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Accidental Woodworker

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The daily dribble from my workshopRalph Boumenothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606484453109932074noreply@blogger.comBlogger5620125
Updated: 1 hour 10 min ago

new cabinet pt V.......

11 hours 14 min ago

 The big, bad nor'easter (IMO) was a big bust. It was a wee bit windy, with rain on and off. The rain wasn't that heavy neither and I didn't see any downed limbs when I went for breakfast this AM. The first nor'easter of the year at least it wasn't cold bringing snow/sleet with it. But that fun is yet to come.

fitting the back

Planed the width first for a snug fit and then worked on the top/bottom. I went slow making frequent checks to make sure I wouldn't say '...oops, took too much'.

I'm impressed

I'm also incredibly happy with the fit. I had to tap it flush with the mallet. I like the finished look of it a lot. I think it is much better than plywood (ignore the panel is 6mm plywood).

peek a boo

I believe this may become my go to for cabinet backs.

 see the hiccup?

I'm right handed and I wanted the smaller lites to be on the left, not the right. Missed that when I laid out the half laps for the muntins. I might switch the snap catch and put it on the left (if I remember that). I think putting it on the right would make it look crowded with the small lites.

see them?

Happy to write that most of the white snake lines are gone. There are still a few that haven't faded yet. Fingers crossed that will happen before I start slapping shellac on it.

 need some shellac

I have switched to using denatured alcohol I get at the paint store. I am no longer using Everclear which is about $20 more for less. I don't see any difference in using Everclear vice denatured alcohol. I don't have enough shellac to finish doing the carcass. I am almost afraid to buy more shellac - the price has been rising steadily over the past year.

hmm......

 I think I should have waited before gluing the back stop on. There is no way I can get fasteners of any type into the top of the back panel.

miller dowels

I am securing the panel with 5 miller dowels on the two long sides and the 3 on the bottom. After eyeballing these I think I don't need any fasteners on the top. All the stress on the panel will be downward and the sides should keep the top from moving in/out.

bottom

Three miller dowels should be sufficient at the bottom. They just need to keep the bottom from shifting in or outward.

need a gap filler

There is one gap on the back panel that I filled. Once this is on a wall it will never be seen but my OCD couldn't let it slide. None of my veneers were thin enough to fit the gap so I planed this scrap until it did.

 sigh

Not too bad considering this was the only gap on the entire back panel.

shelf layout

I like to notch the shelves for the supports to sit in. I thought I had made a mistake at first because the notches weren't the same front and back. Forgot the back panel intrudes into the interior 3/4".

 done

With the notches, the shelf stays in place as things are dragged across it. Nothing more annoying than having the shelf move forward and then crash and fall as you remove things from it. 

 checking the fit

Locked in place. One down and one to go.

 done

Maybe I should have gone with fixed shelves. I got the shelves at the lowest spot and the highest one. Experience has taught me that 6-7 inches is a good allowance.

oops

Obviously didn't think this all the way through. The tops of my initials are buried a wee bit.

 too sharp

The before on the top and the after on the bottom. I don't like the sharpness of the edge in the before pic. A few strokes with the violin plane followed by sandpaper rounded and smoothed it nicely.

two coats

Two done and two more to go. I am doing four coats on the shelves and the interior of the cabinet. The outside will get 6-7. 

test run

This is my 21ga pin nailer. I tried it out to see if I could get a nail in the thickness/width of my glass retainer bars. Passed with flying colors and I'll be pin nailing them after I get the glass.

 retainer bars

Maybe I should have waited but I think I'll be ok. I am not using 1/8" thick glass on this. Instead I'm using the thinner offering. I ripped this out such that I have some wiggle room with the glass thickness.

dead?
The compressor had been cycling a lot more than the last time I used it. After about 15 minutes it was running continuously. Both of the pressure gauges were reading zero. The top of it was so hot I couldn't touch it. 

The life expectancy of oil less pancake compressors is about 5 to 10 years. I bought this in april of 1995. I'll try this again after it has cooled off and see what shakes out then. Thinking ahead, pancake compressors aren't that expensive. Both of the big box stores sell compressors for around $150. That is what I think I paid for this one.

 glass retainer bars

Either way, I am using a pin nailer to secure these. I painted the muntin rabbets entirely so I don't have any bare wood to glue them to.

accidental woodworker 

new cabinet pt IV.......

Mon, 10/13/2025 - 3:56am

The storm so far has been a dud. Light winds and some light rain with the big stuff yet to come? Weather aside I had productive day in the shop. I got most of the woodworking done (I think) and I am awaiting the hinges. I ordered them on friday and I don't know when I'll get them. Lack of having them puts me dead in the water for the time being.

 out of the clamps

Still square and most of the bow that was in the sides is gone.

 good fit

The door is dead nuts square and it fits the height with a 16th clearance at the top and bottom. With the door inset in the carcass it laid up square and the bow is almost gone completely. The big gap on the width, however, is still there.

got lucky

Found this scrap and it fills the gap perfectly - snug and self supporting. Decided to glue the filler on the latch side of the door.

 dry fit
I ripped this out a wee bit wider and longer than the edge of the door.  After it cooked I planed it flush.

choices

I am using the one the right because it is smaller and the finish matches the hinges I ordered. I think the left one is too large for the scale of this cabinet . This is a arts and crafts snap catch and the cabinet is too plain for it.

dent work ahead

I tried using my 4x24 belt sander to flush the pins/tails and it was a dismal failure. The belt tracking went haywire and it gouged and left snake like tracks on the near end of this side. It took several attempts before most of them were raised. Although I flushed them I could still make them out. It may be a few days before they fade.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

Setup I came up with flushing the pins/tails with a #4 handplane. I was surprised by how well this mickey mouse looking thing actually worked.

 hmm......

Wish I  had thought of it years ago. Usually I would put the carcass on the floor up against the lally column to plane it. This worked wonderfully and I didn't have to fight gravity or kneel to do it.

 adjustable shelves

Made a couple of jigs - one for the pin hole spacing and the square block for the depth stop. The bottom most pin is at 7" up and the top 8" down. I plan to put two shelves in the cabinet.

sigh

Tore out a chunk while flushing the filler. Not to outdo myself I tore out two more chunks on the other side. This is the face side and even though the door is getting painted, this divot is too large to fill with putty.

glued and cooking

It was a little tricky to get it glued and clamped. It wasn't that thick of a tear out but I think I got it aligned and clamped well. I would find out how well in a couple of hours.

two hours later

Happy with how well this cooked. It hadn't shifted when I clamped it.

 dry fit

Going with an inset back. 1 3/4" frame with a 6mm panel. The alternative was a rabbet with either plywood or solid wood slats. I made it a 16th larger in both directions and I'll plane it to fit the carcass.

 dead nuts

Both diagonals were dead nuts equal. I didn't use a full mortise and tenon. I used a stub tenon to fit in the groove I plowed for the 6mm panel. This frame will not be stressed in any way after it is installed, especially the 'mortise and tenons'.

last shelf

Finished planed both shelves and molded a profile on the front edges. I still have to do notches on the underside of both for the shelf pins.

 top back stop

The cabinet could stand on its own without this but I like them. Originally it was almost 3" high but I didn't like the look of that. I cut it down to 1 1/2" and made a 3" radius round over on the ends. After I smoothed the ends I routed a chamfer on the front face.

filling gaps

After gluing the back stop on I turned my attention to filling in 3 pin/tail gaps. None of them were glaring obvious but I dislike gaps. To me they are a pointed finger at a screw up. Filled two on this corner with veneer and the last one on the opposite face bottom corner.

done?

I got the carcass and the shelves sanded up to 220 and I can start applying shellac on the carcass in the AM.

 hmm.....

I think this frame and panel would have looked better with a center stile and two panels. I thought of it while doing the dry fit but decided to stay on this road. I didn't want to try and make a center stile to match the frame.

 door is done

Had some tear out to fill in with putty on both sides. Used my violin plane to smooth out a few bumps in the chamfers. 

accidental woodworker

new cabinet pt III.......

Sun, 10/12/2025 - 4:01am

 Got the carcass dovetailed and glued up in the PM session. Ran into a few hiccups that I stepped back from to think on. Spent my post lunch stroll thinking about the problems I had with the carcass in the AM session without coming up with a game plan. Didn't stop me from jumping into the headache with both feet after the strolling was done.

hmm....
I've had the Keller dovetail marker on the left for over 25 years and I never used it. When I first got it I could not figure out how to mark dovetails with it. From what I remember about it, one tail is for softwoods and the other for hardwoods. I don't follow that protocol at all. I use the same angle regardless of the wood.

The dovetail marker on the right I had made based on one from Charles Hayward. The angle on it matches the lonesome Keller dovetail marker on the left perfectly. I don't know what this angle is but I have a second one that is a 1 in 7 angle, ala Paul Sellers. That is the one I used on this carcass. At least now I can say I do know how to use the Keller marker it but I doubt I will. Mine will mark the angle and plumb and square.

last six

Had one me-steak in knifing the baselines of the pins on one end. The inside face baseline was a strong 1/8" shy. When I knifed it again I saw that there were two knife nicks. Got lucky that I knifed on the short one and no evidence of it exists anymore.

 dry fit

All four corners went together off the saw. I didn't have to trim a single pin to get the tails and pins to mesh like a hand going into a well worn glove. That aside, the fun started here too. I couldn't get the carcass to square up. When I finally got close to squaring it up, the carcass was twisted.

future headache

One problem that needs to be fixed first is squaring up the carcass. The second hiccup is both the right and left sides bow inward roughly at the mid point. 3rd one is the width is too wide. The top/bottom clearance is perfect with about a 16th clearance top and bottom.

 this sucks pond scum

When I checked this before doing the dovetailing, the clearance was an 1/8" for both the height and width. Don't know where or how this gap grew and I can't ignore it. Way too big of a margin for a door.

frustrating

I was measuring the diagonals and switched over to my pinch rods. FYI the switch didn't help the squaring headache. I could get one side square but the other would be off a 1/4". Used a quick grip to pull the long diagonal to square the carcass, and that operation would twist the carcass. Plus I also had two corners where I couldn't get the tails to fully seat and stay seated.

good sign

Used 90° squaring clamps and the unclamped side is off a 1/8". Sigh. The good news is that the carcass isn't twisted.

one of the good corners

Just about all the tails came out proud. This corner has most of the tails fully seated except for the top one, which isn't that bad. When I clamped it and seated the tail, it threw the diagonals off.

hasn't improved

The carcass is kind of square but the sides still bow in and the width is still too wide.

fixed it

When I got back from the stroll I did something I rarely do when I dovetail. I relieved the inside of the tails. That helped immensely. The carcass was square within a 16th and the tails fully seating improved a lot. These two corners needed some help closing the gaps. Added benefit of that was I didn't need the quick grip to pull the long diagonal in. The tails fully seating actually helped with getting the carcass square.

I was prepared to do more to square up the carcass but relieving the tails was the trick. I don't know what the next step would have been if this hadn't worked. I'm sure it would have involved a great deal of choice expletives and finger pointing.

 sigh

I knew I would have a gap here. I guessed at the knife line - it was faint and I eyeballed it but on the wrong side. After the carcass has cooked I'll glue a shim into this.

3/16"

Gap ended up an 8th inch too much. Since I'm not making a new door or carcass, I started to brainstorm ideas on how to close up this gap. One thing in my favor is I am painting the the door and leaving the carcass natural.

first idea

Glue a strip on the hinge side and plane it to fit. I like this idea as it is an easy fix and the paint will hide the evidence of it.

2nd idea

This one didn't survive at all. I think this is called an astragal - it would cover the gap over laping both on the door and the carcass edge. Even with this partial example it looked like crappola  to me.

3rd idea

This one is a strong contender for over taking the #1 spot. I like the look of beads on both outside edges of the door. There might be a few minor hiccups with fitting the hinges and snap catch but not insurmountable. Employing this fix will involve a couple of precision rips because I don't want to rip anything off the beads and I want to do the minimal amount of planing to fit the door. Something to muse over with sweet dreams tonight.

PM session cut short

There is a big storm (Nor'easter) coming through my part of the universe starting tonight. Lots of rain and winds for the next two days. I cut the PM session short to clean out the gutters on west side of the house. I wasn't expecting the size of the blockage I had to clear in both of the down sprouts. I cleaned out the down spouts on the east side when I painted it last week. I'm ready for the rain to bring it on.

accidental woodworker

new cabinet pt II.......

Sat, 10/11/2025 - 3:49am

 Last night I was thinking about the new cabinet and my initial designs had drawers in it. I drew up several with one to four drawers (liked the 4 drawer asymmetrical layout) but decided to do just a cabinet with a door. Then I went back and forth on an overlay or inset door. In the end an inset door won - trickier to do then an overlay but I think an inset door looks better.

checking the height

I have the two ends together, flushed at the top. With door butted up against them I have about 1/8" at this end. That gives me a 16th of wiggle room at the top and bottom.

wash, rinse, repeat

Did the same for checking the width of the cabinet. Got the same 1/8" wiggle room for the width.

sawing the last half pin

After 15 years of doing dovetails I am getting comfortable with them. Half pins were especially difficult for me to master. I can now look back see that it was mostly my lack of sawing skill. Since then I have upped my skill set with sawing. I still have gaffes now and then but even those are dwindling away to nothing.

 tails done

I have been thinking about sawing the waste instead of chopping it out. My dovetailing has evolved and I have changed how I do them over the past few years. I've settled into a routine with them and maybe sawing the waste is the next step in my progression with dovetailing. On the flip side I enjoy chopping them and feel that it helps develops my skill using chisels for other operations. Not going to try it on these but maybe on the next dovetailing adventure.

simple set up block

The piece of pine behind the stock in the vise sets the height of the stock. The set up block is aligned with the top of the outrigger, height set up thingie behind it. That allows the tail board to lay flat and even on the pin board for marking/knifing the pins.

2 of 6

I have 3 gent style dovetail saws and 3 open handle dovetail saws. The right saw is a Lie Nielsen saw and it was my go to for dovetailing until the I got the one on the right (2 years ago?). That one came from Blue Spruce and I use it now for all my dovetailing. I find that the length (12") makes sighting and sawing plumb and square much easier than the shorter length LN dovetail saw.

 chopping the pins

Used 3 different chisels chopping the tail and pin waste. My LN 1" socket chisel, Ashley Iles chisels, and my no name 25mm metric chisel. All of them work and do the job without any one of them really outshining the others. I do know that not all of them hold an edge for long and all of them suck at chopping when dull.

hmm.....

The tails are proud in a tapered manner. Maybe I should have made the faces parallel rather than just eyeball flattening the two faces.

 square 

Both ends of this pin board were fitted off the saw and went in square. It is getting to were I am starting to take this for granted. It is humbling when you screw it up and end up with kindling.

 checking the height

Still have my 1/8" to split the top and bottom.

 nope

Killed the lights here on the 2nd pin board. Had other life events intervene and I'll do this one in the AM. The goal of getting the carcass dovetailed and glued up didn't happen today. 

hmm....

Played some more with the rabbet plane before I left the shop. The rabbet plane ate up this red knot without a hiccup. Surprised me a lot at how effortlessly it plowed right through it.

 took some fiddling 

The plane bottomed out but the rabbet needed some remediation. Planed a hump in the middle and inboard vertical wall was wavy. Fixed both of them with the same plane. Gauged my progress with the margins from the stick laid in the rabbet.

accidental woodworker 

glamour pics of two.......

Fri, 10/10/2025 - 3:48am

  The glass door cabinet and the toolbox are done. Both have taken up residence in the boneyard for now. My wife wants the glass door cabinet and the toolbox is awaiting someone to adopt it. I also have a japanese toolbox that is hoping to be adopted.

 muntins cooking

Glued the muntins on after dinner last night. While filling the pie hole I thought about the door. Couldn't think of anything else to do on the door that needed to be done before the muntins were glued on. Ran putting the whole cabinet together in the brain bucket and nada. Didn't see any road blocks or hiccups so I pulled the trigger. 

The muntins were square to the inside of the frame. All four points that the muntins were glued to the frame were tight and secure. I think with the snug fit and the four glue points the muntins will stand the test of time.

 name?

Glued the center thing on the horizontal and vertical muntins. I just saw a blog about repairing these but I can't remember what he called them. I let them cook for a couple of hours before removing the clamps.

first toolbox glamour pic

The dutchmen I did haven't popped as much as I thought they would. The through tenons look good IMO.

2nd glamour pic

They didn't pop much more on the interior. 3 coats of shellac on the interior and 5 on the exterior.

3rd glamour pic

The till came out a wee bit smaller than planned. None of my wooden marking gauges fit - the till is too shallow. However, my Glen Drake marking gauges fit.

 4th glamour pic

The lid could double as a teeny workbench. I tried but the handle got in the way when I tried to sit on the lid.

 hmm.....

The toolbox that inspired mine had the edges of the ends wrapped in metal. One end had an 'anvil' at the top. Perfect for pounding on for straightening bent nails? I thought of copying that but I couldn't even begin to figure out how to do the metal work. Maybe on the next one. BTW, still haven't been able to find the YouTube vid on restoring the original one.

 done

There isn't much more to do with the door other than hinges and a knob of some kind. I'm thinking of using a snap catch for this similar to the one I used on the glass door cabinet.

ta da, 1st glamour pic

I had a few hiccups making this but none of that slaps you as you look at it.

I am not a fan of fixed shelving as I prefer adjustable shelves that can be positioned as needed for current storage items. It was too tight for drilling into the stiles for shelf pins. One of the draw backs for this type of cabinet construction.

  3rd glamour pic

Glad that I decided to make the back finished. I doubt that it will be exposed but it gives the option to my wife with having it visible.

flattening the new project stock

 The boards all had a slight cup to them. I didn't attempt to get the two faces parallel - just planed both sides flat taking the minimal amount of stock off.

 two sides, top, and bottom

The plan is to dovetail the carcass. I'm thinking ahead to the back and how and what it will be. I would like to use 1/2" thick stock and I'm stuck on how to attach said 1/2" thick boards to the back of the carcass.

stickered until the AM

I need time to think more on the build and this will give the stock time to relax and get any stupid wood tricks out of its system.

what a relief

The door laid flat on the tablesaw. Not even the slightest hint of it rocking. Even flipped it and tried it on the muntins. Not dead nuts flat but still almost no rocking neither.

hmm.....

It was too early to kill the lights so I dug out this rabbet plane to play with. I've had it for 4-5 years (?) and it smelled awful when I first got it. After hanging out in the shop that smell is now gone. Tried it as is, the plane hesitated due to the iron being dull a little but no hiccups with making this rabbet.

plane bottomed out

The size of the rabbet is a viable size. This would work on the current build for the back for the 1/2" thick boards I'm planning on using.

freshly sharpened

The blade is laminated. I can see the line across the bevel and on the sides.

yikes

Wicked sharp iron and I didn't even have a chance to start the thought of saying 'aw shit.....'. Weird that this finger was the one the iron drew blood on.

 looking better

Scrubbed it first with alcohol and then Simple Green. Looks better and cleaner. The smell hasn't returned. It was the smell that initially made me stick this in the black hole of shop 'to do' things.

accidental woodworker 

tomorrow.......

Thu, 10/09/2025 - 3:14am

 I'll have glamour pics of two more projects - the glass door cabinet and the toolbox tomorrow. Glad to finally putting these two to bed. And I started on the next one which starts with a four lite glass door. I'll be building the carcass to fit the door rather than fitting a door to the carcass.

not a good first pic, eh?

Painted the holidays on the door and the carcass. Barring me finding more hiccups this will done once the paint is dry.

hmm.....

Decided to use one of these picture frames as a door for the upcoming cabinet build. Like I already said, I'll be building the carcass to fit the door.

 muntin

For some reason I drew a complete blank on how I had made the muntins for the glass door cabinet. On the bright side the muntin came out perfect for a test piece. The idea is to glue the center thin bar in a notch in the door frame.

 making a tenon

In spite of drawing a blank, this muntin will be done in a different way then the glass door cabinet.

sigh

These two are toast. Both of them are from quarter sawn and after ripping out the center bar they curled at the ends.

 two new ones

Same problem but not as bad. The board I ripped these out of is bowed at one end. Didn't see that when I sawed them.

sigh

Two more muntins from flat sawn and they are toast too. Both of them slipped in the tenon jig when I pushed it through the saw.

 just as well

I sawed for the tenon on the wrong side anyways. The kerf should have been on the left not the right.


2 more plus an extra

I was still trying to understand the echoes banging around in the brain bucket about how to do the muntins. Where to place the tenons, half laps, notches, and not being able to fully see the negative spaces. I was getting a headache.

 test pieces

Before I commit to the real thing I'm going to experiment on some scraps to figure it out. The left one is the muntin and the right one, one of the sides of the frame.

notch chopped

Decided to use a notch the same size as the muntin for strength. This will be a larger a glue surface than a skinny center bar. 

 self supporting

Got a good fit on the notch and the muntin but it didn't work out. The top and bottom of the muntin are flush with the top and bottom of the frame. I need an offset for the glass and the retainer bars.

 2nd attempt

Made the 'tenon' deeper on the muntin so I got an offset on the back. Wasn't expecting the front to lay proud on the front face of the frame though.

serendipitous?

I kind of like this - a step up from the flush look of the glass door cabinet.

 small chamfer

This is what I'm going with. The muntin will be proud and have a profile of sorts.

choices

I ripped the test frame piece to the same width as the door frame. Deciding how long to make the muntin overhang on the frame width. I think this is better looking if it isn't run out to the outside edge.

 not quite half laps

Setup I used to get the depth of the muntin 'tenon' the same on both ends. The board on the right was the outrigger for the router to keep it from tipping.

 true half lap

The horizontal and vertical muntins joined.

 muntins done

The blue tape is holding a super glued chip back in place. I used the half laps to determine the 'tenons'on the horizontal muntin. They went together enough so I could knife nick where it crossed the frame on the right and left.

 asymmetrical layout

I used thirds for the layout. The inside measurements are 12" x 24". The vertical muntin is set at 4" and the horizontal one at 8".

 brown knot

Soaked this with super glue twice. I am going to paint the door and shellac the carcass. Most of the brown knot will be hidden when the door is closed. There is a small brown knot on the face about the size of a pea.

glass retainers

The retainers are square and sit flush in the rabbets. I'll have to thin them after I get the glass for them.

 chamfer done

Thought of doing this with a plane but whacked it out with the router.

 corners cleaned up

The door is basically done. The hard part of making/fitting the muntins is complete. Before I glue it up I'm leaving it dry for just in case. No worse feeling to be had after glue up then to realize you needed to do one more thing before you glued it.

accidental woodworker 

NOS made toolbox pt XI.........

Wed, 10/08/2025 - 3:45am

 Two days in a row with an appointment but at least this time I knew I had this one. It was PT to help me with my right hip - I can't lift my right leg upwards from a seating position. However, it screwed up not only my shop time, it set back my post lunch stroll. All and all it worked to my advantage. Started applying shellac and all the drama with the strolling and the appointment wasn't so bad.

 one more day

I got 4 coats on the toolbox and the till (includes post dinners application too). The lid is drying on the tablesaw. Two more days at the most and I'll be snapping glamour pics of it.

accidental woodworker 

NOS made toolbox pt X.........

Tue, 10/07/2025 - 3:44am

Almost made it and I would have too. But, a monkey wrench got throw into the gears today. I use a desk flip calendar as my planner and when I flipped today over an appointment for orthopedics popped up. It really screwed up my agenda for today big time. I would have gotten the toolbox done today but that didn't happen boys and girls but maybe tomorrow......

hmm.....

The spacer strip I glued at the top was proud of the notch for the strap. A minor hiccup fixed lickety split with a few strokes of a chisel. As an aside, I believe chisels, next to saws, are in the top 3 most useful woodworking tools.

dovetails won

If the till had been made with plywood I would have mitered it. Dovetails are a better choice for solid wood. I don't have good luck with solid wood miters holding together.

 tails done

This is as far as I got before I had to leave for my doctor appointment. 

 dry fit

It was a little looser than I wanted but it was still self supporting. I didn't reach under as much when I marked the pins off the tails.

happy face on

The till slid R/L without any problems. The sliding action wasn't sloppy and it didn't bind anywhere along the length of travel.

 flushing the bottom

No twist when I checked but 2 of the corners were proud. Before I ran the groove for the bottom I had to flush it up.

major brain fart

I had looked at my reference labels and when I sawed the groove instead of placing them down, I left them up facing me. Sigh. Flipped them and sawed the groove correctly.

last one

Sawed a couple 1/8" thick strips to fill in the errant grooves. Got a snug fit and it looked pretty good when I planed them flushed.

ta da

The woodworking is done or at least I thought it was done here. Close but no cigar yet.

last one

Had to fill in four holes left from the plowing the grooves.

insurance

Added three #10 x 1" brass wood screws. ACE only had round head, slotted screws so I had to file the center one down flush to the top of the handle.

came this close

This is the last of the woodworking and I still have the other end to sand. As far as I know this is it. After the other end is sanded, I can start slapping on shellac.

accidental woodworker 

NOS made toolbox pt IX.........

Mon, 10/06/2025 - 3:22am

sigh....

This paint is sold as a 'one coat coverage' paint. I have tried every trick I learned about painting and I have yet to achieve said 'one coat coverage'. I tried a bazillion different brushes and nada. The only thing I found that worked was to flood the wood and push the paint around with a palette knife leaving a heavy thickness on the wood. On a brighter note, I got the coverage I needed with one primer and two top coats.

rounding the front edge

Quicker, easier, and a whole lot quieter than using an electric router. And it doesn't take that much longer neither.

 clearance

Wish this was a wee bit more but it clears the handle. There isn't anything I could do increase it so I'll live with it.

 this works

Notched the front and attached the leather strap to the underside of the lid. This will clear the lid and hold it shut. 

 bonus

The strap clears the handle and once on the other side it holds the lid open.

everything fits

My 24" level fits too. I could pick up the toolbox (with these planes and the level) with one hand but it was heavy. The handle held - I didn't see any flexing or movement it in when I picked it up which was encouraging. I think when this toolbox is packed it might be a two handed transport.

hmm.....

I was going to start snapping the glamour pics but I changed my mind. There was one more step before I did that.

scratching the bald spot

I want a sliding till. Something shallow that will hold the little things like tapes, pencils, marking gauges, etc etc etc.. Once that is whacked out, then it will be done.

bearers

Wish I hadn't shitcanned all my scraps. The bearers aren't equal but that works in my favor. The larger one will be placed against the side with the hinges. The slight protrusion of the hinges will eat up some of the bearer real estate and the larger bearer will compensate for that.

helpers

These two will keep the bearers at the same point down from the top regardless of the differences between the two.

my opinion

I got these 3 rules because they are the same style that Paul Sellers uses. They are both imperial and metric and I've had them for several years. But I can't get my head wrapped around them. They are visually busy and crowded. I especially have problems with the graduations on the imperial scale. I like 8ths and 16ths and I don't see the necessity of 32nds and 64ths in woodworking. I tried to use the 18" scale to layout the screws on the bearers and gave up. I used my wooden rules laid out in 8ths and 16ths to do it.

no glue

Just screws just in case I change my mind or if I need to repair/replace it.

what to call this?

These two pieces of pine are a wee bit thicker than the hinge plates. That will allow the till to slide past the hinges without binding or rubbing on them.

dumb founded

My wife finally saw and came over to look at this. She asked me who it was for and I said it was for Amanda or her sister Bonnie, who ever wanted it. She said she wanted it which floored me. If you held a gun to my head I would have never said she wanted this or even liked it. I don't know where is going to put it but that is her problem.

hmm......

The opening is tapered. It is wide on the right and it thins a 16th going to the left. There is plenty of room on the bearers to account for tapered wiggle room.

shutters are done

Got the final coat on the back this morning. They will rest here and tomorrow I'll hang them.

 till stock

The stock is 1/2" thick but I'm thinking of thinning it down to 3/8". I'll make the command decision in the AM or PM.

 sizing the ID

I want the till to be large enough to hold a 12" rule. The height will be 2" roughly - the bearers are set down 2 1/8". Next up is dovetails or miters along with how the bottom panel will be installed? I can figure that out with sweet dreams overnight.

accidental woodworker

NOS made toolbox pt VIII.........

Sun, 10/05/2025 - 3:53am

 

 not looking good

Got the other side primed after dinner and first thing in the AM, I got the first top coat on the back side. Based on the primer coat and what I saw after the first top coat, it is going to take a minimum of two coats.

got fooled

Going on the top coat looked promising. Twenty minutes after applying it I could see the primer coat peeking through. 

toolbox lid

Been in the clamps for two days and no surprises when I unclamped it.

not flush

Used the chisel to scrape off some glue squeeze out. The piece I glued on wasn't flush anywhere along the length on both sides.

done

Flushed on both sides in less than 3 minutes.

flushed on the ends

 I realized that I have been spelling the name of this saw. It is a Ryoba, not Ryobi. That aside I used the Ryoba to flush the ends of the glued on piece. I find this saw is better at sawing off thin slivers vice a western saw. Smoothed the saw cuts with the low angle blockplane.

parallel

Marked the ends of the lid parallel to the ends of the toolbox. The toolbox isn't square across the ends at the top on this side. It is also not straight and square across the long sides R to L. Wee bit of a headache fitting things and it reminds me of when I first started out going down this rabbit hole. Been a while since I've had to deal with something this far out of whack.

tapered

I eyeballed marking the parallel and planed down to and removed the pencil line.

 left side

Happy with how this looks - much better than the before one. This gap is now even from front to back.

right side

Right side looking just as good as the left. Now I'll have to deal with the non OCD gap. This will allow all kinds of garbage to fall past it into the bottom.

screwed only

I'm not sure that I will stick with this. It cuts off light sneaking past the gaps and it is a resting place for any debris. But I can't think of another way to deal with it.

 it fits

The gap is a frog hair less than a 1/8". I checked Lee Valley where I got these hinges and they don't sell any other, only 3/4". I'm not waiting for the strap hinges and instead I'm using these.

hmm.....

I had been thinking about the best way to install these hinges. It is important that the back edge of the lid be flush with the back of the toolbox. The lid swing arc is tight and it is based on these two being flush.

 superglue to the rescue

This worked on the first attempt. The lid barely cleared the handle - I'll round over the top edge of the lid to open up some clearance there. When the lid was fully opened the hinges let go of the bond. Put some more glue on the hinges and left them clamped. I'll check on them after dinner. 

accidental woodworker 

NOS made toolbox pt VII.........

Sat, 10/04/2025 - 3:54am

I didn't get much done in the shop on either the toolbox or the glass door cabinet. Errands to run in the AM, 2 hour post lunch stroll, and house work in the afternoon. That felt good because it was actually something that I finished. I have one more thing to finish but no one but the wife and I will know when that will happened.

 I like these hinges

These hinges are designed for 3/4" stock and the sides are roughly 5/8". Not a deal killer - a thin piece of veneer will make up any shortfall. Still clueless on where or even who I ordered the strap hinges from. I'll have the same headache with them too - they are meant for use on 3/4" thick stock.

 nope

I sawed off the front of the lid. As much as I liked it I knew it wouldn't last. In one day it had already suffered two big chips in the toe. This pine isn't working because the far end dog legs. It is straight and flat until about the 3/4 point where it twists to the left and slightly upward.

 better match

The dog leg board was quarter sawn and this one is flat sawn like the lid is. It isn't a color/grain match but it is a better match than the quarter sawn one.

 found a use

My small japanese tool boxes have a purpose now. I have four boxes of nails that I can fill them with.

 what's inside

Super glued one of the nails to the lid to ID what is inside.

last set of shutters

My wife is/was hesitating about painting these. Rather than wait for her to do, I decided to whack it out. Step one was super gluing all the brown knots including the faces. There is one red knot on one shutter and it is on a side edge. Red knots will bleed through paint but since this one is on the side I'm leaving it unsealed. If and when it bleeds through it won't be noticeable.

 primer

I doubt that I will get away with a primer and top coat. I'm betting the odds highly favor at least two top coats. After dinner I plan on returning to the shop to prime the opposite face. Tomorrow I'll try my hardest to get both sides top coated. Any  takers on the odds?

accidental woodworker

NOS made toolbox pt VI.........

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 3:37am

out of the clamps

Looks good but it is rocking a lot.

confirmation

Front left and the back right are high - the sticks show 1 1/2 lines out of whack.

box miters

This is the best looking mitered box that I can remember doing. Miters are flush along the toes and at the top and bottom. It laid flat on the workbench with no rocking.

flushing the tenons

The tenons didn't swell when glued and close up as tight as I expected them to. They have acceptable  gaps that I can live with.

wavering again

I had kind of decided on overlay sides last night and I was still driving on that road when I came to the shop. Now that it is time to put the pedal to the metal, I'm questioning myself again. Looking at the inset on the right and the overlay on the left, I decided to go with inset sides. I don't like the end grain look on the overlay. The inset side is cleaner looking and I can accept the 1 1/2" loss of interior space.

 another choice

If I put the keepers in the bottom they would have been 3" wide. Keepers in the lid are only an inch wide. Of the two I prefer have them in the bottom but I didn't want to make 3" keepers - I could have made 3 sets of keepers for the lid with them.

 first one done

Scribed and planed to the pencil lines. The left side was square and the right side was out of square - the end leaned in a wee bit. The fit is snug and self supporting but there a sliver of a gap. I clamped it and that did nothing for closing it up. I'll live with it.

 left side

This is what I wanted to be on the right side but I'll take one out of two.

much better

Opposite side and gapless this time. I left the pencil line this time and that paid off. On the other side I planed it away leaving just a hint of it.

 left side

This side is square between the end the bottom. No gaps. I thought of redoing the other side with the teeny gap but nixed it. I didn't want to use another board out of my Gurney sawmill stash.

helping hand

I put 4 Miller Dowels in both ends to reinforce the bottom/end connections.

Container Store haul

The small plastic boxes are no more - haven't been sold for several years. One of the reps there found these for me. They are stackable and twist lock into each other. The glazier points in the pkg above the mouse will go in one of the smaller ones. The others I'll toss into my junk drawer.

nope

Lid doesn't fit in either orientation. It is an almost fit so a little work with 100 grit sandpaper (because it was on the workbench) loosened the fit.

done

A couple minutes work and it fit - snug and only in this orientation. A few more calories and the lid fit both ways.

laying flat

No rocking, not even a teeny bit. No finish as of this typing but that is subject to change.

hmm......

The board had a bit of twist and a cup to it. The original plan was to flatten the outside face and leave the interior face as is. It didn't work because I couldn't get the outside face flush with the ends and the bottom. The inside face which I had flattened was supposed to be the outside face but it had to face the inside due to the scribed and planed end. I had to flatten both faces but I didn't go nutso trying to make the faces dead nuts parallel.

just screws

Went back and forth on glue and screws and decided on just screws. I put five in the bottom and 4 in each end.

 fitting the lid

Should I leave it overhanging a wee bit? 

no overhang

This is the clearance I have with the lid opened. With the overhang it wouldn't clear the handle.

potential hiccup

I planed the front edge of the lid to match the slope of the ends. I'm not sure the toe of the lid won't fracture and chip as is. I am thinking now of ripping off the angle and gluing on a new edge piece. Another hiccup is the clasp for the lid - will it clear the handle when the lid is opened?

The strap hinges I ordered didn't come on monday. I deleted the confirmation email so I don't have a way to check on it. Maybe it is coming this monday? I'm already thinking of alternative hinges just in case.

accidental woodworker  

NOS made toolbox pt V.........

Thu, 10/02/2025 - 3:23am

 I haven't forgotten the glass door cabinet. I worked some on it today and I should be snapping glamour pics before the weekend. Made progress on the toolbox too - got it glued and cooking. I'm back to square one on the sides and the lid. I have overnight to decide on what to do, what to do. 

 happy with this

Last night after dinner I went back to the shop and shaped the handle. I had glued it before I killed the lights earlier. A simple round over on the top just to knock off the sharp edges. It felt solid and secure but I'm still a bit leery of the dovetail connection of the handle. Time will tell how well that will hold up.

 last dry fit run

Used bessey clamps on the middle of the bottom - had enough room between the through tenons to get two clamps to bear there. The top is a bit trickier to clamp. I had tried two clamps on the outside and that didn't apply even clamping pressure across the tails/pins. In fact the clamps pulled the half pins inward 1/4".

 last dry check

I like this handle a lot. It feels comfortable to grip and it has a nice balance. It feels substantial and secure and I'm probably over thinking it too much. After all the toolbox I'm using as my inspiration is well over a 100 years old.

 glued and cooking

Figured out the clamping headache for the handle. Placed a scrap directly below the baseline and used that to close up the tails and pins. The half pins were in line with the end - they weren't pushed inwards. I'll let this cook until the AM.

 clean up

It was difficult to cut up all my small scraps and shitcan them. I'm sure that I could have used them eventually but I don't hang on to them anymore. Cutting them up into smaller bits makes it easier to fit in the shitcan. Garbage pickup is tomorrow.

sigh

The painters said that they would deal with this. Update - they didn't. This is/was the exhaust port for the bathroom fan. That got changed years ago when I replaced the bathroom exhaust fan. The maroon who put this in did it with nails which made removing it a PITA. Got that done and the replacement cover my wife bought wouldn't fit.

I had to push part of the metal tube inward, stuffed it with insulation, and covered it with a shingle. One coat of paint today and the 2nd one tomorrow. Happy face on the wife and me.

survived

Got the door hinges hung again. This door is heavy and I'm glad I went with thick hinges. The door swings open and close easily and smoothly. There are a few spots that I have touch up. The black on the front edge of the shelves and several hiccups on the inside and outside of the cabinet.

new box coming

I got asked why I make so many boxes for whatever? I dislike throwing things like  this into a drawer. I like having boxes that contain/group specific/related items and not having to hunt for them in a crowded drawer.

 oversized

This is box is taller than it needs to be. I'm going with a lift off lid for it so the lid space won't usable. Besides it will give me room to add new pushers if I come across any.

dry fit

I got a snug fit with the 1/8" plywood that is the top and bottom. Usually the plywood is a slip fit. 

 glued and cooking

The box held together after glue went on and I could have left it as is. The miters were tight because the 1/8" plywood was snug and it was holding the box together. I added clamps for insurance against something getting bumped and to prevent any other stupid wood tricks.

sigh

I thought I had a larger one of these but nada. I searched my 3 junk drawers and I only found the two small ones. I need one to put the large triangle glazier points in. I'll have to make a run to the Container store at Garden City.

hmm.....

Found this while searching for that MIA clear plastic box. The last time I used this I found it to be very frustrating and it mostly centered around on how to clamp the stock in the jig. It is surprising how well something like this will works after a long non use. I know I didn't use a spring clamp in my last use but it worked surprisingly well today.

 dead nuts

You can't argue with the results. I still like the wooden one I made. It is larger with a wider reference surface to guide a chisel on.

accidental woodworker 

NOS made toolbox pt IV.........

Wed, 10/01/2025 - 3:26am

 dry fit

Things weren't going well in Disneyland today boys and girls. The left side leaned inward and I had to clamp these in order to keep it square. The right side gave me fits too.

still scratching my bald spot

The front top stick is a frog hair over a 16th longer than the back one. The diagonals at the top are less than a 32nd off. The bottom left is square - stopped playing with the square here and moved on to playing with the tenons.

 making them deeper

I eyeballed the tenons on the dry fit and they were still shy of the end faces. I started correcting it by making the dadoes a few frog hairs deeper.

nope

Awfully close but not proud yet. It took a couple more runs with the router before all six tenons were proud.

back to frustration

Without the spreader, the bottom read dead nuts. However, just above the top of the square, the end runs out to lunch. Not by much but enough to be annoying IMO. I played around with positioning the spreaders in different spots along with clamping some of them that were short on the length.

gave up

Without the spreader, the bottom read dead nuts. However, just above the top of the square, the end runs outward. The board is pretty close to dead flat and there isn't any hint of a cup in it. Residual stress from being thicknessed?

interesting

I sawed the sides to rough length with the Ryobi saw. Almost zero fuzzy wuzzies on both of them. A western crosscut saw would have left it ugly looking.

 sides and the handle

Moving right along with these three being the last of the parts. The lid is resting on the shitcan. I think I thought this through and I don't need anything else. But I am thinking of putting a sliding till in it.

hmm......

Changing how I'll attach/do the sides on this toolbox. I like the 3 rabbet idea that I've been kicking around in the brain bucket but things changed. With the square headache I'm going to inset the sides between the ends and the bottom. I will scribe/plane the ends instead. I think I'll have a better fit and easier time doing this vice making out of square rabbets.

This is subject to changing again. The original I'm basing mine off had the sides nailed to the outside of the ends and the bottom. That saves a 1 1/2" of interior space over inset sides.

confusing

These dovetails confused me a lot when I tried to picture them on the movie screen in the brain bucket. They are face dovetails but the orientation is 90° off. I marked the waste before I sawed them. That is something I rarely do.

 tails done

Stopped here for a few to think of a way to hold the handle in place so I could mark the pins.

 worked

Clamped a scrap on the baseline and marked the pins with a pencil. I marked the pin waste because there were so many extra pencil lines. And I am easily confused.

 good fit

I left the pencil lines when I sawed these. If they came out too tight I had meat to trim.

 dry fit

Sneak peek says this isn't a tiny toolbox. Looking at this pic has the gears turning in the brain bucket with new roads to do down. No hinge lid but taller sides than planned along with a sliding till or maybe two sliding tills.

 nixed

Laid out for the mortise for the handle support. After I took it apart I didn't like where the mortise was. It would be under the center tail and I think that would weaken the handle directly where it shouldn't.

 glue up in the batter's box

Did a simple cutout for the bottom of the ends. The original pattern was to fancy for a toolbox. I'll glue this up in the AM.

 hmm.....

The handle is quarter sawn and by itself I don't have a warm and fuzzy with it being able to survive picking up this toolbox fully loaded. I will glue the oak to the underside of the handle between the two ends to strengthen it.

accidental woodworker

NOS made toolbox pt III & house painting........

Tue, 09/30/2025 - 4:14am

 

done

Started at 0851 and had the paint brush cleaned at 1430. Worked straight through lunch to get this done. I was tired when I was done but it was a good feeling knowing this is over with. The important thing is the wife is over the moon happy about it. Tomorrow she said she going to roll another coat on this side and the front. Why, I don't know. 

made a command decision

I'm leaving this as is. The interior length will be about 26 1/4" and that is what drove my choice. Besides I would have had to cut the bottom back 2 1/2" in order to use the original sides. Instead I'll make two new ones from the Gurney's sawmill haul.

I think I came up with a way to do the sides. The plan is to put a 3 sided rabbet in the sides. The rabbets will be flush with the outside edges of the bottom and the ends. Glue, screws, or nails will keep everything together.

figuring the lid out

 These 3 planes are the ones I think I would need to transport in this toolbox. The height of the iron determines where the bottom of the lid will be. The #7 has the highest iron at a little over 6". Starting with a side height of 7 inches which includes the thickness of the lid. 

 plenty of room

 The lid will be about 11" in width and the compass is set to that. The arc which is the outside swing of the lid, was an inch under the bottom of the handle. Based on this I could raise the sides up another inch.

This is all I got for shop time today. I'll get back into this in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

no house painting today.......

Mon, 09/29/2025 - 3:22am

 When I rolled out of the rack this AM it was painful. Usually my back hurts and is stiff when I first got up but today it was upped by a factor of 10. I am lucky in that the stiffness and pain goes bye-bye in about 20-30 minutes. Today it took a wee bit longer. It wasn't a good start to a day of going up/down a ladder painting the house. 

It was cloudy when I got up and it had rained overnight so painting, thankfully, didn't happen today. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so I don't have an excuse to postpone again. It is looking like I'll be painting in the AM.

wow, double wow, and a triple wow

Coat #5 going on to cover streaks. It was hard to pick them out initially but after shining a flashlight on the back stop it popped out. I feel sorry for who ever will strip this in the future because I don't have a warm and fuzzy that I won't be slapping another coat on it in the AM.

bottom layout

Used my 1-2-3 block to layout the through tenons for the bottom. Two, 2 inch ones an inch in from each outside edge, and one in the middle (centered) 1 inch wide.

 started here

Partially chopped the mortises from the face side first. This way when I finished chopping from the other side, there wasn't any blowout on the face side.

 first one

Happy with this - it is clean with crisp outlines and zero fuzzy wuzzies.

hmm.....

I was shooting for a snug fit but it appears I went nutso in the wrong direction. The dado is too narrow. Or the bottom thickness is too fat - half empty, half full dilemma.

The dado is also deeper than I wanted it to be. I had to go this deep because I chopped the walls too deep. I originally wanted the depth to be 1/8" and it ended up being 3/16". 

 hmm......

Had to ponder this for a few. Normally I would just thin the end of the board to fit the dado. However, the tenon/mortises have already been done and planing the end of the bottom would change the fit of the tenon/mortises. What to do, what to do.....

Yikes

I'm a 16th too much from being snug. The tenons fit the mortises well and the reference edge of the bottom is flush with the end. A couple of things are working in my favor and I just to solve the fit of the bottom into the dado.

 how much

Decided that easiest and best way to deal with this was to make the dado a wee bit wider. There isn't any way I could think of to plane, chisel, beat on the end to trim it to fit without changing the fit of the tenon/mortises. 

I could have done that and the resulting gap I might have been able to expand the tenons with wedges but I want just a plain mortise and through tenon.

easy peasy

I will say it is much easier to chisel off a 16th then a 32nd. Chiseling the wall over the open mortise wasn't the headache I anticipated it being. 

 happy with this

Look Ma, no gaps. If there had been any gaps I would have resorted to using wedges to close them up. I had to do a bit of trimming the dado to get the tenons flush with the face.

next day from Amazon

I saw this on the manufacturer's website but I couldn't see/find any way to order it. I also ordered extra blades for the Makita hand planer. I found a bazillion YouTube vids on how to change the irons, including these and the thicker monster ones I thought I had.

nope

This is not what I wanted to see. I don't want the end proud of the tenon. I wanted the easier to deal with option of the tenon being proud of the end. I'll play and trim and fit to at least it is flush.

 fitting the right side

Had to deal with the same hiccups on the right. Although it wasn't as bad as what I had to deal with on the left end.

 sawing the tenons

Feeling a wee bit smug on how well I sawed the tenons. Square across the tops and plumb down the faces and no gaps to obsess about.

fitting the end

This end of the dado is snug and the tenons fit as good as the first set I did.

too tight

Tried the side rabbet plane first to open up this end. I got the end to fit into the tenons but not the dado. I planed the end of the bottom 3 wispy shavings and got it to fully seat in the tenons and the dado. Used the LN skew rabbet plane to do this, just planing the bottom face and not the tenons.

sigh

Wasn't thinking when I sized the sides. I wanted the overall interior length to be 24" and I made the rough length of the sides 24". The overall length, outside edge R/L is 26 1/4". Going out on limb and saying I might be short. FYI, you can't stretch pine.

 handle is short too

Stopped working on this after eyeballing this me-steak. My first thoughts on a fix was to shorten the bottom. Discarded that and then moved on to making new sides but that decision will happen tomorrow. This me-steak sucked all the wind out of my sails.

Noticed another potential problem. The lid is now the culprit. I don't think that it will clear the handle. Didn't think that one all the way through. 

accidental woodworker 

Gurney's Sawmill.......

Sun, 09/28/2025 - 3:41am

 At 0711 I was on the road headed to Gurney's Sawmill to replenish my pine supply. The sun was shining and on the trip up I was driving into the rising sun. What I don't understand is how fast the idiots were driving. The traffic up and back wasn't that bad. It is usually heavier on return leg but today it was half of what it was the last time I did this. This stash should keep me from playing in the streets for a couple of weeks.

 ten boards

I wanted 12 footers but all that was available were 10 footers. I sawed the boards at the yard so I don't have any overhanging the tail gate.

 6', 5', and 4'

I sawed 6 of the boards into 6' and 4' lengths. The others I sawed in half giving me two 5 footers.
 

tomorrow's work

My wife scraped and primed this side. The painters only did the other 3 sides and tomorrow I'll dig out my brush and I'll paint this. The bump out with the door needs to be painted too. 

My wife bought a new light fixture because this one stopped working years (?) ago. It was supposed to be activated with a motion sensor but that never worked. I could turn the light on/off but that went south too. Wife bought the fixture but not the two lights it needs.

before I forgot again

Putting a 'colored' dutchman in to cover the pitch pocket. I put the board on the door before I went to Gurney's. If I hadn't done that I'm sure I would have forgotten to do it when I returned.

 sigh..... gaps

I knew this was coming - I saw the gaps in some of the miters when I glued the retainers in place. I used veneer to fill in the biggest gaps and I'll rely on paint adhesion filling in the smaller ones. I had to shim 7 of the 32 miters.

nope

Half of the retainer was glued fast to the muntin rabbet with the other half not glued. I could squeeze it tight to the muntin rabbet with hand pressure. Got these two glued and cooking before I left for Gurneys.

done

All the stock for the toolbox minus the top is ready for joinery. Now that I'm this close I'll have to decide how it will go together. The bottom into the sides isn't a problem, but how to attach the sides is still hazy. I have time because the cabinet door is hogging the workbench now.

 this sucks

There are streaks of the accent color peeking out in spots on the back stop and the moldings underneath the top. This is the 4th coat I'm putting on to cover this. The bottom cove moldings covered with two coats.

toolbox lid

Purposely picked this for the lid. Two brown knots on this side and one on the opposite face to dutch. I could have picked a clear board but this way all the boards in the toolbox will have at least two dutchmen.

toolbox lid

Got lucky with this board. It was flat and twist free and I planed both faces down to 11/16". Looking at the lid and comparing it to the other boards I couldn't see a difference in the thicknesses. 

accidental woodworker 

NOS made toolbox pt II.........

Sat, 09/27/2025 - 3:20am

 Still prepping the stock for the toolbox. Still haven't gotten the stock for the lid which is ok - the run to Gurneys tomorrow will solve that. The offset strap hinges are supposed to be here on monday. Found them after searching/googling it for a couple of days. There might be a slight hiccup with the offset being 3/4" and the stock thickness being 5/8". I already have thought of a few things that will silence that hiccup.

Closing in on the finishing the glass door cabinet. I'll know in the AM if I need to paint it anymore. Fingers crossed on closing that door finally.

looks promising

This was my first look see at what I thicknessed yesterday. From this end of the bench it looked like none of them did any stupid wood tricks.

ta da

Everything is flat and straight still. That aside I wish that stock was 3/4" thick but losing an 1/8" to remove twist and cup isn't too bad.

hmm.....

Two small brown knots left. I wasn't going to dutch them but in for a penny, in for a pound.

 two red knots

A double knot at the top, one small brownish one and a red/brown one. Bigger red knot at the bottom. I wasn't going to do these two but if I didn't they would be the only 'defects' visible in the five boards.

 pesky, (^@%)@%@) PITA

I tried gluing this chip out 3 times before I finally secured it here. I had to clamp it with a deep reach clamp and wax paper.

had to show it again

I really like how these two dutchman are done. It would have looked better if I had used two contrasting pieces of wood but they still pop.

 sigh.....

If I hadn't chamfered the edges I probably wouldn't have to redo them now. Thought of leaving them thinking I would put this on the inside (this is one of the sides). But knowing me, I wouldn't notice it nor pay attention when the time came. It only took less than 10 minutes to do the both of them.

 yikes

I got a split for my efforts chopping out this dutchman. It ran out pass the dutchman to the left about 5".

 it fits

 Flipped a coin on whether or not to glue/clamp the split first or glue the dutchman and the split at the same time.

been a while 

This is blurry pic of glue squeeze out on the split. Two clamps and I got a even line of squeeze out, even the end closed up solidly top to bottom. Glued and clamped the dutchman and the split at the same time.

 sigh

Last one and then I'm done. I am going to have this dutchman run into the one below this red knot.

pitch pocket

These can be problematic - they can leak pitch which is sticky and it sucks to deal with it. I was going to dutch this one too but I forgot it. I only remembered it after I saw this pic.

 gaps filled

Decided that I am going to shellac this toolbox. Partly because I don't won't to cover up the dutchmen. The gaps aren't that wide so the putty shouldn't pop that much.

hmm.....

That is similar to the glazier point tool that I remember as a kid. I'll be searching the WWW for a seller of it. Maybe I'll get lucky and they will also have one for the smaller points. 

 hmm.....

Decided to install the glass in the door before I hang it. Painting the muntin bars with it hung would be a headache. With it laying flat on the workbench I can paint the muntin bars lickety split. 

I didn't use glazier points on the smaller glass lites. On those I just glued the retainer bars with  hide glue. On the four large glass I used four glazier points and I had to chop a teeny mortise so the retainer would lay flat on the glass. The large retainers got glued with hide glue too.

 center ones needed help

Hide glue pulls while it sets but the center retainers bowed a bit, especially the large ones. The other retainers looked good and I don't think I'll have any problems with them securing themselves in place. The hide glue is reversible in case of any future glass repairs. 

accidental woodworker

NOS made toolbox.........

Fri, 09/26/2025 - 3:31am

 Week 3 of the football season is behind us now and I still haven't watched one game. I briefly found and watched a game on my digital air wave TV for all of 3 seconds. I don't miss TV and nor do I miss TV football games. Instead I'm into watching highlights on You Tube. I can pick and choose which game I what to see and I can fast forward or rewind at my leisure.

Of course this year the highlights are different then proceeding years. They are shorter with a ton of subjective editing. There is almost no commentary or video of penalty calls. It is almost like they don't exist anymore. There is zero controversy and zero questioning of penalties called. We have entered a new era and it is looking like I'll probably stop watching the high lights before the Super Bowl rolls around.

happy face on

I saved this board for a side. I still have to get one more board for the lid. But back to this board and all its dutchmen - no knots to see and they look super cool IMO.

 missed this

I didn't catch this when I bought it, also missed similar defects on another board. Both of them are the sides and this will be waste when they are sized in the width.

 can you see them?

Bare wood, standing 3-4 feet away and I can't pick them out. Both dutchman are to the right end of the two sticks. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure they will pop with a shellac finish. Maybe I should paint it? The inspiration for my version is a painted toolbox.

might as well

Since I dutched the sides, I am going to do the same for the ends. I'll repeat it for the lid when I buy a board for that.

first two

Had left over dutch material from yesterday. I only have to do the larger brown knot on this side - it doesn't go through to the other side. And it does get easier to do the more you do.

deeper than I wanted

Got some tear out chiseling the waste and due to that I had to make this mortise deeper than I wanted. The depth of it is determined by the thickness of the dutchman.

 first two cooking

I got these two deep reach clamps at Home Depot in the late 1990's. They were marked as$15(?) and I told the HD tool guy that the price was wrong. At that time these were going for about $50 each. He insisted the price was as marked so I didn't argue with him and took them home with me. I've been kicking myself in the arse ever since then for not buying the other two. Anyways deep reach clamps that can really apply serious pressure are worth it if the opportunity comes up.

time for thicknessing

Of the five boards I have for the upcoming toolbox, all of the them are cupped. Some a wee bit and other just a bit. Nothing drastic and I'm hoping that once I get them to thickness, they will stay flat.

all five had some twist too

After getting one face flat, I checked it for twist. A couple were easy and the others were obstinate and a ROYAL PITA to get flat.

the biggest dutchmans upcoming

The one on the right might be a problem because the bottom is awfully close to the edge. I'll have to make sure that this edge gets the absolute minimum of trimming.

too chippy

The edge of the dutchman fractured as I was chiseling. I was able to glue 3 smaller ones but this big one got away from me. As I was gently pulling it up to apply super glue it disintegrated into a bazillion teeny pieces. 

this is why Frank

My friend Frank said that I should be able to get the depth with the 271 but it ain't so. The area in front of the bevel is barely a quarter of an inch. So when you turn it around to go in the opposite direction, there isn't a flat reference depth for the iron.

 dutchman isn't big enough

The pencil line is where the back end of the iron is when the router is in the mortise up against the wall. It is impossible to get a sufficient flat (to depth) area for the router to be used in opposing directions.

no problem with this router

With this router it will flatten to depth the area in front of the iron so that when reversed to go the opposite way, the iron will have plenty of wiggle room before it levels the opposite end. Any router that has this orientation of the iron to sole will work well with small mortises like this one.

hmm.......

Too fancy for a toolbox? The little horn detail might be a headache as something that will break, chip, dent, and look ugly real quick. Just thinking out loud on something for the end panel bottoms.

 I went nutso

When I was doing plane restorations I went nutso buying irons and chipbreakers for the planes I had. What I found out was that other chipbreaker/iron setups always didn't work in the plane. Now I keep the original chipbreaker that came with the plane and just swap out the irons. 

I needed to swap out the iron in the #7 because it was dull. Having extra irons means I can keep on working after a couple minutes of swapping out the irons. I have 5 irons for the #7 and other planes that use the same size iron.

 it is harmless

The #6 shavings have a habit of circling around my left arm. The shavings from the other planes don't do this - just the #6 with its cambered iron. 

 hmm.....

The boards are all getting thicknessed to 5/8" and the dutchman (these two) were a frog hair over an 1/8". I'll have to redo the dutchman for these two. The others I did were 3/16" to a 1/4" thick.

done

All are 5/8" thick which should be adequate for a lidded toolbox. I probably couldn't have gone down to a 1/2" if needed. Fingers crossed that none of these will do any stupid wood tricks over night.

hope it never stops

I packed the shitcan done twice filling it with the shavings from thicknessing the boards. I am still amazed at how big the pile of shavings that comes from doing this. 

accidental woodworker

rained all day.......

Thu, 09/25/2025 - 3:27am

The weather over the past month has been weird. Most days were cloudy but there were only a couple of rainy days. Last night thunder boomers woke me and usually it doesn't. Today it rained off and on all day. No post lunch stroll because I won't walk in the rain. Tomorrow is back to cloudy/partly sunny with the same forecast for saturday. I will go to Gurney's to get some pine because my stash of pine is nothing by teeny scraps.

what to do, what to do

I've been thinking about how to install the glass and the retainers. That in itself isn't the problem - the problem is how to hang the door. Do I do the glass and retainers on the workbench and then hang the door? Or hang the door and then do the glass and retainers? Still haven't decided which fork in the road to take.

breaking down the stock

I should have listened to the little man on my shoulder. These are the ends and I could already see that I didn't buy enough to make the upcoming toolbox.

 hmm.....second side

Don't have to worry about this brown knot falling out, it already did.

 sigh

The split runs from the end over to my finger. This is a shop project so I'm going to try and glue this and keep on trucking. And I don't want to make a Lowes run in the rain.

blood pressure was spiking

The split closest to the end was easy to spread glue on. Around the half way point it turned into a nightmare. I finally got glue in the other half by forcing glue into the split with canned air.

incredibly frustrating

The split was a steep, shallow angle that slipped by each other as I tried to clamp it. After fighting, cursing, and threatening it I settled. I got the end of the split flush and tight. Closed up the opposite end of the split about the same. The real estate between them didn't look good. I couldn't get it flush nor could I clamp the split down flush. 

 some of the toolbox

Got two ends, the bottom, and one side. The opposite side is iffy for now. I won't know its outcome until it comes out of the clamps.

it looks ugly

The glue or something has caused this end of the split to swell. It looks like something/someone pumped air into the split. This wasn't looking so good only 5 minutes after clamping it.

 monochrome like B&W TV

It is probably going to take 3 coats to cover the accent color and 2 coats to cover the wood putty. Sneak peek is lowering my BP a lot. I am liking this one color much more then then the previous two colors.

yikes

Out of the clamps this spot was spongy feeling. Not only that it looked like it wasn't solid. The plan was to cut the sides down to 10" but that doesn't help here. 100% of this defect would still smiling back at me.

 hmm....

I planed both sides of the glue joint and this side is acceptable the other isn't. It was looking like this turning it kitchen filling burnt toast. 

It was too early to leave the shop so I thought I would practice installing dutchmans. I will put one on both sides of the missing brown knot hole.

 knifed out

For me the key is to make the patch first and then knife the mortise. Not make the mortise and then try and fit a patch. I have tried it both ways twice and this one works best for me.

ready to glue in

My small Stanley 271 router (and the LN version) didn't work well here. Because of where the iron is positioned in relation to the sole - it leaves a hump in the middle. This small router worked perfectly flattening and leveling the whole of the bottom of this dutchman.

 helping chamfer

This makes it easier to get it to lay flat in the mortise.

done

I tried to get a grain/color match but none of the scraps of pine were cooperating. Now that it is done it looks almost perfect. The color is good and from 3 feet away I couldn't see it. One down and one more to go - the opposite side is getting the same treatment.

why not?

It would appear I didn't snap any pics of the opposite side dutchman. It is there just to the right of the lower right corner of the long dutchman in progress. In fact part of the long one intrudes into the brown knot dutchman.

After doing the brown knot and seeing how well they turned out I decided to fill in this defect with a dutchman too. It is a shop project and if it goes south that is ok. Got some practice in and knowledge for the next time I have to do this.

surprised me

I thought this was going south on me when my knife wandered while trying to deepen the knife lines. I got a teeny bit of a gap but considering the size of the dutchman I'll calling it acceptable. This one was the tightest fitting of the 5 that I did on this board. I had to shave one long edge a couple of times before it fit.

I was on a roll

Chopped out this one while it was clamped and cooking the long dutchman. It is looking like this is going to become one of the sides.

another one bites the dust

I was so happy with how well these dutchmen were turning out I could have wet myself. I did the opposite side of this one after the clamps came off the long one.

 cool 
The long dutchman ran into the brown knot dutchman here. I've been watching a chinese craftsman on You Tube who works mostly in black walnut mostly by hand. He filled in a huge branch knot with four different types of wood dutchman. All four at some point intruded into one of the other dutchman. I only used pine and two of them but the effect was the same - it looks cool (IMO).

Not too bad for less than an hours work. One long dutchman and 4 smaller ones covering brown knots. The ultimate goal next is to do a butterfly dutchman.

accidental woodworker

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