General Woodworking

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

day off.....

Accidental Woodworker -

 Decided to take a day off. Well a partial day off from the shop. My back felt pretty much the same as it did the day before. On a bright note, the back did feel better at around 1500. I got 2 stints in the workshop today spending roughly 45 minutes to hour each time. I spent most of today trying not to move much, watching You Tube, and reading. I'll give the back a few more days to calm down and slowly ease back into my regular schedule. Or that is the grand plan in Disneyland.

 not fully seated

The tail/pin fit on this 5" single drawer is better than the last one. I still am having issues with the half pins not being 100% tight and gap free. On this drawer I went 3 for 4 being gap free. I checked the fit of the tails in the pins but didn't seat them fully. I was just trying to get an idea of the fit and also to minimize the number of times I seated and unseated the tails/pins.

 hmm......

I'm not particularly fond of socket chisels and this one ain't helping me change my opinion of them. No matter how hard or how many times I reset the handle, it loosens up. Usually right in the middle of me doing a delicate paring cut with them. I remember Chris S writing the spraying the handle with hair spray helps.

 $3.99

There aren't a lot of hair spray choices in the drug stores anymore. There were only 4-5 brands on the shelf at CVS and this was the cheapest one. It worked and it worked well. Got an instant grab and bonding and when I killed the lights they were still tight and together. I wonder what the shelf life of this is?

 getting the back measurement

This was basically all I managed to get done today. Used the pinch rods to keep the inside dimension at the back the same as it was at the front. 

 glued and cooking

I thought I would get the slips sawn to rough length but it didn't happen. Tomorrow the plan is to get the two 5" dual drawers glued and cooking.

 xmas gift

I got this book from daughter #1 and I like cookbooks like this. I am ok with them just having recipes but this also has history, trivia, and tells stories about the recipes.

 a little bit of everything

I'm italian from my father's side (german/dutch on my mother's side) and it is the cuisine that I grew up on. IMO there is nothing like a meal from your childhood to warm up  your heart with fond memories. This cookbook has everything from veggies to pasta to meat to desserts. It will take me a while to slog my way through this book.

 xmas gift to me

I got this book off the Timeless Tools and Treasures site for cheap. I like reading history books about tools.

 another xmas gift

When I first saw the title of this book I kind of dismissed it. I thought it was a philosophical book on what makes the sun rise in the east. Turns out it isn't and it is about 7 inventions that everyone takes for granted today.

 7 wonders

I read the chapter on the nail today. Made me appreciate that humble, insignificant piece of metal so much more. I probably could have read more but I binged watched the last episodes of the Dresden Detectives. I highly recommend them (they're on PBS) if you like police crime dramas. Cops are the same world wide but how they go about policing is different. Makes it interesting especially so when the acting is top notch.

accidental woodworker

back pain......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Last night I went back to the shop after dinner but I didn't get anything done. I bent over to pick the drawer and my back threw a massive hissy fit. That was it for me and it took me a few to straighten up. I spent the remainder of the night binge watching German police dramas with english subtitles. I watched all the available Luna and Sophie ones and found a new one called Dresden Detectives. This one is longer, grittier, and more intense than Luna and Sophie. I have quite a few of them to watch yet.

This AM getting out of bed, or rather trying to get vertical, went off like a Benny Hill routine. I am restricted in what OTC pills I can take for my arthritis but I can take Tylenol but it didn't do much to help. As long as I didn't move too much or bend over I was ok. Things with the back usually loosen up and improve as the day goes on but today it didn't seem to want to flow that way.

 survived picking them up

Things weren't going swimmingly in the shop this AM. I really wanted to get all the 4" drawers done and get the single 5" drawer glued up. Spoiler alert - it didn't happen boys and girls. Started with getting the slips glued in the left drawer.

 didn't forget

I got the round overs on the slips done before I glued them in. Rounding over the over the other dual drawer didn't come out as nice (forgot to do that before gluing them in). The round over is much smaller due to me only using sandpaper to knock the arris off.

 bottoms fitted

I am installing the drawer bottoms with no glue. Just 3 nails at the back for the dual drawers and 5 on the single ones.

 last one

I almost didn't finish this. Bending slightly to saw the pin sockets sucked pond scum. I had to squat more then bend over to saw them. I thought of using my moxon vise but that didn't happen. Hurt too much bending over to retrieve it and the pain doubled when I tried to pick it up. Moxon vise 1, me Zero.

You can see the double gauge line on the pin board. That is from the tite mark slipping on me. I caught it because the gauge line was too close to the middle of the end. Most of it will disappear when I remove the pin waste.

 last reason to kill the lights

Chopping the pin waste wasn't that bad. As long as I kept the board close to front edge of the bench to chop it. I ran the gauge line for the back dado on the wrong face. I caught that potential hiccup when I was laying out the opposite line.

All that is left to do on the front drawer is to clean out the pin sockets, chop the back dadoes, and glue it up.

 off the saw horses

I had the drawers in the boneyard and it dawned me to keep them where they will live. Hoping that tomorrow I feel better than I did today.

accidental woodworker

more drawer making pt V......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Two days left in december and still no snow in my part of the universe. Not that I'm complaining but I have seen on You Tube vids where there is snow falling elsewhere. Just musing out loud when I'll be getting up to seeing a white blanket. There isn't any snow in the forecast neither. Day time temps are running 3-5 degrees higher than normal with overnight temps below freezing. The ten day forecast has sunny and cloudy days - no snow but some rain.

 first 4" dual drawer

This drawer took me a little over two hours to do. When I first came to the shop I made the remainder of drawer slips I needed first thing. That took about 15 minutes and the rest of the time till the lunch bell rang was doing this drawer. 

 after lunch

The plan was to get the 2nd 4" dual drawer glued up along with the 5" single drawer. The first 4" drawer is glued and cooking on the deck .

 senior moment

I forgot that I had sawn the back to width before lunch. After lunch I came to shop and sawed the back again to account for the drawer slip. I could have used it but it looked too ugly to my eye. I had an extra 4" drawer part that I sawed a new back from.

 big oops

Not only did I forget to sweeten the miter on the left side slip, I doubled down on that by not rounding over the top edge of all the slips. I'll have to try and knock the square edge with 80 grit paper first followed up 150 to smooth it out.

5" single drawer

In light of my couple of me-steaks today (there were a couple of minor gaffes) I thought it best to kill the lights here. I briefly went into panic mode thinking I had lost a part. When I was marking the boards I lost one of the screws for the mini tite mark I using. I had to sweep the floor and after sifting through the dust pan I found it. It was after 1500 by then and I got a book I ordered in the mail today I want to start reading.

After this adventure I found that the tite mark had slipped and my gauge lines on the front and the left sides were off. Corrected that and laid down new gauge lines which fortunately were ahead of the errant ones.

After dinner I went back to the shop and glued in the slips on the 2nd 4" drawer. Once the bottoms are fitted and the drawer planed to fit the openings, I'll have 2 banks of the 5 drawers done.

accidental woodworker

time to celebrate.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 It is 99.9% official - my mortgage is finally paid off. I'll get the last 0.1% when I get the deed in the mail. It took the bank 3 days to post my payment and for them to post the refund to my checking account. I still don't understand the refund but I'm not arguing with them about it. The bank ain't going to give me any money that they could have any possibility of keeping. It was a nice feeling to see all zeroes in every category on the mortgage statement page. 

To celebrate my wife and I went out to lunch at Gregg's. Today was friday but I didn't have fish 'n chips. Instead I bucked the system and had a hamburger with grilled onions and mushrooms. I washed that down with 3 glasses of diet coke. There are 3 things that the doc said I should avoid - carbonated drinks, caffeine, and alcohol. But today was special as I don't anticipate having to pay down another mortgage again.

 one down, one to go

No hiccups with either of the drawers. I don't think I'll have any problems with just white glue keeping the slips where they belong.

 paid attention

I was worried that I would screw this up and get the sapwood low and high. Ten years ago I wouldn't have thought to have the grain run R to L. With the sapwood streaks this would look like crap if it didn't flow R to L or L to R.

 measuring sticks

Not a good space to try and use a measuring tape/rule. I have a ton of these scraps of pine to use and FYI they are almost impossible to screw up. The other drawer bottom is about an 1/8" wider. I couldn't see any difference in the drawer fronts though.

 I almost wet myself

I was so happy with this that I could have wet myself repeatedly without caring. The gap on the bottom of the single drawer is a pencil line. Yeah. I thought it was a dreaded gap. The two dual drawers look fantastic. I planed them till they fit in their openings. Since this is winter and contraction season, I'll have to plane a gap on the top of these along with a wee bit on the sides.

 almost an oops

Before I can glue up the 4" single drawer I have to make the drawer slips for it. I need the slips made so I know how much of the back bottom I have to saw off.

 better than I expected

I had visions of a total horror show gluing this up square. I was expecting to have to use a clamp diagonally to hold it square. Before I glued it up I was tempted to use hide glue for this but opted for white instead. The white glue sets up quicker and the thought was I could get it squared up and hold it and it would set/hold quicker then hide glue would. I got and kept it square by shifting/skewing the clamps.

 dry fit

The drawer had been clamped for several hours by the time I got the slips dry fitted. My wife and I went out and did a drive around after lunch. Got back to the shop late for the PM session. 

 fingers crossed

My track record for following labels isn't that good. I doubt my batting average for it is in double digits. I labeled this the same way I do for through dovetails and I do pretty good with paying attention to that labeling. Hopefully the X will spark something in my brain bucket.

 4" single drawer

I thought I would have gotten all three of the 4" drawers at least glued up today  but that didn't happen. I am ok with just the single being done.

 4" dual drawer sides

The goal for tomorrow is to finish these two and get the 5" single drawer made and fitted.

accidental woodworker

making drawers pt III......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Got confirmation that I ain't making 3 drawers a day. I'm going out on a limb and saying 2 days maybe 2 1/2 days now. And that is just gluing the drawers up. Fitting them to their respective openings will come after I do all 15 drawers. There is no rush on this and probably won't go to Amanda until maybe spring at the earliest. I already have a couple of projects in mind after the dresser is done. One of them is a small table to put the Keurig coffee maker on along with storage for K cups.

 patch set up

I had thought of doing the patch so its grain was 90 to the side. Instead the patch's grain runs the same as the side.

 it is square

I made the dado 3/16" deep which left a 1/8" web between the new dado and the patch. I had to trim the length of the back by a strong 16th to square between the sides.

 the patch

I got a tight, snug fit with the patch. I entertained moving the dado back and forward. I was concerned about the strength and integrity of the side if I made a new dado directly opposite the patch. It is strong and I tried to break the side with my hands at the patch and nada. I think it will be ok as drawer side.

 changed the knobs

I couldn't get past how huge the knobs looked like on the bottom 3 drawers. I also changed the knobs for the top 3 drawers. They didn't fit the scale of those drawers. The first two banks have the same size knobs with the 3rd set of drawers going up in size. The last two banks have the same size too - those are 1 1/4". They are the only sizes I know for sure. I did the knob sizing by eye.

 dry fitting the slips

While the dual drawers are cooking I rough fitted the slips. After the drawers had cooked for a few hours I glued in the slips.

 two glued and cooking

The drawer is too small to glue in all 3 slips at once. I glued in the front first and after 20 minutes I glued in one side slip.

 next single drawer

I laid out this drawer without any double knifing. Feels kind of strange not doing tails on both ends of the side boards.

 pin board

I don't over saw my half blinds. I personally don't like the over cut saw kerfs below the baselines. I tried it once and I didn't see a huge difference between my way and over sawing them.

 getting better

I tightened up the tails in the pin sockets and made improvements in the half pins. Still not gap free (left half pin) but I'll take this. The tails/pins are getting better with each drawer I do.

 even better

These tails/pins look good. The half pins are closing up and fingers crossed that I continue on down this road with the remaining 11 drawers.

 fitting the back

I set the pinch rods (at the back) to the inside distance at the front. The thin scrap is the 'measuring stick' so I don't confuse myself reading a tape measure. I double triple checked the stick a bazillion times to make sure there weren't any stray pencil marks on it before using it.

 back fitted

This is a dry fit and I didn't get this drawer glued and cooking today. This drawer is going to bite me on the arse come glue up time. I spent several frustrating minutes trying to square this up dry. I gave trying to square it from the outside corners and switched to inside corners. I will have to clamp this diagonally to hold it square because dry it would slowly move out of square.

 doesn't fit

The last time I did inset drawers they didn't come out to my liking. The drawers came out loose and with uneven margins. So far having it oversized has helped with the fitting. The first single drawer at the top is the best fit I've gotten on a inset drawer. Like everything else in life and woodworking, you have to put the time in on the pond.

 opposite side slips

Glued up the last two side slips on the dual drawers. Tomorrow I'll fit the bottoms and rough plane them to fit their respective drawer openings.

Killed the lights here but I made good progress on the drawers today. I'm hoping that I can get two bottoms out of one single drawer bottom. I think I can as the dual drawers combined aren't as wide as a single drawer.

accidental woodworker

making drawers......

Accidental Woodworker -

 It would seem that my estimate for making these drawers was overly optimistic. 3 days into it and I only have one drawer finished. I thought I would be able to knock out 3 a day but that ain't happening. I might get close to that when I get to the last 3 though. We'll have to wait and see what shakes out.

 in my favor

I got confused with what to mark on which board again. In the end it turned out in my favor - the bottom knife line is the one I needed.

 first single drawer glued up

Used white glue on this and I had to fiddle with it a bit to get it square. I got it to be less than a 16th and called it done.

 dry fitting the slips

I left the right side slip long. I will do the final length on that after I get the opposite side and front slips glued  in place. I planed and sanded a small round over on the tops of the slips to remove the square arris.

 gap

When I first started doing through dovetails, I had a hard time getting my half pins to close up. I'm having the same headache with my half blinds so far.

 left dual drawer

The sides are barely a snug fit and the drawer front wouldn't go any further than this. I was expecting this and I will plane it to fit after it has been glued and cooked.

 single fitted

On the dry fit the drawer dropped into the opening ok. After being glued and cooked the side to side was too much. Took a few dance steps with a plane before I got it to fit. Not happy with the gap on the drawer. The gap on the bottom is what I wanted to be on the top. I haven't planed the drawer front yet and I'll hold off on it until I get the two dual drawers done.

 Lowes luan plywood

I think the price of this came down. I'm pretty sure the last quarter sheet I bought was $17 - today it was 12 and change. I wanted to buy a 1/2 sheet but they didn't have any. After Lowes I had to run a few more errands and I didn't get back to the shop until the PM session.

 slips cooking

The pieces of plywood are to keep the slips aligned while the glue sets.

 still confused

Still don't have a handle on what knife line gets struck on which board. The rabbet I am doing on the sides ain't helping to keep it straight neither. I have 12 more drawers to try and make it muscle memory.

I have all the dovetailing done on the first 3 drawers. All of them have one or more gaps on the half pins. My goal is to have them all look like the right one. The left one has a gap but it is closing up.

 first oops

Plowed the dado on the wrong face of the side. I didn't mark it and I was thinking ten steps ahead of this when I plowed it. 

 not symmetrical

Even though I laid them out the same - half pins 5/16" and a 1/4" space between the tails. With the side flipped 180 they tails/pins don't line up. 

 gaps on everything

The only part of this that doesn't have gaps are the tail slopes. It is still self supporting so maybe the glue will swell and close it up some more.

 doesn't fit

At least this part of the fitting is behaving as expected. Now that I can see the dual drawers, I'm liking the size. I wasn't sure that these would be large enough for clothes. This is the 3" drawer and the other four increase in height.

 I had an extra

I had a spare side for the 3" drawers and knifed the mistake one onto it.

 )_^*&^$%&*@_)%*_@

This  confirms that I shouldn't be allowed to have sharp, pointy objects to play with. A big X on the face to plow the dado, and the idiot that I am, I plowed it on the opposite face. Had the same headache with the tails not being symmetrical so I couldn't.....

 it got flying lessons

 Along with free flight lessons I also introduced it to Mr Lally Column. This is/was the replacement side now made partially suitable for kindling.

 the original side

Glued in a dutchman in the errant dado and I'll let it set up until tomorrow. As of now the plan is to plow a shallower dado on the correct face - 1/8 to 3/16" deep. Another option fighting to get my attention is to fill in the dado on the other side and plow two new dadoes closer to the back.

 the single drawer

Got the bottom fitted but not glued in the slips. I wanted to end the PM session on a positive note. The size of the bottom is 12 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches. Not a multiple that will yield multiple bottoms from a quarter or 1/2 sheet of plywood. I will only get one bottom from the piece of plywood I had in the shop and 6 bottoms from the two quarter sheets I bought from Lowes today.

 still fits

It isn't going to take much plane work to sweeten up the margins on this drawer. Inset drawers look better to my eye than overlay ones. I think the extra calorie count is worth it.

 thinking out loud

I have five banks of drawers and 5 different size shaker knobs. I have enough knobs of one size to do all 15 and I'll have to think on that. I don't particularly like the 3 largest knobs for the bottom 3 drawers. I also don't have a warm and fuzzy about the 3 smallest ones - they appear to be too small. Sounds like the three bears and Goldilocks. Plenty of time to think about it.

accidental woodworker

Small Dresser 1

JKM Woodworking -

After thinking about my next project I decided on a small dresser. I tried to read the difference between a dresser and a chest of drawers, but that was a waste of time.

The focus is on ‘small’ for a few reasons. First is my kids already have dressers, so this is just extra storage space. Also I plan to make full size dressers in the future, so this can be practice. Lastly I am trying to use my current stock of wood without having to go to the lumberyard. I like the lumberyard but going there and back is an all day affair.

sycamore

My most plentiful wood is poplar and I have a few sycamore boards waiting for a project. So the plan is poplar sides and top with sycamore drawer fronts. I’m not sure if that’s a good pairing, but if I don’t like it I can always paint the poplar.

At first I was worried I didn’t have leg pieces at 1.5″ or more thick. Then I saw some C. Becksvoort pictures where he used thinner boards on the sides with a toekick, not needing thick legs.

“plans”

I spent time drawing and measuring but at some point had to get started. I tried to limit the height to around 28″ so it could fit under a window. I only had four sycamore boards, which limited the number of drawers. And the shortest sycamore board was 32″ long, which limited the width.

There are a couple issues working with the sycamore. One is that not all sections have the desirable speckling. Another is that there is an obvious change from sapwood to heartwood. I thought about ripping them into pieces of only sapwood and only heartwood, but that would make them too narrow. I decided to orient them so matching colors would be adjacent to each other. I thought that would look nicer than each drawer having sapwood at the top and heartwood at the bottom.

sycamore lined up

The first step would be to crosscut poplar for the top and sides. I had one piece of poplar already 37″, so cut two other pieces to match.

poplar top pieces

Between high spots, low spots, and not-square edges, jointing took longer than I expected.

jointing edges
looking for no light between plane and board

When satisfied, I glued with Titebond III glue and clamped overnight.

top, ready for glue

The next day I made two sides by the same routine. The top I made oversize, knowing I might rip a few inches off the front or back and still have a useful offcut. The sides were made closer to finished size.

sides after glue

After removing clamps I found one of the sides had significant cup.

one side is cupped

If the convex part goes inward, it might interfere with the drawers. If it is oriented outwards, the drawers may be too loose in the openings. I don’t need it to be perfect, but I will have to work on it. I’m not sure if I will plane down the high spots or saw through the glue line and rejoint and reglue it.

My goal is to make the case first, then work on the drawers. I am not too familiar with making casework with dividers and runners and so on, so will have to read and think about what order to do things in.

How To Tension a Fret Saw Blade

Tools For Working Wood -

 A typical fretsaw and its adjustments A typical fretsaw and its adjustments,,

You can learn a great number of excellent woodworking tips and practices from formal classes - and by being around experienced woodworkers. To cite one example: how to use a square. And another quick tip - this in response to a question we get very regularly: "How do I put a fret saw blade into my saw so it's fully tensioned?" First of all we stock the most excellent Knew Concepts fret saws that use a lever to do this operation, which shows how many people have trouble with tensioning. Our "regular" (i.e., less fancy), most popular fret saws don't have an obvious method. This is how I was taught.

Except for the very largest size, our fret saws have a tensioning screw at the top (D) but it is only marginally useful.

1 - Clamp your fret saw blade (teeth pointing towards the handle) tight in the bottom clamp (B). Engage the entire clamping surface.

2 - Adjust the blade length - the screw at the back (A) - so that with the blade clamped in the bottom the top of the blade just reaches the top clamp.

3 - Press the top arm of the fret saw against the front edge of your bench, springing the top arm down so the top of the blade engages fully or nearly fully with the entire length of the top clamp (C).

How To Tension a Fret Saw Blade 2

4 - Tighten the top clamp (C).
How To Tension a Fret Saw Blade 3
5 - If your saw has the top screw adjustment, (D) you can add even more tension to the blade.

More tension (and this is why many people love the Knew Concepts saw with its very rigid frame) gives you a straighter, more responsive cut on thicker materials, and makes the saw work more smoothly on very thin veneers and metals. So it's good to add as much spring tension as you can without permanently bending the top frame. Try it and get a feel for what works for you.

That's it. A simple technique that is very useful. Now it's back to the important stuff, like tracking down the gifts that didn't get delivered in time.

From everyone at Tools for Working Wood, we thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. We wish you and your families a happy and healthy New Year!


free and clear......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Went to the bank this AM to straighten out my mortgage. I was expecting a lot of BS and stalling but surprisingly it was the opposite. I explained the situation to customer service rep and he took care of it. In less than 10 minutes he paid off the loan and gave me a receipt for it. A little miffed I had to pay $49 for the privilege of paying the loan off early but the bank had some fancy wording for it. 

One thing that I didn't understand but didn't question neither, was he said he was crediting my checking account almost $700. I looked at the statement receipt he gave me and I couldn't see where I was getting back any money. I was expecting to have to pay a boatload more. I should be getting my deed in a couple of weeks and I can have a mortgage burning party then.

 3 left

I sharpened one of the LN skew chisels without any hiccups but I had hiccups with the second one. I couldn't figure out how to put the 2nd chisel in the honing guide jaws. I tried every which way to sunday and back and nada. There was no way where I ended up with the bevel in the correct orientation. I ended up using a second set of honing guides to sharpen it. NOTE to self - check the LN site for some help on this.

 first drawer

This is the rabbet on the sides for the single 3" drawer. This is the first half blinds I have done in quite some time. I got confused on what to mark on which piece but I survived it without losing anything or anything going air borne neither.

 first side done

I think on the dual drawers I will make the tails bigger. I read that minimizing the end grain exposed on the drawer front helps to keep the drawer from doing stupid wood tricks.

The tails weren't flush but a frog hair proud. There aren't any glaring gaps and the fit snug. Not too bad for something that I don't do that often.

 good fit

The side is a bit looser than the drawer front but both are still kind of snug.

 drawer slips

Realized that I don't have any plywood for the drawer bottoms. I found one piece that I can get the single from and maybe one of the dual drawers. Looks like the mortgage refund is going to come in handy to buy some plywood from Lowes.

 back detail

The slips are a 1/2" thick by 3/4" wide with a groove sized to the plywood. I am notching the ends to go underneath the backs. The plywood will slide under the bottom of the back into the side slips seating in the front one.

 drawer dry fit

Right now I have two inches after the back of the drawer to stop it from tilting out. I will shorten that to 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 inches on the other drawers. I will glue the drawer up first and then fit and glue the slips on.

 slips

All 3 of the slips will be referenced off the bottom edge of the drawer. The front slip will be mitered into the front of the side slips.

This is as far as I got today. My back starting hurting something bad while doing the half blinds. It calmed down some after I stopped bending over but it was still trying to sing arias to me. I quit after getting the first drawer dry fitted. 

If the back acts up again tomorrow I'll have to think up a different way to do the half blinds as I still have 14 more to go.

accidental woodworker

Christmas 2023......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Had a xmas that was just my wife and I. No kids, no nobody else. I made a big breakfast and I ate it like I was condemned man eating his last meal. Which it kind of was because tuesday I go back on a strict diet. I've been eating everything and anything that last 2-3 weeks and I paid the price. I piled on over 20 lbs that I'll have to shed. It is going to be difficult to say no after shoveling whatever I wanted into the pie hole lately.

 how long?

I was thinking about how long it is going to take me to do these 15 drawers. I'm thinking averaging one day to do three drawers. That didn't happen today because I decided to take the day off.

 solid

The patch I epoxied yesterday is rock solid this AM. I will wait and saw/plane it flush tomorrow.

 didn't happen

These are the chisels I plan on using to do the drawers. I was thinking of sharpening them today but this is as far as I got. I also thought of coming back to the shop during half time but that didn't happen neither.

 skew jaws

The bottom ones are for the skew chisels. One of the other two is for the LN skew blockplane. I can't remember what the other set is for. I bought all the extra jaws that LN offered at the time I bought the honing guide. I use the skew chisels only for half blinds of which I have a boatload to do and they are due to be touched up.

 setting the fence

I will be planing a small rabbet on the ends of the sides for doing the half blinds. Having a rabbet on the sides makes it so much easier to knife the tails onto the drawer fronts.

accidental woodworker

merry christmas 2023.........

Accidental Woodworker -

 Happy thoughts to all who take the time to read my keyboard diarrhea and also to those who don't. Extending good wishes and joy to close out 2023 with new and wonderful times to come in the new year.

I only got a few hours in the shop today but I made some progress on the dresser. I'm closing in on the finish line and I'm a within a frog hair of starting the dovetailing of the drawers.

 drawer fronts all fitted

I looked at the drawer fronts and I was thinking to myself if anyone will pick out the sapwood detail on the double drawer fronts? If Amanda takes this there is a good chance that my wife will paint it for her.

 oops

This 5" wide drawer front came out loose on the length. All the other drawers are a friction fit and this one is a 16th shy. I don't have anymore boards with sapwood in them so I'm leaving this one as is. The height is a friction fit so one of the two is there. I'll have to be extra careful when doing the final fitting or I'll be making two new drawers.

 fell out

I got lucky with this because when I saw it was MIA. I found it under the tablesaw. I glued it with epoxy this time.

 an extra

I have one extra back for each of the dual drawers. I missed that I could get both backs from one. I will save these and most likely they will end up as a box of some type.

missed it
 

I had thought of this a ways back but when it came time to saw them out I made one each of the dual drawers.

 ready for half blinds

I have all the sides fitted to their respective openings. I didn't bother with the backs because they will be shorter in height than the sides to accommodate the drawer slips.

 killed the lights here

Before I left the shop on xmas eve I glued the patch in with 5 minute epoxy.

accidental woodworker

15 drawer dresser pt XIV.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 A couple of days ago the idiot light came on my dashboard telling I had a low tire pressure hiccup. What I didn't know was which tire it was or if it was more than one. As an idiot light I consider it to be useless. It would only take a couple of chips and 4 LEDs and this idiot light would be genius. 

I had to make 3 trips to the gas station to fill the tires. 3 of the 4 tires were low with the drivers front being the worse at 24 PSI. You only get 4 minutes of air for $1.50. I not only can't hear it ding ding when the tire reaches the set PSI, I can't see it also. It is impossible to position the truck next to the air pump so you can see it and fill the tires.

I had to make 3 trips because I was doing errands on the first one and I didn't have any more quarters to feed the air pump. The second trip I ran out of time and money. I did manage to get both passenger side tires inflated to 36 PSI.

I had to return for a 3rd time to get the tires on the drivers side up to 36 PSI. I was so bent out of shape by then that I didn't even notice if the idiot light had gone out. I'll find out in the AM. I'm treating to myself to an egg McMuffin and hash browns from McDonalds.

 snug again

The rail that popped loose glued back together and now the toe kick is fitting snug. In fact I may have to take one more....

 side cutout penciled in

I'm going to hold off on cutting out the side base legs. I still have to do a bit of wrestling with the carcass and that is an invitation for something breaking off.

 Preston spokeshave iron

I tried to use this spokeshave and a Stanley yesterday to clean up the toe kick. Neither of these two made a shaving. Inspecting the the irons showed that both while shiny weren't sharp. Took a detour to sharpen and hone the both of them.

 a little fussy

Getting the iron to lay up square on the right side was finicky doing. Trying to maintain the correct projection of the iron while holding it and setting the fingers and then tightening them down was a PITA.

 hmm......

I'm doing something wrong as I shouldn't be sanding away the leading edge of the guide. 

 they ain't a 1/8" thick

I saw the thickness settings but I ignored them and set the irons in the 1/8" spot. That was wrong. The Preston is about 2mm thick and the Stanley is .8 and a 1/8" is .125 or 3.175mm. The iron in the Boggs spokeshave is 1/8" and it fits in the jig and it doesn't rub on the leading edge.

 Boggs spokeshave

The iron projects the correct amount and the jig leading edge is clear of the sharpening surface. However you could still hit the leading edge if you don't keep the jig level and square. Lesson learned - this small iron jig won't work for irons thinner than 1/8".

I spent some quality time with the Preston hand sharpening it. It took a lot of calories and time before I raised a burr on the back. I'm still not done with it because the burr isn't consistent side to side. It is heavy on the right to the middle and tapers off to barely nothing on the left. That tells me the edge isn't square to the sides or I'm sharpening it cockeyed.

 filling it in

I left a sliver of wood on the outside face and filled in the void with a partial pin.

 second one

I didn't have any issues sawing out a patch for this. The first one I made too small and it had an unacceptable gap.

 ready to glue

Rather than have end grain showing on the top I opted to have long grain doing the honors. This is on the top and won't be that noticeable.

 first one fitted

I was going to do this one drawer at a time but changed my mind on that. Instead I did all the drawer fronts. After these were done the plan was to repeat it for the drawer sides.

?

I know you are saying, "Ralph were are the missing four drawer fronts?". My answer is that I'm an idiot butcher of wood. The 5" drawers must have been cut to rough length by a chimp. The single drawer front was a 1/4" short on the length. The drawer fronts for the dual 5" drawers were a strong 1/8" short on the width.

The single 5 1/2" drawer front was short on the width and length but the dual fronts were ok. I was tempted to use the single drawer front but nixed it. The drawer would have most likely ended up too loose fitting in the opening.

I was lucky because I had an offcut with sapwood for the 5" dual drawer fronts. I'll have to get the two single drawer fronts from a new 6 footer. I have 6 of them left over. 

I was bummed out about another stupid slap in the face with sawing stock short again. I'll saw up the new fronts tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

another 17th century chest comes out of hiding

Peter Follansbee, joiner's notes -

I got a note from my friend Erik Gronning recently about this chest that Sotheby’s has for auction in January. It’s part of the group I studied with Jennie Alexander and Bob Trent eons ago – that we eventually published in 1996. We attributed them to the Savell family in Braintree, Massachusetts; William Savell and two of his sons, John and William. At that time, we had found about 10 chests in this group – and by now there’s probably been about another 6 or more. I’ve lost track in my head, but I do have notebooks with the details. I’m just not digging them out right now – or I’ll lose the morning down a rabbit hole.

This one is, to me, a bit frustrating. Mostly because some moron cut the two middle panels to become a cupboard – it’s not unusual – and it could be worse. Often when they did that, they secured the lid permanently. Thankfully, this time the lid is still function as a lid – AND it’s the original chestnut lid. Very rare survivor.

So other than the transmogrification this one is in prime condition. I’ve not seen it in person, but Erik sent me some nice photos. One of the features of this shop is their strict adherence to a format – they varied very little from one chest to the next. If you went to their shop to buy a chest, this is what you got. We’ve only seen 2 chests from them that were made without drawers…but otherwise this is it.

I made one as a video series a couple of years ago.

It sold and I was glad to get the money – but I liked the chest too – if I had room, I’d make myself one of the two-drawer versions next.

braintree chest w drawers

links:

auction listing: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/important-americana-furniture-folk-art-silver-chinese-export-art-and-prints/a-pilgrim-century-chest-with-drawer-attributed-to

video series: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/follansbeejoinedchest

set of plans: https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/carving-drawings-plans/

15 drawer dresser pt XIII......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Today I had my urology appointment. I had been checking my wife's phone everyday to see if it had been canceled again. It wasn't and everything is ok (or the best it can be) with the exception of the nightly toilet trots. I saw a new Nurse Practitioner today, Beverly, and I'll be seeing her again in 6 months. 

The good news is today I had my last PSA test and she said that it isn't normally taken after 70 years of age. She had reassuring news for me based on my history and past test results that there is little chance that I'll get prostate cancer. The enlarged prostate though is here to stay. I might have to have surgery on it some day and that will governed by how the bladder fares. Once my bladder starts to retain a certain level of urine it will be time to be sliced and diced. Hopefully that is a long ways off into the future.

 4 drawer parts

I came back last night after dinner and I thicknessed the last two drawer parts. It always makes me wonder at the pile of shavings generated from 4 small parts. I only planed one face and left the other as is. 

 the right corner

Instead of having the half pin on the end showing long grain I opted to show end grain. In this orientation I have a long grain to long grain gluing with the tail. It was also easier to fit the patch in this way.

 big shim patch

This looked a lot better yesterday for color and grain match. Maybe I'll get lucky and this side will be up against a wall. I decided that the best way to clean up and smooth the sides and the top is with my belt sander. I can plane the sides by laying the carcass on the deck but the top isn't going to cooperate and play nice. Even with the belt sander it is still going to be awkward to do.

 the last two

Had a bit of a struggle getting the triangular patch sorted on the front face. I made 4 of them but transposing the orientation from the hole to the patch didn't go so good. I still struggle and lose with mirror images but I'm stubborn and I had a boatload of pine scraps to use. #5 was a fit for the shape but it ended up too small for the hole. Two times the charm made #6 fit and be proud.

I'm not sure what to do with the gash at the back. I was going to leave it as is because it is at the back but you can see it from the top. I won't be fitting an L shaped patch for sure. I will square up the hole as best I can and go from there.

 new drawer fronts

Made another command call on the drawer fronts. I am going to leave them as close to 3/4" thick as I can. I will straighten and flatten the inside face of each drawer leaving the other faces as is. My thinking on it is I will use the planed faces as my references and after the drawer is glued and cooked I can plane the front faces of the drawers flush with the front of the dresser. The sides will be done just to fit the openings.

 #3 drawer fronts

All of the drawers had some twist to them but I didn't lose too much planing it away. All the of two drawer fronts will have a streak of sapwood in them with the grain running from left to right. All of the single drawers will be clear with no sapwood in them.

  drawer fronts done

I had planned on getting started on the drawers today with #3 but changed my mind. Instead I'll let the drawer fronts relax until tomorrow.

 just one more......

Initially the toe kick was too tight and I should have stopped but I had to take one more swipe. The toe kick is now a frog hair loose. I clamped it in place and put a bar clamp across the outside faces of the side and closed up the gap. Unfortunately it also popped the bottom rail loose on the left side. Glued that back together with white glue. I'll have to think up some other way of closing the gap on the toe kick.

 1/8" bars

I clamped the toe kick flush on the first go around and I didn't like the look of it. A 3/8" inset didn't look any better than the flush look to my eye. 1/8" is just right and that is what I am going with.

 sawing curves

Now that I know how to adjust the pin blade holders I'll be using this saw more. Especially so that my bandsaw is still toast. I left a strong 16th off the pencil line to allow for any control hiccups I might have had with the saw. Used a spokeshave to clean and smooth the horizontal leg.

 
 oscillating spindle sander

I bought this at Sears when I left the Navy in 1994. Other than having to replace the rubber drum sleeves (dry rotted over the years) it is still chugging along. I have some gouges that I thought were sharp but they ain't. None of them made so much as a dent in the round corners. Five minutes later the corners were done. I will use this to layout the base cutouts on the sides.

accidental woodworker

Restored Dry Sink

MVFlaim Furnituremaker -

I haven’t been spending too much time in the shop the past few months since I’ve been working on the shed during the fall, but I did have time today to work on an antique dry sink my wife bought at a local sale.

The cabinet was in good condition, but the top was off as the hinges had broken. I noticed that they were too small for the top, so I grabbed some larger hinges I had around to replace the small, broken ones.

After removing the old broken hinges, I made a jig to route a perfect sized recess in the cabinet and top to accept the new hinges. I found this jig while reading Michael Pekovich’s book “Foundations of Woodworking”.

After making the jig and routing a few test pieces to make sure it worked, I placed it over the cabinet back and the lid to route out the recess for the new larger size hinges.

After a few minutes, the hinges fit, and I shaved down the top of the cabinet for the lid to fit flush. This was a quick and easy project that will make this dry sink serve another 100 years. Plus, I’m finally back in the shop after a few months’ absences.

15 drawer dresser pt XII.......

Accidental Woodworker -

 Creeping along and getting closer to finishing the dresser. The top is on and later on in the PM I milled the stock for the drawers. Still haven't decided on the drawer dovetails. I like through dovetails but for this dresser I don't think it is a good choice. Doing 15 half blind most likely is what I'll do. The backs will be in a dado inset from the back a couple of inches. That will act as the stop for the drawer being pulled out. One detail on the drawers I'm not hemming and hawing on is that I'll be using slips.

 all of them went airborne

No hiccups popping off the blocks. Only two of them didn't pop off cleanly but I was able to remove the residue easily with a chisel.

 gone

I don't see how CA glue can be considered a good choice for gluing wood. A sudden, sharp rap is all that was needed to launch all of these. Thinking ahead it is going to be a PITA to clean up the top of dresser. The sides I don't expect to present any headaches but the top will.

 token bleary pic

This is the pine shim for the huge gap on one of the tails. This shim was a frog hair under a 1/8" thick.

 toe kick

I did have to make another horizontal leg. The one from yesterday I made too short shooting the angles. I was going to use biscuits to reinforce the miters but that went south on me. The legs aren't that big and I had a difficult time trying to make the slot with the jointer. Both of them came out offset rather than flush. I glued biscuits in the slots and after the glue had set for a bit I sawed them flush. This 60/30 miter is closer to a long grain to long grain than a 45 so fingers crossed that it will stay together for the long haul.

 less than an hour

I got all the boards planed to a little less than a 1/2" thick. I survived hauling the lunchbox planer topside and back down to the shop. I have been thinking of building a shed on the old garage foundation and keeping the planer in it. I used to keep the planer in the garage before we had demolished.

 the 1/2" drawer stock

I didn't plane one 6 foot board. I thought I had more than enough here to get all the drawer sides and backs from.

 came up short

I was wrong. Missing two drawers on the 6 1/2" ones.  I needed one back and two sides with its back. 

 I will be using it

I wasn't hauling the planer back outside just to do this one board. I was lucky in that this one board was long/wide enough to get the 4 pieces I needed. I will use the off cut from this and the other boards to make the drawer slips.

 thinning the four by hand

It shouldn't take long to whack the four needed pieces. The stock is straight and flat. I couldn't see any bow or cup in any of them. They laid flat without rocking on the workbench too.

 one down, 3 to go

I got one more done before I killed the lights for the day. If I had done all of the drawer parts by hand that would have totaled 45 individual pieces. I'm happy with doing 4 and giving credit to Mr Lunchbox for doing the other 41.

accidental woodworker

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