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Backrest and Seat

In my last post the parts and pieces were completed for the seat frame and the backrest. Since that time the slats were finished (Osmo 3043 using Mirlon abrasive pads). The top and bottom rails were finished as well but their tenons were taped off. The final step was to form the sides of the backrest with spokeshaves then glue the entire piece together and finish it completely. Before assembling that though the through mortise and tenons for the arm rests had to be fitted.

The process for making the seat assembly was similar. It consists of two end pieces which are supported by the stretchers between the two legs. The front rail is attached with a haunched mortise and tenon joint and the back and center support use mortise and tenons as well. To accommodate the webbing from House2Home, a 1/8 slot is routed for the clips. Kind of tricky, it’s best to remove about 1/8 of material so the webbing lays flat. This was done on the tablesaw with a rip blade which requires dropping the wood onto the blade and then lifting it off — care required on this operation. The recess is then squared off before I assembled and finished the entire seat.

Armrest to Leg Assembly

While designing this piece I looked at so many Danish Modern pieces on Pinterest it made my head spin! I wanted something graceful and not just a machined, routed piece. I had set aside a piece that had some interesting grain for the armrests so that determined how wide they could be. Even though they’re about 4′ apart it’s important to me that the grain matches. The bottom has a simple, long chamfer while the top has a slight radius. Sculpting began with my old Stanley 151 and finished up with a Bogg’s style Lie-Nielsen . The antique Stanley removes material quickly without clogging while the L-N does a beautiful job of finishing. After drawing in the “limit” lines of the bottom chamfer work began with the spokeshave, shaving to the lines. Once the cut was close a sliding bevel was set to make the chamfer uniform on the edges and the ends formed to match.

Beginning of end Checking chamfer angle

The armrests are attached with wedged, through mortise and tenon joints. The method that Mike Pekovich from Fine Woodworking Magazine uses is what I prefer too. Here’s a LINK to it but you may need to be a Fine Woodworking member. He utilizes a spacer to get the width just right, this way you only need to set your marking gauge one time. Only variation I did was to use a 3/8″ drill on the drill press to remove the bulk of the material. He uses a smaller bit and makes more holes; either way works. I could do this because my tenon is 7/16″ wide. I also used this method on the Japanese toolboxes for laying out both the mortise and the tenon. I’ve been presenting my work in a slide show format to simplify the blog — let me know if I succeeded!

At this point this project is almost ready for final assembly. The last thing that needs to be done is to apply the Osmo to the leg and armrest assemblies. We get our foam at Galaxy Foam and Upholstery Supply here in Las Vegas. They have foams of all densities and wrap batting around it which makes for a better cushion. Also bought the material there and unfortunately it’s too thick for Diane’s machine so they are currently being sewn at Oscars Upholstery. I’ll do a final blog on this when the cushions are done and the love seat is ready. I’ve been told my blogs can get long winded but appreciate any comments or questions you may have, thanks — John

I learned with sadness this morning of the recent death of Philippe Lafargue, my friend and collaborator for more than 35 years.  I will write more about Philippe soon, but he was recently profiled in the lostartpress.com blog.

Our last in-person intersection was when the Deluxe Edition of the marquetry edition premiered in 2013, and we signed copies together at Woodworking in America. In the years since, Team Roubo was the very model of modern collaboration via the interwebz, as we would send updated versions of documents from the Virginia Highlands to Vermont to southern France effortlessly.

Michele and I will soldier on, but it will definitely not be the same.

This isn’t the sort of blog post you’d usually come across, but I’m sharing it with the same intent I’ve always had when I’ve passed on my experiences and knowledge. I’ll continue to do so for as long as I’m able. What I’m writing about today is a flaw that became a mistake, one that I now see clearly, and I hope maybe someone else out there sees it before it takes hold of them too.

I became a hoarder of timber. There’s no better way to put it. The timber you see stacked in the background of my workshop photos isn’t just for show or stock for upcoming builds. A lot of it has been sitting there for years, untouched, gathering dust. I told myself it was for special projects. I convinced myself that one day the perfect idea would come, and when it did, I’d have just the right board for it. But that day didn’t come. New batches came in, and instead of reaching for what I already had, I’d go out and buy more. I’d use the new stuff and leave the rest behind. It’s madness, really, but it’s a kind of madness that’s quietly common. I know I’m not the only one. There are plenty of us, some still here, some not, and if you’re reading this and it sounds familiar, maybe it’s already taken hold of you too.

There’s something about wood that makes us want to hold onto it. Maybe it’s the cost. Maybe it’s the beauty. Maybe it’s fear, fear that we’ll mess it up, waste it, or that someone will look at what we’ve made and think we blew it on something unworthy. But that’s the trap. That’s the lie we tell ourselves to justify doing nothing. What we forget is that every project we touch should be treated as something worth doing. Every cut we make is practice, progress, and part of the journey. That timber isn’t getting any better by sitting there, and neither are we as makers if we keep waiting for perfect.

Use it. That’s the message. Use it before someone else has to clear it out when you’re gone. Before it warps or splits or gets eaten. Before the love you had for it gets buried under regret. There is no special project, not in the way we think. The special part is in the making, in the time and care we put into it, not in the piece of timber sitting on the rack.

So stop waiting. Make something. Make mistakes. Use the good stuff.

Today started out with rain that transitioned to sunny skies by 1100. And it got hot too. By the time I got back from my post lunch stroll the mercury was at 92F (33C) but it eventually stopped at 97F (36C). Day turned out to be pretty good. However, the alligators got loose and this upcoming saturday is forecasted to rain all day long. Sigh.

hmm......

This pile of cherry was earmarked to be a copy of the maple kitchen step stool/ladder I made a month ago. That was the prototype and the cherry one was to be the cat's meow. That plan got side tracked a while ago. Today I finalized that being shitcanned and a new project choice in its place. 

This pile of cherry is going to be a shelf thing with a door and maybe a drawer. The drawer is something I would like but I don't think I'll have the depth for one.

widest board

This board is only 7 1/2" wide and this will be the top and bottom. It is only 41" long so the shelf thing isn't going to be that big. That will work because the sides can only be a little more than 5" wide.

Planed off the planer nick tracks on the boards with the LN #3.

enough?

I only worked in the shop in the PM for about 45 minutes cleaning up these. The bottom and sides have been determined along with the sides. I'm not sure if I have sufficient stock for the door. I'll find out tomorrow.

Got no time in the shop for the AM session. Laundry and doing some maintenance on the coffee pots and mugs ate up all that time.

accidental woodworker

 Today was the first saturday in 11 weeks where the sun was shining when I rolled out of the rack. I thought happy days where here again because I was headed out to Gurney's Sawmill. At 0712 I left and got to Gurney's a little after 0800. I was disappointed because there were only five 1x12 boards in the lumber rack. The 1x10's were plentiful but they were only 9" wide - paying for a whole inch lost now.

I had put one, 1x12, in the truck bed when I realized that I had forgot to bring a check with me. Gurney only accepts cash or checks, no credit cards. Wasted a couple hours of time and a 1/2 tank of gas. But on the bright side I wouldn't have been able to get the number of boards I wanted anyway.

I refuse to drive on 195 during the week so I'll be motoring out there again next saturday. Fingers crossed on having two saturdays in a row sunny and nice. As a precaution I put two blank checks in my wallet so I won't have to deal with that hiccup. 

too tight

I only had one coat of shellac on the lid and it was too tight. The lid fit but it took a wee bit of oomph to close it. I scraped the outside of the lid keepers with the card scraper until the lid fit loosely again.

done

3 coats of shellac and its done. I'll keep it with my two calipers.

Didn't get what I wanted done today and it will be next saturday before it happens now. I have a wall shelf project with a door as what to make next. I might make a prototype first while I wait.

One nice positive about today was that I made the trip out to Gurney's and back to the barn (drank a travel mug of coffee) without having to pee more than once. That was a nice feeling not looking for some place to make a pit stop. I wonder if I could make a road trip to Highlands (in New Hampshire) without a pit stop? 

accidental woodworker 

First we can look at the drawer supports. I installed kickers (upper) and runners (lower) with pocket screws. The kickers were easy to line up, as they aligned with the top rails. The runners line up with the rail in the front but not the back. For the back I used a cutoff to make sure the runners were a proper distance below the kickers.

lining up runner below kicker

Between the runners and kickers, the drawers should be limited in tilting up and down, especially when the drawer sides are as high as the fronts.

I built the two outer drawers first. They were pocket screwed also. All of the pieces were cupped. Rather than try to get them perfectly flat, I worked around it. The pieces were grooved for a 1/4" plywood bottom.

harbor freight pocket hole jig sample drawer

With the outer drawers built, I could place them in the case and add guides to keep the drawers from shifting side-to-side. These were fastened only with glue, and placed on the runners and the case sides.

gluing in guide to keep drawers in line

After the glue was dry, I could mark the center drawer for where it's sides should line up. To accomodate the guides, the sides of the drawers have to be inset about 3/8".

mark clearance needed for guide

Finally I glued strips behind the rail to act as stops. They will stop the drawer front from being pushed in farther than the rail. They just have to not stand up so far they interfere with the drawer bottom.

gluing in drawer stops view from underneath

For drawer pulls I checked out some of this hardware I've been carrying around for years. I settled on a winner and made a template for them to sit 1/3 of the way down the drawers. I think 1/2 way down would have looked better.

why do I even keep some of this stuff? template for driling holes into drawer fronts

The top I fastened with cabinet screws. The screws are 2" or longer to clear the 1.5" upper rails. The holes in the front are fixed, and those in the back are elongated. I drilled 3/16 holes and cleared the waste with a chisel.

making a slot to allow expansion I cut off the excess after the top was attached.

Tire Table

fulfilling its purpose

37.5" high, 62" wide, 25.75" deep

I did not apply any finish.

 Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound, funny, but it's still rock and roll to me.

Billy Joel, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, 1980

Thirty years of classroom teaching has taught me the importance of preparation. As I’ve readied for next week’s inaugural bird bowl class at Peter Galbert’s, one of my fun tasks has been getting bird bowl examples finished. There’s a few … Continue reading →

Day two of the build and the box is done. A micrometer is something that I don't think I'll use even once a year. Most likely it will be used once a decade if that. However, it is a tool that I have had an itch to own for quite a while. The box will provide protection for it between its sporadic uses.

next day

Clamps came off with no groaning or creaking. Nothing moved and all the miters were still tight - top and bottom. So far it appears the hide glue is holding as well as the boxes I've done with yellow glue.

separation time

I thought of sawing the lid off on the tablesaw but nixed it. Instead I hand sawed it off so the kerf would be thinner - 0.021 vice 0.125.

dry fit

Used 1/8" plywood for the keepers. I wanted to use mahogany but I didn't have enough for it.

not too shabby

This is the fit right off the saw. The right side is a wee bit tight but overall it looks good. I played around with the LN 102 until the gap was more consistent 360.

all of it

Decided to apply shellac to whole of the sliding till. First of two coats went on today. After dinner I'll do #3 and call this done.

hmm.....

Not exactly what I wanted for a 'french fit' but it works. The micrometer won't flop around the box. This was the first dry fit - this one established the holder for the thimble and one for the half round thing (name???).

hide glue

Everything got secured with hide glue for future upgrading. I usually think of something to improve a little ways on down the road.

a little better

What I really wanted to do was to inset the whole of the half round thing in a block of wood. I didn't have any gouges that matched the curve of the round thing. Maybe in a few years I'll revisit this after getting some experience with gouges.

 

1" foam

This was too thick and the lid wouldn't fully seat - it was about 1/4" too thick? After I shaved some off, it was then too thin. The lid fully seated but the micrometer flopped about with the lid closed.

foam insert #2

Left the 2nd one mostly intact except for a thin piece I removed over the round thing. The lid closed fully and the micrometer was not moving neither.

nada

Shook this like I had bee hive shoved down my shorts. I couldn't feel anything moving and the lid stayed on too. This will get 3 coats of shellac after I finish sanding the box.

accidental woodworker 

Jack I need you to send me your email. I tried to send the Toshio Odate PDF to you yesterday and your email and the PDF immediately departed for the black hole somewhere when I hit send. I couldn't find it again anywhere - I even checked the spam and trash folders and nada. 

no warm and fuzzy

The sliding batten fits but I could feel the shellac sticking slightly as I slid it in/out. The temp today topped out at 96F (35C) along with it being muggy. Just the kind of day where shellac can get gummy.

last one

Plugged the 4 through holes with pine.

shellac is gone

Used a 100 grit sanding stick and a card scraper to remove all the shellac from the edges that the sliding batten moved against.

last two

I left the shellac on the top and bottom of the sliding batten and the top edge of the sides.

hmm.....

Mark had sent this plastic card with the micrometer and it is the perfect size to make a box to hold it in - 3 1/2" x 5 1/2".

1/4" poplar

The first (and only) box for it will be a mitered one. 1/8" plywood for the bottom and top.

dry fit

The box height wasn't sufficient to get two metal band clamp things at each corner. I needed some help keeping the top miters closed.

used hide glue

Used this glue because I wanted to see how well it will do on miters. I also glued the plywood in the grooves. This was dead in the water until tomorrow.

it is getting 3

Got two coats on the sides and the bottom. The 3rd will go on after dinner with 3 coats on the top tomorrow. Still thinking on whether or not to shellac the inside or just the top edges.

done

This will stay this way for a couple of weeks to give the shellac time to set up and harden. I'll snap a few pics of it to send to my son-in-law. I'm offering it up to him first. Don't have a 2nd recipient in mind yet. 

accidental woodworker 

My ongoing acquisition of cardboard for Mrs. Barn’s use in the various gardens — it is used as a weed-stopping underlayment underneath mulch — somehow led me to this video.  The geek in me is often entranced by peculiar applications of the sciences, especially materials science, and this fit that bill precisely.

Ultra-light and ultra-strong panel fabrication is available in the aerospace and marine worlds, but at GREAT cost.  I became acquainted with a student who worked for a custom outfitter of tailor-made airplane interiors, and the costs he recounted of both materials and fabrication/fitting processes was breath taking.  Marine plywood, sometimes a couple hundred dollars a sheet, can be dwarfed in price by the composite veneered or laminated panels used in the super elegant interiors of megabuck private planes.

In addition to laying up my own plywood with some of the pile of veneers I have up in the loft, I will almost certainly try to explore this method to make panels for various applications.   Sometimes amusing myself with “What if…?” questions is all the justification I need.

Still not done with the japanese toolbox. Decided to put in a sliding till and I did get that done today. I also have to finish up the shellac. So it would seem I put the horse before the cart posting the glamour shots yesterday. I should be done with it tomorrow barring any natural disasters.

sliding till ledger

Over kill with the screws but no glue. This way it can be removed if that need arises.

7/16" thick

I got the 2 sides I needed from both of the half X brace hiccups.

hmm.....

I have noticed when I resaw that I get tapered cuts - thin at the top and wider at the bottom. What I have found that is eliminating that hiccup for me is too apply steady pressure along the bottom edge, just forward of the blade, as I push the stock through it. 

If I don't not only will I get another tapered cut, I can visually see the board kicking out and away from the fence at the bottom. Saw cuts in stock about 3 to 3 1/2 inches is about the limit for me sawing straight. So far pushing the bottom against the fence isn't working for taller stock. 

I have a 1/2" wide blade I'm saving to put on and check out. That will wait until I swap out the current 1/2 HP motor for a 1 HP one I bought last year. I have been putting off doing that because I'm not sure if the motors and pulley will swap out without any hiccups.

it fits

I got two coats of shellac on this angled batten and that is it. I checked the fit and it still slid in/out. I was concerned about it jamming with it having shellac on it. That test is still to come.

1 on and 2 to go

One coat of shellac on the top - I have 3 coats on the bottom and end grain edges.

top is last

This is the hold up with completing this. One coat on now with two more to go. I'll put on the 2nd one after dinner and the 3rd and final one tomorrow in the AM.

sliding till

Cleaned up the bandsawn faces. I didn't try to get them all to an equal thickness because it doesn't matter. I kept the factory face of each board to the outside - the planed faces to the inside.

dry fit

I used one tail at each corner and I ran the groove for the bottom on the inside face before sawing the tails.

sigh

I totally over thought this detail. I at least got the half pin detail correct but I thought that the pin board groove would be buried too. I know now (will I remember that?) that the pin board groove has to be stopped within the tail. 

glued and cooking

The till was a slip fit on the dry fit but after I glued it the fit was too tight. I'll plane it to fit tomorrow after it has set up.

accidental woodworker 

 Today it rained, off and on all day. I checked the 10 day forecast and this saturday is looking so much better now. Instead of a cloudy/AM rain prediction it is now forecasting it to be mostly sunny. In fact most of the week starting tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. Fingers crossed along with my toes that I will be driving out to Gurney's this saturday.

last night

The glue had set up on the half X brace and after dinner I nailed it off. With that, all the woodworking was finished. But I'm thinking of putting a sliding till in it now. I like the box but it is on the large side with a lot of wasted space. One sliding till would make better use of the interior space.

glamour pic #1

I was going to leave the pencil lines but I sanded them off. 

pic #2

I noticed something with this toolbox build. The joinery is crisp and clean. It looks well made even though it is just an utilitarian object. I feel like it has a seasoned craftsman made aura about it. I haven't really noticed things like this before but I did on this. After 12 years of apprenticing with Paul Sellers it is finally rubbing off on me.

shellac finish

I flipped a coin, tails was poly and heads was shellac. Shellac won.

see the dutchman

It is at the top right. I snapped this pic 6 feet away and I couldn't see it there but I could starting at the 4 foot mark.

came today

Mark did a fantastic job on this micrometer. It is cleaned, polished, and the thimble feels silky smooth turning it. Well worth the $48 to clean, lube, and calibrate it. This is a tool I have no need for but I have always been fascinated with them. Now that is in tip top condition I'll be making a french fit box for it to live in next.

The surgery appointment at the VA went well. The infected cyst I had fixed in the VA a few months back is back on the chopping block. On July 8 I go back and have it surgically removed because it is growing again. I don't want to go through having another infected cyst drained and probed again in my lifetime. 

accidental woodworker 

 I came awfully close to finishing the japanese toolbox today. But I ran over a few potholes and just as many hiccups that prevented that from happening. Tomorrow I have an appointment at the VA in the PM so I will just have the AM session to work. I should be able to complete all the woodworking leaving just a finish to chose and apply.

lid fitted

I planed the width until it freely fit the inside width of the box. However, it turned out to be a bit tricky. I was checking and fitting only the left end but the right end was tight. So I left the side that fit as is and fitted the opposite side. The trick after that was done to make sure I didn't reverse the fit.

locking battens

I got a wee bit confused on the two angled battens and I had to get my Toshio Odate plan to straighten it out. Planed to the pencil line with the 5 1/2 and finessed the fit with the LN 102.

good fit

I was expecting these two angled battens to be a bit more of a PITA to fit but they weren't.

first hiccup

I nailed the wrong half of the battens. I thought I had this sorted out in the brain bucket but it wasn't so boys and girls.

brain fart

I thought I doing better with these two than on the other japanese boxes I made. I hadn't made this me-steak on them. I had to shift these both over to the left about an inch.

sigh....

It would appear that I learned nothing on the splits I made with the top battens. Glued and clamped the split on the bottom batten.

didn't see it

I liked the half X brace detail on the Toshio Odate toolbox and I'm using it on my version of it. Missed that the bottom angled cut was OTL (out to lunch).

2nd half X brace

Glad I had an extra 1x3 to get the correct angles on the new X brace on.

1/4"

I couldn't do the bottom angle until the angled battens were set. I left myself plenty of meat for fitting it.

life saver

I was surprised by how closely my version of his toolbox aligns with his plan. Double, triple checking the layout of the angled battens one last time.

hmm....

These are 1 1/4" finish nails from Tremont Nails. I've had these for years and never noticed that there were so many variations in the herd.

yikes

It took me 3 attempts before I got the two angled battens attached correctly. Twice I had too wide of a gap for the sliding angled batten. Three times was the charm for me.

good feeling

Finally got the angled battens attached and working. I predrilled all the holes before gluing and nailing the fixed angled batten to the top.

another 3 times was the charm

The 2nd angled half X brace was short because the position of the fixed angled batten moved to the left a 1". Whacked out a 3rd one with the remaining 1x3 stock I had left.

possible me-steak

For some reason I did a mind meld with the workbench because I thought I had to make another movable angled batten because it was short now. The short stick to the right was going to be used as a story pole stick. Turns out that wasn't needed.

clipped them

I didn't like the half X brace being flush with the outside edge of the cross batten. I sawed the toes off and made it flush with the outside edge of the top.

cooking

The first step was to glue and clamp the half X brace to the top. After dinner I'll go back to the shop and nail it off. I will predrill for all the nails first.

erasing the evidence

Positioning the battens correctly covered up some of the errant nail holes but not all of them. Filled them in with slivers of pine rather than wood putty.

last two

I had to fill in only 6 empty nail holes. I checked the 4 I had filled and flushed on the top and  they didn't look that bad. They all fit in with the toolbox that this is.

accidental woodworker 

I have an office job (M&A attorney) and my principal place of employment is in town. I like being at the office; I go 4-5 times a week. But I do work from home from time to time (especially evenings and on weekends), so it’s important that my home office is both functional and cozy. […]

Things are getting closer to wrap-up with the greenhouse project, as I built the steps on the bank from the yard up to the terrace.  I will probably build a second set of steps at the other end, but we are really getting close to the point where we can say we have a first-class functioning greenhouse.  This was an “in process” image, the steps are now all done and a great addition to the endeavor.  We no longer have to trek diagonally across a steep bank that is frequently slick with dew.

A couple weeks ago I followed Mrs. Barn’s protocol and covered the entire floor with cardboard once she had settled on a configuration for the space.  This step really cuts down on weed encroachment once it is covered with a layer of mulch.

I also placed four black painted drums in the space, one in each corner.  Once I install the spigot kits near the bottom of each drum they will serve two functions.  First is to provide water to the plants since there is no hard plumbed water line, so these will have to be refilled by hose on occasion.  Second, though, is to serve as heat sinks in the winter when the black paint and water inside the drum is heated in the winter time to keep the overnight temps moderated.  At least that’s the plan.  I also may wind up putting more thermal mass in the space, such as sand-filled concrete blocks painted black to absorb solar warming.

With that all done I hauled up a truckload of mulch to cover the carboard on the floor.  It transforms the space visually and functionally as sometimes walking over layers of cardboard is a slippery proposition.

I will shortly add some benches to the covered-but-not-enclosed end of the structure where many plants will be kept as a intermediary space.

Our noodling between now and winter will be to get a handle on temperature controls for both heat and cold.  Even though the enclosed space has a shade cloth over it the temperatures on a sunny day can get pretty extreme inside, much more than our one little 12-inch fan can handle.  I’ve got another fan on order, and hope that two will do the trick.  I am not pleased and cannot recommend the one we bought, but it is here and installed and works, some of the time.

The next update from the greenhouse will focus on Mrs. Barn’s experimentation with self-irrigating planters.

Stay tuned.

 I am so thankful for those that take the time to read my keyboard diarrhea. Sylvester emailed me and attached a PDF with Toshio Odate's japanese toolbox. The one I've been searching for and gave up trying to find again. Thanx so much.

I searched for this same plan on my 4 computers and nada. Each computer brought up a different first page but none with the toolbox. I don't understand why all 4 don't or didn't all come up with the same first page.

ta da

I still plan to make this toolbox. I have only followed one plan from start to finish, a cherry wall clock I made 40 years ago. Making Toshio's toolbox will be my 2nd one.

last night

I came back to the shop after dinner and glued on the two top battens. 

nailing the bottom on

I went back and forth on this about gluing and nailing it and decided to do both. The bottom is 3/4" thick pine and I don't think just nails will be sufficient to hold it on against any weight.

sigh

This corner split when I nailed. I didn't think it would be hiccup being over an inch from the edge. I was wrong.

shoulda, woulda, didn't

I only had two more corners to predrill but I also predrilled all the others.

top

Glued and cooking. I decided on a solid wood top rather than plywood. If this top goes south, I will use plywood on round 2.

fingers crossed

I forced as much glue as I could in the split, installed the nail, and clamped it. I'm optimistic that this will stand the test of time.

two or three?

This is the bottom and I'm putting battens on it to save the bottom from getting the snot beat out of it. Went with two battens.

bottom done

I had sized the bottom so the length was dead on and the width a strong 16th proud. Flushed it up 360 with a blockplane. Nailed on the battens with nails only, no glue.

sans the top

I like this toolbox and I'm thinking about keeping it. It is a lot heavier than I initially thought it would be. It is also bigger (height wise) too. Neither one is a deal killer though as I'm sure the box will be adapted to its use somehow.

sizing the top

Worked on the width first and then I squared the ends.

dead nuts

Neither end of the top has to be dead nuts square but I made them so anyways.

hmm......

The top fits a frog hair off snug. Since it is summer and the top shouldn't expand anymore(?), I'm going to leave this as is for now and think on it. I'll decided what I want to do with it in the AM.

accidental woodworker

 When I rolled out of the rack this AM it was gray and overcast. No rain and the radar showed a line of rain clouds to the west slowly coming east. I almost decided to go to Gurney's but nixed it. It sprinkled rain briefly around 0900  and stopped after a half hour or so. I coulda, shoulda, woulda, but didn't risk it. Next saturday is still looking to be rain free in the AM.

gotta make something

I was getting the heebie jeebies because I wasn't making anything. I looked at the pine I had in the shop and figured there was enough there to make 4 of the six sides needed for a japanese toolbox. 

I got this pine from Lowes and it is still flat and barely cupped. Forgot about the ugly looking divot right on the edge though. I have the short ends and this longer length will give up the 2 long sides. I'll be doing a dutchman to fill in the divot - rot pocket or dead branch?

not fond of butt joinery

This toolbox is going to be on the larger size and I don't have a warm fuzzy with just nailing it together with butt joints. Instead I'm going with a housing dado. Overall I want it to be a simple joinery project though.

15 3/4"

I don't like the size of this. The ends (IMO) are too long compared to the long sides. The OD based on this would make that dimension a few frog hairs over 17". Decided to surgically removed a few inches from each end.

12 1/8"

I think the ends now balance the box. The OD now is 13 5/8" and the ID width is 12 1/8". Pondering my choices for the lid - I'm vacillating between a two board pine lid or one of 1/2" plywood. The big unknown is how much will the pine expand/contract and effect the fit of the lid?

$73

At Lowes I bought four 1"x10"x4' boards and two six foot 1x3's for the battens. It was a bit of shock to see the cost of this toolbox. Adding in the other pine boards it is a wee bit north of a C note.

divot dutchman

Initially I was going to put in a rabbeted dutchman but nixed it. I was getting a headache trying to figure out the negative and positive spaces. I went with making the notch to the depth of the divot and glued in the dutchman. Knocked down most of the proud with the scrub and flushed it with the woodie.

2nd dutchman

This edge is the bottom and I thought I could contain and hide the divot with the first dutchman. This spot had a void caused by the divot. It would have been hidden by the bottom eventually but I decided on a 2nd dutchman. This will fill in the divot void and give the bottom a continuous edge to glued/nailed to.

finished look

I thought I had snapped a pic of this after the first dutchman showing the divot void but I didn't. One dutchman will be visible on the outside which I was hoping to avoid. It will still fit with this being a toolbox.

dry fit

I'm happy with the fit of ends - I thought they would have been a PITA because they were cupped slightly. There are a couple of short stretches were there are gaps but 80% or so of the dado joints are tight.

glued and nailed

Used four 1 1/2" cut nails at each corner to secure the sides to the ends. The bottom and the end battens will further secure and strengthen the box.

bottom

I will let this cook until tomorrow. This is the reason why I picked 1x10's for the bottom rather 1x12's. I don't like gluing thin widths to a larger width board. 

handles

I really like this detail on this toolbox. I have the battens I need for the top/bottom and lid but before I can attach the top ones I have to get the handles installed.

cooking away

I glued the handles on and I let them cook for a while. After dinner I will go back to the shop and put a couple of screws into the handles from the inside. This toolbox will be capable of holding a lot of weight and I don't want to rely solely on a glue joint on the handles.

accidental woodworker