Accidental Woodworker

Another day where I made good progress. I got back to the barn from the VA at 0815 and went right to the shop. I didn't even stop to do my daily sudoku and crossword puzzle. Got all the drawers fitted and met my goal of all of them opening and closing easily. There isn't much more for me to do woodworking wise before I can slap paint on it.

from last night

I glued slips in the last two drawers and starting planing this one (smallest of the 3 big drawers). I got it to fit in its opening about 2" before putting it down. I didn't want to rush the fitting so I headed back upstairs.

about 4 inches

I took my time fitting the drawers. It is incredibly easy to take one too many swipes and end up with gaps big enough to throw a dog through. I stopped fitting this drawer and started on the smallest one at the top left.

evaluation

I had a gaps on both sides and the top but the drawer hung after 4".

look see at the back

The sides of the drawer are tight against the sides of the dresser. The gap at the top looking at it from the back is tight. Fitting the drawers consisted of looking from the front and then the back to figure out where to plane. 

first one fitted

The drawer slides in/out but not easily or smoothly. The margins at the sides aren't even. The margin at the top doesn't come into play because the top overhang hides it.

much better

The margins on the sides are consistent and the drawer easily slides in and out.

yikes

The margins are the sides are huge and a puff of air could open or close the drawer. I also don't remember putting a knot facing the front?

sigh of relief

This drawer is almost a square. The sides are a strong 1/8" off from each other. The T/B margin is greater than the smaller one on the left so I just had to contend with planing the sides to fit. The overhang is my friend here.

two down, 3 to go

Having second thoughts on my drawer size choices. I think now that I should have made the smaller drawer a wee bit wider R/L.

finished fitting it

3 down and only two to go and lunch time was still a ways off.

this sucks pond scum

I super glued the break and hit it with accelerator after waiting about 10 secs. The accelerator was melting the plastic. I seem to go through headphones as often as I change my underwear. All of them have gone south due to the cheap plastic breaking. The phones sill work and I'll keep using them until I can no longer put them over my ears.

back fitted

I will hold off putting the back on until the last possible moment. 

inset a wee bit

I planned for this and that is why I fitted the back now. All the drawer sides are the same length and the back will be the drawer stop. This small inset will be flush after I glue the pine veneer on the drawer fronts.

and then there was one

I kind of like the inset look of the drawers. I am committed to using the veneer though so this will be something for another one in the future.

done

All the drawers are fitted and all easily open and close. My margins aren't perfect but once it is painted I'll eyeball them again. The drawer fronts will be natural and will stand out against the paint. I'll make adjustments as necessary then.

this drawer was hanging

This is the top right drawer and it was bumping into and hanging up on the back vertical drawer divider. It wasn't doing it every time the drawer was closed but enough to annoy me. I rounded off both of the back corners which helped some with it not hanging up on it. Rounded both corners because I rounded the wrong one first.

gluing on the veneer fronts

To prevent the veneer from shifting when I apply clamp pressure I used super glue in two spots to hold the veneer in place. I used yellow glue and I applied a double dose on the end grain ends of the tails.

cooking

I will let all five of the drawers sit and cook until tomorrow. I don't want to have to deal with any of the veneer not adhering a 100%.

the me-steak drawer

This was the original middle drawer on the dresser. I made it too short on the height and I'm turning it into a box. 

I'm painting it

As I planed the sides little gaps popped out on the tails. I filled them all in with wood putty and I'll be painting this now. I have always had in the back of my head an idea to apply wallpaper to the inside of a box. I have also seen newspaper glued to the inside. I am going to give one of them a try. I think with the paint it will make it an unique box for my sister.

banding

I glued and nailed the bottom on. This plywood has some of the ugliest end grain plies that I  have ever seen. I should have used the 5mm plywood  as its end grain plies are solid and could have been easily painted. I'll hide these with the banding.

almost ready for paint

Got the chamfer on the sides and front done along with gluing the back stop thing on. I can't think of anything else that needs to be done on the carcass. 

prepping the base

I flushed the corners and cleaned up the base. A couple of gaps popped on it too that got filled with wood putty.

dust panel

This is the only one on the dresser. There are small gaps at the four corners that will allow for some air movement. It should keep the dust bunnies from invading the drawers.

I've been doing good on the diet since I strapped myself back in the saddle. I've lost over 20 lbs in the past 4 weeks with 30 more to go. Yes boys and girls I packed on 50 lbs but I am resolute in getting back down to at least 190 (currently weigh 215). 

One of the problems I have maintaining is the constant denial of eating the things I like and want to shove in the pie hole. What I have done for the past 4 weeks is indulge myself one day a week. I picked monday because it is the day after my daily weigh in. I've been going out for breakfast and lunch. I shove everything and anything I eyes settle on and then go back on my diet for the remaining 6 days. So far it is working and I look forward to losing and rewarding myself. 

For the rest of the week my diet consists of 3 Quaker rice cakes for breakfast. I smear two of them with peanut butter and the other one with nutella (yummy stuff). For lunch I alternate between a can of soup or a frozen meal (300 or less calories) with an apple for desert. For dinner I have a salad (lettuce, cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, a red pepper, and broccoli) with two TBSP of extra virgin olive oil with a splash of of balsamic vinegar. I have 2nd apple as snack around 1900. I figure my total caloric intake is less than 2000 calories a day. 

I don't want to be fat again and have to buy a new wardrobe again. Mostly I don't want the health problems that come with being over weight with diabetes being a big fear. I have also started walking again. I took about 7 weeks off because of the heat/humidity and not really wanting to do it. However, I have noticed a change in myself and I feel different now than I did when I was walking daily. Different as in I felt better walking and wasn't as stiff as I am now as when I was walking. Another thing I'll strap myself into the saddle with too.

accidental woodworker

Had a good day in the shop and I made a lot of progress on the dresser. I got all the drawers glued and cooking. I didn't think I would 3 drawers done today (the largest ones too) but I went balls to wall when I saw that it was possible. Fitting them tomorrow is happening for some of them for sure. 

Tomorrow I have an appointment with podiatry at 0730. I'm going to try the first appt of the day and see if I like it. I plan on leaving for the VA a little after 0600 (avoid rush hour traffic) so I'll have less than an hour to kill. I'll bring my cellphone and hearing aids and binge watch You Tube. The cafeteria and Starbucks doesn't open until 0700 so I'll drink my fill of Joe before I leave the house.

2nd drawer cooked

Before I glued the slips in I checked the bottom for twist. I planed that away and glued the slips in. The next day I flushed them.

ready for fitting

Got the bottoms fitted and nailed off at the back. No glue, just a few brads at the back. I like to have the bottoms installed before I do any planing on the drawers to fit them.

got lucky

I didn't think that I had this many small shaker knobs. The small ones on the left are for the two top drawers and the other 3 will get the knobs on the right.

I like them

I like the proportions of the knobs for the large drawers. I was going to use one knob on the top right drawer but changed my mind on that. It was long enough R/L to need two knobs.

off the saw

3 drawers done with two more to go. It was almost lunch time here and I didn't have a warm and fuzzy I would get the last two done before 1500. It was taking me longer to do that I thought it would.

drawer slips fitted

The drawer had to set up for a while and I still had to check and correct for any twist in the bottom first.

2 done, one to go

When I got this one glued I thought I would get maybe 75% of the last drawer done. 

broke out the Moxon

Used the Moxon because the last drawer was too wide and wouldn't fit between the guide rods in the face vise.

off the saw

I made it - 1448 and the woodworking on the last drawer  is done. I glued it up and dry fitted the slips for it. I will go back after dinner and glue the slips in. That way tomorrow I can flush them, get the bottoms in and start fitting them.

1505

From start to finishing at this point took a little over an hour. I don't know why but for whatever reason I thought it would only take me about 20 minutes to make a drawer. I was wrong and I don't think I dilly daddled but worked on all the drawers steadily. At least I have an realistic idea of long a drawer takes me to whack out.

accidental woodworker

A me-steak free day in the shop. I didn't out do myself with any new bone headed maneuvers. I'm now at the stage of making the drawers and maybe wednesday or thursday I will start fitting them. I will try to resist the urge to fit them as I make them but no promises on that.

last night

I wandered back to the shop last night because I was fighting the urge to fill the pie hole. I laid out and sawed the tails for the first drawer - starting with the smallest one and going from there.

#3 iron

Tried to take a pic of this but I couldn't get the camera to focus. The edge of this iron looked like a serrated knife. Before I went to town on the drawers I had to sharpen the irons in the 3 planes.

my LN iron collection

All three of these irons fit the LN 5 1/2. One of them is an O1 and the other two are A2 (I think). LN labeled the O1 irons and left the A2 irons blank. Currently the O1 iron is the back up for the LN 51 shooting plane.

not working so good

I am used to the runway eating up irons quick but it ain't working so good on this A2 iron. It is 80 grit and it going painfully slow trying to remove all the chips on the edge. I made the switch to waterstones to see how well they worked. Before I switched to diamond stones I used water stones (Norton stones).

1000 grit stone

I was surprised by how quick it was to remove the chipped out edge with the 220 grit stone. After the 220 stone I moved on to the 1000 grit one and this (high?) popped out. I was able to get the entire bevel shiny.

over an hour later

Got all three irons sharp and shiny. The #4 took the least amount of time followed by the 5 1/2. The #3 was the worse of the lot.  

I got this setup from Lee Valley a bazillion moons ago (25 years ago?). I couldn't tell you the grit of the two brown waterstones but I used the 'pond' to soak the Norton stones in and use them to sharpen. No matter how you slice it waterstones are messy. You have to soak them, then clean them after each use and flatten them. However, I think the edge came out better than what I get with the diamond stones. It is looking like I will need to start using waterstones again for my A2 irons and the diamond stones for the O1 crowd.

RML shavings with the #3

Getting the LN planes spitting out shavings is so much easier and quicker than it is for Stanley or other Bailey planes. I got even thickness/width and full length shavings on the first try.

ditto for the #4

5 1/2

I got RML on all 3 on the first try. I went from thick to fluffy to see through without a hiccup. LN doesn't sell Norton waterstones anymore but the Ohishi stones they sell now are comparable in price to what I remember paying for the Norton stones. Water stones wear awfully fast too. I took almost a 1/8" off the thickness of the 220 grit stone.

didn't make it

I was hoping to get one drawer glued and cooking before lunch but it didn't happen. Sharpening the 3 irons ate up most of the AM session.

after lunch

Diagonals within a 32nd, glued, and set aside to cook. I had to clamp the front to keep the tails seated. Without the clamps there were gaps at the baselines.

doesn't fit

The top/bottom fit is snug and no go on the R/L. The fit was as expected.

blurry pic of drawer slips

I sawed and fitted the drawer slips dry. I'll glue them in after the drawer has cooked for a couple of hours.

lights out

Figured a way to glue the 3 slips all at once. I was gluing the front one first and then the two sides. I have two scraps of the plywood bottom in the slip grooves to keep them aligned while it cooks.

drawer #2

Two glued and cooking with 3 more to go. Punched the time clock and killed the lights.

accidental woodworker

 The train was only 12 minutes late. According to my wife the trains seldom run on time. When I took the train down to Baltimore last year (and back) it was late then too but I don't recall the times. In order to get the 15 drawer dressing down to daughter #1 we or just my wife will have to drive it down there. I got an estimate over the phone to ship it for 4-5 hundred dollars. A wee bit too rich for me so the dresser will have to wait.

it behaved

I wasn't expecting any stupid wood tricks. This stock has been in the shop for a few months. BTW this is the new base that I sawed up last night after dinner.

the me-steak

 This is how I measured and marked the base yesterday. To my thinking this should have worked but it didn't. 

the right way?

The left corner has the pieces that have squared off ends. I marked the opposite side a few frog hairs long. More options to hide it being too big over being too small.

off the saw

Diagonals were less than a 32nd off. This is the base I made too small yesterday all glued up and cooking.

checking for twist

New base parts being checked for twist. I found that if I'm dovetailing and there is twist, whatever is dovetailed will twist also.

new method

new base untwisted

Ready for dovetails almost. Had to check to ensure that I didn't have a hump in any of them.

from the #3

I need to sharpen and hone 3 of my handplanes because of this. The edge of the irons on all 3 have chips at the edge of the irons producing this crappola of a finish. I meant to do that yesterday (?) but got side tracked and forgot it. I need these planes to finish the drawer making so I'll have to make a pit stop to do it. As an aside if anyone who reads this has any Lie Nielsen O1 irons for a #3, #4, or a #5 1/2 that they are willing to part with I'll buy it/them.

my favorite smoother

I like using a #3 as the final step when planing stock to thickness or removing twist. These straight line ridges don't sand out that well even starting with 100 grit. 

I remembered

 Here I'm repeating for the sides how I measured for the front/back.

sides

Usually I put the tails on the longest pieces which would be the front/back. Instead I put them on the sides so that you see a square/rectangle instead of the tails. Moot point now because it will be painted and hidden.

not quite done

I was trying to get the base dry fitted before lunch but I didn't make it. I had to go grocery shopping for the wife so it would be a while before I knew if it fit the carcass.

off the saw

I didn't have to trim anything this go around. Initially the diagonals were a 1/4" off but a slight push on the high corners and I was about a 32nd off.

didn't forget

The carcass dropped right in - a nice loose fit.

cutout on the base

I don't like a base that doesn't have a cutout. It is much easier to adjust, fit, and get it level if all you have to play with are the four corners. If this was a big boy version and was going to live on a carpet I would do it with a solid base.

carcass bearers?

They bear the carcass so they should they be called carcass bearers? 3/8" down so there will be an 1/8" reveal between the top of the base and the bottom drawer rail. These were glued and nailed on.

back gap

A healthy bit of wiggle room for the back panel insertion. If need be I can put a shim in it or use caulk to fill it.

a real big sigh

My fault on this being too short on the height. I didn't check it any of them but relied on what I measured. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't do that. Penalty is making 4 new pieces.

old dog can learn sometimes

This is the first one and I sawed it to a pencil line struck off the opening. Sawed out the other 3.

untwisted

Two were twisted a bit and two were flat and straight.

test piece

Good use for an off cut that could be a piece of pine veneer.

cutting the back was next

The first one was tight and wouldn't fit. I shot this one on the shooting board until it fit with a hint of gentle persuasion.

change #2

Rather than do half blinds at the front I'm going to do through dovetails at the back and front. I will use the 'veneer' glued to the front to hide the tails. I am using the off cuts from resawing it from 3/4 to a 1/2 inch.

massive brain fart

I stunk up the shop so bad I was choking on the smell. You know that awful sinking feeling that you screwed up and screwed up bad the nth power? Well that didn't kick in with me until I was done sawing the last one and putting it back in the dresser. What did I do wrong? I sawed for the drawer slips on the sides instead of doing it on the back.

corrected 1/2 the problem

I sawed all the backs and than I had to contend with one of the sides on all 5 drawers being too short on the height.

saved two

I used the sides playing with them and I was able to get two complete sets done. That leaves 3 that I have to redo. Rather then trying to match the one good one I decided to make 3 new sets.

double, triple checked three times

I got lucky that I was able to get all the sides from off cuts left over from previous projects.That pile of off cuts has shrunk considerably building this dresser.  If I had screwed up the fronts or backs I would have had to use the stock I got from Gurney's. Killed the lights here and headed upstairs. 

accidental woodworker

Sunday is my day to piddle around but I got a lot done on the dresser. Much more than I thought I would today. The AM session went off with a hiccup but I can't say the same for the PM one. Made two brain farts that were basically the same. After the second one I punched the time clock and killed the lights.

out of the clamps

Nothing moved or sighed when the clamps came off. The top is on securely and I am not going to add screws or nails.

the ugly gap.

At this point I was ok with leaving the gap. You have to tip the dresser back to see it. I am slowly learning to pick my battles with things like this.

side guide rails

Left a gap for expansion and I put it at the front. To my way of thinking it out loud, the front part of the drawer should continuously span the gap. With it tight against the back bearer rail only the back end of the drawer has to move over it. With no gap the drawer won't have anything to bump into or snag on.

glue only

I applied glue to back 1/3 of the drawer guide. No screws or nails mostly because the sides are a 1/2" thick - not much meat to screw or nail into. I think the glue will suffice.

froze on me

The back divider was a wee bit snug and yesterday I could put it in place with hand pressure. Today with glue it froze half way. I was able to get the mallet in through the middle and tap it home. 

bottom bearer rails

I wanted to use the same width for these as the bearer rails but they were too short on the length. These will work and the should be easier to fit the drawers not being as wide. Less of tendency for these to curl and do other stupid wood tricks.

glued and cooking

The bottom edges were proud a few frog hairs. The back one also had a hump that I had to plane flat. 

bottom side guide rails

Used the spring clamps to hold a scrap down to the bearer rails. That way the side guide rail will be in the same plane. I'll plane the bottoms flush after it has set up.

sigh

This is the corner that split and cracked on me yesterday. A thin sliver of it didn't want to get glued back on. I wanted to apply shellac as the finish but not anymore. I'll be painting it and leaving the drawers natural and covered with shellac. There were a couple of more dings that I filled with wood putty that the paint will hide.

thinking out loud

Maybe I should just paint the top? I still will have to flood the brown knot with super glue whether I use shellac or paint. The more I think about it the more I'm liking it. I'll have to be careful painting where the sides meet the top.

base first

Decided to get the base done before doing the drawers. That will help a lot when it comes time to fit them.

first PM brain fart

When I was sawing these I thought that they looked too short but I did the deed anyways. There must have been a stray pencil mark that I zeroed in on. I can use these to make drawer slips.

off the saw

Happy with the fit of this. I had to trim all the pins on corner #1 but other than that, off the saw. I used the board I was going to use for drawer slips to get two new sides from. 

will it fit inside it?

I was feeling pretty smug with myself for getting the base dovetailed and dry fitted.

nope

The 2nd brain fart deflated the wind in my sails. I had set the two sides rails together on one side and positioned the front flush with that and marked the other side for length. That worked perfectly If I wanted the dresser to sit on top of the base. Oh well hopefully this will be fresh in brain bucket tomorrow when 3rd base should the charm.

flip side of the coin

The base is within two frog hairs all the way around, just not in the right direction. I should still be able to get started on the drawers tomorrow.

The me-steak base will get used for something. I don't have a need for another box but that is the most obvious use for it. I think I'll do that and ship it with the dresser when I send it to my sister.

accidental woodworker

 At 0728 I departed for Gurney's Sawmill. The clouds were dark and the coverage was almost 100%. I checked the radar before I left and it was clear. No rain in spite of it looking so threatening. The sun did peek out twice on the way out there and once coming home. 7 hours later Mr Sun burned off enough cloud cover to say hello. I think I may go back again next saturday to get another load. That should keep me occupied for a couple of months.

before I left

The plan was to unclamp this, rout 3 rabbets, glue the back bearers, and dry fit the top. That proved to be a wee bit too ambitious - none of it got done. It would have been nice because it would have set up while I went to Gurney's.

Gurney haul

On the left are 6 1x12 by 12' footers sawed in half. The two on the right are from a 14' board. This haul was $270 which is about 1/2 of what I spent the last time. I had the money set aside for $500 so I will go back and spend it.

mortise

This is the mortise for the front drawer divider top. I made it 1/2" longer than necessary to help with installing it?

rabbets are next

I had the router already setup to do rabbeting so I used it. This rabbet in the top will catch the 1/4" back.

back rabbets

This is why I decided to use the electric router. Trying to clamp this so I could do the rabbets with a plane was proving to be a ROYAL PITA. 

oops again

You would think that forgetting something like this would fresh in my brain bucket but it wasn't. I forgot to do the groove for the back drawer divider. I had to knock that out after this came out of the clamps.

it fits

I nailed the top to bottom which I was concerned with but the notches need some attention. I needed to make the top back one deeper to account for the 1/2" wiggle room with the mortise.

a yikes this time

Another dry of the top (many more after this fix) where I split the front off tapping the front to flush the top at the back. Glued and clamped while I filled the pie hole.

got it

I ran the front and back divider past the bearer rail. I need that bit of overhang for the drawer guides.

dead nuts

I was expecting this to be off only because these are difficult so me to install. This time I nailed both the front and rear ones. They look good from this view but the underside has gaps at the front and rear. I refuse to obsess about them and I'm leaving that as is.

drawer guide dry fitted

This took a whole lot of dance steps to fit. The notches on the front and rear dividers weren't the same. The other consideration was the top edge of the horizontal part has to be flush with the top edges of the front and rear bearers.

upside look see

The notches on each end of the horizontal guide engage with the notches of the front and rear dividers. A 1/2" piece of pine will be glued to the horizontal guide and guides the drawer in/out between them.

too deep

I initially made the notches the same depth before I realized I had stunk the shop up with a brain fart. A couple of pieces of veneer made up the difference needed.

thankfully done

This was a frustrating glue up to do. The top grooves are dead square to the back edge and the sides were slightly cupped. I had to clamp the front sides together to get the top started. I had already done this on/off top routine a dozen times so I wasn't expecting any hiccups. But I did get one. The top hung up on me and I got a little frantic trying to find out where it was. I didn't have much time but luckily for me a clamp on the back worked in my favor. 

The besseys however threw a hissy fit on me. All four of them wouldn't clamp down. I kept running out of screw length. Just my most humble opinion, but these clamps suck. You need six hands and four small boys to use them. The problem is always trying to hold the two heads against what is being clamped and screwing it tight. Hoping that the heads don't slip and you have sufficient screw left to tighten it. This is why I bought the aluminum bar clamps but the besseys have a deep reach that is needed now and again. 

hmm.....

This is a drawer from some previous project - I think I made this one too short. I am going to reuse them for a drawer or two on this. The piece I'm holding is wide enough to get the small drawer from.

rough sawn

I got all the parts needed for the smallest drawer with enough stock to get the sides out of it for its sibling next door.

more repurposing

More leftovers being used to make drawer sides. None of this stock is long enough for the front or back but it is for the sides. I got all the sides for the 3 wide/large drawers from two boards.

last one

I sawed the sides partially on the tablesaw and removed the web with the Ryobi saw. 

stickered

I'll let this go until tomorrow to see if any of them have stupid wood tricks to show me tomorrow. The board spanning the shitcan will be used to make the drawer slips. So far I have only used one board I got from Gurney's today.

two top drawers

Stickered them on the carcass. I can't do anything else with this today. I want to give the top until tomorrow to cook and set up.

accidental woodworker

 Another day where I didn't get to spend much time in the shop. After lunch I went grocery shopping because tomorrow morning when I would normally do that I'll be driving out to Gurney's sawmill. I also stopped and checked my tires. The left front looked low and it was low. It took me four minutes to fill it to 36PSI which cost me a $1.50. I had to feed the air machine another $4.50 to get the other 3 tires topped off. I should have stayed home and used my pancake compressor. It is slow but it would have been a lot faster than the air at the gas station. I tried both of the air machines and both were incredibly slow. That wasn't the case the last time I used them - $1.50 to do all 4 tires with time left over.

bearer rails

No surprises here. These have been in the shop for a while so I knew they were acclimated.

happy face

I liked seeing that none of these had cupped on me. This was the 4 foot 1x12 I got from Lowes and they are always iffy as to when they will do stupid wood tricks.

stopped dadoes

Decided to chop grooves from the front to back. Makes it easier to fit the bearer rails over a mortise front and back for them.

first 3 done

The top of the sides will be in a stopped dado on the underside of the top. The bottom F/B bearer rails will be dovetailed on.

off cuts

I think I have enough to get guide rails to go in between the F/B bearer rails. I need 9 pieces.

notched

Got a good fit on all six of them. This is something I struggle getting done right. I either make the notch too deep or too shallow. I tend to end up with too deep.

slight hiccup

Two of the bearer rails were loose - on on the left and one on the right. I glued a piece of veneer at the bottom whose width was the same as the dado depth.

happy face again

With the veneer the bearer rail is self supporting.

photographic proof

The second one was too tight and I had to sand it a wee bit to get the same result. Snug fit and it is supporting the weight of the side. Used a 120 grit sanding stick to facilitate the fitting.

why not?

This is the bearer rail for the top two drawers. Decided to make the drawer openings asymmetrical. Went with a 1/3 - 2/3 layout. This is something I have wanted to do for a while. I have made 2-3 small 'dressers' and this the first one to sport the asymmetrical look.

oops

Got ahead of myself and forgot to plane the rabbets on the back. Picked up on that when I getting ready to glue the back bearer rails in. I left the back ones dry and I'll let the front cook until tomorrow. I think I have enough room to knock out the rabbets then.

slight cupping

I had already chopped the stopped dadoes in the top when I saw this. I clamped a couple of pieces to straighten it out so I could get the top on.

wouldn't fit

I made the dadoes a wee bit too narrow. I cleaned the grooves up and planed the inside top edge of the sides until the top fit. I had to take more off this side than the other.

drawer divider

This needs some careful measuring and marking. The underside of the top has to be mortised to accept the divider. This isn't the divider I'll be using. This one is only for marking the underside. The real one will be 3/16" longer.

I figured out how to do the guide rails for the drawers with the center divider. I don't think I could type out how adequately so you'll have to wait for tomorrow's blog where pics will be worth a thousand words.

accidental woodworker

 Got no time in the shop this AM. I had to bring my wife to the train station. So I have no adult supervision until monday. It is just me and the cats while she is in Baltimore for daughter #1 birthday. Getting someone to care for the cats is an impossibility. I can't afford boarding them  because the daily rate is through the roof and there are no professional cat sitters that I know of. Maybe I'll get to go next time and she'll stay and babysit the cats.

need some love

The 5 1/2 and the 4 both have nicks in the irons. The 3 is intact but getting dull. I set all 3 with RML shavings and I'll be sharpening them probably tomorrow. I wanted to do something today making shavings other than RML ones.

thicknessing stock

I had a 4 foot 1x12 that was long enough to get the sides and the top out of. It was almost flat but I wanted the sides to be 5/8" thick. I removed the slight cup, twist, and got it to thickness all at once.

quick drawing

This is what I came up with last night. It is a miniature version of Leo's dresser. This should work well for my sister to stow her quilting crappola in.

not 5/8"

The sides are flush with each other but they are 9/16" thick. The side thickness isn't carved in stone so I'm ok with them being 9/16".

from one board

It continues to surprise me the pile of shavings that come from one board. There is a smaller pile on the other side of the bench too.

stickered

I wasn't going to use the 3rd piece from the board for the top but I changed my mind. It has two red and one brown knots that will be on the face side of it. I don't mind that considering what its purpose is. Besides I don't have any stock and with this I can make the carcass and have something to do. I am going to Gurney's on saturday to buy some pine.

left over 1/2" stock

I don't know what this is left over from but I'm using it for the bearer rails on the dresser.

rails done

The front and back rails are 2" wide and 16 1/2" long. I might change the length after I do the first one to get a sense of the proportions.

top divider

I haven't figured out the drawer guides for the top drawers. I'm not using drawer glides on this. The drawer guides on this dresser are wood along with the drawers being inset.

drawer layout

I didn't want the drawers to be too high. The bottom drawer front is 3 3/4" high with the ones above it decreasing in height by a 1/2". The two top small drawers are 2 1/4" but that may change. It depends upon how deep I mortise the top for the sides. 

accidental woodworker

 After the grocery store this AM I hit the road and went to Westerly. Westerly is where I was born and raised and today I was headed for the Westerly Packing Company. I bought some sweet and hot soupy for my sister out in Indiana. That is a surprise which I know will stay that way because she doesn't read my blog.

I packed the soupy in with a couple of boxes I sent her way today. It cost me $21 to ship it to her. The last thing I mailed her set me back $80. Both of them weighed about the same but the other pkg was longer and thinner. Don't understand the shipping costs but I am not going to complain about it.

ditto

This is going to be one of two of the next projects. I am going to make another one of these for my wife. I couldn't believe how much she liked it. The second one is always better than the first right?

2nd ditto

This is the second project for my sister Donna. She makes quilts and other kinds of things along those lines. I will make a miniature bureau for her to keep her tools and supplies in. I'm thinking of 2 small drawers at the top and 3 lower drawers (like Leo's dresser). Haven't worked out overall dimensions but I have time to do that. 

sigh....

I was going to take this upstairs but the sides of it felt like sandpaper. Dust nibs bit me on the arse again. I still have paint so I'll roll another coat on it.

grandson's 5 1/2 iron/chipbreaker

I honed the iron free hand and I do like shiny. Cleaned up the 5 1/2 and put it back in their toolchest.

RML shavings

This is something I do after sharpening the every iron. RML shavings of equal width and thickness tells me it is ready to plane. I dislike having to check a plane before using it. Months from now if I have to I can take this 5 1/2 out and put it to work immediately.

#8 sole

I only had rust blooms on 3 planes to contend with. The #4, #7, and the #8. The 4 other planes were clean. This was the only spot on the #8 with rust blooms.

#4 was the worse

This guy had blooms (a lot) on the sole and both cheeks. All of it sanded off easily and I applied Autosol after that.

all clean

All of the planes in this till were free of rust blooms. I didn't do it today but I think I'll take the brown paper out of the bottom and let the planes sit on the bare wood. I didn't find any other planes in contact with wood to have any rust blooms.

heads up

I marked the calendar every other month to check the planes (and other tools) in the grandson's tool chests. This is the rusty #4 cleaned up and looking spiffy again.

Record 45

I just had to have one of these. I was like a drug addict needing a fix. I couldn't find a Stanley but I found this on an English auction site in England. After having it for a while I saw that I was only using it to plow grooves. Headed in the other direction and bought plow planes. I haven't used this for a couple of years and I gave it to the grandsons to use. It is clean and rust free, even the irons.

toolchest #2

This was the first toolchest I made for Miles (the only grandkid at that time). I quickly out grew it and made the bigger one. Everything in the trays (bottom one too) were clean and free of rust blooms. Thankfully I don't have a rust problem in my shop even though the humidity level in it is hovering around 69%.

never been used

I bought this set of screwdrivers based on a blog comment I got. They went straight into toolchest #2. I think I may have used one of the slotted screwdrivers to test it. I like that these have a hexagonal shoulder that will accept a wrench.

specialty planes

I'm not 100% sure of what I have in here. Time to find out when I inspect them one box at a time.

open throat Stanley

Clean bottom that I sanded some ??? mystery spots off.

two more Stanley routers

A small #271 and a closed throat big boy router. This one has a 1/4" Stanley iron. The other big boy Stanley router has a Lee Valley 1/4" iron. It fits but it sticks out too far so you need to add a wooden sole to raise it up. Two more clean tools.

Stanley rabbeting plane iron

I don't know why I have this because it is a duplicate. Can't remember why I bought but I seem to think it was because it was so cheap. I got this when I was going a little nutso rehabbing planes of all types.

sharp and shiny

The iron was hollow ground and I don't like hollow ground edges. It only took about 15 minutes to get it to this freshly sharp and shiny.

lid was tight

I hadn't come across any rust blooms but all of the boxes were hard to open. This one especially was being a PITA. It took me a lot of dance steps before the lid slid off/on easily. 

the grandson's rabbeting plane

I used this one a couple of times and if I had to choose between this and the LV rabbeting plane I would pick this one. I also have a Woden rabbeting plane. It is essentially the same as the Stanley except the Woden has two rods for the fence while the Stanley uses one.

I didn't go nutso

In the time that I used this plane I bent 2 of the fence rods. One got bent so bad it was unusable. Since it was so easy for me to make this into a piece of toast I thought it would be good to have extras. I also have a backup iron for this rabbeting plane. Everything with this plane was rust bloom free.

Record 044

Just in case the grandsons feel the same way about the Record 045 as I did. I used this to make a couple of projects and I like it. It is a good plow plane that is easy to set up and use.

chromed rods

Chrome doesn't seem to like the shop environment. I don't remember these being this pitted. All the chromed rods had some level of pitting on them. I sanded both of them with 400 grit and shined them up with Autosol.

they fit still

The fit is loose still and they fit in all four holes available for the them. These are replacement rods - the originals wouldn't fit the fence or the plane body. 

the irons

These were shiny at one time but hanging out in a box killed that. They all still felt sharp in spite of losing their shine.

grandson's bits

Only one of them had faint traces of rust blooms. Only one of these showed any use when I bought these (Patrick Leach). Every tool that was in a box or was laying on wood didn't have any rust on them.

boneyard #4

I remember rehabbing this plane. There were two holes in the sole that I filled in with JB Weld. This is the #4 I used while the LN lever caps were out getting engraved. The JB Weld has held up beautifully with no hiccups. Sharpened the iron freehand and stropped it shiny. Got RML shavings and put it back in the boneyard.

wash, rinse, and repeat

This was my daily user #3 - a Stanley type 13. IMO the frog adjust is useless so I intended to replace this one with a type 9-11. I rehabbed two #3s but I never replaced this one. I liked it, I used it, and I was comfortable with it even if it was a type 13. Finally replaced it with a #3 from Lie Nielsen.

last thing to do

Before I killed the lights I rolled on another coat of paint. I won't be in the shop so hopefully it won't attract any dust nibs overnight.

accidental woodworker

 Got the door fixed for the lower door and noticed that the top one is about a 16th proud. I glued that door stop in place so that one is staying a wee bit proud. The bottom one had to be fixed because it was a few frog hairs over an 8th. That only took about 1/2 an hour and 29 minutes of that was putting the cupboard on and off the bench.

doors off

It was too risky IMO to put the cupboard on and off the bench with the doors on. If something happened to either tile I would have to order replacements and make new doors for them.

see it?

The door stop is cocked. The bottom is closer to the front edge than the top of it. That explains why it worked and then it didn't. I filled in both holes and drilled new pilot holes for the screws.

done

This looks so much better now. I had also made a story stick with the position of the strike on the door so I could align the magnet on the door stop with it. Along with the stop being cocked, the magnet was a 1/4" too low.

I found a few more spots that needed paint and I hit them along with another coat on the door stop. Now I am done with this. My daughter said that she will take it (I offered it to her yesterday). Daughter #1 said yes to the 15 drawer dresser. Getting it to her in Baltimore is going to be chore because it will have to be driven down to her place. The cupboard will go to North Carolina in september if it fits in my wife's car along with Leo's bureau.

next project?

I have been reading this over the past few days and it is an interesting build process. Everything is mitered and glued together and the stock is only a 1/4" thick. They used a router table and a 45 router bit to do all the miters.

I had made a few changes already to this with the first one being the edging pieces. They used maple and I switched to walnut. I didn't like the look of the maple against the black limber for the clock carcass.

making circles

This wasn't working so good for me. Missed clamping the table to the column. That caused the fly cutter to move the plywood as it was cutting. This setup was for figuring out the size circles required. I needed one for the outside of the clock 'dial' and another inner concentric one.

inner circle

The fly cutter leaves two edge cuts depending upon how the cutter is fixed in the arm. The outside or the inside can be squared off or beveled. Finally figured that out and the sequence for cutting. The first one is the inner circle and the second one is the bigger circle. The inner circle will have a bevel on it but I can put that on the underside and it won't be seen.

final look

I don't like the size of the gap between the two. I would like it be to larger. As it is here the outer diameter is 4 7/8" and the inner one is 3 7/8. The numbers in the 1/2" gap I think would be too small.

It took me 3 tries to get the larger diameter circle. I have a ton of scrap 1/4" plywood so I could have probably tried a bazillion more. I set this aside and I won't be making this clock. It strikes me as being too flimsy although I'm sure it would be sturdy and hold together. Now that I started it I am not liking the construction methods used. I'll have to come up with something new to make.

maintenance time

The 5 1/2 belongs in the grandson's tool chest. The #4 & #3 will go back to the boneyard. I will clean the 3 of them and touch up the irons before they go home.

part of the grandson's herd

I have brown paper on the bottom of the tool chest. I pulled out 3 planes and the all had some rust blooms on them. Part of the maintenance will include checking and removing any rust on all of the planes. The #2 I have in here isn't on the bottom but in a till and it doesn't have any rust on it at all. I thought the brown paper would stop the rust.

the first tool chest

I will admit that I went nutso after Miles was born and bought a complete setup for him to do woodworking. He has everything that I use on a daily basis in both of these tool chests along with a till for the saws. This toolchest has all of the specialty planes - routers, plow planes, rabbet planes, etc. I'll roll this one out and inspect how they are fairing. Since I am on a hiatus from project building I will get this done in the interim.

accidental woodworker
 

 I had my doubts in the AM session that I would be oohing and aahing over the cupboard today. Cutting to the end, even my wife was oohing and aahing over it. There isn't much that I make that she expresses an interest in but she did with the cupboard. I offered it to Amanda and my wife says if she doesn't want it, she does.

blurry pic of the LED light wire

I am going to run this wire out the back of the cabinet. 90% of it will be external of the cupboard. However there isn't an on/off switch with this. On/off is done simply by plugging it in and unplugging it.

solved the hmm.....

Decided to paint this. Even though you won't see unless the door is opened, I'm going to paint it. I won't go nutso on it and it is getting two coats and no more.

ACE hardware run

Wire clips on the left that will replace me using hot melt glue to secure it. Grommets on the right for where the wire exits the back. You don't the wire to chafe or rub on the rough hole for the wire.

white spots

All the white spots are dust nibs that I picked off with my fingernails. I sanded the entire back with 220 and rolled on another coat of paint.

finally done

What an awkward, )_@&%)&%@), tedious, )(%#)(*%@#*%_, PITA thing to do. Most of the problem was not being able to see where the screw went. It took me 30+ minutes to get the two brackets secured.

holiday

When I originally painted these spots I didn't bend over to check my progress. Looks like I should have. This wasn't  the only spot I wandered out into La La Land on.

under the middle shelf

No one would probably never get on their knees to look at it. However, if someone is so inclined they won't be seeing this.

did better on this side

This is surprising because I would have painted it with my left, non dominant hand. I would have bet the holidays would have been opposite what they were.

back on

Nailed the back off and threaded the wire out the back and secured it with clips.

12VDC power supply

I initially wired this wrong swapping the + and - leads. Sorted that out and secured the power supply brick to the underneath of the bottom.

first glamour pic

I wasn't sure how the tiles would look in their respective door panels. IMO I think that pop just right.

left side

Same as the right side. I like the proportions and measurements of this cupboard.

back glamour pic

Another area that I vacillated on worse then my wife trying to choose between two pairs of shoes. Paint it or leave it natural? As you can see I went with natural. It is the back and will never be see (if it is placed against a wall).

disappointed with the light

I couldn't really tell if the light was one or not with the shop lights on. With them off it isn't as bright as I thought it would be. Maybe I should have opted for the bright light option over the warm light on. I'll have to stick an objet d'art in it and see how that looks.

shop lights and the cupboard light on

The front of the shelf gets lighted but the back is in darkness. Maybe I should move the brackets/light to the middle of the compartment?

have to fix this

I am a strong 1/8" off of being flush. I'll have to remove the door stop and move it inwards a 1/8". I am still calling this done and I'll fix this tomorrow. For now I just want to ooh and aah a wee bit more.

accidental woodworker

I even have my hair (what little I have) crossed along with my toes and fingers. Penultimate means next to last and that is what I hoped happened today. The paint isn't perfect but the few boo boos I found are behind the doors and I'm leaving them as is. Tomorrow I'll put the LED light brackets in (that should be fun) and figure out how to run the wiring. I'll be holding off on the ooh and aahs until that is done.

counter bored

Rather than do one of them I did both. This way I won't go postal if I put the stop on the door and the one I didn't do interferes somehow.

serious eyeballing

Found some dust nibs that necessitated another coat of paint. You can pick them off but they stick out like a neon light. I sanded the entire door frame (both doors) and rolled another coat of paint on them.

one more

I could see the roller marks on the shelf and to my eye they looked like crap. I'm sure the LED light would accentuate them too. Rolled another coat on making sure I rolled L/R in one continuous motion over lapping as I went from the front to the back.

I can't win

This stile was good to go until I saw a blob on the arris. I scraped it flush to the right of it and sanded it before rolling it.

hinges going on

I had to scrape the hinge mortises at the ends - there was a slight build up of paint there keeping the hinge from fully seating.

done on the doors

Next batter was screwing it to the cupboard. I was pretty sure that I would have lots of room with the margins in spite of all of the coats of paint I applied.

they fit

The margins looked consistent (albeit a little too much on the top door) and both swing in/out freely. The drawer slides in/out freely also although it hesitates in one spot. It should work itself out as the drawer is used. Regardless I'll rub the sides and the bottom with beeswax.

tile adhesive

It says it will glue tile to just about anything known to man. I didn't snap any pics of installing the Egret tile. I managed to remember to get the Iris tile pics.

an unknown

Attaching the lower door stop. I was a bit worried about this because I had to rely on measurements to install it. It was a bit awkward but I managed to get it on the first try. The hardest part for me was getting the magnet position on the door stop aligned with the door.

success

The magnet attracted the disc on the door and pulled it shut in the final 1/2". The door is flush with the cupboard edge which is something I most concerned about nailing.

hmmm......

Should I or shouldn't I paint it? I'm kind of straddling the fence on that. I don't mind it natural but I also don't like the glare of it with the door open.

glued and cooking

The tile is centered L/R with the plywood but the bottom is not. The T/B spacing centered was about 2 1/4". I made the bottom plywood spaced 2 1/2". I used plywood spacers for the Egret tile too.

almost there

I will let these two cook until tomorrow. I was surprised by how fast this construction adhesive set up. I couldn't budge either tile 15 minutes after gluing them on the plywood.

accidental woodworker

I thought I would be posting that the cupboard was finally done. The paint job bit me on the arse and there is going to be a delay. I painted the cupboard in the AM thinking I was done with that but I wasn't. Found a boatload of dust nibs on the middle opening. I got no joy with the doors either. Found several boo boos that will take time to correct. It is now looking like it will be next week before it is done.

first look

This was encouraging to see. Two of the largest vertical surfaces looked good from a couple of feet away.

doors

I had high hopes that this would be the final coat and I would be done with painting. It wasn't so boys and girls.

scraped

I didn't get all the bleed through but it looks a whole lot better now. The 3 coats of shellac certainly helped with keeping the spread to a minimum and with scraping it. I'll touch up the shellac tomorrow.

adjustable spoke tenon cutters

The top one I was rehabbing but never finished it. That was because I couldn't get it do a shouldered spoke tenon. Now I know what the two screws holding the plate over the blade are for. I have to adjust them to do not only the size of the spoke but the shoulder.

measuring stick (new 5/8" one)

Noticed this when I lightly sanded what I thought was rusty metal. No numbers but it clearly has divisions for inch markings.

raking light

Ran the light all over the cupboard, inside and out. The outside passed but the inside underneath of the top needed more paint coverage.

a lot of white streaks

It is almost like I didn't paint this at all. 

back dry fitted

I think putting the LED light in the middle is a good choice. I like the color but the back half 1/2 of the compartment is in darkness.  I had entertained leaving the back of the middle open but this is the way to go with this. Besides with a continuous back it will stiffer and stronger.

door handle time

I centered the door handles T/B and R/L on the stile.

hmmm.......

The screws for the handle are proud and will keep the magnet away from the disc on the door. I removed the screws and drilled a counterbore for them.

8/32 screw

I cut off a wee bit more than 1/8". However, that wasn't enough as the screw was still too long. I had to lose more than a 1/4" off the screws before they would tightened down.

I hate this

There was a rolled up bead of paint that I had to scrape down to the primer coat to remove. I missed this yesterday but the raking light showed it. This is going to be a royal PITA to repaint and cover.

forgot this

On the large bottom door there was a gap here and diagonally at the other corner. I totally zoned out filling this with caulk. Another setback but the caulk is paintable in 30 minutes. The tube says that it won't show through paint neither.

blob

I don't know how I missed this big blob of paint. Instead of scraping this off I sliced it level with a razor blade.

another hmmm......

One of these screws is in the way of the door stop. Undecided on whether to counterbore it (or both) or notch the door stop. I have time to figure it out and I'll deal with it later.

painted

These are the two edges I scraped down to the primer and then repainted. This paint doesn't cover worth diddly squat. The paint has an annoying way of breaking when being brushed - it goes from full coverage to almost none.

a boatload of dust nibs

This shelf was covered front to back and I had to sand it smooth with 220 grit. I decide to repaint this with a roller. So far the roller has covered a bazillion percent better than brushing. Had to make a road trip to ACE because my wife was out of of small rollers (forgot to clean the one I used).

$16 dollars later

I am going to do all the touch up I have left to do with the roller. I bought a pkg of rollers for just in case. I should be able to wash and reuse the one that came with tray.

marketing genius

ACE sells this as a 3 piece set. I know I felt better buying it over it being packaged without it saying it was 3 piece set. To me that is like buying a car and the salesman says it comes with a steering wheel.

feeling better

I rolled out paint on the shelf and I am optimistic that this is the last coat of paint it will receive. This time around I will not do anything else in the shop that will make dust nibs float around and land on it again.

I still have more touch up painting to do on the doors. Thankfully this is latex and I'll be back in the shop after dinner painting some more.

accidental woodworker

I thought I would be done with painting the cupboard today. Sad news boys and girls, it didn't happen. I got the the 2nd topcoat on but that it ain't going to do it. I'll need to touch up here and there with at least one more coat of paint. Maybe by sunday I'll get to ooh and aah over it.

looks good

The drawer front looks good with two top coats. I can't see any streaks in raking light so this is good to go.

not so nice

I got some bleed through on both sides under the blue tape. I'm going to try and scrape it off with a razor blade.

trying the roller

I didn't have any choices for the roller. I would have liked one with a smaller nap but this worked. Besides it was donated by my wife.

impressed

I like how the roller laid the paint down. The coverage was way better than I expected it to be. The two outside faces look great with no brush marks. This is the first time I have ever used a roller to paint a project. I'll be trying a roller again for sure.

hmm......

All done and I was eyeballing it and came across this. Not sure if it is something I missed or it was a coverage issue. Using the roller on the inside was a bit awkward, especially so on the underside of the top and shelves. Those were also spots I had to use the brush to ensure complete coverage. The roller doesn't get into the corners.

from Jenny Bower Engraver

These came today during lunch. Wow, I think they look great. I plan on getting the rest of my bench plane lever caps engraved too.

my first one

I had this one done by Catherine Kennedy but I couldn't get in touch with her to do these. A reader of my blog (sorry I don't remember you) gave me Jenny's name and she engraved them. I think she did a great job - the initials look exactly like I had done it on the lever caps in ink. I have used this 'signature' marking what I made for years.

the LN herd

Thinking about it I have 3 more Stanley planes to engrave - #6, #7, & #8.

5/8" spoke tenon cutter

I pulled the trigger on this as soon as I saw it on the Timeless Tools and Treasures website. I have two spoke tenon cutters but those are both adjustable and this one only does one - 5/8".

good length

The iron needs some love on the stones and it appears to be the original iron. The japanning is 100% and I don't think this was used much. It doesn't show any signs of mileage at all.

interesting tidbit

When I saw these screws I thought that there was something missing. Turns out that this is 100% complete. These screws are used to tilt the blade up/down side to side. Do they allow the blade to be cocked so the shoulder can be squared off or at an angle? Or is like the lateral adjust on a bench plane? I looked at the other two I have and they have the same two screws for the blade. Both of them are munged up and shows signs of a lot of use. I thought they were to secure the blade. I'll revisit these two and play with that feature and sees how that shakes out.

accidental woodworks

 The cupboard got its first topcoat. After it was dry to the touch I eyeballed it and it definitely needs a 2nd coat. I am not a fan of rolling paint but maybe it is something to try. Rolling it wold eliminate the streaks I get with a brush. I might try it for the 2nd one. My wife has a lot of rollers and trays.

I can feel them

I can also see them - the brush marks. I sanded the cupboard with 220 grit with and against the grain until it felt smooth to my fingertips.

empty space

I am using construction adhesive for the tiles. Not sure if it will work over paint so I'm leaving it bare. 

done

Calling this pic frame done. I am happy with the red color and given that I'm not fond of orange its good that it isn't rust colored.

second sanding run

After finishing the first run I went back over the cupboard and sanded a few more spots that I still felt brush marks.

last step

I damped this rag with paint thinner and wiped down the cupboard. I had previously vacuumed the cupboard before the rag dance steps.

about the same

It took about the same amount of time to paint the topcoat as did the primer. I was expecting to shave about 15 minutes off it the second time around.

different Lowes

I went to Home Depot and checked out what they had for 1/4" plywood. There were 3 different types and the one I would have picked was light as a feather. I bought a 5mm full sheet at Lowes and it is heavier than the HD one. After I left HD I went to the Lowes up the highway from HD and its cutoff saw was working. I got the back sawed on the tablesaw slightly oversized.

1/8" out of square

I got this track saw in the late 1980's and this is the first time I have used it in years. This side of the back needs to be tapered to match the cupboard. This is the only thing I had in the shop long enough to draw it.

planing to the pencil line

I have a scrap of wood clamped to the edge to beef it up so I could scrub plane it close to the line. Switched to the low angle block and planed to the line then.

R/L good

Wash, rinse and repeat for the top and bottom. The taper is an 1/8" going to nothing. I marked and planed that to the pencil line. Got it fitted to the top and sides and marked the bottom and planed that.

fitted

I was able to do the bottom with a sheet rock knife. No problems knifing the line from both sides. The cut came out clean end to end. I like this plywood but I wish it was 6mm thick. 1/4" Baltic birch plywood at HD was $49 and this was $24(?) at Lowes.

first coat drying

Decided to not do the 2nd coat today but wait and do it tomorrow. There is no rush on getting a check mark in the done column.

last thing done

I got the first coat on the face of the doors and I also painted the edges of them. I wanted to see how well a 2nd coat would cover. The second coat on the drawer front looked good with no streaks or white showing.

accidental woodworker

 The start of the beginning of the end kicked off at  0900 today. Found the oil based primer and painted the cupboard. Tomorrow the first topcoat will go on and I'm planning on doing at two. I have everything I need to finish the cupboard except for the plywood back. Still haven't made it to Home Depot to check what they have for 1/4" plywood. The last time I checked on that they under layment, CDX, and some lightweight chinese plywood. If I get no joy there I'll buy it at Lowes and cut it myself in the parking lot.

portable chest of drawers

The glue up healed nicely but it didn't align flush top and bottom. I sanded it flush on the bottom (proud there) and feathered it out on the top.

good match

Two feet away I couldn't pick out the glued crack. Up close and personal I could. I checked all the drawers opened/closed easily and I had to plane two of them. I made all of them as loose fitting as I dared.

only one

This is the only loose fitting drawer and the drawer beneath it is the one I need to fix. I can't pull it open. The two large drawers on the left open/close easily and the other two open/close but need a wee bit of oomph.

it worked

I rapped on the back with the mallet and the drawer popped out. I wasn't sure that this would work because the drawer margin top/bottom was tight. I planed this drawer until it easily went in/out. I lightly planed the drawers above and below this one for the same action.

doors batted first

The doors might be a PITA to do. This is an oil based primer so once the paint goes on the door can't be moved and I have to be careful about raising dust in the shop. I only painted one side but I got the other side done in the PM session.

drawer

No oil primer for the drawer front. It has 3 coats of shellac on it and that is a good primer coat. 

worth its weight in gold

This is left over from the rehab I did when I got my hip replaced. My 70 year old knees love it dearly. Started painting at the top and worked down. If I didn't have this or knee pads I would have put the cupboard on the workbench to paint it. I can only take about 1-2 minutes of bare kneeling on concrete.

50 minutes

I painted every surface except for the drawer opening. I only painted 2-3 inches in from the sides and top/bottom. I also have to paint the bottom of the base sides and front. That got done in the PM session too.

oops

Have you ever wondered about where the ubiquitous white paint drops come from? I cleaned this but didn't get it all - it was on it too long before I saw it.

base

I am not priming/painting the bottom of the cupboard. I am only priming the bottom of the sides and the front.

drip patrol

The paint was 99% dry which surprised because it oil based. I was expecting it to be tacky still but it wasn't. I eyeballed the entire cupboard especially checking points like this where multiple surfaces intersect. Paint tends to pool in these areas and I cleaned them out with a razor blade and touched them up again with primer. Another spot for blobs are the vertical and horizontal edges. Brushing tends to leave build up on the arris - I did pretty good on that and didn't find much that needed scraping.

older than dirt

This is a brush spinner that I got when I painted with my father. Stick the brush in it and spin the solvent and paint away. Makes cleaning brushes almost a no brainer. I only use it for oil based products. Latex ones I wash and clean by hand in the sink.

forgot this

I meant to do this last week and it would appear I forgot it. This is at the top of the cupboard and will catch the top edge of the plywood back. I couldn't glue it because I had already primed underneath it so I secured with 3 screws.

FYI

You shouldn't paint the mortises for the hinges. Paint can build up and interfere with how the hinge seats and swings. Another FYI is to remove all hardware and stick something - old screws, toothpicks, rolled up blue tape,..... - in the empty screw holes so they don't fill up with paint.

another sore spot

Got an early out for today. If I do it right I might (should) be able to get both top coats on tomorrow. The paint has a 2 hour layover time between coats.

accidental woodworker

 I've got sad news boys and girls. I didn't get any paint on the cupboard. While getting ready to sand it I saw another hiccup. I ignored one on the back but I couldn't do that for the front. Hopefully tomorrow I be slapping paint on it. As for the picture frame it suffered the same fate as the cupboard. Saw a hiccups that I had to fix. Maybe I'll get it to Maria friday or saturday.

hmmm......

I wasn't expecting to this. I had painted it again last night after dinner and the red paint still wasn't covering the black then. This morning it is - must have been the drying that did the trick. I was thinking I would maybe get this to Maria wednesday.

one more coat

The back looked ok but there were some scruff marks that another coat of black hid. I waited a couple of hours and put on a coat of shellac.

can't ignore this

The doors are inset and these will shine like a neon light on a foggy night. Before I fixed it I finished sanding the cupboard with 100, 150, and 220 grit.

timber mate

I didn't want to use the wood putty because it takes too long to harden. Paint doesn't care what it goes over and timber mate will set up in a few hours.

gave up the ship

After cussing, threatening, and cajoling this I said NO MAS. I just couldn't get that little piss ant _+)*%&^@)#%^)(_&@_)*%+(@Q screw started for the light bar clip. I could not see what I was doing and I was relying solely on touch which wasn't that helpful. I thought of using super glue to hold it while I screwed while I was upstairs cooling down. I'll try that tomorrow and see how that goes because it wasn't happening today.

a couple of hours later

I did a quick run over the timber mate with a sanding block and it had setup. I'll have to do another coat to form the 90 between the top and the front edge.

what gives?

I sign into my You Tube account upstairs and in the shop. What I don't understand is why the home page on the two of them isn't the same. It must have something to do with the shop computer being Win OS and upstairs is Linux.

picture frame hiccup

The paint is latex and it raised the grain on two sides. It not only looked rough, it felt rough. I sanded all four outside edges with 100, 150, and 220. This is why it won't be ready to go until friday or saturday. 

first of two

Painted the outside again and I'll get a 2nd coat on it after dinner. I am liking the red color a lot more now that I've had a chance to eyeball it dry for a few days. It certainly dries a different color than when it is wet.

fixing time

This split happened how? Don't know but I pulled out all the drawers and brought it to the shop to glue it.

glued and cooking

I expect this to have anymore stupid wood tricks to surprise me with. Fingers crossed just in case.

another fix it

Two of the 13 drawers wouldn't open. The two 6" drawers were throwing a hissy fit. I wasn't sure how the 6" drawers would behave and now I know. The large single 6" drawer still slides in/out easily. These two wouldn't budge a frog hair.

nope

I tried to use the mallet from the inside (with a block of wood) to rap on the inside of the drawer face. Didn't budge, didn't complain, stayed in place like a stubborn mule.

tight

I couldn't get a frog hair in between the drawer top or bottom and the rails. I was able to push the drawer out by hitting the ends with a mallet and a block of wood.

tight against this

After pushing it forward I saw that the top of the drawer was too against this back rail.

knocked the ends down

I had to plane the entire top to get it to slide in/out smoothly.

front

I had to plane the top front of the drawer too. It was going in beautifully but was hanging at the front cross rail.

the sibling

This drawer was clearing the back cross rail but had problems at the front. I could push it in flush and pull it out with a little oomph. I planed this drawer like I did its sibling until it when in/out smoothly.

one more

I double triple checked all the other drawers and this one was hanging up a wee bit. I planed the entire top rim with 4 passes before it opened/closed smoothly.

where it was hanging

It was only this corner that was too tight. I didn't go nutso on this and only planed what was needed for the drawers to open/close freely. I don't want to see this come winter that there was now a 1/4" gap.

another high spot

I could see this spot - just where the back goes into the side- was rubbing on the back top rail. Being able to take the back off (so glad I didn't glue it) was incredibly lucky for me. If not I would have had to wait for winter and see then if I could open these drawers.

two coats shellac

I'm pretty sure that I used the same blonde shellac on the drawers that I mixed up yesterday. After two coats I can't see a color difference. 

I found the sticking drawers a few days ago while I was in the boneyard. Out of curiosity I checked the drawers to make sure I could open and close them. Got the first 13 to open/close but 14 and 15 didn't want to play. The second portable chest of drawers I made has a few sticking drawers still. I have already sanded those drawers twice to get them to open/close. I'll deal with that one tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

 I thought that I would paint the cupboard today but that didn't happen. I forgot that I still hadn't fully sanded the cupboard to receive paint. I might paint it tomorrow though. I had to fill in more dings and bumps in the cupboard. I was surprised by how many more I found. 

Had the similar hiccup with the picture frame. I am going to try and finish it today after dinner. That may or may not happen. I have the impetus to get it done sooner than later because the pic for it came today.

touch up time

The red paint I put on yesterday did diddly squat covering the black paint. At this rate it will probably take 3 or more coats to cover it. I'll deal with that as it happens.

drawer handle

I missed getting this pic in yesterday's blog post. It is centered R/L and slightly above center T/B. 

I should have gone to Home Depot on sunday to see if their cut off saw was operational but I didn't. HD doesn't carry the same plywood brands that Lowes does. I really like the blonde plywood Lowes sells but I'll go to HD and check out what they have to offer. Either way the wind blows I have to buy a full 4x8 sheet. The cupboard plywood back is about 60"x16" and I want it to be one piece.

like I didn't even paint over it

This is not a good omen. I went back over it again after I had painted 360 around the frame. I could still see the black under the invisible red. 

mallet dings

I wasn't going to fill these in because I planned on leaving it natural. I tried to steam them out but most of them didn't pull up and disappear. Plan #2 is to fill them because this will be painted.

the ding finder

There are a ton more dings than I thought there were. The raking light made them pop. This filler doesn't dry in an hour so I won't be painting this today. I'll sand all of this and the cupboard with a final grit of 220 tomorrow.

sanding scratches

Another thing I looked for that I missed once already, is cross grain sanding scratches from the belt sander. Those will definitely pop when painted. I only found two spots of cross grain that I missed.

checking the doors

Without the raking light I did not see this. This pine has a lot of squirrely grain that reversed a ton on me. I filled in all the grain tear out on both sides of both doors.

new batch of blonde shellac

I should have done this yesterday but better late than never. I need this to finish the drawer inside and out.

hmmm......

I didn't think this one all the way through. I usually only mix a pint but today I opted to go for a quart. 1.5lb cut needs 6oz of flake and 32oz of alcohol. Didn't figure in the 6oz of flake taking up space in the quart can. Instead of 32oz of alcohol I think I got maybe 25oz. The pound cut will be higher than 1.5. Still usable and I'll have to figure out a work around for this.

branded

I usually put my brand on one place but on the cupboard I'm using two. One here on the back of the drawer and on the bottom underside of the cupboard.

one to use, one spare

The o-rings for the water filter came and wow. These are nice and round 360 and the one in the filter has flat sides. I got a lot of years out of it so I can't complain.

got lucky

There was almost nothing left in the can. I got two coats on the bottom and kept going from there. Surprised myself that I also had enough to get two coats on the rest of the drawer. I'll get a couple more on it with the new batch tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

 Today is sunday and I usually piddle in the shop but not today. I am so close to having the cupboard done that I think I got everything done that I could do. The 'Plan' for the AM tomorrow is start painting. I am on the fence with whether or not to prime the cupboard first. I feel, down deep within me, that with or without it I'll be painting 3 coats on it minimum. Oh well stercus accidit (Latin for shit happens).

big gap

Last night after dinner I went to the shop to address this. I tried to saw off a thin sliver of the molding to glue into here but gave up. They all disintegrated while sawing so I filled it in with wood putty.

filled in the pin nails

I wasn't going to fill the pin nails in but just paint over them. Since I used putty filling in the miter gap I filled in all the pin nails. I couldn't paint it so I might as well.

surprised

I sanded the putty and I was expecting it go to bare wood and it didn't. Good start to the day with that.

lower door hinges

This is the second run I made making the hinge mortises a wee bit deeper. I was taking my time because I didn't want to go too deep and hinge bound them.

closed

The margins on the hinge side and the top/bottom are consistent. The close side is tapered. I'm taking it slow and step one was getting it to close. Check.

blurry pic

Spoiler alert there are more of these. What the pic doesn't show is a tapered line going from about a 16th inboard at the bottom to nothing at the top. I planed and stopped after removing the pencil line.

done

Even though the door opening is out of square (the door was dead nuts) the margins look good. The close side margin is parallel top to bottom. You could stare at this for days and never know that it is out of square.

different

My version of the Woodsmith cupboard has the same basic form but this is my take on it. Not sure that is should be called a Mackintosh Cupboard because IMO it does have all the characteristics of that style. Regardless I like what I butchered it into.

road trip

I went to Lowes first to get the plywood for the back of the cupboard. They didn't have full sheets 1/4" blonde wood but they did in 5mm plywood. However, the cutoff saw is still out of order (3 weeks now?). Not having the plywood for the back is the last thing I have to do to say the woodworking on the cupboard is done.

I got the paint from Benjamin Moore store by my house. I picked out a green with a hint of blue in it. The  first color I picked was a dark green and it was almost a dead match for the flower petals in the Egret Tile. I like the hint of blue better.

has to go

I had made the bottom run long so it would be easier to replace if needed. It has to go because I wouldn't have room for a drawer stop at the back.

full length stop

The drawer stop is the cut off from the back bottom of the drawer. Used hide glue in case it needs to be fixed/replaced.

jig

This is the handle for the drawer and it has studs underneath it. The diameter is a 64th under a 1/4". It didn't fit on the first holes I drilled, they were too close to each other. Got it on the second try and when I did the drawer itself.

good idea but it went south

I tried to do a counter bore. The larger hole in the front for the handle studs and a 5/32" hole on the inside of the drawer front for the handle screws. I lost it somewhere in the translation because I drilled right through the drawer front with the 1/4" bit. Didn't even get to say oops on either one.

That had no effect on securing the handle. The screws thread into the studs on the back of the handle. And the screw heads are big enough to cover the 1/4" holes.

wash, rinse, and repeat

The handles for the doors have a different on center spacing. The drawer was 2" OC and this one is 2 1/2" OC.

done

Got this right on the first one. I didn't drill the holes in the doors yet because I want to get them painted first. I'll save this 'drill guide' for when I need it.

door stop

This is for the lower door. The upper door I made the stop go from bottom to the top. I was going to do that for the bottom door too but I didn't like how it looked. Besides on the bottom door I don't have a wide gap like I have on the top door close side to hide.

chamfer

I wasn't liking the squared off look of this frame on the inside of the door. I planed a quick chamfer to calm down my OCD.

hmmm.....

This is the LED lighting for the cupboard. A 12vdc power brick, power leads and a 12" LED light bar. Straight forward to put together and I had no surprises. According to the instructions this brick can power up to eight 12" LEDs in series and it can support 3 separate legs.

works

The only choices for light with this setup is bright or warm. I opted for warm light.

doesn't fit

I wanted the light to fit between the glue blocks. I didn't take into account the connector on the LED on the right. No biggie it comes with two connectors that light bar snaps into. 

light bar connectors

With these I can still put the light bar behind the top rail. I don't want this to be visible at all when looking at it at the front. I checked to ensure that the light bar snaps into them easily.

bottom door stop

This is done now with the exception of securing it to the inside of the cupboard.

counter bored for screws

I was going to glue this in now but nixed it. Instead I'll paint the cupboard and then I'll screw the stop in place.

accidental woodworker

 I can taste the Mackintosh Cupboard being done. I made a lot of progress on it today and I'm a hop, skip, and a jump from getting the paint on it. The et al is the picture frame. It wasn't ready to go to the Frame it Shop today but maybe it will be ready for tuesday. The shop is closed on monday so I have two more days to whack it out. Thanking the woodworking gods that the paint is latex.

last night

Last night I wanted so badly to stuff anything into the pie hole that I went to the shop to do something. I chopped the half blinds and the drawer went together off the saw. I must have done things right because it was dead nuts on the diagonals after I dry fitted it.

flush

I marked the tails unto the pin board differently for drawer #3. Instead of setting a marking gauge to the thickness of the tail and transferring that to the pin board I used the tail. I laid it on the pin board and marked it with my marking knife. I did it the same way as I did for the back through dovetails. It paid off with my first flush half blinds.

me-steak side

When I planed the rabbet I did the first one on the outside face of the side. Oops. I planed the right face side but only two swipes - just enough for me register it against the pin board. The theory was (fingers crossed) that I would be able to plane this me-steak side flush. The drawer needed to be thinned a bit on the R/L.

little snug

This is as far as I could get the drawer into the opening. This is with the drawer dry fitted. I glued and set it aside to cook for a few hours.

picture frame work

Glued and pin nailed the inside bandings in place first. The outside ones were in the batters box. I was disappointed with the fit of the bandings. One miter is open whereas when I dry fitted these they were all tight and snug. Today they ain't. Note to self - fit and glue it all at the same time.

outside banding holiday

I painted one coat on the top and partially on the face that would be against the picture frame. I didn't get 100% coverage and I'll have to do some touch up with an artist brush for the small spots. See the white spot to the right? That is not the miter that was open, this white spot is a missing piece of the toe.

still not dry

All these marks are from me putting the picture in the vise. I'll be painting another coat of red too.

changed my mind

Decided to not leave the back of the frame natural. Picked black because the outside banding is black.

drawer slips

The drawer was clamped for about 4 hours. I glued in the drawer slips and let them cook while I made a road trip to Lowes.

?????

The left mallet came today and the right one is my dovetail mallet. I had gone on the Blue Spruce website to check the prices of the mallets because they were on sale. My dovetail mallet doesn't look like I love it anymore. I clicked on this small cherry handled mallet to check the price but decided not to buy it. Two days ago I got an email saying it was on its way? WTF? I know I didn't click on anything saying buy it. This is the first time this has happened with me. I'll have to be more careful searching the toy store sites.

flushing the me-steak side

Back from Lowes with a 1/4 sheet of blonde plywood and a tube of construction adhesive (for the tiles). Got the drawer bottom installed and started fitting the drawer. I took my time doing frequent checks to make sure I didn't 'take just one more......'.

fitted

It was still a but snug and the margins on the drawer R/L were off. The vertical part of the opening is also slightly out of square.

flush

I was a bit worried about this, whether or not it would be flush or tapered. It is flush straight across and there is no way to see that it is a multiple glued up front edge.

whoosh

That is the sound the drawer makes being pushed and out of the opening. It glides easily with no binding or hesitations. The pencil lines (on the drawer front) are where I had to plane to make the margin look parallel to the drawer opening. I left it kind of tight because this drawer may shrink come winter time.

fitting the bottom door

Once I get this door fitted and hung I'll be ready for paint. I will go tomorrow and get a quart paint. I am leaning in the direction of a green paint, shade and tone to be determined at the store.

hmm......

My door opening is OTL (out to lunch). The top and bottom at opposite corners are out of square. The door margins at the top and bottom are tapered. I'll deal with that after I get the door hinges installed and the door opening/closing.

might as well

Since I now own this I tried it out chopping the mortises for the hinges. Like its bigger sibling the balance is awesome and the weight is just right. This might become my go to hinge mallet.

won't close

I put the cupboard on the bench on its side to chop the hinge mortises on the inside. There was no way I could have contorted myself doing it on the deck. I had a healthy margin on the close side of the door so I was expecting this to not close. It is only about a frog hair or two that is holding that up.

wiggle room

I didn't chop the mortises for the hinge leaves to full depth. I only did half of it so it would close some of the margin gap on the close side. I'll take a wee bit off of each mortise and check the margin again. I'm sure that the door will close with just a little more to take off.

That will happen tomorrow because it was 1515 and past quitting time. I plan on returning to the shop after dinner and work on the picture frame. I would like to get the red painting fixed and the black holidays on the bandings covered. That should keep me being a good boy and not filling my face. Getting away from the sources of food and doing something helps to kill the urges.

accidental woodworker