Accidental Woodworker

 I wasted over 3 hours of my remaining life span dealing with the ( @^%()@Q*)_%Q*@^%&_(Q_)(%^ government. The VA on March 4th cut off the old way to log in and everyone had to sign up with the new, shiny, and better log in. Well boys and girls if you like stabbing yourself in the eye repeatedly with a dull fork engage in what I tried today. I had tried doing it several times before today and had failed miserably. The hang up - I had to upload a picture of my driver license along with other personal data. 

Couldn't do that so I tried to schedule a in person authentication at my local post office. The good point with that is I can do at the post office less than a 1/2 mile from my house. The bad _@%&)^%)(#Q@*_) crap is none of my inputted data was recognized by the VA. There is no phone number to call for help - I was constantly referred to a self help menu that was useless. Not one of the categories addressed the problems I was having. I said NO MAS and I'll try it again tomorrow. Maybe. It will probably be shut down due to it being the weekend. And the log in code that they are supposed to give me to take to post office will probably be FUBAR too. (FUBAR - Fouled/Fxxked up beyond all recognition/repair)

short AM time

Taking the two frames I made yesterday out of the clamps was all I got done. I was so ^@#*&%)&Q*@% frustrated and worked up I stayed out of the shop. I knew that littlest of things would make me go postal and destroy something. Both frames had a wee bit of twist to them. My fault because I didn't check to ensure that they were laying flat on the clamps at the corners.

don't understand this

I double, triple checked the height of the saw blade against the stock before I did the slot mortise and tenons. Made the interior a wee bit shorter than I want.

tried it and it worked

I am so happy that this vise is paying off. Trying to hold this in the face vise would have made for an awkward saw cut. I am impressed with how tenacious this vise grips - no vibrations or any movement of the frame at all while I sawed it.

both sides have twist

It is about the same and I only planed it away on the back side. That has to be flat for hanging on the wall. The face side I flushed the corners and smoothed it out.

helping hands

This is the back and the miters needed some help to close them up gap free.

nope

Changed my mind on leaving the poster frames plain Jane and I'm going to chamfer the inside and outside edges. However, I couldn't pull the chamfer bit out of the holder. None of them would come out even when coaxed with the pry bar.

pin punch

I had to resort to this to get the chamfer bit out. The rag on the vise bars caught it when I freed it from the holder.

rounded corners

This rounded, chamfered corner looks out of place to my eye. Carried the chamfer around and through the corner with a chisel.

used it again

This worked a treat. I was able to position the frame so I could work with my dominant hand.

done

The first one I did doesn't look this nice but it is acceptable. I'll use wood putty to dress it up nicely. These frames are getting painted so the wood putty will never be seen.

sweet

First tenon fit in the slot mortise snug and gap free all around. This is right off the table saw.

opposite slot mortise

Fit is just as good as its sibling.

YIKES

I'm blaming this entirely and sorely on the BS I had to deal with in the morning. I only added one stile width whereas I should have added two to the overall length. Frame #3 came out 1 1/2" short on both the stiles and the rails.

the 2nd (first finished one) frame

This frame's stiles and rails are the correct length now. Checking that the length of the next frame is long on both sides.

glued and cooking

From sizing the stock to gluing it together, it took me about 40 minutes. I'm thinking now that I will use the undersized frames too. I don't have enough stock to make the remaining frames. In fact one of the two slats remaining is cupping into a 6 foot long pretzel. And I also found out that I have 7 posters and not 6.

chamfering another frame

I can't say enough good things about this vise and how handy it is turning out to be. I got it from Lee Valley - it came as an email new tool deal.

for the remaining frames

I think I am one shy on this. This is for the back to make the standoff and rabbet for the glass, mat, and poster. These are 1/2" tall and 3/8" thick.

5x7 frame

I was thinking of mitering this frame and I laid out the miters to see what my ID would be. I have about an inch for matting.

long ID

Only have a 1/2" this way. Which means only about a 1/4" margin top and bottom. Maybe I should knock this down to a 3x5 frame. Leave it the size it is but put a 3x5 pic in it instead of a 5x7.

thinking out loud

Instead of mitering the corners, I'm thinking that loose tenons would be better. I would also like to decrease the width of the stiles and rails from the present 1 1/2" to 1 1/4" or even one inch. I'll decide on that in the AM - lights got killed here.

accidental woodworker

 I went dead in the water yesterday on the ladder build. I had ordered some supplies from McMaster-Carr and they came today. However, they came too late for me to use them on the ladder project. I'll pick that one back up in the AM. Because I couldn't work on the ladder I starting making frames for the Stanley advertising posters (reproductions).

looked good

The broken piece was flush and even on all sides of the break.

fits

It isn't as snug as it was before this broke, but it is a loose snug. It will be ok because the stretcher will be glued and screwed.

caught it in time

The back legs go on the outside of the front ones. This ladder will not fold up with the front and rear legs flush with each other. It will close a lot more this way then if the legs were on the inside.

giving me fits

Because the legs were moved from the inside to the outside I have to make a new back bottom stretcher. No matter what I did or tried, I was getting a ton of ugly looking tear out. This is the stretcher and at a minimum the top edge of it has to be smooth because it visible. Unfortunately for me both the top and bottom edges were tearing out equally.

Stanley #80

Happy to write that the #80 erased all the tear out on the top and bottom edges. The triangle scraper on the workbench didn't work but a card scraper did. I thought the triangle scraper was ready to go but I couldn't feel any burrs on the 3 edges.

nice and smooth

I now have two edges to pick from to be the up face.

nope

The new, longer stretcher doesn't fit in the notches. It looks like I have about a 16th more needed to come off one edge.

lots of frames here

I sawed up the 6 foot long 1x12 into 1 1/2" wide boards. I don't know how many frames I'll get out of it - I need 6 frames just for the Stanley posters.

hmm.....

I thought I was on the right track here. The poster just fits the inside of the frame. I get one point for that but I lose it a bit further on down in this post.

first one done

I plan on making each of the six frames for the Stanley posters using different joinery. This first one was made with bridle joints. I did most of the joinery with a tenon jig and the tablesaw.

caught it

 On the first frame I made it to fit the poster but I forgot to add for the mat. I initially made the same mistake with the second frame. 

2nd frame

I could have used the long sides of the first 2nd frame for the short sides but nixed it. Instead I'll save this for a 5x7 frame.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

I want about 3/4" between the outside gray border (on the poster) and the inboard edge of the mat. On the top and bottom I went 3/4" from the bottom edge of the writing.

the look I'm after

I already have the mat color picked out. It is going to be sepia toned. For the frames I'm thinking about just painting them black with no other details such as chamfers or molded edges.

done

The margin I am leaving between the poster and the mat is the same 3/4" space between the gray lines on the sides and the poster edges.

sigh

Realized here that I hadn't allowed for the mat. I can use this as for a 8x10 pic. I'll make a new bridal joint frame tomorrow.

2nd frame

Using the Kreg loose tenon jig to do the 2nd one. So far I have 4 of the frame joints in mind. Those four are visible - you can look at them and know what type of joint they are. The last two are iffy. There is no way (unless you have x-ray vision) to tell what joinery was used on frame #2.

no major hiccups

I got all eight of the mortises done without any problems. The jig was easier to use this time but I still need more time on the pond with it. I did make one mortise too shallow. I was able to go back and get it to depth. 

The drilling to depth is something that I am still working on. I don't have a good idea of when the drilling is to depth. Some of the problem with that is that I am not cycling the handle fully to the R before moving fully to the L. I'll get the hang of it eventually.

2nd frame glued and cooking

Wasn't expecting this tidbit to reveal itself. I only need two clamps for the loose tenon frame. There is nothing to pull in or apply any pressure to in the opposite direction.

I survived

Putting this together and taking it apart wasn't the nightmare I had anticipated it being. I do plan on buying some hex screwdrivers for it though. I takes 3 different size allen wrenches to take it apart and put it together. It is a bit awkward using allen wrenches and hex screwdrivers would be easier and I have room for them in the box.

ain't going to work

I bought a bag of ten of these plastic washers. I thought they were a lot bigger than this but they are exactly what I ordered. I plan to put a plastic washer between the legs to make it easier to open and close it. I'll make a run to ACE in the AM and see what they have to offer.

brass tube

The 1/4-20 machine screw I'm using to hold the legs together fits the ID with room to spare. The OD of the tubing is 9/32 so I'll be drilling out the 1/4-20 hole which hopefully doesn't turn into a shxt show with the drill bit dancing all over.

not even close

I had to see and satisfy my  curiosity on how far off the fit is. Too much for trying to press it in.

accidental woodworker

 I woke this AM before 0600 to find that the power was out. I checked the RI Energy power outage site (on my cell phone) and my neighborhood and the village were the only effected ones. Power didn't come back on until around 0830. It screwed up my schedule with me not posting my blog before 0700. 

I remembered that Starbucks has free WiFi so I headed out there got a large coffee and a pound of ground beans and settled in to post my blog. That didn't happen boys and girls. I forgot that since I would be signing on to a new network, I would have to input my blogger password. Which I do not know off the top of my head. So I headed back to the barn to retrieve it and return to Starbucks.

I didn't have to go back because I stopped and asked a lineman outside my house and he told me power would be back on momentarily. Didn't ask why it was out as all I was concerned about was getting power back on in my house so I could post my blog.

USPS

The post office delivered this in the AM. Not what I was expecting but it will be a good book to read with the grandsons. 

next day Amazon

I have always been interested in clocks although I don't have a good understanding on how they work. I watch a lot of watch repair You Tube channels (8 so far) and clocks are just a grown up version of their smaller siblings. 

This book satisfies my 'watch/clock' interests along with some history. According to the author this maker was a good friend of Ben Franklin. Looking forward to reading this one.

_#^%*#@_)^*#^ more crappy building practices

The back door will not close properly now. I found out that the jambs are not secured to the jack studs at all. So the only thing holding the door upright are the casings on both sides of it.

The board on the left laying against the wall was the baseboard. It runs continuously from the back door casing into the closet on the left. It should have stopped at the closet door jamb. There is also no shoe/sill, only one vertical stud between the two doors for the sheet rock to be nailed to and no nailer/stud on the left between the closet and the wall. I don't know what is holding the dry wall in place on the right side by the back door. 

So I'll probably have to replace some or all of the drywall here, add some studs and a shoe/sill along with insulation. I didn't see or feel any at the bottom. 

The contractor putting in the door came and measured the door etc. Now I have to wait for Home Depot to call with a estimate and a time. After lunch I went to Lowes and then Home Depot to find a lock set for the door. There was nothing but absolute garbage to be had. Then my wife emailed me that she had find a set she liked and was having it shipped to the house. I'll have coordinate that arrival with the door being installed.

late in the PM session

This is what I was writing about yesterday Frank - The top back corners of the treads are flush with the legs.

fitting the back bottom stretcher

The legs are in what will be the open position. The inside ID at the top is 11 1/4" and the bottom was 11 3/4". Clamped it at 11 1/4", marked and cut the stretcher to length.

sneaking up on the fit

Took my time and made planing runs and checked the fit. Kept at it until the stretcher fit snug in the notches.

oops

The bottom of the notch broke off when I was attempting to tap the stretcher out of the notches.

X brace

I am adding this not only to keep the inside legs parallel, but also because I like the look of it.

glued and cooking

I will let this cook overnight. I don't want this to failing again in the future. This might throw off the fit on this side for the stretcher too. I have an extra maple board that I can get a new stretcher from if need be. I'll find that out in the AM.

door shut

In order to close the door I have to pick it up with the door knob - it is cocked in the opening. That is all it does - the keeper in the latch doesn't engage/fit in the strike plate. The jambs at the bottom move in/out. Oh well it is only a few days hopefully.

This is where I punched the clock for today. Haven't found any handles I like after searching Lee Valley last night for over an hour for the Kreg jig box. I'm thinking maybe I should make something simple out of wood. 

The first day of spring isn't too far off - it is the 20th of this month and it is Easter sunday. It was cold for the last couple of days but it appears to be warming up in the forecast. I'm going to try to plane the cherry this weekend - all the snow is finally gone from the backyard and I can get to the shed now.

accidental woodworker

 The box for the Kreg loose tenon jig is kinda done. It needs a finish (shellac) and handles - either homemade or store bought. In the PM session I stepped back into and worked some on the maple kitchen ladder/stool. I'm getting closer to finishing that but it will be a few more days. I have to figure out and decide on how to do a few steps on it. I had to order some screws (black oxide, oval heads) for the treads. On my last order with Blacksmithbolt they were out of stock. Should have ordered them before today.

almost there

I got the last of the woodworking done for storage. The lid is done and is ready for hinges.

sigh

I was able to saw the proud without any breaks or hiccups. A small piece broke off when I planed the spline flush. I am going to put this at the back of the box and deal with it later, it then.

inside peek

This box is heavier than I thought it would be. I have room to stow at least one more Kreg container of loose tenons.

sawing the brass pin to length

This vise is proving to be a handy thing to have. No problems holding the pin while I hack sawed it off. 

oh well......

I had a boatload of 8-32 threaded inserts and same in 10-24 thumbscrews. I went to ACE to get a 8-32 thumbscrew and the only had 1/2" long ones and I needed one at least an inch long. So I'm making my own with a 8-32 wing nut and a 8-32 machine screw.

epoxy to the rescue

I want this to be a tool free operation. The epoxy will be used to glue the wing nut to the machine screw.

5 minutes later

Epoxied the washer to the bottom of the wing nut. It screwed in and out without any hiccups. 

which end gets the hinges?

Initially I was going to place the hinges on the side where the table is. Changed my mind and the hinges are going on the loose tenon side. I used 90° stop hinges - the table is awkward enough to get in/out without having the lid to work around.

paper shims

Put a couple pieces on the back and  sides. I don't want the hinges to become bound - the paper will provide enough clearance for that.

hinged

Swings freely up and down. For cheap 90° stop hinges, these aren't that bad and they were dirt cheap too. This box lid most likely won't be cycled much so they should last as long as the box does.

just in case

I had this screwed down all the way. I backed it off to err on the side of caution. The brass pin sits a few frog hairs short of the top of the lid.

don't match

I can pick the box up without difficulty but handles would make that better. These are the only two I have. I thought I had a couple of black oxide ones similar to the sliver one. I will get something on order from Lee Valley later tonight.

back to the kitchen ladder

Did an inventory of the parts to ensure I had them all. After that I eyeballed the full scale drawing to bring myself back up to speed on it. I looked for anything I might have overlooked that could bite me on the arse.

steps

Rounded the front corners off. The back top edge is flush with the back of the side legs. I don't see any need to have any of the treads hanging out past that.

1/8" thick brass

Sawed this into two pieces on the tablesaw. That small piece in between the plates is all the waste there was. You can cut brass and aluminum on a table saw. Just take it slow and easy. Most important is to wear proper eye protection - the sawing will throw up a ton of tiny metal shavings.

the cut edges

They don't look all the horrible. They will clean up nicely with a file and sandpaper.

sneak peek

Looking to see how uniform the round overs look. I can't focus on two of them R/L but I can compare two on each end at once. I'm not going to obsess about this and I'm leaving it as is.

drilling holes

This is the 1/4-20 screw I'm using for the back legs to pivot on. I drilled the hole for it with the two legs clamped together. I didn't do the chamfer for the head yet - I'll do that later.

not working

I was trying to use this circle template to lay out a round over at the top. I could only get 2 lines to align and I would need at least 3.

template time

Stopped wasting time  pissing into the wind and using up pencil lead and made a template. I freehand drew a round over and transferred it to the legs.

done

Band sawed most of the waste and refined it with a rasp. Smoothed it with sandpaper. I'll save this template to use on the cherry one also.

notching on the tablesaw

This notch is at the bottom back of the inside legs. I won't do the notch until these legs are attached to rung legs. Then I'll know the length the stretcher needs to be.

doesn't fit

I purposely made the notch smaller than the stretcher. When the fitting time comes I'll plane it to fit snug.

one inch hole

The hole is too small for the 1 1/8" dowel. I drilled the hole in a scrap of the same maple as the ladder. I thought of trimming the dowel to fit and that may still happen.

1 1/8" hole

The dowel is a 64th of an inch under 1 1/8" and it it just a wee bit loose in the hole.

sigh

Measured the dowel along the length in several spots and it was a consistent 64th of an inch under 1 1/8". The hole drilled is also a 64th of an inch under 1 1/8" but the fit is still too loose for me.

extra dowels

I measured each of them and they are all within a frog of hair of each along the entire length. I was hoping to find one that might have been oversized. However, I did find one of them was 1 1/4" - didn't know I had one that size.

hmm......

The original plan was to have the dowels fit in a snug hole and screw it in place with a screw from the outside edge of the leg into the dowel end. Thinking now of just drilling a through hole and using a backer to hold the dowel in the hole. Two choices for the backer - brass plate or maple.

surprise

Drilled a though hole in some pine and the dowel is tight in the hole and won't go in or out. Maybe I could cut about an inch off each end and then it would fit?

not what I thought it was

I assumed that since this said it was a manual that it was about how to use machinist's tools. It isn't and it is a tool catalog. Oh well I guess I'll buy a micrometer first and then try again to find a how to manual. I've always wanted to know how to use one these.

workshop art

I bought 6 Stanley advertising posters for the shop. These 3 are batting first. Don't know where I can hang them but I'll find a hole.

accidental woodworker

PS Blog was late today because I lost power at my house for a couple of hours.

 I tried to go to Home Depot 3 times before I got there. The first two times I ran into an accident that backed up traffic on Rte 95 for miles. The 2nd attempt was thwarted too by everyone on the planet using the side roads to get to get around the parking lot on Rte 95. I finally made it 4 hours later after lunch. 

Maybe I should have waited because the news wasn't good. The door costs $500 and the installation estimate was $1500 plus more if there are any hiccups. Made me stop and reconsider whether or not I should do it myself. My tax refund will cover most of it. 

improving the fit

I had to drill the hole for the handle coming at it from the top and bottom. The holes were a wee bit off. Used a rasp to smooth it out and feather them together. Wasn't necessary but it gave me a warm and fuzzy.

checking it

The handle is short of the bottom of the lid. Always a good feeling that it worked.

needs some help

I used the bandsaw to saw an angle here so the short part at the edge of the top is gone. 

its new home

Glued in with hide glue so it can be removed if need be.

hmm....

Wanted to saw spline grooves in the lid but it isn't square. 

wasn't square

I checked the lid first and it was slightly out of square on two corners. I must have planed them out when I cleaned and smoothed the miter toes. Planed it square and the spline jig was still not square. I had to move the left leg on the jig to bring it back into square.

fixed

The lid laid in the jig square on all four corners. Don't know how it got lost in La La Land. I must have squared it up with an out of square frame. This time I set the two 45 legs with Mr Starrett and checked after that that the lid laid in it square too.

checking the fit

Used the same pine for the splines that I made the lid with. Used the bandsaw to rough it out and smoothed it with a blockplane till it fit.

a recalcitrant spline

I first saw this trick on a japanese woodworking You Tube vid. He beat on a spline that didn't fit with a hammer compressing it until it fit. Once it is glued in the groove the spline swells and fills the groove tightly.

going away....

I made this for my wife but daughter #2 is getting it. My wife bought her the prototype and I'm told that this one is going in the master bath. There was no room to keep here at out house. I'm glad that it is going to someone who is going to use it.

two of four wounds

I am kind of surprised that this cabinet hasn't gotten more wounds. It has been in the shop since I finished it a couple of months ago. I brought it upstairs today and put it in front of my woodworking bookcase. I have to find the paint that I put somewhere when rearranged the table it was living on.

table holder done

Simple and effective. Used a piece of 1/4" poplar and two scraps of pine. There is some wiggle room front to back and side to side. That was done to facilitate getting the table in/out of the holder.

the last 3

I was thinking of putting three 1/2" half circle grooves in a board for the 3 drills to lay in. My first thought was to use one of my round planes to do that. It didn't work because the iron's bevel was not only dull, it was pitted. Shifted gears and moved on to option #2.

)_&@%$^(@%)(_)r-086  fence......

Typical chinese crappola. I have a lock washer on the wing nut I used to tighten down the fence it slipped. On the second try I tightened it with the help of slip joint pliers. Didn't slip again on me.

didn't last

The shaft diameter on the 3 drills is the same but they aren't all the same length. This looks awful to my eye and I easily broke the super glue bond I used to secure the stops. 

ubiquitous white paint

I had to remove the white paint on the bottom of the bit holder. Not sure if you can use hide glue over paint.

fell into it

Got lucky in that the offcut I generated sawing the holder to length worked as a lid for this. I got it secured with a 8-32 threaded insert and thumbscrew. Now the drill bits aren't going to come free from their holder when the box is picked up and moved.

1/8" brass rod

Using some brass rod as a registration pin so the lid can't move/pivot with just the thumbscrew. I'll trim it to size after the glue has cooked.

sigh

I went 3 for 4. The last one broke off a wee bit below the top edge. Of course it ended up on the right front corner. I flipped the lid and put it at the back left but it was still visible there too. Had to fix it.

1/8" chisel

The saw blade is 1/8" thick but this ended up a few frog hairs thicker than that. I had to make a new spline for this one. The left overs from the first go around were too loose.

glued and cooking

After I did this I think I didn't make it deep enough. It might not being able to withstand the stress of being saw off. I'll find out if I brain farted when that time comes.

accidental woodworker

Spent over an hour at Home Depot today waiting to see someone in the door department. The associate was helping a couple and none of them were in a hurry. I need to replace my back door along with the storm door. I wanted to get an estimate on the cost of that and an installation. 

The last time I hung a door was in the early 1990's and that was a interior closet door. Initially I was going to do it but decided to pay to have it done. Doing repairs on this house over the years have bit me on the arse too many times. It is better to leave any potential hiccups to someone else with more experience.

???

Fingers crossed that all the miters stay together and it isn't twisted.

much better

This was the miter that I had to fuss over - the heels were tight then with the toes open.

solid

I tried to break each of the miters and failed. The lid felt solid in my hands - not flimsy feeling at all. It also felt a little heavier which is a good thing IMO.

banding

This is the only spot with a gap between the banding and the box. Overall I was happy with how tightly the banding adhered to the box.

rounding the corners

I didn't miter the banding but butted them together at the corners. I did a slight round over on them to blend the end grain out.

lid in place

The lid is laying flat and with zero rocking. There will be about an 1/8" overhang on the sides and the front.

flushing and flattening

The miters were a few frog hairs proud on the front and back. The center stile was almost dead nuts flush.

happy face on

The lid is still laying flat and not rocking on the box after flushing the miters. 

bottom side

The lid feels stiff as is but I am going to apply bandings to the inside edges of the panels. 

dry fit

I use butt joinery and hide glue on the banding. 

an hour later

It is surprising to me how doing this little bit stiffened it so much more.

why not?

Decided to apply bandings to the top face of the lid too. Except I will use miters instead of butt joints. I should have used them on the bottom too but then I hadn't planned on doing the face side.

better than expected

Using miters on the top face is a cleaner look than butt joints.

easy peasy

I tried this method of mitering expecting it to not work but it did. Happy as clam at low tide with both the fit and ease in making them.

dry fit

Even dry I could feel how much tighter the lids feel. I might end up putting things on this lid and I won't feel any apprehensions about that now. When I glued it up I replaced one short leg - the miter was opened. Don't know how it went from tight and gap free on the dry fit to open with hide glue applied.

fixing a gap

When I glued the strip on yesterday I used yellow glue and super glue with accelerator. I only noticed the gap after it was on and it wasn't coming off. I put this gap filler in with super glue and accelerator. After ten seconds I trimmed it with a chisel.

hmm.....

This isn't going to work in this orientation. I have 6 things to secure so that they don't dance around in the box. This, the table, the handle, and the 3 mortising bits. I started with this first.

done

The jig will fit on and in this horizontally. I used hide glue to secure it and also so I can remove it if need be later on.

headache

I drilled a 1 1/8" hole in a 2x4 scrap for the handle to sit in. However, I couldn't leave it in the hole at 90° because the top of the handle would extend over a 3/8" above the box top. I sawed the block into two pieces at an angle and placed the smaller sized part back on top of it to increase the 'hold' on the handle. With it sitting in the box at an angle, the top is about a 3/8" below the top of the box.

tricky one

I have a few ideas on how to secure this. The biggest headache with it is there isn't an easy way to grab it to pull it out or to put it back. I'll find out in the AM whether or not my idea will work.

After breakfast tomorrow I'll be heading back to Home Depot to talk to Joe. According to the help desk lady Joe has worked there for a bazillion years and is very knowledgeable. I couldn't get an estimate from Lowes so fingers crossed that Joe can do that.

accidental woodworker

 I thought I would be done with the box for the Kreg loose tenon jig but it didn't happen boys and girls. I had to glue things onto the box because I didn't want to have nails/screws show. So it was hurry up and wait for most of the day. I would glue something on and wait an hour for it to set up and repeat for the next one. It ate up a lot time for sure.

divider fits

Something it or the groove shrunk or grew overnight because the divider was a snug fit. The intent was to dry fit it, remove it and glue it back in. That didn't happen but it will be captured with no place to go once the bottom gets glued on.

bottom cooking

I nailed the four corners of the bottom onto the box. The plywood bottom cupped and it was slipping and sliding once the glue went on. The nails held it in place while I got the clamps on.

flushing the bottom

I flushed and cleaned up the tails and pins too. Gluing on the bandings was in the batter's box.

not over kill

The banding is only about a 16th thick and the clamps are needed to apply even pressure along the entire length. I also used super glue - I put 3 spots on the banding to hold it in down before I put the clamps on.

frame and panel lid

For some reason I was going to wait until after all the bandings were glued on before starting it. The off cuts from yesterday were not long enough but I had some extra pine boards I used. That orange spot is a pine pitch pocket.

 

wash, rinse, and repeat

I need to thin the pine down to 5/8" to match the thickness of the box.

almost

These two boards are within a frog hair of each other. 

sneak peek of the lid

Going with a mitered frame with a center stile. I think this is too wide for just a single panel(sans a center stile). The frame could twist and bend opening and closing it. I don't want to put any stress on the miters if I can avoid that.

first set done

I will saw a spline on the toes of the miters after they are glued together to strengthen the them.

dry fit

It could be better but it is acceptable. All the miters were flush at the toes and heels and Mr Starrett said they were 45°.

fitting the tenons

The tenons are not that big but it is what I have to work with. The panels are plywood and I will glue them into the grooves so the tenon size won't matter. And yes I glue plywood in my frames. What is there to move?

good snug fit

Happy with the fit of both tenons. I didn't have any problems sawing them. I trimmed the tenons to fit with a chisel.

dry fit looks good

I am not looking forward to the glue up. Everything has to go together at the same time. One corner has open toes. The other 3 are tight and gap free. I trimmed that miter with a blockplane and closed it up.

plywood panels

I have one more dry fit before I can glue it up. Had to check the fit of the panels next.

nope

They look good but they are short on the width. The panels are barely into the groove on one side of the stiles. I need a 1/4" and I couldn't stretch either one of them.

success

With the new panels the grain is running R/L instead of up and down. They fit and glue up was chomping at the bit. I got it glued up and I remained sane. The panels helped a lot with keeping the frame in place while I got the band clamp on it.

calling it done

Got the last coat of shellac on Miller Dowel miniature dresser and I'm saying it is fini.

accidental woodworker

 I have made a bazillion boxes over the years. From way back when I was working wood with a rock and a dull butter knife for a chisel. For the most part I never had one kick my butt like the one I am doing today. In hindsight (which sucks pond scum) I should have made it out of cardboard first. It would have saved me a lot of frustration and wasted wood. At the end of the day I got it glued and cooking but I had to compromise and settle to get there.

doesn't matter now

The boards are still flat and twist free. Once they are dovetailed together it won't matter anymore. The pins tails and will keep it flat and from bowing or cupping.

wowie

This box is too big for my eyes. It will lose about an inch on the sides and ends due to the pins/tails. But that doesn't negate that this looks like a small suitcase.

lots of wasted space

This box as is, is too big for the jig. There is plenty of space for the loose tenons but that isn't enough to sway me from saying it is still too large.

almost 4"

The vacuum attachment port is the highest point on the jig. There is almost 4" of dead space above it. All I need is about a 1/2".

gained an inch

When I measured this height yesterday I used my tape and it said it was over 8". Mr Starrett says it is a wee bit more then 7".

oops

I made some pencil marks and made the first trimming saw cut on the box. Turns out that I made the box too small then for the jig. The handle wouldn't fit.

had too

I had already removed the table to decrease the depth of the box. I had no choice but to remove the handle to get the jig to fit in the box. Not happy with that but I didn't want to start over again and turn these boards into kindling.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

Maybe I should have just sucked it up and used the dimensions of the cardboard box that the jig came in. I made another saw cut reducing the height to a 1/2" higher than the cardboard box.

sometimes you get lucky

The box as it is here, I can get the jig in it (broken down) along with the containers for the loose tenons.

off cuts

These are from the two saw cuts I made on the box but they won't be wasted. I can get a couple of 5x7 picture frames out of them.

tails first

Finally after a couple of hours of chasing my tail I got around to the dovetailing. I don't recall ever having these many problems making a box for a specific tool/purpose.

chopping board

One thing about this is that I like that it keeps the chiseling marks from going into my benchtop. I have used this about 5-6 times and so far no complaints. The size has worked with everything I have used it for. But It won't work for stock longer than it is. Those I'll have to chop on the benchtop.

dry fitted

Everything fits with a good use of space. I should have increased the height because I can't use an enclosed bottom and top - don't have room for the grooves for them. I thought I had allowed for it but I obviously measured/marked something wrong.

not what I wanted to do

As of now the plan is to glue the plywood bottom on the bottom of the box and band the outside to hide the plywood edge. The top will be a frame and panel lid.

need a divider

The divider will serve two purposes. One is separate the compartments for the jig and the tenons. Secondly it will help keep the contents from rocking and rolling as the box is moved around.

caught it too late

Laid out one of the grooves for the divider wrong. Glad I caught it before it got glued together.

done

Both of the grooves don't have to be the exact same depth. The divider will be fitted in glued in place after the box has cooked and set up.

loose fit

I'm ok with the fit because it is a stopped dado so it won't be going anywhere. 

banding

I over shot the height on one of the divider grooves. This banding will hide any and all evidence of that from seeing the light. Plus it will hide the plywood edge which I am not fond of gazing upon.

past quitting time

My goal was to get the box glued and cooking before said time. That was in the batter's box awaiting me. Decided to put in overtime to get it done.

dead nuts

Didn't need any clamps to pull the tails down to their baselines. Accomplished that with a block of wood and mallet. Tomorrow I'll make the lid and slap on few coats of shellac and call this done.

accidental woodworker

 Now that I am not having surgery for a while my wife is abandoning me and heading for North Carolina again. She didn't say when she was coming back but Mr Darcy and I will survive somehow. I can function ok without adult supervision for a little while.

glad I looked

Went to Lowes and I picked out 4, four foot, 1x12's to take home. But I checked the 6 foot 1x12 rack which I hardly ever do. In my opinion 99.99% of the pine here averages 2 bazillion knots an inch. However, I found 2 nearly clear boards in the pile. After I found these two I put the four footers back, and headed for the barn. 

breaking it down

I got everything I needed for the box out of one board. And I had a 13" long piece left over that I'll save for something else.

just a wee bit

I'm going to plane the box stock down to 5/8" thick. The first step was to establish a reference face and get it twist free and flat.

chamfers

Got my chamfers planed on the four edges down to the gauge line. One board is for the sides and the other for the ends.

fingers crossed

Got a rough patch that didn't come clean out of the planer. From looking at my gauge line here, I think I'll be able to plane all of it away.

lightly set iron

I had roughly an 1/8" to remove from this face. I retracted the iron and I was planing a path way about 3/4" wide. I went straight across the face first and then I criss crossed it R/L and L/R. 

smoothing the first one

Used both the #3 and #4 to smooth the board after planing it flat with the #7. 

done

Both boards are 5/8" thick and I'll sticker them until tomorrow. If they do any stupid wood tricks over night I'll plane it down to a 1/2". 

before I commit

I did the math for this in my head so I'm laid out a story pole on a scrap of 1/4" plywood.

I added and subtracted right

I was shooting for a 1/2" of wiggle room R/L and I have about 3/4". That should be sufficient for taking it out and putting it back in.

I took the table off and did some measuring and I am sticking with it assembled. The width was the same but the depth and height changed by a few inches. Not enough to convince me to put up with putting it on and taking it off each time I use it.

found it

This is/was going to be the bottom back rail for the base on the miniature dresser I just made. I'm not sure if I'll put it on now but if the urge moves me I'll keep this underneath it in the the interim.

block plane pit stop

Chris S just wrote a blog about when should you sharpen? For me it is to avoid it for as long as possible. Even if I know the tool is too dull to use. As long as I can strop it and get by, I consider that sharp enough. But that only applies to my chisels - not the planes. These planes are my frequent fliers and they were dull.

RML shavings

What a difference - it was making shavings before but after sharpening it the shavings spilling out of the mouth effortlessly. This LN 102 small blockplane is my favorite out of all the planes I have in my herd.

LN 60 1/2

This used to be my favorite until I got the LN 102. When the iron is freshly sharpened it will shave the gnarliest end grain. That is how I gauge how dull this plane gets.

I was on a roll

I hope to be doing dovetails tomorrow and I sharpened the chisels I'll need for that. These probably were sharp enough to do the pine but they will be awesome now that they are freshly sharpened.

any bets?

It is a crap shot with stock from Lowes. I have found that the longer it hangs out in the shop, the greater the chances are for it do stupid wood tricks. I'll find out in the AM.

extra

I think it is a good idea to buy extra when buying wood. Especially in this instance where I only needed one 6 footer but bought two of them. Finding almost all clear pine in a #3 common pile is rare. 

Blogger went bonkers on me typing up this post. I had to close out and sign back in 11 times. I think I know what the problem is now. I noticed that the automatic save  function was working overtime. It was switching between gray and red on the half circles arrows. During that time I couldn't click on anything. Maybe it is the almost 15 years of daily blog posts that are causing blogger to go bonkers on the save as you type function.

accidental woodworker

I went to the shop for a little while this AM but didn't get much accomplished. I didn't have any wood for what wanted to do anyways. My thoughts weren't really on woodworking but on my afternoon urology appointment. 

That went well and I was in and out before I knew it. The procedure was uncomfortable but I did get to see my bladder and prostate in color. The good news is that I didn't have any tumors in the bladder and the enlarged prostate will be easy to fix. I have a pre-op appointment in April and a TURP will done the end of April or early May. At least I know what the next step is going to be.

might as well

Decided to make a box to house the Kreg loose tenon jig. The first step is to eyeball it and choose the size of the box. That is dictated by the jig itself. So getting some overall measurements - width, length, and height - was in the batter's box.

hmm.....

The table is screwed on and can be removed. However, I don't want to bother with having to take off and reinstall parts every time I use it. The jig in this orientation is close to a perfect square. It is 12" R/L and about the same T/B. The front to back is a little under 8".

horizontal orientation

This is the way I what the jig to lay in the box. This will keep the height of it to about 10" with the length and dept being 14" over all.

bonus

The boxes for the loose tenons fit on the table. I don't have to devote any real estate in the interior of the box for them. I like having the jig and all its accessories all in one spot.

tenon cutters

I can use the space under the table to to stow the 3 tenon cutters. Or I can stow them elsewhere and keep this space for storage more loose tenons. 

got lucky

There is enough room here to stow the box with an inch or two to spare. This is as far as I got today. I have some pine in the shop but it is 5 1/2" wide and I don't want to glue up stock for this box. 

I'll call Koszela Lumber and see if they have any wide pine or poplar. If not I'll make a run to Lowes to get some #2 pine to make the box.

accidental woodworker

 Today was a beautiful early spring day. The temp got up to 55F (13C) and I went to the store without a coat or a sweater for the first time this year. The daytime temps are forecasted to be in the low 50s F until the weekend. The ice in the driveway has finally melted but there is still a lot of snow in the back yard. Maybe that will be gone by the weekend.

Tomorrow I have an urology appointment that I'm not really looking forward to. It may or may not keep me out of the shop for few days. I won't know that until tomorrow around 1500. I left off in the shop today in a good spot and I have the AM session tomorrow to squeeze in something.

it worked

This is the divider I broke yesterday. I was able to square off the tapered ones I had done yesterday. Why didn't I think of holding it this way then?

how I did it yesterday

I must have been brain weary to try and do it this way yesterday. I can see why my sanding and planing came out tapered.

done

I wandered into '....one more swipe' land and the dividers are loose in both directions. In my defense, I only planed enough to square up the ends.

dividers loaded up

I couldn't find any mini, 1x, or 2x dowels in the ones I currently don't have on Amazon. Time to search the WWW and see who else is selling them. I have empty compartments to fill.

first glamour pic

It still needs a few more coats of shellac on the knobs but I'm calling it done.

I snapped this pic standing about 5 feet away and I couldn't pick out the drawers with missing veneer on the fronts. I think I'm going to leave them as is for now. It is something I can address at anytime I want now.

errant pilot hole

This is totally invisible from 3 feet away. The one to the left of this is 90% hidden by the drawer front.

took a beating

The pine I used for the drawers is overly soft. All the dents and divots on the top drawer are from clamping the veneer on. The other side is worse than this one along with the other two drawers.

I really like the faux stiles and rails on the sides. I wonder if my gluing them on will cause any issues with the sides expanding or contracting?

the back

I should have done the faux stiles and rails on the back too. Just saw that I forgot to put the back rail on the base. I looked for it but I couldn't locate it - not a big deal IMO and I think it will be fine without it.

the finale - side pic

I applied Howards feed 'n wax only to the top. It was ready to move to its new home.

30 minutes later

It took me that long to clear off this table and vacuum the 3 tons of wood dust that covered everything here. I had one more dresser to put here - the one I made for my Dowel Max jig.

half of the crappola

The other half is on the workbench. I couldn't believe how stuff I had on this table just laying around loose.

maybe

This isn't set in stone yet. I had all 3 side by side but I put the nail dresser on top the Miller Dowel dresser. Two things I don't (didn't) want to happen - #1 that the dresser arrangement would cover the framed poster. It may stay this way because I have zero wall space for it anywhere else in the shop.

#2 I don't want anything in front of the dresser that will interfere with opening the drawers. I dislike having to move things that are in the way of getting to something else. That maybe unavoidable due to my affinity to load up empty horizontal surfaces in a New York minute.

 

two hours later

I moved the trim router box and its bits over here along with the Kreg loose tenon jig. I will be making a box for it but I don't know when. I also moved my box of japanese tapered wooden nails here. In the future I want to keep this pile of crappola associated with each other.

more empty horizontal space

A few things that resided here, now reside on the table with the dressers. I know it is not going to take more than few days to fill this up with all kinds of crappola.

hmm......

This is a cut off guide I had made for a circular saw. Since I don't have that saw anymore I am going to repurpose this for the bandsaw.

works

The left edge of the sled is flush with the bandsaw blade. The right side support extends out over 16". The only difference between this one and the other is there is no support on the left side of the saw kerf. It cuts square and I envision using it to square ends. I have a little over 5" to work with.

Before I forgot again

I went through my Eric Sloane books writing down the titles I have. I ended up with 3 duplicates that I'll pass on to my nephew. I know have a solid foundation knowing what books I have and what I still have to acquire. I would like to get all the books that he wrote or co-authored.

accidental woodworker

 I thought I would be done with the dresser today but it didn't happen boys and girls. Came close and two things held it up. The first was a divider breaking in two and the other was the shellac. I wasn't happy with the 3 coats I had on everything. However, I didn't think getting a few more coats on today would hold things up but it did. So maybe tomorrow before the oohs and aahs and glamour pics.

3 coats

For the most part I'm ok with this except for the top. It is splotchy looking and lacks a consistent shine. The sides and front are ok. I got a 4th coat on it and it helped a bit but not enough.

these are good

However, I am going to apply however many more coats of shellac I end up putting on the carcass on just the fronts.

hmm.....

Four coats of shellac and the first two drawers won't close as freely as they did. I can shut the top one but it fought me the entire travel distant. The middle one won't close up flush. The bottom drawer still rides in and out on a cushion of air.

oops

The top drawer drawer is tight at the top. The oops is I veneered the back and not the front - the front was toothed. 

pure beeswax

After planing the two drawers to fit again on a cushion of air, I waxed the bottoms and sides of them all.

back on

I put shellac on both sides of the back which precluded me gluing and nailing the back on. So the back was just nailed on - 5 nails along each of the four edges.

6 coats

I think this is done now. I like the consistency of the coverage and the shine. 

why?

I'm blowing in the same mint OS again because I'm stubborn. Both of these Linux books proved to be absolutely useless in addressing the problems. I tried to use 14 commands and only one of them worked. That one was the cmd 'help'.

so far so good

I didn't have any problems blowing the OS back in. However, I installed the OEM version and I didn't write down the password so I couldn't boot into Mint. So I'll be blowing in another Linux OS in the AM.

tenon jig

Whacked this out to trim the tenon to length. The wood is as thick as the drawer fronts. After I trimmed them length I sawed a kerf for the wedges.

cherry wedges

I wanted maple for the wedges but I couldn't find any maple scraps. Cherry was the only other hardwood I could find. I don't like using pine for wedges in birch/maple - it is too soft and it doesn't spread the kerf in hardwoods sufficiently.

oops

I over sawed the kerf on the left one. I went through the base and it sticks out like a neon light. I thought I could put it faced down but it was still visible.

2 of 3

I didn't have these two Sloane books and I bought another duplicate. The Grange book is a first edition which I wasn't expecting for $4. The age of barns is a soft cover reprint.

half laps

I laid out the half laps and sawed the slots on the bandsaw with the sled. I was extremely happy with how well that came out. I don't think I would have been able to saw half laps this deep, in this thin pine, with a handsaw.

wee bit too snug

It kinda of fits but I was leery about using a mallet to seat the half laps.

self supporting

I sanded the area where the half laps were first but that was slow going. I used my #3 with a finely set iron to plane it. I got away with that because I was expecting the planing action to cause the divider to buckle and snap into kindling.

super glue

This is the bottom divider and it was a tad loose in both direction. I applied glue to the bottom of the divider. I also wicked more super glue on the bottom junction between the dividers and the bottom after setting it place. Finished up by wicking more glue into the half laps from top to bottom.

middle drawer dividers

This one tore out a lot on the darker divider. I had checked and thought I was planing with the grain but I wasn't. The tear out didn't effect the fit though - still got a snug, self supporting fit.

another good fit

This one gave me fits trying to fit it into the drawer. The long and short divider was a couple of frog hairs too long.

sigh

This was not only difficult to plane/sand, it was )&W%)@*%_@* incredibly frustrating too. It was hard to hold and sand or plane the ends. 

yikes

This happened on after trying to remove it after the 5th trim and check the fit. Part of the problem was I was sanding/planing at angle. So it would go down (tapered) until it would jam. Then I had to fight it to remove it - I lost the 5th attempt but I did go 4 for 5.

now I wait

The part broke into two when I tried to open it to get glue in the break. I'm lucky that nothing is married to this. The alignment on the faces was flush and I let this cook until the AM.

top drawer divider

This one went together off the bandsaw. No sanding or planing necessary. It is snug and self supporting.

lots of room

This might be over sized but I'm ok with that. If need be I could empty this of the dowels and dividers and repurpose it. I doubt that will happen in my lifetime but the grandsons might do that.

accidental woodworker

On a recent blog post I wrote that I have been searching for a Stanley toothing blade for the #12 scraper forever. This morning I saw one for sale on Jim Bode's site for $95. That initially seemed overly rich but this is the first one I've seen in all of my searching. I believe Stanley made these toothing blades in 3 flavors too. I should have pulled the trigger on it when I first saw it. I went back on his site in the afternoon and it had sold. If you snooze, you lose. Maybe a miracle will happen and another will pop up for sale.

ready to go

I had brought this upstairs yesterday after mixing up a batch. I shook and stirred for the entire night. When I checked it this AM it was fine. All the shellac flakes had dissolved.

bottom clamps

I used only glue to attach the bottom dust panel in place. I didn't have any short brads to nail it in place. The smallest brads I have are 3/4" long and I didn't want to nail them in at an angle. Just glue is probably a better choice for this application.

the finishing plan

Applying shellac is all the 'woodworking' that was going to be done today. In the AM session I wanted to get 3 coats of shellac on the bottom of the carcass and the drawers. Wash, rinse, and repeat for drawers and carcass in the PM session.

soaked in

Isn't this exciting? A blog post about shellac drying? The veneer I glued on was still adhered. There weren't any bubbles where the veneer wasn't glued down. It was still tight on four edges around the fronts too.

done and gone

I got 3 coats on everything including the plywood back panel. The shellac from 1/25 is almost empty - there was just enough to do the 3 coats. What little that was left I dumped in to the shellac I mixed yesterday.

sigh

Found another missing piece of veneer. That makes all the drawer fronts a matched set. All three drawers have a missing piece that I will have to fix. Decided to do that after the shellac goes on and I can eyeball the dresser in situ. If I can live with the missing pieces I'll leave them be. But I doubt my OCD will allow that.

)_&(*@($^*%_)@ piece of sh*_(@&*%@_)%t

I haven't used this since I reloaded it with the Linux OS. I turn it on a couple of times a week just bring it up and go online. On sundays I update it but that didn't happen today. One of the lines of computer crappola said there was a BIOS error. This is usually an indication that the CMOS battery voltage is low. I'll put checking that on the list of things to do maybe.

knobs

Glad I caught this on the second coat of shellac going on the drawers and the carcass. I will put 5-6 coats on the knobs due to their upcoming up wear. These paper clamps work great as work holders. No shellac on the tenons.

any bets?

That these will be out of sight and out of mind?

missed it

I put the veneer on the bottom drawer the wrong way. The straight grain at the bottom should have been at the top. There is a collision between the bottom of the middle drawer and the top of the bottom drawer. Not much I can do about it now - can't remove the veneer because I don't have any more oak in my pizza box of veneer.

Other than that brain fart, the drawer fronts look good. I already did a sneak peek with them in the carcass and they looked good. You can't really tell that the carcass isn't oak also.

The goal for the rest of the day is get back to the shop after dinner and get the third and final coat of shellac on everything. I already have two on but I may go more than 3. It depends how I like the look of 3.

accidental woodworker

 I do believe that all that is left before the oohs and aahs commence, is to apply a couple of coats of shellac to the dresser. It hit me just before lunch that I had no more woodworking to do on it. Now that this is done I can turn my limited attention span back to the maple kitchen ladder/stool. 

I think the cherry one is going to be resting for a while before I get back to it. I don't want to use the lunchbox planer in the driveway with the cold temps and snow. After that I don't know what else is on the horizon to challenge me.

last drawer

Brought the drawer back to the shop this AM after it slept all night by the kitchen radiator. I did get this caul covered with wax paper before I glued the veneer on.

got nervous

The caul didn't want to come away. I had to use a chisel to wedge it at the top before it separated.

difficult to remove

I tried the marking knife and that was iffy at best. A fresh razor blade didn't work neither. I couldn't hold it flush to the side to cut with. Tried the veneer saw and that was a dismal failure - the hide glue gummed up the teeth and it wouldn't saw. I finally got it removed cleanly with a chisel. I put the bevel against the side and tapped it with a mallet. The waste came off clean and flush.

veneer repair coming

I planed the veneer proud at the top with a blockplane. This end was brittle and loose - the glue didn't bond that well - a chip came off.

nope

A chunk of the pine came off when I chiseled the angle for the veneer repair. Sigh. Not sure how I'll fix it now. I set this aside and kept on trucking.

cleaned up

Used a card scraper to clean the veneer. There were a few bits and pieces from the caul but I had no problems scraping those off. 

more veneer issues

Clueless as to how this defect came to be. 

right on the edge

After what happened on the first veneer repair I am on the fence with this one. It is hard to see and the underlying pine color is a good match with the oak veneer. This will be another veneer repair I'll sleep on.

can I fix one now?

I gathered up some of the shavings I made with the card scraper and stuffed them in the defect. I then flooded it with super glue.

five minutes later

I block planed most of the waste first followed up with the card scraper. From directly above it I had to search to pick it out. This worked surprisingly well and like hide glue, super glue is invisible to shellac too.

sneak peek sans the knobs

It doesn't look that bad. I had some concerns about the oak being too wild looking in the grain department but it isn't glaring here.

shaker knob choices

The left one is birch (or maple) and the right one is cherry. The cherry is too small for these drawers and especially the middle and bottom drawers. I am using the birch knob for the drawers.

getting close here

Got the holes drilled for the knobs and I'll install them after the shellac. I found some thin pine scraps to use for the drawer dividers. The plan is to divide each drawer into 4 compartments. I think that there are only 4 Miller Dowels - birch, cherry, oak, and walnut.

2x dowels came today

Size comparison between the 1x and 2x. I bought a package deal on the 2x dowels - 40 birch ones and the drill bit which I didn't have. I also got 100 cherry mini ones. That was all that I could find on Amazon.

bottom dry fitted

I thought this was the last of the woodworking but there was a wee bit more. This will keep any crappola from getting into the drawer from underneath them. I screwed the base to the carcass with one hiccup. I am always wary when screwing into end grain like I did here. I used #8 x 2" brass wood screws and all four tightened and felt secure.

sigh

I drilled two holes for screws for the front of the base to be screwed to the carcass. These will seen even with the drawer closed. I didn't think that they would end up this close to front edge.

another big sigh

This was confirmation of what I already knew and didn't want to see.

making 1/8" dowels

The holes are a 32nd under an 1/8". I have 1/8" dowels but they were smooth and were a loose fit in the holes. The dowels I made were a slight friction fit. 

not perfect, but much better

With a casual glance they shouldn't be noticed. 

base molding done

I glued this just to the base - tried not to get any glue on the carcass. I used my pin nailer to clamp them while the glue cooks.

drawer dividers

Smoothed the rough sawn faces and then sawed them to length. I'll do the half laps for them after the drawers have their finish applied to them.

mixing shellac

I buy empty quart paint cans from my local paint store and I use them for my mixed shellac. I finally figured it out that 2 1/2 cups of Everclear and 6oz of shellac flakes will just about fill the can. This is a 2 pound cut of shellac. The batch I mixed last month is almost gone and definitely not enough to do the dresser.

Still having hiccups with blogger. It isn't freezing 5 or more times and it is now down to one freeze up in each of the last 3 days. PITA because to clear it I have close out and go back in. I wish it would go away and annoy someone else.

accidental woodworker

 Everything fell into place so nicely for me today in the shop. I got all the drawers fitted before lunch. I was expecting to spend a good portion of the day knocking them out. The three of them were done before lunch time. In the PM session I got two of the drawer fronts veneered but not without one me-steak and a potential second one.

reference done first

The bottom of the drawer is my reference for fitting them and I deal with that first. All I did was smooth and flush it and checked it for twist.

hmm.....

I thought I was starting with the top drawer but..... It fits in the opening this way but too tight R/L. All I had done at this point was to smooth the bottom.

helping hand

This scrap is as wide as the drawer. I need it to keep the jaws parallel when I tighten the drawer in the other end of the vise. This vise will close on the drawer and toe in the other end without it.

I'm learning

All I had done to this point was to flush the pins protruding proud on the sides. That is all I did and I resisted the urge to take a couple more extra swipes. There is a gap on the front top so the hang up is at the back. From this point on I only plane the top edge for fitting - the bottom won't be touched at all.

wee bit tight

There is a gap on both sides and it is tight on the back right top. The left side top has a frog hair gap.

almost  there

The margins on the front look consistent and the drawer will go in/out but it could be better. It is a wee bit stiff and I want the drawers to open/close freely like they are riding on a cushion of air.

Took the drawer out and made three planing runs around the top edge. I followed that up by planing a slight hollow on the top back between the sides. That did the trick and I got my air cushion open and close.

toothing blade

This is a Kunz toothing blade that fits the Stanley #12 scraper. I have been looking for years for a Stanley toothing blade without any success. I used this freehand to tooth the front face of the drawer in preparation for the veneer.

wow

I had to pinch myself because I had two drawers fitted in less than an hour. 99% of the planing to fit the drawers was done on the top edges. Basically all I did on the sides was flush the pins and tails. Not complaining but I was expecting to do a lot more planing and fitting dance steps.

the top drawer

High corner and opposite of the one on the 2nd drawer. The bottom is laying flat at the back and the front. Treated the first drawer to same treatment as the 2nd one.

done

I can push both drawers almost 3/4 of the way out the back with a gentle tap on the front. Fingers crossed that I won't have any expansion headaches come this summer.

coulda, woulda, shoulda, but didn't

If I had thought this through I would have started fitting the bottom drawer first. That way I could have used the same jaw spacer - I would just have to cut off some for the next two smaller drawers. Duh!

flushing first

The pins were slightly below the tails - I planed the tails flush with the pins and planed the hump flat on this side.

3rd drawer

The fitting of this drawer was going incredibly fast and easy. This is the fit of it after planing the bottom and flushing the pins/tails on the sides. This drawer didn't have any high corners at the back or the front. Planed the top corners flush, smoothed the top, and planed a hollow at the back. Done - drawer slid in/out on a cushion of air.

I was happy that none of the drawers had any hang ups with the drawer runners. I thought maybe the two I put in backwards might have caught the bottom edge of the drawer being a frog hair too low. But that wasn't so, all drawers had no hang ups.

I got to the shop a little after 0900 and all 3 drawers were done by 1019. A little over an hour. I thought I was being optimistic thinking it would take me all morning to get that done.

where it will live

The plan is to clear off this table and put the new dresser here. I am going to move the Dowel Max dresser over here too. I can fit those two here along with this one which has my Tremont cut nails.

glue blocks

I put glue blocks on all 3 drawers to tighten them up. What a difference they made - the sound when hit bottom with and without them was a big difference. I used hide glue to attach them and rubbed them in place and left them to cook.

1/4" back

The back is dry fitted and ready to attach. I will leave it off until after I get the knobs and finish on the carcass and the drawers. After that is done I'll glue and nail it on.

after lunch road trip

Went to the Frame it Shop after lunch and picked up the frame of the grandkids and the parents. This came out fantastic IMO. The frame colors and the mat complement each other perfectly. I went with an asymmetrical placement for the pics - this arrangement is interesting looking IMO.

veneering prep

Made a clamping caul for each of the drawers.

checking the first veneer

Sawing this veneer was not easy. I have a fine tooth veneer saw (50TPI) and cross cutting with it did not go smoothly. The rip saw cuts were ok and easier. But the saw didn't like making cross cuts - it took a lot of calories and dance steps to saw through thin veneer. After the second drawer I used my marking knife to do the third one.

oops

Screwed up the 3rd drawer veneer. I got the length off of the side instead of the front or back. Had to pick out new veneer and I settled on oak only because I could get a continuous grain flow from top to bottom with the two pieces I had.

before the oak veneer

I think this is ash but I couldn't get 3 pieces to match. I played with these swapping them around and trying different looks but in the end I said No Mas and went with the oak.

clamped and cooking

Got two clamped and after dinner I'll try to get the last one clamped and cooking too. I wanted to use these clamps to do it and I ran out of them. Forgot that I had small 5 and 6 inch F clamps clamped on the floor joists I could have used.

fingers crossed

Just realized here that I hadn't put any wax paper between the clamping caul and the veneer. In the past when I have veneered, the hide glue has bled through the veneer. I don't know what to expect with this and if there will be any glue squeezed through gluing the caul and the veneer together.

If that happens, I used hide glue and it is reversible. I will have to pick a new veneer and start over after I remove the veneer. I'm thinking happy thoughts that I won't have to.

optimist

I prepped the last drawer caul with wax paper. That will be ready to use regardless of what happens with the first two drawers.

clamping the veneer dry

The oak veneer is bumpy and wavy. I clamped it dry to see if that would help flatten it some. I'm counting on the caul to flatten the other two veneers and the hide glue to keep them that way. I'll find out if I should have done any pre-flattening treatment when it comes out of the clamps.

accidental woodworker 

PS after dinner work, I couldn't wait and let it cook until the AM

3rd drawer

Got the last drawer front glued, clamped, and cooking.

it was stuck

I was able to get the cauls off. I had use a chisel as wedge and pry them off. this drawer front caul broke into 3 long pieces. If I had let this go until the AM the caul would have been glued solid to the veneer. That white spot above my thumb are remnants of it - I had planed a lot of it off already. Originally it was about 5-7 inches long. A card scraper was working well with cleaning it up and I'll finish up with that in the AM.

2nd drawer

The caul on this drawer was plywood and just some little bits and pieces were stuck to the veneer. The first drawer caul was solid pine. I had to reglue some veneer that lifted at the top right edge. Both of these will camp out in the kitchen overnight next to the radiator.

 There are still piles of the white stuff all over the place. With the temps we are having now (18F this AM ~  -8C) it is going to be around for a while. The first day of spring is March 20th which is a month away. Around these parts, March usually doesn't get snowfall but that may change this year. 

snug fit

The first drawer and I could fit all four corners (snugly) into the drawer opening. It was too wide R/L to check that fit.

middle drawer

Went together off the saw. Doing the bottom was batting next.

bottom fitted

I should have made all of the bottoms when I did the first drawer. That didn't occur to me at that time - I was focused on getting the first one done.

glued and cooking

I brought the drawer and the glue upstairs to the kitchen for the drawer to cook by the radiator and warm up the glue. Shop temp had dropped again to 55F and was back up to 57F around 1000.

last drawer

Labeled the corners and the bottom inside edge. I tried using the cabinetmakers triangle but I didn't like it. With matching numbers at the corners I find that easier to keep on top of what goes where.

1050

I almost got the last drawer dry fitted. I just had to chop the waste in the pin boards before I can do that. I break for lunch everyday at 1100 and I went upstairs a wee bit early today.

2nd drawer

I could only get the four corners to fit on the left side only. The right side all corners were too tight.

3rd drawer

Went together off the saw - dry fit was good. These dovetails are some of the best I've done. All of them seated fully with zero gaps. What gaps I did have closed up with a few taps of the mallet. 

I had a senior moment fitting the bottom On side was proud and like the idiot I can be, I flipped the bottom around and retried it. Got the same result and realized that front to back of the bottom was about 1/8" too long. DUH.

cleaning the insides

I didn't forget to do any of the interiors of the drawers. On these drawers I tried to keep my vertical pencil lines no longer than the baselines. It paid off here because I hardly had any pencil to 'erase'. I'm still learning and picking up tidbits here the there.

happy with this

When I first started doing hand sawn dovetails I never thought I would get to this point. All the tails and pins fit snug and gap free. I struggled for years with getting dovetails to look even half as good as these. But slowly after all the boxes I've made it is finally coming together for me on a consistent basis.

I made my first dovetail box on friday, April 22, 2011, after practicing and trying to make a dovetailed box for about 6 weeks. I had a lot of failures, some successes, but no boxes with four corners of pins/tails that didn't have gaps wide enough to throw a dog through.

still have it

I wish I had kept some of the failures but this is the only one. I haven't looked at it in quite a while and I didn't remember the pins/tails looking this good. I keep jig accessories knobs and such in it. I didn't know that neither.

 Fitting the drawers commences in the AM tomorrow at 0800. Unless the shop temp is 55F then fitting will commence at 0930 or 57F.

accidental woodworker

 Finally started on the drawers and I got one glued and cooking. I also finished up the work on the carcass. However, I'm holding off putting some of the finishing touches on it until the drawers are done and fitted. Other than that it was productive day. On the flip side of the coin my left thumb has gotten achy along with my right wrist. I punished both of them when I planed the stock for the drawers and the kitchen ladder/stool. I am going to take it easy and give these two a chance to relax.

oldies but goodies

I made these 90° corner gizmos in the 1980's. I have another pair that are slightly larger. In spite of their age all four are still dead nuts on 90° according to Mr Starrett. Used them to keep the base corners at 90°.

yikes

This threw a monkey wrench into my after dinner activities. This is what greeted me after taking the clamps off. I glued and clamped it and set it aside to cook.

checking it

The base still fits around the carcass but I don't have the 1/8" wiggle room I had before. It fits with the base glued so that is all that matters.

bearers dry fitted

This was something I could do before I headed back upstairs for the night.

pilot holes

I planed and squared the edge of the bearers that will be against the base. It will be glued and screwed (3 screws) to the base. The two pilot holes on the adjacent edge will be for screwing the carcass to the bearers.

front rail

On the front bearer I can't screw in from the bottom rail because the rail isn't thick enough. Instead I will screw down through the rail into the bearer underneath it.

sigh

These are some of the crappiest dovetails I have done in a long time. I'll be filling them in with wood putty. If this wasn't a shop project I would have made a new base.

55F this AM

The shop felt cold when I came down to this morning. This is the lowest temp it has been so far this winter. The morning temps for the past two days have been 18F and 19F ~ -7.5C. It did zoom back up to 57F a few hours later.

base isn't twisted

The break glue up set up overnight and looked ok this AM. The base was twist free on the top and bottom. I was expected to have some due to the break.

dry fit is good

In spite of using the 90° corner gizmos the base isn't square. The back measured 14 1/4" R/L and it was 14 7/16" at the front R/L. No problems spreading the back to fit. Once the base is screwed to the carcass it shouldn't see any stress at all.

3 molding choices

I didn't get to use the one I wanted but nobody will ever know that.

quarter round

I like this look but the reveal left on the bottom rail is too thin for this molding.

Ditto for #2

This was my first choice but like the quarter round the rail reveal is too thin. 

the winner

I like the size of the reveal this molding leaves. I thought this would win the brass ring because of its size. Not getting a warm and fuzzy with the look of this one so I may go on a road trip to Home Depot and see what else they have in the teeny molding bins.

base back board

I wasn't going to use one of these but both ends of the base curl away outward at the bottom of it. I'll screw this to the bottom rail and use Miller Dowels to pull the base tight to it.

hmm.....

I was planning on using 1/2 blinds at the front but I don't like this. If I leave a 1/8" at the front the tails would be about 3/8" which I think is too small. Switched lanes and now I'll be using through dovetails at the front and back.

pizza box of veneer

I don't want to see the through dovetails on the drawer fronts of the dresser. So I am going to apply a veneer over the 3 drawer fronts. I thought of using cherry, mahogany, and walnut. 

is it pine?

I had some yellow pine but it was way short on the length. This looks like pine but it feels harder than pine. Regardless of that, I'm using it for the drawer fronts. The grain and color closely matches the carcass.

first drawer

Started with the top drawer and middle one is in the on deck circle.

off the saw

First drawer dry fit is good. The diagonals agree with a 32nd. Now I had to figure out how to get a bottom in it. I didn't allow for the back to accept drawer slips. 

bottom dry fitted

Decided to go with a enclosed bottom. I plowed the grooves for the 1/4" bottom on the tablesaw.

on the front and back

The front ones will be covered by the veneer. The ones in the back may stay as is. I initially thought these holes would be on the sides.

the worse two

The gap on these two aren't that bad. As I looked at the others which were all tight, I saw these two last. I tapped them with a mallet and a scrap of wood and I got some glue squeeze out.

clamped it

The drawer stayed square - the diagonals were still within a 32nd of each other. Sometimes when I clamp the tails it pulls it out of square. It is probably the bottom which is holding it square.

quit 15 minutes early

I almost got the second drawer dry fitted. Tails are done and the pins are ready to chop. Should definitely get this one done tomorrow and maybe the 3rd one too. I'm going to put enclosed bottoms in the last two drawers too. 

accidental woodworker

 I didn't get around to the drawers again today but it is a definite maybe that I'll get to them tomorrow. I have been working on finishing up the dresser carcass first. I'm making good progress on that and I'm betting a lung I'll done with it before the end of tomorrow's AM session. Then I'll start on the drawers because that is all that would be left to do.

faux stiles/rails done

I put the drawer fronts in to eyeball how it would look. Only the bottom drawer is about where it should be - all the drawers will be inset so they will be flush with the inside edge of the front rails.

hmm......

Just noticed this and I'll have to address it. I plan on putting a molding on the sides and across the front. As is at the front, there will be a gap. 

I glued a piece of pine between the two stiles to close the gap. I thought I had snapped at least one pic of it but it appears I did not.

stock for the base

I am not putting a back on the base. It doesn't need one as the back will be against a wall and not seen.

it fit

The dresser fit loosely the inside of the base (base just laid together dry). There should be about an 1/8" of wiggle room R/L.

simple cutout

I had thought about leaving this dresser without a base but I didn't like the look. I think the bottom drawer would be too close to whatever surface it would be put on.

crest rail

Sanded it and glued it in place.

sawing the half pins

Through dovetails at the front corners of the base. I entertained using half blinds but I don't mind the look of through dovetails.

dry fit is good

The dresser will sit on bearers on the inside of the base. They will be positioned such that a 1/2" of the bottom drawer rail will be visible.

this

I didn't go nutso smoothing this. I smoothed the rounded corners and got the straight away square to face. I left it as it came off of the rasp.

cooking

This was the next to last thing I got done today. I might be coming back to the shop after dinner. My wife is giving an internet talk and she is freaking out that me being on line will screw up things for her. She gets nervous before doing her talks and the audience tonight is going to be at least 1500 listeners so she is really freaking out.

bearers

I'll have to be quiet if I work in the shop after dinner. My workbench is almost directly under her desk.....

accidental woodworker

I think I'm finally over the hump with fighting with my diet. From thanksgiving to after the new year I was on a seesaw. However, over the past 3 weeks I've settled back down into watching myself again. My weight ballooned up to a high of  236.2 the sunday after xmas. This past sunday I weighed in at 215.8 so I'm on the correct trajectory. My goal is to get back down to 185-190 and maintain my weight within that 5lb window. Of course this will most likely go to crap once more starting next thanksgiving.

I'm short

 

As I was planing these to thickness I noticed that I was short 3 rails/stiles. Luckily I had plenty of scraps to knock out what I needed on the bandsaw.

front edge piece

Rather then play around flattening what I feathered out yesterday, I scribed fit the top. Instead of working on the drawers I decided to get the faux rails/stiles on. I am gluing them on - no nails or screws.

flushing the front stiles

I got the clamp here to help with the sawing. It is applying pressure right where the saw line is. I let these two cook for 40 minutes before I flushed them.

checking the bottom

I will put a 1/8" thick piece of plywood on the bottom. It won't be structural - rather it will be a dust shield to keep the drawers clean.

and now I rested

I got two rails and two stiles glued on and cooking. I still have to glue on the center stile. I went upstairs and worked on a sudoku puzzle which was making me feel like I had an IQ with a single negative number. It was a medium hard one and I had tried 8 times and failed to solve it. But there must have been magic in the air because I solved it before I headed back to the workbench.

one side done

IMO this looks like a grown up dresser with the faux rails/stiles. It is a shop project but this is something I could use on a larger version of a dresser.

a real big sigh

I had to make this 4 times before I got it right. I sawed the original one short by a 1/8". I then repeated that brain fart 3 more times before I finally got the last one to be a 1/8" long.

it worked

I bought this 90° sander a few years back, tried it once and put it away. It worked well sanding the miniature dresser stiles/rails square. 

The track in this shooting board I got from Lee Valley and I used it with my LN 51 shooting plane. I stopped because the steel, u-shaped stop on the right was wearing a groove in the plane. This sanding shooter fits in the track perfectly. I wouldn't want to use this on thick stock but for the ~1/8" thick rails/stiles it worked better than trying to shoot them square with a plane.

Yeah, its too long

I felt like Pavlov's dog except here I wasn't getting a treat. This center stile will be glued on after the other rails/stiles have cooked enough.

shouda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

The top rail was proud of the stile on both ends and I saw that before I glued it on. However, I had glue on it so I stuck down thinking it would be an easy, peasy fix after the fact. Well boys and girls it wasn't easy, peasy. The chisel plane didn't like dealing with how high the proud was. Sanding it with 120 and 80 grit sanding sticks wasn't working neither. I had to break out my Stanley 10 1/2 to get it close to flush before the sanding sticks took over again and got it flush.

gluing the center stiles

I roughly got it in place by measuring it and then I checked it for square. I had to adjust for that and I had to check the R/L measurement again which was off. I see sawed back forth on this until I finally got it square and equal. I then made a tic mark on the top and bottom of the stile. Removed it, applied glue, aligned the tic marks, and stuck in place. 

cooking

I got a good fit of the center stile between the top and bottom rail. It was snug-ish and I probably didn't need to weigh it down but I did anyways. I don't what any surprises with this later on.

hmm.....

Hadn't noticed this before. The Miller Dowels on the back bearers are peeking out a wee bit from under the stile. I had checked the coverage only with the front one - the back bearers are inset from the edge a further 5/16" more. The front bearers are flush with the front edge.

base stock

I'm short on what I need to finish this dresser. I had originally intended for one of these to be used to make the drawer slips. I have four 6 foot long by 6" wide boards left to pick and chose to make the slips from.

accidental woodworker

less than 2"

It started snowing saturday night after dinner and changed to rain early sunday morning. This snow has a thin crust of ice on it. Underneath the snow was a river of water. Lots of fun shoveling this crappola.

the driveway

My driveway is deeply rutted and they were both full of water. This white stuff isn't slushy - it was a mixture of mostly ice and water. At least the end of the driveway didn't take long to clear away. The snowplow didn't come back again at all today.

I didn't go nutso shoveling or trying to shovel this crap. I only did about 3/4 of it and said No Mas. The rain continued off and on all day. Overnight the temps are going below zero so my driveway might be turned into a skating rink. And the fun doesn't stop here - there is another storm coming thursday.

matched my mood

This is a blurry pic of my rain soaked jacket. The rain soaked all the way through it to the inside.

drawer runners

I want the drawer runner to be flush with the top of the rear bearer. Two scraps clamped on the front and rear bearers ensures than.

leverage

Used the screwdriver to push the runner up tight against the rear bearer.

frog hair high

This is better than having it a frog hair short. I sanded it flush with a 120 grit sanding stick.

drawer side

The gap in the runners is at the front. With the drawer pulled out as far as it can, it should still span the gap. I did this same thing on the miniature dresser I made for my doweling jig.

flushing the Miller Dowels

 

tear out spot

Besides filling in the tear out with super glue and sanding dust, I also had to super glue the brown knot. The RO sander did a good job eradicating most of the tear out except for this spot - it was too deep. I am going to shellac this dresser so that is why I chose sanding dust and super glue as my 'wood putty'.

oops

Confused myself when I worked on the drawer runners on the opposite side. I put two of them with the gap at the rear instead of the front. The sun will still rise in the east tomorrow.

mini Miller Dowels

Got all the bearers done and no hiccups. The bearers are only 5/8" thick and I didn't have any accidents. The dowels will be hidden under the faux rails and stiles.

what tear out?

This looks great. The super glue will be invisible to the shellac too. 

chamfer layout

I like chamfers over round overs. I also like asymmetrical chamfers too. The top is tad less than 5/16" in from the edge. The edge extends down 3/8".

hmmm.....

The top rail is not tight and gapless. There is about a 1/16th there. This isn't something that I can putty in because it just won't look good.

tight and gap free

Used the bullnose to plane the wings at both ends. Kept at it until the rail laid up tight.

the other side

The gap was a little larger on this side but I dealt with it the same way.

ditto

I had to plane this side more than I did with the first one. In the end the rail ended up tight and gapless.

 

hmm......

I have a step on both ends that I'll have to figure out a fix for. Both of them were visible when I eyeballed the dresser head on.

working the chamfers

This pine was squirrely to plane. I got the three of them done but the ends were a headache to do. At the front and the rear the grain didn't like being planed and looked like crap. It didn't matter which direction I came from - got the same amount of ugly looking cheesy holed grain.

another PITA

The top edge of the chamfer tear out in chunks while I was planing it. I had to slow down and plane in snail mode coming from the top going downwards. After I was down to the line I dressed up the top edge with a 120 grit sanding stick. 

back of the dresser

This blow out came as I was planing it coming from the right going left. It shouldn't have done that but it did.

another ditto

The other side end and similar planing but this one was worse. I am thinking of filling these two in with wood putty. They shouldn't be that visible at the back.

step dealing time

I feathered the step back with a chisel and sandpaper. As I was typing this I realized that this will be hidden by the pine strip I'm gluing on the front edges.

the other side

This one is deeper and took a few more strokes with the chisel to make it disappear.

 

done

Eyeballing the front again, this looked a ton better. Instead of the abrupt end, it appears as if it was never there.

this is a first

I shouldn't have gotten any blowouts on the front planing the long grain. Well boys and girls I did. It is on the top left corner and it looked liked an bleeding eyesore. I had thought of planing another chamfer on the bottom but nixed that idea. Instead I put a dutchman in it after cleaning it up making it flat to receive it.

I had to try it

I used super glue and accelerator to secure the dutchman. The next step was to satisfy my curiosity that I would be able to saw the bulk of the waste off. 

yes I could saw it

I didn't have any scraps from the top to match for grain/color - they went bye-bye on thursday (garbage pickup day). This is going to pop but I'm ok with that. Better to see this than the headache of a different fix.

Blogger has been acting up again on me. It is freezing as I type my blogs. It has been going on now for 4 days (today it froze 6 times). I can't reset and resume typing. The mouse pointer will not move and display on the blog when it freezes. I have to close out the blogger and open it again. A PITA but it might mean blogger rolled out a bug fix or an update.

accidental woodworker