 drawer dresser in cherry. He half lapped the toe kick.

 using the same angles

The finished one has 60° and 30° and the test ones will be the same.

 clean cut

Used the Ryobi to saw the half laps. I usually don't do this but on these I sawed right on the gauge line.

 hmmm......

Left one is good but the two I did on the right are OTL (out to lunch). I gave it my best goofiest looks and nada. I was doing something fundamentally wrong but I didn't know what it was.

 nope on #3

I penciled the left half lap onto the right one and it didn't fit. I figured out that I had the toe and heel flipped 180. Positive and negative spaces and fitting them always make me feel like I have the IQ of box of pointy rocks.

 wrapping the brain bucket around it

Spent a lot of time trying to figure which half lap was waste and which was mating with the other half. The sawing of them wasn't the problem and they did look good as an aside. However, there was no way the two half laps would mate.

 lots of practice

Got tons of practice using the Ryobi to saw right on the gauge line. I only wandered into La La land on one of them. I was lucky that it went that way on the waste side.

 0 for 6

It took 6 dance steps before I realized that I had to saw the horizontal angle straight through and not half way. I still wasn't out of the woods yet because I had to now saw the half lap on this.

kind of fits

The angles line up good. The shoulder on the left piece is straight and gap free with the horizontal angle. I sawed the half lap wrong. I didn't physically check it by comparing it to the vertical half lap. I had a 50/50 chance and I lost.

 on the 9th hole

The horizontal angle is long but it is correct for fitting. I was surprised by how well this fit off the saw. The first 8 were toast and had success on the 9th one.

 awkward to hold for a pic

The angles line up and I'm happy with the joint line. The half laps are off - the vertical one is proud of the horizontal one.

 paid off

I wanted to give this flying lessons on me-steak #3 but I stuck with it. I can't remember the last time I did half lap angles? A couple of notes to brighten my adventure - all the cut offs were consistent in angles and thickness as were the horizontal left overs. The Ryobi did a good job leaving a relatively clean saw kerf that could be glued as is.

 sample joint

I am not sure now if I'm going to replace the toe kick but I'll have this to jog the memory. I am already anticipating do the left correctly and having headaches with the right one - no sample joint to hold my hand with there.

 sapwood streak

You can see the left one is thinner than where it flows into the right one Frank. It isn't off that much but I can see it.

 sanding the dresser

I didn't want to risk getting any blowout on the dovetails from planing so I sanded them with my belt sander. Did the initial leveling/flushing with 80 grit and followed that with 120. This brought back a lot of memories. Before I got into hand tools and planes especially, I use the belt sander for everything.

 headache

Doing the top wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I placed the dresser up against the tablesaw fence rail, stood on a step stool, and belt sanded the top.

 done with 80 grit

The tails were all proud of the pins by a strong 32nd. No one would have seen it due to the height of this but I flushed anyways. The trick to doing it with a belt sander is keep it moving and never ever stop to think while it is running and  stationary.

 dust panel

This dust panel is a must IMO. There aren't any dust panels between the drawers but this bottom one will work well. With it and the back, there shouldn't be any dust bunnies taking up residence in any of the drawers. This will be screwed at the front and nailed on the sides and at the back.

accidental woodworker

Jack in the Green....in the Pew

Rivers Joinery -

 Some people call it Devon, some call it Exeter, whatever......it's my favourite carving style.

For me, it goes from 1480-ish through to 1700-ish. Tudors and Stuarts from Henry and Henry, through to William and Mary. She died of smallpox in 1694, he in 1702, after a fall from his horse. For all the harm they caused and all the good they failed to do, a lot of the carving in Devon's churches survived. 550 years, 22 generations and here am I trying to connect with those carvers of Devon, by carving what they carved.


It's a lot of hard graft, for which they may have been paid very little. Oh joy!

And the carpentry.






it is snowing.........

Accidental Woodworker -

 When I got up this AM there was some snow on the ground. Not much and beneath it was a lot slush. I shoveled all of it and all I kept thinking about was this is heart attack snow. Wet, heavy, and slightly frozen. I thought we had weathered the storm and all would be well in Disneyland. Spoiler alert - I was wrong.

After I had eaten breakfast my stomach started acting up. I was having cramps and it wasn't making me feel too good. I ignored it thinking it was what I had to eat. Turns out that was wrong because it got worse as the day wore on. The snow was coming down and sticking starting around 1400. According to the weather it is supposed to continue dumping the white stuff until the wee hours of monday.

The stomach hiccup curtailed my time in the shop although I managed to work through it for about an hour. According to my wife this is the same bug that got everyone in High Point sick over at xmas. Not looking forward to the symptoms they had.

 drawer bottoms

Started at the top and worked on down to the last one. The goal was to get the bottom laying flat and straight on the front rails. A couple o the drawers I didn't have to do anything to.

 ugly gap

I really didn't want to plane the ends of drawers but this needed some attention. I didn't want to make the gap straight top to bottom as that would be way too much. So I took the minimum off trying to make the gap kind of even looking. I had to do these dance steps on one other drawer too.

 knob placement

I left the drawers as is for now. I wasn't feeling up to snuff to finish them. I still have to plane a gap on the tops to allow for expansion and contraction. Decided to place the knobs in line vertically. The single drawer knobs will align with the single knob on the dual drawers.

 new knobs

I wasn't happy with the knobs. I wanted them to be graduated in size more than they were. I pissed away an hour searching the WWW for shaker knobs and the choices available were dismal. I wanted some 1 1/2" and 1 3/4" diameter knobs but all I found was 1, 1 1/4, and 2 diameter. 

I changed the knobs to 3/4" for the 3" drawers, 1" for the 4" drawer, and 1 1/4" for the remaining ones. 

I also searched for other knobs (metal/glass/ceramic) but most of them only came in 2 sizes. Maybe I should use half moon cutouts in the fronts as knobs? Those would all be the same. Looking forward to having a 24hr stomach bug and I'll find out in the AM.

accidental woodworker

Vintage Craftsman Tool Pouch Restoration.

The Slightly Confused Woodworker -

Before I get started, I would like to wish the 30 people out there who still read woodworking blogs a Happy New Year! I’ve always felt that the New Year, as a holiday occasion, is overrated, but that is another matter entirely. Regardless, I have no major furniture making projects planned for the next few months, but I have been in the midst of several home renovation/carpentry projects. While it is unlikely that I will write about these projects (unless I come across something worth noting), I will be busy, nonetheless.

In any event, what I wanted to write about today is a minor but perhaps overlooked area of restoration: tool pouches.

For those of you who have been reading this blog on a somewhat regular basis, you might be aware that nearly two years ago my step-father, Jack, passed away. He spent most of his adult life as a packaging mechanic and maintenance person, and he accumulated a very large collection of tools over the course of his life. For more than a year I have been helping my mom go through these tools in my spare time, and last year I detailed on the blog and in videos the restoration of two of his smaller tool boxes. Just when I thought we were finished, during the Christmas break we discovered yet another bin of tools. Thankfully in this case there weren’t too many and we were able to quickly pass the tools onto new homes. But there was one item in the bin that I decided to keep, and that was a small, vintage Craftsman leather tool pouch.

Jack had a half-dozen or so pouches of similar size, and all were filled with an assortment of wrenches, Allen keys, and screw drivers. I am guessing that he had these small pouches filled with the specific tools needed for the basic maintenance of specific machines. Rather than lug a heavy tool box to each machine, it seems that he set up a series of small pouches that he could just grab and go whenever one of the packaging machines needed a quick tune up, with each pouch corresponding to a respective machine, or a specific aspect of said machine….time is money in the production world. I discovered most of the pouches last year, so I brought them home along with their tools and cleaned them. Most of these pouches were made of Cordura (I think that is the correct name of the material), but the Craftsman pouch is vintage and made of leather, so I decided that it might be interesting to see if I can really clean it up and get it looking like new again.

First things first, I did not take a true “before” photo of it. When I brought it home the pouch was quite filthy and smelled awful…a combination of must, old machine oil, mildew, all held together with a faint but definitely distinguishable layer of tobacco odor, which makes sense as he spent several years working for a company that packaged cigars. The smell was so bad that immediately that I emptied the pouch, vacuumed it, wiped it down with some soapy water, and hung it outside in the frigid temperatures to air out…yeah…it smelled that bad.

The initial cleaning did little to alleviate the smell, so I poured some baking soda into a coffee filter, bound it with a rubber band, and shoved it into the pouch. For good measure, I also stuffed the pouch with around a dozen tea bags, including the front pockets and the belt loop. As far as using teabags to remove odors from leather, I’ve seen some recommend steeping the bags in boiling water and letting them dry before using them; others recommend using them dry, and some recommend lightly misting the bags before inserting them.  In this case, I decided to lightly mist the bags that I placed inside the main pouch, while leaving the bags dry in the smaller areas. After a few days of brewing the smell of the pouch improved, though it didn’t disappear.

The next step was cleaning the pouch with a lather of saddle soap (which you will see me do in the video link below). This cleaning removed years of grime…..and it also brought back the smell with a vengeance. As is often the case, the deeper cleaning revealed just how dirty the pouch was, and while its outward appearance has improved a great deal, it smelled just as bad as it did when I brought it home. So rather than having this tiny pouch with its disproportionate odor stink up my garage, I once again stuffed it full of tea bags and baking soda and hung it outside to air out. To help, I also sprayed it with an enzyme based boot cleaner. Generally speaking, a good idea in cases like this is hanging the pouch in warm, indirect sunlight for a few hours, but because it’s January and the average temperatures are generally barely above freezing, warm sunlight isn’t an option for the time being. Adding tea tree oil to the baking soda “tea bag” is also an option, but as of writing the post I haven’t tried it yet.

While the tool pouch was “brewing” I placed most of the tools that were inside it in a bath of water and citric acid. Many of the tools were rusty, grimy, or a bit of both. A few of the smaller wrenches were relatively clean, so I only gave them a scrubbing with steel wool and 3 in 1 oil, and that improved their look and feel considerably. Once the rusty tools were finished soaking in the citric acid bath they also received the 3 in 1 treatment, after which I polished them using a fine wire brush attachment on the drill press, and they look much better for it.

I cannot find any real information regarding exactly when Craftsman sold this particular model 9 40463, but I would guess that it was during the 1990s, but it may very well be older. The pouch leather, awful smell aside, appears to otherwise be in fairly good condition. There was also a swivel snap hook, that I initially thought was a part of the pouch, but it turns out that Jack added it “after-market”, by punching a hole in one of the screwdriver slots. For the record, I don’t care for modifications such as this because they will eventually tear and degrade the leather. Luckily I have a small leather repair kit, and if I can get rid of the bad smell I will attempt a repair.

When I brought home this tool pouch I thought the restoration was going to be a simple matter of good old-fashioned elbow grease and patience; this has not turned out to be the case. I can sincerely say that I don’t know if I will be able to get this pouch back to usable condition. Lord knows how long it was sitting in a dank corner of the basement, and the odor may be too ingrained to remove. It may seem strange to put so much time and effort into restoring a tiny tool pouch, especially when considering that I have a newer one that is almost identical to it. But it does have sentimental value in that it not only belonged to Jack, but I also had a similar pouch “back in the day”.

Regardless of sentiment, I also firmly believe that a real craftsman takes care of his tools. I’m not of the mindset that tools and their storage mediums should be abused. Some tradesmen feel a kind of shame when their tools and pouches appear to be too “new”, but I was never one of them. Wear and tear is one thing, as they are a sign of a tool that is being used, but dirt and grime are another. A professional looks like a professional, and that means a tool kit that is clean and well maintained.

drawers are done......

Accidental Woodworker -

 It was a wee bit bumpy but I got all the drawers done. All drawers are rough fitted to their respective openings and slide in/out without binding. I missed getting them done before lunch but rather got it by 1400 in the PM session. It was a good feeling putting the last drawer in, stepping back, and looking at what I had done. 

 didn't forget

I dry fitted both drawer slips and I didn't brain fart and forget to round them over.

 WTF?

I glued the front slip in on both drawers and waited and hour before gluing in one side slip. This one is going to be tapered and way too much to ignore. I stepped back and did some serious butt scratching trying to figure out how to fix it.

 DUH

Didn't catch it at first but I saw the light here. I glued the front slip in the wrong place. I glued it at the top instead of the bottom. This was glued in solid and it wasn't budging.

 Mr Chisel won

Three whacks with it and 99% of came off. It was much easier than I was expecting it to be.

 done

This cleaned up really well. There are a few scars visible but I doubt anyone will notice or pick up on them.

 new slips coming

There were leftovers. Enough here to make two sets if needed.

 caught up

I got two slips glued and cooking on each drawer. It was almost lunch time and I wasn't going to met my before lunch time deadline. 

 rounded the back bottom corners

A couple of the drawers were hitting the back rail in their openings. I rounded over the back bottom of every drawer just in case.

 the back rail

The carcass side drawer guide (left) dips a few frog hairs below the back rail. The drawer still closed but I could feel it hitting it as I closed it. After rounding the bottom I didn't feel anything pushing the drawer in.

 left overs

This is what is left from two quarter sheets of 1/4" plywood. I am surprised that I have this much as I thought I wouldn't have enough. The far left one got smaller because I needed one more drawer bottom for the last drawer.

 I am liking this a lot

One sapwood streak on the dual drawers is slightly off. I must have used the wrong face on the left one because the streaks don't flow L to R. The left one is thinner where it meets the right drawer front.

I wanted to put plywood dust panels in this but nixed it due to cost. I should have done it because it would have been less than what I used for the dry bottoms. I will put one on the bottom drawer opening and that will keep dust bunnies from getting in through the bottom drawer.

 in the batters box

Next up is trimming and setting the drawer margins. I will plane all the drawer bottoms flat to the rails and that will be my reference. I will plane the absolute minimum off the sides. All gaps will be on the top to allow for expansion and contraction.

I thought this first drawer was flat on the bottom but it isn't. The dark space on the right half side I thought was a pencil line but it is a gap. There is some pencil on it, but just enough to have fooled me.

I surfed Klingspor's site looking for some 4x24 sanding belts and I couldn't find them. A search for them only coughed up 3x21 belts. After 20 minutes of searching and flipping through the site I gave up and went to Amazon and bought them. I'll get them on monday maybe. If the storm that is on and off for dumping major snow happens I doubt I'll get them. I need them to belt sand the top of the dresser.

Not sure what is next on the hit parade for Ralphie's workshop. I do have a ton of maintenance items that I should address and deal with. We'll see what shakes out in the next few days because the dresser is 95% done.

accidental woodworker

making drawers penultimate part........

Accidental Woodworker -

 I got real close with finishing the drawers today. I had a minor hiccup with the last drawer glued up and that is delaying all things until tomorrow. I got the basic 'boxes' done I just need to do the slips and fit the bottoms. So far my estimating a completion day hasn't worked out in my favor. However, I feel confident this time that I'll be done with drawers tomorrow - probably before lunch.

 kicked my butt

This is the right 5 1/2" dual drawer. Fitting this drawer was a compound  problem. The height had to be planed along with the with the back half of each side. It took me quite a while to get this drawer fitted. I was going purposely slow because I didn't want to end up with margins a 1/2" wide.

 6" single drawer

Even though I used my jig to cut the back bottom it came out long. The slips ended up being almost an 1/8" proud of the sides. That left only a strong 1/8" of meat on the bottom of the groove for the plywood to ride in.

 problem

Both sides at the top bowed outward slightly which prohibited me from getting the drawer to fit. I didn't want to plane it as it would have removed a lot of wood. I put some white glue in the gap and clamped it. Fingers crossed that it holds.

 better but not acceptable

All my gaps with the half pins were predominantly on the top left. I ganged sawed all the half pins too so I don't understand this. Since I sawed two as one I would expect the gap to be the same on both sides. That aside the full tails fit nice and snug.

 first of the last two

Ensured that the back was tight in the dado along the entire length. I couldn't check the gap at the top due to the bessey being in the way.

 another oops

Forgot to plane another round over on the slips. It is hard to see but the bottom web of the groove is thinner than the top. I will glue the plywood bottom in the groove to strengthen it and make better able to handle the weight that will be put on the plywood bottom.

 the last one

I got bit on the arse with a gap on the left half pin. I'll take it because the rest of it is dead nuts for fitting.

 last drawer

Got an extra clamp on the back to counteract it bowing. 

 left 6" dual drawer

As I was fitting this drawer I noticed that there was a gap on both sides at the top. The drawer front fitted when I tried it in the drawer (backwards) but the back of it wouldn't fit in the opening. I forced glue into the gaps and clamped it. I'll let this set and cook until the AM.

 this close

Photographic proof boys and girls. If I hadn't ran into the hiccups with the gaps on the back this pic would have had all 15 drawers smiling back at you. 

accidental woodworker

about my blogs

Peter Follansbee, joiner's notes -

[PF note: I have been getting some new subscribers here and thought I’d bring you up to date on what’s going on with this blog. So for some of you, this ain’t news. Others might find out what I’ve been up to]

my old shop from years ago

Thirty years ago I began a dream-job – making furniture in a living history museum, then called Plimoth Plantation. I did it for 20 years. I loved that job for about 16 of those years. I still miss parts of that work. There’s parts of it I wouldn’t do again if you paid me…

After 20 years of that, I moved on and went out “on my own.” Since leaving that work, I’ve made my living by selling furniture and other woodwork, teaching workshops and classes, making videos – first with Lie-Nielsen, then through some I’ve made here at my shop, writing articles and books – and now a subscription blog at Substack. 

The hardest part, well, one of the hardest parts – was/is the travel. When I was first doing it, I was still employed, so it was maybe two weeks out of the year. Then I booked more and more of it – to the point where when I was here, I’d be packing or unpacking for a trip. Seeing all those people, teaching classes – all of it was great fun and I always appreciate that people would dedicate the time and resources to spend the time with me that way. I hope they learned something or somehow got something out of it. I got to go places as far-flung as Sweden, England, Australia, Alaska and lots of places in between. 

Öland

Once the pandemic shut the country down, the travel stopped. I’ve done some traveling since then, but not much. I still venture out a few times a year, I’ve taught ladderback chairmaking at Pete Galbert’s once or twice a year for the past few years. And something carving/oak-related at Lost Art Press in Covington, KY once a year. I might add one or two more, not sure. 

There’s personal reasons for me to be at home more. But I still gotta eat, so do my kids. So I took some cues from Pete Galbert and Chris Schwarz. During the pandemic, Galbert began a vimeo-on-demand series about chairmaking. I bought it and loved it and decided to give it a shot myself. I had made a lot of videos with Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and done several episodes of Roy Underhill’s Woodwright’s Shop TV show. So I knew a little about what I wanted you to see – and my son showed me some basics of how to edit video files. But what I can’t do is shut up – I used to talk for a living. So my first video series, on building a joined chest with a drawer, starting from the log – runs over 20 hours! Sorry about that…

[videos led to my all-time favorite comment from a reader/viewer. Hearing the noise of my neighborhood, particularly sirens heading from the nearby police & fire stations toward the highway that runs between Boston & Cape Cod, someone wrote to me “It looks like you live in this beautiful rural setting but it sounds like you live in Detroit.”]

One reason I made that series, aside from making a living, is to have a record of it. I included a joined chest in my book Joiner’s Work – but to have the whole thing step-by-step on video – maybe someday that will turn out to be a good thing. I never know how many more of these projects I have in me. I then did a shorter one on making the Jennie Alexander ladderback chair, and have one underway now about some Germanic chairs and another joinery one planned. So there’s some videos that you pay for, but I still have many videos on youtube that are free. One was a whole series on making a joined stool –

first version of this box with drawers underway

From Chris I swiped the idea of a subscription blog – I’ve written this WordPress blog for free since 2008. It limps along now, but has over 1,500 posts. Some of those were just me selling stuff, announcing classes, etc – but most of them amount to articles about my woodworking. They’re still here, they’re still free. I’ll keep them here as long as WordPress lets me. I still refer back to things on this blog regularly – to see what I did when, “when was the last time I made such-and-such” – even “how did I make such-and-such.” 

The substack blog has two levels of subscription – free and paid. Free subscribers get a few posts in full – the first ten or so are free to all. Every once in a while I make one available to all. Otherwise, they see the beginnings of the posts. Paid subscribers see all the content. I aim to take another cue from Schwarz and make a once-a-week freebie there. 

One thing I see on them when I look back on this WordPress blog is the comments, particularly those from Jennie Alexander. I worked closely with JA for years and years and in the last years of her life, she wasn’t able to keep woodworking, But her thoughts were still on the subject. So those comments mean a lot to me now. I’ve been working off and on for a few years now on a project I call my Craft Genealogy. It’s about the people who taught me woodworking – Alexander, Drew Langsner, Daniel O’Hagan and more – I post snippets of that research regularly on the Substack blog. It will turn into a book once I get a handle on it. There’s still some research to do. Alexander and O’Hagan in particular left a lot of notes – and Drew is still around. So I keep reviewing and asking questions. 

I’ll keep trying to post on this blog now and then, but most of my action is over on the substack one. Now that people are paying for it – I’m trying hard to give them their money’s worth. One reader begged off, I was writing too much! Looking for a happy medium..

Links:

https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/

https://christopherschwarz.substack.com/

https://petergalbert.substack.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbA33W8-cWNHzkYTDh7kBGA

drawer making pt X.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 The alarm bells are ringing in RI. The weather seers are saying there is a potential to get 6" of snow on sunday. If it dumps 6" of the white stuff it will be the first significant snowfall since last feb. On the other hand the seers are saying that they also don't where the storm will track. So if it heads inland we get a white blanket and if it makes a right and goes offshore, we get rain. I'll have to cool my heels and wait and see what shakes out.

 last night

I got the front and one side glued after dinner. I thought of coming back before I hit the rack to do the left slip but nixed it. 

 gap

I got confused when planing this drawer to fit. I should have been planing the back but instead I planed the entire length of the sides. This gap would be better if it had been on the top or bottom. Here on the sides it isn't going expand/contract.

 backside of the tails

I rarely do this on through dovetails. My reasoning is that the tails should fit the pins without having to trim the back edges of the tails. I did it here on the half blinds because they will never be seen. I relieved the edges so it would seat fully in the pin sockets. Half of the drawers got this treatment and half didn't.

 getting better

Happy with the fit of the full tails but the left half pin has a slight gap at the baseline. Fingers crossed that the glue will swell and close it up.

 2nd 5 1/2" dual drawer

I was trying to get this drawer glued and cooking before the lunch bell and I made it. The goal for after lunch was to finish this drawer and get it fitted. After that, get the 6" single drawer glued and cooking.

 12th one almost done, 3 to go

The 2nd 5 1/2" dual drawer wasn't playing nice. I spent a lot of calories and time trying to get it fitted to its opening. I don't have the back on the dresser yet which helps a lot because I can look at the drawer from the back and see where it was hanging. The sides, especially the right one, were too high. And like its sibling on the left, I planed the wrong end of the sides. The gap wasn't as bad as the left one though.

 glued and cooking

I don't like gluing up drawers or anything else this way. I was running out of time and I couldn't get the clamps tight and have the diagonals agree. I got 90° corner gizmos in each of the four corners. I don't have much faith in these but I'll find out in the AM how it shakes out.

 Lowes run

This was it - a 2'x2' and a 2'x4' plywood panel. I wanted to buy two quarter sheets but they only two and one was toast. I got these for the remaining drawer bottoms.

 what I have left

This is what I have remaining from the two quarter sheets I bought previously. I have 4 drawers left to put bottoms in. The one on the left is for the single 6" drawer the piece on the right is for the 3 dual drawers. I have just enough to do all the drawers with what I bought last week. I would have bet a lung that I would have been short one or two drawers.

 4 left
It is looking real good that I will have all the drawers knocked out tomorrow. Or come saturday for sure.

accidental woodworker

Phil Hare

A Luthiers Blog -

Amanda and I have just heard the sad news that Phil Hare passed away last night.

He was so thoughtful and kind and we always enjoyed his visits to our home/workshop, not only to hear him play but also listen to his anecdotes. He will be sorely missed by all those who knew him and enjoyed his virtuoso playing.

If you don't know of  Phil you should

RIP Phil, we’ll miss you.

snow is coming.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 I've been watching the forecast and especially for sunday. I have seen it go from rain to snow to a mixture of both. The temps over night have been a few degrees below freezing and the day time temps are in the middle 40's (seasonable). I don't know what is going to happen but I'm thinking it is going to be rain. This is the opposite of what I was reading in oct. Then it was El Nino was going to wreck havoc on my part of the universe with lots of snow. El Nino appears to have taken a left turn somewhere because it ain't happened yet. Maybe sunday will be the start of it?

 2nd 5" dual drawer

I came back to the shop twice last night after dinner. I glued in the side slips and this AM I sawed and fitted the plywood bottom.

 wised up

All the remaining drawers have identical drawer slips and this off cut is the perfect gauge for setting them. I would have done this before but each bank of those drawers had slips made just for them. The groove for the plywood is offset with more meat below it than above. I did this to give a larger bearing surface for the bottom of the plywood.

 3 for 5

The two largest banks of drawers are in the batters box. I should be done with both banks of them by the weekend. It is looking good for me getting a check mark in the done column next week sometime.

 almost lunch

I got the slips glued and cooking in the 5 1/2" single drawer and after lunch I got the bottom fitted in it. This is the left 5 1/2" dual drawer ready to saw the tails. 

 5 1/2" single drawer

Gluing these slips in was a PITA. Everything was slipping and moving as I applied the clamps. It was a bit frustrating clamping this one but I finally won . The other drawers I didn't even get a whimper from.

 Lie Nielsen skew chisels

This is another tool that LN doesn't make or is not available now. The hair spray is still holding the handles in the sockets. I was expecting to have to spray them every day. They are still tight and securing without a hint of being loose.

 glued and cooking

This is as far as I got today. I was shooting to getting 3 drawers at least glued up but I came up shy. I will be going back to the shop to glue the slips in after dinner.

 another oops

I forgot to round over the slips again. These may have to stay square because the bottom is nailed at the back. I didn't want risk ruining the plywood bottom removing it but I'll try to knock off the arris on the slips somehow.

 10 out of 15

Tomorrow I will definitely have the 5 1/2" drawers done leaving the 6" drawers to bring up the rear.

accidental woodworker

feeling better.....

Accidental Woodworker -

 Today was pretty good back and pain wise. I woke up with it stiff but it lubed somehow because in a hour or so it wasn't aching so much. I had a good day in the shop too. It would have been an all day affair but my brother in law stopped by for a visit after lunch. I didn't have any issues with the back stopping me from working. I got everything done today that I wanted to by 1530 when I killed the lights. Hopefully this episode was a one off or a once in every other full moon thing to deal with.

 half done

I have as many drawers to go as I have done already. This dresser is starting to get heavy too. The goal for today was to finish the 5" drawers - the single and two dual ones.

 slips for the single drawer

All the shavings on the bench is what I did to get the drawer to fit its opening. After the drawer slips have cooked for while I'll fit the bottom to it.

 still trucking

The chisels are a wee bit duller but they are still performing well chopping the tail and pin socket waste. This is the first time I have used these chisels for so long without sharpening them or touching them up. I think it helps me a lot that I'm making this out of pine.

 lunch time

Got the first of the dual drawers glued and cooking before the lunch bell rang. I should be able to knock out the 2nd one before I kill the lights.

slips cooking

I looked over my remaining plywood for the drawers and I think I can get more bottoms out of it then I thought. I am still going to be short but not by as much as I thought I was going to be.

 oops

Have you had the spidery sense nag at you but you ignore it? Well this time it bit me on the arse. I thought I had sawn the back of the slip wrong but it fit (or so I thought) so I just glued it. When I noticed this I tried to remove it but it had already set up. Unfortunately for me this was the first one I glued in place.

 ta-DA

2nd drawer glued and cooking. I noticed that I have made a few omissions on the drawer bottom fitting. I hadn't planed the bottoms of the drawers flush before gluing the slips on. None of the side slips were flush with the bottom of the drawer. Something I'm going to have to make a mental note to do for the remaining ones.

 bottom fitted

I like slips and how they look in the drawer. I don't have a warm and fuzzy plowing a 1/4x1/4 groove in the 1/2" thick sides. It is also far easier to fix a broken slip than a broken side.

 ugly looking

Got a big chunk missing due to tear out. This happened when I was plowing the dado to depth with the router plane. I'm going to fill it in with wood putty and call it done. It is at the back of the drawer and isn't that noticeable.

 closing in
Tomorrow I'll have the 2nd dual drawer done. That will leave the two largest drawers - 5 1/2" and 6" to finish.

accidental woodworker

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