General Woodworking

 At oh dark 15 I walked into the ER at the VA again for the 2nd day in a row. When I woke up the dressing the doc had put on yesterday was on the bed and another part of it was on the kitchen floor. I tried to fix but I couldn't see it using two mirrors. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. The nurse changed the dressing and I didn't even have to sign anything. I am supposed to have an appt with the Surgical Clinic on monday but that is after they call to tell me when to come in. Fingers crossed I'll be able to jump into the rain locker.

missed it

When I glued up the boards for the lid I did it based on grain and color. I wanted them to look as much like one board as possible. The headache with that is the grain runs in the opposite direction on each board. So I had to plane one board of the glue up, flip it 180, and plane the other board. Doable but somewhat of a PITA. 

first box hinged

I wanted to put a thumb catch but it would be dead center on of one of the dividers. I didn't have no hiccups opening the lid from the ends so I'll leave it as is for now. I am not putting a magnet or a hasp to secure the lid. 

hinge bound

At first I thought the lid had cupped but it wasn't so boys and girls. I didn't want to piddle and diddle with the screws so I planed the tops of the ends slightly hollow.

better but not perfect

I planed a few shavings off the left side of the front and that made the margin across the front more even.

this was the charm

The lid was still a wee bit hinge bound so I took the lid off again for one more fix. I planed the underside of the hinge side of the lid. I took four swipes with a rabbeting blockplane and that allowed the lid to lay flatter. 

did better

Lids 2&3 had no problems with being hinge bound. I put a piece of paper between the lid and the box before I installed the hinges.

hmmm........

I started filling up the boxes and quickly realized that I had more compartments than screws to fill them. I thought of combining this box to hold #4 and #5 screws. I used a sharpie to highlight the compartments for #4 screws. I stopped and reversed myself when I found more #5 screws. I went back to one box for each size screw. I don't have any RH #5 screws that I can fill up some of the empty  holes.

4th box stock

I am making a change for the 4th box. Instead of having 18 compartments like the other 3, #4 will only have four. I will put #1, #2, and #3 screws in them. The 4th hole will be for mystery crappola.

it fits

Doing the grooves for the dividers wasn't as difficult as I imagined it being. It was a little awkward doing the layout but the chiseling went off without a hiccup.

not quite symmetrical

The short cross divider I had to redo because the first time I cut to length before I chiseled the grooves. The short sides of the compartments are dead on but the long is off 1/8". I forgot to offset the groove a 16th. You can't see it and there is nothing going in here that is married to a specific length and width of the dividers.

ugly looking blow out

Both long sides blew out on me when I chiseled the groove. That was in spite of me knifing the layout lines deep too. I had to make the groove on this side deeper to compensate for the blowout. 

ran out of gas

I rounded up the screws I had squirreled away all over the shop. I have all my #1 thru #6 screws in these 4 boxes. The Roy Underhill cabinet will be for screws #8 and up.

I didn't sleep well last night due to the dressing the doc put on me. The abscess is still tender and nurse this AM told me it was looking good and on its way to healing. After lunch I nodded out at my desk and dozed off for over an hour. When I finally went back to the shop I didn't feel like doing anything so I killed the lights. If I get ambitious I'll mosey on back after dinner and put on the 4th and final lid.

accidental woodworker

 I thought things were looking good when I got to the ER about 0800. It was after the shift change and there only two people waiting and I was one of them. The doc told me pus was still coming out of the abscess. But the good news didn't stop there, she said the cut had to be made bigger and deeper. A doc from the surgical clinic came and confirmed what the ER doc had said. Things went down hill on a run away train after that. 

I thought my hip operation was painful but today I not only pegged the pain pointer, I bent and broke it. One bad thing about abscesses is that numbing meds don't work that well. If they do work it takes a lot more time than normal. Somehow I survived and doc showed the pile of pus and other crappola he dug out of my body. I have follow up with the surgical clinic on monday.

I will probably end back up at the ER later tonight. The bandage that doc put on is leaking and my tee shirt is sticking to it. The wife is in NC so I can't ask her to put a fresh one on. The packing is also starting to ramp up the pain. Iodine gauze shoved in a fresh wound hole burns. The doc assured me that mondays' appt won't be a pained filled festival. I'll hold back judgement on that until then.

the collapsed box

I am not concerned with this collapsing again on me. I not only glued the dividers in, I also glued the bottom on. The tails/pins are all tight and didn't flex one iota when I pushed on them.

smoothing the lids

I didn't go nutso on either lid. I didn't check for twist with the sticks but instead just eyeballed them.

leaving it

This one spot is lower than the rest of the board. This will be the underside of the lid and can stay as is.

didn't make it

I was trying to get the next two lids glued up before I went to the ER but I ran out of time. All four of them will have glued up lids.

PM session

I got back from the ER around noon and I went to the shop about 2 hours later. I was still shaking and wee bit shell shocked from the procedure in the ER. That is why I'm blaming that for me forgetting to bandsaw this to a 1/2" before gluing it up. I'll have to thin it after it has set up.

screw box #4

It took almost no time for me to whack out the last screw box. It is less than 2 frog hairs off the others in size.

another scapegoat

Totally missed making the grooves for the dividers before I glued the box together.

needed some clamp help

It needed the long clamps to pull the half pins tight. I clamped the tails to even the pressure and keep it square.

lid hasps

Thinking of using these to secure the lid on at least 3 boxes. These are still available and I've seen them in ACE hardware. I've had these for years so I'm sure the price now is a bazillion times what I paid for them then.

first lid

I initially wanted an overhang on the ends and a flush fit on the front. I am sticking with the flush on the front but I am nixing the overhang on the ends. I will make all four sides of the lid flush with the box.

brain fart

I cut the lid out on the wrong side of the pencil line. I glued it back on and let it cook. Decided that this was enough play time for today.

not liking this

I think this is too big for the boxes. I'm now leaning in the direction of magnets to secure the lids.

came today

I took a saw filing class with Matt a few years ago. Just leafing through the book brought back the memories of it. I think learning to file your own saws is a must know and have to have skill. I conquered hand cut dovetails and filing saws is next in the queue.

accidental woodworker

The Mini Dutch Tool Chest is finally done. I’ve been working on this on and off for over a year and a half. I’m delighted with the finished chest. It puts a smile on my face every time I walk into my workshop and see it perched on the corner of my bench.

I’ve been picking away at things – making boxes these days to fill some orders and to have a couple to sell. I think this is only the 2nd time I’ve made a pile of boxes at once.

Today I assembled some of the bits on the bench for the 4th one. So this weekend I’ll make bottoms and lids for it and the small one there. While I’ve been doing all that carving, I’ve shot some video segments that I’ll turn into full-blown videos on carving different patterns. The “strapwork” design on the box with the carved lid is one I’ve been learning more and more about for the past 20+ years. Here it is incised, before any background removal. All these cuts are different sized gouges and chisels struck with a mallet. This sort of design cannot tolerate any mistakes. Lots of planning, lots of concentration.

Then I go around and chop out behind all these cuts to begin removing that background. This step makes it safe to then have at it and really cut that background out.

Then go over it again – this time working to get the background even. Not flat, even. It can & should have some facets showing, but not big bumps. Eventually a stippled punch textures that background. That step I think is more about making a clear distinction between the foreground and background than it is about “hiding” the facets. This photo below is not quite done – the volutes need hollowing. Another whole story.

It’s staggering how many tools I use to cut these patterns, but I don’t see any other way around it.

Jump ahead – here’s the finished box.

Two other things – one is Lost Art Press has the Joint Stool book I did with Jennie Alexander on sale – $17

The other is that I’ve been making a website, something I haven’t had for ages & ages. People wondered why I bothered, but someone last week was asking about having a carved box made. Now I can send them a link to a whole array of boxes I’ve made. And places to sell stuff like the carving drawings/plans & videos. Imagine – a website to sell stuff. What will they think of next?

https://www.peterfollansbee-joiner.com/

 I spent a sizeable chunk of my PM session cooling my heels. The company that made my CPAP machine were making a 6 month checkup, albeit it was over 7 months. According to the tech they do an annual checkup after the first one at 6 months. She didn't ask me any questions about using it and just sucked a bunch of data off the machine.

I got a hold of Tools for Working Wood and I didn't get good news boys and girls. The rep told me that the BT&C white glue is on hiatus without a hint of when it might be available again. There is glue on the TFWW website but no white or yellow glues. I don't know if they sold Titebond or any other yellow glue brand. I'm on the email list and hopefully I'll get another gallon before the cold weather.

not coming clean

There are a couple of stubborn accumulations of glue that don't want to go away. I have had this soaking in vinegar for going on 4 days now. Most of it is concentrated at the bottom and top of the pouring sprout. I can't reach any of those areas with a piece of wood but I just thought of using a metal coat hanger. Why didn't think of that 3 days ago?

patch frame

This is ready to unclamp and I didn't see or feel anything amiss. The one concern I had was twisting the frame due to heavy clamps at the corners. Out of the clamps the frame lay flat on the two 1x12 boards - no rocking.

dividers going in next

I made a error in that I tried to clean/smooth the boxes before I glued the bottom and dividers on/in. The two of them would have stiffened the box making planing them a snap.

patches frame

A piece of the clamp pad didn't want to leave Mr Patch Frame. I didn't even think that this would be a potential glue headache. The stray piece got popped off with a chisel and then smoothed/flushed with a blockplane. All evidence of it was history.

the size differences

The frame in front was about the same size as the larger back on (3/4" shorter on the long legs). After seeing how large this one is I'm having second thoughts about it. Thinking now maybe I should go with two frames for the patches? The obvious question even to a blind man is where would hang something so big?

didn't survive

I planed and smoothed one long side and it collapsed on the second long side. This is proof the bottom and dividers could have stopped this. It was for the better because in spite of clamping it one dovetail still had a gap in the pin socket. I glued it up again, clamped in four directions and set it aside to cook.

the collapsed box

I glued the long dividers into the short ends of the box. It felt a lot stronger after doing that. I glued the bottom on after this had set up for a couple of hours.

solid wood lids

I am not a fan of glued up lids but I don't have any scraps wide enough. These boards were left over from a frame I screwed up last month. I resawed them to a 1/2" thick. Tomorrow I'll smooth the rough sawn faces.

parallel

These are the off cuts from the four boards I thinned down to a 1/2". The bandsaw didn't set any speed records and I did stall it a few times. The motor on this saw is a 1/2HP and I have a replacement 3/4HP ready to replace it. As soon as I get a round to it.

other edge

Just from eyeballing the two edges I can see the cut was parallel top to bottom. I couldn't detect even the teeniest hint of a taper. 

small stop hinges

I'm using these hinges and the #4 screws I bought don't fit. I drilled them out with a bit a 64th over the hinge hole size.

I need one more screw box which will bring the total up to 4. I am going to put all the #2, #3, #4, and #5 screws in them. I'll keep screw sizes #6 and up in the Roy Underhill cabinet.

the collapsed box

I left it clamped up for 4 hours and nothing moved or came undone when I took the clamps. I immediately glued the bottom on and set it aside to cook.

two more to go

I can only get one lid out of each glue up. I have two scraps that are 25" long and I can get two lids out that. I will glue two more tomorrow.

got lucky

Mixed in the 3/4" scraps was this one piece of 1/2". It is long enough to get the two long sides from it. Unfortunately it isn't wide enough to get the short ends.

got lucky again

As I was reaching to kill the lights I saw these two on the tablesaw. Checked them against the two boxes and they are longer than the short ends. I have all I need to whack out screw box #4.

accidental woodworker

In my last post, I showed how I constructed the legs and stretchers of my new workbench. In this post, I’ll show how I built in two of the main work-holding features of the bench: the face vise and the planing stop.

The Vise

As I glued up the top, I planned the final stage around the vise I had. If you’re building your own workbench, you really want the hardware on hand as you build. Modifying an existing bench for new hardware is possible but never easy.

For my vise, I used a Groz quick-release vise that had served as the end-vise on my old workbench for many years. Eventually I found I didn’t really use an end-vise nearly as much as I thought I would, and while it was always handy to have a second vise on the bench, I felt this vise could be much better used in the face-vise position on my new workbench.

So before laminating the final layer onto the front of the new bench top, I laid out the vise placement.

The vise needed to be let into the top, both on the edge and on the underside. I marked out big notches on what will be the bottom (so the vise sits closer to the top of the workbench) and the front (so the metal jaw sits behind the front edge of the top). I marked out the depth and sawed some kerfs. It was actually helpful that the front 6″ or so of my bench top is thicker than the rest. It was easy to just cut what amounts to a giant through-dado.

I knocked out the waste with a wide chisel and proceeded to the second stage.

The second part of the operation required boring out most of the waste with an augur bit before splitting away the rest with a chisel.

I got the surfaces as level as I reasonably could with the chisel–which wasn’t very level. But there’s no need for a precisely flat surface here. As long as the metal vise sits flat on it, it’s good enough.

I also got to experiment with different methods of leveling things out–broad chisel, shoulder plane, etc.

The shoulder plane was a Christmas present, and I was really glad to have it here. It cleaned out the corners effectively.

Now the vise sits steady in its notches.

I glued the cherry face onto the front edge of the benchtop, creating a mortise for the rear jaw of the vise.

You can’t see the mortise here (it’s on the other side), but now the vise’s rear jaw will be flush with the entire front edge of the benchtop.

Once the top was mounted on the legs–but before I flipped the bench right-side up–I attached the vise with some lag screws.

If you are building your own bench, I highly recommend constructing it upside-down. Attach the base and any heavy hardware (like a metal vise) first, and then find some people to help you turn it over. You don’t want to have to flip over a bench like this any more often than you absolutely have to!

I added a hardwood jaw liner, which I think might be a little thin. But I’ll go ahead and use it for a while, and if it gives me problems, I’ll reinforce or replace it.

I also lined the jaws with leather in order to give it a better grip. I glued the leather on with Shoe Goo, which is used for shoe repair jobs but works well for adhering leather to wood, too.

The Planing Stop

One of my favorite features of the old workbench was the adjustable planing stop. I don’t remember where I first saw this design, but it’s not my own invention. It works very well.

It’s just a hardwood board of sufficient width and thickness–this one is about 1 1/4″ thick and about 6″ wide, and long enough to span the entire end of my workbench. I used cherry wood because I happen to have a lot of it on hand.

The construction is very simple: the stop itself is just a board with slots. It attaches to the bench via threaded rods epoxied into the bench. I use wingnuts (with washers) to secure it at any height up to about 2″ above the benchtop.

Here’s how I built it:

I bored holes a couple inches deep into the end of the bench, about 1 1/2″ below the benchtop–far enough down that the wingnuts will be placed well below the top. I measured and cut the threaded rod to the right length. You have to leave enough rod sticking out that you can loosen the wingnuts without them spinning right off the rod. (Before you saw the rod to length, make sure you thread a nut onto the rod. That way, any roughness left on the end of the rod will be smoothed out when you back the nut off the freshly cut end.) When in doubt, leave it a little bit longer than you think you might need. You can always trim it back with a hacksaw later.

I used original JB-Weld epoxy to secure the rods in the holes. Dip the end of each rod into the epoxy and then tap them into the holes. Keep the nuts on the very ends so you can tap on the nuts instead of mangling the threads on the end of each rod with your hammer. This epoxy has yet to fail on my original stop, although I’ve been through two or three of the wooden stops, so I’m confident it will hold up here.

While the epoxy cured, I made the wooden stop. After cutting the board to length, I cut the slotted holes. The simplest way is to drill overlapping holes the a little wider than the threaded rod and then square up the slot with a chisel. It needn’t be very neat work–as long as the rod slides freely through the whole slot, it’s good enough. I planed down the very top of the stop so it doesn’t sit proud of the benchtop.

Here’s how to use the stop:

It can be set low for face planing. However wide the board you’re planing, you just butt it up against the stop and plane away.

You can also set it higher for edge planing. The stop will go up about 3″ above the benchtop, which is as high as it will ever need to go.

It can also be skewed for working stock of varying thicknesses. This is where cutting the slots fairly loose is an advantage. It allows for just a bit of skew.

The number of rods you use to secure it is flexible. My original stop used only two. This one uses three. I wouldn’t bother with any more than that.

It’s a simple modification that could be added to nearly any workbench.

 At 0525 I left for the VA to get the abscess checked. It didn't go as well as I thought it would. The abscess filled up with pus again and it )@#&%Q^(&*@&%Q)(*% hurt when the doc expressed it (squeezed the pus out). I have to go back on saturday and relive these dance steps. According the nurse I spoke with she told the weekends can get to be zooey. So it looks like it won't matter what time I go to have it checked. At least I won't have to worry about dealing with traffic.

fixed

I came back after dinner and glued the left side on. I let it cook overnight.

not twisted

The frame is laying flat on the bench. No corners are up or down.

almost dead on

The diagonals were off about a 32nd. I think this frame is a wee bit to big for what I need for the grandkids pics. I'll have to look it over and see how much dead space I am left with.

they behaved

I didn't have a warm and fuzzy about this stock not pulling any stupid wood tricks out of its sleeves. I was ready to do battle and make a new frame but I didn't have to.

flying lessons

This frame gave me fits and I came oh so close numerous times getting it airborne. I couldn't get the two corners square and have the diagonals agree. It took a lot fussing, cursing, and scratching my butt so hard it bled. Finally figured it out - clamp the corners first with the black 90° squares and then tighten the bar clamp. Once I got that the diagonals were dead nuts on.

glued and cooking

I glued this up the same way I did the frame above. Did the bottom first and let that set up for a few hours and then glued the last side. I will let this cook until tomorrow. I did on the table leaving the saw and workbench free for other things.

two turtle paintings

Both of these were painted by my wife's mother twin sister. I picked up the smaller right one today from Maria. Don't know where to hang them because my wife doesn't like sea turtles and there isn't an over abundance of wall space neither.

I did talk to Maria about the navy patches and I'm good to go. We discussed the matting and the 3 I picked out are all no longer available. I'm Navy so I want a green background for the patches. I'm not done with the frame until next week maybe and Maria said she would look around for something similar.

finally

These screws took the scenic route from Oregon to Rhode Island. Went from Oregon to Texas to Chicago where the tracking said it was in the system awaiting ????? I now have round head screws for my 95° stop hinges.

upcoming project

I have piles of screws all over the shop. I forgot what I bought these for - maybe for the chrome hinges I got? I want to consolidate all the scattered piles hidden here and there and everywhere into one central location.

stock for 3 boxes

Came up with the brilliant plan to make 3 boxes - one each for #4, #5, and #6 screws. I resawed left over stock down to a 1/2" thick for the boxes.

ready for off the saw

The boxes are all the same size and I went with a single tail at the corners. It took me pretty close to 2 hours to go from resawn stock to dry fitted boxes.

somebody wasn't paying attention

I always label the bottoms and use it as my reference. 3 (or 1) sides on the is box got reversed somehow. I don't know where I missed this but it still went together off the saw.

major brain fart

After dry assembling the boxes I took them apart again. I sawed two  grooves in each of the short ends of the boxes. What I didn't do was label the boxes before I did that. Having made the boxes identical I thought it wouldn't be headache to put them back together. Well boys and girls it was a Royal PITA. The final box didn't go together with what was there. I had to shave one tail and two pin sockets before it did.

18 holes

 Each box will have 18 compartments and I'm hoping that I can get all my Flat Head, Oval Head, and Round Head screws in each box. I like the size of the boxes and I don't want to make a bigger one with more compartments. I'll have to bide my time and see what shakes out.

short cross dividers

Each compartment is roughly 1 1/2" square. I will have to use tweezers to get the screws out this. There is no way my fat fingers will fit and grab a screw.

one more half lap

Five of these short ones got tossed. They were OTL (out to lunch) and didn't align on the right slot or the left slot when I flipped it. I made 5 new ones and 3 of the five on both boxes were tight and had to be hammered home.

needed clamping

One tail on both ends wouldn't fully seat in the pin socket. I'll do the short dividers for this one tomorrow.

stayed late

It was close to 1530 but I wanted to get the dividers done on these two boxes. I got the half lap on the short ones done and I needed to do a half lap on the long dividers. My tablesaw blade kerf is 1/8" and I used 1/8" plywood which made for a snug fit.

wee bit off

The bottom 3 compartments are a wee bit bigger than its 15 siblings. The other box came out with all of them the same. I used that to lay out this one but I had an error with the pencil somehow, somewhere. The fit is tight on both of the boxes so I don't think I need to glue them in. If need be I can wick super glue and that should suffice.

I got an email from Tools for Working Wood concerning the glue. It came a day after the email saying they had refunded my money. Anyways he wrote that the glue clumping was a sure sign that it was bad. I went on the website to buy another gallon but I couldn't find it. I'll call them today and see what the story is on that.

accidental woodworker

 The mercury pushed up past 90F(32C) today and it was kinda muggy. Not jul/aug humid but what will it be like then? The nurse told me to take it easy for the next couple of days and don't strain myself. I complied with that and I took it slow and easy all day or at least what I would consider slow and easy. Tomorrow at oh dark thirty I'm going to the ER for my checkup and removing the packing. The nurse told me that this was an excellent time to come and do that. Fingers crossed I'll be home before the rush hour traffic kicks off.

they behaved

Still straight, flat, and not cupped or bowed. Something which I think is a given for a frame.

square holder thing

I tried to remove the 6" square and I almost ripped the holder off the drawer. Annoying to reach for it and not being able to extract it. Why didn't I think of putting it on the drawer face at an angle yesterday? Laid it out and planed down to the lines.

plenty of clearance

The extraction headache is fixed but I noticed a new one. The mortises for the squares are just a tad to tight. There is wiggle room but I could use more. That would make pulling them out and putting them back so much easier. It is on the to do list for shop crappola.

first dry clamp

I tried to square up the frame without clamps and I just see sawed on that. The clamps pulled bridle joints up tight and snug. I was happy with this so I glued it up.

almost lost it

This glue up didn't go smoothly. It was too big for the workbench and I had to get two boards for the long clamps to sit on. I used c clamps at the corners to apply pressure on the bridle joints. I could have skipped this step as the joinery was snug and self supporting. 

needed another board

The left over from yesterday wasn't enough to get all the bead moldings and the back frame from.

back frame and bead moldings

I am going to try something different with this frame. I wanted to do it on the last frame but I only remembered after the frame was done. Hopefully I won't forget it with this one. Still have to saw out the individual bead moldings.

right ones

At first I thought I had made a me-steak and bought the wrong charging cables. I got 3 and 6 foot long ones. Turns out that this is the correct configuration for charging my phone.

opening up

I glued this edge joint with the white glue. This was the problem I was having with it. A couple of days after glue up the joint would open up. This was a tight joint when I glued it up. From here it would get steadily worse. It didn't always start opening up at the ends. I had a couple that started in middle.

opposite end

It doesn't look like it is that bad but I can slightly flex one board past the other. This joint will be toast in couple of days. My wife told that the toy box chest lid hasn't changed. She is of the opinion that it is about the same as when she left home. The other two samples are still tight along the lengths of their respective glue joints.

3 hours later

Took it out of the clamps and started to plane the four corners flush.

plenty big enough

I am happy with the layout and the amount of empty space around each patch. I got it set up so that it goes from the top left and reads like a book down to the bottom right (kinda) of my Navy career. I might change the bottom row but for now I'm liking what I see.

extras

These two were on the side of the saw till and I put them back there. I removed the Navy 1983 patch from the frame. For the life of me I can't figure out what that patch is for. I stuck it with these two to live with.

the glue in question

I dug this out of the shitcan not to gloat about it. I didn't say anything about the glue before because I don't who I got this from is at fault. I had emailed Tools for Working Wood and they gave me refund $47.13. No explanation or follow up email. I would have liked to know if this was just a bad batch or something else. I am going to order another gallon of it and see what shakes out. I really like this glue a lot.

checking out the beads

These are going to add some visual character to the frame. I am thinking of buying some rosettes from Etsy. I made the frame 1 3/4" wide because I saw rosettes for sale that were slightly smaller than the frame width.

back frame

These has a slight cup to them. I am not sure that the frame is strong enough to flatten that out and keep the frame from doing stupid wood tricks. I also saw that I had made them too wide at 1 5/16".

UGH!!!

It ain't square boys and girls and it isn't off just a wee bit. There is over 5/8" difference in the diagonals. I assumed incorrectly that the bridle joints would self square the frame as I tightened the clamps on it. I was wrong and this is toast.

repurposing

Blurry pic of me cutting the frame apart at the corners. I have an idea for another frame for the grandkids pics. I'll be losing about 4-5 inches off the original frame on each side.

new set of bridle joints

I will glue this frame up again using these clamping squares. The plan was to glue two corners first and let them cook for a few and then glue the remaining side one.

first step worked

Got the corners square and the bridle joints clamped. After dinner I'll come back and glue on the last side.

before I killed the lights

I didn't like the look of the clamp bearing down on just the tenon. I fitted the last side on to alleviate that choke point. This side is on dry - no glue yet.

might as well

The diagonals were dead on. Having this not square would drive me batty looking at the patches in it. 

18" combo square

Confirmed the diagonals with Mr Starrett. Both corners (in each direction) read square. After I glue on the last side I will let this cook until tomorrow. Then I can repeat it for the 2nd frame.

accidental woodworker

A specialized veneer gluing machine in a shop that just does one thing - match, glue, and cut to size high end veneer panels
Here's a tale that you might have heard when you learned about the Industrial Revolution: supposedly the early industrialist Eli Whitney (1765 - 1825) brought six guns made by his new mass-production method to Congress, disassembled them; mixed up the parts; put them back together; and demonstrated they all worked. This is one of those great myths that vividly illustrate a concept but aren't true. The myth's origin comes from a letter Whitney sent to Congress looking for a contract to make guns. In actual fact, if you took apart a group of Whitney guns, you wouldn't be able to mix up the parts.

Eli Whitney did not invent mass production, nor did he invent the idea of specialization. The metal parts of his guns were still cut out and filed the old-fashioned way. But instead of having one person make a gun from start to finish, Whitney divided the work up so that everyone specialized in one particular operation. Anyone will tell you that if you do anything a couple thousand times over and over again, you're probably get good. But specialization like this was nothing new -- even in Whitney's time.

Sheffield edge tool factories routinely specialized: the people who ground chisels thin were not the same people who ground the tangs or forged them. Everybody specialized. This happened in furniture-making as well, especially at the low end. A cabinetmaker cited in Henry Mayhew's "London Labor and the London Poor" (c. 1850) points out that you have to specialize or else you will be unable to work fast enough to make your piecework rate. This particular gentleman made tea tables - and that's all he did, make tea tables. It also meant he only needed a very limited number and type of tools, which cut the capital requirements to be a little Meister, or small Garrett master, very significantly. I am personally convinced (without any real evidence, although to be fair I haven't looked for any), that the reason you have regional styles of furniture in the pre-industrial age is that one person typically did work for an entire community of industry. For example, one person specialized in carving, possibly for one shop or a whole bunch of shops. And what they made was based on their tools. People didn't say, "Please, sir, can you carve a Newport style ball and claw on my highboy?" They said, "I have a high boy that I'll be delivering to you on Thursday, can you put the feet on?" And they all looked the same, because the carver specialized in the same set of designs for everyone.

One of the great things about being an amateur is you don't have to specialize. I know for many people, myself included, part of the challenge of woodworking is to learn new skills to produce a new type of work - and then move on. I'm not trying to make a living as a woodworker, so I can get new equipment that I'll never be able to economically justify, and have a lot of fun at the same time. But every professional shop I know of specializes - otherwise they can't be competitive. I'm not talking about competitive on the low end, I mean at any end. The kitchen cabinet maker may know how to build cabinets, but a specialty veneer shop will lay out the veneer for the faces. A finishing shop will have the right equipment to efficiently finish the cabinets, and a large factory with CNC equipment will be happy to make custom size drawers of any quality to any specification. At the high end, is next to impossible for one person or one shop to be good enough at all necessary operations to work economically alone. This is especially a small shop. And so they don't.

I started this blog talking about mass production. The modern factory that was envisioned by Whitney was really a collection of specialized craftsmen. What I see in the cabinet world today is that same sort of specialization, which is overall a good thing. It is much better to be master of something that people want than attempt to be a jack-of-all-trades and hustle around being inefficient on everything. If you are at the beginning of your career, I fully understand the need to try to deliver on all sorts of projects. But as you get experience, don't be afraid to outsource or drop operations and jobs you haven't mastered or cannot afford efficient equipment. I think the industry is far better served by ten specialists working together and making a living, rather than ten individuals trying to do everything on their own (and driving themselves crazy in the process).

 I spent over 6 hours in the ER today but it wasn't for the ticker this time. I had a infected cyst on my back (again) and in the past 3 days it has grown (golf ball plus size), got a deep red, and it said hello every time my body moved or my eyes blinked. I had to go through my PCP to say, yep that is an infected cyst, before I got sent to the ER. The PCP told me that he wasn't allowed to do the procedure the ER did.

The ER doc said it was huge and way bigger than she expected it to be. This one got packed with iodine gauze that gets removed (hopefully) on thursday. I had an infected cyst on the top of my right butt cheek a couple of years back and it hurt as much as this one and looked twice as red/ugly, but it didn't get any packing. I feel better and I'm looking forward to it not having it wake up me tonight to chew the fat.

calling it done

I don't know how many coats I got on it but it looks consistent with the level of the build and the sheen. 

next project?

I made this frame and it turned out too short on one of the legs. Thinking of repurposing it for something new. I had to find where I hid what I what I want to put in the frame first.

back together

Happy with the lid and especially the flush fitting of the chamfers on the ends. It surprises how little that is off that jumps out and grabs my attention so quickly.

inside

I know the inside only got 3 coats but it doesn't need anymore than that. I'll be leaving the lid up for a couple of days to allow the shellac to fully harden.

too small (found them)

This is what I thought of using the frame for but it turned out to be too small. I could split the patches into two groups - commands I was assigned to, ones temporarily attached to, and miscellaneous. Decided that I want all the patches to be in one frame so I'll make a bigger one.

kind of rift sawn

I went through the boards and picked this one. It was still flat and it didn't have any heart wood.

reference edge

For boards over 3 feet long I like to use the #8 to straighten them out. The #7 gets the lion share of establishing reference edges.

new frame

This will have bridle joints and I'll cover them with bead moldings on the inside and outside edges. I might also (gasp) spray paint it rattle can black. Just because with spray paint there won't be any brush strokes to deal with.

practice bridle joint

This was slightly off and still a wee bit wonky after correcting it. I screwed up by not squaring the end before doing the joint. Shoulders were tapered a couple of frog hairs and one was a few frog hairs off the opposite side one.

snug fit

The mortise and tenon portion came out well. Got a self supporting, snug fit between the two.

nope

I was hoping that I could use the left over bead moldings on the patch frame but they are short for the long and short sides. The left over from sawing the frame sides will be used to make the bead moldings and the back frame.

stickered

Nothing moved when I sawed these out so I don't believe there are any stresses in the board. I'll know for sure in the AM when I eyeball these again.

useless?

I thought I could use these on my car charger for my phone but I can't. The USB A is needed but the USB C is the wrong configuration. I need a C style for iPhones. I ordered some correct 3 and 6 footers from Amazon along with a new cigarette charger.

I brought the new gold frame to Maria today and she liked the frame a lot. After looking at her samples she didn't have anything that even remotely looked like what I had made. I have to go back and see her to get her advice on the upcoming patch frame. How deep should the rabbit be? Can you mount the patches? Do they need a special adhesive? Tips on spacing? etc etc etc

Needless to say I didn't get a lot done in the shop today. I won't be walking tomorrow because of the antibiotics (2) the doc gave me. One of them I have to avoid being in full sun. If I do have to go out she told me to stick to the shade and wear a hat. First I've heard of this type of symptom of use for a medication.

accidental woodwork

 I had two packages scheduled for delivery today. One came and the other is who knows where. My screw order from Blacksmith Bolt shipped on the 29th of May (form Oregon) and USPS said I would get it today by 2100. Well mail delivery has come and gone and no screws. When I checked on it again, USPS states that it is moving through the system someplace in Texas. I doubt I'll be getting them by 2100 today. It also is good to know that I don't need them for any current project completion.

last night

I went to the shop after dinner and glued the bottom on the new workbench miscellaneous tray. The mama chest lid looked good in the clamps - the 3 boards were still aligned on both ends - and I resisted the urge to take it out of the clamps.

happy face on

The mama chest lid out of the clamps and laying flat on the workbench. I am happy with the alignment of the chamfers on the two outside edges. I didn't want to make a new lid.

cleaned up

The glue joints were pretty good with being flush. I only had a couple of spots to flush and I did them with a card scraper. After I lightly sanded the joints with 180 & 220 it was ready for shellac.

hmm.....

I got it right. I thought I had glued this board on backwards. I couldn't check it yesterday because the clamps were hiding it. This is where the chain fall attaches to the lid.

no grinder

Nixed buying the grinder solely because I know I will probably never use it again after this. I bought this hacksaw holder in Norfolk VA in 1993. It is another tool that doesn't get much use - I doubt that I have used it even once a year.

hacksaw fits

I doubt that I could have gotten a grinder to remove the middle screw.

Red Locktite 271

I'm not familiar with the colors or the numbers of Locktite. This is the only Locktite I have ever used.

done?

The vise closed up - parallel and even along the length as I tightened/closed the jaws.

maybe.....

I used the same glue on all the glue joints on this lid. This one has behaved and stayed tight and gap free. I didn't see this until I was putting the 3rd coat of shellac on the lid. I'll have to keep an eye on it to make sure it behaves itself.

the one that came

I have read his book, The Soul of a Tree, 3 times. It is only one of two books that I have read more than once. This book is by George's daughter and I'll probably digest it today. I got the link for it from a LAP blog post.

one man saw

If I am not mistaken this is a japanese resaw rip saw. I have never see anything like this come up for sale anywhere. I would like to try it to compare it to its western counterpart.

poster?

This is the front and back of the book. It unfolds into a poster. I'll ask Maria if she can flatten out the folds so I can frame it.

4 coats

One thing about shellac I have always liked is how easy it is to reapply it and blend it together - from raw wood going into wood with multiple coats of shellac.

thought I was done

I was doing a quick eyeball of the lid thinking I was done and I could put the lid back on the chest after dinner. Instead of that I found two clamp rosebuds that I had to deal with. There was one on the back but I am leaving it. It isn't as evident as this one and its on the back.

gone

It took 3 strokes with the blockplane to remove the rosebuds. I got 3 coats of shellac on it before I killed the lights. Definitely will going back on tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

The 'Russell' plane, dating between 250-400 AD. Probable origin Scandinavia. Photo scanned from the book 'Antique woodworking tools', ISBN 978-1898565055. 

A medieval pump drill

 I haven't been a good boy for the past two weeks. I've been shoving everything into the pie hole with abandon. It all started with going to lunch with my wife and getting fish and chips. I didn't lose any weight that week and it discouraged me. So I went out to eat several times more and I got cookies, ice cream, doritos, pizza, et al times a bazillion. I weighed 217 this sunday weigh in. On a bright note this is 3 pounds less than what I weighed when I went into the Navy in oct of 1974. Needless to say I'll have to buckle down but that will be difficult after free wheeling for two weeks.

baby chest

I used titebond to edge glue the two boards for this lid. Not even the teeniest hint of anything amiss.

inside

The glue joint is tight and flush end to end. It has a ding about the center but  it doesn't effect the glue joint.

white glue was the first batter

It stayed together when I took the strap clamp. It felt solid and the miters all were tight and gap free.

nope

Broke off on the 3rd rap on the bench.

5th rap

This was disappointing because I have made a lot of mitered trays/boxes without any problems with them. 

last one didn't have a chance

I flicked my finger at the last miter and it popped off. Not a good start.

tite bond miters

It survived 6 good, hard raps onto the workbench.

not looking good

One miter was open about half way and it came undone with finger pressure.

titebond failed too

This surprised me because I didn't expect the titebond miters to fail. I have had good success gluing miters by first sizing them and then gluing them together. The titebond miters took a lot more abuse and hard knocks than the white glue miters did.

1/2 thick stock

This was edge glued with the white glue. The stock broke but not on the glue line. One point for white glue.

stayed together

The other two edge joints survived me trying to break them. I cleaned and smooth the glue joint on all 3 and set them aside. The problems I saw with the other white glue headaches started popping up about a week after glue up. I set these 3 aside and I'll keep and eye on them for a couple of weeks.

smooth to the touch

I used Howard's feed 'n wax on the whole box. I am sure that the roughness I felt on the lid was airborne crappola from the shop settling on it.

mama chest lid

This is the only evidence I found on this that it had been glued. It is smooth to the touch and I can't feel any residue of glue at all.

dry fit rehearsal

Getting the glue joint aligned end to end dry wasn't that bad. My thoughts on this was if the alignment sets up off I'll make a new lid.

glued and cooking

Applying the glue didn't change much from the dry fit. I had to deal with the boards slipping by each other as I initially tightened the clamps. I corrected that by slowly tightening the clamps one after another slowly. I let this cook for over 3 hours before I glued the last board on.

gotta fix this

This is driving me nutso. This side it skewed inward at the bottom but not as much as it is on the right side end.

1/2" thick stock

The thinner the stock I clamp, the worse the toe in at the bottom. This affects the vise clamping stock securely in the jaws. I've been doing a lot of work with 1/2" stock and this has been annoying. I've had to use the vise on the sharpening bench a lot lately to work around this PITA.

problem?

I think these screws are contributing to this headache. There are three 5/16-18 machine screws holding the the back jaw to the vise plate.

the 3 machine screws

They are only a 1 1/4" long and initially when I first installed them they felt secure and solid. I've had this vise and have been using it for a couple of years (?) now.

threaded inserts

They looked good but they didn't offer much resistance when I backed them out.

new 5/16-18 machine screws

I drilled a hole straight through the jaw and counter bored the inside face to receive the nut, flat washer, and lock washer.

Thinking of using this as an excuse to buy a hand grinder. I'm bit hesitant to do that because other than this I doubt that I will ever have the need or situation to use one again. I could also hacksaw off the excess length but what is the fun in that?

feels more solid

The inserts weren't loosey goosey but this feels tighter (?) than the previous method to secure it. Next up is checking the toe in at the bottom and fixing the right side end. The right side touches and tightens before the left side. It looks to be slightly tapered.

3/4" thick pine

The toe in has significantly decreased. It hasn't disappeared 100% but it has improved greatly. It closed on the stock better but there is still a slight favoring on the right closing up first instead parallel.

it is square

The last time I tried to use the mortising guide in this vise it was toast. Not only did the front jaw toe in a ton, the mortise jig moved off 90 a lot. To a point where it was useless as a mortise guide to chop.

I had planed the vise jaw before I had put it back over the rods. The jaws are closing up and applying force parallel and equally along the length of it.

hmm.....

They are sticking out less than a 1/2". Still hadn't made up my mind about buying a grinder. This might work for a while as is - I rarely clamp anything less than a 1/2" thick and I do have the vise on the sharpening bench that I could use too.

after 4 planing runs

This side looks to be fairly parallel top to bottom.

not as terrible

The bottom is still toeing in with 1/2" stock but is has improved a lot. This side is toed in shy of an 1/8" more than the left side.

took a break

Collected a bunch of sawdust from the tablesaw and filled up an empty cottage cheese container from the the wife. Instant pencil holder thing and I don't have to worry about the pencil tips getting broken.

tablesaw pencil holder

This works but only if you put the pencil in it. I didn't do that after using it and then cursed up a storm because the pencil was MIA. I tried to pull this off and you can see that it is still there. The magnet is pretty powerful and has a strong attraction to this chunk of iron.

back to the vise

Noticed that I was or had made a me-steak here. I had been planing the outside face instead of the inside face. However, that error did work in my favor. I took the vise jaw off, planed it, and put it back on at least 10-11 times.

The lucky part? The chunk of metal with the handle and the rods isn't straight and flat. It is slightly concave so the planing I did on the outside face worked in my favor. I planed the inside face and corrected the taper and that is now history. I also planed both the inside and outside face flat, straight, and twist free. I'll deal with planing the 2° on the inside face that the instructions called for later. I want to play with the vise as is for a while.

hmm......

This is where I found out the the metal plate wasn't flat. I had the right screw tightened and I was putting in left one when I saw it. There was a gap on the left end. I didn't get a gap when  I put the left screw in first. This face of the jaw is dead flat, straight, and twist free.

mama chest lid

Got the 3rd board glued and clamped. I had to use clamps to pull the lid down and flat to the clamps and to clamp the glue joint  flat at the right/left ends. I was happy with the alignment of the three boards and I decided to let this be a hog on the bench until tomorrow.

first coat of shellac

I went back and forth a bit before I put the first coat of shellac on. I liked the flat black look of the bead moldings. I am only going to put on 3 coats and that will be more than enough to make the moldings shiny. I didn't use any shellac on the rope or leaf moldings.

I like both

This first coat when dry won't have much a sheen to it. I still like the flat look but this looks ok with the rest of the frame.

into the shitcan

I tossed the old square, pencil, and miscellaneous storage holder thing. The squares have a new home as do the pencils. I don't want this nor does the boneyard need it.

this I want

 I liked having a storage tray on the square/pencil holder thing for miscellaneous crappola. This one is ok for size but it is too short on the vertical walls. Before I killed the lights I wanted to make a new storage tray. 

glued and cooking

Not mitered but dovetailed with one tail at each corner. Glued and cooking and all it needs is a 1/8" plywood bottom glued on.

accidental woodworker

 Today was an absolute great day to go to Gurney's sawmill. It was sunny with blue skies and more importantly there was minimal traffic. It was about the same volume going both ways. The Washington Bridge repair choke point was ok not withstanding the maroons who don't know how to drive in their own lanes. I got back early enough to spend some time with my wife before she abandoned me.

$416

I bought fourteen 1x12x10 foot pine boards. After my wife left for her trip I sawed them in half in the driveway. I usually get 8-10 boards and this time I got extra. I would guess that over a 1/3 of these already started to cup. I'm not sure if any of them will be flat tomorrow.

done

The sheen on the lid looks better and matches the rest of the box. It feels rough to the finger tips so I'll rub it out with Howards feed 'n wax to address that.

experiment

Still have some of the white glue left and I glued up 3 sample boards to see how they will fare over the coming days. The gallon bottle I tossed was about half full and when I emptied it the glue came out in blobs. It didn't flow out in a continuous ribbon but in big, bottle neck clogging lumps.

new home coming

Decided to make a new pencil/square holder thing to replace the current one. I'll be breaking this one up into two. One will hold pencils and the other these 3 squares.

cooking the new square holder

Nothing new being invented here. This is basically the same method I used for stowing/holding all of my squares.

Lie Nielsen 5 1/2

I have had this for going on a couple of months now and I'm getting used to it. There is a noticeable difference in the the weight between this and a Stanley 5 1/2. I didn't think that I would get used it to or be able to discount using a plane that was this heavy. I don't notice it anymore nor does it play a role in me using it. Be that for a couple of minutes or all day long. It doesn't even make a blip on the radar screen anymore. IMO I am finding the added weight is an advantage.

needs some touch up

It is the back but I am going to paint the few holidays here and there. After that I will apply shellac to the inside and outside bead moldings. They are attracting dust like a magnet attracts iron. The shellac will make it much easier to dust it and keep it clean.

new home

I'll probably use these more now that they are closer at hand. I seemed to have ignored and forgotten they were at the end of the workbench.

a wee bit tight

This is how I have to remove the squares. There isn't room for my to grab it from the top of the square and pull it out. The 18" square above it sticks out a wee bit. I might plane the thickness of its holder to make it thinner.

one last experiment

I had these scraps left over and I'm going to glue one up with the white glue and the other one with titebond. I haven't seen any problems with miters but I'll have a comparison for this experiment.

I'll check them in the AM

I glued and clamped them the same. I sized the miters before gluing and clamping them to cook. I don't think I'll have any heartaches with the titebond but the white glue is iffy to say the least.

yikes

This is the mama chest and I was looking at this glue joint and this end was proud. I could move one past the other with minimal effort. I pulled up on it and it came off cleanly.

WTF

Both edges of the two boards area as smooth and clean as if they were freshly planed. Zero evidence that there is/was any glue on either one.

hmmm......

This glue joint isn't looking too good. This 1/3 of it appears to be separated and I could move it up/down easily.

yikes again

Turns out that what once was one board and now 3 individual boards.

back to the drawing board

There is one spot to the right of center where some glue threw a hissy fit and stayed behind. Other than that it is as clean as the thin board edges. I will try to glue this back together with titebond.

checking the table

Good news on the table glue up. I checked both ends of it and the glue joints don't show any signs of separating. There is no proud between any of the glue joints which was good to see. I don't know if I used the same white glue I have now to glue up the table. I'm thinking that I didn't but I'm not 100% sure of it. Either way the table doesn't have any apparent glue heartaches.

accidental woodworker

I have two wonderful little chisels that were made for me by Gordon McCall. One was made from an off-cut of union plane iron. I used them while making the chest and really wanted to find a place for them to live in it. They are just too long to go in the tool rack in the upper compartment. I decided they could live in the bottom compartment, but I would need some sort of tool holder to stop them from rattling around.

 Last night my wife and I loaded the papa chest into the back of her car. I had noticed that before that the glue joint line on the lid didn't look good. It looked like the joint was opening but it wasn't. I couldn't feel it when I dragged my fingernail across it. Today after lunch my wife was filling the chest with all kinds of crappola. I saw that the right side boards of the lid had shifted by each other. There was a strong 32nd of proud right on the end of the glue joint. The chest has a couple of days before it reaches NC and I don't have happy thoughts it is going to survive. One of the first things I intend to make with the wood from Gurney's is a new lid. 

The white glue has been shitcanned. I don't trust it anymore. I saw on the teeny chest that one corner was not quite sound. The pins/tails at the top didn't feel or look right. I don't think I got a good glue bond with it. For the time being I'll be sticking with tite bond original.

one more?

I came back to the shop last night twice and got a coat of shellac on the teeny box with each visit. I need to get a couple more on the top face of the lid before I call the finishing done.

applying the outside moldings

The boards at a 45 to the corners are to align the moldings with the bottom edge of the base frame. I glued and nailed this side before dry fitting and then gluing and nailing the next one.

new one coming?

There are a lot of end grain to long grain epoxy glue connections. This makes the second failure of one of those epoxy glue joints. I like having this handy to keep pencils and squares in but it can be a PITA when maneuvering projects on the workbench. I'm thinking of a replacement for it and I may not wait for another epoxy glue joint to go south. This repair will do for the interim.

couldn't wait

I went to ACE and bought some #4 and #6 RH brass screws. 13 cents each for the #4s and 21 cents each for the #6s. #6 was too big for the hinges and I had to drill out the holes for the #4 screws to fit.

done

Well almost done. I didn't like the look of the top and I'll be putting on at least one more coat of shellac (maybe two or.....). The hinges supposedly open to 95° and I didn't have any  hiccups putting the tray in or taking it out.

looks flat

The sheen on the lid doesn't match the body of the chest. Definitely needs at a minimum one more.

frame is done

Decided to paint the leaf molding and I started first by painting red dots around the stems. I then painted 4 leaves and stepped back to eyeball it. I liked what I saw so I kept on trucking. I tried to stay within the 'v' carved stems with brown but it was too difficult. Surprisingly the slight bit I was over the lines didn't look that bad. In fact it looked more natural and realistic to me so I left it as is.

one coat

The leaves came out better than I expected. I didn't know how well the green would cover the gold and I'm leaving them as is too. After looking at the leaf molding it dawned me that I could have made it myself. A simple bead on the two outside edges and carve some leaves and stems.

I had entertained two more steps but I am stopping here. I was going to cover the inside/outside bead moldings on the frame with shellac but now I'm on the fence with that. Nixed shellac on the leaf molding too. Along with the shellac nix I added touching up the leaf molding with gold paint. I think the slight imperfections and paint bleed overs add patina and character to the frame.

sneak peek

I had some hesitations about the frame overpowering the art work but I think it compliments nicely. More importantly I showed it to my wife and she liked it. She was a bit incredulous that I made it from scratch but again she loved it. While she is gone to NC I'll get it mounted and glassed at The Frame Shop. Still haven't heard from Maria about my 2nd turtle painting being ready for pickup.

accidental woodworker

In my last post, I showed how I built the top of my workbench with yellow pine boards that I brought from Alabama when I moved to Ohio last year. In this post, I’ll show you how I built the base from pecan wood that I have been saving for several years now.

I don’t know how long ago it was–certainly more than 5 years ago–a friend in Alabama gave me a pecan wood log that was about 6′ long. It’s shape was peculiar, and I wish I had pictures of it intact. While most logs are somewhat round, this one had a distinctly square shape, especially near the base. At about 7″ in diameter, it looked like it would be easy to quarter and shape into 3″ square beams, and if I cut it just right, each of those beams would have a natural “corner.” I cut up the log as planned and laid the beams aside to dry.

I began working on the legs in December, 2023, as I was waiting for the many glue-ups of the top to dry.

Unfortunately, my wood stash in Alabama was attacked by termites (a continual hazard in that part of the country) and I lost some good material.

A couple of these pecan beams sustained localized damage, and I was forced to work around it for this project. As a result, I had to make the tenons in the front legs just a little shorter than I would have ordinarily liked–just shy of 2″ long, rather than the 3″ tenons I had originally planned.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the front edge of my new benchtop is an inch thicker than the back edge, so the front legs won’t be as long as the back ones. Had I not left the top thicker, I wouldn’t have had enough length in these legs for the tenons at all. It wasn’t planned on my part, but I sure am glad it worked out!

Each leg and stretcher needed to have two flat, straight faces at 90 degrees to each other, and that required cutting some of the faces down to size. The quickest way to reduce the thickness of a beam like this is with a hewing hatchet.

On each beam, I wanted to keep as much thickness as possible, both for strength and to save work. After the hatchet work, I used a drawknife on a few spots just to level the surface a bit more.

Cutting 3″ wide pecan wood isn’t easy with a drawknife, so I didn’t do much work this way. (Note the glued-up top in clamps in the background!)

With a jack plane I leveled the surfaces out even more.

Pecan is very hard, but it does plane reasonably well with a sharp blade. Yet I didn’t need the whole surface straight and level, just enough to serve as a reference when laying out the joints. I left quite a bit of roughness on these faces, but I used a square to ensure that the planed surfaces were indeed square to each other. No need to do more work on a very hard wood than absolutely necessary.

I was pleased to find some spalting and mineral staining here and there. It hadn’t weakened the wood, so far as I can tell. But spalted pecan has been something of a theme in my workshop for years, so I’m glad to have it integrated into my workbench.

I oriented the legs to each other and marked them out, roughly indicating the direction each tenon will run. If you look closely at the photo above, you’ll see what I meant by this log having “corners” rather than being round.

The base of the workbench has a total of 12 mortise-and-tenon joints: 2 in each leg for the stretchers and one where each leg is mortised into the top. The legs are a minimum of 3″ thick, so I opted for tenons 7/8″ wide, just under a third of the total thickness of each leg, and plenty thick enough to be strong.

It was April, 2024, by the time I started mortising and tenoning in earnest. Cutting the tenons was pretty straightforward, though they were so big that I used a full-size ripsaw to cut the cheeks. It took me a long time to bore out the mortises, however. Because the legs weren’t all squared up, I would have had trouble boring out the mortises on my drill press. The stock would have wobbled on the table. Plus, I have a fairly sedentary job, so I needed a workout.

My auger bits are made for drilling in softwood, not hardwood. It helps to drill a 1/8″ pilot hole for the lead screw first. That also helps the auger bit run true. It still took a lot of torque to bore 3″ through-mortises in the legs.

As it happened, I did not have quite enough of the pecan beams for all eight pieces of the base (4 legs, 2 long stretchers, and 2 short stretchers). So I dug around in my wood stash and came up with a cherry beam of about the right size–see the foreground of the picture above. It’s also Alabama wood, and I have LOTS of it.

After boring out most of the waste from the mortises, I squared them up with chisels. As it turns out, squaring up mortises in pecan can be hard on tools.

A casualty! My 7/8″ Whitherby bench chisel broke its tip right off as I was levering waste out of a mortise.

Well, these things happen. I ground a new edge, honed it, and kept working–albeit a little more carefully this time.

I used my 3/8″ mortise chisel a lot. When working on shorter pieces, I prefer putting them in the vise. But for long pieces, straddling the work is just as good, especially if I use a clamp to help keep it still.

It took a long time, but by May, 2024, all the mortises and tenons fit together.

Finally, I bored all the offset holes for the drawbore pegs, which are 5/16″ oak. The pegs are the only stock in this bench that I didn’t bring from Alabama. When we moved into this house in Ohio, I found an old side of a church pew up in the attic.

I have no idea where it came from, but, it’s laminated from 3/4″ stock, which is very straight and bone-dry. That’s everything you want in drawbore pegs. I cut some lengths off and split them down for the pegs.

When assembling a structure with drawbored mortise and tenon joints, there is no real hurry with assembly. You take your time because the joints need no glue. They are mechanically locked together.

However, those shorter tenons on the front legs had me worried a bit, since those are the joints that will be the most stressed as I work at the bench in the years to come. So I decided it wouldn’t hurt to put some glue in just those mortises, though they are drawbored as well. None of the other joints required glue.

Everything is assembled now. The base is as rigid as can be.

I like the look of the rough surfaces in contrast to the straight, level surfaces. It lends the structure an element of what David Pye would call diversity in texture.

Now that I have trimmed back the excess length of each drawbore peg, everything is nice and neat.

I will admit that I had to wrestle the structure here and there to get everything to fit. There’s a bit of twist here and there in a couple of the beams, which meant I had to persuade some joints into place. That’s how it goes when timber framing, I suppose. But everything came together just how I planned, and the workbench stands upright!

In my next post, I will show how I finished up this workbench by installing the vise and the planing stop, as well as a shelf underneath.

 I am waiting on screws to come from Blacksmith bolt. I checked them today and they are supposed to come monday. I'm not sure that I can wait that long and I might buy what I need from ACE. I am able to work on the fancy frame but slowly. I am waiting on paint to dry before I can apply the last set of moldings. Saturday is still looking like a good day to make a run to Gurney's. I'll keep my fingers crossed until I get back from there with my load.

box moldings

No nails, just titebond glue to secure the moldings. I did one last check on the dry fit before I glued them on.

leveling the corners

This and the opposite diagonal corner were proud of the short ends. Planed them flush and nothing looked remiss after I got done.

and then there were four......

I wanted to get a group pic before the papa chest went south. The teeny one is done except for the shellac finish and applying the hinges.

side shot

I couldn't find a large version of the brass handles on the mama and baby chests. I remember seeing this style of handles that were 7" between the handle plates. Now I could only find 4 1/2" between plates.

around to it......

Painted the back of the frame black. I am only putting one coat on the back of the frame. I don't see any need to do more than that. 

inside/outside bead moldings

These are all dry to the touch. All 9 have some shiny spots and those too are all dry to the touch.

one last coat

I like some of the red showing through the gold but not as strong as it was yesterday. I put on what I hope is the last coat of gold paint. It did tone down the amount of red showing and I checked it from a bazillion different angles.

inside moldings dry fitted

I like the black and it should go with the painting. There are several large areas that are painted black around the edges of it.

I fitted these moldings off the poor man's miter box I cobbled together yesterday. After I glue and nail them in place I'll touch up the miters with black paint.

gotta wait on these

I have to clamp the outside moldings in place but before I can do that I have to wait for the gold paint to dry. I might be able to get these done after dinner. I am still debating about whether or not to paint the leaves and stems molding. It will be done with acrylic paints so I should be able to put gold paint over that if I don't like the look of it.

if.....

I have 3 coats on the box except for the lid. I have 3 on the top and only two on the bottom. If I haul myself back to the shop after dinner I might finish the shellac today.

I've been watching a lot of Britbox crime dramas on Amazon but none have really captured my attention like the french ones. I don't even bother to watch the ones that have commercials. I thought that subscriptions didn't have them but it would appear I was wrong. Again. It is a good chance that if I don't find one to watch I will make back to the shop later this PM.

accidental woodworker

At a recent show of the PAST Tool Collectors, I bought several centre bits.  I'd been curious about these for a long time and wanted to see what they're about.  And the price was right - 12 bits for $12!

Before anybody gets all worked up, I'm using the British spelling of "centre" just because it's how I've seen it written most of the time.  And because it makes me giddy.  I don't know this for sure, but I suspect that these bits were not used as much in America as they were in England.  Please correct me if you know otherwise.

The line-up of centre bits.

Note that the holes that these bits cut are not (or are no longer) standard sizes.  I wonder if they ever were.  The sizes (in 16ths) and makers (with all markings) are, from left to right:

• 4 1/2 / 16     No markings
• 5 / 16           No markings
• 6.5 / 16        R.M. DIXON / HERMITAGE WORKS / SHEFFIELD
• 9+ / 16        W. CHANCE & SON
• 9.5 / 16        T.E. WELLS & CO. / CAST STEEL
• 13.5 / 16      E. COOPER / IRONMONGER / CHESTER
• 15.5 / 16      No markings
• 15.5 / 16      W. MARPLES & SONS (with flower? or clover? logo)
• 18 / 16         R.M. DIXON / HERMITAGE WORKS / SHEFFIELD
• 19 / 16         J. ASKHAM (this may be an owner's mark)
• 20+ / 16       No maker mark, but "AR" and "1 1/8" possibly stamped by owner
• 21 / 16         T.E. WELLS & CO. / CAST STEEL

In his writing for "The Woodworker", Charles Hayward notes that these bits are best suited for shallow holes.  Especially when boring into end grain, the center point can follow the workpiece's grain, leading to a curved or crooked hole.  That problem was solved when spiral auger bits came around, as once the perimeter of the spiral section enters the hole, it keeps the bit from wandering.

Shannon Rogers did a nice video on centre bits that tells a more complete story, but I'll mention a few things here.  First, lets talk geometry.  The following pic shows a typical bit.

Cutting lip at left, center point, and spur at right

For these bits to work properly, the cutting spur has to be longer (closer to the wood) than the cutting lip is so that it scores the wood before the cutting lip starts removing the bulk of the waste.  In this picture, the spur is up to a line on the paper, but the lip is a few millimeters lower.

This pic shows a bit with cutting lip equal to the spur. This bit will not cut a clean hole as is, so I had to file the lip down a bit.

Here, you can see the spur has scored the perimeter of the hole.

As the bit goes deeper, the cutting lip engages to remove the waste.

Sometimes you get a nice spiral shaving

It's easy to sharpen these bits, but it's also easy to sharpen these bits incorrectly.  It seems like most bits in the wild had not been sharpened properly at some point in their lives.  Lets start with the cutting lip.

The following picture shows a cutting lip from the side.  There is quite an angle on the underside of the lip (top side in the orientation shown).  This clearance angle assures that the leading edge of the lip is what cuts the wood.  Many centre bits are sharpened incorrectly by filing the underside in such a way that the leading edge can't cut the wood.  If you were to file in the direction my fingers are pointing, you might get a sharp edge, but you would also create a new bevel on the underside and the heel of that bevel would contact the wood before the cutting edge can, rendering the bit useless.  One should only file the top side of the lip, with only slight work on the underside to remove a burr.

Note the angle on the cutting lip

The correct thing to do is to file the top of the lip.

Red marker on the top of the lip will help gauge progress

Red marker removed, feel for burr on underside,  remove the burr and the lip is sharp

Now take a look at the center point.  It is actually a three sided awl, with each corner a cutting edge.

In this close-up, you can see two facets of the center point

In Shannon's post about these bits, Bob Rozieski commented that when these center points are not sharpened evenly on all facets, you can change the diameter of the hole that the bit cuts.  If you think about it, it's the lateral distance between the center point and the cutting spur that determines the hole diameter.  Some of mine were cutting holes pretty far off of standard sizes.  I'll have to take a look at the center points to see if anything more can be done to get them dialed in to cut proper diameters.

Here is a picture of the other side of a bit, showing the third facet of the center point.

This third facet started out  in plane with the rest of the back of the bit

I noticed that on most, if not all of my bits, this back facet is slightly convex along its length.  That probably puts the very point more in line with the central axis through the bulk of the bit.  My thinking is that would result in a truer hole.

The last part to sharpen is the cutting spur, seen at left in the previous picture.  Its leading edge is towards us in the picture, and its top point needs to be filed to a sharp cutting geometry, without reducing its length.  Too many bits have been ruined by sharpening the spur poorly.  Never file the outside of the spur, as that will change the diameter that the bit cuts.  Only file the inside concave curved area, but be careful not to go so far as to reduce the length of the spur.  Small round files or sandpaper wrapped around a round (cylindrical) object work well for this.

One thing I'm not sure about is an aspect of the cutting lip.  Shannon reports that the outside of the lip starts cutting before the inside does, thereby creating a slightly domed surface in the hole you're cutting.  The bits I have are all over the map on this point.

Note the difference in angles of the cutting lips.

The bit at left would cut as Shannon states, with the outside of the lip cutting first.  But the bit at the  right would have the whole lip cutting at the same time, leaving a flat bottom.  Did different manufacturers make them with different geometries?  I don't know.  Did they all start out looking like the one on the left and then some get filed improperly to look like the one on the right?  I don't know.

That ends my treatise on centre bits.  I don't know if I'll pick them up instead of my auger bits.  But if I need a shallow hole and don't have to get an exact diameter, these might just be the ticket.  I'll end with pictures of the maker stamps.

T. E. Wells

R. M. Dixon

W. Chance & Son

(Wm?) Marples & Sons Looks like an owner once filed a waist in the shank, maybe to fit their brace chuck

E. Cooper

 Decided this AM to turn the clipper box into a teeny blanket chest. This would make it one of four. Thought to go this way because of the stop hinges I will be using for the lid. I ordered a couple hundred RH brass screws in #5 and #4 screw sizes. I am hoping to have them by saturday, so fingers crossed. 

My wife is giving a talk to a genealogical group on saturday and after that she headed south to NC to see the grandkids. I'll be without any adult supervision for the entire month of june. Saturday is supposed to be clear and sunny so I'll be motoring out to Gurney's sawmill to load up on 1x12 pine boards. Don't know what I'll make but I'll have a load of wood to make it with.

last night

I had to get one coat of the gold paint on the frame. It didn't cover the red anywhere near hiding it. On the flip side of the coin I like the look of the red showing through the gold. That changes too depending upon the angle that I look at the frame.

2nd look

I brushed out the gold paint on the right side and it didn't change much from this look. But when I stepped closer and looked directly down on it, it was golden. Now I'm mulling over whether to paint the leaves and stems. I had planned on painting the leaves green and the stems brown. 

different angle

What was showing a lot of red is now showing a lot of gold. The more I walked around the frame the more I liked the red and gold interplay.

needs a base

I had some scraps of 1/2" stock to get a base out of. This one will be mitered vice being dovetailed. That is because of the thin width of the base - 1 1/4".

base and bearers

I am also putting a back stop thing on the lid. There will be a small chamfer on the sides and front of the lid. I won't be chiseling a thumb catch recess because the front overhangs enough to negate that need.

starting the miters

Rough sawed one miter, shot it on the donkey ear jig, marked and sawed the opposite end off the box.

square

Unfortunately for me the box isn't square. The long sides of the base were short and the box didn't fit the base. The short ends were ok and I redid the long sides.

base #2

This one fits and I have an ugly tapered gap on the left. The base diagonals were dead nuts on and the box ones were still off by a 1/8".

opposite side

Tapered gap isn't a wide on this side. 

failed first moldings

I am going to hide the gaps on the base with a molding. The first one I tried is a 3/16 bead molding that I had to scrap. I tried to saw off and plane the quirk but it didn't work out for me. I had trouble sawing the beads out squarely and using a tenon plane to square up the quirk went south on the express.

quirk is too small

I wanted the quirk on this molding. It would have been facing up with the bead beneath it. I tried sawing it, chiseling, and planing it without any success. I couldn't get the quirk to be consistent and square along its length.

1/8" astragal

This didn't turn out to fit what I pictured it might have been. I tried it in two orientations and I didn't like either one.

looks funny in this position

It looked even worse IMO vertical up against the box. It was also iffy on hiding the gap on the left side too. This was molding #3 I tried.

cove molding

This is what I want for the base molding. This is the smallest cove molding plane that I have and it is 4 times too big for the base as is.

not going to work

After eyeballing it for a few and giving it my best goofy looks I set it aside. I couldn't find a way to saw it out one, safely, and two, so that the result would look like a small cove molding.

love this profile

The cove molding at the top is what I want for a size. I ran the the profile on four edges of a scrap and sawed off 4 cove molding sections.

hmm.......

I tried the quarter round part first. I liked it but I wanted to compare it to the cove molding too.

magical

Simple things amuse those with simple minds. This amuses me to no end in sight. There is something magical of listening to the 'swoosh swish' of the plane and see the profile emerging after each run of the plane.

cove moldings won the brass ring

Two of the moldings are slightly larger than the other two. I will deal with any mismatches at the miters after it is glued up.

base cutout

Did the base cutout the same way I did the base cutout on the miniature blanket chest.

too late

Made a poor man's miter box ala Paul Sellers but I didn't get to use it on the base cove moldings. I did them by hand and trued the miters on my small miter shooting jig.

cooking away

Nailed and glued the bearers in and then glued the box bottom to the bearers. I will let this set and cook until tomorrow. The base moldings are dry fitted and I'll glue them on tomorrow.

two coats

I got a second coat of gold on and it is covering much better on the rope moldings than it is on the leaf one. On the leaf molding it will show more red/gold depending on the angle and position you are at while looking at the frame. Not sure if I will do a 3rd coat or leave it as is and paint the stems and leaves. I will find that out in the AM after giving this 24 to dry.

good news

The black paint is dry to the touch. I couldn't find one spot that was tacky. Still don't understand why some wood was tacky and others dried as normal.

accidental woodworker