General Woodworking

 It might be a wee bit premature, but I'm calling the box done. I got the first tung oil finish on at the end of the PM session. It is going to be a few more days and a few more applications of oil and wax before it is 100% done. Close enough and I won't bore you with that.

gluing the keepers

The two long ones first and then the short end ones. I didn't miter the corners - used snug fitting butt joints.

just enough

There is a papers width on each end. It takes a bit of attention to get them in and out but I'm ok with that.

perfect

I planed a small chamfer and then rounded it over with a 120 grit sanding stick. It made the joint line look dead nuts tight 360.

yellow glue

I thought of using hide glue to secure the block but decided to go with yellow glue. If this needs any repairs or replacement I'll make a new one.

hmm.....

This tung oil finish removes/dims pencil marks. I used a micro pen on a scrap of the same plywood I used for the bottom. I wiped on the finish and rubbed it hard. Nada. I went with it but with a pencil each application of the finish, erased a bit more. Not sure what the second application will do.

almost a gotcha

The love affair with this glue dispenser almost ended. The tip had clogged shut but it was easy peasy to open it. The glue hadn't dried rock hard and it came off with a paper towel. I had been wiping it after each use and I must of forgotten doing it one time.

first one

There will be at least two coats and maybe four of the tung oil. After that I will apply a couple coats of hard wax oil.

I saw a cabinet at my niece's house the picnic day. It was tall, rectangular, and had a divided light door - 9 panes of glass. Got no idea where or who will get it but I got an itch to make one. Looking forward especially to making the door.

accidental woodworker 

 I almost got the box for the mortise lock chisels completely done. What stopped that you are obviously asking, well I'll tell you. I spent a good chunk of today driving around my boyhood town with my sister. She is leaving to go back to Indiana on tuesday and today was the only day she had free for me. She has lots of other visiting on her to do list.

We visited all the places we were grew up and the schools we attended. Our elementary school has been converted into apartments. So much of this small sleepy town I knew is gone and it has exploded with growth. Neither of us recognized most of what we saw. Oh well, stercus acidit. 

We went to a clam shack on old US Route 1 that we used to go to as kids. Well over 50 years and it is still open. We both had fish 'n chips with clam chowder and a Del's lemonade for the ride home back to Norwich. A lot of fun catching up with my oldest sister.

done

I'm not thrilled with how thin the sliding lock batten is but the sun will still rise and set. I will be putting shellac on this but that will have to wait. I need to mix up a new batch of shellac but I don't have enough Everclear for that. This will have to wait a few before that event happens.

pencils fit

I have to insert the pencils at a diagonal, but they dropped in easily. I'll have time to decide whether or not to increase the length between the battens longer than a pencil is.

early shop time

 I knew I would only have about two hours shop time in the AM so I got busy. Making the box for the chisels out of 6mm plywood. 

yikes

The lead in for the shooting plane ripped off the dado wall. I was going to make a new one but nixed it.

fillers

On the one above I only put one filler in the exit side dado. That one survived but not its sibling. With fillers in both, no problems. Both dado walls remained intact with a zero amount of blowout. 

worth a shot

I glued the broken dado wall back in place with superglue. The bottom and top dadoes will get 1/8" plywood that will be glued in them further strengthening this superglued one.

insurance

Not only did I fill in both dadoes, I used a 1/4" thick piece of pine backing up against the front edge. It worked and the superglued broken piece held up to the stress of shooting a 45.

cooking

Met my goal of getting the box glued and cooking before I had to leave to pick up my sister. This was ready to play with when I got back to the barn.

one last thing

Whacked out something to hold the two chisels. I wanted to lay the chisels flat so nothing stuck up but I didn't like the thinness of the box nor the width. I am thrilled with having the business end sticking being a cut hazard but I made it work.

ready to separate

Back at the barn and unclamped the box. Good connection on the miters (no gaps) and the corners were dead nuts square.

hmm.....

Thought I would try to separate the lid on the bandsaw. The blade is new and sharp and it is something I haven't done yet. I can't recall ever trying this on a bandsaw.

sigh.....

The cut was clean but it was also slightly tapered. It isn't much but I wasn't expecting one. 

it fits

I planed the lid and bottom until the taper pencil lines were gone. After that I refined the flatness and fit on a sheet of 60 grit sandpaper.

one more run

Noticed a wee bit of a hump in the middle of one long side. Sanded it until that hiccup disappeared. Happier with the fit this time around - and I eyeballed it and double, triple checked it twice.

got lucky

The plan was to use keepers to fit the lid on and I got lucky. There isn't a ton of a wiggle room for the chisels to fit. I can take them out and put them back in easily. It would be better is there was more clearance but this will work. It is only the keepers on the short ends that I needed to get lucky with.

finger recesses

 I don't want to take out and put these back in place by the business ends. Removed the center and chiseled two finger recesses. Plenty of room to grab the chisels.

done

I'm going with this. Sometimes later on I come up with a different way of doing things. I don't think I will with this one. I also don't anticipate using this that often for it to be a PITA.

keepers dry fitted

Made them a few frog hairs higher then the chisel ends. That should remove any blood letting hiccups.

almost at the finish line

A quick and easy box in a day. If I hadn't spent most of the day with Donna this might have been done with the exception of the shellac finish. Maybe tomorrow I'll put a check mark in the done column.

accidental woodworker

it fits

When I took the box out of the clamps it stayed together. I was half expecting it to fall apart because I used super glue to secure it.

gone

The box was twisted so badly that I didn't need the sticks to see it. Both the top and bottom were three lines twisted. It took 3 runs (top & bottom) to remove it.

the winner

I wanted to use the brass nails but they were fatter than the winners. I didn't want to risk splitting the thin stock. I predrilled for all the nails before driving them home.

bottom

Used 1/8" thick plywood for the bottom. Pencils, even with the boatload this will hold, isn't going to stress the bottom in the least.

hmm......

The one in my hand is too thin. I cut another piece of scrap pine in half and after planing it smooth it ended up about 5/16" thick.

filler

This is too fill in and add some strength to this spot. Without it was just unsupported 1/8" plywood and it would be prone to possibly breaking/splitting out.

sigh....

It was a 1/4" and in order to get it to fit I had to remove another 1/8".

screwed up

I thought it was too wide so I cut it down to 3/4". That was the me-steak. I should have stuck with the fixed batten being an inch wide. 

fits

There is about a 16th of wiggle room for dropping the lid in place.

locked in place

I think the 1/8" that is catching on the right side batten is sufficient. With the lid locked in place, I couldn't pull up and remove the lid.

fixed sliding batten

I am just using glue for securing it to the lid. I am leaving the clamps on until the AM. It is ready for finish and I have a model to build the next two of them.

came today

I had bought a set of these chisels years ago and when I took them out of the package they sliced my fingers up. None of the squared edges had been filed/chamfered. I sent them back and regretted that decision ever since. When LN sent me an email these were being made soon I asked to be notified. Bought them on sunday and they arrived today. 

These have had all the square edges relieved - nothing sharp and no blood letting this time. These aren't something that you need on a daily basis but when you do they sure are handy. I can feel an urge to make a french fitted box for them coming soon.

accidental woodworker

We were thrilled to be included in Mortise & Tenon magazines Issue X, their 10th Anniversary special (and almost double-sized) issue. As we told M&T, 10 years in publishing is an impressive feat, especially in a field whose obituary had been written many, many times, challenged by increasingly short attention spans and the supposed yearning of all content to be free. M&Ts answer to the challenges of contemporary publishing has been the exact opposite of the conventional response - the magazine article as a hot take or a series of captions. Instead of summaries designed to entice the mainstream reader with attention span issues, M&T has offered erudite research on admittedly narrower topics related to woodworking.

In doing so, the magazine also created a sense of community among woodworkers who want to understand the best practices of woodworkings past and their own place in this realm. At the same time, the magazines beautiful physical presentation also conveyed a certain timelessness, durable enough for return reflection and discussion.

We were asked to explore the topic of The State of Woodworking in 2025, and provide some photographs to accompany the article. So along with the text, our article features some pictures of the new Gramercy Tools lathe and some catnip for fans of vintage shop tools.

We now have the magazine for sale in our showroom and online, and while these photos have gotten some attention, probably the biggest conversation starter is the photo of the miniature tools I made as a young lad. These tools were inspired by Eric Sloanes Museum of Early American Tools and are made of steel with boxwood handles. I used an X-ACTO saw, Dremel, a drill, files, and a tiny torch all obtained from local hobby and hardware stores. And yes, the tools all function!

Some of our customers have responded by sharing their miniature craftwork with us. Our friend Tony showed us the tiny ornaments he made, including one of his dog and another of himself. Merry Christmas!

If you are intrigued by the miniatures, it's worth seeking out Barbie's Woodshop instagram account - a truly wonderful site!.
Barbie was profiled for the in the Lost Art Press Blog by the great Nancy Hiller.

An article about Barbie is included in Quercus Issue 12.

A picture of my tools made it into M&T Issue X
My mini - doll house scale panel saw nested under a mid-19th century short 12" panel saw.

PS. Festool expects to apply an import fee on August 1, 2025. Buy before Festool applies an import fee.

 

nope

It has been a long time since I played around with motors. I used to experiment with any motor I could get my hands on. Learned a ton simply by combining wiring in groups just to see what would happen. Burned out a few motors and got a boatload working but that was in the dim past. I forgot that changing the line and neutral will not effect motor rotation. The field winding wires need to be reversed.

it's the blue one

Blue 5 swapped out for Blue 6. Duh.

hmm.....

Getting the two pulleys aligned with each other was a PITA. The small one caused all the headaches due to being attached to the motor. Gently persuading that I finally got it positioned by using a pry bar. Another Duh.

first cuts

The motor was singing a different tune than the original 1/2HP one. Sounded quieter and felt stronger in the cut. I didn't notice any hiccups sawing these two - a curve and a rip cut.

one more rip cut

I was expecting this rip to be quicker and easier. It was, just not up at the level I thought it would be.

Yikes

This sucks pond scum. One thing for sure I was expecting was for this 3/4HP motor to eat resawing for lunch. It didn't happen this time.

hmm......

I didn't check the blade blocks nor the thrust bearings - upper and lower both were out. Readjusted them and tried to resaw again.

with difficulty

This resaw was a chore to do. The blade bogged and going was slow. The two parts came out ok considering that they look like snot was blown all over them.

new blade

I had bought this one specifically for resaw. That is what I mainly use my bandsaw for. The blade on it now was obviously dull or a hop, skip, and a jump from that. Time to swap in a new one.

new blade going in

Got a bit confused taking out the old blade. I thought that I would have to remove the fence rail to get the blade out. FYI - it isn't in the way. Had to reset and adjust the blocks and bearings again. The original blade was 3/8" wide and this one is 1/2".

1" thick pine

The new test subject - first a rip cut and then resawing.

resaw

The rip cut went off like I expected it too. Quick, fast, and easy. The blade sailed through it like a hot knife through butter. The resaw behaved the same. Compared it to the previous resaw it was like night and day.

smiley face on

Happy with how this resaw went off. I was able to push it though the blade with hand pressure only. With the previous set up I had to use a push stick.

like one I see

Not tapered and that is encouraging. I didn't go nutso keeping pressure up against the fence as I fed the wood through the blade.

sigh

Tapered but not as bad. The board bottom started to kick out away from the fence as I pushed it into the blade. Not as bad as previous trips through the blade and it is obviously a quirk to deal with.

helped

This is the way I have been feeding the stock through the blade. The blade is sharp and I was able to make thin cuts. I didn't try for veneer but a couple of heavy 1/8" cuts.

easy, peasy

I'm done with testing the bandsaw. I'm happy with this final result. All five of them came out with a slight, teeny bit of taper. I can live with this. I'll have to get another blade on order and check YouTube for vids on sharpening bandsaw blades.

shoulda, coulda, woulda, but didn't

I should have swapped out this motor right after I got it. I have had it for over two years but I finally took my head out of my arse and did it.

hmm.....

I see a new lot of mini japanese boxes. I think the first one I'll do is a pencil box. I tried making one of them but it came out short on the length.

cut my hair

I am amazed by how much black hair I still have. I have some graying around the temples but the rest, what little I have, is still dark brown.

done

Three coats on the errant nail box - done. Two coats of tung oil and two coats of hard paste wax on the far four - done. Got the last coat of wax rubbed out after my post lunch stroll.

new pencil box

This one will be a test box. If it goes well I will make two more of them, one each for the grandkids.

checked with a pencil

I didn't check the length of the ID of the first one I made with a pencil. Instead I made the length of the outside the same as the pencil. Forgot to take into account the battens on each end. Oops - couldn't get a pencil in the box.

inset ends

Used super glue to secure the ends. I'm putting 'handles' on this box, they are to the right of the box.

handles

Sized the ends of the handles and the ends and let that dry. After that I applied a second coat and put the box together.

glued, clamped, and cooking

Not sure what nails I'll use on this. The stock is roughly 3/8" thick and I'm leery about using cut brad nails. I have wire brads that may work better and I also have brass 18 gauge nails. I will let this set up overnight and I'll decide what to use in the AM.

accidental woodworker

Standard XX is now complete and is now available for sale via my website. One of the key features of this lovely instrument is that it has been made without the use of any tropical/rainforest hardwoods or animal derived products.

Here’s the video and some photos for you.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers Gary

What a whirlwind of a year it has been so far. There’s been an interesting mix of work for which I’m incredibly grateful. This spring I had some cool furniture commissions, followed by teaching in Kentucky at The Year of Mud once again, as well as a separate trip back home to MN to visit… Read More »Tomobe – Jacking Up Posts

The post Tomobe – Jacking Up Posts appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

I printed shamrocks in three sizes and taped them to the sides. I drilled some large holes in the corners and then cut them out. This pushed the depth of my coping saw. I also have a fret saw with a deeper opening that I used for a couple spots.

tracing through paper to leave impressions that's about as far as it can reach

Prior to carving the edges I took care of the smaller things. I made three rails with curved bottoms. Two for the bottom and one under the top shelf. I also drilled small holes where the pilot holes for the nails will go.

under-shelf support rails pilot holes for pilot holes. pre-pilot holes.

For the sides, I created curves for the top corners by tracing a tomato can, and the bottom edge by tracing a bucket. I also filled in most of the visible bug holes with shellac mixed with sanding dust.

tracing a round object. and I filled those bug holes.

I carved the edges of the shamrocks, mostly with a #7 gouge. This reminded me of a Mary May lesson "Carving a Donut" on reading the grain. When I carve against the grain I can feel it and I can hear it. So there's a lot of changing from left to right handed, or moving to the opposite side of the bench to keep approaching from the right direction.

don't quote me on these

When the two directions meet in the middle of an arch, it's not easy to free the chip. I get little snags and fuzzies.

hard to free the fuzzies

After carving twelve sides of six shamrocks I was about ready to put things together. Not having dados to house the shelves complicated things a little. I marked the edges of the sides for the shelf locations and then clamped it all up. While clamped I drilled proper pilot holes for the nails. I used 1/8" for 40mm nails and 9/64" for 50mm nails.

center lines for shelves dry fit

During this dry fit I noticed that the curved support rail under the top shelf was too wide/tall and was visible through the hole.

that doesn't look good

This was a problem as I had already (titebond genuine hide) glued it to the shelf. I had to unglue it. My method is to use a clothing steamer. After 1-2 minutes I could pull it apart. Rather than ripping the rail narrower I moved it back where it woudn't show.

lock the trigger in the on position I've come undone

Prior to glueing and nailing I hand sanded the visible parts with 180 grit. I did not sand the carved edges, just the flat fields. For glue-up I did one side at a time. I coated the end grain of the shelves with two coats of glue. I set the nails in the sides with their points poking through so they could find their matching pilot holes in the shelves. The lowest, thickest shelf got 50mm nails, all the rest are 40mm.

nails and glue nailed and glued

I still have two curved rails to fit under the bottom shelf, and I will plane the front and back edges of the shelves flush with the sides. Then I will finish it with shellac, though I don't know if I will use a rag or a brush or spray it.

glued and nailed

For several years now, if I needed to route a dado or groove that was less then 1/4" wide, I used a makeshift router plane.  This was nothing more than a block of wood with a 45-ish degree angle on the front end, a 1/8" groove cut into that angled front, and a 1/8" chisel clamped into the groove.

My original small "router plane"

The clamp block holding the chisel in place is a piece of wood screwed to the main block

While this worked well during the infrequent times that I needed it, I always thought it would be nice to have a dedicated tool.  So recently I did something about it.

For the blade, I used an old 5/32" Allen wrench.  The 5/32" dimension is flat to flat, and the dimension from apex to opposite apex is close to 3/16".  The short leg of an Allen wrench has one flat face facing up when standing like an "L", so the 3/16" dimension is horizontal, and that becomes the width of the cutting edge after some filing, grinding and sharpening.

The Allen wrench in cross section

I heated the 90 degree bend to red hot and bent it to more like a 100 degree angle.  This gives a "clearance angle"; it allows the blade to cut a dado without the heel of the blade rubbing on the bottom of the dado.

This shows the approx. 100 deg angle on the Allen wrench

One major concern was about how to hold the blade.  I got a 1/4-20 bolt and tried to drill a hole through it.  Nothing doing!  That bolt must have been some sort of specialty bolt, as it was as hard as kryptonite.  I annealed it and it was still way too hard to drill.  So I got another bolt and that one was far easier to drill, though I found out the 1/4" bolt was too small for a 3/16" hole and I had to go with a 5/16-18 bolt instead.

Punching a center point into the insanely hard bolt

Successful 3/16" hole in a 5/16-18 bolt

Here's how it'll work: Allen key through the hole in the bolt,  nut at rear of the wood block tightens the Allen key to the wood body

I grabbed a chunk of scrap from the bin that just happened to have a 1 1/8" hole bored through it.  About 2/3rds the way up from the bottom of the block, I drilled a 5/16" hole through the back and into the larger hole of the block.  The 5/16" bolt was inserted and a washer and nut placed on the back end.

Also made a groove where the cutter will rest as a sort of "bed"

Made two thumb holes in the back end for a better grip

Then made a large bevel on the top surface (as seen from the right end)

The plane's body is 4" wide, 1 1/8" tall and just over 2 1/8" front-to-back.

Shaping and sharpening the iron was not too tough, but it was tedious.  I filed or ground a flat on the bottom, then filed a bevel on the top.  The diamond plates were used to refine the surfaces and get a nice edge.

Dragging the bottom flat backward on the diamond plate

And sharpening the bevel.  This took a lot of patience.

But I got a good smooth surface on the bevel ...

... and the bottom flat

I finally got a wingnut to tighten the iron in the body - a nice upgrade from a hex nut and wrench to tighten.  A nice project - I'm looking forward to using it when the need arises.

In use cutting a ~3/16" dado

Glamour shot

Back view showing wingnut

And lastly, I made two more smaller irons - one about 7/64" wide and one about 5/64" wide.  It was a challenge sharpening these tiny irons, but they all came out great and work well.

Three small Allen keys became router plane blades

All for now.  Hopefully I'll get back in the flow soon and post more often.  I've been in a woodworking slump for the last couple of months.

 

Front carving mostly done. Mortice and groove the back of the stiles, for the side panels and rails, groove the back of the bottom rail, for the floor boards and then ready to drawbore and join.

 Ta da, the 3 mini japanese toolboxes are done. No drips or any other warts appeared to my eyeballs when I checked the finish on them. Glad to finally put a check mark in the done column. Which works in my favor because my sister is returning home to Indiana a week early. Saves me from having to mail them to her.

only one glamour pic

I have four more of these needing a good home. Asked my two other sisters today at a picnic and both had zero interest in them. They will collect dust in the boneyard until someone adopts them.

the errant nail box

This one is almost done. It needs one more coat of shellac before it is 100%.

cell phone holder

I gave this to my sister Donna. I think it is borderline being too large but for a dedicated purpose it is ok. I had to explain to her how to use it. The notch sailed over her head like a helium filled lead balloon.

quick run to Lowes

Got the correct cord this time. It was only 97 cents a foot and the two conductor switch cord I bought in error yesterday, was $1.12 a foot. Go figure on that one.

they fit

I had no problems getting both cords through the romex connector. No oil and no excessive cursing required to get that done.

wired

 I had plenty of room to fit the wiring without having to squish and flatten it. One last visual check of my wiring before playing with the on/off switch.

$13 male plug

This was a pleasant surprise - the plug lights up when there is juice applied. Wasn't expecting that at all. I like that because it is an indication of power available up to this point.

contact

The moment of truth came and there was much rejoicing and dancing in the streets of Mudville. No sparks, fire, or explosions when I said contact and flipped the switch. The new motor purred liked a content kitty and it sounded a lot better then the 1/2HP original motor.

one last check

Installed the cover the cover and loosely tightened the motor down on the bandsaw. The last check - motor rotation - the blade has to go downwards.

had a 50/50 chance

Big negative on the correct rotation of the motor. The blade is spinning upwards. The odd thing was it was still cutting the test piece of pine both in rip and crosscut. Don't understand that. Maybe it was cutting due to the set of the teeth?

It is simple to reverse the rotation of the motor. All it involves is switching the hot and neutral. That will have to wait until tomorrow because I had to get ready to leave for a picnic. This is the first time all the surviving kids (all four of us) have been together in over 5 years. I'll do the reversal of the wires in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

I believe that no matter the skill level you have as a woodworker, there are going to be times where you will have to take a giant step backwards. This AM I thought I would be putting a check mark in the done column for at least 3 of the japanese toolboxes. Well boys and girls I'm here to say it ain't so. I saw waterfall drips at the corners on all three of the boxes. A real big sigh and more rework after taking the giant step backwards.

waterfall drip work

Sandpaper or steel wool isn't enough alone to remove the drips. First I scrape them off with the mini card scraper. Then I follow that up with a good rubbing with 4-0 steel wool.

Lowes road trip

Bought 8 feet of tool cord, a male plug connector, and some spade connectors.

failed the bounce test

Removed the plastic cord connector and got disappointed that the romex connector didn't fit - about a 1/8" too small. The hole diameter is small and there really isn't much room to enlarge it.

possibility

This is the bottom of the cover and it could work for a romex connector. I may use this if I can't get two cords in the romex connector.

time to enlarge the hole

Before I took this off I wrote down where the wires went. Speaking from experience it can be a nightmare trying to figure out which group combination of 3 wires are.

done

Forgot that I had this step drill. This is my 2nd time using it and the first use in several years. Worked a treat with enlarging this hole - a wee bit too large but it will work.

2nd headache

The hole is too small for two cords too past through it. I drilled out the romex hole with a 5/8" drill bit.

hmm......

It is a tight fit but I'll be able to pass both of them through the hole with a little help. I think if a lube them with a bit of oil I'll be able to pull both of them through.

ugh.....

I had checked this wire before I bought it. I saw two wires and assumed a third one was buried under the paper insulation. This two conductor switch cord. The stuff I want is 3 conductor - one black, white, and green wire. I'll be making another run to Lowes tomorrow.

Checked the waterfall drip boxes in the PM and all of them looked good. All of them now look like they have a finish on them. I will do the final check tomorrow before signing off on them. 

The other four boxes got a 2nd coat of the tung oil finish. Never made it back to the shop after dinner yesterday. Tung oil does not pop at all on pine. It looks the worse on white and becomes a little discernable on darker or figured pine. Either way these last four are getting two coats of tung oil and two coats of the hard paste wax.

accidental woodworker

In England, working on Listed Buildings often needs Listed Building Consent. This is a good thing and means that our heritage buildings are protected from ill-advised building practices by law. Conservation officers are there to advise on best courses of action and help to protect our historic fabric.

Part of the Consent application is providing scale drawings. I was lucky to have been at school at a time when technical drawing was still taught. Technical drawing as a separate subject in English schools was merged into the larger Design and Technology national curriculum in 1989, which was a great shame I think. I have used CAD software, but still get great pleasure from producing measured drawings by hand.

I was good with more academic subjects also (I was being pushed in the direction of becoming an architect), but my favourites were Art and technical drawing. When I finally went to college it wasn't Architecture but 3D design(Exhibition Design) with stage and Museum design, that I studied. Lots of opportunities for visualization, modelmaking and more drawing. We had fantastic workshops at college, and I was able to explore my love for woodworking, metalworking and sculpture. I delved quite deep into lots of woodworking traditions, and more often than not I could be found in the workshops, not the design studio.

Later on I got into framing and carpentry and building; I am glad I took the more practical route; understanding buildings from actually building them, working on them and caring for them. It gives you knowledge, which you just can't get from Architecture college, and hours spent in front of some CAD program. Yet again, doing things by hand, you notice things which machines and computers get in the way of. Stuff Artificial Intelligence, give me real Knowledge any day.

And a hand drawn drawing....

37C

Came close but peaked at a two digit value. Sweltering with an oppressive, wet blanket slap to the face humidity. It was uncomfortable doing the post lunch stroll today and I cut it short with a shortcut on the return trip to the barn.

Mr Darcy

He turned 18 this year and has been an indoor cat since we took him home from the animal shelter. He usually jumps up on this chair around 0700 and doesn't stir until dinner time which is around 1700. He is oblivious to the heat.

nope

I have 4 coats of the hard paste wax on these and nada. It looks like bare wood to my eye. Using the hard wax only on eastern white pine is a bust. I want some kind of indication that there is a finish applied.

shellac

I know that you can use shellac over wax because Don Williams finishing DVD told me I can. This is the second time I've applied shellac over a wax. The appearance of a finish was evident after the first coat of shellac. Three coats and I'm calling these done.

next four

These will get hard paste wax too but first they will get two coats of tung oil.

done, almost

Got three coats of shellac on them and once that is dry, I can call it 100% done. My sister said she is giving these to her grandkids for xmas this year. Plenty of time to the shellac to set and harden.

 The box at the top right is the one with the errant nail. It is getting three coats of shellac then a check mark in the done column. I'll keep this one for me to use in the shop somewhere.

one coat of tung oil

First one on post lunch stroll. The second coat might go on after dinner. Don't know what I'll use these for and I'm already thinking ahead to another run. Those I will make a little differently by putting in 'handles'.

 I didn't make the Lowes run this AM. Inside I ran a couple of errands and after them I went to the shop forgetting all about it. Good thing no one is holding a gun to my head, I'll try doing it tomorrow AM.

accidental woodworker 

So, in the little free time that I seem to have these days, I’ve been building the obligatory dining room table. It’s to be in solid red oak, a no-leaf design, and fairly large: about 7′ long. (That’s roughly 2100mm for those who measure in sensible.)

Lengths that long make things unfortunate. I’m not using really thick stock, so there will be battens and such underneath to keep things straight, but just finding clear boards that aren’t excessively bowed has been a problem. In any case, I’m getting somewhere:

Now, the length introduces another problem, that when edge-joining, you’re going to have a really hard time getting everything to line up. Even if you were somehow to find perfectly straight boards, they start flexing around a bit at that length, so managing it is annoying.

There are several ways around this, such as creating index battens to clamp to the faces while gluing up, but in the end, I’ve decided just to index with inserts. In this case, sort of small loose tenon things, and matching mortises for them to fit in.

Even though I recently bought a mortiser (blasphemy, I know), this stuff is so hard to manage that I decided that it would just be easier to do it by hand. And since I wasn’t really in the mood to whack it out with my normal mortise chisels, I went for the old “clamp a guide to the face” method:

Essentially, mark the edge away from the face with a marking gauge, clamp on the guide/jig/whatever, drill out most of the waste (a brad-point bit is helpful in this small size), and excavate with the chisel up against the guide. It’s surprisingly quick.

When finished, a board looks like this:

I don’t bother to put much (if any) glue to affix the loose tenons during glue-up because it’s a hectic time, and the edge-glue joint all around is much stronger anyway. But it really does help tremendously to keep everything behaved while getting the work in the clamps without worrying about if things are flopping around or sliding into the wrong place. Sometimes I’ll also put small F-clamps over the very ends to bring those into alignment, if necessary.

This is one of those times when you are tempted to buy a biscuit joiner or something like that because it might save a little bit of time (or at least seem easier), but I really don’t want to buy another tool. (I guess I have a doweling jig for some reason, but dowels make me go meh.) And really, preparing the faces and edges has been the most time-consuming thing in this project anyway. So far.

But I do wish it were as easy as the smaller table tops that you can just slap together all in one shot.

going for it

No balls, no blue chips I say. Jumped into nailing off the top battens willing to risk any splitting. Besides, nailing off the top will strengthen the box's butt joinery.

sigh

First box and I got a few tiny splits on 3 of 4 of the end nails. I also got 2 splits on the center nails. But it could have been worse and I can live with the teeny splits.

this sucks

Wasn't expecting this to happen. The nail appeared to go in straight, in the middle of the end, but it came out at an angle.

lid fits in spite of it

At least the nail isn't interfering with the lid fitting. The lid still fits in both orientations too.

simple layout

I could have eyeballed it but the ruler wasn't in the way and stayed while I drilled the holes.

side trip

The fence company dropped two fence pickets off. 3 pickets were loose and I was able to nail them back in place. I got permission from my next door neighbor to walk behind her fence to get to mine and put the two new ones in. I used screws instead of nails. The fence company used what looked like aluminum spiral nails - thin and flimsy looking. They certainly pulled out easy as can be - nothing like pulling spiral nails I have dealt with before.

done

Nailed off the remaining 5 boxes. Doing it with brass nails didn't register until I was done using the cut nails.

replacement box

This is the replacement for the box with the errant nail. I tried to back it out but it wasn't happening. I don't want to chance some young fingers accidentally getting stabbed by it. Got the first coat of the hard paste wax on it. Two more to go and it can join the other 2.

I got a third coat on all of the original 3 boxes. The final coat I rubbed on a thin coat, waited 15 minutes, and buffed them with a face cloth. I didn't bother with the soft or hard buffing pads. They weren't making any difference with the look of the finish.

hmm.....

Two cords for this 1/2HP motor. One is the line cord and the other is for the on/off switch. I want to reuse the on/off switch on the 3/4HP motor. Should be doable without wasting too many calories.

this sucks pond scum

The switch and the line cords are soldered - not crimped or wire nutted together. That will make reusing this motor a wee bit involved, ie, soldering a new on/off switch. I left the wires I snipped long so I will be able to figure out how to do that.
 

old line cord

This one has had the snot beat out of it. It still works but definitely not OSHA approved. I'll have to buy a new cord at Lowes - I think they still sell line cord by the foot. This one is a few inches over 8 feet long.

hiccup

I'll have to wire the motor and switch before I secure the motor on the bandsaw. This cover will be up close and personal with the bottom frame of the bandsaw.

hmm....

This deserves a bit more than a 'hmm....'. I need to feed in two cords and that isn't going to happen. There isn't enough room for that. 

might work

There isn't a lot of extra real estate to put in a 2nd opening for a cable clamp. I'll remove this one and check if a romex clamp will fit. I should be able to get two cords in that with no problems. I don't have a good way of securing the two cords this way. And there is zero strain relief not mention it would be easy ingress for sawdust from the bandsaw.

I'll make a road trip to Lowes first thing in the AM. I rely on the bandsaw too much to have it unavailable to use. No turning back now because I can't readily swap 1/2HP motor back in service.

accidental woodworker 

Applying the finish to 3 of the mini japanese tool boxes. I am using the hard wax paste only - no hard wax oil(?) as the first coat . I am also experimenting with it on these boxes. If it works out, I'll use the same method on the remaining 5 boxes. 

the 3 I picked

These aren't totally wart free but they are the best looking of the 8. These are the ones I'm giving to Donna on sunday.

ready for hard wax paste

The finish feels dry - it also feels smooth to the touch all over.

hmm....

Got the first coat on and it doesn't look like any finish has been applied. This is what I saw too on the other mini japanese toolboxes I made. I guessing that this will take a minimum of 3 coats before I have a warm and fuzzy with it.

looks different

There is a slight difference in the look. Not the shine of a shellac finish, but nonetheless you can tell there is a finish applied. Not sure at this point if I'll apply another coat or not.

the experiment starts here

I bought these buffing pads a couple of years ago and only tried the soft buffing pad once. I wasn't happy with how it worked - I didn't see any difference in the finish post application.

The other pads to the right I don't remember anything about them. I'm not sure if each color is a different grit or denoting an order in which they are used. Other then the color of them, they all look and feel exactly the same.

I tried the soft pad on the cell phone holder hoping to raise a higher sheen but the overall matte finish stayed the same. The only hiccup I had was the sander spit a ton of fine dust all over it. Wiped it off with a face cloth I use as shop rags.

trying a hard pad

It had been about 10 minutes after applying the hard wax to these boxes. The pad definitely made the boxes feel a lot smoother. I didn't detect a discernable change in the sheen but I have few more applications to go. On the next one I plan to apply the wax and immediately buff it with the hard pad. The last one I apply I will buff out with the soft pad.

it is not happening

Buffed out the bottom box (one coat) and the top one just has one coat too -not buffed out. Can't see a difference and I doubt I will. I think that the best I'll get is a matte finish that may shimmer a wee bit in raking light. However, on the bottom box I can feel a difference. It is much smoother feeling to the touch vice the top one. The top one I applied the wax and wiped it down after 10 minutes or so. It feels smooth but not as like the bottom box.

came today

Lee Valley said these would take 7-10 days to come in. Took only 4 days. I've been tossing around in the brain bucket whether or not to nail off the top end battens on the boxes. On one hand I don't want to risk a split at this stage of the build. On the other hand, the top battens being nailed off would match the side nails. It is a toss of the coin decision with film and updates on the 11 o'clock news tomorrow.

This is all I got done today, all in the AM session. My wife's sister came to Rhode Island from New York like she does every summer. That is where I spent my PM time. I want to go see her home for a weekend maybe in september. I have a had hankering to go to the Stewart's gas station by her house for a coffee and a muffin.

accidental woodworker 

 

cooked overnight

Since I was relying only on glue to secure the fixed batten I left them clamped overnight. All of them felt secure and rock solid when I checked them.

still fits

Had my fingers crossed that the fixed battens hadn't slipped when I clamped them.

nope

This one must have slipped a wee bit. There is a gap and the alignment between the sliding and fixed battens was slightly skewed. I tried to plane it to fit but all I did was to make it too loose. 

lid is now too long

I had to trim an 1/8" off the lid before it fit again. Checked to ensure that it fit in either orientation.

nope

This sliding batten isn't fitting so well neither. I made another one and after fussing with it for bazillion years, I gave it flying lessons. Then I got lucky when one of the oops sets I made yesterday fit. Smilely face on.

back to the first one

I didn't get lucky with an oops sliding batten fitting. The first replacement and the 2nd one didn't fit. The fixed one had slipped and it was wrecking havoc trying to get a new one to fit. The problem was the fixed one wasn't square to the larger fixed batten on the top of the box. Had to deal with a double compound angle for the replacement batten.

removed the fixed one

I tried making 3 new ones and had 3 failures. I was getting a good alignment but the fit was too loose. All 3 I was able to push out all the way across the lid. Zero resistance in spite of it looking good. Bit the bullet and knocked off the original batten.

clean

This came out way better than I thought it would. Got a nice clean, smooth surface to glue the new fixed batten to. Used the last oops batten set on this lid. Glued, clamped, and set it aside to cook.

done

Sharpened and honed with RML shavings spitting out of each one. Finally feeling comfortable with my sharpening methods. I am getting consistent results with each and every iron I sharpen.

waiting on one

Got these 7 done. Battens trimmed, sliding ones fitted, lids fitted both ways, they are ready for finish.

ta da

I only need 3 of these to give to my sister Donna for her son's kids. I'll pick the best 3 and give them to her. Finished the last box after my post lunch stroll. I didn't see a lot of difference (time/effort) in making 8 at a time vice just 3.

hmm.....

I bought a 3/4 HP motor to replace the 1/2 HP motor the bandsaw came with well over a year ago. I didn't have anything else on the dinner plate so I thought I would check out things. The center line of the shaft on the 1/2 HP and 3/4 HP motor matched. I wanted to check the size of the key next.

nice surprise

The key off the 1/2 HP matches the 3/4 HP within a thousandth. I was expecting the 3/4 motor's key to be metric (it might be metric?). But it matched and so far the swap out was looking favorable.

layout fluid?

This 'blue' key swapped out into the 1/2 HP motor and vice versa. 

wee bit of a hiccup

Initially the pulley wouldn't fit on the 3/4 HP motor. It would only engage about an 1/8" on the shaft and key. I sanded four sides of the key on 400 grit sandpaper and then the pulley slipped on easily.

feeling better about this

The pulley slipped on easily with hand pressure. There was almost zero slop. I think I'll be able to swap this out in a few hours. The only potential speed bump(s) will be wiring the existing on/off switch and getting the correct rotation of the motor.

finish is next

Branded all the boxes and no hesitation on what the finish I'll use. It is going to be the same finish I used on the cell phone holder.

accidental woodworker

 Made a lot of progress on the boxes. I'm 99% done with the woodworking. Tomorrow I should be done with fitting the last of the lids. Just a few minor hiccups to deal with and I'll be ready to slap some finish on them.

last coat

It has been a few days since the last application. Knowing when this is dry is/was not easy for me to figure out. That is why I waited so many days between coats. This was the 4th and final coat I'm applying. I'll wait a couple of days and slap on some wax. Fini.

first lid

One done and 7 to go. Still have time to decide on how long to leave the sliding batten.

sliding and fixed battens

Making the sliding and fixed battens in two pieces. These 8 are the fixed ones.

sliding battens

The sliding battens are 2 inches longer than the fixed ones.

jig

I thought of this while sawing out the battens. This jig is used on the bandsaw which should be easier than the hand sawing jig I made before this one.

jig 1.a

The previous jig worked but it was difficult and awkward holding the stock while pushing it through the blade. This is better and supports both the piece I want and the offcut (no offcut support on jig #1). And as a bonus I used it to saw both the short and long ones. 

 

sigh......

Sigh again and again. I went zero for eight on this first round of battens. Trying to plane the opposite angles kicked my arse, slapped me upside my head, and made me feel as smart as a box of pointy rocks.

I should rephrase this because I did manage two sets. However, they were so thin that they were useless. First round flushed down the toilet and on to round #2.

8 for 14

Finally got round two done with 8 sets. I only needed 7 but I wanted at one extra for an oops. What was so frustrating was eyeballing how to plane the opposing angles and plane it wrong not once, not twice, not three times in a row, but 4 times before getting it correct. I repeated these steps once more again. The taper and the compound angle won a couple of battles but I finally won the war.

trimming

Used my 1/2" Record to thin the 1/4" lip - it wouldn't slip under the fixed batten on this end. I had to wash, rinse, and repeat for all 8 lids.

first lid fixed batten

I left the fixed battens proud and I'll trim them to length after the glue has set.

love this glue bottle

I thought this tiny hole would be a ROYAL PITA but it ain't so boys and girls. A tiny bit of glue build up on the outside of the tip but nothing like on the Titebond glue bottles. I like the small controlled amount of glue that this tip dispenses and so far no headaches or hiccups. If needed I have another glue bottle that has bigger tips.

why it doesn't clog

This drains efficiently and doesn't clog. At least it hasn't so in the month or so of use with me.

2nd part

This wide openings help with the glue draining back from the tip into the bottom.

silicone?

There is no way that the glue will ever touch the threads on the bottom. The top part mates into the inside opening of the bottom. A lot of thought went into this glue dispenser. I think I'm falling in love with it.

hmm....

I won't be able to flush the overhang on the battens because of the gap between the lid and the box. The lid can shift from side to side so I'll have to guess-ta-mate the best I can with it.

for tomorrow

I was going to sharpen these two blades but it was after 1500 and past quitting time. Cleaned the pine pitch and bits and pieces stuck on the bevel with paint thinner. These two blockplanes - LN 102 and LN 60 1/2 - are my favorites. I usually reach for them before a bench plane. 

Noticed that Lie Nielsen is selling a standard angle blockplane again. An iron version of the Stanley 103 along with an iron version Stanley 102. I have the LN 103 and LN 9 1/2(?) standard angle that they no longer sell/make. I rarely use either one of these anymore.

accidental woodworker

Around fifteen months ago, maybe a month after published my last post on this account, I found out that even Captain America isn’t invincible. It was a pretty tough year, and I will leave it at that.

In the meanwhile, I made a few changes. My table saw is gone, not for philosophical reasons, but because it was too large and heavy for me to continue to use, and it was taking up valuable space in my garage. I gave away around half of my woodworking hand tools, and I may give away more, and perhaps I may even sell a few. This is not to say that I have given up on woodworking…far from it. I still have enough tools to make most of the things out of wood that I may want to make now or in the future. But for the past year I have done very little in the way of furniture making or tool restoration, save for some basic upkeep such as cleaning and sharpening. For that reason, I have not written a blog post about woodworking, or tools, in quite a long time.

The last post I wrote on this blog, which apparently detailed my attempts at restoring a vintage leather tool pouch, ironically had a mostly happy ending. I remember spending weeks trying to get that old pouch cleaned up and looking decent again. While the appearance aspect wasn’t crazy difficult, getting the funky smell out of it was a challenge to say the least. I scrubbed it with saddle soap a half dozen times. I placed teabags inside of the pockets and let them sit for a few weeks….I then placed homemade baking soda teabags inside the pockets and let them sit for a few weeks more. I used odor reducing sprays specially designed for leather. All of my efforts were only partially successful.

Eventually I patched the holes in the pouch, not perfectly I will add, but enough to where they are not noticeable. At some point in April of 2024, I hung the pouch in an open window in my garage to continue to air it out…then things happened that caused me to forget about it….and there it sat, dangling for almost seven months. Strangely enough, the open window treatment did the trick, and the pouch no longer has any odor at all, save for the faint scent of a few coats of mink oil, which I added when I was satisfied that the pouch was as clean as I could possibly achieve.

So I may attempt a blog post or two over the next few months. I’ve been messing around a little here and there, trying to get back into the swing of things. I made a few boxes…just to see if I still had it…and I was disappointed in some ways, and happy in others. Like sitting down at the piano for the first time in a long time, or picking up a guitar after many years, it will likely be quite a while before I feel somewhat comfortable again. But before I do anything in earnest, I will have to reorganize my garage to make it conducive to using woodworking tools again, because right now it is not even close. Until then, I am still here, a little worse for wear, but still here.